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Bismillah al-Haram, adhara-rohim, alhamdulillah, my dear respected brothers, sisters, elders.
I remind myself and you that all acts of worship, all ibadahs are tools.
The ibadah, the act of worship is not for itself. It is meant to achieve something.
Each one has a different goal. For example, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said about the purpose of salah.
Qudlu ma’uhiya ilaika minal kitabi wa qimi al-salaat.
Inna al-salaata tanha’anil fahsai wal-munkard.
Walazikrullahi akbar wallahu ya lamu ma’a tasna’oon.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said which means recite what has been revealed to you of the book and establish the salah.
Indeed, salah deters one and protects one and separates one from indecency and wickedness from all kinds of sin.
Inna al-salaata, verily the salah, tanha’ takes you away from anil, from fahsai wal-munkard.
From all indecencies, all shameless actions and all munkard, all disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.
And then Allah said the remembrance of Allah is even a greater deterrent in that because when you remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala immediately,
you will stop doing whatever wrong action you were doing and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala fully knows what you do.
So salah is a tool. If I am praying five times a day and I look at my life and I should look at my life,
and I find my life is still filled with disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, then I must question my salah.
Did I pray properly? How come this thing is supposed to work and it is not working in my case?
Something is wrong with my salah. There was a man who used to come to Sayyidina Amar,
who was very close to him. He and a farm used to grow some vegetables.
He would bring vegetables for him and so on, he used to come. Then he stopped coming.
And some time passed and Sayyidina Amar asked the other people, he said,
He used to come so often, he used to be with us and he is not coming.
They said, yeah, yeah, yeah, Amir Bominin, he has fallen into bad company.
He is doing all kinds of wrong stuff. He is indulging in all sorts of haram stuff.
Sayyidina Amar said, has he stopped praying? They said, no, he continues to pray.
He is still praying. He has not stopped praying, but he is doing all sorts of other stuff along with the prayer.
So Sayyidina Amar wrote on a piece of paper,
which is that of the Quran, Allah swt forgives all sins and he accepts tauba.
He wrote that on his piece of paper and he said, give this to that man and tell him to continue to pray.
Now think about this, the man is doing all kinds of haram things.
The man is doing all kinds of haram things. Sayyidina Amar is not saying tell him to stop doing haram.
No, he says continue to pray, tell him to continue to pray. Why?
Because we know the prayer is supposed to work.
And sure enough, after a few days the man came back and he said,
Yabin Bominin, Jazakumallahu Khair and I got your mursal, I got your message.
And Alhamdulillah, Allah swt has protected me and saved me.
I have made tauba, I have done istafar and I will not go back into the stuff that I was doing.
Salah is a tool.
The purpose of fasting is not to, it’s not an endurance test to see how long you can stay away from food and so on.
But to inculcate taqwa in our hearts.
Qutiba alaykumu sriyamu, qala jalal wa ala ya ayyuha alladheena amanu, qutiba alaykumu sriyamu kama qutiba ala alladheena min qablikum.
Limada? La’al lakum tattaqu.
Fasting has been prescribed upon you as it was prescribed for those before you. Why?
So that you become muttakeen.
Thereby transform our lives and put our lives on the path of success in this world and the next.
This is what I keep saying over and over and over again. Please understand this.
Islam is not suffering in this world and Jannah in the hereafter. It is not.
Islam is a beautiful life in this world and a beautiful life in the hereafter.
Islam is wealth and power and authority and you name it in this world and correspondingly and far more in the hereafter.
Wealth and power and authority acquired correctly and used correctly.
Not for oppressing people. Acquired correctly and used correctly.
There is nothing remotely romantic about poverty.
Please understand that. There is nothing great about it.
Allah did not send us into this world to leave this world.
Allah sent us into this world to use this world to build our Akhila.
So Ramadan Kareem comes to reset our standard.
The criterion of what has value and what doesn’t have value.
When we stay away from even the halal during the hours of daylight,
we are emphasizing for ourselves that what makes good and valuable is not the thing itself.
But whether it pleases Allah or not.
This is the meaning of Udiya.
The slave has no will of his own. His will is the will of his Rabb, Jalla Jalaluhu.
He wants whatever Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala wants for him.
And not only accepts that but is pleased with it.
This is the essence of Rida bil Khada.
To be pleased with the destiny that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala wrote for us.
That is the first lesson.
Obedience is the essence of Islam.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala revealed
Lillahi ma fi al-samawati wa ma fi al-ard
Wa in tubudu ma fi anfusikum wa tukhfuhu
Yuhasibukum bihi la
Faiyaghfiru liman yashaa
Huwayu’adhibu man yashaa
Wallahu ala kulli shay’in qadeer
To Allah alone belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth.
Whether you reveal what is in your hearts or conceal it, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will call you to account for it.
He forgives whoever he wills and he punishes whoever he wills.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is most capable of everything.
When this ayat was revealed in the Azbahu an-Nuzul we read
That the Sahaba went to Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam and they fell down on their knees before him, they knelt before him.
And they said, Ya Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has said that he will hold us accountable for our thoughts and desires and emotions.
We have control over our speech and actions.
But we have no control over our thoughts and our desires.
If Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala punishes us for that, we will be destroyed.
Right?
Before I tell you the rest of the story, ask yourself,
Does this sound like a reasonable argument?
That Allah is holding me responsible for something which I have no control over, I mean this is what will happen to me.
Does it not sound reasonable to you?
But Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam’s blessed face became red with anger.
He said to them, Will you be like those who when they received a command of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, they would say we hear but we will not obey?
We hear and we will not obey.
And then he said, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, Say,
We hear and we will not obey.
We will not obey.
They said, Ya Rabb, say, we hear and we obey.
Forgive us our Rabb and to you is our return.
The Sahaba didn’t argue.
They didn’t make excuses.
They didn’t say, Ya Rasulullah, no, no, no, you see that’s what we meant.
I’m sorry we didn’t explain ourselves properly.
Now you don’t say to the Rasulullah, you misunderstood because this is highly disrespectful.
But they could have said we did not explain properly.
This is not what we meant.
We really meant the same thing like you said.
They did? No, no, no.
These people were so honest and they were so there was such a level of integrity.
They never made excuses.
I said something.
I am wrong.
Alhamdulillah, I’m wrong.
I make istighfar.
They didn’t argue.
They did not even hesitate.
They obeyed him instantly and they said,
Samana wa athana, ufranaka rabbana wailaykal mosir.
They asked me what happened after that.
Say, the Aisha Siddiqua Radilana narrates about this same incident.
She said nothing happened.
Nothing happened.
They came with a complaint.
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam rejected it and told them say it like this.
They said it like this and they go home.
Nothing happened.
So what is the effective operative ayah they are working with?
wa in tubdu maafi anfusikum autufuhu yuhasi bukum bihla.
That is the operative.
That is the last command.
The command hasn’t changed.
That whatever is in your hearts, Allah will hold you accountable.
If he wants, he will punish.
If he wants, he will not punish.
He will forgive.
Twelve months passed.
Twelve months passed.
Imagine this kind of training.
Imagine this kind of training.
Today somebody says one critical word to you, I am offended.
You are offended.
You are fit.
You are fit.
Be offended.
There are people in this congregation.
I am trying to find a couple of them.
Where are they?
Yeah, one is here, right here.
And a couple of others.
They have pointed out to me mistakes in my recitation when I have recited.
Ask them, did I ever get offended?
Did I ever pull rank on them?
Did I say who is the one, you or me?
Who went to Madrasa, me or you?
Who learned Tajweez, formally, me or you?
Ask them.
They are sitting here, witness before Allah.
Was I ever offended?
I am not offended.
I say Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah, my brother is concerned enough about me to correct me,
so I correct myself and I don’t make a fool of myself before a bigger crowd.
He heard me by himself, maybe three or four other people, he corrected me.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah, my brother has enough concern for me, enough love for me to correct me.
Why should he correct me?
He did not correct me.
He did not correct me.
In my presence there are other people who recite words than me,
they don’t say anything to them.
Do I hold that against them?
He said no.
Alhamdulillah, they love me.
Why?
There is another one of my teachers sitting there.
I say they love me more than they love the other person.
Alhamdulillah.
I never ask them.
They are sitting here.
Did I ever tell them how come you don’t correct so and so?
No, not my problem, not my concern.
You correct, you don’t correct.
You correcting me, Alhamdulillah, this is a blessing on me.
Tarbiyah is not easy.
I am saying all this.
You think it was easy for me to come to all of this?
How much pain I went through before I came to that, Allah knows.
But Alhamdulillah.
Tarbiyah is not easy.
It’s a choice you make.
You either want Islah or you don’t want Islah.
It’s a choice you make.
It’s an active choice you make.
Twelve months nothing happened.
Toughest test imaginable.
To inculcate the greatest of all virtues,
obedience to the Rasul, alayhi salatu wasalam,
and obedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala,
whether you like it or not,
because what are they being asked to do?
They are being asked to accept something they didn’t like.
Easy to accept things you like.
But things you don’t like?
Very tough.
And after twelve months, test is passed.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala reveals,
The Messenger ordered what was sent down to him from his Lord and the believers.
All of us believe in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers.
We do not distinguish between any of His messengers.
And they say, Listen to us and obey us.
Allah revealed.
The Messenger firmly believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord and so do the believers.
Allah is bearing witness that they are believers.
Imagine the maqam of the Sahaba.
Allah is saying, They are believers.
They all believe in Allah and His melaika, His angels, His books and His messengers.
And they proclaim, We make no distinction between any of His messengers.
And they say, Allah would have revealed the same meaning in other words.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala used the exact words of Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
repeated by the Sahaba.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala honoured them by using the exact words and sending those words from Him.
So it becomes kalamullah, lisa kalamul basham.
We hear and we obey.
samayana wa athana
ofrana ka rabbana wa ilayka almasir
We seek your forgiveness of our Rabb and to you alone is the final return.
The reward of obedience is sweet and honourable.
When they obeyed Him, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala honoured them by repeating the words of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
and the Sahaba as His word to be recited in salah until the end of time.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala then gave the Sahaba relief
and honoured them by teaching them this beautiful dua.
Let us reflect on the value of the dua that is taught by the one who will accept it.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has mercy on us.
He didn’t specify the words for everything.
You can ask Allah anything you want in your own words, your own language, anytime.
No problem.
But imagine the power of the dua.
Allah is saying, ask me like this.
He is giving you the draft of the application that you must write to be submitted to Him for Him to approve.
The draft is not coming from anyone.
It’s not even coming from the Rasul allaihi wasallam.
It is coming from Allah Himself.
Allah relieved their burden.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Allah does not require of any soul more than it can afford.
Allah does not give pain and suffering and difficulty more than they can bear.
All good will be for its own benefit and all evil will be to its own loss.
The believers pray and they make dua and they say,
O our Rabb, do not punish us if we forget or make a mistake.
Our Rabb, do not place a burden on us like the one you placed on the people before us.
O our Rabb, do not burden us with that which we cannot bear.
O our Rabb, forgive us and have mercy on us.
You are our only guardian.
So grant us victory over our enemies, the disbelievers.
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