Remembrance of Allah subhana wa ta'ala

Mashallah this is a Jumaah Khutbah given by Sheikh Tawfique Chowdhury, CEO and founder of Mercy Mission, at the Sultan Hj Ahmad Shah Mosque, International Islamic University Malaysia on the 24th Feb 2012. Once again he has done a great talk, alhamdulillah. This talk is based on remembrance of Allah. When is the last time we have remembered our Rabb? Allah subhana ta'ala remembers us , when we remember Him. " So remember Me : I will remember you. " [ Al-Bakara 2 : 152] Ibnul Qayyum rahimullah said that if only this verse of surah Bakara was revealed to show the importance of zikr, that would have been enough, subhanallah. The people who don't remember Allah, they have been compared to the dead people.

 If you want to love Allah subhana ta'ala , then you should remember Him frequently. Imam Ibnul Qayyim says that remembrance of our Lord is the door to love of Allah subhana ta'ala! Our need of zikr of Allah is more than our need to air and food, subhanallah! Every single object on this earth praises Allah subhana ta'ala! Has the time not arrived for us, human beings, to remember Allah subhana ta'ala?

Allah subhana ta'ala says in the Qur'an: " Has the time not come for those who have believed that their hearts should become humbly submissive at the remembrance of Allah and what has come down of the truth? And let them not be like those who were given the Scripture before, and a long period passed over them, so their hearts hardened; and many of them are defiently disobedient." [Al-Hadid 57:16]

Ask yourself this beautiful question: When was the last time you made Allah subhana wa ta'ala remember you?

Sometimes we think Allah subhana ta'ala doesn't respond to our duas. But this is not true. Whenever we say Ya Allah, He says Na'am Abdi! He is our Lord and He knows what is best for us.

Ibnul Qayyim rahimullah mentions in one of his book one hundred benefits of remembering Allah subhana ta'ala. Here in this talk sheikh mentions some of them, alhamdulillah.

Benefits of remembering Allah subhan ta'ala:

1.Remembrance of Allah helps in defeating the satan and removing his harmful effects on us

2.It helps us in removing our worries and troubles from our heart

3.It brings an amazing peace amd clarity, sweetness to our heart

4.It strenghtens the heart and the body

5.It fills the heart and face with light

6.It brings provision from Allah subhan ata'ala

7. It brings dignity and honour

8. It fills the heart with light and spirit of Islam

9.Remembrance of Allah keeps us away from sins and evil deeds

10. It enters him/her in highest form of Ihsaan which is the greatest state of worship. It is like worshiping Allah as if you can see Him

11.It creates restlessness in you heart to meet Allah

12. Remembrance of Allah gives light to dead souls

13. It removes all signs of sins and saves us from the punishment in hereafter

14.It surrouns us with peace and tranquility and makes our affairs secure and full of mercy and bounty

15.It makes the angels gather around you , listen to your zikr and kiss your forehead, shake your hand and protect you when you are asleep

16. Remembrance of Allah along with crying in fear and love of Allah , brings the protection under the shade of Allah on the day of judgement

17. It is the plantation of jannah

18. It makes us among the people of saabikoon, the foremost people in jannah

19.It is the door to Allah subhana ta'ala's love....

I hope to read the book insha-Allah in future, given I can read arabic Insha-Allah.

The sheikh mentioned that we can do zikr quite easily by keeping our tongue moist with small pharases like Subhanallah ,Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah, Subhanallahi wa bihamdihi, Subhanallahil Azeem. It just reminded me the nasheed attached below. Please do try to make as much zikr as possible. May Allah subhana ta'ala make us among the As-sabikun, ameen!