Saturday, August 14, 2010

How to deal with Allah (Episode 2) - كيف تتعامل مع الله الحلقة الثانية


As Salam Alekoum

An English translation of the episode:



Our Lord brings down from the heavens many things that are beneficial to us, the very best of which is guidance (heedaya). There is nothing more beautiful than for Allah to guide you to him, because you will not find anyone or anything better for you than Him, Subhanh,

Therefore, if you are of those whom Allah has guided to Him, then I say congratulations to you with all my heart, and I ask Allah to continue blessing you my dear brothers and sisters.

Now, this brings us to the question of this episode:

How do you deal with Allah if he has guided you?

I ask Allah to set you on guidance, to continue blessing until its light is complete upon you. If you are of those whom Allah has guided then I ask to please preserve and maintain yourself on it because you now have something that most of the people on Earth lack. It is guidance ... and the degree of guidance is an indicator of Allah's love for you. Similarly, Allah's love for a person becomes less as the guidance of that person becomes less.

One may ask: "How do I know if Allah has guided me or not?" The answer is rather simple. If you know that the halal is and what the haram is, and you choose to do the former while leaving the latter, then Allah has guided you. If you are guided then you are close to Allah. If Allah blesses you with a guided heart and is with you throughout your days, what else would you want or need after it?

One may also ask "Well, how may I become guided by Allah?" You will not be able to become guided unless Allah Himself brings it down upon your heart. If Allah does not bless you with it, then you can never get guided, Allah has mentioned in the Quran on the people of paradise:

وَقَالُواْ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى هَدَٮٰنَا لِهَـٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَہۡتَدِىَ لَوۡلَآ أَنۡ هَدَٮٰنَا ٱللَّهُ‌ۖ

And they say: The praise to Allah, Who hath guided us to this. We could not truly have been led aright if Allah had not guided us.

Surat Al Aaraf, Verse 43

It has also been said by the scholars:

If goodness is one hand, and my heart is in my other hand, I would not be able to put goodness in it except if it is Allah who does it.

I know what some of you may say to me after I mentioned the previous point on guidance: "If this is the case, then what can I do? There is nothing that I can do to become guided" I say to them no, on the contrary there is something you can do. Ask guidance of Allah and he will give it to you. Don't just stand around, with arms folded waiting for guidance to just drop down on you. Our Lord Allah loves you to ask of him so he can give to you:

وَقَالَ رَبُّڪُمُ ٱدۡعُونِىٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ

And your Lord hath said: Pray unto Me and I will hear your prayer.

Surat Ghafir, Verse 60

Ask of Him guidance, and He will give it to you. Have a look at the best Sura in the Quran, Surat al Fatiha

إِيَّاكَ نَعۡبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسۡتَعِينُ

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.


Notice that Allah did not say

إياك نعبد واياك نرجو

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we plead

Nor did he say

إياك نعبد واياك نخاف

Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we fear.

The reason for this, is that you are not able to properly worship Allah unless He aids you and supports you with it. Therefore, you will not be able to be properly guided unless Allah aids you with it. Hence, you should ask Allah of this aid. Also, notice what is the aya after

ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ

Guide us to the straight path

So you see the beauty of the Quran? So you see the beautiful consistency?

Allah says in the hadith al Qudasi

يا عبادي كلكم ضال إلا من هديته فاستهدوني أهدكم

O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you

My dear brothers and sisters, there is a skill and etiquette when it comes to dealing with Allah in a proper way, because to heal with Him, Subhanh, is different than anything else you have dealt with. Within the etiquette of dealing with Allah is that we are the ones who go to Him and seek becoming closer to Him. The proper way is that we should take the first step, it is not Allah who comes to us. Allah says:

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِہِمۡ

Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts

Surat Al-Rad, Verse 11

Allah is the Lord and the Master and the Kind ... any king has people coming to him and not the opposite. If you take the first step of going to Allah, Subhanho wa Ta'ala, then Allah will also come to you but with a bigger step, i.e: more closer. Allah says in the Hadith al Qudasi:

من تقرب إلي شبرا تقربت إليه ذراعا ومن تقرب إلي ذراعا تقربت إليه باعا وإذا أقبل إلي يمشي أقبلت إليه هرولة

And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed

Allah Akbar! (Allah is great)

It is then that Allah will bless you with what you need and even more than what you could have imagined. He will not leave you, even though you are the one who went to Him initially. He will aid you and less you and be with you all the time. Except in one situation. If you leave Him ... and if you leave Him then Allah will leave you.

ذَٲلِكَ بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَمۡ يَكُ مُغَيِّرً۬ا نِّعۡمَةً أَنۡعَمَهَا عَلَىٰ قَوۡمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِہِمۡ‌ۙ وَأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ۬

That is because Allah never changeth the grace He hath bestowed on any people until they first change that which is in their hearts, and (that is) because Allah is Hearer, Knower.

Surat Al-Anfal, Verse 53

Be sure that Allah, Subhanh, will not leave you unless you are the one to have left him first.

فَلَمَّا زَاغُوٓاْ أَزَاغَ ٱللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمۡ‌ۚ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يَہۡدِى ٱلۡقَوۡمَ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقِينَ

So when they went astray Allah sent their hearts astray. And Allah guideth not the evil-living folk.

Surat As-Saff, Verse 5

And I know that once any of us tastes the true sweetness of Guidance, he will not want to ever leave it. I swear to Allah, that us humans have not found happiness nor complete peace until we are close to Allah, Subhanh. And the closer we get to him, the more happiness we feel.

A question to you: "Who created happiness?"

Allah. So will He give it to someone whom has steered clear of Him, or one who has been guided to Him?

I ask of Allah to make all of us of the guided ones.

One last point in regards to how we should deal with Allah when we are guided by Him. My dear brothers and sisters, no matter how minute a good deed you do as a result of Allah's guidance, you must immediately attribute this favour to Allah Subhanho wa Ta'ala. In addition, another proper action one must do when blessed with guidance is to spread this guidance to others. Give dawah to Allah, because if you are guided and also invite others to become guided by Allah, then there is no one better than you.

Allah says:

وَمَنۡ أَحۡسَنُ قَوۡلاً۬ مِّمَّن دَعَآ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحً۬ا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِى مِنَ ٱلۡمُسۡلِمِينَ

And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Him).

Surat Fussilat, Verse 33

However, be aware that giving dawah to Allah is an art on its own. One needs to have a pleasant and calm demeanour, to have knowledge, to speak in a caring way, with a smile on the lips.

وَلَوۡ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلۡقَلۡبِ لَٱنفَضُّواْ مِنۡ حَوۡلِكَ‌ۖ

for if thou hadst been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about thee.

Surat Aal Imran, Verse 159

Know that one of the best actions a person can do for Allah's sake when properly guided is to give dawah and to make Duaa for the guidance of others. You spread guidance to them face to face with your speech, then you ask guidance for them with your Master. Just as the Prophet (Allah's peace and blessings upon him) used to make Duaa for us during his prayers and supplications to Allah.

I ask of Allah to join us all with Heedaya (guidance to him), so we may reach the most beautiful place in this universe


إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ يَہۡدِيهِمۡ رَبُّہُم بِإِيمَـٰنِہِمۡ‌ۖ تَجۡرِى مِن تَحۡتِہِمُ ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرُ فِى جَنَّـٰتِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ
دَعۡوَٮٰهُمۡ فِيہَا سُبۡحَـٰنَكَ ٱللَّهُمَّ وَتَحِيَّتُہُمۡ فِيہَا سَلَـٰمٌ۬‌ۚ وَءَاخِرُ دَعۡوَٮٰهُمۡ أَنِ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ

Lo! those who believe and do good works, their Lord guideth them by their faith. Rivers will flow beneath them in the Gardens of Delight
Their prayer therein will be: Glory be to Thee, O Allah! and their greeting therein will be: Peace. And the conclusion of their prayer will be: Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds!

Surat Yoonis, Verse 9-10

1 comments:

Fouzia Arif said...

Jazakallah khair :)

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