Foreword What is Remembrance?

What is Remembrance? M aulana Abdul Majid Daryabadi (d. 1977) interpreted this verse of the Quran (2:152) “So remember Me, I will remember you,” as follows: “Abu Bakr Jassas Raazi (d. 370) took the meaning of “remembrance” as signs of God and thinking about God’s majesty and power. And he regarded this form of worship as superior to other types of remembrance (such as saying God’s name while counting the beads on the rosary).” (Ahkamul Quran, vol. 1, p. 114) The fact is that we understand the being of God only through those phenomena or attributes of God which are scattered everywhere in our own existence and across the universe. We achieve the realization and discovery of God through contemplation on these phenomena of nature. The reality is that, remembrance does not mean verbal repetition of God’s name. Remembrance means contemplation on God’s creation to discover God’s greatness through the wisdom and perfection of His works. This is remembrance, and through it, one can achieve a higher level of realization of God. It is a fact that we cannot observe God’s Being, yet, we can definitely see glimpses of God in His creation.