Nourishment of the Heart

Last Friday the imam gave a class for sisters on the topic of dhikr. That combined with Br. Naeem's thoughts on the same subject inspired me to write this post.

The summary of the message is really that remembrance of Allah (which we call dhikr) brings tranquility to the heart. And this isn't even a claim that we humans can make, but rather a promise by Allah. "Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!" (13:28)

And elsewhere Allah tells us to remember Him: "Therefore remember Me, I will remember you. Give thanks to Me, and reject not Me." (2:152)

In sacred hadith collected by Imam Al-Bukhari and narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah, Allah says, "I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed."

There are numerous benefits in the remembrance of Allah, because it:

• Expels the Shaytan, and pleases Ar-Rahmaan
• Eases sadness, and brings joy
• Strengthens the heart and the body
• Brings brightness to the face
• Makes other people like you
• Provides awareness that Allah is watching you
• Leads to Allah's remembrance of you
• Removes stains from the heart (along with repentance and istighfar)
• Is a good deed, and good deeds wipe out bad deeds
• Preoccupies the tongue from bad talk (like gossip, lying, backbiting)
• Leads to plants in Paradise

Remembrance of other people is a disease, and remembrance of Allah is the cure. A heedless tongue--a tongue that does not remember Allah--is like a blind eye. It does not serve its purpose. So to clean our hearts and serve Allah in Islam we need to remember Allah. And then we can expect Allah to remember us with His Mercy.

"Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest." (3:128)