AHAADITH ON ZIKR
(REMEMBRANCE OF ALLAH)
When the importance of zikr has been emphasised in so many verses of the Holy Qur'an, the number of ahaadith on this subject is naturally far too great; it is in proportion to the many voluminous books of ahaadith. The Holy Qur'an is one book of only 30 parts, but the books of ahaa- dith are many and each book contains a large number of ahaadith. For example, Bukhari Shareef alone consists of 30 voluminous parts, and similarly Abu Dawood Shareef has 32 parts. There is no book of ahaadith which does not contain several ahaadith on the subject of zikr, and it is, therefore impossible to quote all such ahaadith in this small booklet. Of course, a single verse of the Holy Qur'an or a hadith moves the faithful-to good actions, but volumes of books would not move an unwilling person, who is like an ass carrying a load of books.
Hadith No 1
Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (Radhiyallaho anho) narrated that Rasulullah (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) has said, "Almighty Allah says, 'I treat my slave (man) accord- ing to his expectations from Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me, If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him in My heart; if he remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a better and nobler gathering (i.e. of angels). If he comes closer to Me by one span, I go towards him a cubit's length, if he comes towards Me by a cubit's length, I go towards him an arm's length, and if he walks towards Me, I run unto him."
"Lo! Allah forgiveth not if a artner be ascribed unto Him and forgiveth all save that to w \om He will."
But Almighty Allah may or map ,not forgive; that is why the Ulama say that true belief lies in between hope (of forgiveness of Allah) and fear (of His wrath). The Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) once visited a young Sahabi, who was breathing his last, and asked him how he was feeling. He replied, "O!Messenger of Allah, I am hope- ful of the mercy of Allah, and yet I am afraid of my sins."
Thereupon the Holy Prophet (Sallallaho alaihe wasallam) said "When the heart of a believer is filled with these two feelings of hope and fear, Almighty Allah fulfils his hope and saves him from what he is afraid of."
It is mentioned in one hadith that a believer thinks of his sin, as if he is sitting under a huge rock that is threaten- ing to fall on him, while for a transgressor his sin is no more than a fly which is easily scared off, i.e., he takes his sins very lightly. In short, one should be appropriately afraid of ones sins, and at the same time remain hopeful of Allah's mercy.