And yet Sufis are not the only ones who use chanting to connect to the Divine source. In fact most mystical traditions contain within them some system of chanting. The Brahmins repeat their mantras, which they call Japa. The Parsis repeat their Gathas while Jewish mystics repeat names and verses from the Kabbala. But by whatever name it may be called, the essence of Zikr remains the same in all cultures.
The Zikr I attend is led by my mother, Shafaq Husain, one of very few women in the Chishtiya silsila today leading Zikrs. She was given permission to do so by her late murshid, Captain Wahid Bakhsh Rabbani, and trained by him during his lifetime. She has been leading Zikrs in Lahore for 12 years, and for three months each summer, she leads them in New York.
I go, but not because it is my mother’s house. I go because Zikr is a haven for me, a practice which leaves me healed and refreshed, both in body and soul.
As Robert Gass writes in Chanting, Zikr affects us physically as well as spiritually. “More than mere repetition, [chanting is an] extraordinary way to integrate breaths, heartbeat, emotion and purpose. The moment we open our mouths, the sound of chant vibrates through our bodies, bringing increased blood flow to the head, balancing brainwaves, and inspiring ...”
The physics behind the benefits of Zikr are actually fairly simple. Breathing is fundamental to the way we feel because it controls our intake of oxygen, the basic fuel used by the body. When we chant, we breathe deeper, slower, and more rhythmically. Today, contemporary medical research shows that chanting actually increases the oxygenation of blood cells.
As a result, during Zikr, brain wave patterns become measurably altered, producing states of relaxation and heightened creative energy. In addition, Zikr reduces tension in the body. Not only do muscles relax as a result of Zikr, but both blood pressure and heart rate fall perceptibly. Regular Zikr therefore produces the “relaxation response” which helps to reduce stress and sharpen mental clarity.
Another school of thought explains the benefits of Zikr by starting from the argument that most illnesses are due to a lack of rhythm. In other words, irregularity of food, sleep or rest leads to disturbances in the biorhythms of people which then turn into physical disorders. Zikr, on the other hand, is a rhythmic suggestion to the heart. Once the beat of the heart is fixed to a rhythm, the blood circulation gets regulated and the entire body begins to vibrate to the same rhythm.
But while modern science is only just beginning to discover the benefits of Zikr, Sufis have been singing its praises for centuries. The Prophet (pbuh) himself referred to Zikr as “the Garden of Paradise” while according to Hazrat Inayat Khan:
By Zikr, the expression of the countenance becomes harmonious, the voice becomes melodious, the presence becomes healing, and man spreads his magnetism in the atmosphere. There is nothing that by Zikr cannot be accomplished, either an earthly or a heavenly thing.
All Sufis practice Zikr but in their own different way. The famous “whirling dervishes” or Mevlevis, who are followers of Jalaluddin Rumi, perform Zikr in the form of a slow dance. And the Naqshbandis led by Sheikh Nazim al Haqqani perform fire Zikr in which they chant around a large fire symbolising ashk, the Divine love that burns in all of us.
Different Zikr techniques can be traced back to different points in history, some dating as far back as the first caliphs of Islam. According to Tradition, the Prophet (pbuh) allegedly taught Hazrat Abu Bakr the silent Zikr when he was with him in the Ghaar e Hira during his emigration to Medina while Hazrat Ali was granted the loud Zikr.
Amongst the different types of Zikr, the one which is done most often is the “ Zikr ism zat” or remembrance of the name “Allah.” It is believed that the very utterance of the word “Allah” has a purifying and elevating effect. A variation of this Zikr is done by combining it with a breathing exercise, so that “Allah” is said mentally while inhaling and “ hoo” vocally while exhaling. Another type of Zikr is the “ Zikr nafi wa ithbat” or the Zikr of negation and affirmation. This Zikr is done by repeatedly reciting the kalma and is believed to turn the seeker’s mind away from the worldly and towards the Divine.
Annemarie Schimmel calls Zikr ‘medicine for the soul.’ But like all strong medicines, it should not be self-prescribed. Instead, it must be learnt under the watchful eye of a master who can ensure that the disciple does not stray far from the Path.
“To receive Zikr from a perfect master is like having a seed planted in perfect soil”, writes Javad Nurbakhsh in In the Paradise of the Sufis. “Under his care and nurturing, the seed of Zikr planted in the heart will take root, grow and bear fruit”
Nurbakhsh explains how Zikr is initially a connection between the master and the disciple and how the disciple eventually becomes linked to God through this connection. Just as a disciple who lacks devotion to his master cannot benefit from Zikr, “the master who lacks a link with the Divine will merely lead his disciples into egotism and self-worship rather than devotion to God.”
Technically, Zikr is a spiritual exercise formulated to stimulate love and activate the six spiritual senses, similar to the chakras, known as lataif i sitta. As Captain Wahid Bakhsh Rabbani writes in Islamic Sufism, “All these exercises are to be done under the orders and strict supervision of the Sheikh without which they may prove to be harmful. Otherwise it is like taking strong medicine without consulting a doctor.”
And just as a patient has the right to enquire about a doctor’s qualifications, so does a disciple have the right to enquire about his master. What is his training? Who has trained him? What system does he belong to? How long has he been practicing?
Done the correct way and under the right guidance, Zikr is supposed to be like a flood which gradually eliminates the self-centered qualities of man until the delusion of “self” is swept away. The aim therefore is to lift the veils between God and ourselves, to clean away the impurities of the ego and to reach a point where everything ceases to be, where, as in the words of Ibn Arabi, “there is nothing left but the beauty of God.”
The same concept has also been explained differently by many other great Sufi teachers. To quote Maulana Rumi,
I will pass away from word, utterance and act,
so without these three, I can be with you
This is what Sufis strive for; to spend every living moment in recollection of God, both spoken and silent; to reach a state in which not just every heartbeat says “Allah” but so too does everything else around one, from the birds to the sea to the wind. Yunus Emre, the great Turkish mystic who lived in the 13th century, wrote:
The rivers all in Paradise
They flow and say Allah Allah
But why the constant remembrance and recollection, ask some. Because, as Hazrat Shahidullah Faridi once explained, when you love someone, you want to take their name over and over again. Sufis believe that if they take the name of their Beloved enough, they will get not just closer to Him, but that the closeness will elevate them. Thus the famous Bulleh Shah couplet: Ranjha Ranjha karday, main aap hi Ranjha hoee.
The Sufi is alive with the fervor of love. He wants to give to his Beloved all that he has. And at the end of the day, all he has is his breath. During Zikr it is this very breath, the one that Allah breathed into him, that he turns into sound and gives back to Him. For Zikr is but the breath made audible in tone.
O musician of my soul,
Play His song
Play His song with my every breath
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Healing with Zikr