The Meaning of the Saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “The Hour will not be established while there is on the face of the earth anyone who says, ‘Allah, Allah,’” and the Explanation of the Innovation of Remembering Allah with the Phrase “Allah, Allah”

The Shaykh : And in the other hadith it is very clear that the intention of this hadith is not... I say this to dispel wrong conceptions. The intention of this authentic hadith is not that one should remember Allah... whatever number of times, one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, by... This is not the intention at all. To say “Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah” is an innovation in religion and in language. I say that remembering Allah with the phrase “Allah, Allah” is an innovation in religion and in language. As for in religion, it is because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and because the Companions and those who followed them in excellence, including the four noble Imams, none of them is reported to have legislated such as “Allah, Allah,” despite the abundance of dhikr that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) granted to his Ummah, especially since he said “This is the best of speech after the Qur’an: these four phrases.” And specific hadiths came regarding the superiority of the tahlil: “There is no god but Allah, alone, without partner. His is the dominion and His is the praise, and He is over all things competent.” The books of dhikr compiled in this regard, explaining what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) legislated on the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with those dhikr, contain something that even the most devout and most knowledgeable of people cannot fully encompass. And you will not find in any of these books, not even in a fabricated hadith, that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) would sit with his Companions and they would remember Allah with this phrase “Allah, Allah.” Therefore, dhikr with this singular phrase is an innovation in the religion, especially given its absence from the transmitted dhikr, as we mentioned earlier. As for it being an innovation in language, this may be strange to some people, but whoever has some knowledge of the etiquette of language and its grammar knows that this phrase has no predicate; it is a sentence without a predicate. So this is a truncated, incomplete sentence. “Allah” — what is its state? If it were said “Allah is Great,” “Allah is Majestic,” “Allah is Mighty,” “Allah is Generous,” “Allah is All-Knowing,” the sentence would be complete. Then the deficiency would remain only in terms of it not being transmitted. But this word “Allah” is an incomplete sentence whose predicate has not come. Then there is another error: it is not linguistically correct to say “Allah Allah,” but rather you say “Allāhu Allāhu Allāh” if you pause. If you do not pause, you must pause. You say “Allāhu Allāhu Allāh.” This, if it were correct in terms of meaning, but now we are speaking in terms of expression. It is not correct to pause on a moving letter, nor is it permissible to move a letter that is static. It is not permissible to say “Allāh Allāh Allāh,” but rather “Allāhu Allāhu Allāh.” So when the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said “Allah,” he means whoever testifies that Allah alone has no partner. It does not mean that there is no one on the face of the earth who remembers Allah with the phrase “Allah, Allah,” because this, first, as we said, is not prescribed, and second, even if it were prescribed, is it a pillar of Islam? In reality, there was a discussion between me and some of the Shaykhs, and they argued with this hadith for the legitimacy of what they call dhikr... So I conditioned them, based on what has been explained previously and the other hadith which is in the wording , that this is a complete sentence, and this is explained by the first narration , meaning whoever says “There is no god but Allah.” After this, we said: Even if we hypothetically conceded that this dhikr is prescribed—and it is definitely not prescribed—is it a pillar? He said no, meaning a pillar of Islam? He said no. Is it an obligation of Islam? He said no. Is it a duty of Islam? ... He said no. Is it a confirmed Sunnah? He said no. What will it be? It will be a recommended, encouraged Sunnah... specific. I said: Suppose the Imams of the Muslims... on their correct creed... on performing all the obligations and duties and all the Sunnahs, but they left a recommended act from the recommended acts, including this dhikr which we believe is an innovation, would they deserve for the Hour to be established upon them? He said no. We said: Then this is conclusive proof that the interpretation of the hadith, as it appears to some of the Tariqah followers , meaning whoever remembers “Allah, Allah,” is incorrect. Because if we left this dhikr, we would not be the worst of the people of the earth, and he (peace be upon him) said . So who are the worst of creation? They are the disbelievers, meaning those who do not testify to Allah with oneness and to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) with prophethood and messengership. This is an interjected sentence.