The Best Forms Of Dhikr In Ramadan

"The Best Forms Of Dhikr In Ramadan"

Khutbah by Dr. Omar Suleiman

Introduction: Every Moment is Precious

Dear brothers and sisters, as we have entered now into the month of Ramadan, every moment in Ramadan is an opportunity. Every moment is an opportunity for you to say a word of dhikr, to say subhanallah, alhamdulillah, la ilaha illallah, or allahu akbar, or whatever it is, or a moment, wa al-iaadu billah, to sin, which is the worst thing that you could do with a moment in Ramadan, or a moment that could go to waste. And every single moment is so precious that you want to make sure that you're using your time best.

The Confusion: Which Dhikr is Best?

And subhanallah, when you're talking about the aspect of dhikr, what is the best form of dhikr in Ramadan? What's the best form of remembrance of Allah in Ramadan? When you look through the entire body of a hadith from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on dhikr, sometimes when you read about the virtues of one statement of dhikr, maybe you would think that that's the only dhikr that you should be saying.

Like if you read about fadhal al-istighfar, for example, the virtues of seeking forgiveness from Allah, you would say, I should be doing nothing but saying astaghfirullah all the time.

Or one of the various iterations of seeking forgiveness from Allah. So, my Lord, forgive me and have mercy on me, accept my repentance, all of these different iterations of istighfar, seeking forgiveness.

And then you'll find the hadith where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is receiving advice from Ibrahim عليه السلام about the seeds of the soil of paradise.

And then you find the hadith where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says that there are two phrases that are beloved to Ar-Rahman, light on the tongue, heavy on the scales:

Tasbeeh, the glorification of Allah.

And then you find the hadith where the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"The most beloved, the best of all remembrance is la ilaha illallah. Keep your tongue moist with la ilaha illallah."

And then you find hadith Ubay in Kab رضي الله عنه where he asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم how much of his dua should be dedicated to salawat, sending peace and blessings on the beloved صلى الله عليه وسلم. And it could take up all of your dua and that would be sufficient صلى الله عليه وسلم . And we know that it's the day of Friday, the most beloved day of sending salawat on the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم. So I probably just confused you further.

All of these ahadith, you read them and you say that's the one. Or:

"Your Lord loves praise." So just say Alhamdulillah over and over again, right? So subhanAllah, it's every single chapter, you find these adhkar and you say they're amazing.

The Wisdom of the Scholars: Garment Analogy

And which one should I prioritize? And then you find statements from the pious predecessors. And all of this is an introduction to the question, by the way. The statements of the pious predecessors like al-Fudayl and Ibn Taymiyyah رحمهما الله when they were asked about prioritizing, seeking forgiveness over glorifying Allah, istighfar over tasbih.

And the example that they gave was that if you have a garment and it is stained, then you don't embellish the garment before cleaning the stain. So istighfar cleans the stain. Tasbih, saying subhanAllah are the buttons on the garment, are the embellishments on the garment.

And so they prioritize istighfar over tasbih. But they never neglected tasbih. Where does that leave us in Ramadan? Where as the Imam Az-Zuhri رحمه الله narrates, one subhanAllah in Ramadan is a thousand times subhanAllah outside of Ramadan.

This month in which the mercy from Allah is descending upon us constantly. And this is where you find some of the scholars start to give some beautiful insights.

First Principle: Quran is the Best Dhikr

Number one, the best form of remembrance is Quran. And the best way to read the Quran is in prayer. The best form of remembrance is Quran. It is khayru dhikr. It is the best form of remembrance. So as you are reciting your Quran throughout the day, it's a part of your dhikr. It's a part of your remembrance of Allah.

And the best way to recite the Quran is in your prayer. Why? Because in your two rak'ahs of qiyam al-layl, you will combine all of the adhkar just to have a proper prayer. You'll have takbir, you'll have tasbih, you'll have istighfar, you'll have salawat.

So just two rak'ahs with the Quran in it combines all of the best forms of dhikr. And that's the mercy of Allah that all of the best forms of remembrance are combined in Salah. And then the Quran:

The Quran that is

, a reminder to the worlds, as well as a book that is full of the reminders and the remembrance of Allah.

Learning from the Prophet's Prayer Pattern

You recite it at all times, and you have that intention. And they said we can take insights from two things. Number one, look at the way the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم's prayer was.

Can you recite Quran in sujood? No. You can't recite Quran in your prostration. There were some nights that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would stand in his qiyam al-layl, and he would read Quran for so long you would think he was never going in ruku' or sujood.

And there were some nights that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم went into sajdah, into prostration, where all you do is make dua and remember Allah. You don't read Quran in your sajdah, in your prostration, to where if you would have saw him صلى الله عليه وسلم you would have thought he died in his sujood. Can you imagine that sight? You see him in his sajdah, and you think he must be dead عليه الصلاة والسلام because he's not getting up from his sajdah.

Umm Salama narrates two hadith. She said the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would spend a night with one ayah of the Quran. One ayah, and then he would spend other nights صلى الله عليه وسلم, and it was as if he was going to recite the whole Quran in his qiyam, in his standing up.

Flexibility in Dhikr Based on Heart's Presence

And so when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would stand, he would read Quran, and he would bring with his Quran dua to Allah, in remembrance of Allah. And when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would make sujood, then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would focus entirely on dhikr and dua. And so the ulama say, what we see from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is engage yourself between that which is the Quran, the recitation, and that which you would say to Allah in your sujood.

And we have flexibility in it. The point is don't miss a moment. The point is engage in one of those two things. And the fact that if you saw the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم on a particular night, you didn't know which one he was going to be in longer than the other, is a sign for us. That you know what, one night, you might go into sujood, and you have your khatm to finish, but you're going into sujood, and you want to finish your recitation of the Quran, but as you got into your sujood, you started to make dua to Allah, and you were immersed in your dua, keep going, don't get up. Keep going, continue to remember Allah.

One day you might finish your wird, your allocated times of how much you're going to do tasbeeh. Say subhanAllah, but you're looking around, and you're saying subhanAllah, subhanAllah, and your heart is present. It's better to go an extra 10 tasbeeh, and delay the next thing that you're going to do, because your heart is in that tasbeeh.

And so the best dhikr, is the dhikr that coincides with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم's dhikr, that is diversified, that your heart is most present in. That's the first thing.

Second Principle: Ramadan Amplifies Regular Dhikr

The second thing, the best dhikr outside of Ramadan, is the best dhikr inside of Ramadan. Meaning, the reward for your morning remembrance, and evening remembrance in Ramadan, is even greater than what it would be outside of Ramadan. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would not pause, the morning adhkar and the evening adhkar. The things he would say in the morning, and the things he would say in the evening after asr, because Ramadan came around.

If anything, they are greater at that time, and that is the best time to learn the habits of those things. Okay, so to really bring them into your life, and to not let go of those things. That would be like a person, who focuses on praying taraweeh, and then they forget all of the other sunnah.

Okay, the sunnah that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would not forget to pray outside of Ramadan, or inside of Ramadan. May Allah enable us upon them. Allahumma ameen.

Third Principle: Seasonal Themes

And the third thing, and this is something that is really powerful to pay attention to, with what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave us, of the best du'as and the best seasons. The best 10 days of the year, are the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah. The best 10 nights of the year, are the last 10 nights of Ramadan.

The best of the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah, is the day of Arafah. And the best of the last 10 nights of Ramadan, is Laylatul Qadr. Right? In the first 10 days of Dhul-Hijjah, the day of Arafah, may Allah call us back to Arafah.

Allahumma ameen. On Arafah, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"The best of what I and the Prophets that have came before me have said, because all of the Prophets observed the day of Arafah, was: La ilaha illallah, wahdahu la sharika lah, lahul mulk wa lahul hamd, wahuwa ala kulli shay'in qadeer."

Praising the oneness of Allah, declaring the oneness of Allah, who has no partner, who has dominion over all things. He has no partner. He has no equal. He is the only one worth seeking, and the only one who bestows reward.

And subhanAllah, that's the best dua in the day of Arafah. Some of the scholars say, that that is the culmination of Hajj. Like when you're going to Hajj, everything surrounds affirming the oneness of Allah. Right? Doing tawaf around the Kaaba, saying:

"Here I come, Oh Allah, here I come." Everything surrounds this element of tawheed, this oneness of Allah. And so on the culmination of that oneness of Allah, or of the days of Hajj, you affirm in the most beautiful way, the oneness of Allah.

The Theme of Ramadan: Seeking Forgiveness

When it comes to Ramadan, the theme is what?

"To be forgiven for all of the sins that you brought to Ramadan."

Three ahadith, whoever fasts Ramadan, whoever prays in the nights of Ramadan, whoever observes laylatul qadr, will be forgiven for all of their previous sins.

And Aisha رضي الله عنها asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم,If I feel like I'm in laylatul qadr, if laylatul qadr has come upon me, the night of power has come upon me, what dua should I say? And we all memorize it:

"Oh Allah, you are the forgiver. You love to forgive. So forgive me, fa'afu anni."

The Core Message: Forgiveness Throughout Ramadan

And the scholars say that that is the theme of Ramadan. That throughout the month of Ramadan, the prize of Ramadan is asking Allah to forgive you. As you are changing your ways and turning your page with Allah, let the core of your dua be, Oh Allah, forgive me.

Oh Allah, forgive me. Oh Allah, as I'm turning my page, let the page on the day of judgment also be turned so that none of the sins that I brought with me before this month are going to show anymore on my record. Oh Allah, forgive me.

And so it's not just the dua for the last 10 nights. It's not just the dua for Laylatul Qadr. It's a dua that represents the essence of all of Ramadan.

Oh Allah, forgive me. And so embark on the journey of making sure that your dua, your witr dua every night, your duas in the last moments before you fast are surrounding asking Allah for forgiveness because that's the culmination of Ramadan.

Conclusion

May Allah forgive us, allow us to reach Laylatul Qadr, and allow us to say the duas that we should be saying on Laylatul Qadr, allow us to be accepted on Laylatul Qadr and have our entire Ramadan accepted.

Allahumma ameen.

Closing Dua