This word reflects a two-way communication process between the Divine and the human. The Quran uses the term "dhikr" to refer to both the reminder that comes from God through the prophets and the response of humans to that reminder. What, wilt Thou destroy us for what the vain-doers did?"" (7:172-73). The verse explains that God called upon all souls to witness His lordship so that no one can plead ignorance on the Day of Judgment: ""Lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, "As for us, we were heedless of this," or lest you say, "Our fathers associated others with God before us, and we were their offspring after them. According to Nasr, this affirmation still echoes within the souls of men and women. This "they" refers to all human beings, both male and female, and their "yes" confirms their acknowledgement of God's oneness even before the creation of the universe. It states that in the pre-cosmic existence of humans, God asked the children of Adam, “‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said: ‘Yes, we bear witness’” (7:172). He refers to a famous verse of the Quran that speaks about the relationship between God and humans. Īccording to Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islam "is a call for recollection, for the remembrance of a knowledge kneaded into the very substance of our being even before our coming into this world". This knowledge is present in the divine spirit that God breathed into Adam, as the Quran states that God molded Adam's clay with His own hands and blew into him His own spirit (32:9, 15:29, 38:72). According to Islamic beliefs, prophets have the function of reminding (dhikr) people of what they already know, while humans only need to remember (dhikr) their innate knowledge of God. The key to confronting this shortcoming is the remembrance that God conveys through his prophets. The Quran provides a rationale for having many prophets by explaining that humans, similar to their forefather Adam, have a propensity to forget and become heedless. In that vein, the Jews and the Christians are thus referred to as "the people of the Reminder" (ahl al dhikr) (16:43, 21:7). The same terms are also used to refer to other prophetic messages such as the Torah and the Gospel. The prophet Muhammad himself is described in 88:21 as a "reminder" ("So remind! thou art but a reminder"). For example, the Quran refers to itself as "The Wise Reminder" (al-dhikr al-ḥakīm) in 3:58, "a Reminder for the believers" (dhikra Lil mu'minin) in 7:2, and "The reminder for the worlds" (dhikra Lil 'alamin) in 6:90. These terms appear more than forty times in the Quran to describe the Quran itself. The prophets deliver God's message as a reminder to humans, who, in turn, remember and acknowledge it.Īllah as having been written on the disciple's heart Revelations and prophetic messages as dhikr Īccording to William Chittick, "The Koran commonly refers to the knowledge brought by the prophets as “remembrance” (dhikr) and “reminder” (dhikra, tadhkir), terms that derive from the root dh-k-r". The Quran uses the term "dhikr" to denote the reminder from God conveyed through the prophets as well as the human response to that reminder, signifying a reciprocal interaction between the Divine and the human. The Quran frequently refers to itself and other scriptures and prophetic messages as "reminder" (dhikra, tadhkir), which is understood as a call to "remember" (dhikr) an innate knowledge of God that humans already possess. A person who recites the Dhikr is called a Dhakir ( ذَاكِر, ), literally "he who remembers." The content of the prayers includes the names of God, or a dua (prayer of supplication) taken from the hadiths or the Quran. It can be counted on a set of prayer beads ( Misbaha مِسْبَحَة) or through the fingers of the hand. Dhikr can be performed in solitude or as a collective group. In Sufi Islam, dhikr refers to both the act of this remembrance as well as the prayers used in these acts of remembrance. It plays a central role in Sufi Islam, and each Sufi order has usually adopted a specific dhikr, typically accompanied by specific posture, breathing, and movement. 'remembrance, reminder' or 'mention') is a form of Islamic prayer in which phrases or prayers are repeatedly chanted in order to remember God. JSTOR ( January 2015) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)ĭhikr ( Arabic: ذِكْر, / ð ɪ k r/, also spelled Zikr, Thikr, Zekr, or Zikar, lit.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. This article needs additional citations for verification.
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