his Sahih, on the authority of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was traveling along the road to Mecca when he passed a mountain called Jumdān. He said, ‘Proceed! This is Jumdān. The solitary devotees have outstripped all others.’ They asked, ‘Who are the solitary devotees?’ He replied, ‘The men who remember Allah abundantly and the women who do so.’”1.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) thus explained that the solitary devotees are the men who remember Allah abundantly and the women who do so. The original sense of the term, as Ibn Qutayba and others explain, refers to those whose peers have died, leaving them alone, and who remain engaged in the remembrance of Allah Most High.

Anyone who reflects upon these texts and the many others that describe the immense reward of the men and women who remember Allah abundantly, their generous recompense, and the everlasting bliss and tremendous reward that Allah has prepared for them on the Day of Resurrection will find his soul stirred with longing and hope, and his heart filled with love and an ardent desire to be among those who hold this exalted station and lofty rank.

But by what means can a servant attain this? This is a momentous question at which every Muslim ought to pause and whose answer he ought to know. Several reports have been transmitted from the early generations concerning the meaning of “the men who remember Allah abundantly and the women who do so.” Among them is the report from Ibn Abbās (may Allah be pleased with them both), who said: “What is meant is that they remember Allah after the prayers, morning and evening, while in bed, whenever they awaken from sleep, and whenever they set out from home, whether in the morning or the evening.”

Mujāhid said: “A person is not counted among the men who remember Allah abundantly and the women who do so until he remembers Allah while standing, sitting, and reclining.”