This is the first article in a series entitled “Under the Throne of Allah: Dua and Dhikr.”
Allah says, “When My servant asks you about Me, I am near.” Truly, Allah (SWT) is near, but how close to Him do we truly feel? How often do we remember Him?
We are told dhikr nourishes our soul and dua is the heart’s softest whisper that Allah hears even before our lips move. But how can we feel this closeness and sweetness of faith again and again?
Knowing ourselves, our fitra, and attaining iman’s sweetness begins with knowing and loving Allah (SWT). In doing this, we constantly calibrate our hearts back to Him who is the most gentle, the One who grants us serenity, tranquility, and peace. In talking with Him, we want to ensure our focus is on attaining His pleasure, worshiping Him in the best of manners, and remembering Him often.
However, in this modern age, our everyday lives are filled with distractions, making it difficult to always remember Allah (SWT). Nevertheless, the best thing we can do is to remember Allah (SWT) as much as we can because that is what our heart wants.
In the Quran, Allah refers to a covenant in which He made all souls witness to His Lordship. Allah (SWT) asks humanity, “Am I not your Lord?” and they responded, “Yes, we do testify.” (Quran 7:172) In this verse, “they” refers to us; us who testify to the Oneness of our Lord. As His creations, our hearts are endowed with this concept, the understanding that Allah is one, to Him we belong and to Him we return. It is reaffirming this connection that our hearts want, to remember Allah and always be in that remembrance.
Dikr is also a means of achieving this remembrance. It is not just what happens when we recite “Subhanallah, alhamdulilah and Allahu akbar” 33 times as we count on our fingers; rather it is anything that reminds us of Allah, be it making dua and remembering Him by His names, or calling unto Him by His characteristics
In His book, Allah says: “We are closer to him than his jugular vein” (Quran 50:16)
Why does Allah (SWT) mention this particular body part when describing His relationship to His creation? In humans, the jugular vein provides blood flow throughout our entire body, giving us life. Calling upon this visual is a beautiful metaphor for describing Allah’s closeness, and this is how close we should want to be to Him, as well. This closeness also brings spiritual benefits. For instance, when making dua, we are baring our heart in front of Him and nourishing our soul. Allah says, “Indeed, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.” (Quran 13:28). Through His remembrance, our hearts find peace, ease, calmness in a world of chaos and turmoil.
Dua acts as one of the most beautiful forms of dhikr, an act of remembering Allah (SWT) and, with humility, asking of Him what we need even though He already knows the contents of our hearts. This is the point: To know and remember that He is the Lord Almighty and we are nothing without Him, His mercy and His love.
When making dua, remember Allah (SWT) knows and hears everything, so is He not the best to call out to? Is He not the best one to ask for love? So, focus on this most important relationship which will allow other relationships to fall wonderfully into place.
Our hands want to raise up to Him.
Our souls want to be with Him.
Our hearts want to remember Him.
