Guide · Beginner

What is dhikr? A gentle beginner's guide.

Dhikr is one of the most loved acts of worship in Islam — and, in our experience, one of the most misunderstood by people just starting out. This guide is for anyone who has heard the word, sensed its weight, and wants to understand what it actually means before adding it to their day.

The word itself

The Arabic word dhikr (ذِكر) is often translated as "remembrance," but the original meaning is broader. It carries the sense of mentioning, recalling, and bringing to mind. When Muslims speak of dhikr, they mean a particular kind of remembrance: actively bringing Allah to mind by repeating phrases the Quran and the Prophet ﷺ taught us to say.

You'll also see the word spelled zikr or zikar — these are just different transliterations of the same Arabic root.

Why the Quran returns to it again and again

If you read the Quran cover to cover, one of the patterns you notice is how often it points back to dhikr. It frames remembrance as the antidote to forgetfulness, the response to hardship, and the marker of a soul at peace.

أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ "Truly, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest." — Quran 13:28

This verse is the one that sits quietly behind every Zikar screen. It's a claim about the human condition: hearts are restless by nature, and the cure isn't more stimulation — it's a particular kind of remembering.

What dhikr is — and isn't

Dhikr is

• Specific phrases — like SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah), Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah), Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greatest), and La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah).
• Verses from the Quran — particularly Ayat al-Kursi, the last two ayat of Surah al-Baqarah, and the three Quls (Ikhlas, Falaq, Naas).
• Authentic duas from the Sunnah — including the morning and evening adhkar, sleep duas, and the short remembrances tied to specific moments (entering the home, finishing a meal, etc.).
• An act of the heart as much as the tongue — the goal is presence, not speed.

Dhikr isn't

• A magic formula or a transaction. You don't "earn" outcomes by hitting a number.
• A replacement for the obligatory prayers. Dhikr complements salah — it doesn't substitute for it.
• A competition. The counts you see (33, 100, 1000) come from specific hadiths; they're rhythms, not targets to chase past.

Two broad ways scholars classify it

Classical Islamic scholarship often distinguishes between two registers of dhikr:

1. Dhikr of the tongue (dhikr al-lisan) — the spoken or whispered repetition of phrases.
2. Dhikr of the heart (dhikr al-qalb) — sustained inner awareness of Allah, even when the tongue is silent.

The tongue is where almost everyone begins. The heart is where, with time and consistency, the practice migrates to.

How to actually begin

The best advice we've heard, repeated across centuries by Muslim teachers, is this: start small and stay consistent. The Prophet ﷺ said the deeds most beloved to Allah are the ones done regularly, even if small.

A 3-step starter routine

1. After fajr (or first thing in the morning) — recite the short morning adhkar. Even just SubhanAllah wa bihamdihi 100 times is a complete practice rooted in authentic hadith.
2. After each obligatory prayer — the post-salah dhikr (33× SubhanAllah, 33× Alhamdulillah, 34× Allahu Akbar) takes about 90 seconds and was the consistent practice of the Prophet ﷺ.
3. Before sleep — recite Ayat al-Kursi and the three Quls. It's a short, protective close to the day.

That's the entire entry point. No app, no counter, no streak required. If those three moments become non-negotiable in your day, you've already built a practice that most Muslims aspire to.

Where a counter helps

Counters — physical tasbih beads or apps like Zikar — don't make dhikr more spiritual. What they do is remove friction. A counter lets you give attention to the words and the meaning instead of the bookkeeping. It also helps when life is loud: a small visible number is a quiet anchor on a chaotic day.

That's the whole reason Zikar exists. Not to turn worship into a metric, but to take the admin out of it so you can be present in the part that matters.

Further reading

• Morning & evening adhkar: the complete guide
• Seven things that change when dhikr becomes daily