Living
in
Remembrance

Now it is enough for us to praise God,

but God is not increased by our praise in any way,

that praise is for our own good,

to help us understand the truth and purpose of our lives.

And it is possible to think about our praise

in a way that makes it personal

and so brings us closer to God.

What each person discovers in their remembrance of Allah

will have a special meaning for them alone,

that can be quite different from what touches the heart and mind of someone else.

Yet at the same time we can discover things for ourselves that are universal.

For instance,

let us take that most popular of Dzikrs,

Subhan Allah, Al-Hamdulillah, Allahu Akbar.

What do we find if we examine it more closely.

We start with Subhan Allah,

which does mean Praise God but has a deeper meaning

involving God's perfection.

When we think of cleanliness we think of washing ourselves,

our clothes, our surroundings or posessions,

but God has no such need, being ultimately pure,

no spot or stain,

with no blemish and no flaw.

And the same applies to God's creation with us in it.

There is no flaw.

What happens to us in life is no mistake.

It is meant for us.

But so much of our lives we spend our time thinking about what has happened

in the past,

wishing that some things had never happened

because when we think of them we feel embarrassed,

or sad, or angry

because things didn't seem fair.

But all these things were meant for us in our lives,

and what seems like bad things were there for us to learn from.

The past is not now,

and there's no more need to feel embarrassed or angry about it.

Those feelings just make you feel bad,

and the muslim way of life is meant to make you feel good enough to praise God about it.

Subhan Allah.

And this Dzikr has more light to shed on feeling good

when we praise God saying Al-Hamdulillah.

Because the word Hamd means praise,

but also contains within it the meaning of thanks,

being grateful.

And al-Ghazali said that there are two kinds of praise,

the kind that springs from awe, such as when being greatly impressed by someone,

by their power or skill,

and another kind of praise that springs from gratitude.

And Hamd is the praise that comes from gratitude.

It is as though we have been given a whole load of fantastic presents by someone,

and we are so grateful,

and we just love the one who gave them to us

and thank them for what they have given us.

And who could give us more than God has,

the One Who has given us everything.

And what better way to live each day

than in a constant state of joyous gratitude.

Al-Hamdulillah.

But people still worry about what will happen in the future,

whether they will be able to achieve what they are trying to do,

and wondering how hard they will have to struggle to survive.

But that fear of the unknown is just that,

unknown,

it hasn't happened yet

and just possibly it may not happen at all,

and all that worry and fear will have been for nothing.

You may not see a way out,

the future may seem inescapable,

but whatever the powers that be may seem to dictate what happens to us here on earth,

God's Power is greater.

God can change what seems impossible to our small imaginations.

With the word Akbar we mean greater,

not just in size, but in power.

Allah needs only to say

"Be"

and it is.

So worrying about the future is really to deny that God can change it

into something other than what you expect to happen.

When we face the future we need to trust

that God will not send us trials that are more than we can bear,

and may yet provide for us in ways that we are unable to imagine.

God alone truly knows what is in store for us,

Allahu Akbar.

So no need to worry about the past,

Subhan Allah,

or fear for what we imagine will be the future,

Allahu Akbar.

The ideal state for us to live in is one that deals with right now,

a state of loving gratitude to our Provider, the All-Merciful,

Al-Hamdulillah.

What a fine way to remember Allah.

But this is only one of many ways to understand this Dzikr,

and if you use it in your life the chances are that it will shape itself to you,

leading you to other meanings and understandings of your own,

your own ways of always remembering Allah.