If you haven’t read the teachings on The Remembrance yet, I would recommend you read those first and then come back to this teaching.
One form of Remembrance is repeating the phrase la ilaha illa llah, “there is no god but God,” or “there is nothing but God.” I like the second translation better because I believe that everything we perceive is God being God. There is nothing that we experience that isn’t God. As Mother Teresa once said that everyone she met was Jesus in disguise.
To hear how to pronounce this phrase listen to the Wird with Sidi. He starts repeating la ilaha illa ‘llah at 11:40.
Morning Al Wird with Sidi
I read in The Sufi Book of Life by Neil Douglas-Klotz the following about using “la ilaha illa llah”. The Prophet Muhammad once told a story about Moses and Allah, which goes like this:
Moses came to God and said, “O Holy One, teach me a way that I can remember you constantly.”
“Just repeat “la ilaha illa llah” – there is no Reality but the One Reality.”
“But O Holy One”, said Moses, “all of your servants say this, during each cycle of prayer.”
“Just repeat la ilaha illa llah.”
“Yes,” said Moses, “there really is no reality except you … but still, I long for some prayer or practice you could give that is especially for me.”
“Beloved Moses, if I would bring the seven levels of heaven and the seven levels of earth and place them on one side of a scale, la ilaha illa llah would still outweigh them.”
In the Quest for Red Sulphur, The Life of Ibn ‘Arabi by Claude Addas, he says that Ibn ‘Arabi recommended the practice of reciting “la ilaha illa llah” 70,000 times for yourself to “preserve yourself from fire”. He said through this practice, God will grant protection from the fire of hell either for yourself, or for the person for whom you recite the formula. Ibn ‘Arabi did this for one of his wives when she died and also for a man who had made a practice of cursing Ibn ‘Arabi 10 times every time he prayed. ‘Arabi went to this man’s funeral and then sat facing the qibla and did the 70,000 recitations, not getting up except to do the ritual prayers. He didn’t even get up to eat or drink. He made a commitment to pray for this man until he knew that Allah had pardoned him.
I had also read in a previous book about Ibn ‘Arabi (sorry I don’t remember the title) that he used to recommend different prayers for his followers, but near the end of his life he recommended “la ilaha illa llah” as the best prayer.
Secret of the Spirit by Shaykh Muhammad Sa’id al-Jamal ar-Rifai ash-Shadhuli, states on page 192, “Your job is to transform from one station to another. To rid yourself of the commanding self, the commanding ego that commands you to evil, is the first step. I give to you little by little so you can absorb.”
The reading continues until, “He [the Prophet], salla-llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, also said, ‘Renew your faith.’ When it was asked, ‘How can we renew our faith?’ he replied, ‘Repeat the saying La ilaha illa llah because saying it removes any sin, and there is no action equal to reciting it, for there is no veil between it and Allah, and it reaches Him alone.'”
From Sidi’s book, The Deeper Meaning Behind the Pillars of Islam, “This is what is meant by the hadith al-qudsi in which Allah, Praised and exalted is He, spoke through his prophet Muhammad, saying:”La ilaha illa ‘llah is My stronghold, and whoever enters My stronghold is safe from My punishment.”
For those of you who would like to have 70,000 recitations made for you or for loved ones, and you don’t have the time to do them yourself, I offer that as a service for a fee. Please feel free to email me for details about this service.
“The best dhikr is: ‘There is no god but Allah (la ilaha illa llah); and the best invocation: All praise is due to Allah. (alhamdulillah)’ ” The Prophet Muhammad, as reported by Ja’bir bin Abd’Allah, Al-Hadis, 3:743
I am sure there are many good videos on YouTube, but one that I found that is a repetition of la ilaha illa llah that is quite beautiful is found under Sufi Music.