Mentioned by Name

If a person is in the habit of making dhikr, whom is he remembering? Of whom is he making dhikr? Think. Of the only Being: lā mawjūda illā hū, lā maqṣūda illā hū, lā maʿbūda illā hū, lā ilāha illā hū — Allah (swt). He is mentioning Him. There is one incident that never fails to send a shiver down the spine. Jibrīl the Trustworthy came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: O Muḥammad, you must go to Ubayy ibn Kaʿb and let your pronunciation in the recitation of the Qur'an be tested by him, because his eloquence, his faṣāḥah, is really clear.^** So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to him and said: O Ubayy, come; Allah (swt) has sent me to you for you to check my pronunciation. Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him), his eyes swelling, began to weep, and said: O Messenger of Allah, did Allah (swt), our Lord, the Creator of the universe, mention me by my name? Mention Ubayy ibn Kaʿb — me, the most insignificant being in the universe? Mention me? He said: yes. Yes.

People do not realise it, but each time a person says lā ilāha illallāh the angels are writing it; Allah is noticing it; Allah is seeing it. How could anybody argue against the dhikr of Allah (swt)? How could anybody argue — unless he has lost his mental capacity, unless he is retarded, unless he is really gone and has rocks in his head. Worse still is to make fun of the people who make dhikr, and mock them. There is no restriction on dhikr: how much is made, and how it is made — there are no restrictions. It is made in any state, even while lying down:

The three possible positions of a human being — standing, sitting, lying down — constantly in the remembrance of Allah (swt). This is a duty, an obligation, a farḍ upon farḍ: after tawḥīd, to be in the constant remembrance of Allah (swt). Hearts will never find tranquillity and peace except with the remembrance of Allah (swt):

The heart here is not the piece of flesh pumping blood in the chest; that is the physical heart. There is the centre of intelligence, the spiritual heart, which Allah looks at. The one infested with cholesterol, the one that gets bypassed, is the physical heart; whoever does not look after it, and abuses it, suffers the consequences in old age. The spiritual heart, if it is neglected and not fed through dhikrullāh, will bring trouble as well.