Deeper into Dhikr
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The Meaning of Allahu Akbar | Episode 4
God is great. God is the greatest. The powerful remembrance of Allahu akbar is the first thing we hear when we enter this world, and the last thing we hear when we leave it. How can we channel this call upon Allah's might to both humble ourselves and summon His power in times of need?
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. The very first thing that you hear in your ear as a baby, as you enter into this world, is Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. And I want you to fast forward to the very last moments of your existence on this earth, where your body is in front of the imam as the imam is leading your janazah. And the imam says, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Four takbirat that you will hear right before you're placed into the grave, just like it was one takbir that you heard as soon as you came out of your mother's womb. SubhanAllah, our entire lives are between Allahu Akbar and Allahu Akbar. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's mission was described as, warabbaka fakabbir, proclaim the greatness of your Lord. wabakabbirhu takbira, and proclaim His limitless greatness. Your entire life is to declare the greatness of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and to make it apparent on this earth. Allahu Akbar. Now, what is encompassed in Allahu Akbar? Allah is the greatest. And Allah is Akbar, Allah is greater than everything. He's greater than what you know of Him. He's greater than what you can say about Him. He's greater than all others. He's greater than all else. He's greater than your praise. He's greater than what you think of yourself. He's greater than your happiness. He's greater than your sadness. He's greater than your pursuits. Allahu Akbar, Allah is the greatest, Allah is greater. He is the king of all kings. The most worthy of our attention, the most worthy of our adoration, the most worthy of our praise and the only one who remains when everything else perishes
and the only one who is worth it, even while other people and things still exist. The messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, no one ever utters La ilaha illallah or Allahu Akbar, except that he has given glad tidings. And they said, Ya Rasulullah, what glad tidings? The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, the glad tidings of Al-Jannah. Omar bin Al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu said, that the servant's utterance of Allahu Akbar, just saying Allahu Akbar is better than the world and everything that is contained within it. Now let's think about how embedded it is, even in our acts of worship. When it comes to salah, it's how the prayer is called. It's how we enter into the prayer. It's how we move from position to position. And even at the end, Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu says, Kuntu a'rifu inqidha Salat al-Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam I used to know the end of the prayer of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with Allahu Akbar. And the scholars debated, does that mean that Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu was saying that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam after taslim would immediately say Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar? Or did he mean that it is the end of the dhikr? And that's the more correct opinion, that even our adhkar after salah, our remembrance after salah, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us to say, Alhamdulillah 33 times, SubhanAllah 33 times, Allahu Akbar 34 times. And so a person is called with Allahu Akbar, a person starts with Allahu Akbar, a person goes through the salah with Allahu Akbar, and then even the end of your dhikr is Allahu Akbar 34 times. And this is also narrated about the time of sleeping that a person says, SubhanAllah 33 times, Alhamdulillah 33 times, Allahu Akbar 34 times. And by the way, there are different narrations and all of them are authentic. One of them where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, say SubhanAllah, Alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbar 10 times after salah, each.
One of them where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, say each one of them 33 times and then end off with La ilaha illallah, wahdahu la sharika la until the end of the dua. And many of them where the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, say SubhanAllah 33 times, Alhamdulillah 33 times, Allahu Akbar 34 times. So that's salah. What about hajj? Every single one of the manasik of hajj, every single one of the rituals of hajj has takbir embedded within it. As a person is passing around in tawaf, passing around the black stone, Allahu Akbar. As a person goes from each of the jamarat, Allahu Akbar. As a person moves on on the day of Eid, Allahu Akbar. So hajj is embedded within our manasik of hajj, even the sa'i, SubhanAllah, as a person ascends, as-safa, al-marwa, Allahu Akbar. So we see it in salah, we see it in hajj, and how does Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la describe the end of Ramadan? wa li tukmilu al-iddata wa li tukabbiru Allaha ala maa hadhakum That you finish the period of Ramadan and then you declare the greatness of Allah over that which he has guided you to. So it's embedded in our pillars of Islam. And we see it in so many other aspects of our ibadah. When a person sees the Hilal, it's the first part of the du'a of seeing the Hilal, Allahu Akbar. When the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam saw the lunar eclipse, Allahu Akbar. When Eid comes, as Abu Huraira radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu narrates, zayinu a'yadakum bil takbir That beautify your Eid with as much takbir as possible on the days of Eid. And Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, When you sacrifice, idha samaytum fakabbiru When you sacrifice an animal, then say, Bismillah wakabbiru and say, Allahu Akbar. So it's embedded within our ibadah. But outside of that, how should we use this wonderful form of dhikr? And Imam bin Taymiyyah Rahimahullah said takbir
is when we humble ourselves to Allah's power or we seek to summon strength from his power or we celebrate victory knowing that it only comes from the power of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. So you'll find that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would say Allahu Akbar as he was ascending a hill. You'll find that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would begin his travel with Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar Subhana ladhi sakhar lana hadha until the end of the du'a for travel. So he starts off with takbir before encountering a difficult journey or a difficult climb. You also find that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam would say takbir, would say Allahu Akbar at the time of victory or at the time of good news. It's narrated in multiple occasions that Rasulullah SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam used Allahu Akbar at the time of al-bishara, at the time of receiving glad tidings or at the time of giving glad tidings. And the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he once heard a man say, Allahu akbaru kabira, walhamdu lillahi kathira wa subhanallahi bukratan wa asila Allah is the greatest. Allahu akbaru kabira, Allah is truly the greatest. walhamdu lillahi kathira And praise be to Allah in abundance. wa subhanallahi bukratan wa asila And glory be to Allah in the morning and in the evening. And when the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam heard that, he turned around and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, who said that? And they pointed to the man and the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said, ajibtu laha, futihat laha abwabus sama That I was amazed by that statement. That one statement literally opened the gates of the heavens. Allahu akbaru, Allahu akbaru, la ilaha illallah
Allahu akbaru, Allahu akbaru, wa lillahi alhamd Allahu akbaru kabira walhamdu lillahi kathira wa subhanallahi bukratan wa asila Allahu akbaru wa la na'budu illa Allah mukhlisina lahu al-dina walaw kariha al-kafirun la ilaha illallah wahdah sadaqa wahdah wa nasara abdah wa hazama al-ahzab wahdah la ilaha illallah wa allahu akbar Al Fatiha.
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