22-B. Zikr ki ehmiat or tareeqa.
Zikr-e-Kaseer.
Hazrat Saheb said that last week we had started talking of Zikr which is an unending topic.
In Tarbiatul Ushaq it has been quoted....’Wazkurallah kaseeran laalakum tuflehoon’ as Allah says in the Quran…
So what is meant by kaseera; what is kaseer -much –
Hazrat said it means to remember Allah more than 12 hours in the 24 hours. That too is for beginners…not for the advanced …those who are in constant remembrance - sometime but not at other times is not the way of the spiritually advanced people.
For a Dervesh being absent from remembrance is like being dead…Hadees says that the difference between one who does Zikr and who does not is the same as one being alive the other dead! The Qalb is living when in remembrance of Allah and it is dead when not in remembrance it is that the inner self is not alive – only the outer!
In this life we cannot see the hearts of people, but in the hereafter it will show. People who have neglected the remembrance of Allah their hearts will be dark and so also their faces black, but people who have been remembering Allah their hearts will be lit up…effulgent and that light too Him will show on their faces.
There are two kinds of Zikr – one when we make preparations to do Zikr and to turn our attention towards Allah and try to remain exclusively in thought and rapt in Him or immersed in thought of Allah. The other is when we our involved in our daily duties but remember Allah constantly. ‘Dast bi kar…dil bi yaar’.
You cannot achieve the constant Zikr until you have been practising the one with special preparation, which leads you to the ‘daimi’ continual/perpetual Zikr. That is the basis…the foundation, you can say it is the root and the other its branches as long as one is awake one should have the Zikr in one’s heart or lips.
If and when you forget to remember Allah…Allah has favoured with the His Grace by saying to continue to remember Him when we realise our neglect of Allah’s remembrance... As soon you realise that you have neglected His remembrance start freshly to think and remember Allah. Man is basically forgetful so this occurs too. This constant remembrance is not obvious but is in your heart and can be practised along with your chores but the other zikr is done with special time and in solitary privacy exclusively meant for Zikr with full attention.
There are various kinds of Zikr; there is Zikr Kaseer for advanced students, zikr e jehri qalbi, and roohi. Zikr is as important for spiritual development or for the health of our spirit/soul - as food is important- for our physical development; both depend on its particular nutrition. There are stages of Zikr, and one who practises Zikr…the Zakir can feel become aware or comprehend the effect. When one articulates the word of zikr it affects the heart…it is absorbed from the inner to the deeper inner of the soul from speaking His name to hearing His name and to the heart and mind...
The Quranic ayah is, “Vaz kurooni az kurkum…” that Allah thinks of you when you remember Him that means you are immediately rewarded by His attention to you. It is also quoted in the Hadees that Allah says I am with one who remembers me I am sitting with one who remembers me. It is a fact that till Allah does not think or remember us…we cannot remember Him. The fact is that he thinks of us first also and again his attention is turned towards us when we remember Him. There was this person who was regretting and wishing he could know when Allah was remembering him, his maid heard him and said, ‘I always know when Allah is remembering me’ when the master inquired how she knew - she said ‘that is when I remember Him…I know He has remembered me’.
This remembrance is possible by habit…whatever practice you put your heart to...it learns and continues to follow. You turn it towards Allah it will continue in that and if you involve your heart constantly on worldly affairs it will continue to dwell on that path. To make a habit one has to continue exercising on a particular thing and that becomes a habit and so also with Zikr you practise it repeatedly or continually and your heart will continue to do so…the more you do so the more it will absorb the habit and practise makes perfect…so also your zikr will advance in the various stages.
So also the Namaz it is obligatory on everyone the prophets, the sidiqeen the swaleheen the aulia Allah, the buzurgs and Namaz too is a form of zikr, to be done repeatedly and regularly in the day and night. ‘aqeemussalat fil zikree’
Namaz is also a Zikr- a remembrance of Allah. A time set for exclusive remembrance of Allah. Its repetition and regularity makes it a permanent habit.
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01/04/2009.
H.Sajun.