Pruning the human personality

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

One of the greatness of the mission of Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is that he was able to help and teach us how to trim off all the unwanted habits and desires of the human personality.  This process is referred to as Tazkiyah nafs or purification of the baser self.

Prophet (pboh) was commanded to rehearse the Signs of Allah, to teach the people everything about the working of the Allah; to sanctify them and to teach them the wisdom of the Book, etc.  His mission therefore is to develop the entire all round personality of a believer and to make him a true representative of Allah on earth.

Now the nafs has some peculiar habits and qualities.  Because the nafs is the energy produced from working of the human’s physical self, it is inclined to all things material.  At its baser self; the nafs does not care about moral etiquette etc.  Instead it just wants pleasure, comfort and all the materially attractive things. 

But the nafs is one of the ideal dimensions of the personality that Allah has given to man to represent Him on earth; because it is through the nafs we can display the Divine Attributes of Allah in our finite way; such as generosity, kindness, compassion etc.  The ruh, which is the other dimension of the human personality, cannot be contaminated.  The ruh is connected to the nafs, thus the nafs can impact upon the ruh and the ruh can also affect the nafs.  Both entities are energies.  One is energy that came from the command of God and the other is energy that comes from the working of the physical body.

Now if the energy that is generated from the physical body is pure energy it will coordinate positively with the ruh and through this you can achieve real peace inside of you.  If however, the nafs emits negative energy; it will be a direct contradiction with the ruh and you will not have peace.  And we see this ever so often; some people have all the wealth and status in the world and still they suffer from a lack of peace.

All of us would like peace and the only way of achieving it is to prune or trim out the unwanted desires and habits from our personalities.  This however is an individual matter and no one can do it for you.  This is the real jihad.  Why do I call it a jihad?  Jihad which usually connotates to fighting against some evil; thus we are fighting the negative energy that is being generated inside of us.  Possibly this is why Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “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).”

To take it a step further; when Allah cursed Satan for his disobedience, Satan vowed that he would openly attack the progeny of Adam.  So before we came into this world we had an open enemy.  And the base ingredient of losing the battle against Satan is to follow his handiwork and Allah specifies the handiwork of the devil as being intoxicants and games of chance. 

And today society is in a downward spiral because of the prevalence of drugs, alcohol, and greed.  So we see the tangible manifestation of the workings of Satan

For those who do not succumb to the devil’s handiwork he uses a different strategy.  He works on your intentions and desires.  Look at how he got Adam and Eve to disobey Allah in the Garden of Eden.  Can you imagine how long he would have worked and played on the mind of Eve to get her and thereafter Adam to abandon their obedience and obey their baser desire?  The same goes for us.  Every day is a new battle. 

We need to humble ourselves and understand that Satan is our open enemy.  Let us sincerely try our best to purify our intentions and desires so that our nafs will only be producing positive energy.  The choice is ours.

Material possessions and acquisitions are nice as it can enable us to have a comfortable stay in this world however one day we will all inevitably leave everything behind.  Create that right balance that allows you time to work for this world and also the hereafter.  What we’re leaving behind must always be secondary; what we are sending in front of us is really important.  Am I sending beautiful, positive things that my Lord will be pleased with or am I sending things that will drag me in the abyss?

Whenever we recap topics like this is always nice to reflect on the As'hab us-Suffah or the founding sufis as they referred to.  They lived in the Prophet’s (pboh) mosque and were only engaged in worldly matters out of necessity.  And later when the Prophet (pboh) left this world they were the ones that really spread Islam all over the continents.  And if we looked at some of them, they had all the power and status one could want before they went to live with the Prophet (pboh) in his mosque.  Why did they pay so little heed to this world and gave up everything they would have worked for?  It goes to show that not everything can be deduced through scientific reason and logic and material assets.

We beg Allah to forgive us all, to bless us and to guide us so that there will only be positivity emanating from our personality, insha Allah.

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

Understanding without reason

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

When Allah gives us a message in the Holy Qur’an the common practice of a lot of people is to put a meaning to it; what they think is right, and confine it to that alone.  What we need to understand is that the Qur’anic meanings of each verse are so comprehensive that it is actually impossible for us to completely understand them.  The translation alone is not the complete message because each word has so many dimensions of meanings associated with it. 

For example Allah says in the Qur’an; 

‘Take note that amongst you is the Messenger of Allah’.  (49:7)

Some people interpret this to mean that the Sunnah or the way of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pboh) will always be with us; therefore we can get guidance from it.  However don’t you think that if Allah meant the Sunnah of His beloved (pboh) He would have specified that ‘his sunnah is with us’?

Instead He says that the Messenger is with us.  What then does it mean?  This is something that is difficult to understand through scientific reasoning and logic.  From a spiritual point of view the Prophet (pboh) has a special connection with the believers in a way we cannot logically comprehend; even though he left this physical dimension.

Take for example standing in front of his blessed tomb; he is reported to have said “no one sends salaams on me except Allah has returned my soul to me so that I can return his salam”.

So if you were to physically stand in front of the room that contains his blessed body and engage in sending peace and blessings on him Allah causes his soul to reunite with his physical body so that he can respond to your greeting.  And if you look at live footage of Madinah you will see that night and day visitors to his Holy Masjid are continuously standing in front of his tomb sending salaams on him.  Is it then that his soul is continuously in his body?  Because we know that the bodies of all the Messengers never decay as he is reported to have said “the earth has been prohibited by Allah to eat the bodies of the Prophets”.

What about those who are not directly in front his blessed tomb.  He is reported to have said that “Allah has appointed an angel to my grave; whosoever sends darood upon me, until the Day of Judgment his darood is presented to me along with his name and his father's name”.

This process of him replying to our salutations is something which we really cannot conceive through rational thinking.  Only Allah knows.  What we need to do is try to establish a lasting connection with him and in so doing we will want to attach ourselves to him through sheer love.  Either through the following of his sunnah or through gaining more and more knowledge of him; in whatever way you choose you will not want to break your attachment from him. 

To take it a step further, the human personality contains things that we know are existing yet we cannot see them.  Such an important dimension of the human personality is with us; i.e. the soul but we know little of it?  Have you seen the soul and what do we know about it?  Allah says concerning the soul ‘We have not given you much knowledge of it’.

So if we have such an important dimension of our personality and know so little of it; how then can we really comprehend the true personality of Prophet Muhammad (pboh) and all his capabilities and capacities?  So when Allah says he is amongst you know that the Prophet (pboh) is with you.  How?  Only Allah knows but one thing we understand is that Allah has given us all a special dimension in our personalities through which we can understand things which cannot be experienced through reason and logic. 

It is only through the non-physical element of the human personality that one can gain religious experiences.  And that is what Islamic spirituality is all about; when you concentrate and meditate using the internal sense.  Through this effort you will in fact be activating that capacity in you that enables you to have knowledge of the unseen.  If you can activate the qalb you will get experiences that would make this world and all it contains seem so very insignificant.

Perhaps this is why Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “fear the vision of the true believer, for he sees with the light of Allah”.

Why did he not mention all believers?  This should equip your mind as to the reality of Islamic Spirituality.

Let us all make a conscious effort to work at activating and culturing the non-physical element of our personalities.  May Allah make it easy for us and keep us rightly devoted to this struggle.  May He bless us all, guide us and take care of all our affairs in this world and the next.

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

Sight through the heart

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Today we will look at a message that Allah has given us in the Qur’an and it is taken from Surah An`am;

 

There has come to you enlightenment from your Lord.  So whoever will see does so for [the benefit of] his soul, and whoever is blind [does harm] against it. And [say], "I am not a guardian over you”.  (6:104)

 

Metaphorically it is as if the rain is falling and you put a container to collect its water; you will derive benefit.  If not you will lose out.  This is basically what Allah is trying to teach us.  One of the meanings of enlightenment is to get knowledge or to be guided.  And Allah is the Giver of knowledge and guidance.  Therefore if you utilize the blessings He has been gracious to bestow upon you you will benefit.  If you don’t utilise it properly you will definitely lose out in the long run.  What we have to do is strike a healthy balance by paying ample attention to our worldly responsibilities and spiritual cultivation.

 

If we cultivate our personalities we will benefit; just as the torchlight benefits in the times of darkness.  We have a choice and this is what makes humans special.  We can choose consciously to enlighten ourselves or choose consciously to remain in the dark.  Our choice won’t do good or harm to Allah; it is for our own benefit.

 

Allah says: for indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.  22:46

 

Allah is telling us that we can decorate our bodies as much as we want; if we don’t decorate the heart we would have wasted our blessings.  For example, Pharaoh had unimaginable wealth and look at how history remembers him.  And that is the message of life; how do you manage your time to benefit yourself.  Are we only taken up with the material?

 

Allah says about Himself that ‘no vision can grasp Him’.

 

If you have to weld metal you have to wear a special apparatus.  So too, in order to experience the Greatness of Allah you have to prepare yourself.  If I want to look at my Lord, it is like looking at the sun with the naked eye multiplied many times over.

 

And this is something we should strive to achieve.  The mission of life is to prepare yourself to see your Lord.  Why and How?  When the Prophet Muhammad (pboh) went up into the heavens on the night of the Mir’aj he was blessed with a very special vision.  And this was the climax of realisation.  About it Allah says ‘and He revealed to His Servant what he revealed and his heart did not lie [about] what it saw’.

 

It is said that those who will enter paradise; after they would have gotten everything, then they will have vision of Allah, which is described as the greatest of all blessings.  And remarkably there are those who are able to achieve this right here in this life.

 

It may sound fanciful, but take for example our Book of Deeds; is it existing or not?  Every moment we are adding to it, so therefore it is existing; so why can’t we read it?  It is possible to see it and read it.  But how? 

 

Do you think you can give a vagrant the Qur’an to read?  Most likely not, because he is not clean and prepared, etc.  The same rule applies with all of us.  We need to cultivate our personalities to achieve “religious experiences”.  That 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 (jihad against the inner desires)”.

 

We need to prepare our bodies to accommodate the soul and not taint it with dark spots.  And this is one of the reasons why we do zikir; to open our eyes through the light of the heart.  And when this is achieved you will really experience the beauty of the Lord. 

 

Sadly, people project Allah as a strict Being waiting to punish us for our mistakes.  But Allah is so beautiful, loving kind and tender; that if you can understand that you will never want to leave Him.  You will want to stay with Him all the time because He is so Merciful and Generous.

 

Dear friends, let us make it a resolution to culture our personalities to experience the Beauty and Greatness of our Lord.  Begin by culturing the light of your soul and through that light you continue to grow.  Brighten your spiritual sight so that you will benefit in this world and the next.

 

 

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

Believe and do good

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

When we look at the messages contained in the Holy Qur’an you will notice three basic things.  One is that the messages contained tell us about Allah; The Creature of the universe; The One True God.  The second is the rewards associated with doing good and the third is the consequences for doing evil.  Basically, that is the message Allah gave to mankind all throughout history. 

Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was special because as Allah says in the Qur’an;

We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men.  (34:28)

And the message that he gave was of glad tidings and warnings.  He was able to successfully transmit the message that Allah gave to the believers and also convey a special consolation to man.  This is at the end of Surah Hadid;

O ye that believe! fear Allah, and believe In His Messenger, and He will bestow on you a double portion of His mercy: He will provide for you a light by which ye shall walk (straight in your Path), and He will forgive you (your past): for Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful.  (57:28)

Belief is more than just uttering it with the lips.  We must keep faith firm in the heart because whatever is in there is between you and your Lord.  No one else can see the contents of one’s heart.  Those who really believe in Allah and His Messenger (pboh); Allah says that He will give them twice amount of blessings and a light by which to guide you.

From the very beginning of the Holy Qur’an Allah has mentioned all that in it.  Firstly, Surah Fatiha describes Allah in His True Form.  We also affirm that we need Him to take care of us and we recognise the kind of grouping with which we would like to be associated; those who will be guided on the straight path.

In our opening prayer we highlight all these things and this makes us slightly above the previous nations with regards to our understanding and actions.  We have everything before us and we also know of the consequences of everything because Prophet Muhammad (pboh) saw with firsthand knowledge the results of mans actions.  And he was able to narrate as the revelations came because he had certain knowledge of it.

Sometimes we may ask why God did all this.  Why were His messengers subjected to all those hardships for example?  We really cannot understand the working of Allah; but we understand one thing; that if we conform, the end result will be assured for us to be good, and if we deviate we will just be another statistic, and that is the message that Islam gave to the world.  To believe and do good. 

We are special because Allah says He will bestow upon us a light if you follow dedicatedly.  Our mission is to strive to attain that light and keep it on the onward journey of life.

May Allah bless all the believers with this special light and may He continuously take care of our affairs.

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

The best of peoples

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Allah tells us in the Holy Quran;

‘Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah’  (3:110)

After Allah sent 124000 Messengers; after He gave so much tangible care and blessings to the previous nations, He then sent Prophet Muhammad (pboh).  And with his coming, we didn’t see any such visible favours.  Of course, generosity flowed from his personality; but compared to how Allah treated the Israelites, for example; He did not treat the Muslims like that.  The Muslims were subjected to a lot of trials in the early stage of Islam.

And in spite of it all, Allah says in His Holy Words, that we are the best of people that emerge from mankind.  Why did Allah say so, and what is it that makes us the best?  There are many reasons; but today we will just touch a few.

Firstly, one tangible reason is that Muslims are the only people that have been given a piece of paradise on earth.  No other nation has this great blessing.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “the area between my house and my minbar is one of the gardens of Paradise”.

Another important reason is that, Allah created Prophet Muhammad (pboh) very special.  He was invited to the presence of the Lord on the blessed night of the Mir’aj, and on our behalf; he was able to witness all of the unseen verities.  He is our witness to those things that you cannot experience through your senses.  What are angels, paradise, Hell, Who is Allah?  We cannot get surety of this through our five senses.  But we are sure about, is that Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was invited to witness all of these; and because he never told a lie we accept his testimony with full convection.  When Moses delivered the message to his people they use to question him

Allah says;

There is no god but He: that is the witness of Allah, His angels, and those endued with knowledge, (3:18)

We know that Prophet Muhammad (pboh) never told a lie nor said anything out of his personal desires; so if he says there is no God but Allah; we take it.  This is another reason why we are the best of people.  We have been given first-hand knowledge of the unseen verities through the witness of Prophet (pboh).

Another reason, is that Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was invited in the presence e of Allah; and he was given a special blessing that night which we call salaat.  Allah gave him a special gift and sent him back to earth; and continues to bestow this special blessing upon him because Allah never changes His habit;

The nature (i.e. the habit and practice) of Allah, is the nature He has bestowed on mankind.  Allah does not change His habit; that is the Straight Way, but a lot of people cannot understand. (30:30)

So Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is a real gift to humanity because he is receiving a special gift from Allah that he distributes to mankind.  This special blessing is received on behalf of human beings and anyone who attaches themselves to him shares in it, even up to today.  No other Messenger was given this special blessing.

When Allah says we are the best; this is one of the reasons why.  Regardless of the time period; so long you are one of his followers and engage in darood you continue to get that special blessings that will coming to you, because of your recitation of the zikr. 

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why he is reported to have said ‘he who reads a single Durood upon me, Almighty Allah blesses him ten times, ten of his sins are forgiven, and he is increased ten times in stages’.

Understand that we are special in the sight of Allah and it is important for us to remain at our best in this world and in the next.  One way of doing this is to send abundant darood on the Messenger; a simple formula that has great returns.

May Allah bless us, guide us and take care of our affairs.

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

A polished shade

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

One way Allah has selected to give us knowledge is by telling us things in parables.  For example He talks about a goodly tree; He says;

‘Seest thou not how Allah sets forth a parable? - a goodly word like a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the heavens,- of its Lord.  So Allah sets forth parables for men, in order that they may receive admonition’.  (14:24)

Here Allah is alluding that all good persons are like goodly trees that bring numerous benefits.  Today I want to bring another parable to our attention.  This one is a bit technical and is found in Surah Nur.

Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth.  The parable of His light is As if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed In Glass: the glass As it were a brilliant star: Lit from a Blessed tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though Fire scarce touched it: 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)

What exactly is Allah talking about?  We know that the light of the soul cannot be compared to anything in the universe.  It is a special creation from Allah.  So when Allah talks about His Light, only He alone knows what He is talking about. 

What we can understand it to possible mean is the light with which He created the soul.  That light is pit in something like a niche and over the niche there is a glass.  The light shinning forth is bright as a result of the brightness of the light contained in the lamp. 

What I understand; and please note that I can be wrong because this is very technical and because Allah didn’t specified; I believe that Allah is referring to the human heart.  The soul is placed inside the heart and around the soul is the flesh.  This flesh is like a glass around the soul.  Now heart specialists have said that when the heart is alive and active it is like two waves of electricity that constantly passes through it.  My understanding is Allah has encased that special light of the soul in that organ which is the heart, and as a result it too can become bright and shinning just as a lamp shade. 

Understand that Allah is telling mankind that He has given human beings something that you cannot find anywhere else in the universe.  And this special light is encased in a special organ which has the capacity to become bright and shinning if properly cultured. 

This special light or the soul cannot be contaminated.  It will remain pure and clean.  Nothing can interfere with the soul.  What happens is that the shade around the soul can either diminish or increase the brightness of the permeation.  This was evident in the life of Prophet Muhammad (pboh).  Allah made Jibreel wash the heart of Prophet (pboh) on two separate occasions.  And he is perfect and completely sinless.  When he was going on that blessed night to meet his Lord his blessed heart was washed so that possibly nothing could have diminished the brightness of his shade.

Allah has created a physical body and the soul in two very special ways.  The body was created and soul was a command.  He put the two together forming the complete human personality.  And if both can work together, you can ascend to the highest.  If you can keep your shade polished and shinning; you will be able to experience God in whatever way He bestows. 

On the other hand the nafs is the working of the physical self.  It is energy, like the energy produced by starting a car when the petrol is ignited etc.  The nafs is the energy created by the body.  Because it is energy and because the ruh is refined energy; the nafs can impact upon it.  How?  It can dirty the shade around that special light or keep it bright and shinning.  The nafs works on the shade which as we have identified is the human heart. 

When Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was going on Mir’aj his heart was washed clean.  Remember if you want to meet your Lord the best experience you can have is if you have a bright and clean heart that will allow for the vibration from Allah to be amplified.

Allah says;

No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.  (6:103)

You cannot look at an atom with your naked eyes.  It is not possible except with the aid of instruments.  So too the light of Allah cannot be experienced with the eyes.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) could not see Jibreel in his true form on the night of the first revelation.  It was only when he was outside the dimension of space and time he could have seen his true form. 

So too you will only be able to experience something of your Lord if you keep your soul bright and shinning.  That is the purpose of zikir and doing good and staying away from evil.  When engaging in evil the energy produced by the nafs causes spots to appear on the shade.  As Allah says ‘they have put stains on their heart’. 

The more stain on the heart the more difficult it is for the light to penetrate.  As Allah says in Surah An'am; ‘It is those who believe and do not clothe up their beliefs with wrong - that are (truly) in security, for they are on (right) guidance.’

Do not focus on and judge others.  Think about the relationship you have with your Lord.  Is my light bright and shinning or is it clothed with darkness.  And that is the mission of life.  Trying to culture and cultivate your personality to allow you special light to grow and permeate your entire body.  How do we achieve this?  People will not help you; it is an individual matter.  Yes if you are with good and righteous people they can be of some benefit in terms of giving you some sort of zeal.  But no one can help you remove and prevent the spots from appearing on your heart.

Satan will not want you to achieve this because his light is already out.   So he will want to cover up and extinguish your light.  Thus he will decorate the evil and get you to divert from your mission.  Allah will also test you moments of trials and tribulations; all in an effort to see if you really want to keep your light bright and shinning.  He says He will try you with loss of wealth, with family etc.

This is why Prophet Muhammad (pboh) taught us that the internal struggle is greater than any external battle.  He (pboh) is reported to have said “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)”.

Passion and desires don’t care about morals, humility and submitting to Allah.  It wants comfort and pleasure.  If you indulge your shade may develop spots on it.  Make every effort to keep your shade bright and clean so that when it reflects is will be attractive that it will give you the capacity to see on that Day when people will be struggling to see the path in complete darkness.  This is possibly why Allah says ‘they have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, and ears wherewith they hear not.  They are like cattle, - nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning)’.

Keep your shade clean.  The Islamic year is coming to an end; reflect on your past and make a resolution to build and improve upon.  And thank Allah for taking you and guiding you this far.  May Allah guide us, protect us and enable us to always keep of shade polished and clean, insha Allah.

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at

http://www.youtube.com/markazalihsaan

Turning to the Creator and not the creature

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

The pinnacle of belief is what Allah says about His Holy Prophet Muhammad (pboh); that is he never said anything out of his own desire.  Everything was on the basis of Divine revelations.  Because of this we can conclude that Prophet (pboh) had complete faith and trust in Allah.

In the Holy Qur’an, Allah categorizes man into three groups.  Those who believe in the Oneness of Allah, those who reject His Oneness and those who openly say they believe but in reality they don’t; i.e. the munafiq or hypocrites.

Amongst the first category, i.e. the believers, they are further categorized.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said “Imaan (faith) increases or decreases”.  Now we are going to look at a practical example of this hadith as it pertains to us.

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!  They call on such deities, besides Allah, as can neither hurt nor profit them: that is straying far indeed (from the Way)!  (Perhaps) they call on one whose hurt is nearer than His profit: evil, indeed, is the patron, and evil the companion (or help)!  (22:11-13)

Some believers have faith in Allah but it fluctuates.  They are like sitting on a fence when it comes to belief in the greatness of Allah.  Allah is saying in the ayat above that if good comes to them they are most contented and happy.  But if a trial comes to them they become agitated, disappointed and nervous.  And out of this emotional unrest they become so desperate to alleviate the trial that they go to other sources for help instead of the Lord of the worlds.  Allah says about such that they are losers in both worlds.

Allah is The One who cures, helps and protect us.  We call on His Beautiful Names and Divine Attributes yet the last thing people do when they are undergoing some sort of difficulty is to turn to Him.  It demonstrates the level of faith they have.

For example whenever a person gets sick they would visit a doctor because he understands something of the working of the human body.  That is all well and good; but keep one thing clear, cure comes from Allah and not the doctor.  The same medicine that can cure you of some ailment may not work on another who shares the same ailment.  It is Allah Who allows and grants cure etc.

The sincere and true believers turn to Allah first and then seek some way of dealing with the stressful matter knowing full well that it is only Allah Who can grant a positive conclusion.  Those with little faith will run by all the creatures for help and not The Creator.  And sometimes after they’ve realised that all their efforts are proven futile then they will leave the matter to Allah.  This is not the way of expressing true faith in our Creator.  Turn to Him first and not last! 

This is also one reason why He sent His Beloved (pboh); to show how to have true faith in the Allah.  And his entire personality demonstrated this, from his childhood to adulthood.  For example Allah says;

Did He not find thee an orphan and give thee shelter (and care)?  And He found thee wandering, and He gave thee guidance.  And He found thee in need, and made thee independent.  (93:3-8)

The real advice and message I wish to put forth is to have true, unwavering faith in the Creator.  It is not easy especially when you are faced with trying moments.  Put your faith and trust in Him and after you can seek help from His creatures knowing full well that all help, cure etc. comes through Allah and He can choose to bestow His mercies through whatever medium He chooses.

Insha Allah, He will appoint a way for you to get pass the difficulty and tests.  He is so Great that He listens to all of His servants at one and the same time.  This is part of His Greatness.  He doesn’t put you on-hold when you supplicate to Him.

He says in His Holy Words; ‘Call on Me and I will respond’.  Talk to your Lord especially in the trying times.  A lot of people don’t know how to communicate with Allah.  Talk to Him and seek His Help and Guidance; and rest assured He listens to us all.  He is most Compassionate and He truly loves you.

This is part of the perfection of our faith, i.e. to have unwavering trust in our Merciful Lord.  Yes, He will test you and there will be times of difficulty and anxiety, but always remember that if you put your faith and trust in Him, He will never let you down.

May Allah enable us to be from amongst those who will have strong and steadfast faith, trust and reliance in Him, and may He take care of all our affairs in this world and the next.

Transcript of discourse delivered by

Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

The video presentation of this discourse can be accessed at

http://www.youtube.com/markazalihsaan