Remembrance of Allah — Page 23
Misunderstandings about Dhikr 23 Seeing this, he was utterly amazed and from that very day he abstained from doing dhikr in that way, as he came to understand that that was the result of a discipline and not the effect of dhikr ; for, had it been the result of saying ‘Allah’, the same would have issued forth involuntarily from the mouths of others as well. Then why would ‘R a m, R a m’ issue forth? The condition of those who perform such rituals is akin to a person travelling through a wilderness in a state of extreme hunger and discovering a bag filled with what he imagines to be grains, whereas in reality the bag contains only pebbles. This is verily the condition of that man who walks along such paths and imagines that he is attaining the nearness of God Almighty. He is actually in a state of intoxication in which he becomes inebri- ated. And this is indeed the reason why, despite his thinking that he has attained a special lofty station, his heart remains as impure and unholy as it ever was. Thus, this is an intoxication like that of opium etc. Pleasure from Dhikr A sincere member of our Jam a ‘at would always tell me that one derives great pleasure from following these methods. I would tell him as well, that just as one derives pleasure from opium and cocaine, similarly one derives pleasure from this and the proof is that no spiritual cleanliness results from such forms of remembrances of Allah. Indeed, even those who say that their