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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين محمد رسول الله صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليماً كثيراً. My brothers and sisters, we were talking about “إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين” that we worship only Allah ﷻ and we rely only on Allah ﷻ; we seek help only from Allah ﷻ. I mentioned to you how Allah ﷻ taught this lesson to Musa عليه السلام of reiterating that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah and that we seek help only from Allah. We spoke about how it is not simply enough to say we worship Allah, but we must worship Allah and worship no one other than Allah. Now, therefore, how do you bring yourself to a state where this prominence of Allah ﷻ in our lives—the greatness, the glory, and the majesty of Allah ﷻ—becomes so important and so up-front as far as we are concerned, that we never deviate from the path? InshaAllah, Allah will make us successful. The way to do that is by two things: One is by focusing on the glory and majesty of Allah. The greatness, the glory, the majesty, the power of Allahﷻ. And two, by focusing on the mercy of Allahﷻ, the generosity of Allahﷻ. These are the two things.
So if you think about the glory and majesty of Allahﷻ, of course, we have the glory and majesty of Allah all around us. Allahﷻ mentioned it in the Qur’an, in different places, in different ways. Allahﷻ mentioned He introduced Himself in Ayat al-Kursi, for example. He introduced Himself in the last two ayat of Surat al-Hashr, for example. He introduced Himself in Surah Al-Ikhlas, for example. These are all the introductions of Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la. The people said, “Who is Allah?” Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la said, “Khul Huwa Allahu Ahad.” So, these are the introductions of Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la. So, if we read these and we reflect on them and we understand them, this gives us the sense of glory and majesty of Allah. Similarly, we see the glory and majesty of Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la all around us in creation itself: In the heavens and the earth and all that there is in between; in the systems and processes that Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la has created. We see it in ourselves, within ourselves, in our bodies, in terms of our health and the functions of our bodies, right? We see the glory and majesty of Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la in every aspect of our lives. And that is why it is very important to live life thoughtfully, not by default, right? Not a robotic existence. You just get up in the morning, sleep in the evening. That’s not the way of living. That’s how animals live. Animals live without thought. There’s no reflection. They get up in the morning, they feel hungry, they go eat something. They feel sleepy, they go to sleep. They feel thirsty, they drink some water. This is not how we should live. As far as we are concerned, we must live thoughtfully. We must think, we must reflect. And the more we do that, the more the glory of Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la will become visible to us.
Now, alhamdulillah for this, it is very important to be connected with Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la, to see with the eyes of recognition. One of my favorite pastimes is to watch BBC World: The Blue Planet and all those nature programs of BBC, which are all narrated by David Attenborough, who’s now 100 years old this year. But the tragedy is that till today, David Attenborough does not recognize Allah ﷻ. So make dua, InshaAllah, may Allah guide him to Islam before his time comes. He’s a wonderful man because he enabled so many people to see the beauty of nature, the beauty of the creation of Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la. And Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la showed him His creatures and His creation, probably in a way that no other person on the earth has seen. Now, he’s unique in that because of the work he does. Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la took him to places and so on. And now, thanks to technology, thanks to cameras, thanks to high-speed photography and so on, we can actually see nature much better than you would see with your own eyes. Thanks to those cameras, we can actually see nature much better than you would see with your own eyes. Thanks to this technology, you get much closer to things, which normally you couldn’t get that close to them. And you see them in that detail. But to recognize Allah Subh’anaHu Ta-A’la’s greatness in it, that is the key. The key is everyone sees, but what are you recognizing? We recognize with our knowledge, with our ilm. That’s why I always say we see with our ilm; we don’t see with our eyes. Eyes are cameras. Everybody sees. Even an animal will see. Anyone will see. But somebody who has special knowledge will see the same thing in a different way.
For example, people have gone for Hajj. So, the first time you enter that whole plaza of Masjid al-Haram, you see the beautiful building, the huge minars, and the massive, magnificent structure. So at the most, you will say, “Swa Allah,” what a beautiful structure, what a massive structure, and so on. But if there is somebody who is an architect, he sees the structure. He sees it. He is seeing the same structure. He is not looking at it through some special instrument. Same structure. But the architect will see that structure in a different way through the knowledge of architecture that he has, right? If a structural engineer sees the Masjid al-Haram, then he sees that in a different way. He says, how is this minar which is so tall? Where is it taking the attention from? Which arch is holding it up? We see with our knowledge. If you see, I see, somebody will say, well, man looks healthy. But a physician sees him, he will see things in him which are indicators of real health, not what appears to us. So we see with our knowledge. We don’t see with our eyes. And that’s why, and this is a tragedy, that David Attenborough doesn’t have that knowledge. He doesn’t have the recognition of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. So he’s seeing the glory and majesty of creation of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, but he doesn’t connect it to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. He says, “This is nature, this is how it is, this is how evolution happened,” and so on. He doesn’t connect that to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala and say there is a creator and the creator is Allah.
So the first thing to do is to develop this habit of focusing on the greatness and glory and majesty of Allah. And the second one is to connect it to ourselves, which is by shukr, by thanking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, by being grateful to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala. Right? Now, that is something again, SubhanAllah, we live in a country where to be grateful is very easy. Because you just walk on the road and you can see so many people who are just like you. They are human beings. They have hopes and aspirations. They have fears and apprehensions. They have families. They have children. They have spouses. In this heat, 43 degrees, 42 degrees, you are also driving on the street, but you are sitting in an air-conditioned car. And next to you, there is a gig driver, delivery man, who is on a motorcycle. And maybe there is somebody who is on a bicycle. He is not doing it for fun. He is not cycling to lose weight. He has no other way. There is somebody who is dodging traffic and walking because he doesn’t even have a bicycle. Same temperatures. You go along, you see a construction site and there is no shortage of construction sites. Our cities are permanently being constructed. And on the construction site, it is the same: 43 degrees heat. You find there is a woman or there is a man who is carrying cement or is carrying sand or is carrying bricks on their head. And what is the wage they are getting? Seriously, there…
Are there restaurants in this city? I am not exaggerating. There are restaurants where you go with two people. A meal for two will cost between $1.50 to $2.50, or roughly between $6,000 to $7,000. And that is not a very fancy restaurant; these are kind of middle-level establishments. If you go to a very fancy restaurant, it will cost you $15,000. But Alhamdulillah, I am not saying you and I can do it every day. If we did it every day, we should be beaten. But if you want, you can do it. I am not saying you *should* do it. I am saying, but Alhamdulillah, Allah has given enough.
But what about the construction worker? What is he or she doing? They also have children, families, house rent, or whatever it is. I don’t know exactly where they are living. So, Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said: “If you want to be thankful, look at people below you. Don’t look at people above you.” Don’t say, “Oh, I have this car,” when someone else has a Mercedes. La Halaq Wa Ta’ala. The thing is to be grateful to Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. Alhamdulillah. That is why I always mention this beautiful hadith so many times. Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, “If you wake up in the morning and your body is functioning, you are able to do whatever you need to do. There is a roof over your head and you have food for that day—just one day. Then it is as if the whole world has been gathered for you.” May Allah have mercy on us. We open the fridge in our houses; we have food for a month, maybe more. We haven’t got to that stage yet in this country, but in America, every house has a huge freezer in the basement with food. And every year, when they clean out the freezers, a lot of that food expires. They just throw it away. How evil is that?
So, there must be gratefulness to Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. Alhamdulillah. So, live in the present. The way to do that is to focus on today. Think about today. Alhamdulillah. Today, we are fine. Alhamdulillah, this is great. Because this is one of the problems of social media: it takes you away from today. You either have somebody making reports about what will happen—”Oh, this will happen, that will happen,” listing scenarios involving Iran, America, Israel, UAE, and so on—and then predicting an economic collapse or saying there will be no water in the world. Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la will do it. There is no shame in this. Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la will do it. There is no gratitude for worrying about it. What will happen tomorrow? What will happen in the day after? We don’t even know what will happen five minutes from now. Why talk about what is going to happen ten years from now? So, forget all that. Live today. In today’s world. Alhamdulillah. We are safe. We have enough to eat. We are healthy. Our families are safe. We thank Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. Alhamdulillah.
So, focus on the glory and majesty of Allah, and focus on ensuring your connection with Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. Now, when you do these two things—focusing on the glory and majesty of Allah—we get what is called *khashyatullah* in our hearts: the awe of Allah, the fear of offending Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. It is the result of focusing on the glory of Allah. And the result of focusing on the mercy of Allah and His blessings is the *hubb* of Allah—the love of Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. When you put this *khashyah* and the *hubb* together, you get *taqwa*. That is how we become *muttaqeen*. By the *khashyah* of Allah and the *hubb* of Allah, you combine them, and you get *taqwa*. And when you get *taqwa*, then you see results. Because Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la said, “And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out.” The one who has *taqwa* of Allah, Allah will solve his problems. Allah will remove him from his difficulties.
“And He will provide him from sources he cannot imagine.” You see the beauty of the Quran. Sources he cannot imagine. Why is Allah saying that? Allah can give me from sources I can imagine; nothing wrong with that as long as I am getting it, I don’t care. No, Allah says, “I will delight you.” You will be surprised; you’ll say, “Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la! This person gave me, this door opened, this happened.” So it’s not just about getting the thing. Allah wants you to be delighted by that. Fall in sujood and say, “Alhamdulillah.” Then Allah will give a gift. “And He will provide him from where he does not expect.” And then Allah will grant *tawakkul*: “The one who relies on Allah, He will suffice him.” It is my understanding, my belief, that *tawakkul* is something which Allah gives as a gift. You cannot have *tawakkul*; you cannot go and earn *tawakkul*. *Tawakkul* is given. *Tawakkul* is given to the one who has *taqwa*, to the *muttaki*. And the one who is a *muttaki* is the one who has *khashyah* in his heart and the *hubb* of Allah in his heart. So *khashyah* and *hubb* together make *tawakkul*, make *taqwa*, and *taqwa* produces *tawakkul*. *Taqwa* attracts *tawakkul*. Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala then makes you a *muttawaqil*. A person who has no worries, nothing. Absolutely content. This is the beauty of *tawakkul*: total contentment. No worry. Alhamdulillah. My Allah is there.
So I remind myself of this. Let us focus on these things, especially since we have two more days until Yawm-e-Laghafa, InshaAllah on Wednesday, and then we have Eid. May Allah Ta’ala make the Eid Mubarak for all of you. But before we get there, I’m saying let us focus on this and ask: How can I fill my heart with the *khashyah* of Allah and with the *hubb* of Allah, with the love of Allah? By focusing on His glory and majesty and by focusing on His blessings and His mercy. So that I become a *Muttaqi*, and because of my *Taqwa*, Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala will take care of my life. Everything I need, Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala will give me InshaAllah. We ask Allah Ta’ala to make us Muttaqun and to make us Muttawakilun, and to give us Jannatul Firdaws bi Ghayri Hisab as He promised. Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatika abhu wa ma’in.