The foregoing is the first type of remembrance: remembrance of the Lord through mention of His names and attributes. As stated previously, it has two forms. Further details concerning this type of remembrance will follow later, Allah willing.

The second type is remembrance of the Lord’s commands, prohibitions, and rulings. This likewise has two forms:

— The first is to remember Him, glorified is He, by stating that He commanded such-and-such, forbade such-and-such, loves such-and-such, abhors such-and-such, and is pleased with such-and-such. All of this constitutes remembrance of Allah, Almighty and Majestic. Thus, gatherings of knowledge in which the lawful and unlawful are explained and religious rulings are clarified are gatherings for the remembrance of Allah. Atā al-Khurasānī said, “Gatherings of remembrance are gatherings in which the lawful and unlawful are discussed: how you buy and sell, pray and fast, marry and divorce, perform Hajj, and other similar matters.”

One of the early Muslims, Abū al-Suwwār al-Adawī, was once in a circle in which they were discussing knowledge. A young man who was with them said, “Say: ‘Glory be to Allah, and praise be to Allah.’” Abū al-Suwwār became angry and said, “Woe to you! What, then, had we been doing?”1

Gatherings of remembrance are therefore not confined to gatherings in which the Lord’s name is mentioned through declaring His glory, praising Him, proclaiming His greatness, and similar expressions. Rather, they also include gatherings in which His commands and prohibitions, what He has made lawful and unlawful, what He loves and is pleased with, and what He detests and rejects are discussed. Indeed, this form of remembrance may sometimes be more beneficial than the former.