Hearts Find Rest

More than a billion people across the world unite in intention and spirit to observe a single act of worship for an entire month – Fasting in the blessed month of Ramadan. Similar in many ways to the other pillars of Islam, its performance transcends boundaries of race, color, age, gender, language, ethnicity, and even geography. And different in other ways as Allah singles out this act of worship just for Himself and informs us that its reward is reserved with Allah alone. It is a very special time of the year! 

Every year, before Ramadan begins, I reflect on my life and think about the state of my heart and where I think it may stand with God. I think about my family and those closest to me, and where I may stand in their life. I also think about my personal and professional purposes and where I stand in relation to their function and their fruition. It’s a weighty exercise that I don’t take lightly but I must admit, it leaves me feeling lighter than I felt the entire year prior to that moment. In all of the hustle and bustle of life, it’s a moment of stillness that somehow renews me from the inside out. And what moves in after this stillness is a state where my heart finds rest.  Strangely, I kept running into the following ayah of the Quran after my reflection so  I took it as a sign to let it be my inspiration for this month and setting the tone of my heart.  

“ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ”

(Quran 13:28)

“Such are the ones who believe (in the message of the Prophet) and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah. Surely in Allah’s remembrance do hearts find rest.” 

— Tafheem-ul-Quran – Abul Ala Maududi

As I read further and reflected more on this ayah, I wondered why my heart didn’t always find this rest, despite the presence of remembrance on the tongue. I wondered why a reflection about my life and those within it led to my heart finding rest although the act itself didn’t look like “worship”.  I wondered about my disconnect in my ritual acts of worship and what I needed to do to find the same peace within my ritual acts of worship as well. I wondered about my inconsistent connection with the Prophet peace be upon him, as he is mentioned in this verse as the vessel for God’s message. And I also wondered if I was alone in feeling the way I was. As I shared some of this with my friends, I realized I was not alone. I’m sharing below some of the lessons I learned through this process of reflection, reading, and contemplation. 

According to the commentary of this ayah by Sahl at-Tustari, the remembrance (dhikr) of God can only come to a person through having access to knowledge of God, and one of the ways the hearts find rest (sukoon) is through the intellect, i.e reflecting upon the meaning of this remembrance (knowledge of God). When Al Tustari was asked how is this so? He replied “If a servant is maintaining [true] obedience to God, he will be in a state of remembrance (dhākir), but when something occurs to his mind, he will be in a state of severance (qāṭiʿ) [from God]. If he is involved in an act [motivated by] his lower self, and something comes to his heart that guides him to remembrance and obedience, this is the role played by the intellect (mawḍiʿ al-ʿaql).”  So a person who believes will be inclined to this remembrance of God but a distraction can sever this connection and break up its continuity. This is natural. But what brings him/her back is the intellect that can reflect and ultimately return to remembrance. This explanation made it clear that remembrance and reflection are not the same things. The intellect plays a pivotal role in keeping the self obedient in the ritual acts of worship. When remembrance is pursued with deliberation and reflection, it results in what the Quran calls “itminaan” a complete sense of serenity and peace. It’s as if to say, word and act (intention and action) become the same. So if one becomes heedless of this reflection, the heart may not find its way back to this state of rest and instead may become agitated and anxious. 

The antidote then is not to distract and busy oneself further by simply “doing” things but rather stop and return to this reflection so we can find our way back to God. This exercise allows our intentions and actions to once again find unison with the pleasure of God. Without it, our actions alone may not amount to anything except repetitive motions of exercise and our intentions alone may cause more harm than benefit to ourselves and others. So when we ask ourselves why the heart is not finding rest, the answer is no longer a complex mystery but rather an indication to reflect on what is connected to our remembrance. Is it Allah? And the way of his messenger peace be upon him or something else? 

This ayah also reminded me of a very famous hadith Qudsi that states 

“ Ibn Abbas reported: The Prophet, peace, and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah Almighty said: O son of Adam, if you remember Me in solitude, I will remember you in solitude. If you remember Me in a gathering, I will remember you in a gathering greater than the one in which you remembered Me.” – Recorded in Al-Suyuti

This hadith adds a whole new dimension to understanding the remembrance of God. Not only are we promised peace but told that when we remember Allah, He remembers us in a gathering that is better. Even if we put aside the deeper interpretation of this hadith Qudsi, the mere fact that our remembrance is reciprocated in some shape and form is an incredible idea. It reminds us that we are not passive participants in a ritual of worship but rather receive God’s active attention when we turn to Him. This hadith and ayah perfectly tie together the meaning of remembering God. My heart finds rest because, at that moment, it finds God and acknowledges His presence in the movement of my life. It is not just my heart that leads me back to Him, but also my intellect that thinks actively about itself and its relation to everything else that exists around it. The intellect (knowledge of God) locates the door, the heart (sincere intention) has the key to opening it and the remembrance of God (which manifests through obedience in action) is walking through it. All must be present to “feel” the presence of God. So that hearts can find rest.  

Instead of getting disheartened by our disconnect and getting more anxious through it, we can return to the state of rest by simply returning to His remembrance that flows from an active acknowledgment of God. We can reflect on His attributes and the role God’s blessings play every day and in every moment, even in the very act of breathing. We can find solace in the thought that in every moment, we have the opportunity to return to God through remembrance while knowing that the very thought is the return back to God.  


Our deliberate acts of reflection are our pathways to finding meaning and value in life. They help turn our passive acts into active ones, where we are no longer worshiping just for its sake but become worthy of God’s active attention. They are conduits whose ebb and flow reaffirm our faith and belief in our creator. And the more one can connect the path of remembrance to reflection, the clearer it becomes that those paths are the same and one. The duality of the path is as present as the duality in our presence of heart. And even if we cannot attain a continuous unity, we ask God to help us return to a state of rest, after every distraction. Aameen.

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