Loud Dhikr

One day, Khwaja Mahmud Injir al-Fagnevi (may God sanctify his innermost being), the thirteenth Shaykh in the Naqshbandi Golden Chain and the fourth of the ‘Khwajagan’ attended a scholarly gathering and was asked by two prominent authorities of external knowledge, why he was doing loud ‘dhikr’. Shaykh Mahmud replied,
“It is the best ‘dhikr’ to awaken an outsider from his state of slumber and to attract the attention of the heedless so that he directs himself towards God – following the Shaykh who is making ‘dhikr’, straightening himself on the Way, and making his repentance to God a pure one, which is the key to all goodness and happiness. If your intention is correct, you will find the authority to use the loud ‘dhikr”.
The Khwaja was then asked who is permitted to practice the loud ‘dhikr’? The Khwaja replied,
“The loud ‘dhikr’ is for anyone who wishes to reach the state of purifying his tongue from lying and backbiting, and freeing his private actions from what is forbidden, and cleaning his heart from pride and the love of fame.”