then it is of no benefit. The revealed Law prescribes only those forms of remembrance that are beneficial in themselves, not those whose benefit comes from something else. Some who have persevered in this form of remembrance have fallen into various forms of heresy and unionism, as has been explained at length elsewhere.

As for the statement attributed to one of the shaykhs, “I fear that I may die between the negation and the affirmation,” this is a state in which its possessor should not be followed, for the error involved is plain. If a servant were to die in that state, he would die only upon what he intended and meant, since deeds are judged by intentions. It is established that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, instructed that the dying be prompted to say, “There is no god worthy of worship except Allah.” He also said:

“Whoever’s last words are ‘There is no god worthy of worship except Allah’ will enter Paradise.”

If what that shaykh mentioned were truly a danger, the Prophet would not have prompted the dying person with an utterance that might leave him dying in a blameworthy state before completing it. Rather, he would have prompted him with the remembrance that this shaykh preferred: the name alone.

Remembrance consisting of a pronoun alone is still further removed from the Sunnah, more deeply rooted in religious innovation, and more likely to lead to Satan’s misguidance. For when someone says, “Yā Hū, yā Hū” (“O He, O He”), or “Hū, Hū” (“He, He”), or the like, the pronoun refers only to what his heart conceives—and the heart may be rightly guided or may go astray. The author of al-Fusūs composed a book that he entitled Kitāb al-Hū (The Book of “He”). Some of them have claimed that His words,

“And none knows its interpretation except Allah,”

mean: none knows the interpretation of this name, namely “al-Hū” (“He”). Such a claim has been made, even though it is something that Muslims—indeed,