Why is the Qur'an called a "Reminder"?

For the longest time, I've wondered why the Qur'an is called a "Reminder". Because we know God doesn't use words frivolously, this word implies that we are - or should have been - aware of the guidance in the Qur'an, and its presence is to serve as a reminder of this. Let's investigate.

Meaning of Dhikr

🔍 Arabic Term for "Reminder"

In both 3:58 and 6:90, the word rendered as Reminder is:

ذِكْرَى (dhikrā) — feminine nounFrom the root: ذ-ك-ر (dh-k-r)Related words: ذِكر (dhikr), تَذْكِرَة (tadhkira), يَذَّكَّرُون (yadhakkarūn)

📍 3:58 – Verse in Arabic:

ذَٰلِكَ نَتْلُوهُ عَلَيْكَ مِنَ ٱلْآيَاتِ وَٱلذِّكْرِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ"

That is what We recite to you of the signs and the wise dhikr."

• ٱلذِّكْرِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ = the wise Reminder

• Here dhikr is paired with wisdom (ḥakīm).

• Context: 3:58 is a closing statement following a narration of past events (esp. the birth of Jesus, Mary, etc.).

• The phrase suggests that what was revealed is not just narrative but something meant to recall, remind, and convey enduring wisdom.

📍 6:90 – Verse in Arabic:

أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ ۖ فَبِهُدَىٰهُمُ ٱقْتَدِهْ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا ۖ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَٰلَمِينَ

"Say: I do not ask you for any reward. It is nothing but a reminder for all beings (ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَٰلَمِينَ)."

• ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَٰلَمِينَ — a reminder for all the worlds/peoples

• The passage speaks of the previous prophets being guided by God, and the speaker being commanded to follow that guidance.

• dhikrā here refers to the function of revelation: a universal moral and spiritual recollection.

🧠 Core Meaning from Root (ذ-ك-ر)

All derivatives of dh-k-r revolve around:

• remembering, recollecting, being conscious or aware

• bringing something to attention, esp. of moral, ethical, or spiritual significance

• often contrasted with heedlessness or forgetfulness (ghaflah)

📚 Internal Cross-References of Dhikr/Dhikrā

Let’s look at a few related verses to understand how dhikrā is used contextually:

20:3–4

تَنزِيلًۭا مِّمَّنْ خَلَقَ ٱلْأَرْضَ وَٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ ٱلْعُلَىٰرَحْمَـٰنًا عَلَى ٱلْعَرْشِ ٱسْتَوَىٰمَآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِتَشْقَىٰٓ ١إِلَّا تَذْكِرَةًۭ لِّمَن يَخْشَىٰ

We did not reveal this Qur'an to you to cause you distress—only as a reminder for those who are reverent.

• Reinforces that revelation is a means of awareness for those who possess khashyah (reverence, awe).

• Again, dhikr and its derivatives function as spiritual consciousness.

38:1

صٓ ۚ وَٱلْقُرْءَانِ ذِى ٱلذِّكْرِ

Ṣād. By the Qur'an possessing dhikr.

• The Qur’an is characterized by dhikr, implying it is fundamentally a book of remembrance, not merely law or dogma.

43:44

وَإِنَّهُۥ لَذِكْرٌۭ لَّكَ وَلِقَوْمِكَ ۖ وَسَوْفَ تُسْـَٔلُونَ

Indeed, it is a reminder for you and your people, and you will be questioned.

• dhikr here is identity-forming, tied to responsibility and accountability.

🧩 Summary of Contextual Meaning of Dhikrā / Dhikr

Word	Form	Meaning in Context
ذِكْر (dhikr)	noun	remembrance, awareness, moral or spiritual alertness
ذِكْرَى (dhikrā)	intensified/reminding noun	a reminder, an awakening to truth/consciousness
تَذْكِرَة (tadhkira)	verbal noun	an act of reminding, memorial, cautionary note

🧭 Observations

• In all Qur’anic contexts, dhikr/dhikrā refers not just to memory, but to active, conscious moral and spiritual engagement.

• It is closely tied with revelation, guidance, awareness, wisdom, and accountability.

• It often contrasts with heedlessness (ghaflah) and forgetfulness (nasyān).

• The function of the Qur'an itself is described as dhikr—indicating that its core role is to awaken, remind, and reorient.

What is it reminding us of?

So the question remains - When were we first made aware of what we are being reminded of in the Qur'an, through dhikr or dhikrā?

📍 Key Verse: 7:172 – The Primordial Testimony

وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ ۖ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ شَهِدْنَا ۛ..."

And when your Lord took from the loins of the children of Adam their offspring and made them bear witness against themselves: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes, we bear witness.’..."[7:172]

• This verse implies that human beings were made aware—in some pre-worldly, existential sense—of their relation to the One who sustains (Rabb).

• The Qur'an presents this as a primordial covenant (mīthāq) or testimony (shahādah).

• The reminder (dhikr) then is not presenting new information—but reviving a truth already known, deeply embedded in our nature.

🧠 Qur’anic Logic: Dhikr ≠ New Information

The Qur’an often describes itself as:

• تَذْكِرَة — a reminder, not a revelation of something totally new

• ذِكْرَىٰ لِلْعَٰلَمِينَ — a reminder for all peoples

• This presupposes that we already had access to, or awareness of, what is being reminded.

Further Support:

📍 30:30 – Fitrah (Innate Disposition)

فَأَقِمْ وَجْهَكَ لِلدِّينِ حَنِيفًۭا ۚ فِطْرَتَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلَّتِى فَطَرَ ٱلنَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا ۚ لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ...

"...the innate pattern of Allah upon which He originated mankind. No change in Allah’s creation..."

• The fitrah suggests an innate recognition of truth.

• Dhikr reminds us of this built-in orientation toward justice, unity, and awareness of the Source.

🔄 Function of Dhikr in This Light

Given this, dhikr (reminder) is:

• Not informational in the usual sense,

• But awakening, re-orienting, and reconnecting us to an original awareness,

• Which has been clouded by worldly distraction, ego, forgetfulness (nasyān), or heedlessness (ghaflah).

🧩 Summary

Concept	Qur'anic Source	Meaning
Primordial Awareness	7:172	Humanity bore witness to their Lord before earthly life
Innate Disposition (Fitrah)	30:30	Humans are created with a built-in inclination toward truth
Reminder (Dhikr)	6:90, 3:58, many others	Reactivates latent knowledge; not new, but re-cognition

Challenges and pitfalls

Let’s now investigate how the Qur'an describes the interference with dhikr (remembrance)—primarily through nasyān (forgetfulness) and ghaflah (heedlessness)—and how it calls the human being back to awareness.

نِسيَان (nasyān) – Forgetfulness 🔁

Forgetfulness in the Qur'an is often not mere memory lapse. It signals a disconnection from what one was meant to remember—truth, justice, accountability, or the primordial covenant (7:172).

🔹 Key Example: 20:115

وَلَقَدْ عَهِدْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ ءَادَمَ مِن قَبْلُ فَنَسِىَ وَلَمْ نَجِدْ لَهُۥ عَزْمًا“

And We had already taken a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot; and We found in him no firm resolve.”

• فَنَسِىَ (fa-nasiya): Adam forgot the ‘ahd (covenant)

• Implies that forgetfulness is a failure to retain awareness of divine instruction, not simply absentmindedness.

Forgetfulness ≠ ignoranceIt implies prior knowledge or awareness that was lost through distraction, negligence, or disobedience.

غَفْلَة (ghaflah) – Heedlessness / Unawareness 😶‍🌫️

Ghaflah is a deeper, often willful or habitual state of distraction, where the heart/mind is disconnected from truth.

🔹 Key Examples:

📍 7:179

...وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْجِنِّ وَٱلْإِنسِ ۖ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌۭ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا... أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ كَٱلْأَنْعَـٰمِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْغَـٰفِلُونَ“

…They have hearts with which they do not understand… They are like cattle; no, they are even more astray. They are the heedless.”

• Hearts that don’t perceive — not due to lack of ability, but due to a condition of ghaflah.

• Heedlessness is portrayed as worse than ignorance—because the faculties are there, but unused or ignored.

📍 36:6

لِتُنذِرَ قَوْمًۭا مَّا أُنذِرَ ءَابَآؤُهُمْ فَهُمْ غَـٰفِلُونَ“

That you may warn a people whose forefathers were not warned, so they are in a state of heedlessness.”

• The absence of prior reminders leads to entrenched ghaflah.

• The Qur'an's arrival is thus an interruption to this state.

🔄 Dhikr as the Remedy

Both nasyān and ghaflah are addressed by dhikr—the act of reminding, which is the Qur’an’s primary function.

🔹 20:124

وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِكْرِى فَإِنَّ لَهُۥ مَعِيشَةًۭ ضَنكًۭا وَنَحْشُرُهُۥ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ أَعْمَىٰ

“Whoever turns away from My remembrance will have a constricted life, and We will raise him on the Day of Resurrection blind.”

• The absence of dhikr leads to a blinding of perception.

• Turning away from dhikr → ghaflah → existential distress.

🔹 50:22 – A Stunning Wake-Up Verse

لَّقَدْ كُنتَ فِى غَفْلَةٍۢ مِّنْ هَـٰذَا فَكَشَفْنَا عَنكَ غِطَآءَكَ فَبَصَرُكَ ٱلْيَوْمَ حَدِيدٌۭ“

You were in heedlessness of this, so We have removed your covering, and today your vision is sharp.”

• On the Day of Judgment, ghaflah is stripped away.

• Dhikr now comes too late—awareness is restored, but only after the chance for action has passed.

🔁 Dhikr as a Dynamic Force of Reconnection

Condition	Arabic Root	Qur’anic Function
Forgetfulness	n-s-y (ن س ي)	Implies one had knowledge and lost it (e.g. 20:115)
Heedlessness	gh-f-l (غ ف ل)	A deeper unawareness or neglect, often willful or habitual (e.g. 7:179)
Reminder	dh-k-r (ذ ك ر)	Acts as antidote to both — reignites the light of awareness

💡 Final Reflection

The Qur’an positions the human being as:

• Originally endowed with awareness (7:172, 30:30)

• Subject to nasyān and ghaflah in the distractions of life

• Recalled repeatedly through dhikr, which:

  • Speaks to something we already know

  • Is protected in form (15:9)

  • Is reinforced by signs within and around us (41:53)