What should we worry about – Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Centre

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (18.9MB) | Embed

Auto-generated transcript:

Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Alḥamdulilāhi Rabbil-‘Ālamīn. Wa salātu wa salāmum ‘alā al-sharafi al-anbiyā’ wal-mursalīn, Muḥammadin Rasūlallāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa ‘alā ālihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Taslīman kāseran kāseran. Ma’ma ba’du.

My brothers and sisters, I was thinking the Imam, may Allah bless him, recited the second āyah from Surah Az-Zariyāt. And especially this āyah which most of us know or should know, where Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā mentioned the purpose of our creation: وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُون (wa mā khalaqtul-jinnati wal-insi illā liya’budūn). He said, “I have not created the jinn and the humans for anything other than My worship.” This is the statement of Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā, and it’s a statement made with enormous emphasis.

Allah did not say, “I have created the jinn and the humans for My worship.” He didn’t say that. He said, “I have *not* created the jinn and the humans for anything *other than* My worship.” There is a huge difference in terms of emphasis on the statement between saying “this is for this purpose” and saying “this is for nothing but this purpose.”

And then Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā said, مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُمْ مِّن رِّزْقِهِمْ وَمَا يُمَتَّعُونَ (ma urīdu minhum min rizqihim wa mā yumattā’un). Allah says, “We do not ask them for food.” Allah says, “I do not ask them for sustenance. I feed them. I give them sustenance.” إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو الْقَوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ (inna Allāha huwa ar-razzāqu dhū al-qawwati al-matīn). Allah says, “Verily, Allah is the One who is Ar-Razzaq. He is not just Raziq; He is Ar-Razzaq. The Owner of Power and Strength.” And He provides with His power and His glory.

The point I want to remind myself—and you—of is that Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā gave us this assurance with regard to the fact that Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā provided for us in this dunyā. Allah said, “Worship Me; this is what I have created you for,” and “Don’t worry about sustenance, don’t worry about food.” He said, “Allah provides you with His power.” If we go into the grammar of that āyah, Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā has reiterated and emphasized His power of providing six times in this one āyah. Six times!

My question is: Allah did not say the same thing with regard to our Akhīrah. Allah did not say, “Don’t worry, I will put you in Jannah with My power. I will make sure that you do not go into Jahannam.” Find me one āyah anywhere like this. About *risk*? This is not the only āyah. There are many āyāt in the Qur’an where Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā has mentioned provision in this life. But about the Akhīrah, which is forever, everything is conditional. You do this, you get that.

In the dunyā, Allah didn’t make it conditional. Allah did not say, “If you work, I will give you. If you have a shop, I will give you. If you get a job, I will give you. If the economic conditions are good, I will give you. If your business fails, you are on your own. If you can’t get a job, peace be upon you.” Allah did not say this. Allah said, “I will provide you.” That’s why the Sahaba used to say, even if the sky turns to iron and the earth turns to copper, we still won’t worry. We don’t care. Allah is the One to provide.

But for the Akhīrah, did Allah give this assurance? Tell me: if you can find the āyah or one hadith—even a weak hadith—where Allah Ṣubḥānahu wa Ta’ālā said He will give you Jannah no matter what. Not one. Not one. Everything is conditional. Every single thing is conditional. So my question is: I am asking myself, and I ask you to ask yourself, which are you more worried about? This dunyā or the Akhīrah? Seriously, something; you don’t have to tell me. I mean, it’s for you to answer. Answer for yourself. Which are *we* worried about more? What is constantly going on in our minds? And what is the message of that with regard to the state of our Īmān? Something which Allah Ṣubḥānahu wa Ta’ālā completely assured us about—not once, but many times—in the Qur’an, we are worried about that. “Will I get it? Will I not get it? What will happen here? What will happen there? What will happen if this condition changes? What will happen if this leader is elected? What will happen if that party wins?”

And regarding something about which there is no assurance, everything is upon you. You do good, you get good. You make istighfār and tawbah, you are okay. If you don’t make istighfār and tawbah, you die in that condition, there is a problem for you. Something for which there is no assurance. We are absolutely carefree. So my question is: I am asking you, and I am asking myself. Do we have some secret letter from Allah Ṣubḥānahu wa Ta’ālā that is going to go into our kafan so the malā’ikah can see it? Have you got some special guarantee?

Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam himself used to say to Sayyidatunā Āishah bint Abī Bakr (radhi Allāhu ‘anhā) one day: he said, “If Allah Ṣubḥānahu wa Ta’ālā takes account of our deeds, we will be destroyed.” So she said, “Ya Rasūlallāh, even you?” He said, “Even me.” Even him? About himself. Even though Allah revealed the Qur’an to say, “I have forgiven you everything,” in Surah Al-Fath, Allah said, “Allah has forgiven you.” Despite that, there is not a single Nabī, there is not a single Rasūl, there is not a single Sahabī of Allah Ṣubḥānahu wa Ta’ālā, there is not a single ‘Alīm al-Ḥaq’, who was completely secure about his fate and said, “I don’t have to worry.” Nobody said this.

To the extent, the famous hadith where Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam said on the Day of Judgment, the people will be gathered in the Maidan of the Hashar, and the sun will be right above their heads. The height of just one lance. And people will be literally drowning in their sweat in proportion to their sins. May Allah protect us from all this. This is not Jahannam. This is the condition of the plain or the ground, or the Maidan of Hashar, the place of gathering. This is not punishment. This is the condition of the place of gathering. And Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā said, you will be there for a thousand years or more. A day; that one day, in one place Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā said, *Al-Fa’sana*; in another place Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā said, *Khamsīn Al-Fa’sana*—50,000 years of your current time. One day. You’re standing there. No chairs, no sitting down, no relaxation. Standing. And Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, the conditions will be so hard. That people will start talking to each other. They will say, “Let us go and ask Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā to start the proceedings of this place. Start the judgment and put us in Jahannam. We don’t care, but let us get out of here.” People will say, “Put us in Jahannam, but let us get out of here.”

And Rasūlullāh ṣallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam said they will say that because they don’t know what Jahannam is. So then they will say, well, how can I go to Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā? So let us find somebody who can go and intercede for us, *shafī’*ah. So they go to Ādam ‘alaihis-salām. And they go and say to him, “We are all your children. You are our father. We all came from you. Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā said that He created you with His own hands. Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā commanded the angels to make sajdah to you. Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā gave you Jannah. Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā forgave you. Please intercede for us before Allah and ask Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā to set up the Mizan, to set up the scales and start the proceedings today so that we can be relieved from this suffering.” Ādam ‘alaihis-salām will say, “No.” Today I cannot go before Allah. You will just see the Jalāl of Allah subḥāna wa ta’ālā. There were four malā’ikah hamal in the Arsh.

Who used to hold the Arsh? On the Day of Judgment, they will not be able to hold the Arsh.

And these Malaika, these angels are so massive that Rasulullah ﷺ said, if a bird flies from the shoulder of the angel flying fast, in 500 years it will reach the earlobe of this angel; this distance.

But they will not be able to hold the Arsh of Allah. And for that day alone, for the Day of Judgment, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will create four more.

And Allah does not need any of the angels for His Arsh.

This is just the Shayan and the glory and majesty of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.

So Adam alayhi sallam will say, “No, I can’t do all this.” He said, “Where do we go?” He said, “Go to Nuh alayhi sallam.” So they go to Nuh alayhi sallam. They say to him, “Ya Rasul, know.”

“You are among the Ulul Azam. You are the father of the Anbiya. From you, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala… you know, all the rest of the Anbiya came. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala saved you from the flood.”

“And so on and so on. Please intercede for us.” Nuh alayhi sallam will say, “No, I cannot do this. I am worried for myself. If Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala holds me responsible.” He made dua for his son. Allah said in the Quran that he forgave him. Still, they have not—that they don’t have faith in Allah. That is the Azamah of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. This is the khashiyat in the heart of those who know Allah.

Not having khashiyat is a sign of Jahalat. Allah said,

“That does not mean somebody who came out of this or that Darul Uluq. It means that the one who has khashiyat in his heart, who has the fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala’s punishment in his heart, that person is an Alim. That person is a person of knowledge.” So who is a bigger Alim than the Nabi?

So Nuh alayhi sallam will say, “I cannot do anything. Go to Ibrahim alayhi sallam. He is Khalilullah.” So they go to Ibrahim alayhi sallam. And they tell him, “You are Khalilullah. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala saved you from the fire. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala caused you to build the Ka’bah and so on and so on. All his Fatah.” Ibrahim alayhi sallam will say, “No, I cannot do this. Today I cannot go before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, I am worried and afraid for myself.”

He said, “Go to Musa alayhi sallam.” And they go to Musa alayhi sallam. And they tell him, “Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala parted the ocean for you. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala saved your people from Fir’aun. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave you this and that and the other miracle and so forth and so on.”

“Please intercede for us.” Musa alayhi sallam will say, “No. Not my job. I cannot do anything today. I am worried for myself. And if Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala holds me or calls me to account, what do I do? I cannot do this. What shall we do?” Go to Isa alayhi sallam.

They go to Isa alayhi sallam. They say, “You are a sign of Allah. Ayatullah.”

“Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala created you and you are a miracle in yourself. You have no father. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala created you. He put the roe into you.”

“Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala raised you up. He saved you from being crucified.”

“You are free from sin.”

“Please intercede before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for us.”

Isa alayhi sallam will say, “Today I cannot go before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. I am free from sin, but people have committed sin in my name, so if Allah holds me responsible for this, no.”

“I cannot go before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.” He says, “What shall we do?” He says, “Go to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.”

“He is Khatam al-Nabiyyin. He is Sayyid al-Mursaleen.”

So they come to Musa alayhi sallam and they say, “Ya Rasulullah, please intercede before Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. So we are redeemed from the suffering.”

“You are the Rasul of Allah. You are the final Rasul of Allah. We believed in you.”

“You are Khatam al-Nabiyyin. You are Sayyid al-Mursaleen. You are the head of the Rasul and the Anbiya. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala forgave your sins.”

“You are Khalidullah. You are Habibullah.”

Rasulullah ﷺ said, “I will go in sujood before the Arsh of my Rabb.”

And he said, “I will stay in that sajda for as long as Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala wills me to be in the sajda.”

And he said, “In that sujood, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will teach me to praise Him in a way that no makhluq of Allah has ever praised Him before. This is something which Allah will give to Rasulullah ﷺ in a way that suits His majesty and grace on the Day of Judgment in that sajda.” And he said, “When I do this, then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will say, ‘Irfa rahsaka ya Muhammad.’ Raise your head, ya Muhammad.”

“Ask and I will give you.”

And Rasulullah ﷺ said, “I will say, ‘Ya Rabb, please start the proceedings of today and relieve the suffering of all these people.'” Hmm?

“This is Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.”

“This is our Rasul. This is the one we believed in.”

Now my point is, when people who were the creme de la creme of the messengers of Allah, there is no Nabi, there is absolutely no Nabi, even a Nabi who came and they were Ambiya, Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, “There are some Ambiya, you will see them on the Day of Judgment; there will be nobody following them. Just the Nabi alone will be walking.”

Because nobody followed them.

But he is still a Nabi. His Jannah is assured

and there will be other Ambiya behind whom Allah will have, you know, big followings and so on. But the point is, even those whose Akhira Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam assured, this person is a Nabi, Allah has made him Mahfuz, Allah has protected him, Allah has made him Masoom, Allah has forgiven all his sins, despite that they were worried about the Akhira.

So how can I guarantee that?

How can I write something?

Because of this, Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has punished us. May Allah have make istighfar and tawbah. Allah has punished us by putting the fear of this dunya in our heart. You think about it.

It is a punishment from Allah. You must make istighfar and say, “Allah, relieve my… take this out of my heart.”

Why are you worried? Allah has given you, you have, you say and I say, we have Iman in the Quran al-Karim, this is the Kalam of Allah, this is Allah’s speech of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Allah is saying, “I will provide you Rizq with My power.” Listen to this and dance on the road.

With happiness. No. Rasulullah ﷺ has said this. This is not my opinion. I am not saying that I am my own. No. This is the Kalam of Allah. This is the speech of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Oh my God. If this goes on, how will it happen? If it doesn’t come, what will happen? If it dies, nothing will happen. If it comes, what will happen to the world? Go and make tawbah. Where did all this money come from? Rasulullah ﷺ said that it came on Eid Mubarak. It was born at this time. It was born after it was born.

What is the worry? Tell me.

What is it? Why are you reading the Quran? Why are you reading the Qur’an? Why are you reading it?

I am not saying that you should not read it. But why are you reading it? It has no effect.

Seriously, ask yourself this question. The thing that we should be worried about, we have no concern about that.

Haram, halal, all. Dal, Abdulillah, gud, thaili, meh, meh, meh. Eat whatever you want. Drink whatever you want. Eat whatever you want. Go and go. Go and go. Go and earn from here. Do whatever you do. No worry about any of that.

Eat what you want. Drink what you want. Earn anything you want. Halal, halal. Everything.

All is fine. MashaAllah. No worry. But this dunya, when Allah has assured you—He has told you: just worship Me. I have sent you to worship Me. ﷺ So what is the concern? Think about that. In Surah Al-Dhariyat and other places also, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala put the issue of rizq immediately after the ayat commanding worship. He did not say, “You worship Me, I will give you Jannah.” Allah said, “Worship Me, I will feed you here.” Think about that. After that, Allah did not say, “Do this, I will give you Jannah.” No. Allah said, “I will feed you here.” Because Allah knows us. So Allah said, “Don’t worry; I will feed you.”

So I am not saying, don’t work. I am not saying, don’t get jobs. I am not saying, don’t have business. Do everything. But there is no concern. Do all that. Why are you worried? Tell me this. Allah’s treasures are vast. What is the story? The story is our iman. Our yaqeen. Nothing, believe me, nothing in the world can be achieved without this. In our daily remembrance (Dakr), we say, *Dulmul Yaqeen*. Neither here nor there.

So I ask, I remind myself: when you, let us sit down and reflect on the glory and majesty of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, on the promises of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala—and ask ourselves, tell ourselves—what should I be more worried about? This dunya? No matter what happens, this will end; I will die. It doesn’t matter. Whether it is good, bad, or ugly, you and I will die. There is no doubt about that. And this will end. Achcha hai, to bhi khatam hone ga. Aay, bura hai, to bhi khatam hone ga. But the akhirah is forever. It is not going to end. And may Allah protect us: woh kharaab hu, toh kya hoga? If that gets spoiled, where will you go? Where will I go?

So, what should we really be worried about? What should we really be concerned about? Let us reorient ourselves. Like your car GPS recalculating, recalculating. Take a U-turn, next turn. Next break, you know, take a U-turn. Seriously, we have to take U-turns. Believe me. Let us make istighfar. Let us ask Allahﷻ to forgive us. Let us ask Allahﷻ to reorient us in the right direction, which is to worry about His rida. To worry about the pleasure of Allah. To worry about pleasing Allahﷻ. And leave this dunya—leave this dunya meaning not physically leaving this dunya as in “go away from somewhere.” No, I mean, leave this dunya meaning take it out of your heart. Stop worrying about this dunya. Stop worrying about all this. Focus on Allahﷻ. Focus on relief in the akhirah.

And let us reorient our lives in a way where inshaAllah al-musta’an by the rahmah and the mercy of Allahﷻ we will be assured that. InshaAllah. Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatik ya Rabbi Allah.