How to stop our attention from wandering while engaged in remembrance of Allah Most High?

  

Human beings possess three kinds of faculties:

 

The angelic faculty

 

The carnal faculty

 

The animalistic faculty

 

When a human being commits a sin, carnal and animalistic nature gain domination over one and the angelic faculty is weakened.  Satan becomes happy with this.  On the other hand, when a person does some good deed, the angelic faculty gains domination and the other 2 are weakened.  Satan is disheartened on this.  To dissipate the radiance of that good deed, Satan casts stray thoughts into the heart.  We should not be worried about this.  We should recite: “A‘oodhu Billahi Minash Shaitan Nir Rajeem” and turn to Allah.  This stamps the greatness of Allah on one’s heart and stray thoughts are arrested.  For instance, when a dog barks and attacks you and you throw a stone at it or brandish a stick, then it gets enraged and barks even more.  Rather if one seeks refuge in its owner, it cannot do anything. Likewise, at the time of evil thoughts, with the help of “A‘oodhu…” if you come under the protection of Allah, evil thoughts won’t be able to harm you.

 

In fact, these evil thoughts are not present in the inner recesses of the heart, but remain in the exterior of the heart. The way if one sees a fly sitting on a mirror, it seems as if it in inside the mirror, although in reality it is outside it. Similarly, the stray thoughts are in the exterior of the heart.  Where the remembrance of Allah actually resides in the heart, there is no place for them.  The stray thoughts that cross the heart at the time of remembrance of Allah are in fact reflections of these stray thoughts.

 

Occurrence of these stray thoughts is also a test from Allah.  Does a bondsman abandon all forms of worship because of these stray thoughts or does he/she continue worship in spite of these thoughts?  This is what is being checked.  We should not get worried on these stray thoughts, but should continue our efforts.  We should try to please our Supreme Beloved on every occasion.  As much as possible one should strive to get rid of the stray thoughts and even then if we are not able to get rid of them, we should take it that this is the will of our Supreme Beloved.  

 

Don’t worry about stray thoughts.  The more you worry about getting rid of them, the more they will occur.  When you start ignoring them, they themselves will start decreasing.

 

Satan casts these stray thoughts to make us abandon our remembrance of Allah.  Maulana Rum writes in the Mathnavi that once Satan misled a person thus:  You remember Allah so much, what is the use of it?  Misled by this, that person stopped remembrance of Allah.  Allah ordered the Prophet of that era to tell that person that when a king is displeased with someone, he does not allow that person to enter his palace at all.  Letting someone enter His palace is itself a sign of His approval.  In the same way, remembering us is a sign of our pleasure and abandoning it a sign of our displeasure.  Keep remembering Me.

 

All of you should make remembrance of Allah punctually.  As much as Allah wills, I will also try to bestow blessings on you all.

 

Whatever worldly thoughts cross your heart at the time of Dhikr, don’t be worried about them.  Don’t start new trains of thought by your own free will.  There is no problem on the thoughts that come on their own.  Don’t stress your heart. Obey the Shariah and be punctual in Dhikr.  This will eventually reform the heart.

 

If at the time of Dhikr, a multitude of stray thoughts come, don’t pay any attention to them.  If they come on their own, let them come.  Don’t start anything on your own.  With profuse Dhikr, one day eventually these thoughts will be dispelled. Nonetheless, getting stray thoughts is not something to be condemned.  These stray thoughts cross the hearts of many notables as well.  You busy yourself in your work.

 

The best possible way of dispelling these thoughts is that you ignore those thoughts that come on their own and don’t deliberately start any trains of thought.  The psyche cannot do 2 different things at the same time.  When stray thoughts start coming, turn your heart to remembrance of Allah.  When you get habituated to this, then Dhikr will become permanent and stray thoughts will stop.

 

[Excerpted From Mawaaiz-E-Hasanah of Muhaddith E Deccan, Hadhrat Syed Abdullah Shah Sahab (May Allah shower His mercy on him), Vol. 1, Pg. No. 358]