Dhikr
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Dhikr (Arabic: "Remembrance [of God]", "pronouncement", "invocation") (Arabic: ذکر, plural اذكار adhakār, Bosnian: zikr) is an Islamic devotional act, typically involving the repetition of the names of God, supplications or formulas taken from hadith texts and verses of the Qur'an. At dhikr is usually done individually but in some Sufi orders it is instituted as a ceremonial activity. At the same time, Dhikr encompasses a broader meaning in the Islamic sources, including when God is the One Who performs dhikr, and application to the Person of Prophet Muhammad as dhikr of God.
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[edit] Broad Meaning
The word dhikr is commonly translated as “remembrance” or “invocation”. In reality, it has taken a wide range and various layers of meaning.[1] For instance, while dhikr is commonly understood as the practice of remembering God, it has also been used in the Islamic sources to indicate God as the subject and the servant as the object of dhikr (Quran 2:152), and also been directly applied to the Person of Prophet Muhammad as embodiment of dhikr of God (Quran 65:10-11).
[edit] Origins of the Practice
Muslims agree that the practice of dhikr has sanction in both the Qur'an and sunnah, however its method is disputed with some scholars considering certain forms, such as congregational dhikr, as blameworthy innovations while others hold it to be praiseworthy.[citation needed]
[edit] Dhikr beads
Known also as Tasbih, these are usually beads upon a string, 99 or 100 in number, which correspond to the Names of God in the Qur'an and other recitations. The beads are used to keep track of the number of recitations that make up the dhikr.
Muslim inmates in the United States are allowed to utilize dhikr beads for therapeutic effects.[2] This was a result of a successful action brought pursuant to 28 USC @ 1983 (by Imam Hamzah S. Alameen in the State of New York against Thomas A. Coughlin III, the Department of Corrections) arguing that prisoners have a First Amendment Constitutional right to use dhikr beads.
Some Islamic scholars argue that using the beads are forbidden, however. Many claim that the usage of the fingers to count is better as that is what was practiced by Muhammad.[3]
Some Sufi orders stress and place extensive reliance upon Dhikr, and likewise in Qadri Al-Muntahi Sufi tariqa, which was originated by Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi. This practice of Dhikr is called Dhikr-e-Qulb (remembrance of Allah by Heartbeats). The basic idea in this practice is to visualize the Arabic name of God, Allah, as having been written on the disciple's heart.[4]
[edit] Sufi view
Followers of Sufism engage in ritualized dhikr ceremonies, the details of which are the primary difference between Sufi orders or tariqah.[5] Each order or lineage within an order has one or more forms for group dhikr, the liturgy of which may include recitation, singing, instrumental music, dance, costumes, incense, meditation, ecstasy, and trance. [6] Dhikr in a group is not limited to these rules but most often done on Thursday and/or Sunday nights as part of the institutional practice of most orders.
A group dhikr ceremony in Arabic countries is usually called the hadrah. In Turkey the group ceremony is called Zikr-i Kiyam. The hadrah marks the climax of the Sufi's gathering regardless of any teaching or formal structure. Musically this structure includes several secular Arab genres and can last for hours.[7]
The hadrah section consists of the ostinato-like repetition of the name of God over which the soloist performs a richly ornamented song. Often the climax is reached through cries of "Allah! Allah!" or "hu hu", with the participants bending forward while exhaling and stand straight while inhaling.
The hadrah is directed by a shaykh of the tariqa or one of his representatives; monitoring the intensity, depth and duration of the phases of the hadrah, the shaykh aims to draw the circle into deep awareness of God. Dhikr ceremonies may have a ritually determined length or may last as long as the shaykh deems his murids require.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ Abdullah Jawadi Amuli, "Dhikr and the Wisdom Behind It".
- ^ http://www.law.buffalo.edu/Academics/courses/704/prisonlaw/readings/9alameen.html
- ^ Worship and Jurisprudence: "At-Tasbih with Beads (Al-Misbahah)", FatwaIslam.Com.
- ^ What is Remembrance and what is Contemplation?
- ^ Friedlander, p. 20.
- ^ Touma, p.162.
- ^ a b Touma, p.165.
[edit] References
- Friedlander, Ira (1975). The Whirling Dervishes. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 0025415409.
- Touma, Habib Hassan (1996). The Music of the Arabs, trans. Laurie Schwartz. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-88-8.
[edit] Further reading
- Algar, Hamid, trans. The Path of God's Bondsmen: From Origin to Return. North Haledon, NJ: Islamic Publication International, 1980.
- Annemarie. "Mystical Dimensions of Islam". Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina P, 1975.
- Gardet, L. “DHikr.” Encyclopedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill,2009. Brill Online.
- Jawadi Amuli, Ayatullah Abdullah. "Dhikr and the Wisdom Behind It"
- Privratsky, Bruce, Muslim Turkistan, p. 104.
