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Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil ‘Alameen. Wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafil ummah wal mursaleen, Muhammadin Rasulullah ﷺ. Was-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Wa ma ba’du, my brothers and sisters, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala used two words in the Qur’an to describe the believers: Muslimeen and Mu’mineen. Corresponding with that, who is a Muslim? Who is a Mu’min? Allah Ta’ala used two other words: Iman and Yaqeen.
For example, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in Surah Al-Baqarah, right at the beginning, said: “That is the Book in which there is no doubt; it is guidance for those who are mindful of Allah.” Then Allah described the qualities of the believers, the Muttaqoon: “Those who believe in the Unseen.” And then later on, in the next Ayah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said: “And they establish prayer” (wait, let me check the verse context). Actually, regarding the Hereafter, Allah did not say, “They believe in the Hereafter”; He said, “And they have certainty in the Hereafter.” These are the people who possess Yaqeen regarding the Akhira.
Now if you think about it, what is Al-Ghaib? Al-Ghaib is the unperceivable. The usual translation is “unseen,” but this translation is wrong because something can be unseen. For example, electricity is unseen; you cannot see electricity, only its effect. Air is unseen; you cannot see air, yet you breathe it. Love is unseen; hatred is unseen—all emotions are unseen. You can perceive their effects, but are they from the Ghaib? They are not. So just saying “unseen” is an incorrect translation. It means “unperceivable”: something which cannot be perceived by the senses of human beings or by any devices that they invent or might invent today or until the Day of Judgment. That is Al-Ghaib. Right? Any device, whatever. You may not be able to see something yourself, but you might be able to see it through a microscope or some other device registering it. But Al-Ghaib is something which is truly unperceivable.
For example, the condition of the person in the grave is Al-Ghaib—unperceivable. You can put any probe you want, any camera you want inside the Qabr; you will never know what is happening to the person in the grave, and we know that something is happening to them, either good or bad. What is going to happen on the Day of Judgment you cannot see, you cannot know except (Illa) what Rasulullah ﷺ told us, other than what is in the Kitab of Allah. Other than that, we do not know. So this is Al-Ghaib. Therefore, when Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, “They believe in the Ghaib,” these are the people who have Iman in the Ghaib.
Therefore, is the Akhira Al-Ghaib, or is it Bil-Mushahada? Can you see the Akhira? Can you know the Akhira? Is it perceivable? No. So it is Ghaib. Allah has already said they have Iman in the Ghaib. Then what is the need to say, “And upon the Hereafter they have certainty”? He already said they have Iman in the Ghaib, and the Akhira is the Ghaib. Please understand one very important thing: In the Quran al-Kareem, there is no word which is accidentally there. There is no word which just happened to be there. There is a reason for the positioning, the placement, and the existence of every word in the Quran al-Kareem. So if Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala used two words, we must understand that these two words are not used accidentally or just like that. No. There is a reason for that. There is a reason why Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said Iman, and there is a reason why He said Yaqeen for the same thing—Al-Ghaib. Iman bil-Ghaib and Yaqeen bil-Ghaib. And that’s the difference between the Muslimin and the Mu’mineen.
Muslimin are people who have Iman bil-Ghaib. They believe; we do not say they deny Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala or deny the Ghaib. No. They have Iman, but they do not have Yaqeen. Now, what is the difference? The difference is this: For example, if I ask you where is the airport in Hyderabad? You will say it is in Shamshabad. Okay. Do you know where it is? Yes. Are you sure? Yes. Do you believe that it’s there? Yes. I know it. So what will you do? Nothing. What shall I do? If you ask me where is the airport, I tell you where it is. Do I believe? Yes. I know. I have seen it. I know where the airport is. I have been there and so on. What will you do? Nothing. What is there to do? But if you ask Habibzai the same question this evening, what will he say? He will have a long list of things. “I have already done this, this. I have prepared and so on.” At such and such a time, this evening, I am going to the airport because I have to travel from here to the US. Has the knowledge that there is an airport changed? No. Is he going to some other airport? No. What has changed between us and him? What has changed? Yes, he knows he is going. So therefore, he is prepared. Therefore, he is preparing. Does he know there is an airport? Of course. Do I know there is an airport? Yes. So why, if you ask me, why are you not prepared? Because I am not going. But when I know I am going, supposing I have a plan, I am going on so and so, then you don’t have to ask me; I am prepared. Right?
I will give you another example. Say you are walking for your morning walk. You are on a beach resort, walking along the beach. On one side is the sea, and on the other side there are these big villas. It’s a luxury place, so big villas, huge big villas, big walls. Like you have the gates in South Arabia—huge big gates, right? And on every gate there is a big sign saying, “Beware of Dog.” So if somebody comes and asks you what that sign says, it means there is a dog in this house which is dangerous, and the house owner is telling us, people outside, beware of the dog. Save yourself. Right? Okay. So now, do you understand this? Yes. Do you believe it? Yes. You have Iman in this? Yes. Now as you are walking along, suddenly you find one of the gates is slightly open. And as you come before that opening, you see there is a huge massive Rottweiler, like a bear—a huge massive big dog. As soon as this dog sees you, he stands up in Tazim. Ma sha Allah. He is Mr. Zafar Ansari. Ma sha Allah. He looks like an angel with a white topi and white thop. So the dog stands up in Tazim. Then the dog comes, proceeds towards you to make Busafah. He may shake his hand or something and take some Dua from him. Right?
So what will Mr. Zafar Ansari do? What will he do? He will start deciding the Karma. Ashadu La Ilaha Illallah wa Ashadu… Right? Now the question is: Before you came, before you saw, before you saw the dog—if I asked him, “Baba, did you know there was a dog?”—Yes, I knew. That sign was true? Yes, it was true. Now you suddenly saw the dog; the dog is coming towards you. Now what has changed? Did the dog become a lion? Did the dog become an elephant? No, it is still a dog. What changed? Something changed, right? If you had monitored, suppose you had put some electrodes or sensors to his heart, pulse, breathing, and so on, it would have been normal according to how he was walking. But as soon as he sees the dog, what will happen to all these sensors? Everything spikes. Right? Everything spikes. If you are looking at the display, right, the…
Graph will go. So, what changed? The reality struck him: number one, and number two, he understood the connection between himself and that thing. Beware of dogs was a concept; we should be careful of dangerous animals. Okay. Now suddenly I am standing in front of the lion, the lion’s mouth is open, and there is nothing between me and the lion. Now there is a big, big, big difference. There is a huge difference.
I have been to many lion parks in South Africa. So you go to the lion park, you are standing behind the fence—it is an electric fence—and the lion is on the other side. Between me and the lion is maybe 12 inches. But if you measured my blood pressure or everything, it won’t be normal. It is not because I am a brave man. It is not because the lion is my uncle. No. It is because there is an electric fence.
But suddenly if the electric fence is removed, now what happens? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying it is not enough simply to say *wa bil aakhi yu inuna bil ghaib*. It is simply not enough to say, “Yeah, there is a day I will die.” Yes, I will go to stand before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Yes, Day of Judgment. No. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says this: *Iman* has to be converted to the level of *Yaqeen*. And what is the level of *Yaqeen*? What is the condition? What is the indicator that the *Iman* has moved to *Yaqeen*? That you are preparing for it. That you know, “I have to go.”
You know, “I have to go.” I am giving the example of Abiz Bhai; may Allah ta’ala take him safely, bring him back safely and soon, InshaAllah, and make the whole trip beautiful and smooth. The only difference between his departure and our departure is he has a date and a time for it—he knows. We have no date, no time. You know maybe, but you don’t know. We do not know. Actually, our departure is even more certain than his departure, even though he has a date and a time.
I am telling you, keep his departure correctly and smoothly without any problem. But flights get cancelled, things happen, they get delayed—this, that. InshaAllah, may Allah make sure none of that happens to his flight. But I am saying these things happen, right? But our time there is no cancellation, there is no delay when the time has been written. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, “When the time for death comes,” it will not be delayed and it will not be brought forward. No flight cancellation, no delay. Nothing happened, nothing happened. Have to go, we have to go. And that’s why I remind myself: when you see me, let us be very clear in our minds that a time will come when we will be called. Therefore, it is extremely important to convert *Iman* into *Yaqeen*.
Now, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentioned finally; I am giving you all the *dalail* in Surah Al-Hujurat. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said:
قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۖ وَإِن تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُم مِّنْ أَمَالِكُم شَيْئًا ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentioned the Arabs. The tribal Arabs said, “We believe.” Say to them, O Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), say, “You have not believed (*Aamanna*). You do not have faith. They don’t say ‘Aamanna.’ You have not believed. Say, ‘Aslamna,’ say, ‘We have entered the faith.'” Because *Iman*, faith, has not yet entered your hearts. Allah is saying this: faith has not yet entered your hearts, but if you obey Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala as Messenger wholeheartedly, He will not discount anything from the reward of your deeds. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is truly Most Forgiving and Most Merciful.
Now, if you see this Ayat, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying very clearly: just saying that I have *Iman* is not enough. This has to be demonstrated by our behavior, by our decisions, by what we choose to do and what we choose not to do. You cannot say, “I have *Iman*,” and then you are indulging in all kinds of haram—sorry, not accepted by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. It will not be accepted. If you have *Iman*, show that *Iman*. If you have *Iman*, make sure you pray. If you have *Iman*, make sure you don’t tell lies. If you have *Iman*, make sure you eat halal. Make sure you earn halal. Make sure you do not eat haram. Make sure you earn haram (wait, no). Make sure you do not eat haram. Make sure your *ma’amilat* with people are correct; you are not deceiving people. And you are not doing all kinds of things which Allah has prohibited. All of these are signs that you actually have *Iman*. That’s the reason why Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says: “O you people who believe, who say you believe, enter into the Islam fully.”
What is there to enter? I have already said, “La ilaha illallah.” What is there to enter? There is something to enter. That’s why Allah is saying, “Enter.” If there was nothing to enter, Allah would not have revealed this. “Enter into Islam fully” means what? Just saying the Kalima is not enough. Just praying is not enough. Just fasting in Ramadan is not enough. Fasting on these days is not enough. Show that *Iman* in every aspect of your life. How you conduct a wedding—show your *Iman* in that. What you do after somebody dies—show your *Iman* in that. How you talk to your wife or husband—show your *Iman* in that. How you drive your car, park your car, leave your chappals—show your *Iman* in that. Right, how you dress, what you do, how you talk, how you don’t talk. What comes out of your mouth? Any cursing, any bad language—show your *Iman*. The same tongue which is reciting the Kalima of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is also producing filth. So there is no *Iman*. Where is the *Iman*? This same tongue: you are saying SubhanAllah and you are also meaning I don’t want to repeat the bad words. Same tongue.
How you treat people just because the other man is poor? Maybe he is your servant; maybe he is your driver. “Hey, come here.” Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un. But he listens. What do you do? You got your *Iman* in the mud; he didn’t have it before. What do you do? He listens really! I mean these are terrible things that we have here. May Allah have mercy on us, but these have to go. It’s very, very important. All of these are signs of *Iman*; all of these are signs of *Yaqeen* in the Akhirah. And that’s why I remind myself when you let us get real, especially these days—the best days of the year. Let us make sure that everything we do is good; that we do as much good as possible. Let us try to make sure we do as much good as possible. Use these days to please Allah.
And that we transition from having *Iman*. Alhamdulillah, Allah Ta’ala gave us *Iman*. We were born in Muslim families, so on and so forth. Allah made it easy for us. We are not… we didn’t even have to consciously accept Islam. We were born in a Muslim family. Alhamdulillah, this is taken as the fact that we are Muslim. But that’s not sufficient. Allah is saying: convert that into *Yaqeen*. And the conversion into *Yaqeen*, our own means to see: “Have I converted my *Iman* into *Yaqeen*?” Is ask yourself: am I living by this Islam? Am I living by this *Iman*? Is this *Iman* seen in my life? Am I going to the airport just knowing where it is? Not enough. I have to go. What’s my preparation? So how am I preparing myself to ensure that I meet Allahﷻ in a state where Allah is pleased with me? We ask Allahﷻ to be pleased with us and never to be displeased. And may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the noble Prophet and upon his family and companions, with the mercy of Allah.