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.

Living for the sake of Allah

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Allah says in Surah Mu'minuun;

 

Then those whose balance (of good deeds) is heavy, - they will attain salvation: but those, whose balance is light, will be those who have lost their souls, in Hell will they abide.  (23:102-103)

 

The scale that will be used on the Day of Judgement is a special one.  It’s not like our perception of a scale.  Yes, there are two sides; one side to weigh a person’s good deeds and the other for his bad deeds; but the difference according to the ayat above is that if a person has done a lot of good, that side of the scale will move downwards due to the weight.  On the other hand if a person’s evil deeds outweigh the good; that side of the scale will move upwards.  It will not sink.

 

Think of it like a bank account from which you keep withdrawing.  Every time you withdraw it becomes less.  This is the way Allah will weigh your deeds.  It is not like our knowledge of scales.

 

That being said, you don’t need anyone to supervise you in your thoughts and actions.  Allah has blessed us with knowledge and intuition to decipher right from wrong.  You’re the one who will know the true contents of your heart and always bear in mind that one day it will all come to light and placed on a scale.  We want our scale to be on the heavy end and not light as the ayat makes mention of. 

 

The key for true success in this life is that whatever you do always do it for the sake of Allah.  Understand that if you try to live for His sake He will take care of you and never let you down.  One day you will see the reward of this attitude.  It is not easy; but if you can sincerely live for Allah’s sake He will take care of your affairs.

 

Try not to get mixed up and involved with people who openly demonstrate ulterior motives.  Living for the sake of Allah is the key for everything in this world.

 

All of us do wrong at some point in time.  None of us are sinless, but remember, that if you live for the sake of Allah , insha Allah He will overlook your shortcomings.  I truly feel sorry that some people only choose to constantly highlight Allah’s wrath, and being flung in the Hell fire.  Your Lord is so Loving, Kind and Merciful.  He knows that we faulter from time to time and insha Allah He would forgive all of us.

 

Have hopes of your Lord’s Mercy and don’t be despondent.  Have faith in His workings and rest assured that if you sincerely live for His pleasure He will take care of all your affairs insha Allah.

The Three Categories

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

In Surah Fatiha Allah has identified three categories of people about whom we make mention of in our salaat and further identifies one of those category’s that we wish to be apart of.  That is those who are being guided by Allah and receiving His blessings.

 

The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, those whose (portion) is not wrath, and who go not astray.  (1:7)

 

The word ni’mah denotes to Allah’s blessings.  So in Surah Fatiha we are asking Him to include us among those persons who He bestows His ni’mah upon.  And we further beg Him to prevent us from falling into the other two categories of people; those who have gone astray, i.e. they know the message but their focus and purpose have been diverted and those who have rejected Allah outright.  They have both opened themselves to the wrath of Allah.

 

We do not want to be misguided nor be the recipient of Allah’s wrath.  We want to be counted amongst the favourable ones.  This is one reason why we identify Him as the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful.  Because we know that if we sincerely try to earn the pleasure of Allah ; through His Grace and Mercy He will take care of our affairs.  Our concept of Allah is not one of a vengeful God.  Even though much focus is paid by some to Allah’s wrath and constant reference to man as a sinful being; Allah is the Most Loving and Most Merciful.  Allah says that He connects Himself to His creatures through the quality of Compassion.  

 

We need to always be sincere with our faith.  Keep Allah in your heart and nothing else.  Recognise Allah as That Incomparable and Unimaginable Being.  There is an urdu saying Allahi Allah hai – Allah is Allah.

 

When you go higher in the spiritual world you will understand the importance of sincerity because you can see and feel when a wrong is committed it’s damaging to your faith.  You will understand that at that point in time you do not have true faith. 

 

Keep Allah in your heart at all and be sincere about it.  We need His Mercy, Compassion and Forgiveness; and understand that He knows what is best for us.  

 

May Allah guide us and protect us from falling into the hypocritical and misguided categories of people and may He enable us to successfully get back to Him insha Allah.

Hablullah Issue #10

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

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Continuing the climb

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

We have just come out of the blessed month of Ramadhan and there are two things I wish to draw your attention to.  Allah has used two terms in the Holy Qur’an which we should be familiar with. 

Firstly, Allah says in Surah Al Ma'aarij;

Allah, Lord of the ways of Ascent.  (70:3)
 

Allah uses the term Dhil-maarij.  Dhil-maarij literally means He is the Owner of the ascending.  So Allah is The Owner of everything that ascends.  Allah knows what comes down to the earth and what goes up to the skies.  He also says in Surah Muthaffifii that evil is recorded in a dungeon and good is recorded in the skies.  So that it is only good that ascends.  Dhil-maarij is therefore translated as The Owner of the ascending stairway. 

The second term I wish to bring to your attention is what Allah makes mention of in Surah Insyiqaaq;
 

Ye shall surely travel from stage to stage.  (84:19)
 

Allah uses the term tabaqan aan tabaq – stage to stage.  Think of it as the steps of a ladder.  Our mission is to climb as high as possible all in an effort to try to get close to our Lord; to feel close to Him in this life and attain closeness to Him in the hereafter.  This is our mission and purpose; to get back to the Garden.

Look at how Merciful and Loving He is to us.  He says ‘if Allah were to punish men for their wrong-doing, He would not leave, on the (earth), a single living creature’ (16:61).  But look at how Gracious He is.  He has given us Ramadhan and what is so special about Ramadhan.  Let’s say for example you have a big debt that you’re having difficulties in repaying and someone offers to pay it off for you.  How would you feel?  Ramadhan is just like that because Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said:

Whoever fasts during Ramadan with faith & seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins for-given.  Whoever prays during its nights with faith & seeking his reward from Allah will have his past sins forgiven.  (Bukhari, Muslim)

What one of our goals should be is that every Ramadhan should be like a step higher on the ladder.  From this Ramadhan to next Ramadhan, we should try to ascend closer and closer to our Lord.  And we have been given the promise that our slate would be clean. 

Don’t waste your achievements that you would have gained in Ramadhan by going back to any form of wrongdoing.  Let’s say we didn’t get 100% of our sins wiped out.  Supposed it is just 60%.  That is still a start.  Build on it and don’t add any more blemishes to it.  Try to always move forward and realise your closeness to Allah and you would have been successful.  It is an individual effort.  No one can help you attain closeness to your Lord.  Society can help to an extent; that is if they abstain from the loathsome and prohibited.

The journey is a lonely one and the choice is yours.  The things you stayed away from in Ramadhan try to avoid them because those will not aid you in ascending.

Try your best to culture your personality along the lines of the etiquettes of what you did during Ramadhan and you would have been successful.  A simple formula but very practical and effective, regardless of your environment.

May Allah make it easy for us to attain closeness to Him in both worlds and may he enable us to continuously ascend insha Allah.

Self Purification

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Every human being should concentrate on the removal of undesirable growths and impurities from the personality.  It involves the self-imposition of efforts for eradicating those tendencies that are obstacles in the path of moral development.  In this way, it puts an end to the conflict of good and evil that rages in the human breast.

Theologically, the process for do doing is called Tazkiyah, (self purification).  To abide by the requirements of attaining self purification is one of the most important ingredients for success in both the worlds physically and spiritually.  When practiced, it brings spiritual health, morality, love for Allah, love for the Prophet (pboh) and engaging in Zikr (i.e. to be God-conscious all the time).  When this is done one becomes a model of Compassion, piety and truthfulness.

This is one of the reasons why Allah says:

Truly, he succeeds who purifies it, and fails who corrupts it (the heart). (91:9-10)

Tazkiyah e nafs is the purification of the physical self by subduing the evil desires that may be plaguing a person.  Such desires come from the whispering of Satan in the breast of men; and because it is from Satan it is evil.  In this connection Allah says, the nafs (physical desires) order one to commit sins.

The result of self-purification is love.  The person cultivates love for Allah, for the Prophet (pboh), and for mankind at large.  Allah says:

All who obey Allah and the Messenger are in the Company of those  on whom is the Grace of Allah; of the Prophets; the sincere, the witnesses and the righteous. Ah, what a beautiful fellowship. (4:69)

Tazkiyah or self-purification is a comprehensive program, as, in addition to the purification of the body, one also has to focus on the purification of the heart. Allah says:

He is indeed successful who purifies himself, and remembers the name of his Lord and prays. (87:14-15)

Self purification is an individual matter, and every person will benefit based on his effort. Allah says:

And whoever purifies himself does so for the benefit of his own nafs. (35:18)

Prophet Muhammad (pboh) used to pray to Allah as follows:

O Allah, grant my inner soul piety and purify it, for You are the Best Purifier; You are the Guardian and Master.

One of the best ways of developing tazkiyah both physically and spiritually is to keep fast, as in fasting one has to restrain himself from all the negative things, and during fasting in Ramadan he engages himself in extra acts of worship, charity, patience and reading of the Holy Qur'an.

It is now left for the individual to continue practicing tazkiyah in the daily life and also as special acts of worship in order to be a successful person.  And Allah will bless him.  Allah says:

Those devoted to Allah shall be removed far from it (i.e. the blazing fire), who spend their wealth for the increase in self purification, and have in their minds, no favour from any one for which a reward is expected in return. (92:17-19)

Remember that, it is because the purification of the personality, both physical and spiritual is very important that Allah swore seven times to emphasize the culminating promise that it is tazkiyah that plays a significant role in success.  Here is the English translation of Verses 1 through 10 of Surah al Shams (91).

"By the Sun and his (glorious) splendour; By the Moon as she follows him; By the day as it reveals (the Sun's) glory; By the Night as it conceals it; By the Firmament and its (wonderful) structure; By the Earth and its (wide) expanse; By the Nafs (Soul), and the proportion and order given to it and its enlightenment as to its wrong and its right: - truly he succeeds who purifies it, and he fails who corrupts it!"

Let us all strive with our wealth, health, education, etc. to purify ourselves, because it should never be forgotten that Allah says: Whoever purifies himself does so for his own benefit.

May Allah forgive and bless all believers.

Unconditional obedience

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

In the process of establishing the Israelites as the upholders of the true religion Allah gave them numerous blessings.  For example He sent down from the sky their sustenance.  Everything that they would have needed came from Allah.  So they didn’t have to labour for their wants. 

Even though they received so many blessings from Allah they found it difficult to worship Him at least once for the day.  Even when the Torah was revealed they complained to Moses (as).  They said its either they pray or read from the revealed Book; even though they didn’t have to do anything,

The same was in the case of Jesus (as).  He invited his people (the Israelites) to the way of Allah and they placed a condition of firstly receiving a table of food from the sky in return for their cooperation. 

Allah says about Prophet Muhammad (pboh);

‘Never think that the dua of the Prophet (pboh) is like that of an ordinary man’. 

If he made dua to Allah it would have been granted. 

Even then when the Quraish issued the boycott against the early Muslims they were forced, for more than a year, to live in a valley.  The conditions at that time were so severe that some of the believers ate stones in order to survive.  Even then they never made conditions with the Messenger of Allah (pboh).  And Prophet (pboh) never prayed to Allah for food to fall from the sky for him and his people.

Why?  He wanted to show and demonstrate that if Allah loves you He will take care of you.  Prophet (pboh) wanted to establish the understanding that we all belong to Allah and He can allow/disallow what He wants. 

Thus Prophet (pboh) and his blessed Companions never made conditions and their sacrifice is preserved for us to take pattern from.  And to go a step further the same obedience and reliance on Allah is seen in the fast that we are commanded to keep. 

Fasting is one of the Divine gifts from Allah to His servants.  Fasting helps to establish this unconditional obedience to our Creator.  We are denying our baser selves the material desires out of love for Allah.  And we all try to earn the maximum benefits associated with this great month so we abstain from vain talk and despicable attitude. 

The Israelites wanted to see Allah so Moses (as) took 72 of their priests’ up the mountain and Allah caused them to die and revived them and still they faith was not developed.  The Muslims on the other hand obeyed; once a command was sent down.  They never issued any pre-requisites in exchange for their obedience.

May Allah make this Ramadhan peaceful and tranquil for all the believers’.  May He make the trials easy and bearable for us and may He remove most of it in this most special month.  Let us benefit from it, and whatever you do, do it solely for the sake of Allah.

Why was the Holy Prophet (pboh) shadowless

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Today insha Allah, we will deal with an unusual topic which is why Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was shadowless. 

Firstly we need to understand that Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was a human being.  Allah says;

Say (O Muhammad): "I am only a human being like you.  It is inspired in me that Your God is one God.  (41:6)

One of the possible reasons why Allah gave us this info in the Holy Qur’an is because of the birth of Prophet Jesus (as).  Jesus (as) was the second-to-last Messenger and he came into this world in a very miraculous way.  His ruh was placed in his mother and then the physical aspect of his personality was formed.  After the coming of Jesus (as) came Prophet Muhammad (pboh) and Allah is telling us that this Messenger is normal human just like everyone else.  The difference lies in the fact that he is the recipient of Divine revelations.

The next thing important point of reference is that although Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was a normal human being he was indeed special.  His soul existed long before Hazrat Adam (as) was created.  Allah says in Surah Maa-idah;

There hath come to you from Allah a (new) light and a perspicuous Book.  (5:15)

A lot of scholars opine that a (new) light is a reference to Prophet Muhammad (pboh).  He contained a special light that was radiating from his personality.  And there are a lot of narrations from his Companions that stated that his countenance was physically brighter than the full moon.  For example when he was 3½ years old and was in the care of Halima he went missing one day and when Halima and her family went looking for him they saw from a far a bright light perched on a tree.  Upon closer observations they found that the light they saw was in fact Muhammad (pboh) sitting on one of the branches.

Allah says in Ayat an-Nur light upon light.  In other words Prophet Muhammad (pboh) was a reflection of pure and refined light.  Thus emanating from his personality was only light.

Now with all this in mind to answer the initial question, i.e. why was Prophet Muhammad (pboh) shadowless we need to understand that a weaker source of light cannot cast a shadow on a brighter and more refined source of light.  For example you cannot see the shadow of the stars because of the brightness of the sun.

This was the case with Prophet Muhammad (pboh).  The light emanated from his personality was so refined and bright that the sun or other sources of light could not have cast a shadow from his blessed personality.  There are other matters pertaining to his status and relationship with his Lord such as a cloud shaded him whenever he was in the open.  But that is as a result of his exalted status. 

What is the implication of this?  There must been a reason and lesson in all of this for us.  After all, he is our model.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) came to remove darkness from the earth.  And what is a shadow?  Something dark.  So Allah has caused it to be that not even a dark shadow came from him.  All that came from him was light.  His personality was so bright and beautiful that whenever Hazrat Aisha (ra) wanted to mend a piece of clothing late in the afternoon she never lit a lamp but instead sat next to the beloved Messenger (pboh) and was able to use the light that emanated from him to see.

Can you imagine this blessed personality?  He is so special and because of this we should acquaint ourselves with these nice and remarkable things about him.  And if we can connect ourselves to him we can also benefit and share in his light. 

May Allah enable us to connect to this magnificent source of light and through our effort may it be a means of eradicating the darkness and blemishes from our personality.

Physical Purity

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

We are in the blessed month of Rajab and consequently the event of the Mir’aj will be highlighted.  The Mir’aj is the greatest event that could have ever happened to a creature in this universe.  So when the topic of the Mir’aj is raised there are many dimensions to it that can be expounded on.  Today I would like to draw your attention to one pertinent aspect. 

The goal of the Mir’aj was to meet Allah.  But you cannot meet Allah if you are unclean.  Allah says;

Truly, Allah loves those who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves.  (2:222)

This is the first important lesson for us.  Purity is a comprehensive term because it deals with the body, mind and soul.  But today let us just look at the physical aspect of it.

If you have to consciously make an effort to meet your Lord you first have to observe physical cleanliness.  Because it is such an important ingredient to meet Allah, Allah says of the unbelievers;

O you who believe!  Verily, the Mushrikun are najasun (impure) so let them not come near Al-Masjid-al-Haram (at Makkah).  (9:28)

The next important point is Salaat.  In the institution of Salaat we are actually standing in front of our Lord.  Prophet Muhammad (pboh) is reported to have said“worship Allah as if you see Him, for if you don't see Him then truly He sees you”.  And he (pboh) is also reported to a have said ‘salaat is the Mir’aj of a believer’.  Why is this so?  In salaat we are standing in front of our Lord and conversing with Him. 

And the prerequisite of salaat is physical cleanliness.  Once cannot perform the salaat if wudu and or ghusl have not been observed. 

We need to keep in mind that if one wants to feel the presence of Allah you have to first be physically clean.  Not only when it comes to salaat, but even if you want to enter His House or read His Glorious Book.

Also we don’t know when the angel of Death will visit us so it’s prudent that we observe physical cleanliness so that whenever he comes we would be in a fit state to return to our Lord.  Part of spirituality is to observe cleanliness and the Mir’aj confirmed this.  If you are not pure and clean it would be improbable to meet Allah.

Make this Mir’aj that point where you try to attain cleanliness for your entire personality and start off with the physical aspect of it.  May Allah make it easy for us and take care of our affairs.