How Zikr Sets Muslims Apart From People of Other Faiths

[PsychoDad]

How Zikr Sets Muslims Apart From People of Other Faiths
Maryam Dadabhoy

http://www.soundvision.com/Info/teens/zikrandotherfaiths.asp

Zikr is the Arabic term for remembrance of Allah, the Most Merciful. It is not restricted to the prayer and worship that we do on our prayer rugs five times a day; it is much more than that.

Zikr can be a sister adorned in her Hijab. Zikr can be a brother with his long beard and cap. Zikr can be remembering to say "Yarhamokullahi" (may Allah have mercy on you) when a fellow Muslim sneezes. Zikr can be kindness towards our family, friends and neighbors. Zikr can be the following of the Sunnah, the example, of Prophet Mohammed, peace and blessings be upon him, because through him we learn the correct way to worship our Creator.

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Abstinence can be a form of Zikr as well, such as abstaining from pork, alcohol, drugs and illicit relations.

Stopping to admire the beauty of nature is a form of Zikr that most people do subconsciously. Allah does not impose on His creatures by asking them to pray to him all day long. Anyone who worships Allah at the prescribed times and remembers Allah before going to sleep, then the entire time he is sleeping he is performing Zikr. This is because he is sleeping with Allah's permission and with the purpose to acquire energy to worship Allah when he awakes.
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Any form of remembering Allah or performing a righteous deed is a form of Zikr and Zikr brings us closer to Allah, which is the ultimate achievement of Muslims. If we are close to Him, we will not go astray.
If we strive to remember Him, He will help us, as this Hadith narrated by Anas in Sahih Bukhari describes: The Prophet said, "Allah says: 'I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e. I am able to do for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if He remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember him in a group that is better than they; and if he comes one span nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cubit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running.' "



What are your thoughts about the above article?

Does Zikr separate Islam from other beliefs or does it bind us together with other faiths who remember and revere our creator?

How do you remember our beloved in your life?

Peace.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. with every breath

as a Sufi shaykh once said, the only sin is forgetting; the only blessing is Rememberance.

As for it being solely an Islamic practice-some in my circle would also count the Aramaic version of the Lord's prayer, especially the first line, as zikr.

I have found it interesting on group retreats that it is often those who are not Sufi initiates nor Muslims who long for zikr the most, wanting to do the singing and chanting over and over again. I take that it is like a starving man finally getting to an inn where he can find food and drink. I know when I attended my first zikr ceremony, I realized I had come home, and testified with joy in my heart.

[tjwmason]

2. Speaking as a Christian this sounds remarkably familiar.

Though we don't have the five daily prayers mandated, Catholics are encouraged to say the Angelus three times per day, and pious custom (rarely taught these days) was to offer each hour to God as it began.

When we say "good bye" to somebody who leaves, this is simply a shortened form of "God be with ye" - or in French adieu is a Dieu (literally "to God"). The English language is littered with examples such as this of old pious practices invoking and remembering God in all one does.

Looking at the article, I would say that Islamic practice of Zikr is like every other part of religion. If one's perspective of religion is one which believes in bringing together all of God's children then one's religious practices will bring one closer to those of other religions who join in the worship of God.