Maintaining a direct connection to Allah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

 

Allah says in Surah Anfaal;

O ye who believe! give your response to Allah and His Messenger, when He calleth you to that which will give you life; and know that Allah cometh in between a man and his heart, and that it is He to whom ye shall (all) be gathered.  (8:24)

The first part of the ayat has a lot of implications and importance.  When the call comes from Allah and His Messenger (pboh) you must respond.  Once Prophet (pboh) called out to a Companion who was at the time in salaat.  The Companion didn’t respond but instead waited until he completed his salaat and then went to Prophet (pboh) and informed him why he didn’t respond initially.  To this the Prophet (pboh) reminded him about the first part of the ayat quoted above.

Prophet (pboh) is reported to have said “Verily, the hearts of all the sons of Adam are between the two fingers out of the fingers of the Compassionate Lord as one heart.  He turns that to any (direction) He likes”. 

Allah can guide us to righteousness or cause us to deviate.  This is why Prophet (pboh) prayed:

“Allahumma yaa muqallibal quloob thabbit qalbee ‘alaa deenik

Oh Turner of the hearts (Allah, the Most High), keep our hearts firm on Your religion”

We need to understand why Allah says Your wealth and your children are only a trial (fitnah).  It is because they can come between Allah and your heart and divert your focus.  The verse quoted above tells us that we should give nothing more preference than Allah.  Don’t let anything come in the way and hinder your connection to Him.

 

A true believer will carry out all the necessary undertakings of the world but his heart remains engaged in remembrance of Allah.  We have to get involved in the world for our livelihood etc. but don’t be consumed by it to the extent that you give preference to it over your religious obligations.

Do not put a ‘curtain’ between Allah and your heart.  Never forget that any time we do wrong a black spot will appear on our hearts, as Allah says: Nay, but they have put stains on their hearts.

Our goal should be to maintain a direct connection to Him.  It is not easy but possible.   Insha Allah let us all try to make this jihad for ourselves and don’t put spots between Him and yourself.  And leave this world in a clean and pure state insha Allah.

Increasing your faith in Allah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Two beneficial formulas that are taken from the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (pboh) are;

Reciting Surah Kalf every Friday morning; Allah will protect you for the coming week.  The second formula is that of reciting Surah Yusuf every night before your go to bed.  Insha Allah, Allah would protect you from any pain at the time of death and would also enable you to overcome any enemies’ in this life.

Allah says in Surah Baqarah;

 

Allah is the Wali (Protector) of those who have faith (2:257)

A wali is a person’s closest, most senior elder.  Someone who you love, someone who you could go to and he will take care of you and he would never, at anytime let you down.  And if Allah says that He is your Wali what a great thing that is. 

This statement has so much of meaning.  One of which is that Allah takes one out of darkness into light.  One ways is through knowledge.  Another is through guidance.

The more intense your belief in Allah gets the closer you will feel that you are to Him.  You will begin to ascend and your personality will become different and more refined.  And this is one of the lessons that we can take from the Mir’aj.  Through faith and perseverance Prophet Muhammad(pboh) ascended so high that he became the beloved of Allah. 

This is why it is not easy to translate Ayat an-Nur;

Light upon Light!  Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light: Allah doth set forth parables for men: and Allah doth know all things.  (24:35)

One way of removing the darkness from your personality is by letting the Light of Allah to brightening your personality.  And this is what we try to achieve through our spiritual exercise of muraaqaba.  And through this your faith would grow and your closeness to your Lord would also increase.  And insha Allah you would spirituality ascend.  

There is no ending to spiritual experiences and it’s something that cannot be explained through contemporary reason and logic.

Remember a person will only achieve what Allahwills for him.  But He allows a bit of free will through which we can cultivate remembrance for Him, standing, sitting and lying on our sides.  This can be achieved when our qalb makes Zikr even if we are physically engaged in other matters.  Perhaps this is one reason why the Prophet (pboh) is reported to have said that even when the Messenger is asleep his heart remains alert.