Section 1: ImportanceOf
TheTasbih
1. What Is The Meaning Of ‘Remembering Allah Much’?
The Noble Qur’an tells us:
وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ ….
“…Those men who remember Allah much and those women who also remember Allah much…” (Surat al-Ahzab
, 33:35).
Remembering Allah (SWT) in every situation and in all circumstances helps to remove the veils of negligence and inattentiveness from one’s heart and also distances theSatanic
whispers from oneself.
As far as the meaning of ‘remembering Allah much’ is concerned, it has been narrated in the Islamic traditions and various commentaries of the Qur’an (in regards to the verse of the Qur’an quoted above) that this phrase has a wide scope of understanding and application to it and includes all forms of the ‘official’ adhkar
which the Muslims recite.
In a hadith from the Prophet of Islam (S) we read that:“When a man wakes up (from sleep) and proceeds to wake his wife up from her sleep, and both of them perform Wudu and then reciteSalatul
Layl
(the night prayer), it is said that this man and woman remember Allah much.”
ImamJa’far
Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq ('a) has said that: “Whoever recites thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ at night becomes included in the verse of the Qur’an which states:
... يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا
‘O’ you who have true faith! Remember Allah - a constant and frequent remembering…’” (Surat al-Ahzab
, 33:41).
There are many things which can make one negligent while in the material world and truly, the arrows of the whispering devils come from every direction and the only way to fight against these distractions is by remembering Allahi
much.
Some people asked the Noble Prophet (S):“On the Day of Judgement, which of the servants will have the highest status?”
The Prophet (S) replied:
ألذَّا كِرُونَ اللهَ كَثِيرأ
“Those who remember Allah much.” (Surat al-Ahzab
, 33:41).
In addition, ImamJa’far
Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq ('a) has said,“Whoever remembers Allah much, Allah will give him a place in His shadow of Mercy in Paradise.”
From these narrations, we can deduce that remembering Allah (SWT) much has a wide range of meanings attached to it. However, the traditions show us that from these, the greatest form of remembrance of Allah (SWT) (which is the topic of this book) is that of thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ ('a) which is comprised of:
34 Times:
أللّٰه أّكْبَرُ
[Allahu
Akbar]
Allah is greater than what can be compared to Him.
33 Times:
أَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ
[Alhamdulillah]
All the Praise belongs to Allah.
33 Times:
سْبْحٰانَ اللّٰهِ
[Subhana
Allah]
Glory belongs to Allah.
In yet another verse of the Qur’an, Allah (SWT) tells us:
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا
“Except those who have true faith and perform righteous actions and remember Allah much…” (Surat al-Shu’ara
, 26:227).
In regards to this verse, there is a tradition from ImamJa’far
Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq ('a) in which he has stated that:“The meaning of ‘remembering Allah much’ is thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’, as this (tasbih
) includes the glorification, praise and sanctification (of Allah).”
2. Frequent RemembranceOf
Allah (SWT)
ImamJa’far
Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq ('a) has said:
تَسْبِيحُ فَاطِمَةَ الزَّهْرَاء مِنَ الذِّكْرِالْكَثِيرِالَّذِي قَالَ اللّٰهُ عَزٌَوّجلَّ اذْكُرُوآللّٰه ذِكْراًكَثِيراً
“Thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ (peace be upon her) is from the application of remembering (Allah) much, just as Allah, the Noble and Grand, has stated that, …and remember Allah - a frequent remembering. ”
3. The WayOf
TheAhlul
Bayt ('A)
Imam ‘Ali Ibn Muhammad al-Hadi ('a) has said,“We theAhlul
Bayt perform ten actions before the time of sleeping: Wudu … and we recite ‘Subhana
Allah’ thirty-three times; ‘Alhamdulillah’ 33 times; and ‘Allahu
Akbar’ thirty-four times.”
4. TeachingThe
Tasbih
To One’s Children
The Noble Prophet of Islam (S) taught the best lesson to his daughter FatimahAz
-Zahra’ ('a) - thetasbih
! From the day which he taught it to her until now, millions of believers recite thistasbih
after each of their daily prayers. Due to the respect of thistasbih
, Allah (SWT) accepts and fulfills the legitimate desires of His servant, removes the difficulties in a person’s life and grants the servant success.
In the book,Qurb
al-Isnad
, it has been narrated from ImamJa’far
Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq ('a) that:“We command our children to recite the tasbihat
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ just as we command them to perform theSalat
. You too (the Imam was speaking to his companion, Abu Harun) should command your children to the same since any servant who recites this (thetasbih
) will be protected from all misfortunes.”
5. EncouragementTo
Recite TheTasbih
The narrations from the A’immah
('a) in regards to thetasbihat
are numerous and within them, these great personalities have instructed their followers (Shi’a) to recite thetasbih
at all times.
We have a tradition from Imam Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali al-Baqir
('a) which states:“Allah has not been worshipped with anything greater than thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ which is recited after everySalat
, because if there was anything else better than this, then indeed the Prophet would have granted that to his daughter, FatimahAz
-Zahra’.”
6. AdviceFrom
ImamAz
-Zaman (May Allah Hasten His Return) In Regards To TheTasbihat
The greatMarja
’, lateAyatullah
al-’Uzma
as-Sayyid Shahab ad-DinMar’ashi
al-Najafi
Ji, who passed away in Qum over 10 years ago narrated the following incident:
“One time, during myziyarat
to al-’Askariain
(the shrine of Imam ‘Ali Ibn Muhammad an-Naqi ('a) and Imam Hasan Ibn ‘Ali al-’Askari
('a) inSamarrah
) and thereafter on my way to visit the son of the 10th Imam - Sayyid Muhammad, I became lost. Due to my intense hunger and thirst, I gave up hope of living as through this ordeal, I had almost fallen unconscious. While in this state, I collapsed to the ground. All of a sudden, I opened my eyes and found my head in the lap of a magnanimous person. He gave me some water to drink, the like of which I had not ever drank in my entire life! After that, we started our journey and along the way, he shared some of his bread with me.
He then asked me, ‘O’ Sayyid! Where do you want to go?’ I replied, ‘To the Haram of Sayyid Muhammad.’ He said, ‘This here is the Haram of Sayyid Muhammad.’ I looked up and realized that I was under the blessed dome of Sayyid Muhammad even though where I got lost was quite a distance away from the sanctuary of this son of the Imam!
During the time that I was with this great personality, he advised me to perform many recommended acts such as the recitation of the Noble Qur’an and thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ ('a), but it did not even occur to me who this man was until he disappeared from my sight. At that time, I realized that it was the Imam of our time!’”
7.The
Greatness Of TheTasbih
Of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ ('A)
As noted, Allah (SWT) has not been praised with anything greater than the remembrance contained in thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ ('a) since if there was anything greater than this, then surely the Noble Prophet (S) would have given that as a gift to his daughter.
This is a form of remembrance of Allah (SWT) which, in the eyes of ImamJa’far
Ibn Muhammad as-Sadiq ('a) is greater than 1,000rak’at
ofSalat
!
In addition, every servant of Allah (SWT) who holds firm and performs this remembrance is guaranteed that he shall never experience any loss or harm.
Therefore, just as parents order their children to perform theSalat
, they must alsoabises
them to perform theta’qibat
(prayers and supplications after theSalat
). Even though this specific form of supplication - thetasbih
- is a mere 100 recitations, however in the scale of the Divine, it has a reward of 1,000!
This form of remembrance pushes the Satan away from a person and earns a believer the pleasure of the Creator of the Universe.
It also removes any (spiritual) heaviness which a person may have in his ears and as we are told, not a single servant of Allahi
recites this remembrance after theSalat
before he moves his feet from its previous position, except that Allah (SWT) forgives his sins and finds that person worthy of entering Paradise. This reward especially holds true if it is performed afterSalatul
Fajr
and if a person completes thetasbih
with saying ‘LaIlaha
Illa Allah’ and then asks forgiveness for his sins.
With saying thetasbihat
, a servant of Allah (SWT) will be placed into the ranks and raised up (on the Day of Judgement) with those who ‘remember Allah (SWT) much’. Such a person will also be worthy of being among those whom Allah (SWT) Himself remembers, just as He has stated and promised:
... فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ
…Remember Me and I shall remember you… (Surat al-Baqara
, 2:152).
8. The SignOf
A True Believer
In the book,Makarimul
Akhlaq
, it has been stated that the recitation of thetasbih
of FatimahAz
-Zahra’ ('a) is one of the five signs of a true believer.
Notes