Is it obligatory to remember Allah in one’s heart with every breath, and at every moment?

Praise
be to Allah

Firstly: 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“O you who
believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance.

And glorify His Praises morning and afternoon (the early
morning (Fajr) and Asr prayers)”

[al-Ahzaab 33:41, 42]. 

Here Allah, may He be exalted, instructs the believers to
remember Him with much remembrance, such as tahleel (saying “Laa ilaaha
ill-Allah (There is no god but Allah)”), [email protected] (saying “al-hamdu
Lillah (praise be to Allah)”),
tasbeeh (saying “Subhaan
Allah (glory be to Allah)”), takbeer
(saying “Allahu akbar (Allah is Most Great)”), and other words that bring
one closer to Allah. 

The minimum of that is regularly reciting the dhikr for
morning and afternoon, following the five obligatory prayers, and on various
occasions when there are reasons to recite dhikr. 

One should persist in doing that at all times and in all
situations, by virtue of which the doer may advance without much effort, for
that will motivate him to love and know Allah, and it will help him to do
good and will restrain his tongue from evil speech. 

“And glorify His Praises morning and afternoon” that
is, at the beginning and end of the day, because these are virtuous times
and it is easy to do this at those times. 

Tafseer as-Sa‘di
(p. 65) 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“and remember
Allah much, that you may be successful”

[al-Jumu‘ah 62:10]. 

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

That is, when you are buying and selling, giving and taking,
remember Allah much, and do not let this world distract you from that which
will benefit you in the Hereafter. End quote. 

Tafseer Ibn Katheer
(8/1 23) 

And Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“Verily, the
Muslims (those who submit to Allah in Islam) men and women, the believers
men and women (who believe in Islamic Monotheism), the men and the women who
are obedient (to Allah), the men and women who are truthful (in their speech
and deeds), the men and the women who are patient (in performing all the
duties which Allah has ordered and in abstaining from all that Allah has
forbidden), the men and the women who are humble (before their Lord Allah),
the men and the women who give Sadaqat (i.e. Zakat, and alms, etc.), the men
and the women who observe Saum (fast) (the obligatory fasting during the
month of Ramadan, and the optional Nawafil fasting), the men and the women
who guard their chastity (from illegal sexual acts) and the men and the
women who remember Allah much with their hearts and tongues (while sitting,
standing, lying, etc. for more than 300 times extra over the remembrance of
Allah during the five compulsory congregational prayers) or praying extra
additional Nawafil prayers of night in the last part of night, etc.) Allah
has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward (i.e. Paradise)”

[al-Ahzaab 33:35]. 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

It should be understood that this verse is something of which
the author of this book (i.e., his book al-Adhkaar) is interested in
understanding the meaning. 

There was a difference of opinion concerning that. Imam
Abu’l-Hasan al-Waahidi said: Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allah be pleased with him)
said: What is meant is that they should remember Allah following the
prayers, morning and afternoon, and when they go to bed, and whenever they
wake up from sleep, and whenever a person leaves home and comes back he
should remember Allah, may He be exalted.

Mujaahid said: A person will never be one of the men and
women who remember Allah, may He be exalted, much until he remembers Allah,
may He be exalted, standing, sitting and lying down. 

‘Ata’ said: Whoever offers the five daily prayers properly is
included in the words of Allah, may He be exalted: “the
men and the women who remember Allah much”. 

Abu ‘Amr ibn as-Salaah (may Allah have mercy on him) was
asked about the amount by which a person may become one of the men and women
who remember Allah much. 

He said: If he regularly recites the proven narrated adhkaar,
morning and evening, and at various times and in various situations, night
and day. Al-Adhkaar (p. 41) 

There is nothing in these verses – or elsewhere – to indicate
that it is obligatory to remember Allah, may He be exalted, at every moment
and every second, because this is something that hardly any human being can
do, and Allah has never obliged His slaves to do that. It is not Islam that
teaches or enjoins that. 

If you search all the books of the scholars, whether the
books of the fuqaha’, mufassireen (commentators of the Qur’an) and
muhadditheen (hadith scholars), you will not find in those books that this
is attributed to the religion of Allah. 

Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (2702) from al-Agharr
al-Muzani (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
“There is some kind of shadow upon my
heart, so I ask Allah for forgiveness one hundred times a day.”. 

An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Sharh: 

The linguists said that what is meant here is that which
covers the heart. Al-Qaadi said: It was said that what is meant is when he
grew tired or neglected or forgot the remembrance of Allah that he did
constantly. If he tired of it or neglected it, he regarded that as a sin,
and sought forgiveness for it. End quote. 

Thirdly: 

With regard to what these people say about every body part of
the Companions remembering Allah, and so on, all of that comes under the
heading of exaggeration and falsehood, for which there is no basis in any
history or report. Their biographies and stories are available to people, so
where would the reader find these notions, except in the claims of these
people and other extremists of their ilk?

Yes, they were the best of people, and the best generation
among whom a Prophet was sent, but they were also people like others, who
ate, drank, bought, sold, mixed with their wives and children…  They even
disagreed and disputed! 

Muslim narrated in his Saheeh (2750) that Hanzalah al-Usaydi
(may Allah be pleased with him), who was one of the scribes of the Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:

Abu Bakr met me and said: How are you, O Hanzalah?

I said: Hanzalah has become a hypocrite.

He said: Subhaan Allah! What are you saying?

I said: When we are with the Messenger of Allah (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) he reminds us of the Fire and the Garden
until it is as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but when we depart
from the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), we
attend to our wives and children and businesses, and we forget a great deal.

Abu Bakr said: By Allah, we experience something similar.

Abu Bakr and I went and entered upon the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

I said: Hanzalah has become a hypocrite, O Messenger of
Allah.

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “Why is that?”

I said: O Messenger of Allah, when we are with you, you
remind us of the Fire and the Garden until it is as if we are seeing them
with our own eyes, but when we depart from you, we attend to our wives and
children and businesses, and we forget a great deal.

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said:

“By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if you continued as you
are when you are with me, and continued to remember (Paradise and Hell), the
angels would shake hands with you in your homes and on the streets. But, O
Hanzalah, there is a time for this and a time for that” (he said it) three
times.. 

Al-Qurtubi said: 

The words of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), “By
Allah, we experience something similar” offer a refutation of the extreme
Sufis who claim to be constantly in such a state, and that because of it
they would not go and check on their families or property. 

The refutation is to be found in the fact that Abu Bakr was
the best of all people after the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) until the Day of Resurrection, yet despite that, he did
not claim to be different from other humans or to be in a state of constant
remembrance of Allah and never tire of it, which is something that applies
only to the angels. 

Some people claim to be constantly in a state of dhikr
(remembrance of Allah), but, we have mentioned above, is virtually
impossible. 

To sum up, Allah has ordained that human wellbeing is connected to changes in their condition and their means of drawing close to Allah is connected to their striving and efforts.

The reason for that is that this world is in between the
world of the angels and the world of the devils, so He enables the angels to
do good in the sense that they do what they are commanded to do, and they
glorify Him night and day, and never tire of doing so. And he enables the
devils to do evil and tempt people and never slacken. But He has caused this
human world to vary, so that He may enable a person to be in one situation
then cause it to change to another, and cause him to live then die, and
cause him to find and lose. This was referred to by the one who will
intercede (namely the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him),
who said: “But, O Hanzalah, there is a time for this and a time for that.”
And according to the hadith of Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) he
said: “The wise man should have certain times: a time when he converses with
his Lord, a time when he takes stock of himself, a time when he reflects
upon the creation of Allah, and a time when he attends to his need for food
and drink.” 

This is the way of perfections, and all others are nonsense
and based on illusion. 

End quote from al-Mufhim lima Ashkala min Talkhees Kitaab
Muslim by al-Qurtubi (7/67-68) 

Something similar may be said about the false story that they
narrated in which they claimed that al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy
on him) had a special way of remembering Allah with every breath; there is
no proof of that and no basis for it as far as we know. 

Al-Hasan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) is one of
those concerning whom fabrications were made up by the ignorant Sufis and
ascetics. They attribute to him things that have not been soundly narrated
from him; in fact no source is known for them. 

See the answer to question no. 201911

And Allah knows best.