Welcome to the University of Sufism's Ramadan reading of Rosina Fawzia al-Rawiyy's book,
The Call of Allah,
A Companion to the Holy Month of Ramadan.
Today I will be sharing day seven about remembrance,
Also known as zikr.
The prophet,
Alayhi wasalam,
Said,
When you pass by the gardens of paradise,
Then enjoy the abundance.
They asked,
And what are the gardens of paradise?
He,
Alayhi wasalam,
Said,
The gatherings of remembrance,
Zikr.
In its essence,
Zikr means to give up our egos,
Our nafs,
Wishes,
Demands,
And pictures,
And to be with God.
It is to keep the rope between us and Allah always in our heart,
And hold fast all together onto the bond,
The rope,
With God.
Zikr enables us to shake the foundations which separate us from our true self,
And to overcome our feeling of isolation which our nafs always wants to pass off as reality.
Zikr grants us strength and protection while softening our heart so that we become like wool in God's hands,
Zikr enables us to step out of the sphere of isolation,
And into the all-encompassing space of love and peace.
In the Quran,
Allah says,
In remembrance,
Zikr of God is indeed the greatest good.
Quran 29.
45 And our beloved prophet,
Alayhi wasalam,
Says,
The purest by Allah,
That which elevates us most,
Is the remembrance,
The zikr of Allah,
The sublime.
Fasting weakens our body,
So that the power and control of the ego,
The nafs,
Abates,
And we have a chance to get deeper insight into ourself.
Indeed,
Our ego prevents us from experiencing our true self,
Which is the unity of our being,
Harmony and contentment with Allah.
Fasting shatters the shiny palace which we have taken such pains to build up.
To a certain extent,
Fasting turns us into a ruin.
Yet ruins are much more exposed to the light,
Above all the light of humility,
Than the palace.
In our weakness,
We feel how deeply we depend on Allah and his great love for us.
In our weakness,
We feel his blessing.
What a freedom!
What a deep joy arises!
I am not alone.
I am not isolated.
I am not a leaf moved by the arbitrary winds of life.
I have roots.
I am rooted in Allah's almightiness,
Power,
And love.
I surrender.
I give in.
And I surrender to your infinite wisdom and justice.
Ameen.
Then begins the deep,
Reverent remembrance,
Zikr,
And bethink thyself,
Zikr,
Of thy sustainer humbly and with awe,
And without raising thy voice at morn and at evening,
And do not allow thyself to be heedless,
Ghafla.
Quran 7,
205 Through fasting and zikr,
The nafs come to understand that it is not in this world to rule in splendid isolation.
It starts turning to the light of the soul and begins to serve the soul.
And the soul always knows that it belongs to Allah alone.
The opposite of zikr is ghafla,
Namely the slumbers of forgetting.
In his love and compassion,
Allah shows us what this does to us.
And be not like those who are oblivious of God,
And whom he therefore causes to be oblivious of what is good for their own selves.
Quran 59,
19 We all know about forgetting,
And some of us blame ourselves most cruelly when we have fallen into ghafla,
Or become entangled in other weaknesses.
Come out of this state of blame by immediately holding your weakness to Allah and saying,
Astaghfirullah and Alhamdulillah.
Astaghfirullah,
I take refuge in you,
And I ask you,
Allah,
To forgive me for all my weaknesses,
My heedlessness,
My ghaflas.
Alhamdulillah,
You are forever praised for the eternal mercy and kindness you keep bestowing upon me.
And together,
Astaghfirullah and Alhamdulillah,
For all the states and possibilities which in your kindness,
Allah,
You keep giving me to come closer to you.
Remain in zikr,
In the remembrance of your heart.
Through zikr,
Through your trust and your gratefulness,
Teach your mind to free itself from the negative,
Always doubting and self-pitying interpretations,
And to open to Allah's light and love.
Zikr is the inner act of surrender which expresses itself on the outer level by participating in shaping this world.
And who remembers God when they stand and when they sit and when they lie down to sleep,
And thus reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth?
Quran 3,
191.
We human beings are inclined to the good as well as to the bad,
But we can only find our inner peace by being close to God and by remembering Him.
For our true nature knows God.
Yet the most beautiful thing about zikr is that Allah tells us that when we remember Him,
He remembers us.
So remember me and I shall remember you,
And be grateful unto me and deny me not.
Quran 2,
152.
May our fast be nurtured by zikr.
Practice suggested for today.
Today try and remember or recite silently or aloud as often as you can.
Astaghfirullah wa alhamdulillah.
Astaghfirullah,
I take refuge in you,
Allah,
And I ask you to forgive me for all my weaknesses,
My heedlessness,
My khaflas.
Alhamdulillah.
You are forever praised for eternal mercy and kindness you keep bestowing upon me.
Thank you for joining us for day seven.
Have a blessed day.
