On the Use of Non-Sunna Forms of Invocation (Dhikr)

As Muslims, our commitment is to the revealed law—the Shariah is above us all. The Mukallaf must know the Hukm al-Shari’i in anything they say or do.

Imams al-Bukhari and Muslim relate that Rifa'a ibn Rafi said, ‘When we were praying behind the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and he raised his head from bowing and said, "Allah hears whoever praises Him", a man behind him said, "Our Lord, Yours is the praise, abundantly, wholesomely, and blessedly therein." When he rose to leave, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) asked "who said it", and when the man replied that it was he, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, "I saw thirty-odd angels each striving to be the one to write it."

Ibn Hajar says in Fath al-Bari that the hadith indicates the permissibility of initiating new expressions of dhikr in the prayer other than the ones related through hadith texts, as long as they do not contradict those conveyed by the hadith [since the above words were a mere enhancement and addendum to the known, sunna dhikr].

There are other hadith similar to this:

1-Hadith of ‘Abdullah b. Burayda in Abu Dawud’s and Tirmidhi’s collections. He related that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) heard a man saying ‘O Allah, I ask You because You are Allah, there is no god besides You, the One, the Eternally Besought, who neither begets nor is begotten, and there is nothing like unto him.’ The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: ‘You have asked Allah Most Exalted with His Supreme Name, which, when He is invoked with it, He answers, and when asked by it, He gives.’

2-Hadith of Mu’adh b. Jabal in Tirmidhi’s collection. He said the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) heard a man say, ‘Ya Dha al-Jalal wa al-Ikram.’ The Prophet said, ‘You have been answered, so ask and you will be given.’

There are some other hadith like this where a person is heard invoking with their own du’as that they did not receive from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) directly.

It is interesting to note that some of these du’as were incorporated after Prophetic approval and considered Prophetic du’as—after all, who inspired them to call upon Allah?

In the Muwatta’ there is a narration from Abu al-Darda’ which says that he would say upon rising in the night to pray, ‘The eyes have slept, and the bodies have calmed, and there remains naught but You, O Hayy, O Qayyum.’ Imam Malik included this in the chapter on Prophetic Du’as.

Furthermore, the command in Sura al-Ahzab to invoke salawat is general, and therefore encompasses all of the salawat.

IMPLICATIONS OF DENIAL

If someone argues that the only salawat and adhkar one may use are those taken directly from the Quran and Sunna, the implication is:

1-The sinfulness of those who wrote and uttered salawat not found in the Quran and the Sunna. That would include the Companions, the Ahl al-Bayt, the great imams (Imam al-Shafi’i has a special formula in the beginning of his work al-Umm).  This is false, because the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said ‘My Umma will never unite upon misguidance.’

2-There is no reward for any formula besides the direct transmissions.

The only difference of opinion is about the blessings, rewards, and virtues—based on the hadith, ‘Whosoever sends ten prayers upon me, Allah shall send ten prayers upon him’--is that reward limited to the one who invokes with the transmitted salat or any wording?

The fact that there are different wordings already in the hadith reports indicates that there is latitude in the issue. This limiting opinion was really only championed by al-Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-‘Arabi and was not accepted by the other imams. In fact, they mentioned it in their works and did not accept it.

MEANS OF TRANSMISSION

With regard to the many salawat and adhkar transmitted by the Awliya’, what are their source and how did those Awliya’ receive them?

Isma’il Haqqi said in his tafsir Ruh al-Bayan, commenting on the words of Allah in Sura al-Najm (4): ‘It is but revelation revealed,’ said: ‘Some of the senior masters have said, “Anyone who establishes a non-Sunna based wird for the fuqara’ has shown bad adab with Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), unless the wird in question has come by means of Allah making it known to him, informing him of the unique properties of the words it gathers. In this case, such a person will be in compliance [with the divine command] and not inventing [something blameworthy]…’

Isma’il Haqqi goes on to say:

We see this in the story behind Hizb al-Bahr, transmitted to Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili. It is related that he received it from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) in a vision.

This ta’rif ilahi applies to various modes by which such salawat and adhkar are transmitted. It is also termed ‘khitab ‘awalim latifa (subtle ethereal address of divine origin). Its scriptural basis is in the hadith of the Prophet in Sahih al-Bukhari, ‘Among those who came before you were people who were muhaddathun’—muhaddath meaning the one who receives discourse via inspiration, even though they are not a Prophet.

In another narration it says, ‘Before you were people who were mukallamun (recipients of speech), without being Prophets, and if there are to be any in my nation, then ‘Umar is certainly from them.’

In the Hizb al-Kabir of Shaykh Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili it says, ‘…and bestow upon us a divine witnessing accompanied by mukalama…’

Other Forms:

ILHAM

Ilham is inspiration cast in the heart. Sound ilham that does not contradict the Quran, Sunna, and Ijma’ is considered a hujja among the ‘Arifin, and is seen as a proof among some of the scholars of the outward, such as Imam al-Razi. In his tafsir he mentions ilham as one acceptable way of determining the qibla.

Shaykh Mukhtar b. Ahmad al-Kunti said in Nuzhat al-Rawi wa Bughyat al-Hawi that ilham is only rejected when it contradicts an explicit text in the Shariah, otherwise it is considered a hujja.

In his commentary on the Kattani Wird, Shaykh Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Hayy al-Kattani was speaking about those fuqaha’ who objected to ilham as a legal source, and said that this rejection ‘is only valid when is concerns something that has already been detailed by an explicit revealed text, or when it comes from one whose electhood (khususiyya) and sainthood (walaya) are not established while claiming ilham, due to the large number of false-claimants among the fakes. And thus in rejecting it [ilham], their delusions and claims are thwarted.’

WRITING

One way these salawat and adhkar are received is through forms of writing that the Wali understands—that Allah acquaints them with—containing a formula of dhikr.

One example of this is ‘The Prayer of the Light of Resurrection (Salat Nur al-Qiyama)’ transmitted by Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani:

"O Allah, send prayers upon our master Muhammad, the ocean of Your lights, the mine of Your secrets, the expressive tongue of Your proof, the bridegroom of Your kingdom, the Imam of those in Your Divine Presence...."

Ahmad al-Sawi, Shaykh al-Diyarbi and others have said that this prayer was found engraved on a stone by divine power, (manqusha bi qudra Allah)

DREAMS

There are hundreds of salawat that have been transmitted to Awliya in dreams. Sometimes the wording is given to them without seeing a personage, other times it is from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), or from an angel, and sometimes they see the salat in written form within their dream.

Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Jami said in his commentary on Fusus al-Hikam: ‘Know that the outpouring of wisdom from the Real upon the hearts of His perfected servants and choice slaves comes in different forms:

A-What comes through an angelic medium: An angel transmits wordings and expressions that are protected from change. This is the Quran, transmitted by the Archangel Jibril.

B-What comes through a medium or without a medium, rather as direct meanings, or with meanings cast in the heart without wordings, that are then given the dress of wordings. This is the hadith qudsi

C-What pours upon the perfected followers of the Prophet—each in accordance with his level of emulation and relation….He goes on to say that the Fusus is one such example, since Ibn ‘Arabi states that he received it in his dream from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and was told to take it to the people.

KHIDR

There are a number of salawat that have been transmitted by Khidr

WAKEFUL VISION OF THE PROPHET

This is one way certain salawat have been transmitted. The difference between this means of transmission and receiving them in a dream is that in the wakeful vison there is added clarity and more intensity.