Remembering Allah at all Times

1- The remembrance of allah is the basis of submission to allah, as it is the header of the relation between the slave and his creator, in all his time and conditions. it was reported that aisha, may allah be pleased with her, said: [the messenger of allah (pbuh) used to remember allah at all his time].

 narrated by muslim.         


                                                          


 * being connected with allah is life, seeking refuge with him is salvation, being near him is success and satisfaction and keeping away from him is loss and deviation.

2- The remembrance of allah is what differentiates between believers and hypocrites, as the hypocrites’ attribute is that they do not remember allah except a little.

3-  The devil does not pre-dominate man, except when the latter overlooks the remembrance of allah, as the remembrance of allah is the immune fort that protects man against the devil’s plots.

* The devil likes man to forget the remembrance of allah.

4- remembrance (thikr) is the way to happiness. he (exalted be he) said: (the ones who have believed and whose hearts (feel) composed with the remembrance of allah -verily in the remembrance of allah the hearts are composed) [ar-raad: 28].

5-  one should always remember allah, as the people of paradise do not regret anything, except an hour that passed by them in this life without remembering allah (glorified and sublime be he).       

  (verily, permanent remembrance means permanent relationship with allah).           

an-nawawi said: scholars agreed that remembrance, by (both) heart and tongue, is permissible for this who has broken his ablution, this who is ritually unclean, menstrual and postpartum women. this includes glorification (saying: subhan allah), praise (saying: al-hamdulillah), saying allahu akbar (allah is the greater), saying la ilaha ila allah (there is no god but allah), asking allah to send his peace and blessings on the messenger of allah (pbuh) and supplication.  this is unlike the case of reciting qur’an.

6-  this who remembers his lord (glorified and sublime be he), his lord remembers him. he (exalted be he) said: (so, remember me, (and) i will remember you; and give thanks to me; and do not disbelieve me) [al-baqarah: 152]. if man feels much delight, when he is informed that one of the kings has mentioned him in his council and that he has praised him, so, how would he feel, if allah, the king of all kings (exalted be he), mentioned him to a crowd, which is better than those to whom he is mentioned to?

7-  remembrance of allah does not mean muttering with a word or words, while the heart is inattentive, overlooking glorification of allah and obeying him. remembrance by tongue should be accompanied by reasoning and being affected by the meanings of its words. he (exalted be he) said: (and remember your lord within yourself, in supplication and in fright, other than being (too) loud in words, in the early mornings and the (hours) before sunset, and do not be among the heedless)

    [al-aaraf:205].    


         


  * the person who remembers allah should be aware of what he says, so that heart remembrance and tongue remembrance may gather and man can be connected with his lord both manifestly and immanently.

Don't loose the Chance

Do not loose the chance to apply more than one way of worship at the same time...how?

1-When going to the mosque, you may go walking or by car, and this will be rewarded of course, but if you do something else wile going to the mosque, such as praising allah or reciting quran or listening to it. this is the way how you apply more than one worship at one go.

2-If you go to a wedding party – one following the islamic teachings of course- you can also sit praising allah or talk to people in useful matters concerned with islam and religious matters

Actions are but by Intentions

dear all, you have to know that all permissible actions you are doing day long; like eating, sleeping, working, etc. all these actions you can change into acts of worship gaining thousands of "hasanat" good deeds but only if you intend through these actions to be closer to allah.

Prophet muhammad pbuh said:

"actions are but by intentions and every man shall have only that which he intended". narrated by al bukhari and muslim.

for example: the muslim sleeps early to be able to pray his night prayers or dawn prayers; so his sleep turns into worship, and so on regarding all other permissible actions in his daily life.

Bedtime Sunnahs (the Prophet’s traditions)

1-  (o allah, in your name i die and live) narrated by al-bukhari.

2- One should put his hands together, then, puff into them and recite: (say, “he is allah, the only one”), (say, “i take refuge with the lord of the daybreak”) and (say, “i take refuge with the lord of mankind”), then, saying that, wipes as much as he can of his body, starting with his head, his face and the front of his body. he should do this three times). narrated by al-bukhari.

3-  Reciting the verse of the throne (ayat-al-kursii): (allah. there is no god except him, the ever-living, the superb upright sustainer), narrated by al-bukhar

* the fruit (reward) of reciting this ayah (a verse of the qur’an): who recites it, the protection from allah remains over him, so that no devil can approach him. as was proved to be authentic in the previous hadith (the prophet’s saying).

4-  (o allah, in your name i sleep and by you i wake up. if you take my soul, then have mercy on it and if you send it back, then preserve it the way you preserve your righteous slaves). narrated by al-bukhari and muslim

5-  (o allah, surely you have created my soul and you take it up. to you is its life and its death. if you give it life, then preserve it and if you give it death, then forgive it. o allah, indeed, i ask you for wellness). narrated by muslim.

6-  (o allah, protect me against your torment on the day that you resurrect your slaves). three times. narrated by abu-dawoud and at-termithi. one should say this when he puts his right hand under his cheek (lying on the right side in bed) 

7-  (subhan allah (glorified be allah) thirty three times,   al-hamdulillah (all praise is to allah) thirty three times, and allahu akbar (allah is the greater) thirty four times. narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.

8-   (all praise is to allah, who has fed us, given us water, sufficed us and given us refuge, how many are those, who do not have anyone to suffice them and give them refuge, are). narrated by muslim.

9-  (o allah, knower of the unseen and the witnessed, originator of the heavens and the earth, the lord of everything and its sovereign, i bear witness that there is no god but you. i take refuge with you from the evil of myself, from the evil of satan and his trap and from causing myself any harm, or driving it to any muslim).  narrated by abu-dawoud and at-termithi.

10-(o allah, i have submitted myself to you, confided my command to you, directed my face to you and resorted to you out of my desire and awe of you. there is no refuge or escape from you, except to you. i have believed in your book, which you have sent (down) and your prophet, who you have sent).  narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.

11-(o allah, lord of the seven heavens and lord of the magnificent throne, our lord and the lord of everything, splitter of grains and nuclei, sender of the bible, the gospel and al-furqan (the criterion), i take refuge with you from everything you take by the forelock. o allah, you are the first, as there is nothing before you, you are the last, as there is nothing after you, the manifest, as there is nothing over you and the immanent, as there is nothing below you, pay the debt for us and enrich us after poverty). narrated by muslim.

12- reciting the last two verses of surat al-baqarah, starting with his words (exalted be he): (the messenger has believed in what has been sent down to him from his lord, and the believers {believe}), for the hadith: (this who recites them at night, they suffice him), narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.

    scholars disagreed about the meaning of (they suffice him): it has been said: they are sufficient for him, as he does not need to perform the qiyam* of the night. also, it has been said that they protect him against every evil and adversity. i have said: it may mean both things… the end of an-nawawi’s words (al-adhkar).

13-one should be pure, for the hadith (if you go to bed, have an ablution).

14-sleeping on the right side… (…then lie on your right side …). narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.

15- one should put the right hand under his cheek (when he lay down, he used to put his right hand under his cheek). narrated by abu-dawoud.

16-dusting the bed off (when anyone of you goes to his bed, he should dust it off… as he does not know what he has left behind him…).  narrated by al-bukhari and muslim.

17-reciting surat (say, “o you disbelievers”), as one of its fruits: (it is a protection from polytheism), narrated by abu-dawoud, at-temidhi and ahmad, and was proved to be authentic by ibn-hibban, al-hakim and adh-dhahabi agreed with him. also, it was proved to be good by al-hafedh and authentic by al-albani.

  an-nawawi said: one should give priority to do everything stated in this chapter, but, if he could not, he might be confined to do what he can (do) of its most important (items).

·        by observation, we find that most people sleep twice in their day and night, as then, they would have applied these sunnahs , or some of them, twice, because these sunnahs are not restricted to night’s sleep, rather they include even sleeping during the day as the ahadith are general.

the fruit of applying these sunnahs at bedtime:

1- 100 sadaqa (charitable deeds) is written for the muslim when he keeps these glorifications constantly before sleeping, for the hadith: (every glorification is sadaqa, every time one says: allah is the greater is sadaqa, every praise (to allah) is sadaqa and every time one says: there is no god but allah is sadaqa...). narrated by muslim.                     

   *an-nawawi said: has the same reward. 

   2- if the muslim  preserves these glorifications before sleeping, 100 trees will be planted     for him in paradise, for the previous hadith narrated by ibn-majah, about the fruits of post-prayer adhkar.

3- allah protects the slave, keeps the devil away from him in that night and he remains safe from evils and pests.

4- the slave ends his day with remembering allah, obeying him, putting trust on him, asking him for help and declaring his oneness.