Zikr-e-Ruhi

Zikr-e-Ruhi

لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ  افضل الذکر

Focus a little on and asked yourself, “After all, who were those dead bodies that Sayyedna Gause Paak (Radi Allahu anhu) and other saints brought back to life?” If all these saints had truly and physically brought these dead bodies back to life, then this miracle can be a proof of saint’s trueness. But the dead will get no benefit, because they have moved ahead from the beliefs that Allah exists but can’t be seen; to believe in something after seeing it is one matter, but to first believe in that thing and then see it is another. The saints, themselves, are a sea of auspiciousness; those whom the saints make alive turn from mortals to immortals; who can kill them? This sort of miracle is called ‘Karamat-e-maanwiya’ ; and a miraculous re-birth bestowed by a saint is called ‘Wiladat-e-saaniya’. Every saint has the powers to make the miracles mentioned above. A man is identified as dead or alive by his breath, as the Prophet(Salla Allahu 'alayh wasalam) said,

اَلْاَنْفَاسُ مَعْدُوْدَاتٌ وَکُلُّ نَفْسٍ یَخْرُجُ بِغَیْرِ ذِکْرٍ اللّٰہِ فَھُوَمَیِّتٌ

Translation:- Every man’s breaths are pre-counted; those breaths that come out of him without remembering Allah (لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ) are dead breaths.

It is written in a ‘hadith’, that

مَثَلُ الَّذِیْ یَذْکُرُ اللّٰہَ وَالَّذِیْ لاَیَذکُرُ اللّٰہَ مَثَلُ الْحَیِّ وَالَمَیِّت

Translation:- A person who remembers Allah, and a person who doesn’t, are examples of the alive, and the dead.

This means that a remember of Allah, and a person that is ignorant of Him are the alive and the dead. Whereas there is no shortage of people who remember Allah merely verbally, there are indeed some benefits of remembering Him only by mouth. For example a person who remembers Allah only by mouth is free of useless talks. But the heart is not affected by this. And there is no observation of Allah’s Light. The witnessing of Allah is possible only when your heart is purified. As the Prophet (Salla Allahu 'alayh wasalam) says,

اِنَّ لِکُلِّ شَیْءٍ صِقَالاً وَصِقَالاَ الْقَلْبُ ذِکْرُ اللّٰہِ تَعَالیٰ

Translation:- Doubtlessly, for the cleaning of everything, there is another thing thus, the way to purify your heart is to remember Allah.

In the ‘hadith’ the remembrance of Allah is mentioned as the way of purifying your heart; because, every worship is a true worship only when it is performed with your love and your heart. Your love depends on the purification of your heart; due to this, the ‘Sufiya Ikram’ have said that, in this ‘hadith’, the remembrance of Him relates to your heart, and not your mouth.

وَ لَا تُطِعْ مَنْ اَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَہٗ عَنۡ ذِکْرِنَا

Translation:And obey not him whose heart We have made neglectful of Our remembrance (Surah Kahaf18- Aayat 28)

          There is a proof in this ‘ayat’ that you should not follow them whose hearts are ignorant of Allah’s remembering. In another words you can understand that you should follow them whose hearts are filled with Allah’s remembrance. This is the biggest proof of remembrance from the heart.

Logical Proof:-

          A mother never says to her child, “Son my tongue remembers you a lot.” The mother always tells that “Dear child my heart remembers you so much.” By this, you can come to know that the heart is a remembering-point in human-body. Whereas, your tongue only expresses it.

Your heart is the ruler of the kingdom of your body; your heart controls all your internal and external organs (your limbs). The man whom your heart knows, all your body-parts are connected with him.

اِنَّ فِیْ جَسَدِابْنِ اٰدَمَ لَمُضْاَ فَۃًاِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الْجَسَدُ کُلَّہٗ وَاِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسِدُ کُلّہٗ ، اَلَا وَھِیَ الْقَلْبُ

Translation:- Without any doubt, there is the piece of a meat in a person’s body; when this meat is fine, the person is fine; when it ails, the entire body also becomes ill. Listen the piece of meat is your heart. (Bukhari Sharif)

Still today the saints of Salasul-e-Quadriya, Aaliya, khulfaiyya make their followers perform, with certified heart with ‘Laa Ilaaha Illallahu Mohammadur Rasoollullahe’ in such a way that their hearts-beats give evidence of ‘Tauhid-w-Risalat.’ This is the greatness of the remembrance with the hearts that, till now the thousands of followers of the silasul are rememberer (Zaakir), even if in their a   sleep.

Prophet Mohammad (Salla Allahu 'alayh wasalam) said,

تَنَامُ عَیْنا وَلاَ یَنَامُ قَلْبِی

Translation:- Only my eyes sleep, not my heart. (Musnad Abu Dawood)

Remember:-  When your remembrance of Allah is from your heart, it is your first step towards having a peaceful soul and to remember Him from your sprit (Zikr-e-Ruhi) is the door way to your acquiring a peaceful soul; and the ‘Zikr-e-Sirri’, which cannot be expressed in words, and in whose context only this can be told that this type of remembrance start from a hidden point (Mukaam-e-Akhfa), because of which there is always a divine intoxication in your eyes.

A mentor is like a spritual farmer who gives water and fertilizer of internal power to the lifeless soil of your heart. And then, such a mentor moves the yoke of the  

‘Zikr-e-Ruhi (لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ). Owing to this kind of special care, the barren soil of your heart blossoms in a few days.

Allah says,

وَاذْکُرۡ رَّبَّکَ فِیۡ نَفْسِکَ تَضَرُّعًا وَّ خِیۡفَۃً وَّدُوۡنَ الْجَہۡرِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالۡاٰصَالِ وَلَا تَکُنۡ مِّنَ الْغٰفِلِیۡنَ ﴿۲۰۵﴾

Translation:And remember your Lord within yourself, humbly and fearfully, and without uttering a voice from the tongue, morning and evening and be not you amongst heedless.

(Surah AYERAF 7- Aayat 205)

Those who object to the ‘Sufiya ikram’ (saint) should read what Allah has said, to decide by themselves on whether or not the principles of remembering Allah with your heart and sprit, and the ‘Zikr-e-Khafi’, as laid down by the ‘Sufiya Ikram’, are in accordance with the ‘Kitaab-o-sunnat’.

             There is a narrative in Musnad Abul Aili from Hazrat Ayesha Siddiqa

(Radi Allahu anhu) that the Prophet(Salla Allahu 'alayh wasalam)  had said that your Zikr-e-khafi; which cannot be heard by even the angels, is seventy-times stronger. On the day of judgment, when Allah will make all His creations assemble together, ‘Karaman Kaatebin’ (Angels who write your good and bad actions) will give the records of the deeds and the misdeeds of all the creations to Allah. Then there will be a voice that will ask the angels, “check the all actions of that man; have you prepared the records of that person in a proper way? The angels will reply that they have missed nothing; at this point, Allah will tell the angels that He knows a good deed that is not in their knowledge, that is the ‘zikre-khafi’.

In a ‘shoeb’ Behki has copied this ‘hadith’ from Sayyada Ayesha Siddiqa; (Radi Allahu anhu)  the remembrance mentioned by her cannot be heard by even the angels; this kind of remembrance is seventy-times-more-powerful than any remembrance that the angels can hear.

میانِ عاشق و معشوق رمزیست

کراماً کا تبین راہم خبر نیست

 Translation: - There is a secret between a follower and Allah that even the ‘karaman kaatebin’ don’t know about it.

It is mentioned in the ‘hadith’.

کل دم حاضرۃ من ذکر الخفی فھو مومن ۔کل دم غافلۃ من الذکرالخفی فھو میتلم یودالفرض الدائم لن یقبل الہ فرص الوقت۔

Translation:- He whose breaths have the zikr-e-khafi is a ‘momin’; a person whose breath has no ‘zikr-e-khafi’ is ignorant.   

(Fazail telegh pg 20 Shaikhul Hadees Maulwi Mohd Zikariya Saheb)

Sultan Bahu R.A says that to learn about the problem of a ‘fiqaa’ is equivalent to one year’s worship. When you remember Allah in your one breath. It is greater than the rewards of the worship of thousand years, because to study the ‘Shariyat’, and recite the Quran are external-worships. To compensate for them is possible, but the compensation of lost timing is not. (Aainul Faqar- P-12)

فَاذْکُرُوا اللہَ قِیٰمًا وَّقُعُوۡدًا وَّعَلٰی جُنُوۡبِکُمْ ۚ

 Translation: remember Allah, standing, sitting and lying or your sides

(Surah Nisa 4- Aayat 103)

             Hazrat Ibne Abbas (Radi Allahu anhu)  said that Allah has limits on the number of holy activities that you can make, except for your remembrances of Him.

There is a saying by Prophet Mohammed (Salla Allahu 'alayh wasalam)   that,

لم یودالفرض الدائم لن یقبل الہ فرص الوقت۔

Translation:- Allah refuses to accept the short term duty of a person who cannot continuosly perform his duties.

The temporary duties are ‘Namaz’, ‘Roza’, ‘Haj’, and ‘Zakaat’.

The permanent duty is ‘La Ilaaha Illahu Mohammadur rasool lullahe’. A person who remembers Allah should never be ignorant of this permanent duty or the

 ‘Kalma Tayyeb’. لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ

    Shaikhul Islam Hazat Khwaja Qutbuddin Mudud Chishti RA Says:-

مزن بے یادِ مولیٰ یک نفس را

اگر  در صو   معدیا    کشتی

In your every inhalation and exhalation, you should remember Him, so that, with the help of this permanent remembrance, your heart becomes alive; 

as is written in the ‘hadith’.

لِکُلِّ شَیْءٍ مُصْقِلَۃُ وَمُصْقِلَۃ الْقَلْبِ ذِکْرُ اللّٰہِ ۔

Translation:- Doubtlessly, for the cleaning of everything, there is another thing thus, the way to purify your heart is to remember Allah.

There are some saints whose tongues are silent but whose hearts are busy in remebring Allah all the time; and whose ears can hear their loving remembrances. (Muftahul Aashiqen, 4^th Majlis)

              Hazrat Khwaja Nasiruddin R.A says :-

that a real life is one that is spent in remembering Allah; any other way of life is equivalent to a death.

غافل زاحتیاطِ نفس یک نفس مباش

شاید ہمیں نفس نفسِ واپسیں بود

Translation:- O ignorant person, don’t be ignorant of Allah in your next inhalation, for it could be your last one.

               Hazrat Sultan Bahu R.A says :-

 that you should remember that a person who always keeps ‘rozas’, performes the ‘namaz’, gives ‘zakats’, and who recities the Quran day-and-night, but doesn’t recite the ‘kalma tayyeb’, or who deviates from or revolts against the ‘kalma tayyeb’ is definitely not a muslim; none of his worships is acceptable, just as the worship performed by the ‘kafirs’, the ‘Ahle biddats’, and ‘Istadrajs’ is meaningless, because in the ‘hadtih’ the biggest remembrance of Him is the ‘Kalma Tayyeb’. 

لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ  افضل الذکر

Your worship is dependent on the ‘kalma tayyeb’,and those who recite it with their hearts and sprits are independent; if you don’t investigate into or cross-check your, beliefs, then, remembrance of the Kalma tayyeb is not given to you. If your are like this, you cannot be called as a ‘momin’ or a muslim.

              Now, you should know the thing with which you can make a heart-felt investigation. To achieve a successful investigation, you should remember Allah with your heart. To be able to remember Him in your heart should be obtained from a mentor whose speciality is this.

یُحْیِ القَلَبْ وَ یمِیتُ النَّفْس

(Along with this, he should kill your soul and makes your heart alive) in the same way as tongue is a part your body, this is the condition of a heart. Your heart is a part of your body-parts. In the same way as your tongue reads the “Kalma tayyeb” loudly, similarly, your heart says with the same voice,

لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ

‘La Ilaaha Illahu Mohammadur rasool lullahe’ and hears it with its ears

                 It is present in the “Shamsul Aarefin” that, in a human body, there are two types of breaths, i.e., one that goes in, and another that goes out. On all these breaths of a human being, two angers have been kept. When you inhale, an angel asks Allah whether that inhaled breath should be suppressed inside, or exhaled. When you exhale, the other angel asks Allah whether or not you should be allowed to inhale. Every inhalation, or exhalation, that is made while remembering Allah enters His court with a shining face, to become a pearl that is priceless more than the universe. Therefore, the saints call Allah a treasure.

(Shamsul Aarefin chapter 2 Pg 11-12)

                 Hazrat Sultan Bahu R.A has copied a ‘hadith’ in his book

(called ‘Muhakkul-fuqra’).

Whenever you chant 

لَااِلٰہَ اِلّااللّٰہُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُوْلُ اللّٰہ

‘La Ilaaha Illahu Mohammadur rasool lullahe’, a green bird is produced from your breath. Its wings are made of pearls and become stronger. This bird goes under the seventh heaven (Arsh) and trembles.

              Allah tells the above bird to calm down. The bird replies, “Why should I calm down? Why do you not forgive this person who recited the ‘kalma’ then Allah says, “okay, I forgive him”.                  (Mohkkul-fuqra pg307)

               In another place, it is mentioned that the ‘Kalma tayyeb’ is very effective and powerful. Here, you have accepted the ‘kalma’ with your tongue; there, your investigation of the ‘kalma’ with the help of your heart starts. When your investigation of the ‘Kalma Tayyeb’ is perfect, then Kalma’s effect spreads throughout your body; the soul becomes mortal; at this juncture, your heart and your sprit meet each other spiritually, but on the condition that Allah should favour and allows this to happen. At that time you reached at the stage of sainthood like Hazrat Rabiya Basri (Radi Allahu anhu)  and Hazrat Sultan Bayazeed (Radi Allahu anhu)  .   (Mohakkul Fuqra pg 91)

              Hazrat Shah Wali Allah Muhaddis Dahelvi (Radi Allahu anhu)  , in his book (called Alkaulul jamil pg 85) copied from his father that he would recite the kalma two-hundred-times in one breath, initially.

پس ازسی سال ایں معنی محقق شدبہ خاقانی
کہ ایک دم باخدا بودن بہ ازملک سلیمانی

Translation: After thirty-years of hard work, Khakani R.A experienced the opening of the secret that to chant the name of Allah in one breath is better than to live under the rule of Hazrat Suleman Ale Slam.

The saints, who monitor there every breath, cannot tolerate a moment of their own ignorance; they keep very watchful eyes on their breaths.

              Hazrat Ba yazeed Bustami (Radi Allahu anhu)  

says that women’s conditions are better than men’s because, every month, they (the women) bathe to get rid of impurities to become purified; but men don’t have it in their whole life to have such purifying baths. “Allahu Akbar”, and he said that, if he chanted the ‘Kalma’ excellently even once in his lifetime, he would never be afraid of anyone or anything.

اَلَمْ یَاۡنِ لِلَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡۤا اَنۡ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوۡبُہُمْ لِذِکْرِ اللہِ

Translation: Has not the time arrived for the believers that their hearts should lean for the remembrance of Allah

(Surah HADID 57- Aayat 16)