Zekr

“When my servants ask thee concerning Me. I am indeed close (to them), I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calls me. Let them also with a will listen to my call and believe in me, That they may walk in the right way.” Holy Quran 2:186

Zekr

Zekr, is the remembrance of God, and as Professor Angha describes, Zekr is the first step in the way of love, for when we love someone, we like to repeat the name of the Beloved, and we constantly think of and remember them.[1] In Sufism, calling the name of God unifies the body, tongue, heart and mind in perfect harmony in declaring the one statement.

It is important to understand that verbal repetition of a word, even if it is in the name of God cannot bring awareness of knowledge. Zekr or remembrance has to start in the heart and expand to the rest of one’s being.

When chanting you should close your eyes whilst slowly moving your upper body from side to side. The correct movement is from left to right and right to left. At the same time you also need to gently tap on your knees with the middle of your hand, as the knee is one of the important energy centres in the body. Importantly, the purpose of the motion and movement of the upper body is to create an infinity sign centred around the heart.

With the eyes looking into the heart, lips reciting the name of the Beloved and ears hearing nothing but the Beloved’s name, one is constantly reminded of the different stages of being. The senses, physical movement, words, spiritual feeling, mental connection, as well as the tapping of the palms on the knees, fulfils the unified reminder of this remembrance.

[1] M.T.O. (1997). A Sufi Celebration, The Blossoming of an Era. M.T.O. Shahmaghsoudi, California State University, Sacramento. p.7.