Question:
As salaam alaikum Ya Sayyidi,
Mawlana Sheikh Nazim al-Haqqani gave us awrad of 1500 Allah Allah and 300 salawats daily. After I complete this, may I do zikr Allah Allah throughout the day any amount with no count? Also can you please tell me how to still the thoughts that whirls around the mind, how to be always in the presence of my Sheikh? These are not bad thoughts, just the chattering of the mind. Thank you.
Answer:
Audhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajim
Bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm:
Wa ‘alaikum Salaam wa Rahmatullah,
It is permissible to repeat more Allah, Allah during the day but there are also many other dhkar that can be recited as part of your daily zikr such as la ilaha illAllah, subhanallah, wal hamdulillah, wa Allahu Akbar etc. Ya Hafiz, Ya Halim, Ya Wadud etc.
You can say Audhubillahiminashaytanirajeem BismillahirRahmanirRahim 100x or more daily. Take from the Naqshbandi daily devotion book. It’s important to build a solid foundation of zikr consistently, rather than doing a lot then dropping it.
As for connection to the shaykh you may read The Healing Power of Sufi Meditation book by AsSayed Nurjan Mirahmadi. Rabitah– heart connection with the Shaykh to the Heart of Prophet (saws) is recommended during your daily awrad and other times of sitting doing zikr. When you learn breath awareness with your zikr, you can get out of the chatter into presence of heart.
Wallahu Alam,
Kamau Ayubbi
