The Rehearsal

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Brother and sisters, firstly I would like to wish all our brothers and sisters, and in particular those from the Markaz al Ihsaan, who will be performing the Umrah in the next coming weeks, insha Allah.  They have been invited by Allah to His Holy House and we beg Allah to give them all a safe journey to and from and let it be rewarding, insha Allah.

Visiting the Holy House and the blessed city of Madinah is enjoined on all believers who can afford it; and the benefits and blessings that are derived from it are many.  Insha Allah I wish to highlight a few good reasons why Muslims must avail themselves of this opportunity as it will definitely help them in this life and the next.

Firstly, we all understand that we are not here forever and we all have a fixed life span.  We will have to leave everything we’ve accumulated behind.  Leaving and going to the Holy Land therefore is like a practice session in a way; because one day we will have to leave and begin the journey back to our Lord.  And it’s reflected in the Talbiyah that is recited;

“Here I come at Thy service O Lord, here I come.  Here I come at Thy service and Thou hast no partners.  Thine alone is All Praise and All Bounty, and Thine alone is The Sovereignty. Thou hast no partners”.

This is a good practice that believes inculcate to remind themselves that one day we have to leave everything and go back to our Lord and stand before Him.  And look at the humble manner in which we are commanded to observe the Hajj/Umrah.   You adorn yourself in simple humble clothing.  And at that point in time you can’t think of material things.  All you’re preoccupied with it glorifying and begging the Merciful Lord.  It is a rehearsal for what will happen on that inevitable Day.

Secondly, we all love our family, our friends and that which Allah has blessed us with.  When we go to the Holy Land we get the discipline that none of these things really matter as it cannot help you; it is only you and your Lord.  Your family and assets cannot help with being bombarded with the millions of people.  It is actually you and your Lord.  This too is a rehearsal for the Day of Accountability as Allah says in Surah Abasa;

That Day shall a man flee from his own brother, and from his mother and his father, and from his wife and his children.  Each one of them, that Day, will have enough concern (of his own) to make him indifferent to the others.  (80:34-37)

Those who visit Allah’s sacred House; they will get the experience and blessings of that kind of feeling and the good that goes along with it.  In Makkah especially it’s a question of survival.  Everything is so fast paced and everyone is always on the go.  In contrast Madinah is so different.  It reflects the verse from Surah Yaseen that we recite so often;

"Peace!" - A word (of salutation) from a Lord Most Merciful!  (36:58)

If Allah has created in paradise in peace and tranquillity and Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “between my house and the pulpit there is a garden of the gardens of Paradise” can you imagine the feeling you will get?  Firstly you will get the feeling of amazement; ‘look where I am’.  I am blessed to stand in the same city that my Prophet (pboh) lived in.  It’s quite different from Makkah.

Anyone who has the means and can find the time to make this sacred journey it is highly recommended to go and experience these things.  Go with the right intention.  Nothing can be compared to being able to stand in the Holy House and glorify Him and praise our Loving Lord.  And Allah is so merciful that anyone who worships there the blessings are multiplied many times over.

So today, we wish all our brothers and sisters, who are indeed blessed to go, all best and request that they especially offer salaams to the best of all creations (pboh) on our behalf and remember us in their duas.

We beg Allah to enable all believers to visit His Holy House and the mosque of His Beloved (pboh).  May He bless and enable us to successfully meet Him on that Promised Day and may the meeting be special, blessed and highly rewarding insha Allah.


The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at
http://www.youtube.com/markazalihsaan

Submitting to Allah in all conditions

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Last week we spoke of the importance of cultivating faith in our hearts.  We remind ourselves of what Allah tells us in Surah Hujuraat;

 

The desert Arabs say, “We believe”.  Say, “Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say, 'We have submitted our wills to Allah, for not yet has faith entered your hearts.  But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught of your deeds: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.  (49:14)

 

If you have true faith in your heart it will manifest throughout your entire personality and when that happens, you will submit to Allah willingly.  There are some who profess to have faith but as Allah says ‘in their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease’ (2:10); meaning that they don’t really have faith.  And Allah expounds about such people in the very beginning of Surah Baqarah;

 

Of the people there are some who say: "We believe In Allah and the Last Day;" but they do not (really) believe.  (2:8)

 

In reality they are professing to be something they are really not.  There is something else in their hearts.  We need to culture our hearts to ensure that faith enters and remains there, because the heart is the centre or nucleus of the personality.  And if the heart has true faith it will manifest itself throughout the entire personality.

 

Understand that we, on one hand, want our entire personality to meet the expression made by Hazrat Abraham (as): Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds:  He understood so well the importance of his complete personality being in total submission to Allah.  And that is what we should all strive for.

 

If we want to get close to our Lord we need to aspire for it.  We cannot put anything between us and Him.  If we love the world more it will ultimately come between us.  The true believer, in all conditions, learns to submit to Allah no matter what the circumstance may be.  We are living for His sake and He will not let us down.  He will give us all sorts of trials and always remember that the higher you go the more the trials you will get.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “when Allah loves a servant, He tests him” (Tirmidh)

 

Look how He tried His Beloved (pboh).  He was an orphan born  in the most aristocratic family but they were so humble.  His mother could not even afford a wet nurse.  And look at how he was able to draw all the people close to him.  He never forced them.  On one hand they knew if they were associated with him they would get blessings from Allah and on the other they knew they will learn to culture and cultivate their personalities.

 

The test of faith of the believers is the trials from Allah.  When the trials come will you run to someone else other than Allah?  When everything is good and peaceful your faith isn’t truly tested.  As Allah says in Surah Hajj;

 

There are among men some who serve Allah, as it were, on the verge: if good befalls them, they are, therewith, well content; but if a trial comes to them, they turn on their faces: they lose both this world and the Hereafter: that is loss for all to see!  (22:11)

 

Some people sit on the fence.  When everything is nice and rosy there aren’t any complaints; but when they are afflicted with some hardship they lose faith and trust in Allah.  This is what we have to be careful about.  Any of us can display levels if hypocrisy at anytime if we give something priority over Allah.

 

Everyday Hazrat Umar (ra) would visit a Companion who Prophet Muhammad (pboh) made a special dua for.  This particular companion thereafter possessed the ability of identifying a hypocrite.  So gifted was he that whenever there was a Janaza of a hypocrite he would not attend and this led Hazrat Umar (ra) to scan the crowd to see if this particular Companion was present.  If he was not present Umar (ra) would refrain from leading the Janaza because he knew the deceased was a hypocrite.  And Everyday Umar (ra) would visit this blessed companion and ask “am I a hypocrite?”

 

It is quite easy to fall into complacency.  For example when salaat time enters and we don’t pray our salaat because of some worldly preoccupation; what happens?  These are the things what we need to be careful about.

 

A true believer is a humble person because on one hand they know their Lord is close to them and on the other they know they can make mistakes at anytime.  Your heart is like the pearl inside an oyster.  Try your best to keep it bright and shinning.

 

Ask you Lord for forgiveness for the wrong we would have all committed.  Yes we make mistakes but if our intention is Allah He will help us.  Strengthen your heart through His remembrance and through this insha Allah, Satan will not get the better of you.

 

We all have one life to live and everyday that passes is a day gone.  May Allah always protect us, guide us and bless us insha Allah.

 

 

The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at

http://www.youtube.com/markazalihsaan

Sincerity in the heart

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Allah tells us in Surah Hujuraat;

 

The desert Arabs say, “We believe”.  Say, “Ye have no faith; but ye (only) say, 'We have submitted our wills to Allah, for not yet has faith entered your hearts.  But if ye obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not belittle aught of your deeds: for Allah is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.  (49:14)

It is easy to say something with the tongue, whether it is meant or not.  Islam doesn’t want that from us.  Instead our total personality must be in complete submission to Allah and only then will you be a true believer. 

Allah says about some people; In their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease:  (2:10)

Why is this?  Because they say they believe but do so for some ulterior motive.  Those are not from amongst the true believers.  Instead we must concentrate on true submission to Allah from our heart.  As Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported “there is a piece of flesh in the body if it becomes good (reformed) the whole body becomes good but if it gets spoiled, the whole body gets spoiled – and that is the heart” (Bukhari).

Sometimes we hear people say ‘that person doesn’t have heart’.  It means that the person being described doesn’t have love and compassion etc.  These qualities don’t come from the tongue.  True love comes from the heart.  This is why Islam emphasises that we bring the faith into our hearts. 

Look at what Allah did when He wanted Prophet Muhammad (pboh) to begin preaching the Deen.  He caused Jibrael to impress the Qur’an in the heart of Prophet Muhammad (pboh) on the night of the first revelation.  So when he spoke to the people it was not only coming from his mouth but his heart as well. 

Culture and cultivate your heart to have true submission and God consciousness and only then you would have really achieved something.  If you have Allah in your heart and you are submitting to Him only then will you find peace and tranquillity.  This is possibly why He says

 

“Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah; for, without doubt; in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction.”  (13:28)

You can have everything of this world but have no peace of mind.  When you culture and nurture your heart to have true submission to Allah you will find peace and contentment.  And you will also get closer and closer to your Lord.  If you have no peace and contentment then something is wrong. 

Understand also that when you think of, or do evil, it will impact upon your heart.  Even if no one is aware of it you are putting stains on your heart.  We need to all the time keep looking at our hearts and work upon it to ensure that we have sincerity and purity. 

And this is where our zikir and meditation can help.  By engaging in spiritual mediation you will know if you are engaging in something wrong; if so, you will feel a ‘heavy heart’.  And if you are engaged in good or surrounded with good you will feel a difference in your heart.  Insha Allah your heart will aid in guiding you. 

Our mission is to make our heart bright and shinning and full of sincerity and purity; else we are just like the Bedouins who Allah spoke of.

Keep your heart clean and pure and strong in Allah’s remembrance and let Him take care of our affairs insha Allah.

The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at

http://www.youtube.com/markazalihsaan

Be prepared for your resurrection

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

 

Part of our beliefs is that one day we will be resurrected, after we’ve gone from this world and our bodies have been decayed.  All human beings, since the time of Prophet Adam (as) and the billions that followed will all be resurrected.  Some people have a problem in comprehending the resurrection and its possibility.  To this Allah says beautifully in the Qur’an;

 

O mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, (consider) that We created you out of dust, then out of sperm, then out of a leech-like clot, then out of a morsel of flesh, partly formed and partly unformed, in order that We may manifest (Our power) to you; and We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term, then do We bring you out as babes, then (foster you) that ye may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the feeblest old age, so that they know nothing after having known (much), and (further), thou seest the earth barren and lifeless, but when we pour down rain on it, it is stirred (to life), it swells, and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth (in pairs).  (22:5)

 

Allah has given many eye openers in nature that demonstrates resurrection.  In the ayat quoted above Allah draws reference to the dry parched earth.  It looks lifeless with the plants and tress withering away.  However when Allah causes the rain to fall the greenery comes back.  This is easy for Allah and so too is the resurrection of human beings.

 

Allah was very descriptive in the ayat mentioned above regarding the process of human existence.  Each and every one of us started life as a microscopic grain of sand.  Do you think a grain of sand would decay?  No it would not as is would form part of the earth.  We were all created from this microscopic grain of sand and then Allah caused it to grow into a sperm and further caused the sperm to fertilise an egg and thereafter caused it to grow into a human being.  How great is Allah?

 

What is the wisdom in Allah telling us this?  In order to understand about this a little more,  we see what Prophet Muhammad (pboh) said:

 

Abu Huraira narrated, that the Prophet said: “There is nothing of the human body that does not decay except one bone; that is the little bone at the end of the coccyx of which the human body will be recreated on the Day of Resurrection”.

 

That tiny grain of sand which we all began life from does not decay.  It goes back into the earth.  Then upon the command of Allah it will grow back into the person it once was.

 

Understand that this is not difficult for Allah.  The difference the second time round is that we would come out with a bag around our neck that contains all our deeds.  The lighter our bag the more likely our chances are of meeting Allah.

 

It’s important that we understand this because it is an eye opener for us.  What am I doing for the resurrection?  Will I be happy with a bright and beautiful countenance or will I be like a withered rose.  You are responsible for your own future.  What are you doing to ensure that the meeting with your Lord would be a beautiful one?  We all want to meet Him and would like that He is pleased to meet us.

 

Take care of your life and don’t waste it because one day it will be the only asset you have of value for the next phase of life.

 

May Allah enable us to engage in much good throughout our lives so on that Day when all of mankind are brought back to life we will be from amongst those who will be most pleased to meet our Lord and insha Allah He would be pleased to meet us.

 

 

The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at

http://www.youtube.com/markazalihsaan