# Your Dhikr Makes You Beautiful | Midnight Majlis S2 Ep. 2

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Midnight Majlis
**Published:** 2026-03-11
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/mazogLSvQeQ
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/midnight-majlis/midnight-majlis-s2-ep2-your-dhikr-makes-you-beautiful
**Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia

## Description
How does the remembrance of Allah calm your body? Can you love the Qur’an and music at the same time? Does Allah ever mention you by name? And how do you move beyond doing dhikr on autopilot? Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas share gems from the first 17 benefits of dhikr (remembrance of...

## Chapters
- 0:00 The downpour of blessings when you say a good word
- 6:05 Your consistent dhikr suffocates Shaytan
- 12:30 Allah’s pleasure is the real reward of dhikr
- 15:47 Dhikr removes sadness and grief
- 19:03 The traffic jam of blessings in your life
- 22:25 Dhikr, your body, and the vagus nerve
- 29:47 Can music live in a heart that loves Qur’an?
- 38:38 Your face beams when you do dhikr
- 41:43 Dhikr brings rizq and openness
- 45:56 Speak less and remember Allah more
- 51:45 Dhikr increases your love for Allah
- 55:54 When Allah mentions you by name
- 58:35 Dhikr in the morning is your spiritual breakfast
- 1:03:20 Tips for memorizing Qur’an
- 1:10:50 Remembering Allah but still angry?
- 1:15:28 Every sincere du’a is helping you

## Transcript
**[0:00]** So I think we can just go through the list inshallah and we can comment especially on some of the one sentence points. So the first one he said rahimahullah are the benefits of remembrance. For those who are reading with us in the English text, it's page 114, 114 in the English text

**[0:16]** and the Arabic text is actually 94, page 94 inshallah wa ta'ala. He says, قال في الذكر نحو من مائة فائدة When it comes to remembrance, there's almost close to a hundred benefits. Then he mentioned ihdaha, the first one. قال أنه يطرد الشيطان ويقمعه ويكسره

**[0:35]** It repels the shaytan, restrains him and breaks him. ذكر الله سبحانه وتعالى يطرد الشيطان ويقمعه ويكسره It really repels the shaytan, it actually restrains the shaytan and breaks the shaytan. Let's take some examples over here.

**[0:51]** So when it comes to يطرد الشيطان, that repels the shaytan, one of those forms of dhikr that does that is actually al-adhan, believe it or not. When you call the adhan, the Prophet ﷺ said, when the shaytan hears the adhan, what does

**[1:08]** he do? He runs away, tries to close his ears, running away from the adhan. And even the Prophet ﷺ says, while he's actually releasing gas, like he's running away from the adhan. And when the adhan is over, he comes back again.

**[1:24]** And when the iqamah is called, he runs away and comes back again, subhanallah. So that's why the ulema, they say, if you're in a moment where you're afraid, like you're afraid from jinn, from shaytan, this and that and so on, it's okay for you to call the adhan

**[1:39]** so that leads to ease yourself as well as repel the shaytan away from you. Let's say for example, if you went to an event, like for example this event, when you're done, you go to the parking lot, you park far away, and you walk in by yourself right now, and

**[1:55]** your mind is just going all over the place, you see things, you hear things. You get into the car, and now you hear something in the backseat. So what do you do? You call the adhan. You say, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. And that repels the shaytan, repels the jinn.

**[2:11]** But if you hear in the back, when you say, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, you hear something that says, Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, that means you have a Muslim jinn, alhamdulillah That's good, right? But seriously, the adhan is a form of dhikr that repels the shaytan. Allah azza wa jal says,

**[2:27]** وَإِمَّا يَنزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ That if the shaytan comes and he pokes to you and he agitates, then right away, استعذ بالله سَيَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ One way to think about this in the most visual sense is, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, one of the commentaries on the hadith where

**[2:44]** the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the shaytan, يَجْرِي كَمَجْرِى الدَّمِ that he flows in your blood, in your veins, the way that blood flows, is that you actually have to remove the oxygen of the shaytan. You have to suffocate him. Like imagine yourself suffocating the shaytan.

**[3:00]** How do you flood him out of your vessels? How do you flood him out of your veins? How do you not give him space? And you'll notice that all of the ayat and the ahadith about the shaytan are about giving him space. Once you give him space, he'll work his magic.

**[3:15]** And so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam emphasizes this idea of not giving him space in the first place. So when you start your food, بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ He says, I have no food here. I can't eat here. When you begin with the name of Allah in anything that you do, Okay, I have nothing to do here.

**[3:30]** Okay, you read the Qur'an. Okay, I can't get in here. You do the adhan. I can't get in here. Anytime you occupy a space, inside or outside, with the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, shaytan suffocates. Its oxygen is your absence. And when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

**[3:46]** speaks about this visualization of him, I want you to think about what's being said here. That not only do you repel him, but you break him. And you make him lose hope in you. If you were studying yourself right now, if you were your own shaytan,

**[4:02]** Alright, this is how you have to think like your enemy sometimes. If you were your own shaytan, how much hope would you have in yourself right now? See yourself getting a little religious. Ah, sorry, just another week and I've got him. I got her. Give it a little bit of time. Ah, yeah, you know, acting really religious right now.

**[4:18]** All I have to do is trigger this. It's okay, don't worry. The shaytan actually has hope in you, not on the basis of your sin. You know what it is? The ilmah manshin? Your inconsistency. Your inconsistency. See, because even a major sin can be repented from.

**[4:34]** But if you're inconsistent, then he doesn't worry about you. Because he knows that you just act in phases. And so when Allah Azawajal mentions, Al-waswas, Al-khanas. The whisperer and the one who slinks away. إِذَا ذَكَرَ وَسْوَسَ وَإِذَا غَفَلَ خَنَسَ

**[4:53]** No, sorry. إِذَا غَفَلَ وَسْوَسَ وَإِذَا ذَكَرَ اللَّهَ خَنَسَ As the ulama say, when he remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then, sorry, when he's absent of the remembrance of Allah, when he's heedless, then shaytan whispers. And if he remembers Allah, then he slinks away.

**[5:09]** Like imagine you're slinking him away. And the other thing here, subhanAllah, is what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned about his own shaytan. أَنَّهُ أَسْلَمَ That he submitted. See, with Sayyiduna Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu, shaytan would not even take the same road as him.

**[5:24]** He just knew that he could never get to Umar radiallahu anhu anymore. Because Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu was so insistent on crushing his nafs, his own self. Shaytan tries to poison the self. So he really has no way in with Umar radiallahu ta'ala anhu anymore. So he just takes a different road.

**[5:39]** I gave up on him. With the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, أَنَّهُ أَسْلَمَ he submitted. The ulama have two different interpretations. That the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, shaytan actually aslam, became Muslim. Or he submitted like he gave up. So does your shaytan have hope in you

**[5:56]** because of your inconsistency? And that's really what's being said here. The consistency of dhikr. SubhanAllah, the beautiful example you mentioned about when you come to eat, when you come into the house, and you mention the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you restrain the shaytan. So as a result the shaytan says, you know what, there's no food,

**[6:11]** you can't stay over here. And you exhaust that shaytan. And subhanAllah, ayatul kursi specifically as well, when you go to sleep and you put that shield over you. So all these words of dhikr definitely will repel the shaytan, restrain the shaytan, and break the shaytan.

**[6:26]** The second point, the second benefit of dhikr, the benefit of dhikr he says, rahimahullah wa ta'ala, أَنَّهُ يُرْضِ الرَّحْمَنَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ It pleases the most merciful, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Indeed Allah azza wa jal says, قَالَ فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ

**[6:42]** You remember me, I remember you. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, as a matter of fact, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَعَالَى يَرْضَى عَنِ الْعَبْدِ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be pleased with the servant يَأْكُلُ الْأَكْلَةَ وَيَشْرَبُ الشَّرْبَةَ

**[6:59]** فَيَحْمَدُهُ عَلَيْهَا When you put a morsel of food or take a sip of drink, and you say alhamdulillah, Allah will be pleased with you. So when you make that dhikr, even though as simple as saying alhamdulillah when you eat or when you drink, Allah azza wa jal will be pleased with you.

**[7:14]** So it's not because what you said is too short or too long or too fancy or too powerful. No, it's because the power is in the one that you're remembering and you're praising in that moment. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be pleased with you. So remember, little things such as saying alhamdulillah

**[7:30]** can bring the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your way. If the little sins show disregard to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then the little good deeds show higher regard to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And what the ulema mention here is that رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ Allah is pleased with them

**[7:45]** and they are pleased with Him. The highest gift that Allah gives in terms of experience on the entrance into Jannah is seeing Him subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's the highest gift that you get to see Him. The highest gift that Allah gives

**[8:01]** in terms of amnesty, in terms of an actual certificate, if you will, is that I'm pleased with you and I'll never be displeased with you again. يَا أَهْلَ الْجَنَّةِ I'm pleased with you and I'll never be displeased with you again. And if you look at this idea of personalizing your relationship with Allah

**[8:16]** subhanahu wa ta'ala, this is when you move from transactional to having a transformational relationship with Allah. I love to please my Lord. I love what my Lord loves. اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ حُبَّكَ وَحُبَّ مَنْ يُحِبُّكَ وَحُبَّ عَمَلٍ يُقَرِّبُنِي إِلَى حُبِّكَ

**[8:32]** Right? You ask Allah for His love and the love of all those that He loves and the love of every deed that brings you closer to Him. And so at that point, you don't need the actual quantification of the reward to be attached to the dhikr. You just know that it pleases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,

**[8:47]** it pleases ar-Rahman. And the more that I please Him, the more that He will please me. So I don't even need the details in between. You know, when we talk about du'a, sheikh, and how there can be ta'addi in du'a, there can be transgression in du'a when you start to get too detailed in your du'a sometimes, right?

**[9:02]** Likewise, when it comes to dhikr, if you're constantly looking for the next fake WhatsApp message that tells you to say this and you'll get 46,000 times this, that's a weakness of your regimen of remembrance. Like Allah loves it. Of course, I love what Allah loves.

**[9:18]** And if I please Allah, then He will certainly please me subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the second one is to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when you make your dhikr. And I want everybody to remember that this list is for you. How much you would like to accomplish with your dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

**[9:33]** What exactly you feel that I'm lacking, that I need to bring into my life? So I need to repel the shaytan. I need to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Number three, he says, and that's one of my favorites, subhanallah, because that's the main reason sometimes people, they go for dhikr.

**[9:52]** Because it removes, he says, dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it removes sadness and sorrow from the heart. Especially subhanallah, as humans, our life is always ups and downs. Alhamdulillah, when we are in the up, the moment of our lives, we become very heedless, unfortunately, as human beings.

**[10:08]** But then when the dip comes in, that's when everybody starts panicking. And that's when we start having anxiety, stress, and so on. And we're looking for some sort of relief. And that's when you realize Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is on your side. You remember Allah azza wa jal. You please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

**[10:24]** It brings that peace and tranquility. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Those who have faith, and their hearts find peace and tranquility through the remembrance of Allah. Because indeed,

**[10:39]** through the remembrance of Allah, the heart will find peace and tranquility. And so, when you think about the heart, and you're gonna see now as this list grows out, he'll start with the inside, and he'll start to go to the body, and he'll start to go to different elements of your exterior.

**[10:55]** If the heart is bad, then everything is bad, right? That's when it comes to corruption. Also, when it comes to paralysis, when it comes to the inability to move, the inability to move, if the heart is shut off, then nothing else will actually be able to function properly.

**[11:12]** Right? And so, the fact that it fills your heart with joy, it expands your heart. Allah azza wa jal specified, the heart's settled. Because if a person's heart is settled, then everything else immediately has more life to it. And so, it starts with the matter of the heart.

**[11:28]** You know, Sheikh, there is one dhikr that is recommended to mention during the day and during the evening, specifically for this point. Hadith an-Nabi ﷺ, when he used to make that du'a and that dhikr,

**[11:44]** وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ So, you all ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, at the beginning of the day and the evening, you say, اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْهَمِّ وَالْحَزَنِ I seek refuge with you and you from al-hamm, sadness, al-hazan, and sorrow, and grief. وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْعَجْزِ وَالْكَسَلِ

**[12:00]** I seek refuge with you from al-ajz and al-kasal. Al-ajz is basically kind of like laziness by choice, or by circumstances, or inability by circumstances. وَالْكَسَلُ is inability by choice. I don't want to do anything, right?

**[12:15]** وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنَ الْجُبْنِ وَالْبُخْلِ And I seek refuge with you from being coward and being stingy. وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ غَلَبَةِ الدَّيْنِ وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ And I seek refuge with you from being overwhelmed with debt وَقَهْرِ الرِّجَالِ and overpowered by other people. These things will bring to you stress and anxiety,

**[12:34]** you know, the pain in the heart, and your life becomes messed up, subhanallah. الذكر can help you, relieve you from all of this, at least in your heart. And usually, obviously, when your heart, alhamdulillah, is calm, you'll be able to think straight.

**[12:50]** But if your heart is disturbed, no matter how much you try, you're not going to be able to think straight. So subhanallah, dhikr is available for this in the morning and in the evening as well too. The fourth point right now, he says, rahimahullah. Number four, he says, أَنَّهُ يَجْلِبُ لِلْقَلْبِ الْفَرَحَ وَالسُّرُورَ وَالْبَسْطَ

**[13:08]** It brings happiness, delight, and relief to the heart. Remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will bring happiness, delight, and relief to the heart. A very powerful statement here, subhanallah. Yeah, and this kind of speaks to,

**[13:24]** like the salaf, when they would comment on this, they would say, look at the person who has Allah azza wa jal and the one who does not have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, مَثَلُ الَّذِي يَذْكُرُ اللَّهَ The example of the one who remembers Allah and the one who does not remember Allah is like الحي والميت,

**[13:39]** it's like the living person and the dead person. You don't know it if you don't experience it. And so if you have a strong regimen of dhikr, the way that it opens the heart to happiness and joy. And what makes this so beautiful is that it makes you independent of circumstance.

**[13:55]** We talked about yesterday, people that only worship Allah azza wa jal in accordance with circumstance. But if a person's heart is settled with dhikr, then they have a constant happiness that circumstance cannot change. Because they only focus on the condition of their heart and the heart is given life

**[14:10]** by the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the circumstances will follow as well. How many people have seen, subhanAllah, they go through a lot of difficulties and hardships and life is completely difficult. But then when you speak to them, you would like to buy that smile they have on their face with millions of dollars.

**[14:25]** Because subhanallah, their heart is content, it's happy with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that reminded me of a video that became viral a few years back. And every time when I come to gratitude, I think of this man. A Sudanese shepherd

**[14:41]** who was grazing the camels in the desert for one of those locals in the Gulf, subhanAllah. If you look at him, his clothes, his demeanor, he's just like a very humble person. So this guy, he comes, he drives by, fancy, beautiful car with the AC on, mashallah, in the desert.

**[14:57]** He's not bothered by the weather. And then he stops to speak with this man. And then he asks him, he goes, Do you need anything? Like after he told him, he says, How are you doing? He said, Alhamdulillah, I'm here, I'm good. He says, Do you need anything?

**[15:13]** This man, he gave a beautiful answer. He says, No, alhamdulillah. He goes, No, no, no, I'm good. He goes, No, I can give you anything. He goes, Look, نَحْنُ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ نَحْنُ فِي زِحَامٍ مِنَ النِّعَمِ He says, I have traffic jam of blessings.

**[15:30]** That's the literal translation of the words. Like the blessings, the traffic jam. Allah is sending in abundance, alhamdulillah. But when you look at him, and his situation, what is he talking about? This guy is in the middle of the desert, in the heat of the desert,

**[15:46]** with the camels, instead of being in a fancy, beautiful mansion with ACs on and blasting, beautiful cold breeze and so on. No, but this guy in that condition, he says, alhamdulillah. نَحْنُ فِي زِحَامٍ مِنَ النِّعَمِ Allah is showing us, you know,

**[16:01]** His mercy is rahma and abundantly. That's what it means over here. No matter of the circumstances. There's the ayah, Shaykh. قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذَلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ Say in the bounty of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, His mercy. Let them find joy in that.

**[16:17]** It's better than all that they gather. Point number five, he says, ذِكْرَ أَنَّهُ يُقَوِّي الْقَلْبَ وَالْبَدَنَ It strengthens, as he says, it strengthens both the heart and the body.

**[16:32]** Frankly, when you think about it, okay, the heart we understand, but how does it strengthen the body? Subhanallah, interestingly, today I had a conversation with sister Dua. She actually, she had a good, mashallah, feedback on last night's session. She said when we were talking about

**[16:48]** all these beautiful things about how dhikr, you know, it calms the heart and so on. So she went back to her notes from college times, and she shared with me interesting things about how the human psychology and as well as the nervous system,

**[17:03]** subhanallah, helps with that. So she shared a few things with me. I even went to go and search on my own. I'm not a doctor, so I don't know about these terms anyway. But subhanallah, she said like the vagus nerve, the vagus nerve which is a nerve that starts from the stem of the brain, goes all the way down

**[17:19]** and goes behind the muscles of the throat, that goes all the way down to the heart, to the gut, all the way to the colon. A very long, actually one of the longest nerves you could say. And that nervous, that's actually that nerve,

**[17:34]** the vagus nerve, responsible for so many things in the human body. And one of them, interestingly, one of them is the parasympathetic

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