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Strengthen the bond with your Creator this Ramadan

Allah the Most High orders us to do ‘zikr’ (remembering Allah) and to do a lot of it. Many verses in the Quran and many sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) mention the importance of zikr.

What is zikr? Zikr is every saying, action, and thinking that makes us remember our Lord and everything that stops us from forgetting Him. Therefore, zikr in general covers all these things.

In a hadith reported by Imam Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet says, Allah, the Creator, said, ‘I treat my servant according to his expectations from Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I remember him in Myself; if he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a better and nobler gathering.’

Imam Muslim related that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘The Muffarridoune are ahead (will be rewarded more and first). The companions then said, "Oh messenger of Allah! Who are the Muffarridoune?" Then the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Men and Women who remember Allah a lot."’

To emphasise the importance of zikr in the faithful’s life, the Prophet (peace be upon him) compared the one who remembers Allah as the living one and the one who forgets Allah as the dead one. Imam Bukhari reported that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said, ‘Who remembers Allah, the Glorious, and who does not, are as different as one who is alive from who is dead’.

Zikr being the best of all good deeds was practised by the Prophet (peace be upon him) all the time. This is because Allah the Almighty forgives and also offers a high reward for those who remember Him a lot. The Lord says, ‘And the men and the women who remember Allah much, Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and great reward.’ (Quran, 33:35)

Dear readers, this holy month of Ramadan is a month of cleansing. It purifies the soul and also acts as a month of accountability. It is a month in which we realise the importance of remembering Allah. This Ramadan, we should seize the opportunity to remember Allah, for remembering Him leads to thanking Him for all his bounties. Thanking Allah this month, will help us to draw closer to Him and to perfect our bond with Him. May He accept our deeds this month and not make us from those who forget Him. And do not be like those who forgot Allah and He caused them to forget their own selves, those are the fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah). (Quran, 15:19)

Another warning reads, And whosoever turns away from the remembrance of the Most Beneficent (Allah), We appoint for him Satan (devil) to be a Qarin (an intimate companion) to him. And verily, they (Satans/devils) hinder them from the path (of Allah), but they think that they are guided aright! (Quran, Zukhrouf, Verses 36 and 37)

Zikr of Allah has a very important impact on our education and behaviour. The one who remembers Allah finds that his heart becomes softer, his mind flexible and open to guidance of Allah, and is able to avoid what is forbidden.

Has not the time come for the hearts of those who believe, to be affected by Allah’s zikr, and that which has been revealed of the truth, lest they become as those who received the scripture before and the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened? And many of them were Fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah). — (Quran, 57:16)