Benefits of Mentioning Allaah:
Imaam Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "Look for the sweetness of faith in three things: prayer, the mention Allaah and the recitation of the Quran. If you do not find such sweetness, then know that the gate towards Allaah is sealed" [End of quote].
Benefits of Mentioning Allaah:
It expels, dismisses and humiliates Satan. It pleases Allaah, glorified be He. It removes the worries and anxieties of the heart.
It engulfs the heart with happiness and joy; it strengthens both heart and body; it illuminates the face and heart; it is a means for obtaining provision.
It garnishes the one who practices it with nobility, delightfulness and radiance; it leads the person to be loved by Allaah, which is the very essence of Islaam and the cornerstone of happiness and salvation. One who strives to attain the love of Allaah must be zealous in his mentioning of Allaah.
It causes the person to be conscious of Allaah, to the point where he would reach the state of Ihsaan (i.e., perfection of faith), and once this is attained, he will worship Allaah as if he sees Him. It also brings the slave nearer to His Lord. The more one mentions Allaah, the closer he will be to Him, and the more heedless he is in mentioning Allaah, the further from Him he will be.
It makes Allaah mention His slave, as Allaah Says (what means): "So mention Me; I will mention you…" [Al-Baqarah: 152] Despite its greatness, if the mentioning of Allaah had no other benefits than this, it would have been virtue and honour enough. Allaah Said in the Qudsi Hadeeth: "And if he (i.e., Mmy servant) mentions Me within himself, I shall mention him to Myself, and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I will mention him in a better assembly." [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]
6. It revives the heart. Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim said: "I heard Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah saying: `The similitude of the importance of the mentioning of Allaah to the heart is like that of water for fish. How would a fish be if it left water?`" [End of quote]
7. It clears the heart from the rust that accumulates on it. Everything becomes rusty, and the rust of the heart is when one becomes heedless and follows his desires, and the only cure is by mentioning Allaah, repenting and returning to Him.
8. Righteous deeds eradicate sins, and mentioning Allaah is one of the greatest righteous deeds; Allaah Says (what means): "…Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds…" [Hood: 114]. Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allaah said: "He who utters: `Subhaanallaahi wa bihamdihi (Allaah is free from imperfection and His is the praise)' one hundred times a day, his sins will be obliterated even if they are equal to the extent of the foam of the ocean." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim].
9. It results in the descent of mercy and tranquillity, and the company of the angels. The Messenger said: "It is never that a group of people assemble in one of the houses of Allaah, reciting the Book of Allaah, learning it and teaching it, except that there will descend upon them tranquillity, and mercy will cover them, and the angels will flock around them, and Allaah will mention them in the presence of those nearest to Him." [Muslim]
10. It busies the tongue away from backbiting, tale-bearing, lying and foul speech. Thus, the only way to protect oneself from this is by using the tongue to mention Allaah. He whose tongue is not busied with the mention of Allaah will certainly be busied with all types of falsehood and evil.
11. The mentioning of Allaah plants the trees of Paradise. Jaabir reported that the Messenger of Allaah said: "He who says: `Subhaanallaah Al-'Atheem Wa Bihamdih' (i.e., Glory be to Allaah, and to Him belongs all praise) will have a palm-tree planted for him in Paradise ." [At-Tirmithi]
The reward granted for it and its virtue exceeds all other deeds. Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allaah said: "If one utters a hundred times a day these words: `Laa Ilaaha Illallaahu Wahdahu Laa Shareeka Lahu Lahul-Mulk Wa Lahul-Hamd Wa Huwa 'Alaa kulli Shay'in Qadeer` (i.e., There is no deity worthy of worship but Allaah, the One, having no partner with Him, His is the Kingdom and His is the praise and He is Omnipotent) he will have a reward equivalent to that of freeing ten slaves and there will be recorded a hundred virtues to his credit, and a hundred of his sins will be erased from his record of deeds, and he will be safeguarded against the devil for that day until the evening, and no one will surpass him in doing more excellent deeds except one who has recited these words more often than him." [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]
13. The continuous mentioning of Allaah by His slaves protects them from being neglected by Allaah, which is the direct cause of their misery in this world and the Hereafter. Forgetting Allaah (by failing to mention and glorify Him) leads to forgetting one's own self and what benefits it, as Allaah Almighty Says (what means): "And be not like those who forgot Allaah, so He made them forget themselves. Those are the defiantly disobedient." [Al-Hashr: 19] By forgetting one's own soul, a person becomes oblivious of taking care of its interests, which inevitably causes its degradation and destruction.
This is like a person who has a garden and cattle that may only survive and be fruitful by caring for them, such wealth will certainly become ruined when neglected.
14. There is a hardness in the heart that cannot be melted except by mentioning Allaah the Almighty. Therefore, the slave must treat his hardened heart by mentioning Him. A man complained of his hard heart to Al-Hasan who responded by saying: "Melt it by mentioning Allaah."
15. Mentioning Allaah calls for the mercy of Allaah and the supplications of His angels for the one who does so. Such a person will indeed be amongst the successful; Allaah Almighty Says (what means): "O you who believe! Mention Allaah with much mention. And exalt Him morning and afternoon. It is He who confers blessing upon you, and His angels [ask Him to do so] that He may bring you out from darkness into the light. And ever is He, to the believers, Merciful." [Al-Ahzaab: 41-43]
16. Allaah the Almighty boasts to the angels about those who mention Him. Abu Sa'eed Al-Khudri narrated that Mu`aawiyah came to an assembly in the mosque and said to the people present: "What makes you sit together?" They replied: "We sat to mention Allaah and praise Him for guiding us to Islaam and bestowing His favours upon us." He said: "I adjure you by Allaah, has anything else made you sit in this way?" They replied: "We swear by Allaah! Nothing made us sit here but that." He said: "I did not adjure you because I suspected you (of lying), and I am the least who reports on behalf of the Messenger of Allaah who came to an assembly of some of his companions in the mosque and said to the people present: "What makes you sit together?" They replied: "We sat to mention Allaah and praise Him for guiding us to Islaam and bestowing His favours upon us." He said: "I adjure you by Allaah, has anything else made you sit in this way?" They replied: "We swear by Allaah! Nothing made us sit here but that." He said: "I did not adjure you because I suspected you (of lying), but (the angel) Jibreel came and told me that Allaah was boasting about you to the angels ." [Muslim].
17. All righteous deeds were legislated in order to establish the mention of Allaah, as Allaah Says (what means): "…Establish prayer for My mention." [Taa Haa: 14] Meaning, in order to establish My mention. Allaah also Says (what means): "Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the mention of Allaah is greater…" [Al-'Ankaboot: 45] Imaam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "The correct way to understand this verse is that prayer achieves two great objectives, the first of which is prohibiting immorality and the second being the mentioning of Allaah, which is the greater of the two objectives." [End of quote]
18. Continual mentioning of Allaah can be a substitute for optional acts of worship. Abu Hurayrah reported that some of the poor Emigrants came to the Messenger of Allaah and said to him: "The wealthy have obtained the highest ranks and everlasting bliss!" He asked: "How is that?" They replied: "They offer prayers as we do, and observe fasting as we do, but they give in charity and we do not, and they emancipate slaves and we cannot." He said: " Shall I not teach you something whereby you will catch up with those who have preceded you and be ahead of those who follow you; something in which no one can better you, unless he does as you do?" They said: "Indeed, O Messenger of Allaah!" He said: "Say: 'Subhaanallaah, Allaahu Akbar and Al-Hamdu lillaah' (i.e. Glory be to Allaah, Allaah is the Greatest, and All praise is due to Allaah) thirty-three times at the end of every prayer." [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim] 'Abdullaah Ibn Mas'ood said: "It is dearer to me to utter glorification of Allaah saying 'Subhaanallaah' than to spend their number in golden currency" [End of quote].
19. Mentioning Allaah grants one the power and energy that enables him to do what he could otherwise never do. When Faatimah who was the daughter of the Messenger of Allaah complained to him about the hardness of her hands and the pain in them due to her heavy housework, and therefore requested a maid, he instructed her and her husband `Ali with something better, which was: "When you go to bed, recite: Takbeer ('Allaahu Akbar' (i.e., Allaah is the greatest)) thirty-three times and Tasbeeh ('Subhaan-Allaah' ( i.e., Glory be to Allaah)) thirty-three times and Tahmeed ('Al-Hamdu lillaah' (i.e., All praise is due to Allaah)) thirty-three times." [Al-Bukhaari & Muslim]
20. The frequent mentioning of Allaah safeguards the person from hypocrisy, because Allaah describes the hypocrites Saying (what means): "…And they do not mention Allaah, except a little." [An-Nisaa': 142] Ka'b said: "He who frequently mentions Allaah will be safeguarded from hypocrisy". Allaah knows best, but perhaps this is why Allaah concludes Chapter Al-Munaafiqoon ( i.e. the hypocrites) with the following verse (which means): "O you who believe! Let not your wealth and your children divert you from the remembrance of Allaah. And whoever does that – then those are the losers ." [Al-Munaafiqoon: 9].
21. The mentioning of Allaah is a deed that has a unique and distinctive sweet taste that other good deeds cannot come close to producing. Maalik bin Deenaar said: "Nobody ever found more sweetness and enjoyment than in mentioning Allaah." [End of quote]
22. Frequently mentioning Allaah increases the number of witnesses that will testify in favour of the person.
23. It is the better than supplication, because mentioning Allaah actually praising Allaah Almighty, while supplication is asking ones need from Allaah, and there can be no comparison between the two. Mentioning Allaah is a means of having ones supplications accepted and responded to, as any supplication that is preceded by the mention and praise of Allaah is more likely to being responded to and accepted by Allaah, than a supplication without such praise and mention.