Tuesday 30 October 2012

Translating belief into action

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ



Allah says in Surah Tiin;
 
We have indeed created man in the best of moulds, then do We abase Him (to be) the lowest of the low, - except such as believe and do righteous deeds: for they shall have a reward unfailing then what can, after this, contradict thee, as to the Judgment (to come)?  Is not Allah the wisest of judges?

Allah has created us from the best of the earth, and the most refined light; and He has put us all at the lowest level, i.e. we begin life with nothing in our record; although there is nothing against us.  Allah is Just so we all begin life on a common ground.  What makes the difference?  Those who believe and do righteous deeds.  They are the ones that will ascend to their Lord.

So the extent of your belief and the amount of good in which you will engage will get you closer and closer to Allah.  Allah is Dhil-maarij - The Owner of the ascending stairway.  
 
On the Day of Judgement, some humans will be worst than animals.  Why? Animals won’t have judgement therefore they are not at risk of being thrown in the hell fire.  But man will, and the way of getting out of the abyss is by believing in Allah and doing good.

Believe is one thing.  What must be done is translating this belief into action and only then would you be a truly special person.  And this is where Prophet Abraham (as) shone out.  He dedicated his entire personality to Allah and because of this dedication he ascended so high that Allah made him Khaleelullah – the friend of Allah. 

If we are prepared to utilize the gifts that Allah has blessed us with in a righteous and appropriate manner we too will also attain closeness to Him.  It all depends on our intentions and deeds. 

We beg Allah, in this blessed and holy month that He enables us to translate our beliefs into righteous and beneficial actions that would help us ascend and attain nearness to Him, insha Allah.



Tuesday 23 October 2012

Ascending through good

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ
 

When Allah created the Universe, the skies and the earth and He thereafter sent man and jinn to reside on earth He made evident that the entrance to and from the skies is like one-way valve.  It means that only certain things can ascend back to Him.  And what are they;
 
To Him mount up (all) Words of Purity:  (35:10)

Nothing but good can pass that barrier.  This is important for us to understand because, firstly it shows that good and evil are not equal.  Even in the place that they are recorded are different.  Allah says;

Surely the record of the wicked is (preserved) in Sijjin.  And what will explain to thee what Sijjin is?  (There is) a Register (fully) inscribed.  (83:7-9)

Good is therefore recorded in the sky and evil, which cannot ascend, is recorded in a dungeon.  That is why on the Day of Judgement some people would raise with nothing to take to their Lord. 

Allah is the embodiment of Good.  This means that impurity cannot ascend back to Him.  There is a barrier that prevents impurity from going further.  We are returning to Him and we have to pass that barrier in order to get back to Him.  So if we don’t qualify ourselves to pass this barrier our meeting with Him would be impossible. 

Allah has shown us the way with the mir’aj of Prophet Muhammad (pboh).  He was so pure and clean that he was able to pass through all the barriers when he ascended.  And he went further than any other creature.  Therefore him being our model and exemplar we must pattern him and strive to remove any form of impurities in our personality.  And Allah gives us the formula in Surah Kahf;

Whoever expects to His Lord, let him work righteousness.  (18:110)
 
Doing good is comprehensive and it applies in every aspect of our lives.  
 
One of the stations in spiritual growth in our meditation is to ascend.  Spiritual ascent is possible but it takes a lot of effort and dedication.  This is why Prophet (pboh) told his Companions “I have returned from the small Jihad (Jihad Asghar) to the big Jihad (Jihad Akbar)”.  The Sahabas enquired “what is the big Jihad?”  Prophet (pboh) said “the Jihad al nafs (inner desires).”

Control of desires, control your tongue and control your emotions.  If you can’t how do you expect to ascend.  The real jihad is to control your nafs.  And if you do you would have qualified yourself to return to and insha Allah meet with your Lord.

All the Messengers of God took great care in what they said and did.  They never acted outside of their mission.

Our mission in this life is to get back to Allah.  Therefore take care in all your doings.  Those who criticize spirituality say spirituality it’s a cult but they don’t know that it’s an effort to purify yourselves and make you conscious of your personality.

It takes time, effort, honesty, dedication and sincerity.  How is it possible for the ruh to ascend while the nafs is fighting to stay down?  We want to be able to pass through these barriers. 

The great Masheikh, Junaid Baghdadi, once asked Allah how can he attain closeness to Him?  Allah responded ‘leave your nafs and come’. 

This struggle won’t be easy and rest assured that Satan would try his best to divert you.  He will even attack you with good which we unfortunately see happening today.  May Allah protect us from Satan and whatever means he may use to divert our focus.

Our mission is to return to and insha Allah meet our Lord; and the journey begins from here.  Work to refine your personality so that your ascent to Allah would be easy and in the end successful.