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Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil ‘Alameen. Wasalatu wassalamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen. Muhammadur Rasoolullah ﷺ sallallahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Tasliman kathiran kathira.
Fahamabadu, my brothers and sisters.
Alhamdulillah, yesterday we prayed the janazah for our brother and friend and elder, Mahfuz Bhai, Mahfuz Ahmad sahib. May Allah grant you a janazah for your friend without any doubt, insha’Allah.
The key thing to understand, which I remind myself of in you, is that this day will come for every single one of us. And there is no guarantee about when that will come. It’s not to say, “Oh, I’m still young,” or “It’s only old people who die.” Everyone dies, and our time is fixed. It is a sign of intelligence and good sense that when you know something is going to happen, you prepare for it. We do not get caught by surprise because it is not a surprise; it was known beforehand. Therefore, we need to prepare for it. Rasulullah ﷺ said that the first thing a slave will be held accountable for is the Salah. If we fall short of that, then we fall short on what is to come.
Somebody said, “Do not fear missing sleep.” In Salatul Fajr, he said, “Don’t fear missing sleep. Fear a day in which there will be no sleep.” Expecting Jannah while neglecting Salah is like waiting for a train to arrive at the airport. Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la said, لَيْسَ بِأَمَانِيكُمْ (ina lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un). Jannah is not obtained by wishful thinking. If we really want Jannah, then we need to do the actions which take us to Jannah. Jannah is the result of actions, not the result of wishes.
Rasulullah ﷺ said in this Hadith: He said, “Jannah is the world.” He also said, “The world is a prison for the believer.” It’s the Jannah for the believer. So, don’t get overawed by wealth and whatever you see around you; it doesn’t mean anything. Everyone, whatever they have, must live with it. And if one dies without Iman, then all of it means nothing. Right? It is very important to understand these things because when we see that Allah has given us a little bit, we feel that we are some great creatures from somewhere. We were talking yesterday about expenses of weddings. There are people who spend literally millions on weddings. But at the end of that, the accounting remains. We have to understand this. The action you do is temporary; the accounting is permanent. That is why I think I mentioned this earlier. Somebody said, “Don’t allow momentary pleasure.” Don’t allow a moment of pleasure to trap you. Don’t allow a moment of discomfort to trap you into pain which is endless. And don’t allow a moment of discomfort to prevent you from pleasure and reward which is endless.
For example, if you commit disobedience to Allah, that is only temporary. What does it involve? Just so many minutes, or even less than an hour. You enjoy that, but that amal (action) finishes, yet its effect remains because it gets put into our book of accounts. Then we have to pay for it. Similarly, getting up in Tahajjud might be difficult initially, so you don’t get up. But the reward of that, if you had gotten up, is endless. Yet we want that little bit of sleep and forget the endless reward.
In al-Qayyim al-Jawzi rahmatullahi, he said: “The one whom Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala wants to enter Jannah, the reason which will cause his entrance will spring from difficulties and calamities. And he whom Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has intended to enter the hellfire, the reasons which will cause his entrance shall spring from lusts and desires.” Now, the point to understand is this: when we say Allah ta’ala has predestined or decided, it doesn’t mean that this person is being forced into Jannah or Jahannam. Nobody is forced; destiny is what Allah has written. But the point is, the person goes to that destiny by their own choices. That’s where Allah has given us the choice. That’s why Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala taught us: He said, “We have shown you the two paths, the two valleys, the two roads. And you choose.” The one who wants to choose Iman, let him have Iman. And the one who wants to deny Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, let him do it. Because Allah is Benyas (Al-Bani). Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is Huwa Samad. Allah does not need anything; He does not need our devotion. We do it for our benefits.
So, it is very, very important to think about this. Why do we think that reverts run away from that kind of life? Where we see born Muslims chasing that life—clubbing, drinking, racing, gambling. Whereas people who are reverts, those born into that system, they are living it and coming back because they see the benefit of Islam. They see the purity of Islam. So, we need to think and say. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, مَا يَلْفِظُ مِنْ قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَيْهِ رَقِيبٌ عَتِيدٌ (ma yalifuzu min qawlin illa ladayhi raqeebun ‘ateedun): Not a word is said except that there is a watcher by him ready to record it. Everything we say is recorded, including all postings on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and everything else. That’s why it is very important for us to make sincere tawbah and repent to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Like Ibn Taymiyyah said: “Not only for the sins you committed but also for the obligations that you have not fulfilled.” So, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to help us do what is pleasing to Him.
Ibn Al-Qayyim said: “Don’t ruin your happiness with worry. And don’t ruin your mind with pessimism. Don’t ruin your success with deception. And don’t ruin the optimism of others by destroying it. Don’t ruin your day by looking back at yesterday.” If you think about your situation, you will find that Allah has given you things without asking. So, have trust in Allah that He doesn’t prevent anything you want, except that there is goodness for you in that prevention. You could be sleeping while the doors of heaven and Jannah are being opened with duas being made for you. We ask Allah to make us among those who do things for which Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will reward us. The story I told you yesterday about the man who died in sujood in front of the Kaaba… the last part of the story I forgot to tell you. When this man went and asked his wife, “What did he do? What was his action?” She told him: “There was a woman down the road from us, our neighbor, who is a widow and she has two or three children. My husband, anytime he went to the grocery store, would buy provisions for her and leave them outside her door to help her throughout his life.” She said, “This woman used to make dua. She would stand there, raise her hand, and make dua loudly so people could hear it. She would say, ‘Oh Allah, give him a beautiful ending.'”
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave him a beautiful ending even though on the face of it, his actions were not seemingly for that. But Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is the one to forgive. So Allah caused him to make umrah, caused him to make repentance (tawbah), istighfar, and purify himself. And after that, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave him death.
In sujood, in salah, and waqaf Ibrahim in front of the Ka’bah. So we ask Allah ﷻ to give us khatima bil khair. We ask Allah ﷻ to give us the tawfeeq to do a’maal which lead to that. And we ask Allah to forgive us and to be pleased with us and never to be displeased. Fasalallahu ‘ala nabil al-kareem ‘ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmati Allah.