The Angels of Dhikr (Remembrance)

16:49: "And unto God maketh prostration whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth of living creatures, and the angels also, and they are not proud."

41:30: "Lo! Those who say: our Lord is God, and afterwards are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised."

The Prophet Muhammad showed his companions the unlimited worship of creation by allowing them to hear the praise to God of stones, animals, and trees. All of creation constantly praises God and makes prostration to Him. Human beings are raised to a most honorable level by being listed the angels. That is why the angels shower special blessings on human beings who remember their Creator, and God boasts to his angels about them with the words: "Look at My servants who leave their pleasures despite themselves in order to worship Me."

The Prophet said that God created special angels who roam the earth to find people engaged in His dhikr (Remembrance). When the angels find such a group reciting His praises and chanting His names, they call each other and encompass that group in layer upon layer of angels until they reach the nearest heaven, the distance of which is in God's knowledge. Then God asks His angels: "What are my servants doing?" He asks not because He does not know, but because He wants the answer to be spoken outloud for us to know it. The angels answer: "They are praising You and magnifying Your name, and glorifying You, and reciting Your beautiful Attributes!" God then asks: "Have My servants seen Me?" When the angels answer: "No," God asks: "What kind of praise would they make if they actually see Me?" The angels answer: "O our Lord! If they see you, they are not going to be able to stop worshipping You, praising You, and declaring their love for You." God then asks: "What are My servants asking?" The angels reply: "They are asking for Your Paradise." God asks: "Did they see it?" The angels reply: "O our Lord! No, they did not see it." "What if they see it?" God asks. The angels reply: "If they were to see it they would be even more attracted to it, to the point of forgetting everything else in their lives!" God then asks: "What are they running from?" The angels answer: "They are running away from hellfire, which they fear greatly." "Have they seen it?" God asks. "O our Lord! No, they have not seen it," the angels reply. "What if they see it, what then?" God asks. The angels answer: "If they see your fire, they are going to be more intent on fleeing from it, to the point of forgetting everything else in their lives!" At that time God says: "O My angels in heaven and on earth! I am taking you as witnesses of My word that I have forgiven them." One of the angels says: "O my Lord! there was someone among them who does not belong to their group, but came to them for some other need." God says: "If one were only to sit in the company of such a group, his sins also will be forgiven, and he has nothing to fear."

God's speech to the angels and their replies form a heart-melting dialogue that encourages and uplifts the hearts of believers. God is telling us to come together and love and help each other, and forgive each other, all for the sake of the fact that He created us and He loves us. The greatest kind of gathering, however, is the gathering where nothing other than God is mentioned or remembered among those gathered. Even to sit near such a gathering though not participating in it, insures one's forgiveness in God's divine presence. God mentions us in an exalted assembly and a gathering far better than ours when we mention him.

The following is what happened to one of the saints during his last sickness. He said: "O God! I felt afraid of you before, but today I am beseeching You: You know that I did not love this world more than You. I did not try to cheat and deceive, to hoard palaces and farms and properties full of fruitful trees, and cattle, and wells. But you know that all the time I tried to help the poor, visit the sick, help those who asked, welcome strangers, and care for your creation. You know that I was running to the angelic gatherings of good people, chanting and singing and calling on You. You know that I was seeking the help of Your angels. O God! You know that my heart longs for You. O my Lord! that pain of love in me takes away my mind and causes me to faint, and I cannot carry it anymore." At that point he fainted. When he woke up he continued: "O God! You know that I have a son who died as a martyr, and he just told me in his angelic form that he had been in a gathering of angels, prophets, truthful saints, martyrs, and righteous people. O God! let me be in a similar gathering also." At that time the angels surrounded him and became visible to him, greeting him and smiling upon him and encouraging him with kind words. He was seen rising in the air and calling out the names of the angels. He began to say: "That is Artiya'il, and that is Hara'il, and this is the angel of shadows, and that is the angel of the wind, and this is the angel of the unborn, and that is the angel of tears, and this is the angel of the sea, and that is the angel of thunder, this is the angel Gabriel, that is the angel Michael, this is Ridwan the angel of Paradise, and that is Malik the angel of hell. Here are the angels of sleep and dream, and the angels of provision, and the angels of vegetations, and the spirit-angels, and the cherubim, and the seraphim, and those brought near, and the angels of the mountains, and Raphael, and these are the angels of tree-leaves, and the angels of the planet earth, and those of the stars, and the moon, and the sun, and the galaxies..." Then the saint began to speak in a language that no-one could understand, until he finally asked the angel of death to take his soul in order to reach his Creator and be placed there as an angelic power. He died with open eyes suffused with light.



Blessings and Peace on the Prophet, his Family, and his Companions.

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