بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ
Prophet Jacob
(as) taught his sons one very important principle, after they began to express
remorse for their treatment and actions against their younger brother. He said to them;
At his weekly Zikir session held at the Hermitage Masjid
And never give up hope of Allah’s soothing
mercy: truly no one despairs of Allah’s soothing mercy, except those who have
no faith. (12:87)
To have real,
unwavering faith in Allah is something easier said than done. Especially when we are faced with moments of
emotional unrest. However we must always
remember and be assured of the help from Allah.
He testifies to this in His Holy Words;
When
comes the help of Allah. (110:1)
We sometimes
cannot comprehend Allah’s working and His Wisdom and sometimes we may try our
utmost to make a perceived unfavourable situation favourable. Yes we have to try to seek out goodness and
comfort; but remember your Lord is All Knowing and Wise.
Help comes from
Allah and no other creature. Prophet
Jacob (as) knew this and therefore didn’t retaliate emotionally to his
sons. He demonstrated immaculate
patience and left the situation in the Hands of Allah. For us this is something difficult to do at
times. To sit quietly and exercise
patience when your emotions are running high.
Unfortunately emotional retaliation has the world in the state it is in
today.
Allah
demonstrated His Help and Guidance throughout the life of His Beloved Messenger
Muhammad (pboh). He says in Surah Dhuhaa;
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. (93:6-8)
And Prophet
(pboh) was sent as an exemple for us.
Put your faith and trust in Him and always remember He is the One Who
helps. Yes, it requires patience and
this is the advice Jacob (as) gave his sons; SabrunJameelun – patience is most fitting: it is
Allah (alone) Whose help can be sought.
Whatever Allah
has written for you; you will get it.
That has been decreed by Allah and He never changes His Word. One thing we must try to develop is patience
and trust in our Lord. He is All-Knowing
and Wise and nothing escapes His Knowledge.
He will act at the most appropriate time. Learn to look with interest at the plan Allah
has for you. And if something should
happen that may not be entirely favourable there is wisdom behind it.
Believers learn
to put their faith in their Lord. And we
are taught to supplicate to Allah regularly and earnestly as He once told Prophet Musa (as), “O Musa! Ask Me
for everything, even the mending of your shoelace”.
He says ‘Call
on Me and I will respond’. Then why
not do it; especially at times of emotional unrest. Remember this acronym DAD:
Dua-Adverts-Decree. If something is written
to happen to you and you make dua to Allah; He will still allow it to happen
but possible in another dimension such as a dream, etc.
Islam
establishes in our minds and hearts to put unwavering faith and trust in
Allah. And Prophet Muhammad (pboh) epitomises
this. One beautiful example was when he (pboh) and Abu Bakr (ra) were migrating
to Madinah. They hid from those who wanted Prophet (pboh) dead. When the unbelievers were nearby Abu Bakr
(ra) became worried that they would be
caught and Prophet (pboh); realising the fear of Abu Bakr (ra), said to him “have no fear, for Allah is with us”.
Allah records this incident in Surah Tawba.
Allah will try
us to test our faith, just as he subjected His beloved Messengers to trials and
tests. And He may also possible punish us in order to remove the stains and
blemishes we may have accumulated over time.
None of us are sinless and it is indeed much better to ‘burn off’ our
black spots in this world rather than the hereafter. This is why we a taught to pray;
Our Lord!
Punish us not if we forget or fall into error.
Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden like that which You did lay on those
before us. Our Lord! Put not on us a burden greater than we have strength to
bear. Pardon us and grant us Forgiveness. Have mercy on us. (2:286)
Let us try to
develop true faith and trust in our Lord. May He make us firm in this struggle.
May He make us from amongst those who will never question His workings and may
He always take care of all of our affairs and never leave us to our own command
with our limited understanding and knowledge.
We ask Allah to
forgive us all especially those who have passed away. In particular we remember our brother, uncle
and friend Hakim Mohammed who passed away last Saturday. Br. Hakim was a student of our weekly zikir
sessions, a graduate and eventual teacher of the Markaz al Ihsaan. We beg Allah to forgive him for any and all
of his shortcomings and to purify and sanctify his resting place, insha Allah.
Transcript of discourse delivered by
Maulana Dr. Waffie MohammedAt his weekly Zikir session held at the Hermitage Masjid
