Deeper into Dhikr
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The Meaning of Alhamdulillah | Episode 2
What does alhamdulillah mean and when do we say it? God is not in need of our praise, but all praise is due to God. Learn about the power of alhamdulillah and the best ways to channel this beautiful remembrance in your du’a and everyday life.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam describes to us the moment on the Day of Judgment where he will fall on his face and he will pray to Allah in the most consequential du'a in the history of mankind. And he says SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam that in this great moment of intercession that I will fall face first and Allah will inspire me with Muhammad, with words of hamd, words of praise that I don't even know right now. SubhanAllah, think about the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam with his face on the ground and Allah giving him the best way to praise him subhanahu wa ta'ala for the benefit of all of his creation. The beauty of this concept of hamd, Muhammad, words of praise, alhamdulillah, is that it is the most natural form of du'a and it's the most open-ended. Alhamdulillah And so a man came to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam and said to the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, Ya Rasulullah, I have praised my Lord with some of these Muhammad, with some words of praise, and then I just let my du'a go wherever it went. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam Your Lord loves praise. And so when a person starts to make du'a, they can say alhamdulillah, they can praise Allah, and then they can mention any of his names and attributes that they want. They can mention any of the favors of Allah. They can mention any of the specific blessings that they want to mention or something that they want more of. The point is you really can't go wrong with this dhikr and then using this dhikr to propel your du'a forward. Alhamdulillah for who you are. Alhamdulillah for what you have given me. Alhamdulillah for anything that I'm even asking you for. And we find that the angels, they struggle to record just like they struggle to record tasbih, the weight of this hamd. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, one time
while he was praying, he heard a man behind him say, Rabbana walak alhamd, hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan fee. Oh Allah, to you belongs all praise, hamdan kathiran, plentiful, tayyiban, pure, mubarakan fee. That is blessed and abundant. And in one narration, alhamdulillah, hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan fee, mubarakan alayh kama yuhibbu rabbuna wa yarda. Like our Lord loves and is pleased with. And Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, who said that du'a when we were rising from the rukoor? And when the man was identified, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, I saw 30 angels that were rushing to try to capture your praise and take it back to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. So now what's the difference and how are tasbih and tahmid complementary to one another? Al-Hafidh ibn Kathir Rahimahullah, he says that tasbih, saying SubhanAllah, is to affirm Allah's freedom from any ayb or naqs, from any flaw or deficiency. And then tahmid is to praise Allah for His perfection and for His grace. And together, these are the two adhkar that fill the mizan. They fill the scale on the Day of Judgment and they fill what is between the heavens and the earth. And Allah connects them together when He says, FasubhanAllahi heena tumsoona wa heena tusbihoon, walahu alhamdu fissamawati walard. So declare the perfection of Allah when you wake up and when you retire in the evening. And His praise fills the heavens and the earth. Now what does it mean to praise Allah? What is the deeper meaning of alhamdulillah? You see the word hamd is comprehensive and this is from the mercy of Allah that He gives us comprehensive ways that we can praise Him. The word hamd combines both, as the scholars say, thana and shukr, praise and gratitude. So you're not just praising Allah,
you're not just thanking Allah, but you're doing both with a single word. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because He is who He is, does not actually need anyone to praise Him for Him to be praiseworthy. He is al-aziz al-hamid. He is the one who is almighty whether you acknowledge His might or not and He is all praiseworthy whether you praise Him or not. And we even see that beauty in the Quran itself in surah al-fatiha that the first one to praise Allah in the Quran is Himself. Allah's word starts with the hamd of Allah, the praise of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself. And this praise is different from what's known in the Arabic language as al-madh. Al-madh, as the scholars say, could be praise but it doesn't necessarily have embedded in that praise love and honor. Hamd is as the scholars say, al-thanaa bil-jameel, ala al-jameel, ala wajhi al-mahabbati wa al-ta'zeem. It is beautiful praise upon one who is beautiful and it has embedded within it love and glory. And so it's a very special way that you speak to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, subhanAllahi wa bihamdihi. Now the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, inna afdala du'aa alhamdulillah, wa afdala dhikr la ilaha illallah. That the best du'aa is alhamdulillah and the best dhikr is la ilaha illallah. So hamd actually plays the role of being both of the greatest forms of dhikr, remembrance, but also being a du'aa in and of itself. Why? Because you are praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala without actually asking Him for anything. And so you give this du'aa alhamdulillah. And that's why the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam as a du'aa, he said that this is the most superior of the supplications. He said, sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, inna allaha istafa minal kanami arbaAAa. That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has chosen amongst all words, four words, four phrases. SubhanAllah, alhamdulillah, la ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar. Now he says in this long hadith sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, that whoever says subhanAllah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala writes down 20 good deeds for them. And whoever says la ilaha illallah, Allah writes down 20 good deeds. And whoever says Allahu Akbar, Allah writes down 20 good deeds. And with all of those, he also removes 20 sins. So 20 good deeds and 20 sins. But then he says, whoever says alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen min qibali nafsihi, says alhamdulillah from themselves, meaning just says alhamdulillah by itself, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala writes down 30 good deeds and removes 30 sins. So alhamdulillah is a form of dhikr and it's a form of dua. And the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith, no one says alhamdulillah for a blessing that has been given to them, except that what you gave is better than what you were given. Meaning what? The blessing that was given to you for which you're saying alhamdulillah is not as great of a blessing as the alhamdulillah that you gave, because the blessing that is going to come about because of your saying alhamdulillah is greater than the one that led you to praise him in the first place. So how do we use this dhikr on a daily basis? Number one, just like tasbih, you say it 33 times after your salah. So subhanAllah and alhamdulillah will both be 33 times. You also will say it a hundred times a day at least and you can combine that with your tasbih. So you could do your tasbih and your tahmid together. But you'll notice that alhamdulillah is ingrained in us in such a way that when we recognize a blessing, we immediately say alhamdulillah. And the first blessing you recognize is the one that you wake up to. Meaning the very fact that you have woken up, the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said that when a person wakes up they say
alhamdulillah ladi ahyana ba'dama amatana wa ilayhi nushur. You thank Allah for giving you life after death and to him is the ultimate return. And so any blessing that comes to you throughout the day, you have already started a relationship with Allah with your entire day. That just by breathing that day you're saying alhamdulillah. So what then when you eat? The Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam taught us to say alhamdulillah after we eat our food. But he said specifically sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam that whoever eats and says alhamdulillah all praises and thanks be to the one who fed this to me and provided it to me without any strength or any capacity of my own. He said sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam ghufira lahu ma taqadama min dhan bihi. Allah will forgive all of your sins. He said the same thing sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam when it comes to your getting dressed. You know how often do we thank Allah for the clothes we put on every single day? And he said sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam that whoever wears their clothes, they take a new garment, they put it on and they say alhamdulillah ladhi kasani hadha thawb min ghayri hawla minni wala quwa. All praises and thanks be to Allah who provided this thawb for me without any power, any strength, any capacity of my own. He said sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam ghufira lahu ma taqadama min dhan bihi. Allah will forgive all of your sins. When anything happens to you of good, you thank Allah for the blessing. Of hardship alhamdulillah ala kulli hal. You thank Allah for all things even in hardship. When you sneeze, the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam taught that when you sneeze you say alhamdulillah and that if a person does not praise Allah when they sneeze then the shaitan mocks them. Now if this is how it is in this dunya where despite the imperfections of the blessings that you have here, you still thank Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and you still say alhamdulillah naturally, imagine your sentiment when you enter into Jannah and you eat the food there or when you wear the clothes there. And so it's a natural extension of your goodness here that you continue to give praise to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And it's a natural extension of Allah's excellence that He continues to give you more and more and more and more every time you thank Him for what you already have. alhamdulillahi allathee hadana lihadha wama kunna linahtadia lawla an hadana allah alhamdulillahi wahdah wassalatu wassalamu ala man la nabiya ba'dah allahumma ma asbah bi min ni'matin aw bi ahadin min khalqik fa minka wahdaka la sharika lak falaka alhamdu walaka shukr ya rabbi laka alhamdu kama yanbaghi li jalali wajihika wa li azeemi sultanik alhamdulillahi allathee ahyana ba'dama amatana wa ilayhi nushoor alhamdulillahi allathee bi ni'matihi tatimmu assalihaat
alhamdulillahi ala kulli hal alhamdulillahi hamdan kathiran tayyiban mubarakan fihi mubarakan alayhi kama yuhibbu rabbuna wa yarda
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