Remembering Allah (s.w.t.) in the Divine Presence

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is a transcript of a lecture given by Mawlana Wafi’ Muhammad. 

Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ البَقَرَة

فَٱذۡكُرُونِىٓ أَذۡكُرۡكُمۡ وَٱشۡڪُرُواْ لِى وَلَا تَكۡفُرُونِ (١٥٢) 

Then do you remember Me; I will Remember you.  Be grateful to Me and reject not faith. (Surah al-Baqarah:152) 

We are all living in the Divine Presence of Allah (s.w.t.).  We know that He Sees and Hears everything, so then why is He Tells us about His Remembrance in the ayat above?  It is recorded in hadits qudsi in Swahih al-Bukhari that Allah (s.w.t.) Says, “I am With my slave when he thinks of Me and I am With him when he mentions Me.  For if he mentions Me to himself, I Mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in a gathering, I Mention him in superior gathering.  If he approaches Me by a hand's width, I Approach him by an Arm's Length.  And if he comes to me walking, I Hasten to him Swiftly.” 

Whenever we engage in the remembrance of Allah (s.w.t.), by ways of praising Him and glorifying Him, we get closer and closer to Him.  What we gather is that Allah (s.w.t.) Wants us to get close to Him.  In retrospect, this is easier said than done; so He actually Meets us along our path to Him.  How merciful He is?  If we make the smallest of efforts to attain closeness to our Creator, He Comes Down to us.  And He further Says that He Sends a light by which to Guide us along the Straight Path. 

We understand that in regular remembrance of Allah (s.w.t.), He Guides us, Forgives us and Rewards us.  If we keep God-conscious even if we make a mistake, He Forgives us.  Allah (s.w.t.) Wants us to thank Him and appreciate His Favours.  And He Promises more Blessings to those who show gratefulness to Him.  One sage told his people that that he actually knows when Allah (s.w.t.) Remembers him.  Obviously curious, his people asked as to when; to which the sage replied, “Whenever I remember Him.”  So when we engage in any act of remembrance, Allah (s.w.t.) Focuses something of His Divine Attention upon us.  Satan on the other hand wants to continuously divert our focus away from our Lord.  Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ المَائدة

إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنُ أَن يُوقِعَ بَيۡنَكُمُ ٱلۡعَدَٲوَةَ وَٱلۡبَغۡضَآءَ فِى ٱلۡخَمۡرِ وَٱلۡمَيۡسِرِ وَيَصُدَّكُمۡ عَن ذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ وَعَنِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ‌ۖ فَهَلۡ أَنتُم مُّنتَہُونَ (٩١) 

Satan’s plan is (but) to excite enmity and hatred between you, with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah, and from prayer: will you not then abstain? (Surah al-Ma’idah:91) 

We must remember that if we put our faith and trust in Allah (s.w.t.), He Attends to us.  This is what true faith is about; trusting Allah (s.w.t.) especially when we are faced with difficulties.  Some people say that they maintain faith in Allah (s.w.t.) but they have to tie their camel.  The Sufis say that once we put our faith in Allah (s.w.t.), our “camel” has been tied. 

We cannot question nor understand the Working of Allah (s.w.t.).  He Knows that which we do not.  What we do know is that by constantly remembering Him, He Remembers us and, insha’Allah, Takes Care of our affairs.  May Allah (s.w.t.) Enable us to demonstrate throughout our lives true reliance and trust in Him and may He Guide us and Protect us from situations that diverts our focus away from Him.