Wednesday 22 February 2017

LITTLE & SLOW DHIKR VS LOTS OF FAST DHIKR



QUESTION:



Assalamu alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Dear Sayyidi,

I hope you are well.

I have long noticed some brothers being extremely fast at reading Salatul Fatih, reading in five or ten minutes what would take others half an hour or more. I didn't have problems with it, because it's not surprising that Allah would make it easier for people to perform a dhikr they read in abundance. Until it came to me.

When I set out to try and read 12 thousand salatul fatih every day with permission from my muqaddam, in a few days I naturally started reciting salatul fatih in what seemed more like a single movement of the tongue and the mouth than a full recitation. This made the dhikr extremely quicker and in the beginning it also made me feel an increase in presence with the Prophet sall Allahu alayhi wasallam. 

When I asked my muqaddam about it, being concerned about the validity of such dhikr without full (or even half) pronounciation, he said there was nothing to worry about, that this was dhikr al-qalb and the way in which the kibar do dhikr, and that its impact is stronger than the normal dhikr. 

This contrasts with my (poor) knowledge of Shari'ah that, based on Shaykh Muhammad Mawlud's "Maharim al-Lisan", dhikr should be performed with some form of tarteel to be valid - not slowly, but each letter must be pronounced correctly -. 

Since I am not aware of other views about the topic (there may well be others) and since my presence in dhikr has not increased in a way proportional to the super speed, I find doubt in my heart about this that I cannot dispel, even though I trust my muqaddam. I just think perhaps that the fact that we communicate over the phone and live in different countries made us misunderstand each other. 

I tried to ignore the doubt, but I find that, unless someone explains to me the issue or shows me a discussion of it in the books of the Qawm, I cannot. I then become torn between trusting one's muqaddam and Shaykh and the saying of the Prophet sall Allahu alayhi wasallam: "Leave what makes you doubt for what doesn't".

Please, enlighten me, by Allah's permission.


ANSWER

Wa Alaykum As-Salam dear brother

What your muqaddam said is correct. However, it is only for those whose heart is present.

If your heart not not present at such speed, then rather read a lesser number, and slowly, with presence of heart most of the time (its nearly impossible to be present of heart for the whole duration). 

To do 12,000, with full pronunciation, and with presence of heart will be difficult.

Allah rewards us for little that is consistent than a lot that is not consistent and not with presence of heart....as the Hadith says.

May Allah accept!

Shukran

Fakhruddin bin Ahmad al-Tijani




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