# Ep. 25: Fortress of Faith| The Faith Revival

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** The Faith Revival
**Published:** 2017-06-20
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/pROcHF5L6tw
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-25-fortress-of-faith
**Topics:** Allah, Faith

## Description
Remembrance of Allah (thikr) is a fortress for you from Satan. Remember Allah in the moments when Satan is most likely to threaten your faith.

## Transcript
**[0:01]** As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome back to the Faith Revival. So this next episode we're going to actually talk about the advice of another prophet other than the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam about how a person can guard the remembrance

**[0:17]** of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So this is a long hadith where the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam mentions Yahya alayhi as-salam, John. As John stands up in Jerusalem and he starts to give a speech and Jesus peace be upon him, Isa alayhi as-salam is standing

**[0:32]** next to him. So imagine the scene and the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said everyone comes out to listen to Yahya and they fill their balconies and Yahya alayhi as-salam calls out to them with the commandments. The commandments of prayer, the commandments of fasting, the commandments of charity, all of these different commandments. And the Prophet

**[0:51]** sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam says, Yahya alayhi as-salam says, amongst the commandments, he says, and Allah commands you to remember him. Allah commands you to remember him. He says for indeed the parable of one who remembers Allah is like a man who's been chased down by his enemy.

**[1:09]** And as he's cornered by his enemy he finds this fortress that cannot be penetrated. And he jumps behind that fortress in which he protects himself from them until his enemy flees away from him out of despair. So imagine a person running away from his enemy and then

**[1:26]** he gets behind a fortress and his enemy tries to find ways to get around that fortress and he finds it impossible until he despairs and runs away. He says this is like a person when he remembers Allah. He does not protect himself from the shaytan except by the remembrance

**[1:44]** of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is why dhikr, remembrance, is called hism al-muslim. One of the most famous collections of remembrance and dua of Allah is called fortress of the Muslim, hism al-muslim. Because the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said your remembrance

**[1:59]** of Allah is a fortress for you from the shaytan. If you are constantly in a state of remembrance then shaytan cannot have an entrance inside of you. Shaytan cannot penetrate your faith in any way. And a lot of times people think that I have to be in an environment where

**[2:18]** remembrance takes place so that I can remember Allah. But the fact of the matter is that the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam prescribed dhikr, prescribed remembrance for places that the shaytan is likely to get you. So one of the most rewarding times to remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to do dhikr, is when you are entering into the marketplace because

**[2:35]** shaytan can get you in those spaces. So doing the dua of the suq, the supplication as you enter into the marketplace, when you are doing remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a gathering where people are likely to backbite, people are likely to gossip. Basically

**[2:51]** Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah says the dhikr of Allah is most important, the remembrance of Allah is most important in the places and times where shaytan is most likely to get your faith. Think about that. What is your most likely sin? What is your most likely

**[3:08]** action to distance you from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And how much do you remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in those moments? And that's why we go back to Umar Ibn Al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said shaytan takes another road from Umar. Shaytan cannot even be on the same street as Umar because Umar is always

**[3:27]** in the zone and Umar is always in the remembrance of Allah and that garment of iman that the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam saw, that garment of faith is there, he's always protecting himself. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions al-waswas al-khannas. He describes the shaytan as the

**[3:44]** one who frequently whispers and the one who sinks away. And Hassan al-Basri rahimahullah says, itha ghafala waswas, that when you become heedless shaytan whispers, wa itha dhakara Allah khannas. And when you remember Allah shaytan sinks away and flees away from you.

**[4:04]** Think about the fortress and how you're protecting your iman and think about when you remember Allah and establish a regimen of the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the places and times where shaytan usually gets you. If that's your workplace you need to remember Allah in the workplace. If it's the marketplace you need to remember Allah there. If it's

**[4:22]** in gatherings you need to remember Allah there. If it's in the privacy of your home when you're behind a computer screen you need to have a regimen of dhikr, something that reminds you to remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in those moments and to start speaking or verbalizing that dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the heart so that shaytan cannot

**[4:41]** penetrate and start leading you away from faith. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us from him and grant us that fortress of iman and the remembrance of Allah. Allahuma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran. See you all next time inshaAllah. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

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