Life is a test – Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Centre

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (15.2MB) | Embed

Auto-generated transcript:

Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Alḥamdulilāhi Rabbil-‘Alameen. Wa salātu wa salāmum ‘alā ash-shirāfi al-amiyyay wa al-mursaleen, Muḥammadin Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa ‘alā ālihi wa sallam. Tasleeman kathīran kathīran. Qur’ān, ba’du.

My brothers and sisters, Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā, in the first or second āyah of Surah Al-Ankabūt, Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā said: *Ahasibannas ann yutrakuka an yakuna amanna wa hum la yufṭanun*. Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā is challenging us. He asks, “Do you think humans will be left alone if they say, ‘We believe,’ without being tested?”

So the tests from Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā are this: life itself is a test. The Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) said that this life is a trial for us, and the result comes in the Akhirah.

This life is a place of action, while the Akhirah is a place where we receive the reward for those actions.

If someone asks me, “What is a test in life?”, I tell them: anything on which you have control is a test.

Eating is a test because choosing between ḥalāl and ḥarām is your choice. Digestion is not a test; whether food gets digested or causes acidity is out of your control. What matters is what you put into your mouth.

Right? So everything in life—every action where we can choose yes or no—is a test. Every single thing. That is why the Prophet (ﷺ) described this life as tillage, a field, or a garden.

And in the Akhirah, we harvest the results.

As I mentioned yesterday, Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (rahimahullāh) said every human being is a slave by default. You are either a slave to your own desires or a slave to Allāh.

One of two paths: living by your rules or living by Allāh’s rules. But the judgment of what you did—whether it was right or wrong—is based solely on Allāh’s rules.

We may live by our own standards, but Allāh does not hold us accountable in this world for those choices. Responsibility lies with you, but accountability belongs to the Hereafter, judged strictly by Allāh’s criteria.

In this life, Allāh gives us freedom to choose which set of rules to follow. However, on the Day of Judgment, passing or failing depends entirely on the standard Allāh has set.

As Ibn al-Khayyam (rahimahullāh) asked: “How can the heart travel to Allāh if it is chained by its desires?”

Right? How can one connect with Allāh while enslaved by desire? One of the most common things enslaving us today is social media.

Fawaz has invented a gadget that allows you to lock social media apps without deleting them. This provides a period of freedom to work and focus, which you can unlock later. It is a small device, yet offers great relief and benefit.

The point is these are chains binding us. Our desire to scroll, scroll, scroll. Even if scrolling isn’t ḥarām—perhaps watching wildlife documentaries or nature videos seems harmless and enjoyable—it still serves no useful purpose. What is the outcome? What is the benefit?

We will be held accountable for the time we wasted. We are not only judged for evil actions but also for wasted time. Allāh subḥānahu wa ta’ālā’s first question on the Day of Judgment will be: “What did you do with the time allotted to you? What was the value of your life?”

Life is time. If you cannot say you didn’t waste it, then you wasted this precious resource.

Islam teaches us, as Ibn al-Khayyam (rahimahullāh) said: “O son of Adam, sell this world for the Hereafter and you win both. Sell the Hereafter for this world and you lose both.”

As I mentioned yesterday, selling does not mean giving up everything. You do not have to deprive yourself; you can live your life well and enjoy it. But do so with the thought that you will answer to Allāh Subḥānahu Wa Ta’ālā for every moment. Live responsibly.

Do not overindulge. Do not act out of show-off (*riyā’*). Do not exceed reasonable limits.

Because ultimately, if you had the whole world—its power, authority, and wealth—and lost Allāh, what would you gain?

If you gained the whole world but lost Allāh Subḥānahu Wa Ta’ālā, you lost your connection with Him. What did you truly gain? Conversely, if you lost the whole world but gained Allāh, connecting with Him, what did you lose? Nothing.

We must constantly remind ourselves: this world and all it contains are temporary. It is fleeting, not permanent.

Ibrāhim Ad-Dīn (rahimahullāh), a great scholar who was also the king of Balkh in Afghanistan, once told a story. His soldiers brought a poor man (*faqīr*) to him, claiming he was sleeping in the throne room, the *Diwan-e-Khas*.

Ibrāhim Ad-Dīn asked, “Why were you sleeping in my throne room?” The man replied, “Because this is a *saray*.”

Ibrāhim Ad-Dīn said, “What kind of nonsense is that? How can you call it a palace? This is not a saray.”

The man argued, “Who lived here before you? My father.” “And who lived here before him? His father.” “Then who will live here after you die? My son.” “And after your son dies, who lives there? His son.”

He concluded, “So how is it yours? People come and go. What do you call a place where people arrive and depart? You sleep for a while, then leave. Subḥag ho gayi, chale gayi.”

“Toh mera hai ka sab, tumhara kaan say? Yeh toh sara hai jo aa raha, rahi raha jaa raha.” Now this is the nature of life for everyone. It is not just about thinking of past kings like Ibrāhim Ad-Dīn or Farhani Diodi. Think about our own friends. So many have passed away in the last four or five years. What happened to their houses? They still stand.

Their children may be living in them now.

It and some other person is living in it. So when they were there, eh? They were so house-proud and they had a beautiful house and they, you know, brought beautiful furniture and carpets and this and that and they lived well. Alhamdulillah, nothing wrong with that. But don’t imagine that this is forever. It is not forever. When we travel, Alhamdulillah, Allah Ta’ala has given us the opportunity and the ability to travel well. So, you know, you travel and you are sitting in business class or first-class lounge in Dubai or Singapore or somewhere. It’s a beautiful place. You’ve got beds to sleep. There’s a shower. You go there. They give you, you know, soaps and towels and what not. And there’s a huge spread, the buffet. The best caramel treats in the world are in Dubai. Isn’t it? Absolutely fabulous caramel. So, the point I’m making, all of this is there. But what is top of your mind? What time is my flight? Will you think, okay, nice place, let me see it peacefully? I just read about one guy, a Chinese guy. He bought a first-class full-fare ticket. So, which means he can cancel it anytime; he can change the date, what not. Then he goes to the first-class lounge in the airport. He eats very nicely and so on and enjoys himself and so on. Right? And just before the flight is taking off, he postpones it to the next day. Then the next day he does the same thing. And he did this for months. Keeps on postponing. So, he keeps on postponing it and he’s enjoying himself in the lounge. Free food, free everything. Until somebody caught on; they say the same ticket is coming again and again and what’s going on. Then they found him. So, point being, no matter what game you play, end of the day, there is an accounting. So, very important for us to understand that.

So, Islam therefore is not a buffet for us to pick and choose what suits us. We like it, we don’t like it. Our Adirondack says: “Bittaka sahab sunnat hai, Daadi sunnat hai, roz mundar hai. Nama sunnat hai, kabhi ne padat hai. Khana, kam khana sunnat hai, viya hallakta khaye. Uparse kya varadu, mitta sunnat hai. Kya ye, dena ye.” Who are you trying to fool? What is the point of that? So, very, very important for us to not play this game. Islam is not a buffet. You pick and choose what you want. Right? Allahﷻ said: أَفَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِبْعَدِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُونَ بِبْعَدِ Do you pick something, do you have iman on some part of the book and you deny the rest of the book? وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ And the one who does this, Allahﷻ said, for him, إِلَّا خِزْيٌّ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَيَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ يُرَدُّونَ إِلَىٰ أَشَدِّ الْأَذَابِ وَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِرٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ Allahﷻ said, the one who does that, for him there is nothing but hardship in this life. Allahﷻ said, if you pick and choose what you will obey and what you will not obey, think about this, Allah is not saying somebody who denies everything. No, the pick and choose; the person is saying, people say, “I didn’t study Salah, what should I do now?” Just like Allah is making it easy for you to study Salah. So the point is, if you, if you pick and choose, you are actually exhibiting arrogance. Allahﷻ said, do three things, you are saying, no, I will do two. The third one is, Allah likes you, Allah may like, I don’t like. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا لِلَّهِ It’s arrogance.

So therefore, the punishment for it is in the dunya and akhirah. Allah said, I will make your life in this world hard and harsh. And on the day of judgment, they will be returned and they will be, they will be returned to the worst of punishments. The most difficult punishments. أَشِدَّ لَذَاب أَشَدِّ لَذَاب أَمَا اللَّهُ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ And Allah is not ghafil from what you do. Allah does not, don’t think that Allah does not know what you are doing. Because the reality is, that, as I said, if you lose the world and gain Allah, what have you lost? And if you lose Allah and gain the world, what have you gained? But the reality is, that for the one who lives by Islam, he has, he has to lose nothing. He does not lose the world. He gains the world and he gains Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Because he can gain the world and please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. That’s a real deal. When you do something to please Allah, for example, you say, “I will eat only that which Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has made halal.” Okay. So are you going hungry? You are not going hungry. You will eat. And what Allah has made halal is, by definition, wholesome. It is something which is pure. It is something which is nutritious. It’s something which is not adulterated. Even materially, I’m saying, what is halal and tayyab, these are the two words which are used. So what is pure and what is wholesome and good.

So you are eating and you eat, you are eating, you are eating well, alhamdulillah. You are only not eating something which is haram. So whether it is non-zabiha, whether it is something in which there is some alcohol, maybe, or whatever, you say, “I won’t eat that.” You don’t eat. And think about this, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, in my view, these are hujjah. These are the arguments and these are the criterion points that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has created for the Muslims. Take people who are vegans. People who are vegan, they are not just vegetarian. They do not eat milk products. They don’t drink milk, they don’t drink cheese, milk products. They do not use leather. Right? They are not just vegetarian. This is much more severe than being vegetarian and many other things. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala made these people as hujjah, as a criterion point for most people. Muslims. If you say, “I had difficulty finding halal food,” Allah will say, “What about these people?” For their own desire, nobody told you to become vegan. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala made halal. What Allah made halal is halal. But just for their own desire, I choose not to be, I choose to be vegan. So they, for their own desire, they are able to do all this. But for you to please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, you cannot leave something which is doubtful.

So I remind myself and you, let us remember this. Every moment of this life is a test. Every instant is a test. Let us pass that test. It is the easiest thing because when you pass the test, you also do it well. It makes you happy. It makes you healthy. And it gets you the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. We ask Allah to make it easy for us. We ask Allah to be pleased with us. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to fill our lives with khair and barakah and afiyah. Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.