Mufti Menk – What is meant by “Thikr”?

			smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam ala
		

			nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa been a woman to be among the son in Isla de Nueva. We
praise Allah subhanho wa Taala we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa
sallam, his entire household all his companions May Allah bless them all and bless every single one
of us, my beloved brothers and sisters, the term Vicky is used often. And it is important for us to
know the context in which this word is used in the Quran and the Sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam. For example, Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran
		

			surah O you who believe, remember Allah greatly a great remembrance. So generally when we use the
term Vicar, many of us would think that it means to sit down and to repeat the praise of Allah
subhanho wa Taala or the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala or a statement of acknowledgement of the
status of Allah subhanho wa Taala for example, Subhana Allah, Al hamdu, lillah Allahu Akbar La
Ilaha, Illa Allah and so on. So this is sometimes understood as being the only meaning of the term
leaker if someone says this man is doing the decay of Allah, people would think he is sitting and
repeating the phrase of Allah or repeating the words of acknowledgement of the status of Allah
		

			subhanho wa Taala as I've just said, however, it's important to know that in the Quran, mostly when
the term Vicar is used, it goes to something much deeper than that. So, Allah subhanho wa Taala
speaks about the word Vicar. linguistically, it means the remembrance, the reminder, etc. And when
it comes to the Muslim, Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran, for example, will Marina enough
		

			a shotgun
		

			that come on the phone,
		

			those who have committed immorality, which is a sin, those who have committed immorality, or they
have oppressed themselves, and men, they remember Allah, and they seek forgiveness for their sin. So
Allah continues to say, they are the ones who will be forgiven, they will be the inheritors of
Paradise and so on. What does this mean? This means those who have borne in mind that they are the
worshipers of Allah, they owe their allegiance to Allah, they owe their entire existence to Allah
subhanho wa Taala, because he is their maker, they have become conscious of Allah, once again, this
is what is meant by the 10. Deacon, to remember Allah, remember, as I remembered him, you know, for
		

			example, if you forgot that someone was standing in front of you, and then a little while later, as
you turned around, you remember, and then you turned around, and you began to communicate with them
once again. So similarly, and this is just an example. The meaning of the term remembrance in this
instance would be that the person became oblivious of Allah momentarily, and thereafter they
remembered him. And when they remember him, they immediately asked his forgiveness to say I remember
that I am the worship of Allah, I'm not supposed to be doing this. So this is one of the prime
meanings of the term Victrola to remember Allah in a beautiful way, literally the meaning of the
		

			term. Remember, in the English language, I remembered Allah, I was reminded of a law that is also a
beautiful meaning of the term Vicar, where Allah subhanho wa Taala says, when they kill
		

			for in the cartel found, meaning the word used is perhaps not the exact term they can, but in fact,
it is a term derived from that root, which means and remind for Indeed, the remainder will believe
those who benefit sometimes we repeat something like when we hear a talk, perhaps when we hear some
verses of the Quran, there is a repetition of the reminder of Salah you find Salah Aki masala is in
the Quran several times many times the the the instruction of being truthful is there so many times
in the Quran, one might ask well why is it It should have just been there once that's enough, it's a
book of Allah, we would have read it we would have known the message but Allah subhanho wa Taala
		

			says and remind and keep on reminding for definitely the reminder will benefit those who truly
believe so don't become upset when someone tells you once they tell you twice, they tell you again
and again. In fact that is a sign that a true believer will actually take heed of May Allah subhanho
wa Taala grant us a goodness and May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us a
		

			Turning to him I mean, so, the term Vicar here or that kill would actually mean to remind. Also the
entire for an
		

			has been referred to in it as the vicar Subhana Allah amazing. While aka sub melco Anna Lee, Allah
speaks of the Quran and Allah says we have made it easy to understand. So here the term
understanding is referred to using the word Deacon. And when it comes to the Quran, Allah subhanho
wa Taala speaks about it, referring to it using the term Deacon in
		

			zelner Lika.
		

			We have indeed revealed to you Oh Mohamed Salah, Shalom and we will protect it. This is referring to
the Quran which means we have revealed to you or Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam and we will protect it.
So if you and I were to read the Quran, we would be equivalent to the one who is doing the vicar of
Allah subhanho wa Taala he is remembering Allah. In fact, one narration says that one of the best
ways of remembering Allah is to read the Koran. So if you were to read the Quran, it is equivalent,
if not better than the one who might be sitting doing something else but both of them could be
referred to as the dhikr of Allah.
		

			Similarly, when someone is giving a lecture, religious lecture reminding you of Allah subhanho wa
Taala the Koran uses the word Vicar for that as well. It's amazing look on a Friday Allah subhanho
wa Taala says, Yeah, you
		

			know, who Deanna Sala Timmy Omen Juma? Isla de la.
		

			Oh, you who believe when the caller calls out for the prayer on a Friday, then make haste to the
lecture, love Akbar, make haste to the remainder and leave all your buying and selling all your
dealings. So the term Vicar is used to refer to the hotbar by meaning reminder, someone is talking
to you, reminding you of Allah. And this is why the Sahaba of the Allahu anhu. When they used to
sometimes talk to each other, they used to refer to the address of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi
wasallam as Deacon and they used to say, let's go and engage in liquor for an hour. And what that
would mean is let's go and remind each other for a moment what our duties as Muslim are, and this is
		

			the term Vicar used once again, so let's not have a shallow understanding of the term Vicki, we need
to realize and understand it includes the poor and the entire pond to learn it to read it to go into
the depths of the Quran is actually known as the cola it is known as the remembrance of Allah it is
a very great form of remembering Allah subhanho wa Taala to go back to his word to constantly repeat
it to go into its meaning to fulfill it to put it into practice to convey to others all this is a
part of Victrola. May Allah help us to engage in victory in all these forms. Similarly,
		

			the entire sooner of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has been referred to as victory in the
Quran. Allah uses the word Likud to refer to the sooner the statements the same the life of Muhammad
Sallallahu Sallam he's example. Allah says, What?
		

			La Casa de Cali toga.
		

			See man whose Zilla Elohim Allah says and we have revealed to you we have sent down to you the
entire sooner the entire lifestyle and everything that you have done in order for you to clarify to
the people what has been revealed to them in terms of the Koran. And from this verse, what we
understand is, the Quran was revealed. In order to be able to comprehend the Koran, we would have to
go through the explanation and the lifestyle of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So part and
parcel of Revelation is the sooner we cannot just sit back and say this is the Quran, and I adopted
but as for the sooner Muhammad sallahu wa sallam, I do not adopt it. I attend La ilaha illa Allah,
		

			but I do not utter Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu taala that would be unacceptable. We need to utter
both. We need to believe that Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam is the one chosen by Allah
		

			amoruso the best of creation, the most noble of all the messengers of Allah subhanho wa Taala chosen
by Allah subhanho wa Taala to come and explain to us what the revelation was all about. And this is
why it's wrong for you and I to translate and interpret the Quran as and when we like and wish
without guidelines without guidance, guidance from where guidance from the Sunnah of Muhammad
Sallallahu sallam, from his lifestyle from his words from his instructions from his explanations,
all this is also known as wicked. So for any one of us to go through the life of Muhammad Sallallahu
sallam, we would be engaging in the vicar of Allah, for any one of us to go through the hadith of
		

			Rasulullah sallallahu
		

			selam his statements his words so para la we would be going through the decree of Allah we would be
engaging in the victory. This is why, if you have a deaf see the session, consider it the vicar of
Allah. If you have a hadith be it for two or three minutes be it for longer or shorter. Consider it
the dhikr of Allah subhanho wa Taala it is the highest form of rebar that you could have, do not let
shaitan distract you making you believe and think for a moment that the term Vicar is a very short
term where we just sit and we engage in something a lot of the times we are guilty of praising Allah
without really thinking what we are saying, let's be honest when we say should pantalon hamdulillah
		

			sometimes and this should be happening after every fall of Salah as the Hadith says 33 times from
Han Allah 33 times and hamdulillah 34 times Allahu Akbar or 33 times Allahu Akbar and kapit with the
beautiful statement La ilaha illallah wa de la sharika hula woman called him wahala conditioning can
do all this in the praise of Allah declaring your faith and your Eman. This is a sooner but let's be
honest, many times when we do say this, if we do say it, we are just paying lip service to it. When
we say Subhana Allah 100 Allah Subhana Allah Subhan Allah Subhana Allah subhanaw taala and we don't
even think about it for a minute yet the proper Vicar of Allah subhanho wa Taala would mean that the
		

			person thinks what am I saying? Praise be to Allah and hamdulillah Glory be to Allah Subhana Allah,
Allah is the Greatest Allahu Akbar. Think about it, say once a once pause for a moment to think what
you're saying, then repeat it again. Then repeat it a third time and you find the impact of it would
cleanse your heart, it would actually give you a much more purified heart than a person who just
pays lip service to the remembrance of Allah.
		

			So what is of importance My beloved brothers and sisters, let us undertake for the sake of Allah
subhanho wa Taala let us undertake to remember Allah in all these ways. Remind one another, obey the
instruction of Allah. This is the dhikr of Allah, to be able to listen to the Quran to be able to
read it to make an effort to improve your recitation of the Quran is also the vicar of Allah
subhanho wa Taala.
		

			To sit with the sooner Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam in the Hadith to try and memorize a little bit to
try and teach it to others. This is all part of the vicar of Allah subhanho wa Taala let us try and
make sure by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala that we engage in all of these, and we teach it to
others, and we convey the message Yes, it is very, very important to be praising Allah to declare
the statement, for example, La ilaha illa Allah, it's a beautiful way of remembering Allah. It's a
beautiful way of saying it. But what is the point of someone who keeps on praising Allah but he does
not know Allah has instruction because he's never been through the Quran. He's never been through
		

			the sooner of Rasulullah sallam, he does not like to sit in the lectures or the lessons, he does not
attend the Tafseer and explanation of the Quran. He does not attend the Hadith explanation that
might be happening in his Masjid or elsewhere. And then he wants to say, I remember Allah morning
and evening and night. But in what way? When I don't know your instruction, how am I going to be
your servant Subhana Allah, if you want to be a servant somewhere and you need to go to your master
or the one whom you are perhaps working for in the case of those who might be working for someone
and ask them for instruction, what does my job entail, and they will dish out instruction they will
		

			give you a book or they will give you instruction or they will appoint someone to come to you to
explain what you need to do if they don't do it themselves. Look at Allah, we are His service. We
are definitely the slaves of Allah subhanho wa Taala Do you think he would he would just require us
to praise him and keep on praising him without wanting to know Okay, they are five Salah a day, this
is how you should fulfill them. This is what you should do. There is a dress code there are do's and
don'ts. No that's not enough we need to understand Allah subhanho wa Taala has sent to us the
message and he sent a messenger to explain the message. So to take a moment to try and understand
		

			that message is part and parcel of remembering of Allah subhanho wa Taala it's part and parcel of
fulfilling your duty towards Allah subhanho wa Taala This is why we are saying take a moment let us
understand my beloved brothers and sisters. This life is full of beauty. You know Allah says Zhi
Ling
		

			you know, things have been made beautiful for people, the opposite * has been made beautiful for
people, wealth has been made beautiful for people. So that is part of your test. When you see
something beautiful or regarding this world or connected to this world. How do you approach it? Do
you approach it according to the instruction of Allah, if you do, you will enjoy it within the
obedience of Allah subhanho wa Taala but if you approach it in your own way, doing whatever you
please in will, then definitely you've lost the plot. And the reason why we say this is because
death is a whisk away. None of us can guarantee that we're going to walk out of this place
		

			No one. So in order for us to understand that we do have a more, you know, a higher purpose and a
more noble cause we need to think of death, because death will actually destroy all our lusts and
desires to make us think for a moment, surely I need to prepare for the day I meet with Allah, I
need to prepare for the day that I go back to my maker, because I'm only here for a short period of
time, there are people more good looking than me, and people who have had more wealth than me and
more power than me who have gone no one mentioned that not at all. Perhaps you might remember them
once in a while if they were powerful people. Oh, do you remember this guy? Yeah, he was a very good
		

			man, but you don't understand. You just use the past tense he was which means he's no more. And
whether or not he has succeeded would depend on how much he has prepared for the day he will meet
with Allah subhanho wa Taala. So take a moment to ensure that you engage in the seeking of
forgiveness. That too is a great form of Vicar of Allah. When I say a stouffville Oh ALLAH forgive
me, that's a great way of remembering Allah because that would mean I'm conscious of Allah and I'm
worried about my hereafter. So I'm saying Oh Allah, forgive me you have instructions, I acknowledge.
And I admit that I was wrong. I regret it. I'm asking you forgiveness, and I won't do it again.
		

			That's the meaning of the term Stubblefield law.
		

			But let us never ever just pay lip service to the statements or stones or the law of stones that are
law repeat them 100 times 1000 times in a sitting with beads and perhaps plucking 1000 2000 at a go
when we haven't even thought for a moment what we've actually said the sooner when it comes to
remembering Allah subhanho wa Taala in the first way that we mentioned and that is to repeat the
praise of Allah subhanho wa Taala or to repeat statements of acknowledgement of his status or even
better forgiveness would be to count on your fingers. Like for example, when we complete the follow
up Salah the Hadith says the Sunnah is to say Subhana Allah 33 times and hamdulillah 33 times Allahu
		

			Akbar 33 or 34 times depending on the narrations. How would we count it The sooner through your
fingers, even your fingers will bear witness that you have actually, you have actually remembered
Allah subhanho wa Taala. But like I said at the beginning, and I repeated now that is not the only
meaning of the term remembrance of Allah, I hope and I pray, we can actually talk to one another.
When we go home. When we go to our workplaces, we can remind one another Look, my brother, Luke, my
sister, my spouse, my daughter, whoever it is that you're going to be talking to? Let's remember
that dhikr of Allah does not only mean to sit and to repeat the praise of Allah, it includes going
		

			into the Tafseer it includes going into the Hadith, it includes knowledge, it includes lectures, it
includes so much all this is part of the decode and we've got this from the Quran itself. May Allah
subhanho wa Taala help us may forgive us many open our doors May he make us truly from amongst those
who engage in his diction. In all these forms are sallallahu wasallam albaraka