How many times is Remembrance (Dhikr) mentioned in the Quran?
274 times, counting every form of ذِكْر. Here is every word from its root, where it appears most, and the verses that explain it.
times in the Quran
in 71 surahs
Dhikr means remembering and mentioning: remembering Allah in the heart and saying His praise on the tongue. The same root also gives the Quran one of its names, adh-Dhikr, “the Reminder”.
The headline count leaves out the word dhakar (male), which comes from the same root but has a different meaning. It is still listed in the table.
Every form of the root ذ ك ر
| Word | Meaning | Times |
|---|---|---|
| ذَكَرَ | to remember, to mention | 84 |
| ذِكْر | remembrance, mention; also “the Reminder” (the Quran) | 76 |
| تَذَكَّرَ | to take heed, to be reminded | 51 |
| ذِكْرَى | a reminder | 23 |
| ذُكِّرَ | to be reminded | 18 |
| ذَكَر | male (a different meaning from the same root) | 18 |
| تَذْكِرَة | a reminder, an admonition | 9 |
| مُدَّكِر | one who takes heed (“is there any that will remember?”) | 6 |
| ذاكِر | those who remember (men) | 2 |
| تَذْكِير | reminding | 1 |
| ادَّكَرَ | to remember after a long time | 1 |
| ذاكِرَة | those who remember (women) | 1 |
| مَذْكُور | something worth mentioning | 1 |
| مُذَكِّر | one who reminds | 1 |
Counted in the Quranic Arabic Corpus morphology: each word is counted once, in every form built from the lemma (singular, dual, plural, with attached letters such as “and” or “the”). Other counting rules give slightly different numbers.
Where it appears most
| Surah | Words from this root |
|---|---|
| 2. Al-Baqarah | 19 |
| 7. Al-A'raf | 16 |
| 6. Al-An'am | 15 |
| 21. Al-Anbya | 13 |
| 38. Sad | 13 |
Key verses about remembrance (dhikr)
ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ ٱلْقُلُوبُ
Who have believed and whose hearts have rest in the remembrance of Allah. Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ذِكْرًا كَثِيرًا
O ye who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance.
ٱتْلُ مَآ أُوحِىَ إِلَيْكَ مِنَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَأَقِمِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ تَنْهَىٰ عَنِ ٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱلْمُنكَرِ ۗ وَلَذِكْرُ ٱللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ
Recite that which hath been inspired in thee of the Scripture, and establish worship. Lo! worship preserveth from lewdness and iniquity, but verily remembrance of Allah is more important. And Allah knoweth what ye do.
وَٱذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِى نَفْسِكَ تَضَرُّعًا وَخِيفَةً وَدُونَ ٱلْجَهْرِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ بِٱلْغُدُوِّ وَٱلْـَٔاصَالِ وَلَا تَكُن مِّنَ ٱلْغَـٰفِلِينَ
And do thou (O Muhammad) remember thy Lord within thyself humbly and with awe, below thy breath, at morn and evening. And be not thou of the neglectful.
فَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةُ فَٱنتَشِرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱبْتَغُوا۟ مِن فَضْلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
And when the prayer is ended, then disperse in the land and seek of Allah's bounty, and remember Allah much, that ye may be successful.
English: Marmaduke Pickthall (public domain). Arabic: Uthmani script, via quran.com.
What these verses teach
The Quran ties remembrance to calm: “Verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!” (13:28). It asks for a lot of it, “Remember Allah with much remembrance” (33:41), morning and evening (7:205), and even after Friday prayer when people go back to work (62:10). And it says the remembrance of Allah is greater than anything else (29:45).
More Quran word counts
Frequently asked questions
How many times is dhikr mentioned in the Quran?
Dhikr (ذِكْر) appears 274 times in the Quran, counting every form of the word. Words from its root, ذ ك ر, appear 292 times in all.
Which surah mentions dhikr the most?
Al-Baqarah (Surah 2), with 19 words from the root ذ ك ر.
Why do other websites give different numbers?
Counts depend on the rule used: whether plurals and verb forms are included, and whether the whole root is counted or one word. We count words as written in the Hafs text, using the Quranic Arabic Corpus, and print the rule on the page.