Refuting the Sufis on collective dhikr and citing the hadith "Mention me in a gathering"
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, he says: How do we refute the Sufis who remember Allah with prescribed adhkar and invocations, but in a collective manner, and they argue with the Qudsi hadith fromSahih Ibn Hibban 6:21?
The Shaykh:
Remembering Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is prescribed and required. They gather and remember Allah individually, each one alone. Some of their voices are like anthems, voices. The innovation may be a true innovation, meaning it has no basis at all, or it may be an additional innovation. So this collective dhikr is an additional innovation, because the basis of dhikr is prescribed, but its being done with a collective voice is an innovation. So it is an additional innovation; they added this innovation to the Sunnah, mixing them all together. And "in a gathering" means that each one is not in a state where they remember Allah with one prayer; rather, it means that they remember Allah (Mighty and Majestic) individually.
The questioner:
More.
The Shaykh:
They remember Allah while the gathering listens to his speech and listens to their dhikr of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Honorable Shaykh, he says: How do we refute the Sufis who remember Allah with prescribed adhkar and invocations, but in a collective manner, and they argue with the Qudsi hadith from
Whoever remembers Me within himself, I remember him within Myself, and whoever remembers Me in a gathering, I remember him in a gathering better than them
ذكرني في نفسه ذكرته في نفسي، ومن ذكرني في ملأ ذكرته في ملأ خير منهمThe Shaykh:
Remembering Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) is prescribed and required. They gather and remember Allah individually, each one alone. Some of their voices are like anthems, voices. The innovation may be a true innovation, meaning it has no basis at all, or it may be an additional innovation. So this collective dhikr is an additional innovation, because the basis of dhikr is prescribed, but its being done with a collective voice is an innovation. So it is an additional innovation; they added this innovation to the Sunnah, mixing them all together. And "in a gathering" means that each one is not in a state where they remember Allah with one prayer; rather, it means that they remember Allah (Mighty and Majestic) individually.
The questioner:
More.
The Shaykh:
They remember Allah while the gathering listens to his speech and listens to their dhikr of Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The presenter:
May Allah reward you
Source
شرح نونية ابن القيم [45] — alfawzan.live (1:10:02)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.