10 WORDS OF DHIKR
There are 10 ways of remembering Allah with the tongue - dhikrul lisaan
1.Tasbeeh: سبحان الله - Glory be to Allah
It is known as one of the best forms of dhikr because a person purifies Allah from all defects and faults which in return is also a way of praising Allah. It is stated in the Quran ‘Oh you who have believed, remember Allah with abundant remembrance and do tasbeeh (exalt him) morning and afternoon’ [33:41-42]
2. Tahmeed: الحمد لله - All praise is for Allah
This is something we do when praying salah, we say الحمد لله ربّ العالمين. Rasulullah ﷺ said ‘Alhamdulillah fills the mizan (scale of action), in another narration it is said, SubhanAllah and Alhamdulillah fill that which is between heaven and earth’ [Muslim]. If the reward was to be given in the world then it will cover everything that is in the world.
3. Takbeer الله أكبر - Allah is the greatest
We say this several times in salah with change of an action. A person repeats this in salah but odd, when he leaves the masjid he says, who is bigger than me! We need to remind ourselves that Allah is the greatest of all. One of the early revelation to Rasulullah ﷺ was the ayah ‘And glorify to your lord’ [74:3]
4. Tahleel: لآ اِلَهَ اِلّا اللّهُ - There is no god but Allah
When you read this, you are saying you are free from kufr that none is worthy of being worshipped other than Allah. Rasulullah ﷺ said the best dua the prophet ﷺ made on the day of Arafah is the fourth kalimah, in which you read the tahleel.
5. Hawqala: لا حَوْلَ وَلا قُوَّةَ إِلا بِالله - There is no power and strength except with Allah
Abu Dharr Ghiffari mentioned that amongst those things that Rasulullah ﷺ was given from the arsh of Allah was, La hawla wa la quwwata illabillah, Surah Fatiha, Ayatul Kursi and last 10 ayahs of Surah Baqarah. Rasulullah ﷺ said ‘I was given these treasures from the treasures of Allah’
6. Hasbala حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ - Allah is sufficient for us and He is the best disposer of affairs
This is also known as Kalimatut Tafweed, meaning a person is giving himself to Allah and leaving his affairs in the hands of Allah. This dhikr was read by the sahabah r.a during Uhud, when the disbelievers told them, an army from Makkah had left to kill the Muslims.
7. Istiaanat – إيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِين – You alone, we ask for help
This is to seek the help of Allah. This is another form of dhikr, that a person turns to Allah and asks for the help from Allah.
8. Basmallah بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم – In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful
When a person says this, they are remembering Allah. We should adopt the habit of reading this when commencing something good.
9. Tabaarak بارك الله فيك - May Allah bless you
A beautiful dua we should say when someone is good towards us or does a favour.
10. Ta’awwuz - أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم - I seek refuge in Allah from shaytan the cursed
When we want to do good, we have the battle of our nafs and shaytan trying to stop us therefore we should recite the tawwuz, seeking protection from evil. This is compulsory to read before starting Quran recitation.
[The above is an edited transcript from a bayan by Shaykh Muhammad Saleem Nawab]
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