As I was repeating some of the Prophetic adkhar the other day, I began wondering why we Muslims are so obsessed with the continuous remembrance of our Creator.
Surely Allah (swt) is in no need whatsoever of our verbal recitals of His Perfection.
Nor are we attempting to repay the impossible debt owed to our Sustainer.
Good deeds, maybe? Sure, we all accrue badly needed good deeds for our day of accountability in front of our Lord. But there are so many other ways to do so – including ways that may additionally benefit others (charity, visiting the sick, helping the environment, etc.).
I think most people, who regularly recite the name of Allah in the various forms of dhikr, believe they are achieving higher states of spirituality. Actualizing a state of constant divine remembrance is undoubtedly one of our greatest aspirations - a means of realizing divine nearness (qurbah).
But I had an epiphany about another possible explanation for repeating over and over and over the praise and glorification of Allah (swt).
It’s akin to the athlete (or any type of performer for that matter) who practices for countless hours shooting the basketball or kicking the football or practicing whatever his sport/art may be. His goal is to perfect that action, not for the sake of itself, but in preparation for that one moment when it will be most required.
For that one moment, in the heat of the battle, when the game is on the line, in front of thousands of spectators, in the face of an equally determined adversary, when he will either succeed or fail.
The more sweat, blood, and tears that he has poured into his practice sessions; the more likely he will succeed. His actions in the game will become automatic and simply an extension of his being. His movements will come to him naturally. His performance will flow effortlessly. While concentrating on the goal, all distractions will melt away and his perfected form will smoothly enable him to succeed.
Similarly, we are all in an epic battle against our avowed enemy. When he comes knocking on the door of our hearts, with his minions in tow, we will come under his sustained attacks – anger, jealousy, arrogance, miserliness, hatred, sloth, indulgence. That is when our countless hours of dhikr will come to our defense. We must be prepared to call on Allah (swt) without a second thought. We must all become like Yusuf (as), when he instinctively called to Allah (“Ma’adh-Allah!”) in the face of devastating temptation.
When the pressure is on, spurred on by the whisperings of an enemy who knows our weaknesses better than we know ourselves, we have not the luxury to step back and reflect on our situation.
We must react.
We can’t call a timeout.
We can’t look to teammates for assistance.
We can’t ask the coach for guidance.
We are in the spotlight and we must respond.
And only those who have “practiced” - losing sleep, forgoing food, repeating dhikr ad infinitum, sacrificing countless delights and pleasures – only they will react with composure.
Under the immense pressure of the situation,
when a spouse unjustly reproaches them or
when an unexpected compliment threatens their ego or
when their parent undeservedly disparages them or
when their sibling purchases the same car they’ve been dreaming of,
only those who have put in the effort will intuitively call on Allah (swt) instead of succumbing to the calls of their lower selves.
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