What is the Reality of Fear?
If we look at the number of illnesses, a person cannot see how many illnesses there are. They keep coming, and they have different names and types - they keep coming and they increase. In reality, there is one particular illness, and this is a very dangerous illness for there is no real cure. Every human being, in some way, somehow, in some fashion or other, on some level or basis, is occupied by this sickness. This happens, and it undoubtedly does affect people. That sicknesses is Khawf – fear.
Khawf is a unique illness. This sickness is such that whoever is afflicted by this disease has no interest left in the Dunya. He is in the Dunya, but he has no interest left. Whether it is eating, drinking or sleeping, he doesn’t enjoy any condition of life in the world. Khawf makes a person totally useless. If you ask a person what is wrong with him, he doesn’t even know the name of the illness; he cannot define it or explain it, but he continues to rotate in the cycle of Khawf. He doesn’t realise himself what is afflicting him and will think ‘What is wrong with me?’ - the poor soul becomes extremely down, upset and worries. The effects of this sickness are extremely varied among people. Sometimes a person starts becoming scared of very small things, thinking ‘If this should occur, then what will happen?’ or ‘Will I get a loss due to this?’ – he gets upset due to his own thinking.
So there are different ways that you can see the sickness manifest itself; you can’t even call it an internal sickness - it is Ajeeb. And this is in every human being – understand this point. Some people have it more intensely and strongly, and some less; in some, there is fear of one thing, while another person is frightened of something else. Somebody is scared of poverty, while another person is afraid of something else. In other words, in some way or other, Khawf is always affecting a person. There is always something that makes a person fearful, afraid and anxious, SubhanAllah.
But if you can cure this, then SubhanAllah, this same Khawf can become a great Rahmah of Allah – consider this point as well. Why? We don’t cure this correctly and address it in the right way, because we don’t want to understand it and we don’t understand it – that’s why we don’t get the right cure from it. Otherwise, this sickness is a great Rahmah from the mercies of Allah – it is a great mercy. How is it a great mercy? When you flip this sickness and point it the other way, towards Allah, then this sickness takes a person to the high level, the level of a Wali of Allah – look at this point.
A person becomes such a great Wali of Allah that a person receives an Ajeeb reward – Allah ta’ala has mentioned this reward in the Qur’an. {وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ (٤٦) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} – SubhanAllah. Allah ta’ala is saying that this is for His servant who leaves the fear of the world and develops fear of Allah, thinking ‘Tomorrow, I will have to stand in front of my Rabb, and then what answer will I give to my Lord?’ SubhanAllah. ‘How will I answer? What will my condition be? If I don’t pray my Salah correctly, if I don’t live my life correctly, if I do not give people their rights, and if I am not cautious in my life, then what will happen to me?’ This is the same Khawf, but its direction has been turned to the fear of Allah – the fear changes and is now fear of Allah. When that fear changes, it brings such a great reward. Allah ta’ala makes this reward in such a way that, while all the people who come to Jannah will get one Garden of Paradise, those who come with this Ibadah of Khawf instilled inside them will get two Gardens of Paradise - SubhanAllah. {وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ} So the fact is that we need to utilise this state of Khawf in the right way; we need to turn towards the right direction.
So this Khawf is fear of Allah, and when we take this fear we have within and turn it towards Allah and use it and focus it for this, it becomes a fantastic feeling and condition. If we look at relatives, then if we have this Khawf within, due to this correctly directed fear, a person starts to leave his disobedience to Allah. Nobody says anything to him, he just starts to change. He says ‘No, no’ to himself, and follows Allah’s orders. He was praying Salah, but then this same Khawf makes him start praying in congregation. He says ‘I’ m not enjoying myself here – I need to pray the high-level Salah and join the first row of the Jamah.’ And when he leaves that Salah, he cries due to this increase in his Khawf, and he thinks ‘What is going on here?’ So at every footstep, this Khawf is pushing him and dragging him towards Allah - SubhanAllah.
This same Khawf that gave him difficulty and distress in the world, when he turns it towards Allah and focuses the fear on Allah, then that Khawf takes him towards Allah’s obedience, step by step. He becomes a person who prays great Salah, and he becomes a great Muttaqi; he progresses and progresses until he becomes a high level Muttaqi, a person with a high level of fear of Allah. And when he becomes a high level Muttaqi, Allah ta’ala opens the doors of His mercy to him and the doors of His grace and His Fadhl and His blessings – and you know this verse:
{وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ (٤٦) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} Allah is saying ‘Which Ni’mah of Mine will you continue to reject? This Khawf is a Ni’mah of Mine –you are not understanding this because you are rejecting it and shunning it.’ Attain Khawf – you should have Khawf and fear; if you do not have Khawf, then you cannot progress. Without Khawf, you cannot be a true human being – when you have Khawf, then Taqwa will come.
So now, what is Khawf? SubhanAllah. One group of angels, from the beginning of time, were given a particular Ibadah, which is Sajdah. Until Qiyamah, those angels will do this Ibadah to Allah. Those that were given Ruku’ will remain bowing until then. Whichever condition or position and in whichever place Allah has instructed, the angels stay there doing that action. Now tell me, imagine how much they recognise their Lord and are in awe. There are prostrations until the seventh heaven, angels prostrating in that same position, and on the Day of Qiyamah, they will raise their heads and will be overwhelmed, saying ‘Ya Allah, we could not fulfil the right of Your Ibadah’ – Allahu Akbar. When a human being attains fear, then he gets all these feelings within him, and then that Khawf does not remain as Khawf. It starts to change into something that gives him a unique taste and enjoyment. Before, his Khawf would make him cry and he would think it was a difficulty and an issue, but now that Khawf gives him enjoyment and satisfaction.
Hadhrat Musa alayhi salam used to speak to Allah – he was Kalimul-llah – and once when he was walking, he saw a stone crying. Musa alayhi salam said ‘Why are you crying, oh stone?’ It replied ‘Oh Nabi of Allah, Allah ta’ala has said that stones will be the fuel of hellfire, so I am afraid that I may be one of those stones that will be the fuel of hell – that is why I am crying. So when you go to Allah, please make Dua for me that I am not one of the stones that will the fuel of the hellfire.’ So Allah’s Nabi Musa alayhi salam made Dua and Allah accepted that Dua, so Musa alayhi salam went back and gave the stone the good news – and the stone was very happy. After some time, he was passing by that stone again and he found the stone crying again. He said ‘What is the matter now? Why are you crying now that Allah ta’ala has given you salvation and has said that you will not be in the hellfire.’ The stone said, ‘Oh Nabi of Allah, I was crying then due to Khawf, but now I am crying out of love and enjoyment!’ Allahu Akbar. So when Khawf transforms into love, into Muhabbat, he doesn’t have fear of the world, and he doesn’t have fear of death, and he doesn’t have fear of poverty, and he doesn’t have fear about what people will say or what they will do – all fear disappears because the fear of Allah overwhelms a person and overtakes him. May Allah ta’ala give us all this type of life.
This is the real life of Mu’min actually, the genuine life. We wander around filled with Khawf and fear – fear piled upon fear – and that fear destroys a person’s life. But in fact, what Allah wants to happen will happen. You can only get the Rizq that Allah wants to give you, but due to fear, we die for Rizq and run after Haram. Due to that Khawf, a person goes from her to there to there; all the bad and negative things that he does are due to Khawf. He does them out of fear, thinking ‘If I don’t do this, this will happen to me; and if I don’t do that, something else will follow; and if I don’t do this, then what will happen?’ - there is always another turn and another turn. In other words, the direction of life is tangled. But if he has Khawf of Allah, he thinks ‘If I disobey Allah in this way, what will happen? If I don’t please Allah, what will happen?’ In other words, his life turns around 180 degrees, SubhanAllah.
My brothers, Ramadhan starts with this, alhamdulillah. It makes us practice all these points – say SubhanAllah! I explained this to you before – Ramadhan is such a great month, so how would it not deal with this? The Ruh of Ramadhan is instilling the fear into people – this is the Ruh of Ramadhan. Allah says ‘Oh Ramadhan, plant fear into these people!’ I swear by Allah, if a human being gets the correct fear, this takes away all the fear of the world. Firawn didn’t have this Khawf, Nimrud didn’t have this Khawf - the less Khawf of Allah, the higher the disobedience of Allah. Nothing else comes into such a mind and so he cannot understand the truth. All logic and truth and correct understand leave when the Khawf of Allah comes out; he becomes shameless, and he has no fear of anything around him. When there is no fear of Allah in a heart, then all other fear comes out. The person without fear of Allah becomes the biggest sinner and the highest in disobedience. By contrast, the closest to Allah is he who has the most correct Khawf. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘The one fears Allah ta’ala most is me!’ – SubhanAllah. That is why he was closest to Allah - sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
Now if we look at this point here, the angels cry after their prostration and say ‘Ya Allah, we could not fulfil the right of Your prostration’, but we humans don’t even worry or even know about whether we have prayed our Salah correctly because we have no Khawf, no fear. This is despite the fact that the angels do not have the Qur’an – in reality, the angels do not even read the Qur’an. Do the angels have the Qur’an? They do not read it. Which angels read the Qur’an? They are free of this obligation, apart from one angel, Hadhrat Jibreel alayhi salam – he does read the Qur’an, SubhanAllah. This honour to read the Qur’an has been given to human beings - say SubhanAllah! Allah ta’ala has given our tongues to us so that we can recite Qur’an – no angel reads the Qur’an. They just get given one action and they continue with that. This honour has been selected for this Ummah – Allah ta’ala has gifted the Qur’an to us, so think how we should be connected to this Qur’an.
So when this Khawf of Allah leaves a human being, then he becomes immodest and has no shame; he becomes extremely disobedient and sinful - there are no limits for him - but when Khawf of Allah comes, then there is no greater human being than that person. Yes? He is not worried about any other issue, and due to the Khawf of Allah, he automatically starts obeying Allah and following the instructions. So Ramadhan, alhamdulillah, starts with this point, because when a person starts keeping a fast, what stops him from drinking water? What stops him from committing acts of disobedience? What prevents him from these things? There is one passion that does so, for he thinks ‘No – Allah will be unhappy if I do these actions or if I disobey.’ He saves himself from that disobedience and thinks ‘I don’t want to commit this wrong.’ If that fasting person is doing this until the evening, thinking all day ‘No, I don’t want to disobey Allah or upset Allah. I am keeping a fast, so I don’t want to do this action.’ As much as possible he does this, according to his capacity. The more Khawf he has as he continues his fast, as he gets to evening, Allah ta’ala announces ‘This person has become a Muttaqi. {لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ} - He has upheld and attained the objective for which I gave him the fast!’
We practice this for the thirty days of Ramadhan so that we instil this Khawf within us permanently. Yes? Not temporary Khawf. Ramadhan is making us obedient servants of Allah because we didn’t have Khawf before. Oh Allah – keep us like this! Maintain this feeling inside us - we don’t want this to be temporary. Rather, oh Allah, allow permanent Khawf to come into us so that we can fear Allah continually. This is the teaching of Ramadhan, so don’t forget this lesson, my friends, after Ramadhan. Think - ‘I kept the fast due to Khawf, not drinking water or eating food or going to my wife, and I didn’t do wrong actions. According to my strength and my capacity, I tried to stop and prevent myself, and if I did do something wrong, I had regret and remorse.’ They make this Dua to Allah based on that: ‘Oh Allah, I want to maintain that Jadhbah and passion that You gave me in the fast throughout the rest of my life.’ So Ramadhan has given us this taste to acquire. How long do we keep this? SubhanAllah, this should become a part of our lives and should remain with us for as long as we live. Allah ta’ala is saying that we should keep this in existence; and the extent to which we were cautious in Ramadhan is called Taqwa, and we need to keep this Taqwa with us for the rest of our lives.
But we do not have the environment when we come out of Ramadhan. Do we have that environment? The environment ends, so the feeling ends. Where will this Majlis be? Where will the words be? So one thing is the special Noor of Ramadhan, and that evaporates, and then shaytan comes out from where he was locked up, and the emotions of a human being change. But in reality, those people who spend Ramadhan correctly maintain this; they are steadfast with this and they don’t leave this. They say ‘My objective in Ramadhan was that I practiced for thirty days in order to keep this, so how can I leave this wealth? How foolish would a person be to leave that practice.’ So, time and time again, think about this and remind yourself that Allah ta’ala has given us Ramadhan to instil Khawf inside us; Allah has not given us Ramadhan for any other reason. There is no objective other than to allow Khawf to come inside us. Khawf is the sole element that keeps us hungry and thirsty all day long, and Khawf is the sole element that will enable us to keep being obedient servants of Allah for the rest of our lives. Nothing else will do this. A person thinks ‘How can I do this? How can it be done?’ Nothing will do it, apart from instilling Khawf, instilling fear. You think like this because you do not have Khawf - so develop Khawf, instil fear.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has comprehensively prepared the way to bring this into our lives through Ramadhan. Allah is giving us this Tariqah and method through which you can bring this quality into your life permanently; you can keep it permanently thenceforth. This special Ibadah contains this. Do you remember that Hadith that I shared with you at the beginning of Ramadhan? It mentioned four things that Allah ta’ala gives us in Ramadhan. Allah says ‘This is a very important point. There are four things I am telling you about in Ramadhan, and if you practice these four actions or conditions after Ramadhan, then you will continue to get that quality and feeling and emotion that you are developing in Ramadhan after the month ends. Did I share that Hadith about Ramadhan with you in the beginning, in which I told you that two habits are particularly special and important? What is the first? Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the first was Dhikrullah. Dhikrullah. This is the greatest point of Ramadhan – Dhikrullah. Four actions are mentioned, and this was the first thing that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: ‘The first thing not to forget in Ramadhan is what? Dhikr of Allah – the remembrance of Allah. Don’t forget it and don’t leave it!’
What is the praise of Dhikr? How can I explain it to you? I will share the blessed words of Hadhrat Umar radhiAllahu anh with you. What a great Sahabi! How did he describe it? If you look in Fadhail-e-Amal, you will see this Hadith there. What is it? Hadhrat Umar radhiAllahu anh said – and this is the meaning of the Hadith - ‘Ramadhan is here, and it is passing, but the people who do Dhikr of Allah in Ramadhan are forgiven beyond forgiven!’ What a great guarantee he gives, SubhanAllah. You can do different actions and can pray Nawafil and read Qur’an – you can do all these actions in Ramadhan – but he said that the Dhakireen, those who do Dhikr in Ramadhan, are forgiven without any doubt - without any doubt. Why? Because Dhikr of Allah is that action that takes a person to that destination and creates Khawf inside him. When a person keeps a fast and does abundant Dhikr, then the Khawf penetrates him and the roots of Khawf come inside him. Say SubhanAllah. There is a reason for every Ibadah, my brothers. Dhikr has an objective – the roots of Khawf come into a person.
For example, to strengthen something, you can use concrete. I will give this example – whether I am right or wrong, I don’t know – but in a dry country, if you want to make a foundation, then the builders will water the ground a few times before pouring concrete into that ground, and then they water the ground a few more times afterwards so that when it dries, it will become solid and will not move. In Ramadhan, the habit of Khawf that is instilled inside a person to save yourself from sins and the disobedience of Allah until the evening. It is Khawf that is saving us, remember. Nothing else is saving us. The fast is not saving you, it is the Khawf of Allah. ‘Let’s wake up in the morning, because if I don’t keep the fast, Allah will be unhappy. If I drink water, what will happen? If I eat a chappati, what will happen?’ This is the Khawf that has come inside you. We do not recognise it, but in reality, it is the Khawf that is driving us forward. So alongside that, Allah ta’ala says ‘I spray the water over you so that the ground becomes solid.’ What is that? If you do abundant Dhikr, it is just like water being sprayed over that ground into which concrete has been poured, so that when you leave Ramadhan, you can stay solid and maintain those actions. Say SubhanAllah. That’s why, alhamdulillah, Dhikr of Allah and Ramadhan have a very strong connection with each other, an extremely strong connection - Dhikr of Allah and Ramadhan; remember this.
A Hadith is coming into my mind that I will share with you so that you can understand this better – I will share this Hadith with you, SubhanAllah. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated about what is in a Mu’min’s heart. Listen to this, because it is a great Hadith and a very useful Hadith, and when you sit in the company of the pious elders, it penetrates the mind, and you remember it. InshaAllah, it will penetrate your mind as well. This is the Ramadhan environment, and we are sitting in the Masjid between Asr and Maghrib; we are in Allah’s home and the objective is Dhikr, so will the words not penetrate your hearts and minds, inshaAllah? Will you not become Walis of Allah? Will you not become people with two Gardens of Paradise? You will be deserving of those two Gardens - these are the people of Paradise. Say SubhanAllah! Yes?
This is a habit that has been instilled, and we think that we are not doing anything special. If you ask a person what he attained, he will say ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything special. What did I attain? What do I deserve?’ After doing such a great action, Allah ta’ala makes him so humble that he doesn’t even feel that Allah ta’ala has enabled him and allowed him to do such a great action. This is not a minor action that we are doing – ask the angels about this action that we are about to do. Whose Sadqah is this? Hadhrat Ali Mtraza rahmatullah alayh, my Sheikh, the Wali of Allah, the friend of Allah. The foundation comes from those fountains; the spring and the river and the ocean of spirituality, come from the fountains of the Walis of Allah. The water of spirituality gushes forth - the Noor gushes forth. Whether you accept this or not, this is the reality. This is where you will see true Deen, where you will get the good news and glad tidings; Allah ta’ala’s good news is spread, just like in this Majlis. We are sat in a small gathering, but the good news and the confirmation is great indeed. When you see a small Majlis and there is solid and great news coming out, then understand that the true, Haq Deen is there. Say SubhanAllah! This is because this is a small stream that is flowing through Bolton, and where does that come from? From the foundation of the fountain of Gadai Sharif which is flooding us, with the Fadhl of Allah.
And online, alhamdulillah, the Dunya is benefitting from Allah’s good news and Allah’s rewards. Allah is saying ‘The purpose I gave Ramadhan was so that you would keep a fast and develop Khawf’ - and to establish that Khawf, Allah ta’ala is spreading that water and sprinkling that water over our fasts. Allah is saying ‘Will I not strengthen their Khawf with these actions that they are doing? They will be saved after Ramadhan; they will have these qualities and characteristics instilled that will make them keep saving themselves and protecting themselves and preventing vice. They will have Khawf as they go, and will think ‘Is this right? My heart is not accepting this – no, no, no.’’ These feelings and emotions will be developed within you inshaAllah. If something wrong comes before you, you will think ‘Is there benefit or oppression in this?’ If someone tells you there is a lot of benefit in something, you will say ‘No, it looks dangerous to me – Allah might be unhappy if I do this.’ This is the factor that Ramadhan gives us.
So what does the Hadith say? Listen to this Hadith. The wording refers to ‘That Mu’min’ – what is the word used? Mu’min – a believer, a high-class Muslim. Yes? Everyone is a Muslim, this is the general name, but Khawf, fear, is not present within everybody, SubhanAllah. Khawf is in those people who want to bring it into their lives, who want to work hard for that Khawf and to make effort, for those who strive. Do you understand what I am saying today? Why are you sitting here and struggling and making effort? What is the purpose? To create fear, to acquire Khawf inside you – say SubhanAllah. Whenever you sit to do Dhikr, this is what you get from it. You don’t need anything else from Dhikr – do you understand what I am saying? You don’t need anything else, just that the fear of Allah may come inside us. And just as that stone was crying at first out of fear, thinking ‘What will happen to me?’ people also cry, saying ‘Oh, I am going to die! I have lost out – I don’t know what to do. What shall I do? I am in loss – this has gone, that has gone.’ They cry, and they cannot sleep! If that same Khawf is transformed in the heart of a Mu’min, then sins run away so far from his body, just like dry leaves drop from a tree. That is how sins drop from the body of the Mu’min due to his Khawf, his fear of Allah. That is why it is stated that when a human being stands up from the Majlis of Dhikr of Allah, all his sins have dropped off his body like dry leaves. How many people are lost? Tell me. This Dhikr of Allah is such a great Ni’mah, but they don’t do Dhikr of Allah.
What did Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam state in this Hadith? I will go to the crux of the Hadith. What did Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam say? ‘When Khawf is developed inside a Mu’min’s heart’ – in where? In the heart of the Mu’min. It is the heart that absorbs the Khawf, not the stomach, not the hands, not the eyes, or the nose. Where? Khawf must be present in the heart, not anywhere else. So we need to correct and reform our heart, to improve our heart, and whichever human being has corrected his heart, has strengthened his heart and made his heart, then Khawf will enter that heart. The heart is not made sound through any other action – no other action can make your heart sound. I have experienced this in my life. This sounds Ajeeb, even weird – but maybe you won’t like the sound of this, and it will take your minds in another direction - I was thinking of a comparison between Dhikr and another Amal, but it may be that you will not understand. However, this was my personal experience and I tasted this in my life.
Allah gives Tawfeeq to do all A’maal in life, but my experience is that if the heart is empty, when the emotions of the heart change and improve and become reformed, there can be changes along the way. Why does Allah ta’ala change this feeling? Allah ta’ala sees that he may start to enjoy it too much, so to avoid this, Allah brings him down – this is called Qabdh, sealing of the heart. Then Allah ta’ala says ‘Now you realise that I made your heart like that and how beautiful it is, so that now you value that and appreciate that’ – and then Allah unlocks that sealed heart and opens it, SubhanAllah. The desire and the passion and the enjoyment suddenly goes, and he says ‘Where has it gone?’ You will hear this from people. He says ‘I don’t know what happened - my emotions have changed and have gone dark.’ Our Sufi colleagues say this is called Qabdh, when the heart gets sealed and the feelings are stopped. So he gets afraid, and says ‘Maybe I have committed a mistake’ – and this is his Khawf, his fear. He says ‘Allah is unhappy with me – maybe I have done something wrong. I don’t know what I have done!’ And then he screams and cries out, saying ‘May it come again!’ And then Allah unlocks him, and he gets the real enjoyment after that. So Allah seals him and then he can’t sleep, and feels upset, and he goes to his Sheikh for advice – and the Sheikh steps back as well, thinking ‘Let him struggle a little bit – let him struggle.’ Say SubhanAllah.
This is the science and the subject of Tasawwuf – but we are just running after one dish, the Aloo Ghosht! We keep breaking the fast with the same dish, but you should change the dishes and the delicacies and the food that you eat. The Tasawwuf line, the line of Sufism, is a great subject. I am saying the name Sufism, but this is not Sufism – this is Ikhlas, Tazkiyyah, purification, reformation, improvement, refining our Deen. Say SubhanAllah! So it is stated that inside the heart, when the Mu’min develops Khawf, then what happens? His condition improves, and sins fall off his body just like dry leaves fall off a tree in autumn. He is washed and purified. So brothers, the heart is made sound only by one action – Dhikr Katheer, abundant Dhikr. What does the Qur’an say?
{ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَتَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِۗ أَلَا بِذِڪۡرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ}
SubhanAllah - this is an Ajeeb and beautiful verse. Allah is saying in the Qur’an ‘Oh My servants, if you want My fear and contentment, what is the action that gives the heart contentment?’ { تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ } What is the action that gives the heart contentment? Think about this. What is mentioned here? { أَلَا بِذِڪۡرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ} We think ‘Oh I can’t sleep – let me do Dhikr.’ If you can’t go to sleep easily because you are afraid and worried, then you think you should do Dhikr of Allah for then Sakeenah will come and you can go to sleep. No, this is not the Sakeenah that is meant here. There is another meaning of { تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ}, which is that this refers to the heart that is only happy with the pleasure of Allah. That is the contentment and satisfaction we are looking for, and that satisfaction and contentment can only be got via Dhikr of Allah – only from Dhikrullah. And the name of this contentment is fear of Allah! We call this contentment and peace, but having peace and contentment in the heart in reality means having fear of Allah. Through fear of Allah, your heart will be content, and through fear of Allah, your heart will be satisfied and at peace. When there is no other fear, that is when Sakeenah comes – there are no other worries. When Allah says { ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَتَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ}, He is saying ‘It is Dhikr, My remembrance, that instils the real Khawf and contentment and satisfaction. This is only attained via the Dhikr of Allah.’ Everything else is shunned and removed from the heart, and he has no concern about anything else in his heart. There is no room for anything else, only one fear. Allah ta’ala instils His fear into that person’s heart.
So, my brothers, Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us Ramadhan, and everything is being refreshed and revived and renewed with the Fadhl of Allah. But the final point comes again, which is that success comes via the Dhikr of Allah - so do Dhikr cautiously, and carefully, and regularly. This is a very great Sabaq that we have discussed today, so when we feel inside us that we are weak and are going up and down, and we think we are not following the Deen and the high grade Sunnahs, then consider that we are without Khawf, and we need to bring Khawf back into us. And to bring Khawf inside, we need to do Dhikr Katheer on our hearts. Keep working hard more on the heart and more again. There is only one path by which we can mould the heart and refine it and improve it and bring Khawf back into the heart - and then we can start to obey Allah on that path and journey.
May Allah ta’ala give us this life of true Khawf. Ameen
If we look at the number of illnesses, a person cannot see how many illnesses there are. They keep coming, and they have different names and types - they keep coming and they increase. In reality, there is one particular illness, and this is a very dangerous illness for there is no real cure. Every human being, in some way, somehow, in some fashion or other, on some level or basis, is occupied by this sickness. This happens, and it undoubtedly does affect people. That sicknesses is Khawf – fear.
Khawf is a unique illness. This sickness is such that whoever is afflicted by this disease has no interest left in the Dunya. He is in the Dunya, but he has no interest left. Whether it is eating, drinking or sleeping, he doesn’t enjoy any condition of life in the world. Khawf makes a person totally useless. If you ask a person what is wrong with him, he doesn’t even know the name of the illness; he cannot define it or explain it, but he continues to rotate in the cycle of Khawf. He doesn’t realise himself what is afflicting him and will think ‘What is wrong with me?’ - the poor soul becomes extremely down, upset and worries. The effects of this sickness are extremely varied among people. Sometimes a person starts becoming scared of very small things, thinking ‘If this should occur, then what will happen?’ or ‘Will I get a loss due to this?’ – he gets upset due to his own thinking.
So there are different ways that you can see the sickness manifest itself; you can’t even call it an internal sickness - it is Ajeeb. And this is in every human being – understand this point. Some people have it more intensely and strongly, and some less; in some, there is fear of one thing, while another person is frightened of something else. Somebody is scared of poverty, while another person is afraid of something else. In other words, in some way or other, Khawf is always affecting a person. There is always something that makes a person fearful, afraid and anxious, SubhanAllah.
But if you can cure this, then SubhanAllah, this same Khawf can become a great Rahmah of Allah – consider this point as well. Why? We don’t cure this correctly and address it in the right way, because we don’t want to understand it and we don’t understand it – that’s why we don’t get the right cure from it. Otherwise, this sickness is a great Rahmah from the mercies of Allah – it is a great mercy. How is it a great mercy? When you flip this sickness and point it the other way, towards Allah, then this sickness takes a person to the high level, the level of a Wali of Allah – look at this point.
A person becomes such a great Wali of Allah that a person receives an Ajeeb reward – Allah ta’ala has mentioned this reward in the Qur’an. {وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ (٤٦) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} – SubhanAllah. Allah ta’ala is saying that this is for His servant who leaves the fear of the world and develops fear of Allah, thinking ‘Tomorrow, I will have to stand in front of my Rabb, and then what answer will I give to my Lord?’ SubhanAllah. ‘How will I answer? What will my condition be? If I don’t pray my Salah correctly, if I don’t live my life correctly, if I do not give people their rights, and if I am not cautious in my life, then what will happen to me?’ This is the same Khawf, but its direction has been turned to the fear of Allah – the fear changes and is now fear of Allah. When that fear changes, it brings such a great reward. Allah ta’ala makes this reward in such a way that, while all the people who come to Jannah will get one Garden of Paradise, those who come with this Ibadah of Khawf instilled inside them will get two Gardens of Paradise - SubhanAllah. {وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ} So the fact is that we need to utilise this state of Khawf in the right way; we need to turn towards the right direction.
So this Khawf is fear of Allah, and when we take this fear we have within and turn it towards Allah and use it and focus it for this, it becomes a fantastic feeling and condition. If we look at relatives, then if we have this Khawf within, due to this correctly directed fear, a person starts to leave his disobedience to Allah. Nobody says anything to him, he just starts to change. He says ‘No, no’ to himself, and follows Allah’s orders. He was praying Salah, but then this same Khawf makes him start praying in congregation. He says ‘I’ m not enjoying myself here – I need to pray the high-level Salah and join the first row of the Jamah.’ And when he leaves that Salah, he cries due to this increase in his Khawf, and he thinks ‘What is going on here?’ So at every footstep, this Khawf is pushing him and dragging him towards Allah - SubhanAllah.
This same Khawf that gave him difficulty and distress in the world, when he turns it towards Allah and focuses the fear on Allah, then that Khawf takes him towards Allah’s obedience, step by step. He becomes a person who prays great Salah, and he becomes a great Muttaqi; he progresses and progresses until he becomes a high level Muttaqi, a person with a high level of fear of Allah. And when he becomes a high level Muttaqi, Allah ta’ala opens the doors of His mercy to him and the doors of His grace and His Fadhl and His blessings – and you know this verse:
{وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ (٤٦) فَبِأَىِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} Allah is saying ‘Which Ni’mah of Mine will you continue to reject? This Khawf is a Ni’mah of Mine –you are not understanding this because you are rejecting it and shunning it.’ Attain Khawf – you should have Khawf and fear; if you do not have Khawf, then you cannot progress. Without Khawf, you cannot be a true human being – when you have Khawf, then Taqwa will come.
So now, what is Khawf? SubhanAllah. One group of angels, from the beginning of time, were given a particular Ibadah, which is Sajdah. Until Qiyamah, those angels will do this Ibadah to Allah. Those that were given Ruku’ will remain bowing until then. Whichever condition or position and in whichever place Allah has instructed, the angels stay there doing that action. Now tell me, imagine how much they recognise their Lord and are in awe. There are prostrations until the seventh heaven, angels prostrating in that same position, and on the Day of Qiyamah, they will raise their heads and will be overwhelmed, saying ‘Ya Allah, we could not fulfil the right of Your Ibadah’ – Allahu Akbar. When a human being attains fear, then he gets all these feelings within him, and then that Khawf does not remain as Khawf. It starts to change into something that gives him a unique taste and enjoyment. Before, his Khawf would make him cry and he would think it was a difficulty and an issue, but now that Khawf gives him enjoyment and satisfaction.
Hadhrat Musa alayhi salam used to speak to Allah – he was Kalimul-llah – and once when he was walking, he saw a stone crying. Musa alayhi salam said ‘Why are you crying, oh stone?’ It replied ‘Oh Nabi of Allah, Allah ta’ala has said that stones will be the fuel of hellfire, so I am afraid that I may be one of those stones that will be the fuel of hell – that is why I am crying. So when you go to Allah, please make Dua for me that I am not one of the stones that will the fuel of the hellfire.’ So Allah’s Nabi Musa alayhi salam made Dua and Allah accepted that Dua, so Musa alayhi salam went back and gave the stone the good news – and the stone was very happy. After some time, he was passing by that stone again and he found the stone crying again. He said ‘What is the matter now? Why are you crying now that Allah ta’ala has given you salvation and has said that you will not be in the hellfire.’ The stone said, ‘Oh Nabi of Allah, I was crying then due to Khawf, but now I am crying out of love and enjoyment!’ Allahu Akbar. So when Khawf transforms into love, into Muhabbat, he doesn’t have fear of the world, and he doesn’t have fear of death, and he doesn’t have fear of poverty, and he doesn’t have fear about what people will say or what they will do – all fear disappears because the fear of Allah overwhelms a person and overtakes him. May Allah ta’ala give us all this type of life.
This is the real life of Mu’min actually, the genuine life. We wander around filled with Khawf and fear – fear piled upon fear – and that fear destroys a person’s life. But in fact, what Allah wants to happen will happen. You can only get the Rizq that Allah wants to give you, but due to fear, we die for Rizq and run after Haram. Due to that Khawf, a person goes from her to there to there; all the bad and negative things that he does are due to Khawf. He does them out of fear, thinking ‘If I don’t do this, this will happen to me; and if I don’t do that, something else will follow; and if I don’t do this, then what will happen?’ - there is always another turn and another turn. In other words, the direction of life is tangled. But if he has Khawf of Allah, he thinks ‘If I disobey Allah in this way, what will happen? If I don’t please Allah, what will happen?’ In other words, his life turns around 180 degrees, SubhanAllah.
My brothers, Ramadhan starts with this, alhamdulillah. It makes us practice all these points – say SubhanAllah! I explained this to you before – Ramadhan is such a great month, so how would it not deal with this? The Ruh of Ramadhan is instilling the fear into people – this is the Ruh of Ramadhan. Allah says ‘Oh Ramadhan, plant fear into these people!’ I swear by Allah, if a human being gets the correct fear, this takes away all the fear of the world. Firawn didn’t have this Khawf, Nimrud didn’t have this Khawf - the less Khawf of Allah, the higher the disobedience of Allah. Nothing else comes into such a mind and so he cannot understand the truth. All logic and truth and correct understand leave when the Khawf of Allah comes out; he becomes shameless, and he has no fear of anything around him. When there is no fear of Allah in a heart, then all other fear comes out. The person without fear of Allah becomes the biggest sinner and the highest in disobedience. By contrast, the closest to Allah is he who has the most correct Khawf. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘The one fears Allah ta’ala most is me!’ – SubhanAllah. That is why he was closest to Allah - sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
Now if we look at this point here, the angels cry after their prostration and say ‘Ya Allah, we could not fulfil the right of Your prostration’, but we humans don’t even worry or even know about whether we have prayed our Salah correctly because we have no Khawf, no fear. This is despite the fact that the angels do not have the Qur’an – in reality, the angels do not even read the Qur’an. Do the angels have the Qur’an? They do not read it. Which angels read the Qur’an? They are free of this obligation, apart from one angel, Hadhrat Jibreel alayhi salam – he does read the Qur’an, SubhanAllah. This honour to read the Qur’an has been given to human beings - say SubhanAllah! Allah ta’ala has given our tongues to us so that we can recite Qur’an – no angel reads the Qur’an. They just get given one action and they continue with that. This honour has been selected for this Ummah – Allah ta’ala has gifted the Qur’an to us, so think how we should be connected to this Qur’an.
So when this Khawf of Allah leaves a human being, then he becomes immodest and has no shame; he becomes extremely disobedient and sinful - there are no limits for him - but when Khawf of Allah comes, then there is no greater human being than that person. Yes? He is not worried about any other issue, and due to the Khawf of Allah, he automatically starts obeying Allah and following the instructions. So Ramadhan, alhamdulillah, starts with this point, because when a person starts keeping a fast, what stops him from drinking water? What stops him from committing acts of disobedience? What prevents him from these things? There is one passion that does so, for he thinks ‘No – Allah will be unhappy if I do these actions or if I disobey.’ He saves himself from that disobedience and thinks ‘I don’t want to commit this wrong.’ If that fasting person is doing this until the evening, thinking all day ‘No, I don’t want to disobey Allah or upset Allah. I am keeping a fast, so I don’t want to do this action.’ As much as possible he does this, according to his capacity. The more Khawf he has as he continues his fast, as he gets to evening, Allah ta’ala announces ‘This person has become a Muttaqi. {لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ} - He has upheld and attained the objective for which I gave him the fast!’
We practice this for the thirty days of Ramadhan so that we instil this Khawf within us permanently. Yes? Not temporary Khawf. Ramadhan is making us obedient servants of Allah because we didn’t have Khawf before. Oh Allah – keep us like this! Maintain this feeling inside us - we don’t want this to be temporary. Rather, oh Allah, allow permanent Khawf to come into us so that we can fear Allah continually. This is the teaching of Ramadhan, so don’t forget this lesson, my friends, after Ramadhan. Think - ‘I kept the fast due to Khawf, not drinking water or eating food or going to my wife, and I didn’t do wrong actions. According to my strength and my capacity, I tried to stop and prevent myself, and if I did do something wrong, I had regret and remorse.’ They make this Dua to Allah based on that: ‘Oh Allah, I want to maintain that Jadhbah and passion that You gave me in the fast throughout the rest of my life.’ So Ramadhan has given us this taste to acquire. How long do we keep this? SubhanAllah, this should become a part of our lives and should remain with us for as long as we live. Allah ta’ala is saying that we should keep this in existence; and the extent to which we were cautious in Ramadhan is called Taqwa, and we need to keep this Taqwa with us for the rest of our lives.
But we do not have the environment when we come out of Ramadhan. Do we have that environment? The environment ends, so the feeling ends. Where will this Majlis be? Where will the words be? So one thing is the special Noor of Ramadhan, and that evaporates, and then shaytan comes out from where he was locked up, and the emotions of a human being change. But in reality, those people who spend Ramadhan correctly maintain this; they are steadfast with this and they don’t leave this. They say ‘My objective in Ramadhan was that I practiced for thirty days in order to keep this, so how can I leave this wealth? How foolish would a person be to leave that practice.’ So, time and time again, think about this and remind yourself that Allah ta’ala has given us Ramadhan to instil Khawf inside us; Allah has not given us Ramadhan for any other reason. There is no objective other than to allow Khawf to come inside us. Khawf is the sole element that keeps us hungry and thirsty all day long, and Khawf is the sole element that will enable us to keep being obedient servants of Allah for the rest of our lives. Nothing else will do this. A person thinks ‘How can I do this? How can it be done?’ Nothing will do it, apart from instilling Khawf, instilling fear. You think like this because you do not have Khawf - so develop Khawf, instil fear.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has comprehensively prepared the way to bring this into our lives through Ramadhan. Allah is giving us this Tariqah and method through which you can bring this quality into your life permanently; you can keep it permanently thenceforth. This special Ibadah contains this. Do you remember that Hadith that I shared with you at the beginning of Ramadhan? It mentioned four things that Allah ta’ala gives us in Ramadhan. Allah says ‘This is a very important point. There are four things I am telling you about in Ramadhan, and if you practice these four actions or conditions after Ramadhan, then you will continue to get that quality and feeling and emotion that you are developing in Ramadhan after the month ends. Did I share that Hadith about Ramadhan with you in the beginning, in which I told you that two habits are particularly special and important? What is the first? Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the first was Dhikrullah. Dhikrullah. This is the greatest point of Ramadhan – Dhikrullah. Four actions are mentioned, and this was the first thing that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said: ‘The first thing not to forget in Ramadhan is what? Dhikr of Allah – the remembrance of Allah. Don’t forget it and don’t leave it!’
What is the praise of Dhikr? How can I explain it to you? I will share the blessed words of Hadhrat Umar radhiAllahu anh with you. What a great Sahabi! How did he describe it? If you look in Fadhail-e-Amal, you will see this Hadith there. What is it? Hadhrat Umar radhiAllahu anh said – and this is the meaning of the Hadith - ‘Ramadhan is here, and it is passing, but the people who do Dhikr of Allah in Ramadhan are forgiven beyond forgiven!’ What a great guarantee he gives, SubhanAllah. You can do different actions and can pray Nawafil and read Qur’an – you can do all these actions in Ramadhan – but he said that the Dhakireen, those who do Dhikr in Ramadhan, are forgiven without any doubt - without any doubt. Why? Because Dhikr of Allah is that action that takes a person to that destination and creates Khawf inside him. When a person keeps a fast and does abundant Dhikr, then the Khawf penetrates him and the roots of Khawf come inside him. Say SubhanAllah. There is a reason for every Ibadah, my brothers. Dhikr has an objective – the roots of Khawf come into a person.
For example, to strengthen something, you can use concrete. I will give this example – whether I am right or wrong, I don’t know – but in a dry country, if you want to make a foundation, then the builders will water the ground a few times before pouring concrete into that ground, and then they water the ground a few more times afterwards so that when it dries, it will become solid and will not move. In Ramadhan, the habit of Khawf that is instilled inside a person to save yourself from sins and the disobedience of Allah until the evening. It is Khawf that is saving us, remember. Nothing else is saving us. The fast is not saving you, it is the Khawf of Allah. ‘Let’s wake up in the morning, because if I don’t keep the fast, Allah will be unhappy. If I drink water, what will happen? If I eat a chappati, what will happen?’ This is the Khawf that has come inside you. We do not recognise it, but in reality, it is the Khawf that is driving us forward. So alongside that, Allah ta’ala says ‘I spray the water over you so that the ground becomes solid.’ What is that? If you do abundant Dhikr, it is just like water being sprayed over that ground into which concrete has been poured, so that when you leave Ramadhan, you can stay solid and maintain those actions. Say SubhanAllah. That’s why, alhamdulillah, Dhikr of Allah and Ramadhan have a very strong connection with each other, an extremely strong connection - Dhikr of Allah and Ramadhan; remember this.
A Hadith is coming into my mind that I will share with you so that you can understand this better – I will share this Hadith with you, SubhanAllah. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated about what is in a Mu’min’s heart. Listen to this, because it is a great Hadith and a very useful Hadith, and when you sit in the company of the pious elders, it penetrates the mind, and you remember it. InshaAllah, it will penetrate your mind as well. This is the Ramadhan environment, and we are sitting in the Masjid between Asr and Maghrib; we are in Allah’s home and the objective is Dhikr, so will the words not penetrate your hearts and minds, inshaAllah? Will you not become Walis of Allah? Will you not become people with two Gardens of Paradise? You will be deserving of those two Gardens - these are the people of Paradise. Say SubhanAllah! Yes?
This is a habit that has been instilled, and we think that we are not doing anything special. If you ask a person what he attained, he will say ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything special. What did I attain? What do I deserve?’ After doing such a great action, Allah ta’ala makes him so humble that he doesn’t even feel that Allah ta’ala has enabled him and allowed him to do such a great action. This is not a minor action that we are doing – ask the angels about this action that we are about to do. Whose Sadqah is this? Hadhrat Ali Mtraza rahmatullah alayh, my Sheikh, the Wali of Allah, the friend of Allah. The foundation comes from those fountains; the spring and the river and the ocean of spirituality, come from the fountains of the Walis of Allah. The water of spirituality gushes forth - the Noor gushes forth. Whether you accept this or not, this is the reality. This is where you will see true Deen, where you will get the good news and glad tidings; Allah ta’ala’s good news is spread, just like in this Majlis. We are sat in a small gathering, but the good news and the confirmation is great indeed. When you see a small Majlis and there is solid and great news coming out, then understand that the true, Haq Deen is there. Say SubhanAllah! This is because this is a small stream that is flowing through Bolton, and where does that come from? From the foundation of the fountain of Gadai Sharif which is flooding us, with the Fadhl of Allah.
And online, alhamdulillah, the Dunya is benefitting from Allah’s good news and Allah’s rewards. Allah is saying ‘The purpose I gave Ramadhan was so that you would keep a fast and develop Khawf’ - and to establish that Khawf, Allah ta’ala is spreading that water and sprinkling that water over our fasts. Allah is saying ‘Will I not strengthen their Khawf with these actions that they are doing? They will be saved after Ramadhan; they will have these qualities and characteristics instilled that will make them keep saving themselves and protecting themselves and preventing vice. They will have Khawf as they go, and will think ‘Is this right? My heart is not accepting this – no, no, no.’’ These feelings and emotions will be developed within you inshaAllah. If something wrong comes before you, you will think ‘Is there benefit or oppression in this?’ If someone tells you there is a lot of benefit in something, you will say ‘No, it looks dangerous to me – Allah might be unhappy if I do this.’ This is the factor that Ramadhan gives us.
So what does the Hadith say? Listen to this Hadith. The wording refers to ‘That Mu’min’ – what is the word used? Mu’min – a believer, a high-class Muslim. Yes? Everyone is a Muslim, this is the general name, but Khawf, fear, is not present within everybody, SubhanAllah. Khawf is in those people who want to bring it into their lives, who want to work hard for that Khawf and to make effort, for those who strive. Do you understand what I am saying today? Why are you sitting here and struggling and making effort? What is the purpose? To create fear, to acquire Khawf inside you – say SubhanAllah. Whenever you sit to do Dhikr, this is what you get from it. You don’t need anything else from Dhikr – do you understand what I am saying? You don’t need anything else, just that the fear of Allah may come inside us. And just as that stone was crying at first out of fear, thinking ‘What will happen to me?’ people also cry, saying ‘Oh, I am going to die! I have lost out – I don’t know what to do. What shall I do? I am in loss – this has gone, that has gone.’ They cry, and they cannot sleep! If that same Khawf is transformed in the heart of a Mu’min, then sins run away so far from his body, just like dry leaves drop from a tree. That is how sins drop from the body of the Mu’min due to his Khawf, his fear of Allah. That is why it is stated that when a human being stands up from the Majlis of Dhikr of Allah, all his sins have dropped off his body like dry leaves. How many people are lost? Tell me. This Dhikr of Allah is such a great Ni’mah, but they don’t do Dhikr of Allah.
What did Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam state in this Hadith? I will go to the crux of the Hadith. What did Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam say? ‘When Khawf is developed inside a Mu’min’s heart’ – in where? In the heart of the Mu’min. It is the heart that absorbs the Khawf, not the stomach, not the hands, not the eyes, or the nose. Where? Khawf must be present in the heart, not anywhere else. So we need to correct and reform our heart, to improve our heart, and whichever human being has corrected his heart, has strengthened his heart and made his heart, then Khawf will enter that heart. The heart is not made sound through any other action – no other action can make your heart sound. I have experienced this in my life. This sounds Ajeeb, even weird – but maybe you won’t like the sound of this, and it will take your minds in another direction - I was thinking of a comparison between Dhikr and another Amal, but it may be that you will not understand. However, this was my personal experience and I tasted this in my life.
Allah gives Tawfeeq to do all A’maal in life, but my experience is that if the heart is empty, when the emotions of the heart change and improve and become reformed, there can be changes along the way. Why does Allah ta’ala change this feeling? Allah ta’ala sees that he may start to enjoy it too much, so to avoid this, Allah brings him down – this is called Qabdh, sealing of the heart. Then Allah ta’ala says ‘Now you realise that I made your heart like that and how beautiful it is, so that now you value that and appreciate that’ – and then Allah unlocks that sealed heart and opens it, SubhanAllah. The desire and the passion and the enjoyment suddenly goes, and he says ‘Where has it gone?’ You will hear this from people. He says ‘I don’t know what happened - my emotions have changed and have gone dark.’ Our Sufi colleagues say this is called Qabdh, when the heart gets sealed and the feelings are stopped. So he gets afraid, and says ‘Maybe I have committed a mistake’ – and this is his Khawf, his fear. He says ‘Allah is unhappy with me – maybe I have done something wrong. I don’t know what I have done!’ And then he screams and cries out, saying ‘May it come again!’ And then Allah unlocks him, and he gets the real enjoyment after that. So Allah seals him and then he can’t sleep, and feels upset, and he goes to his Sheikh for advice – and the Sheikh steps back as well, thinking ‘Let him struggle a little bit – let him struggle.’ Say SubhanAllah.
This is the science and the subject of Tasawwuf – but we are just running after one dish, the Aloo Ghosht! We keep breaking the fast with the same dish, but you should change the dishes and the delicacies and the food that you eat. The Tasawwuf line, the line of Sufism, is a great subject. I am saying the name Sufism, but this is not Sufism – this is Ikhlas, Tazkiyyah, purification, reformation, improvement, refining our Deen. Say SubhanAllah! So it is stated that inside the heart, when the Mu’min develops Khawf, then what happens? His condition improves, and sins fall off his body just like dry leaves fall off a tree in autumn. He is washed and purified. So brothers, the heart is made sound only by one action – Dhikr Katheer, abundant Dhikr. What does the Qur’an say?
{ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَتَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِۗ أَلَا بِذِڪۡرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ}
SubhanAllah - this is an Ajeeb and beautiful verse. Allah is saying in the Qur’an ‘Oh My servants, if you want My fear and contentment, what is the action that gives the heart contentment?’ { تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ } What is the action that gives the heart contentment? Think about this. What is mentioned here? { أَلَا بِذِڪۡرِ ٱللَّهِ تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ ٱلۡقُلُوبُ} We think ‘Oh I can’t sleep – let me do Dhikr.’ If you can’t go to sleep easily because you are afraid and worried, then you think you should do Dhikr of Allah for then Sakeenah will come and you can go to sleep. No, this is not the Sakeenah that is meant here. There is another meaning of { تَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ}, which is that this refers to the heart that is only happy with the pleasure of Allah. That is the contentment and satisfaction we are looking for, and that satisfaction and contentment can only be got via Dhikr of Allah – only from Dhikrullah. And the name of this contentment is fear of Allah! We call this contentment and peace, but having peace and contentment in the heart in reality means having fear of Allah. Through fear of Allah, your heart will be content, and through fear of Allah, your heart will be satisfied and at peace. When there is no other fear, that is when Sakeenah comes – there are no other worries. When Allah says { ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَتَطۡمَٮِٕنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكۡرِ ٱللَّهِ}, He is saying ‘It is Dhikr, My remembrance, that instils the real Khawf and contentment and satisfaction. This is only attained via the Dhikr of Allah.’ Everything else is shunned and removed from the heart, and he has no concern about anything else in his heart. There is no room for anything else, only one fear. Allah ta’ala instils His fear into that person’s heart.
So, my brothers, Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us Ramadhan, and everything is being refreshed and revived and renewed with the Fadhl of Allah. But the final point comes again, which is that success comes via the Dhikr of Allah - so do Dhikr cautiously, and carefully, and regularly. This is a very great Sabaq that we have discussed today, so when we feel inside us that we are weak and are going up and down, and we think we are not following the Deen and the high grade Sunnahs, then consider that we are without Khawf, and we need to bring Khawf back into us. And to bring Khawf inside, we need to do Dhikr Katheer on our hearts. Keep working hard more on the heart and more again. There is only one path by which we can mould the heart and refine it and improve it and bring Khawf back into the heart - and then we can start to obey Allah on that path and journey.
May Allah ta’ala give us this life of true Khawf. Ameen