A House Wherein Allah Is Not Remembered Is Like A Dead Body

Abu Musa Ash'ari (ra) has been quoted as follows : The eternally blessed Prophet (saws) said " A house wherein Allah is remembered and a house wherein He is not remembered are like living and dead bodies."

[Bukhari and Muslim]

Explanation : It is clear from the above mentioned hadith that we should make an atmosphere of remembrance of Allah (Swt) in those places where we live and work. Verbal remembrance of Allah is very consoling & pleasant and an easy form of worship that one can perform it continuously at all times and with great benefits. Obviously Dhikr does not benefit Allah , Who has no need of it ; the benefit is for Allah's bondsmen since Dhikr strengthens the bond between Allah and his bondsmen. It is food for the soul which invigorates it. And with an invigorated soul it becomes easy to overcome one's base instincts and to vanquish the Devil. Thus one is able more easily to avoid sins and the good deeds increase.

In spite of the great merits of Dhikr, Allah has made it very easy. There are no preconditions attached to it. If someone performs ablution and then sits facing Qiblah and perform Dhikrit is all for the best. But if there is not time or occasion for it then one can perform Dhikr while enagged in other work , even ablution is not required And Dhikr is permitted even when unclean after coiyion or while menstruating.

However one should not perform it verbally when unclothed or when in some unclean place like lavatory. However even there Dhikr can be done without intoning or moving the tongue. Thus, the merits of this worship can be reaped at all times without any difficulty. However, it is appropriate to fix a particular time in the night or the day when one can perform Dhikr after ablution and facing the Qiblah ; Dhikr at other times would be an added boon.

A companion once submitted to the Prophet (saws) "O Messenger of Allah (saws) ! Good deeds are many and I do not save the strength to perform all of them. So please tell me one thing that I may always remember. Please do not tell me many things as I would forget them." The Holy Prophet (saws) said "Your tongue should be wet with the Dhikr of Allah." [Tirmidhi]