Remembrance Aloud, in Silence and in the Heart

Twelfth: in ṣalāh there is dhikrullāh of two types, jahrī and khafī — two types of dhikr. About dhikr, Abū al-Dardāʾ (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates a particular hadith in which the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: shall I inform you of the best deed in the sight of Allah (swt), the one which fetches the highest form of reward and raises your rank in Jannah above all else — a worship better than spending your wealth on the poor, your gold and dinars, your silver, on the poor; better than going to fight in the heat of war, in jihād, and becoming either a ghāzī or a shahīd; better even than becoming a shahīd? Shall I inform you? They said: yes, O Messenger of Allah. What could be better than jihād, and than giving ṣadaqāt and charity? What could be such a powerful form of worship, the best in the sight of Allah (swt)? The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: it is the dhikr of Allah (swt), the remembrance of Allah (swt).

A Muslim engages on a regular basis in the dhikr of Allah (swt). Dhikr means keeping Allah (swt) fresh in the mind, fresh in the heart, constantly remembering Him. Whatever one is doing — on the bus, at home, cooking, cleaning, wherever one is — the dhikr of Allah (swt) can be made; there are no restrictions. But in ṣalāh, in ṣalāh in particular, two forms of dhikr are made. One is khafī, the silent dhikr, which one alone can hear; the other is jahrī, the loud dhikr, which is also made. Saying Allāhu akbar is dhikr. Saying samiʿa Llāhu li-man ḥamidah; saying as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatullāh, as-salāmu ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatullāh; reciting the Qur'an aloud in the ṣalāh of Maghrib, of Fajr and of ʿIshāʾ, the evening prayers — all these are jahrī dhikr. The Qur'an is pure dhikr, and ḥasanāt are given for it. And at all the other times, the tasbīḥāt that are made — at-taḥiyyātu lillāhi waṣ-ṣalawātu waṭ-ṭayyibāt, rabbanā ātinā, rabbanā ighfir lī, all those duʿāʾs that are read, rabbanā laka l-ḥamd, ḥamdan kathīran ṭayyiban mubārakan fīh — these are all forms of sirrī, khafī dhikr made to Allah (swt).

There is also another form of dhikr within ṣalāh. When one's heart is with the ṣalāh, when there is presence of heart, when there is khushūʿ — when one is thinking of Allah (swt), of the greatness of Allah (swt), of one's own insignificance before Him, in His presence, and of the great honour of the gift given to one in performing the ṣalāh — that is a dhikr made by the heart itself. Made by the heart itself. This is the qalbī dhikr. So there is jahrī, and sirrī or khafī, and qalbī: three forms of dhikr possible within ṣalāh.

Therefore, as the list makes plain, twelve separate ʿibādāt, twelve separate forms of worship, are comprised within ṣalāh itself. Ṣalāh is the highest form of worship of Allah (swt).