century. Each Sufi order developed its own dis-
tinctive code of dhikr practices, which it ascribed
to its founding Sufi masters. By regulating the
practices, they not only fostered the embodiment
of the spiritual teachings of the order, but also dis-
ciplined the behavior of its members and actual-
ized the aUthority of the order’s leadership. Dhikr
activities are conducive to ecstatic outbursts and
unpredictable behavior, so the code helps provide
a degree of decorum.
Dhikr rituals have been performed in solitude
and in group gatherings, silently or audibly (by
heart or by tongue). Most frequently, they occur
at Sufi hospices (the khanqah, tekke, or rabita)
and at saint shrines. Performance of the litanies
is accompanied by breath control techniques
and rhythmic movements of the body, which can
induce a trancelike state of consciousness (hal)
or ecstatic experience (wajd). Participants have
been said to visualize colored lights, or flashes,
which they believe emanate from the realm of the
unseen. The atmosphere of dhikr performances
may be enhanced by mUsic, drums, and dancing,
as exemplified by the sema of the mevlevi sUFi
order. On the other hand, Naqshbandi Sufis are
known to refrain from such outward performances
and promote silent dhikr instead. In the past, con-
servative Muslim authorities may have criticized
such activities, but today religious conservatives,
Islamists, and secular Muslims who hold rational-
scientific worldviews vehemently oppose them.
Nonetheless, in the world of the Sufis and their
many supporters, the dhikr is seen as a way to gain
spiritual enlightenment and achieve union (itti-
sal) or annihilation (fana) in God. In this regard,
remembering God entails forgetting oneself and
the world, even if only for the moment.
See also adam and eve; aya; baqa and fana;
names oF god; naqshbandi sUFi order; shiism;
tariqa.Further reading: Michael Gilsenan, Saint and Sufi in
Modern Egypt: An Essay in the Sociology of Religion
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 156–187; J.
Spencer Trimingham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (1971.
Reprint, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988),
194–217; Pnina Werbner, “Stamping the Earth with the
Name of Allah: Zikr and the Sacralizing of Space among
British Muslims.” In Making Muslim Space in North
America and Europe, edited by Barbara Metcalf, 167–185
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996).dhimmi (from the Arabic ahl al-dhimma,
people of the treaty)
Dhimmis are the non-Muslims who live within
Islamdom and have a regulated and protected
status. The term as such does not appear in the
qUran but is found in hadith related to mUham-
mad’s treatment of Jews and Christians within“Remember God” says the sign posted on a stand
with clay jugs containing water for thirsty passersby in
downtown Cairo. (Juan E. Campo)
K 194 dhimmi