An All Powerful Dhikr:
For Those Without Recourse
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
What else is there in the life of a Muslim but to do Dhikr?
And Dhikr here means an All-Channel Engagement with the thought and remembrance and mention of Allah and his name and attributes.
It is a multi-dimensional thing if you ask me.
Dhikr with your tongue. Of course. Goes without saying.
Dhikr Billisaan!
Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, told a Sahaabi:
"Never let your tongue be without Dhikr even for a moment."
Laa Yazaalu Lisaanuka Ratban Bi-Dhikrillah.
But also Dhikr with your heart. And also I suppose with your mind.
I don't know what the difference is between Heart and Mind.
Allah says Heart. I say heart. Al-Qalb.
Science says Mind. I say mind.
Then science, at least a faction of extreme Behaviorists among scientists, turns around and says: What mind? There is no such thing as mind.
Stimulus-Response (S-R) circuitry. The Reflex Arc. That is all there is in the human body -- and oh yes, mind. So, let us not talk about things we cannot see.
So, I say, Hey, whatever you guys say. You are science, aren't you? You should know.
But then I just got done teaching a course on something called Communication in a Digital World. It seemed to me one of only two courses of that kind on Planet Earth. Mine and this other course by a man in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The MIT course was about Digital Hardware and Software. How to design and make the stuff and how to run and manage it.
Mine was more about how Communication, a human activity, works in a world bursting with Digital Hardware and Software.
The moral of the story is that this Digital Thing is pretty much an unseen thing. Yes, you do see the Hardware and the Software. But you do not see the Communication juice that flows through that machinery and technology.
So, Digital Communication is largely a matter of faith. It is known by its outcomes and effects.
So, I suppose is the Mind. We don't see it. But we see its effects and artifacts all the time.
The Heart is a physical organ. You see it. So, is the Brain. And you see it too.
But the Mind? Whatever it is. Who has ever seen it? And who knows its address in the human body?
But the fact is this: Your Dhikr must also cover your Heart or your Mind. And that is where the rub is: your heart and your mind also must participate in your Dhikr Exercise! And not just your tongue.
Call it Dhikr Bil-Qalb.
Or Dhikr Bil Janaan.
But that is not all. There is more.
I will just mention it and move on quickly. And that Other Dhikr is the Dhikr by every organ and part of your entire body.
Dhikr Bil-Jawaarih.
Or Dhikr Bil-Arkaan!
What it is and how it is done? Well, I have an answer. But I better not say it. Let things ride. At least for the moment.
If Allah wants, he will reveal it in his own good time.
And there is more. And it is Dhikr, not just during your waking hours, but also when you are asleep.
Once again, I know something about it. But for the time being Mum is the word. I better not say anything about it. At least not right now.
Folks who know me understand that it has taken me sometimes 20 years or more to share certain things with them.
But here in any case is a Dhikr you all can use. It is from the life of Sayyidina Nuh, Alaihis Salam.
Nuh, Alaihis Salam, was rejected, mocked, laughed at and ridiculed. Life was made difficult for him. He had nowhere to go. Every door was slammed shut.
So, after a very, very long life of total dedication to his Mission of Taking the Message of Allah to Every Home and Heart, Nuh, Alaihis Salam, turns to Allah and says:
"I have nowhere to go. I am totally overcome. I need help."
The Qur'an puts it this way:
Annee Maghloobun Fantasir.
To me, this is Dhikr for those in trouble. Those without recourse. Those with every door slammed shut in their face.
It is part of an Aayat Kareemah that goes:
Fa-Da'aa Rabaahu Aannee Maghloobun Fantasir.
The rest as they say is history. Allah records that history this way in the Qur'an Kareem:
Fastajabnaa Lahu,
Wa Nasarnaahu Minal Qawumilladheena Kadhdhaboo Bi-Aayaatinaa.
Innahum Kaanoo Qawuma Sawu-in
Fa-Aghraqnaahum Ajma'een.
An attempted paraphrase:
So, right away,
We responded to him,
And we helped him against those people who had rejected our Aayaat.
They were a bad lot.
So, we drowned them all.
What else is there to say?
END
