Was passing by an eating joint on the way home and overheard the 6 finalists of American Idol singing in unison through the large television set, of which a line from the chorus struck me: "When you get to the top of the mountain, remember me"
I was really not familiar with the name of the song, but coincidentally, I was earlier preparing my Tawhid notes for my class tomorrow night and used this beautiful verse of the Qur'an in one of the slides:
“Therefore, remember Me and I will remember you. Be grateful to Me and reject not Faith” … al-Baqarah 2:152
We all have heard this verse before and would probably have memorised it and possible claimed to have complied with it. But my question is: what constitutes "remembrance" and "gratefulness"? What do we need to do to be considered as one who "remembers" God?
And it made me think of other connecting life issues.
Do not forget the contributions made by ancient phantoms (our old primary school teachers who taught us our foundational knowledge and skills that we use which makes us graduates, our first friend that warmly welcomed us to play with them during recess, our friend whose name we even forgot who helped us dig our first trench overnight during our national service, or our colleague who took over our presentation because we were on MC on that day etc) in our lives that made us what we are now.
It is precisely the people in our past who have touched our lives that made us the success story that we are now - more than the people whom we meet today.
Then, those people whom we meet today will in due time also join the ranks of our ancient phantoms in our life who has shaped us and empowered us to move forward to enable us to create our legacies.
And it goes on and on ...
So, what is "remembrance"? Lip service is so convenient.
10 comments:
remembering Allah... it is very simple, yet the most difficult action to assimilate in my everyday life. if i consider that performing the solat 5x a day is remembering Allah, it goes back to the intention of doing it - just obligatory action or do i do it sincerely in remembering Allah. many times i forget to say Alhamdullilah to whatever i get, good or bad.
i certainly hope, with Allah's help, He will make it easy for me to remember HIM, so that He will remember me.
Salam,
In the bigger picture, it is indeed a blessed circular scheme of things.
As I mentioned in class tonight, every ibadah that we perform actually has a profound connection to always lead us to return to where we began: Paradise, yet we never see things that way.
Waking up to pray fajar prayers for example, requires Faith, and irrespective of what we do the day/night before, once we perform that obligation through this ibadah, we are returned to fitrah, consciously or otherwise. In the case of prayer, it is our shahadah.
SubhanAllah!
Salam,
Dear thehoopoe,
In this post, I take it that you are expanding the idea of "remembrance" as "remembering" instead of using the original of which, it is "zikr" - therefore, remembrance at all levels,
" Allatheena yathkuroona Allaha qiyaman waquAAoodan waAAala junoobihim wayatafakkaroona fee khalqi alssamawati waalardi rabbana ma khalaqta hatha batilan subhanaka faqina AAathaba alnnari"
ali-Imran: 191
"Men who perform zikr of Allah, standing, sitting, and lying down on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth, (With the thought): "Our Lord! not for naught Hast Thou created (all) this! Glory to Thee! Give us salvation from the penalty of the Fire."
What is your view on this?
Wallahu a'alam...
Wassalam.
It is true that remembering Allah may seem to be the simplest of things but at the same time complex. How often do we say 'subhanallah, masha allah or alhamdulillah' and actually mean it? How often do we thank our creator who has given us everything that we have asked for and have not asked for. We have to be thankful and keep in mind that no amount of thankful words would equate to his graciousness.
assalamualaikum,
i stumbled upon your blog a few weeks ago and have been an avid reader since then.
you must be wondering why i'm commenting on your blog. well, my purpose is this...
i'm attracted to your entry entitled 'on teaching'. would it be allright if i copy that entry and paste it in one of my blog entries?
Salam,
The surah of 'ali-Imran which the "wondering shy one" have just recited is indeed a profound verse regarding 'remembrance'.
In that verse, Allah mentioned of men remembering Allah and His Creations by 3 positions: standing, sitting and lying down. The question is: why did Allah mentioned these positions?
I would think that these are the only 3 basic positions that a man engage in his daily life: he is either standing or walking, sitting or squatting and at the end of the day, he rests lying down.
This only means that we must remember Allah at all these 3 positions which we adopt - and beyond - because we are always engaged in either of these positions at any one point in time, and to prove the point further: either dead or alive. Hence, that remembrance that Allah was talking about in this verse really meant: remembering Him 24-hrs a day as we are always in either position.
Then the verse addressed the question posed by "yashila". The verse commands us to be in that state of remembrance 24-hrs a day, but how?
In my main entry, I alluded to the fact that we mostly fall victim of "mere remembrance", ie, we remember Allah, but as a lip service sometimes. That remembrance sometimes does not translate into an action of one who is faced with the Reality of Allah 'watching' him/her 24-hrs a day too! In any case, it should not be mere knowing/remembering that Allah is there. That remembrance must translate into a positive action, for example: a smile or some acts of kindness as Allah has been Kind to us, despite our misgivings.
How? The verse urge us to contemplate, to think of Allah's creations on earth in those positions. I would say that this contemplation should reach the level that whatever and whoever we see, we see through that thing/person, of Allah's works.
As Sayyidina Ali (kw) used to say: “I never saw a thing but I saw Allah, the Almighty before it, after it and along with it”
His love for Allah, the Almighty so occupied his heart that he ‘sees’ Allah in everything he did. Even when he saw another person, he ‘saw’ Allah. When he looked at Allah’s Bounty, he remembered Allah. This bond was always present before his eyes and he never allowed anything to distract his attention from Allah.
The last point in this long reply is this: after the "how", then "how much"?
This is easily answered by the following verses: surah al-Ahzab 33:41-43 as follows:
"O ye who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance. And glorify Him morning and evening. He it is Who sends blessings on you, as do His angels, that He may bring you out from the depths of Darkness into Light: and He is Full of Mercy to the Believers"
Thank you for your inputs and comments.
Wallahu'a'alam.
Just to add another point after reading surah al-Ahzab: that remembrance of Allah that we are commanded to, at the end of the day, do not benefit Allah an iota whether we abide by it or not - or He is beyond any needs.
Instead, if we do, that remembrance makes our path towards him more brighter, clearer, easier and smoother. The benefit of submission and remembrance, is no one but ours alone.
SubhanAllah! Can this be an egoistic god as some have claimed?
Astaghfirullah!
Wallahu'a'lam.
Wa'alaikum salam wrb "anonymous",
I do not have the copyright to the entry I made on "friendship". As quoted thereat, it was an extract from a book entitled "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran.
As such, you are free to post it in your blog. However, as a sign of respect to the author, his name and the title of his work should be indicated.
Thank you so much for asking :-) Do I get the benefit of reading your Blog too? I am sure I can benefit from it, insya-Allah.
Wallahu'a'alam.
Salam,
thank you very much.
I ask because I like to read your writings, inshaAllah... before I get caught up in work again and have no time...
I understand where you stand in terms of remembrance and lip service. But may I still ask for your thoughts on remembrance as "zikr"?
Wallahu a'alam.
Wassalam.
Salam,
I am not exactly sure the meaning of your question, but you are right when you said, "I take it that you are expanding the idea of "remembrance" as "remembering" instead of using the original of which, it is "zikr" - therefore, remembrance at all levels".
There are various types of zikr or remembrance of Allah, and one is open to approach it as suits oneself or the manner which is most comfortable to oneself. The objective is that it brings one to a state of ever-consciousness of Allah.
The main 3 methods of reaching the state of zikr are: (1) through prayers, (2) by reading the Qur'an and (3) sitting in circles of zikr.
One begins by employing one of the method where one is most comfortable with and in the process eventually, such remembrance is achieved irrespective of either methods or a combination of the different methods - depending on each individual.
I think there is no right or wrong combination of the 3 methods mentioned above as each individual is made differently from another. Hence, you may find a friend who finds nearness to Allah through his daily tahajjud prayers, whilst another reads and memorise the Qur'an on a daily basis, and yet another prefers the halaqah of zikr on Thursday nights. Each category has the same noble purpose.
At this point, it may be useful to remember the analogy of reaching Orchard Road - irrespective of what mode of transportation is chosen.
Wallahu'a'alam.
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