Naqshbandi Daily Awrad/Zikir
Life Support for The Seekers
Grand Shaykh Abdullah al Faiz ad Daghestani said, “He who makes a regular practice of the awrad (dhikr) shall attain the Water of True Life, and with it he will perform ablution. He will bathe in it and drink it and by means of it shall he reach his goal…When the murid forsakes that which the Shaykhs have told him to do of the daily duty (wazifa), then he will be absolutely incapable of making further progress and he will be unable to reach any state he had previously attained. No Prophet ever attained prophethood, nor did any saint ever attain sainthood, and no believer ever attained the stage of faith without utilizing his time for his daily dhikr.”
The following is the Daily Awrad (Spiritual Practices) for the followers of Naqshbandi Spiritual Path, from the beginners to the People of Determination:
Handout: Daily Awrad (Spiritual Practices)
1. 3 X Shahada (Testimony of Faith)
(Raise right hand’s index finger and recite the following:)
أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إلاَّ الله وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًاعَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ
Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduho wa Rasulu
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His servant and Messenger
2. 70X – Astaghfirullah (I seek Forgiveness from Allah) أَسْتَغْفِرُاللهَ
3. 1X Surat al Fatiha (1st Chapter of Holy Qur’an)
(With intention of being dressed with the manifestations and blessings that were sent down with it when it was revealed in Makkah)
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿١﴾ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٢﴾ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿٣﴾ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ﴿٤﴾ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥﴾ اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴿٦﴾ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ ﴿٧
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem.
Alhamdu lillahi Rabbil ‘alameen. ArRahmanir Raheem. Maliki yawmid deen. Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’een. Ihdinas siratal mustaqeem. Siratal ladheena an’amta ‘alayhim, ghayril maghdoobi ‘alayhim walad dalleen.
In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. (1) Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. (2) The Most Gracious, Most Merciful. (3) The Sovereign King of the Day of Judgement. (4) It is You we worship and You we ask for help. (5) Guide us to the Straight path. (6) The path of those on whom you have bestowed your favor/blessing, not of those who have evoked (Your) anger or of those who go astray. (7)
4. 1X Amana ar Rasul (2:285-286 Holy Qur’an)
(Whoever recites these verses, will attain a high rank/station. He will get the Safety of al-Aman, in this world and hereafter.)
آمَنَ الرَّسُولُ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْهِ مِن رَّبِّهِ وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۚ كُلٌّ آمَنَ بِاللَّـهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ لَا نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّن رُّسُلِهِ ۚ وَقَالُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا ۖ غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿٢٨٥﴾ لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّـهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا ۚ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ ۗ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا ۚ رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ ۖ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا ۚ أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ ﴿٢٨٦
Amanar Rasulu bima unzila ilayhi min rabbihi wal muminona, kullun amana billahi, wa malaikatihi, wa kutubihi, wa rusulihi, la nufarriqu bayna ahadin mir rusulihi, wa qalu sami’na wa a’tana ghufranaka Rabbana wa ilayka almaseer. La yukallifullahu nafsan illa wus’aha, laha ma kasabat wa alayha maktasabat, Rabbana la tuakhizna in naseena aw akhtana, Rabbana wa la tahmil alayna isran kama hamaltahu alal lazeena min qablina, Rabbana wa la tuhammilna ma la taqata lana bihi, wa’afu anna, waghfir lana, warhamna, anta mawlana fansurna alal qawmil kafireen.
The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], “We make no distinction between any of His messengers.” And they say, “We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination.” (2:285) Allah Doesn’t place a burden on a soul/body greater than it can bear. It gets every reward that it has earned, and it suffers for every ill/evil that it has earns. (Pray:) “Our Lord! Do not punish us if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! and Lay not on us a burden Like that which you laid on those before us; Our Lord! and Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. And pardon us, and forgive all our sins, and have mercy on us. You are our master and Protector; Give us victory over those who stand against faith [the unbelievers within].” (2:285-286 – Surat al Baqarah, Holy Qur’an)
5. 7X Surat ash Sharh (94th Chapter of Holy Qur’an)
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Alam nashrah laka sadrak. Wa wada’na ‘anka wizrak. Allazee anqada zhahrak. Wa rafa’na laka zikrak. Fa inna ma’al ‘usri yusran, Inna ma’al ‘usri yusra. Fa iza faraghta fainsab. Wa ila rabbika farghab.
“Did We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your Chest? (1) And We removed from you your burden. (2) Which had weighed upon your back. (3) And We raised high your Zikr (remembrance). (4) For indeed, with every difficulty, there is relief. (5) Indeed, with every hardship is ease.(6) So when you are free and have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]. (7) And to your Lord turn all your attention/invocation/longing. (8) (The Relief, 94:1-8)
6. 11X Surat al Ikhlas (112th Chapter of Holy Qur’an)
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
قُلْ هُوَ اللَّـهُ أَحَدٌ ﴿١﴾ اللَّـهُ الصَّمَدُ ﴿٢﴾ لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ ﴿٣﴾ وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًا أَحَدٌ ﴿٤
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem.
Qul Huwa Allahu Ahad. Allahus Samad. Lam yalid wa lam yolad. Wa lam yakul lahu, kufuwan Ahad. (Surat al Ikhlas)
Say, “He is Allah, [who is] One. (1) Allah, the Eternal Absolute/Refuge. (2) He neither begets nor is born. (3) Nor there is none like unto Him.” (4) (The Sincerity, Holy Qur’an)
7. 1X Surat al Falaq (113th Chapter of Holy Qur’an)
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ ﴿١﴾ مِن شَرِّ مَا خَلَقَ ﴿٢﴾ وَمِن شَرِّ غَاسِقٍ إِذَا وَقَبَ ﴿٣﴾ وَمِن شَرِّ النَّفَّاثَاتِ فِي الْعُقَدِ ﴿٤﴾ وَمِن شَرِّ حَاسِدٍ إِذَا حَسَدَ ﴿٥
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Qul auzu bi Rabbil falaq. Min sharri ma khalaq. Wa min sharri ghasiqin iza waqab. Wa min sharrin naffathati fil ‘uqad. Wa min sharri hasidin iza hasad.
Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of the daybreak/dawn. (1) From the evil of whatever He has created. (2) And from the evil of darkness when it overspreads. (3) And from the evil of the blowers in knots (destructive witchcraft) (4) And from the evil of envier when he envies. (5) (The Day Break, Holy Qur’an)
8. 1X Surat an Nas (114th Chapter of Holy Qur’an)
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ ﴿١﴾ مَلِكِ النَّاسِ ﴿٢﴾ إِلَـٰهِ النَّاسِ ﴿٣﴾ مِن شَرِّ الْوَسْوَاسِ الْخَنَّاسِ ﴿٤﴾ الَّذِي يُوَسْوِسُ فِي صُدُورِ النَّاسِ ﴿٥﴾ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ ﴿٦
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
Qul a’uzu birabbin naas. Malikin naas. Ilaahin naas. Min sharril was waasil khannas. Al lazee yuwas wisu fee sudorin naas. Minal jinnati wan naas.
Say, “I seek refuge in the Lord of Mankind. (1) The Sovereign King of Mankind. (2) The god of Mankind. (3) From the evil of the whisperer (devil), (4) Who whispers (evil) into the hearts of mankind. (5) From among the jinn and mankind. (6)” (The Mankind, Holy Qur’an)
9. 9X La ilaha illallah (There is no God but Allah) لَا اِلّهَ اِلَّا اللهُ
There is no God but Allah
10. 1X La ilaha Illallah, Muhammadun Rasulullah; لَا اِلّهَ اِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدُ رَّسُولُ اللهِ
There is no God but Allah, Muhammad (saws) is the messenger of Allah.
11. 10X Salawat/Durood Sharif
اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّد
Allahumma salli ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Sayyidina Muhammad.
O Allah! Send Peace and blessings upon Muhammad and upon the Family of Muhammad (Peace be Upon him)
12. 1X Ihda (Gift)
Presenting the reward of the above recitation to the Prophet (s) and to the Shaykhs of the Naqshbandi Tariqat;
Part Two of the Naqshbandi Daily Awrad
Sit on the knees, meditate and try to keep the connection (rabitah) to your Shaykh, from your Shaykh to the Prophet (s) and from the Prophet (s) to the Divine Presence, reciting
13. 3X – “Allahu Allahu Allahu Haqq” اللهُ اللهُ اللهُ حَقْ
(Allah, the Absolute Truth)
14. 1500 X (Minimum) – Dhikr of the Glorious Name ‘Allah, Allah الله الله ‘
(You can increase it to 2500 or 5000 times by tongue and then by heart)
- Mubtadi (Beginners) – 1500X by tongue, 1500X by Heart (silently)
- Musta’id (Prepared) – 2500X by tongue, 2500X by Heart (silently)
- Ahlil ‘Azm (People of Determination) – 5000X by tongue and 5000X by heart (silently);
15. 100X Salawats/Durood Sharif – Praising upon Prophet Muhammad (saws)
300 X on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays
(You can increase it to 500X daily and 1000X on Mon, Thur and Fri)
اَللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ، وَعَلَى آلِ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّد
Allahumma salli ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa ‘ala aali Sayyidina Muhammad.
O Allah! Send Peace and blessings upon Muhammad and upon the Family of Muhammad (Peace be Upon him)
- Mubtadi (Beginners) – 100X Salawat/Durood daily, 300X on Mon, Thur, and Fri
- Musta’id (Prepared) – 300X Salawat/Durood daily, 500X on Mon, Thur, and Fri
- Ahlil ‘Azm (People of Determination) – 1000X Salawat/Durood daily, 2000X on Mon, Thur, and Fri
16. 1 Juz (Section) of Holy Qur’an
OR 100X Surat al Ikhlas (if one is not able to read 1 Juz of Qur’an)
17. One Chapter of Dalail al-Khairat
OR 100X Salawat/Durood (If one is not able to read one chapter of Dalail al Khairat)
Realities of Naqshbandi Awrad:
Blessings of Reciting al Fatiha (1st Chapter of Holy Qur’an)
Grand Shaykh Mawlana Abdullah al Faiz ad Daghistani said, “If someone reads Fatiha, he will not leave this world without attaining those Divine Favors that are hidden behind the meaning of the Fatiha, which enable him to reach a state of submission to Allah, Almighty and Exalted. The blessings that Allah has sent down with the Fatiha when it was revealed to the Prophet (s) will never cease, and will last forever, with the one who recites the Fatiha. No one is able to know how much blessings there are except Allah and His Messenger (s). Whoever recites surat al-Fatiha, with the intention of sharing in these tajallis, will attain a high position and a great rank. And whoever recites without this intention, gets general Divine Favors only. This surah possesses innumerable and limitless stations (maqamat) in the Sight of Allah, Who is Powerful and Sublime.
He will enter the Circle of Security in the Presence of Allah Almighty and Exalted, and he will reach all the stations of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Order. He will be an inheritor of the Secret of the Prophet (s) and of saints, and will arrive at the stage of Bayazid al-Bistami, the Imam of the Order, who said, “I am the Truth (al-Haqq).” This is the magnificent tajalli (manifestation) which belongs to this ayat, and to other ayats also.
Grand Shaykh Khalid al-Baghdadi, one of the imams of this Order, received the Vision and the Secret of this Ayat, through which Allah made him special for his time.
Blessings of Surah Inshira (94th chapter of Holy Qur’an):
On each letter and on each ayat there is a tajalli which is different from that on any other. Whoever recites an ayat or letter of the Qur’an, will attain the Divine grace that is particular to that ayat or letter
If anyone recites this surat of Qur’an, he will receive those Divine Graces, tajallis and virtues. Whoever wishes to obtain these virtues, must keep these awrad daily along with his obligations. Then he will gain True Life and Eternal Life.
Surah an Nas & Falaq:
Since they mark the end of the Qur’an, they are linked and associated with the completion of the Divine Graces and tajallis. By means of these awrad, the Masters of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Order became Oceans of Knowledge and Gnosis. Grandshaykh Abdullah ad-Dagestani said, “You have now reached the beginning, where each verse, letter and Surah of the Qur’an has its own special tajalli, which do not resemble any others. For that reason the Messenger of Allah said, “I have left three things with my Ummah, death which makes them afraid, true dreams which give them good tidings, and the Qur’an which addresses them.” By means of the Qur’an Allah will open up the gates of Divine Grace in the Last Times, as it came down in the time of the Holy Prophet and the Companions, and in the times of the khalifas, and in the time of the saints.
These stations and continuous Divine Graces are closely bound together and they cannot be separated, so any deficiency in the awrad will automatically create a deficiency in the Divine Graces being sent down. As an example, if we want to wash our hands, we may wait in front of the tap for water to come out. If the pipes do not connect properly so that the water escapes before reaching the tap, then, no matter how long we wait, the water will not flow out. So we must not let any deficiency enter our Dhikr until we obtain all the tajallis and Divine Graces.
These awrad for the of followers, must be performed once every 24 hours, together with all other obligations, according to the shari’ah of the Prophet (s). Everything which the Prophet (s) brought, was founded in these awrad. It is the way that the slave reaches the key of nearness to Allah, Who is Powerful and Sublime. It was by means of it that the prophets, messengers and saints reached their Creator, and it is by means of these awrad that we reach all these stations of the Most Distinguished Tariqat.
The Masters of the Most Distinguished Naqshbandi Order say that whoever claims that he is affiliated to one of the 40 Orders, or to the most Distinguished Naqshbandi Order, but nevertheless has not entered seclusion (khalwah) even once in his life, then such a person should be ashamed of connecting himself with the People of the Path.
In our time, Grand Shaykh Abdullah ad-Dagestani said, “Whichever of the People of the Last Time (akhir az-zaman), wishes to attain a high rank and an exalted state, and get what a murid normally gets by means of seclusion (khalwah), and spiritual exercises, then he must continuously perform these awrad (Dhikr). With this awrad we have set the foundations for the higher stations, which are built on this foundation. The murid ought to know that if he fails to attain an exalted station and high grade in this world because of his lack of effort, then he shall not be separated from this world, but that the Shaykhs make him reach it, and reveal for him his station, either during his lifetime, or at the time of the seven last breaths during the agonies of death.”
“If anyone performs these awrad (Dhikr) and then performs an action which is forbidden he will be like the one who builds his house on the side of a cliff, and then his house collapses down the side of the cliff. So we should always be aware of our actions, gauging them to see if they are halal or haram, if Allah is going to be angry with our actions or not. And we need to think about every action that we are about to do so much that ultimately we do not do any haram thing which might weaken our foundation. And that is why we have to think before every action. As the Prophet (s) said in his hadith ‘One hour’s contemplation is better than seventy years of worship.’ We should perform our actions in the perfectly correct way, that is to say without any haram deeds intervening.”
“On this basis Allah has divided the day into three parts: eight hours for worship, eight hours for earning a living and eight hours for sleeping. Anyone who does not accept and follow this division of energies will exemplify the hadith , ‘He who is erratic will be erratic in the Hellfire.’ He who goes according to his own will and reasoning does not progress and he who wishes to obtain exalted stations, levels and stages which previous generations earned by means of retreats and other spiritual exercises, must remember Allah throughout the course of the day.”
Grandshaykh continued, “He who makes a regular practice of the awrad (Dhikr) shall attain the Water of True Life, and with it he will perform ablution. He will bathe in it and drink it and by means of it shall he reach his goal. There is such a person who claims that he has been in the Order for thirty years, and as yet has not seen anything and not attained anything. The answer to that person is to search and look at his actions over the past years. How many deficient actions has he performed? When you know the deficiency you should quickly avoid it, then you will reach Allah Who is Powerful and Sublime. When the murid forsakes that which the Shaykhs have told him to do of the daily duty (wazifa), then he will be absolutely incapable of making further progress and he will be unable to reach any state he had previously attained. No Prophet ever attained Prophethood, nor did any saint ever attain sainthood, and no believer ever attained the stage of faith without utilizing his time for his daily Dhikr.”
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=5384