THE WORD OF GOD

have been provided by God. If you reflect on these bounties of God and connect them with God, then you are remembering God. Remembering God is not alien to your being. It is interwoven in your being like energy is. You and energy are separate, but in fact, both are the same. So, every moment there are bounties of God present around you. If you awaken in yourself this consciousness and connect what you see or experience with God, then you are remembering God. Please explain the Prophet’s way of dhikr of God. Was he engaged in this dhikr every moment of his life as a prophet? If so, then please explain how he did this continuous remembrance of God even while busy in so many tasks—e.g. dawah, teaching his Companions, spending time with his family, etc. The Prophet’s wife Aisha reports about the Prophet: The Prophet remembered God on every occasion. (Sahih al-Bukhari) The Prophet used to remember God on each occasion by making it a point of reference for God’s remembrance. So, for the Prophet, dhikrullah and other tasks were not two separate activities. Rather, both were intermingled. When it is said that we should make every occasion an occasion for remembering God, does that mean we must focus on the present—the present occasion—and then use that as a means to reflect on and thank and praise God? Dhikr means living with divine consciousness. When you have attained this state of consciousness, every moment you will be in a state of dhikr, even though you may not be uttering any specific words. Suppose I am going for a stroll. I try and keep my mind in the present, not allowing it to stray off into the past or the future. So, I focus on, say, my feet, thanking and praising God for my feet. I focus on the trees I see, praising God for them. I see the birds and I praise God for having created such beautiful beings. Is this also a means of making the occasions we face an opportunity to remember God? Is this a good method of dhikr? Yes, this is the right way of dhikrullah. Often, I find myself thinking of the past (mainly negative feelings, thoughts) and sometimes, the future, too. My mind is dragged away from the present. What are the teachings of Islam about this? If I have had some negative experience in the past, when I recall it today, I convert it into an item of shukr, or thankfulness to God,