In the awkward silence, my prayer beads go click-click- click. As a child, I used to think it was magic how my mom could roll them. The string of beads just passed between her two fingers. Each next bead she reached and held between her thumb and forefinger, rolled down within a split second. While her hand would stay in the same position, the whole string would pass through her fingers, and she’d be back on the first bead in under a minute. Click-click- click. I can roll effortlessly, without thinking, now, with a muscle memory strengthened over two years of using the beads to worship.
While most worship in Islam must be carried out as thorough rituals, this form of worship is dhikr, that can be carried out anywhere, in any state. With the literal meaning translating to “remembrance,” dhikr is just that, remembering God, in the sense of appreciating, or celebrating. Tasbeeh is the form of repetitive, counted dhikr carried out with the help of beads. The beads are not obligatory, but they are a nice touch: a way to keep count, and a tangible reminder to perform the quite intangible form of worship.The string of beads, in some cultures, is also called a tasbeeh, and in Arabic, a misbahah.
Even to people unaware of the profound spiritual significance of my tasbeeh, rolling the beads along seems meditative, much like the worry beads of Greek and Cypriot culture.Indeed, it grants a wandering mind a single stream of thought to run through, and fidgety hands something to do. The soft clicks fill silences, or provide distraction from boring conversations. When I left home for college, the anchoring quality of carrying one familiar thing from home, all the time, was beautiful, and reassuring.
Beyond the beads themselves, the repetition of words, one word for each bead, to keep count, is where the true magic lies. The method is just simple repetition of any of several words of praise from the Quran, or Allah’s names (there are ninety-nine, each descriptive of one of His qualities). According to the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), “Allah is for the believer, what he thinks He is…” On this basis, the Sufi tradition, that stresses a personal relationship with Allah Himself, regards tasbeeh as indispensable: each person must ascertain what kind of relationship they want with Allah, and select names to recite accordingly. Some of the ones I recite are Ya-Wali, Ya-Waali (My Friend, My Governor), Ya-Zaljalaali wal-Ikraam (The Lord of all majesty, and bounty) and Ya-Salaam (The Source of peace).
Like the beads anchor me to home, dhikr anchors me to my belief in God. The repeated utterance of these words is a way to call upon Allah, and let Him know, that throughout all that we do daily, we did not forget Him. Like we brush our teeth every day, the routine of tasbeeh is a way to make sure that the mind does not lose track of the top priority in life: Allah. Keeping Allah the top priority of one’s life is not a formidable concept. In a way, it is a lenience for Muslims, that they need not worry about being perfect: if they are aware of Allah, they are close to Him. In a beautiful Urdu couplet, the eminent poet Iqbal explains this perpetual awareness of Allah. It translates to, “Although I was stuck in the tyrannies of life/ I never neglected the thought of you.”Hence, when faced with pressing difficulties daily, it can get hard to be perfect in worship, and conduct, but as long as one does not forget God completely, there is always a very easy back. The Quran too confirms, that “only in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest.”
Dhikr is a significant tenet of Islam, although not compulsory. A verse in the Quran states that Allah’s favorite people are those who remember him standing, sitting, and lying down. Then we’re urged to remember Allah a little more, and remember Him with love and reverence, not fear. Sufi tradition regards tasbeeh as a method to train the subconscious. Firstly, it helps to attain the quality that all Muslims strive for, taqwa which literally means consciousness of God. Secondly, calling upon Allah with names that describe his qualities, leads to the birth of those very qualities in one’s soul.
Beyond the individual sense, the significance of dhikr is astounding. The Quran states that all of Allah’s creation is proclaiming His praise all the time, be it birds chirping in the morning, ants, beetles, or even the non-living parts of the universe. It is powerful to think of the whole universe, pulsing with repetitions of devotion, and us, small as we are, becoming part of it as our beads click.
