Allah describes the faithful in His majestic Book as الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ أَلا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ “…those who believe, whose hearts rest on the thought of God. What! Shall hearts not repose in the thought of God!” (al-Raʿd 13:28).
Our mother, Lady ʿĀʾishah, narrated from the Prophet ﷺ that the archangel Jibrīl once told him that Allah said, “The heavens and the earth cannot encompass Me, but the heart of My faithful servant encompasses Me!”
In truth, the heart cannot be reminded that it is meant to be the dwelling of the One Who animates it, for its very life cycle is an unceasing invocation of His Name between contraction and expansion—Al-lāh, Al-lāh, Al-lāh—Who declared وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ “We created man and We know the whisperings of his soul, for We are closer to him than his neck-vein!” (Qāf 50:16).
His nearness is to all hearts, but He only enters those hearts whose chambers are properly ornate with faith, whereupon said invocation becomes the celebration of His praises, praises that surge into prayerful song.
This course invites you to lose yourself on the thought of God, through a celebrated litany of His praises known as الراتب الشهير al-Rātib al-Shahīr, compiled by Imam al-Haddad, that most blessed collection of Prophetic invocations that is daily recited throughout the world. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ “O faithful, respond to the appeal of Allah and the Messenger when he calls you to that which gives you life, and know that Allah comes between a man and his own heart, and that unto Him shall you be gathered!” (al-Anfāl 8:24).
I | …with Heartfelt Hands
II | al-Rātib al-Shahīr by Imam al-Ḥaddād
III | Repose of Remembrance
Taught by El-Hajj Hisham Mahmoud
Recommended reading: al-Rātib al-Shahīr by Imam al-Ḥaddād
Recommended audio: al-Rātib al-Shahīr by Imam al-Ḥaddād
