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Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-‘Alāmīn. Wa salātu wa salāmu ‘alā sharaf al-anbiyā’i wa al-mursalīn, Muḥammadin Rasūlallāh, wa ‘alā ālihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Tasliman kathīran kathīra.
From my brother and sisters, we hear this āyah in every Jumu’ah. In the Qutbah, where Allāh SWT said: *Ya ayyuhal-ladhīna āmanū ittaqullāha haqqat-taqātihi*, wa la tamūtunna illā wa antum muslimūn. Allāh said, which means, “O believers, have taqwā of Allāh SWT as it is His right.” That you should have taqwā of Him. That you should fear His punishment. That you should fear His displeasure. That you should seek His pleasure. That you should seek His approval in all that you say and do. And this is the right of Allāh SWT.
Somebody who has taqwā, somebody whose constant concern is that under no circumstances whatsoever should Allāh be displeased by what I do; that this must never happen. That Allāh SWT must never be displeased. This is something which is the hallmark or the distinguishing feature of the believer. That his one and only concern is the pleasure of Allāh SWT. Jalla shanuh.
And when the believer is doing this, and we ask Allāh SWT to make us among those, among all those who do this—those who love Allāh SWT, who always seek the pleasure of Allāh SWT, and who live their lives in a state of *fain al-khawfi wa tab’a*—between the fear of Allāh SWT’s punishment and the hope for His reward.
May Allāh make us among such people. Because for such people Allāh SWT promised success: *Wal-‘aqibatu lil-muttaqīn*. Allāh did not say *lil-muslimīn*; He said *lil-muttaqīn*. For the believers. These are the people, the muttaqūn, for whom Allāh SWT promised that He would solve all their problems. That He would solve their problems—not because of their efforts, but because of their taqwā.
Allāh SWT said about the muttaqeen: *Wa man yattaqiillaha yaj’al lahu makhrajan*. And the one who has taqwā of Allāh SWT, Allāh SWT will remove him from his difficulties. Will extract him from his difficulties. Will put him in a state where nothing will bother him, nothing will affect him. No difficulty can touch him. We ask Allāh SWT to make us among those muttaqūn, among those people who Allāh mentioned, who will be specifically and clearly in His special protection. I ask this for all of us, for all the Muslimīn, wherever they might be.
For such people Allāh SWT said, as I mentioned in the āyah of Surah Talaq: *Wa man yattaqiillaha yaj’al lahu makhrajan*. And then Allāh SWT said: *Wa yarzuquhu min haythu la yaḥtasib*. And Allāh SWT will provide them sustenance for them; will provide rizq for them; will provide for them all that they need from sources that they could not even imagine.
I marvel at the beauty of this kalām of Allāh SWT. I marvel at the fact that when we are reading the Qur’ān, we are not reading the explanation of something by somebody, no matter who that person is. We are not reading a philosophy which was propounded by some sage or some great wise person. We are not reading anything which is human. We are reading the word of Allāh SWT. This is the speech of Allāh. Allāh SWT said this: *Wa yarzuquhu min haythu la yaḥtasib*. And Allāh SWT said, “Allāh will provide them from sources that they cannot imagine.” Think about that. If Allāh had said that He will provide them whatever they need, that would have been enough. Nobody can complain that—for example, if your brother helps you, your father helps you, your mother helps you, some friend helps you—which you expect them to do and they should do—what is the point of having wealth? Of having resources? Of having power and authority, if you cannot even help your own friends and your own family? So we must do that.
But Allāh SWT is saying, “I will provide you from sources you cannot imagine.” Which means that Allāh is saying that I love my mutaqī ‘ibād, my taqwā-wearing slaves so much, that not only will I provide them their resources, but I will provide them those resources in a way which will astound them, surprise them, astonish them, and they will say, “Oh wow! This is where it came from!” From a source that I could not even imagine. For example, here was this person who was my apparently sworn enemy, who would not give me the time of day. And now he’s standing with his hands folded and saying, “Tell me what you need.” And it is my honor that I fulfill or try to fulfill that need for you. And of course he’s not fulfilling it; she’s not fulfilling it. The actual fulfillment is from Allāh SWT alone.
And Allāh SWT then told us that the reward for this taqwā—the reward for this state of mind—is *tawakkul*. *Wa man yatawakkal ‘alallāhi fahuwa ḥasbuh*. Allāh SWT said: “The one who has tawakkul on Allāh…” The tawakkul is a state where the person, the slave, totally—mentally, spiritually—totally leaves everything to Allāh SWT. Tawakkul is a state where the slave makes du’ā because du’ā is ‘ibādah. But his duas are no longer, “Yalla, give me this, give me that.” His duas are more than that. His duas are, “Yalla, be pleased with me.” “Yalla, don’t leave me to the devices of human beings.” “Ya Allāh, You are mine, I am Yours. Let nothing come between Us. Ya Allāh, open the doors of Your rida for me. Open the doors of Your rida for me—not because I deserve it, but because only You can do it. Your rida is the greatest of treasures. There is no treasure more than Your rida.”
My brothers and sisters, I am standing here on the beach in Durban.
Dolphins! Dolphins! I am standing here on the beach in Durban.
And it’s early morning; the sun is going to rise. It has not risen yet. And I can see dolphins. Swahila, I am standing here and seeing them—the whole school of them. Swahila, I am standing here and seeing them. You can notice the dolphins coming out there.
Photography in the ocean is full of mystery—full of mystery. What you see is not necessarily what is there. What is there is generally much more than what you can see. So there is a whole school of dolphins there.
In the early morning, they are just gently swimming, swimming along as you can see. There are the dolphin fins.
As I was saying, we were talking about the issue of taqwā. May Allāh make us muttaqūn. When the person has taqwā, Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā said: “When the person has taqwā, Allāh gives him tawakkul as a gift.” And then Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā said that Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā will become sufficient for that person.
Imagine, here is the situation where we have needs; we are full of needs. Allāh has no need. And if Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā had said, “I will fulfill all their needs,” what more do you want? But Allāh is not saying that. Allāh is not saying, “I will fulfill all their needs.” Because that’s a given. It’s not something that has to be promised.
Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā does not need to promise us to fulfill our needs. This is a given. Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā is Rabbul ‘Alāmīn. And the Rabb is the one who provides—Who nurtures, who nourishes—and takes a person from strength to strength. He provides everything that they need. And he takes this person from strength to strength. He takes this creature—whether it’s a human being or not, whether it is living or not, whether it’s animate or not—Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā takes that creature from strength to strength, perfecting that creature. And taking him stage by stage: *Minal-maqam al-naqis ila maqam al-kamil*. From a state of being incomplete to a state of being totally complete and perfect. We ask Allāh Subḥānahū wa Ta’ālā to make us among those whom He will enter into Jannah. And that is the perfection—that is the ultimate perfection—is to be in Jannat al-Firdaws. And to be given the honor of being in the special presence of Allāh: *Rabbana fa’waṣilna nazīrīna*, *Rabbana wa kaffirna ṯayyātina*, *Wa tawaffāna ma’al-‘abīrat*, *Rabbana ātina fid-dunyā hasanatan wa fil-ākhirati hasanatan*, *Wa qirzā wal naft*. Wa sallallahu ‘alā nabiyyil karīm wa ‘alā ālihi wa sahbihi ajma’in. Bi raḥmatillāhi wa barakatuh.