Silent Dhikr Is Better

The best dhikr, according to the scholars, is khayr al-dhikr al-khafī: the best remembrance of Allah (swt) is the one made secretly, as in silently — so Imam al-Suyūṭī records in his collection al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr. "Silently" is open to interpretation, and silent dhikr is of two types. One is absolutely hidden: nobody knows except the person and Allah (swt) that the dhikr is being made in the heart. This is free from showing off, riyāʾ; since nobody knows, nobody can be shown — there is no displaying one's heart at its dhikr — and this is the best form. The other is dhikr made while sitting alone, in one's own space with nobody around, with a sound audible only as a whisper; this is still khafī, still regarded as silent dhikr. Whatever dhikr is being made, this is better than the loud dhikr, jahrī, because in loud dhikr Shayṭān can sometimes play games with a person, the lower self, nafs, can play games with him, and he is subjected to the temptation of Shayṭān to show off — to show off his dhikr — which is a danger in itself.

Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī (may Allah be pleased with him), one of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and his Companions were returning from the battle of Khaybar, and when they came to a particular place they raised their voices and began to make loud dhikr — really loud. Those valleys, those places, can be quite awe-inspiring to a person, and sometimes when young men become excited they all shout; in the same way the Companions began to shout takbīrs or some other dhikr. The Prophet (peace be upon him) turned to them and said: O people, come to your senses, come back to yourselves, to your own nafs — for you are not calling upon, remembering, making dhikr of one who is deaf and mute. You are making dhikr of Allah (swt), who is closer to you than your own jugular vein: He is next to you. When a person remembers Allah, He is next to him. Mūsā (peace be upon him) once said: my Lord, I cannot hear You, I cannot see You — where shall I find You, where do You dwell, where is Your residence? And Allah (swt) said to Mūsā: I am with the one who remembers Me, always. So when a person remembers Allah (swt), Allah is with him. The best form of dhikr is lā ilāha illallāh, and the best form of thankfulness, the best duʿāʾ, is al-ḥamdu lillāh.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) says further that when saying the words lā ilāha illallāh, one must make an exaggeration, mubālaghah, of the lengthening, the madd, of the lā: lāāā ilāha illallāh. Those who first hear this from the masters — it is said ten times before dhikr is begun in a group — may find it charming, and wonder whether there is any evidence for it in the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) — anything the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) actually says about it. There is: the Prophet (peace be upon him) commands it, and the reference is at hand. He says that whoever elongates, makes madd of, the lā in lā ilāha illallāh ten times, Allah (swt) will forgive four thousand of his sins — four thousand of his sins, for the dhikr of Allah (swt).