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AlGhazalisIhya-Book_of_knowledge, page : 84
Several traditions commending the assemblies of invocation (dihkr) have been
passed down to use, as, for instance, the words of the Prophet, praise and peace
be upon him, when he said; “When you pass by the gardens of Paradise, stop
and enjoy yourselves.” On being asked what the gardens of Paradise were, he
replied, “The assemblies of invocation.” And again in the following tradition:
„indeed, other than the guardian angels, Allah has roaming angels (sayyahan)
who roam the earth looking for the assemblies of invocation (dihkr). On locating
an assembly they beckon one another saying: „Come to your goal.‟ Then the
roaming angels gather around these assemblies and hear the words: „O you
remember Allah and give warning to one another.‟ The practice has been altered
in favor of story telling, recital of poems, ecstatic utterances (shath) and heresies
(tammat), the things, which contemporary preachers persist in doing.
As to story telling, it is an innovation; in fact our fathers have warner against
attending the circles of story tellers saying that it was not the custom either at the
time of the Messenger of Allah or the times of Abu Bakr and Umar. It was not
passed down to use, as, for instance, the words of the Prophet, praise and peace
be upon him, when he said; “When you pass by the gardens of Paradise, stop
and enjoy yourselves.” On being asked what the gardens of Paradise were, he
replied, “The assemblies of invocation.” And again in the following tradition:
„indeed, other than the guardian angels, Allah has roaming angels (sayyahan)
who roam the earth looking for the assemblies of invocation (dihkr). On locating
an assembly they beckon one another saying: „Come to your goal.‟ Then the
roaming angels gather around these assemblies and hear the words: „O you
remember Allah and give warning to one another.‟ The practice has been altered
in favor of story telling, recital of poems, ecstatic utterances (shath) and heresies
(tammat), the things, which contemporary preachers persist in doing.
As to story telling, it is an innovation; in fact our fathers have warner against
attending the circles of story tellers saying that it was not the custom either at the
time of the Messenger of Allah or the times of Abu Bakr and Umar. It was not