Dhikr/Zikir in islam?

Question

Va As-salamu alaykum brothers

I am here because I am very confused about Dhikr/Zikir in Islam. Today I was at a friend and I saw a video that he watched. It was a few of our brothers that was doing Dhikr/Zikir.

The first video was => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWEuj7gt5bk

And the second (Turkish) => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mING20gzds

The only issue here is, that I never, EVER-EVER... saw something like this before. i have no problems in the beginning but after a while they will do wild things, like running and clapping also, they make weird movement! and that is what is confusing me!

I asked him what this is and he told me "it’s Zikir it’s something that we (Sunni Muslims) often do."

I said to him "there is no way we can do such movement while saying” la illah ila Allah “I highly believe this is haram." Then he said "Noooo, this is common thing everybody does, even we do that." But I just could not believe him...

I asked my other friend, and he said "this is pure Shia, there is no way this is Sunni"

And we argued a lot about this and I am very confused...

Please brothers, can someone please explain me what is going on here? Why are they doing this? Are they Sunni? Or Shia?

Answer 1

Bismillah,

Please brothers, can someone please explain me what is going on here? Why are they doing this? Are they Sunni? Or Shia?

What's happening in those two videos is, supposedly, called Halaqat Dhikr حلقة ذكر, which is a practice done by the majority of Sufis schools (or Tariqa طريقة). They gather at certain days at a certain place, and perform a Dhikr done by all of them, sometimes they do it while sitting in a circle, hence comes the word Halaqa حلقة which is another way of referring to a circle, and sometimes they do what you see in that video, they move in circle and do some other types of movements.
In the second video, the title says "Kadiri Dergahı", although it sounds Turkish to me and I don't understand Turkish, but Kadiri is a school of Sufism found in so many countries across the world (الطريقة القادرية).
(Note: NOT ALL Sufis schools do what you see in the videos! Also, I'm not against Sufism and Sufis, I'm just explaining to you what I know because there are a lot of Sufis schools in my country)

Now, are they Sunnis or Shias? I cannot tell and it is not my business. You will find people from both sects that follow some Sufis schools.

Side Note: although you did not ask any question regarding what I'm about to say, but I have to confirm what @Sayyid said in his comment. The Prophet (PBUH) and his Companions (May Allah be pleased with all of them) never performed Dhikr in the form that you see in the videos.

Allah knows best..