This remembrance (dhikr) is not as some people think i.e. to sit in the corner of a dark room constantly repeating “Allaah, Allaah, Allaah…” This is not how we remember Allaah. Yes, such a person is saying Allaah’s name, but if we think about it, if somebody came to you (and for example your name is Muhammad) and kept saying “Muhammad, Muhammad, Muhammad…” you would wonder what is wrong with that person. Does he want something? Is there something that he needs? What is the purpose of repeating my name without further talk?
This is not the way to remember Allaah because this is not how the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) remembered Allaah and there is no record of him doing that. Some people say that we should remember Allaah by dancing around or swaying from side to side. This is not the way to remember Allaah, as this too is not how the Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) remembered Allaah and there is no record of him doing that.
The Prophet (sall-Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) remembered Allaah in his life. His life was a life of remembrance of Allaah, he lived a life in remembrance of Allaah and this is the true remembrance, in our prayers and in our living and our dying.
In summary, the search for inner peace involves recognising the problems that we have in our lives, recognising our obstacles, recognising that inner peace will only come when we identify those obstacles and understand which of them we can change and that we focus on those obstacles we can change, the ones which are related to our self.
If we change our self then Allaah will change the world around us and give us the means to deal with the world around us. Even though the world is in turmoil Allaah gives us inner peace with it.
Whatever happens we know that it is Allaah’s destiny and that it is Allaah’s trials and we know that ultimately it is for our good. and has good in it. Allaah created us in this world and the world as a means to attain Paradise and the trials of this world is our own spiritual growth. If we can accept all this, accepting Allaah in our hearts then we can find inner peace
excerpted from
The Search for Inner Peace
Written by Dr. Bilal Philips
01 April 2007
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