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Fatwa CenterThikr in mind and heart
Question
Hello. I am sorry to bother you, but you send me a number of things to read about Thikr (expressions of remembrance of Allaah) with the mind, and I cannot find anything that suits me. Please, if you can help me. A few years ago, I remember that one afternoon, I started crying for commiting like sins like killing a house fly; I started weeping, and because of some other things too, normal things in life, and I was always thinking of Allaah then, constantly, when reading a book, when eating, going to the bathroom, taking a shower... He was always in my head. To this day, some things have changed and I wish not to talk about that, but the fact is that I constantly think of Him. Please, if you can help me, is Thikr with one's heart is equal Thikr with the mind? I am also doing Thikr non-stop within myself (laa illaaha illAllaah) from the moment I wake up till when I go to bed, non-stop in myself, conciously. Please, just if you can help me, is Thikr with the heart equal to Thikr with the mind? And is it true that when Allaah loves you, He puts remembrance in you? And is this remembrance with the heart, or in my case with the brain, or the mind? Please, if you could provide me with the answers to these questions, I would be most gratefull. Thank you, my dear friend. Bye.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
The question is unclear, but if by Thikr in the mind you mean pondering about the realm of Allaah, then such a pondering is urged in the Sharee'ah as it leads to being certain of Allaah. Allaah says (what means): {Say, "Observe what is in the heavens and earth." But of no avail will be signs or warners to a people who do not believe.} [Quran 10:101] Allaah also says (what means): {Do they not contemplate within themselves? Allaah has not created the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in truth and for a specified term. And indeed, many of the people, in [the matter of] the meeting with their Lord, are disbelievers.} [Quran 30:8]
Pondering (reflecting) on such matters is an act of worship and obedience, and a person is rewarded for it.
Al-Qurtubi said in his Tafseer (interpretation) of the Quran:
“Ibn al-Qaasim reported from Maalik, who said, 'Um ad-Dardaa’ was asked, 'What was Abu ad-Dardaa’ doing most of the time?' She replied, 'Most of the time, he used to ponder.'' Maalik was asked, 'Do you consider pondering as an act of worship' He said, 'Yes, it is Yaqeen (certitude).' Also, Ibn Al-Musayyib was asked about the prayer between the Thuhr and ‘Asr, and he replied, 'This is not the real (act of) worship; rather, worship is to stay away from what Allaah has forbidden and to reflect on Allaah [i.e. on His Creation, His Signs, His Verses, His Names and Attributes, His Acts, His Commands, and so on].' Al-Hasan said, 'Pondering for a while is better than praying the whole night.' This statement was also reported from Ibn ‘Abbaas and Abu ad-Dardaa’. 'Al-Hasan said, 'Pondering is the mirror of a believer; he looks at it to see his good deeds and his bad deeds.' A person may ponder over the fears of the Hereafter, such as the Resurrection and being gathered for reckoning, Paradise and its delights, and Hellfire and its torments.'”
So the Thikr with the heart and pondering with the mind are both acts of worship, and them being the same or being different depends on the degree of fearing Allaah in these acts; so the act that is performed with more piety is the one that is greater in reward. It is with this piety that people differ; Allaah says (what means): {Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allaah is the most righteous of you.} [Quran 49:13]
For more benefit, please refer to fatwa 90985.
In general, when Allaah wills good for a person, he enables him to do good. Ibn Al-Jawzi said in Bustaan Al-Waa’itheen:
“You should know, O servants of Allaah, that when Allaah wills good for His servant, He would drive the devil away from him, and He would help him in overcoming his devil. He would make him active in doing a good deed or an act of obedience and remove laziness from his body. As a result, the servant would turn to Allaah and refrain from anything other than Allaah, and he would favor pleasing his Master (His Lord) over satisfying his desires; it is in this case that Allaah makes the highest part of Paradise his abode.”
Allaah knows best.
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