These ceremonies of zikr would at first sight appear to have little in common with original Muhammadanism, but there appears to be little doubt that the practice of reciting the word Allah and other similar expressions, commenced in the days of Muhammad himself, and this even the Wahhabis admit, who at the same time condemn the extravagances of the Howling and Dancing Dervishes of Turkestan, Turkey, and Egypt.

A chapter is devoted to the Prophet's injunctions on the subject in all large books of traditions, called Babu 'z-Zikr, from which the following sayings of Muhammad have been selected:

• Whenever people sit and remember God, they are surrounded by angels which cover them with God's favour, and peace descends upon them, and God remembers them in that assembly which is near him.
• Verily there are angels who move to and fro on the road and seek for the rememberers of God, and when they find an assembly remembering God, they say to one another, "Come ye to that which ye were seeking." Then the angels cover them with their wings as far as the lowest heaven, called the region of the world. The Prophet said: - When the angels go to the court of God, God asks them, while knowing better than they, "What do My servants say and do?" Then the angels say, "They are reciting the Tasbih, the Takbir, the Tahmid, and the Tamjid for Thee." And God says, "Have they seen Me?" The angels say, "No, by God, they have not seen Thee." Then God says, "What would their condition be if they had seen Me?" The angels say, "If they had seen Thee, they would be more energetic in worshiping Thee and in reciting the Tamjid, and they would be more excessive in repeating the Tasbih." God says, "Then what do they want?" The angels say, "Paradise." Then God says, "Have they seen Paradise?" The angels say, "We swear by God they have not." Then God says, "What would their state have been had they seen Paradise?" The angels say, "If they had seen Paradise, they would be very ambitious for it, and would be excessive wishers of it, and very great desirers of it." God says, "What thing is it they seek protection from?" The angels say, "from Hellfire." God says, "Have they seen the fire?" The angels say, "No, by God, if they had seen the fire. -- " God says, "How would they have been had they seen the fire?" The angels say, "If they had seen the fire, they would be great runners from it, and would be great bearers of it." Then God says, "I take ye as witnesses that verily I have pardoned them." One of the angels said, "There is a person amongst them who is not a rememberer of Thee, and is only come on account of his own needs."
• There is a polish for everything that takes rust, and the polish for the heart is the remembrance of God, and there is no act that redeems from God's punishments so much as the remembrance of Him. The Companions said, "Is not fighting with the infidels also like this? He said, "No, although he fights until his sword be broken."
• Shall I not inform you of an action which is better for you than fighting with infidels and cutting off their heads, and their cutting off yours?" The Companions said, "Yes, inform us." The Prophet said, "These actions are remembering God."
• 'Abdullah ibn Aus said: - An 'Arabi came to the Prophet and asked, "Which is the best of men?" the Prophet said, "Blessed is the person whose life is long and whose actions are good." The 'Arabi said, "O Prophet! Which is the best of actions, and the most rewarded?" He said, "The best of actions is this, that you separate from the world, and die whilst your tongue is moist in repeating the name of God."
• A man said, "O Prophet of God, really the rules of Islam are many, tell me a thing by which I may lay hold of rewards." The Prophet said, "Let your tongue be always moist in the remembrance of God."
• "Verily there are ninety-nine names of God; whosoever counts them up shall enter into Paradise."
• When Zu 'n-Nun (Jonah) the prophet prayed to his Lord when he was in the fish's belly, he said, "There is no Deity but Thee. I extol Thy holiness. Verily I am of the unjust ones." And a Mussulman who supplicates God with this petition will have his prayer granted.
• The best expressions are these four: Subhana Allahi, al-Hamdu Lillahi, La ilaha illa Allah, and Allahu akbar; and it does not matter with which of them you begin.
• Verily I like repeating these four expressions: O Holy God! Praise be to God! There is no deity but God! And God is Great! better than anything upon which the sun shines.
• No one can bring a better deed on the Day of Resurrection (unless he shall have said the like or added to it) than he who has recited, "O Holy God! Praise be to Thee!" one hundred times every morning and evening.
• There are two expressions light upon the tongue and heavy in the scale of good works, and they are, "O holy God! Praise be to Thee!" and "O Holy God! The Mighty One!"
• That person who shall say, "There is no deity but God, who has no partner, to whom is dominion and praise and power," one hundred times, shall receive rewards equal to the emancipating of ten slaves; and one hundred good actions shall be written for him, and one hundred of his sins shall be blotted out; and those words shall be a protection to him from the devil and his wickedness, in that day in which he shall have repeated them, until the night. Nor can anyone perform a better deed for the Day of Resurrection than this, unless he has done even more.
• Moses said, "O my Lord, teach me how I am to call upon Thee." And God said, "O Moses, recite, 'There is no deity but God!'" Then Moses said, "O my Lord every one of thy people say this." And God said, "O Moses, if the seven heavens and their inhabitants and the seven earths were put into one scale, and this expression, 'There is no deity but God,' into another, these words would exceed in weight."
• Reciting "O Holy God" is half the scale of good works, and reciting "God be praised" fills the scale. The recital of "There is no deity but one," removes the curtain between the worshipper and his God.
• He who recites with an unsullied heart, "There is no deity but God," shall have the doors of heaven open for him until he reaches the throne of God, as long as he abstains from great sins.
• The ejaculation, "There is no power and strength but in God," is medicine for ninety-nine pains, the least of which is melancholy.
• There are two qualities which, being practised by anyone, shall cause him to enter Paradise; they are small and easy, and it is easy for anyone to practise them. One of them is saying 'God is holy' ten times after every prayer, 'Praised be God' ten times, and 'God is great' ten times. And verily I saw the Prophet counting these words on his hand, and he would say, "then these words are one hundred and fifty with the tongue in the day and night, but they are one thousand and five hundred in the scale of actions, reckoning ten for one. And the second is this: when he goes to his bedchamber, let him say, 'God is holy' and 'God be praised,' and 'God is great,' then that is one hundred on the tongue and a thousand in the scales. Then which of you is it that commits two thousand five hundred vices in the day night, so that these words may cover them?" The Companions said, "If when we repeat these words we have so many rewards, why should we not say them?" The Prophet said, "The Devil comes to one of you when at prayers and says to him, 'Remember so-and-so,' till you have finished your prayers; and the Devil comes to you in your bed-chamber, and is always making you sleep."