How Can Worries be Turned into Rahmah?
Allah subhana wa ta'ala is the Creator of the Universe and He has created the Khulq in the manner of His choosing. Every single thing that Allah ta’ala has made is based upon His Wisdom, upon His Hikmah. Allah has made the night, and alongside that, He made the day; and Allah subhana wa ta'ala made light and He also made darkness; and Allah created heat, and He also created cool temperatures. In other words, everything that Allah has made has been created with something else that goes with it. Human beings are the Ashraf-al-Makhluqaat, the highest of created things, and Allah ta’ala gives the human being life, and Allah ta’ala made something that goes with it, a feature which is essential, and without which you cannot say that a person has life – and that feature is difficulties and problems. To experience these is part of life, a factor that comes with life, in the same way that there is light and darkness, or the sun and the moon. Human beings have been created in such a way that in their lives, problems and difficulties are an essential ingredient, whether sickness or other ups and downs; these will certainly be attached to the life of a human being.
This is the reality of life - it is composed of two aspects: one is the everyday life that we live, and the other, without which it is not complete, consists of the challenges that we have to face. A child, even a very small child, has difficulties as soon as it is born. Whether the child is young or older, and in whatever phase of life a person passes through, difficulties, problems, challenges and tests will come; a person cannot avoid these things. Nobody has passed a life without these until today - every human being is included in this. Allah has not just selected a few people for negative things to happen to, such that some do not have this experience at all – no. Every human being has to face this, whether a person is sinful or he is good, whether he prays Salah or he doesn’t pray, whether he is a friend of Allah or a Ghawth or a Qutb – whatever level of person he is - so much so that the Prophets, who are the highest category of people, also faced this. They had to live their lives as well, and if you look at the history of any Prophet, you will see that he faced issues, worries, difficulties and predicaments. This is compulsory for everyone. If Allah ta’ala gives problems and difficulties to such a high class of people as the Prophets, this means that it cannot be something bad, SubhanAllah, so don’t be afraid of these issues.
Why do we run away from these issues then? This itself has become a big problem today. This is all part of the flow of life, and a person who rejects this reality of life is a failure; he will never succeed if he cannot face up to its challenges. He tries to ignore this reality and complains about his problems and challenges and says there are too many tests. ‘Why me?’ he says. What does he expect? What else does he want? If he wants to live, then he must remember that tests come with life. If Allah ta’ala has given life, then He has attached challenges to that, and you can’t run away from those challenges. I have given you the examples – everyone is included. It is not a matter of what we like and what we don’t like; rather, we should accept that these problems are actually good for us, especially in view of the fact that the Prophets alyahimu-s-Salam, those great personalities, themselves faced challenges and problems. Likewise, look at the lives of the noble Companions radhiAllahu anhum – all of history bears out this fact. This is the reality.
We might say that this is not good – who wants to have problems and worries and sadness? Nobody wants these things, but we have to consider what is behind all of this. The Hikmah of Allah subhana wa ta'ala is most definitely behind this, and we need to understand this because we need to live our lives in such a way that enables us to take benefit from everything that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given to us. This is a very big aspect of life, so how can we take benefit from it? Tell me. If we do not understand it and reflect on it, we cannot take that benefit, and if we do not, it is because we are ignorant and do not understand it. This is the Tadabbur and the Tafakkar that the Qur’an speaks about; Allah is urging us to ponder and analyze and think about the Universe and about Creation, and when we do ponder and analyze, then we will attain. It is not enough just to have routine of getting up, having breakfast, praying Salah, going to work, coming home and then going to sleep. Is that all there is to life? Tell me. It is such a big loss for a human being that Allah ta’ala has given us issues and difficulties and yet we are not taking the benefit from them. When a problem or difficulty comes, all we think of is ‘May this problem go far from me. I don’t want to be affected, and I don’t want to be included in that group. Let me escape this and be free from it.’ That is our mentality and approach all the time.
Look, let us hear the blessed statement of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is a beautiful Hadith in which Allah subhana wa ta'ala shows that these difficulties are a Ni’mah, a treasure. Yes? These difficulties and problems are a treasure that Allah ta’ala gives to human beings, to His servants. Allah gives issues to His beloved servants as a Ni’mah, a treasure, but we don’t consider it to be a Ni’mah. We only have one definition of Ni’mah, which is to avoid any difficulty in life, to have good food and tasty dishes, to get whatever we want, and to have everything in accordance with our own needs and requirements. That’s what we regard as a Ni’mah. If my shop is progressing and flourishing, if I have the children that I wanted and the house that I wanted, we think that this is a Ni’mah. This is our definition of a Ni’mah, a treasure from Allah, but Allah ta’ala says that there are different forms of Ni’mah in this world; the issue is that we don’t recognize them because Allah gives in His own style and manner.
If you want to understand the definition of Ni’mah, then listen to the words of this humble Faqeer. If you like them, then accept them; otherwise, reject them. I will explain what the definition of a Ni’mah is, what a gift and a treasure from Allah really is. A treasure from Allah includes everything that brings about a consequence that is better for you. Do you understand what I am saying to you? In other words, if something is good for our Akhirah, then it is a Ni’mah, in reality. That is a real treasure. Salah is a great Ni’mah, but think about how much difficulty you have to go through for your prayers; you have to crush your Nafs to make Wudhu first and then leave home and all the things that you might want to do, and then take time to rush to the Masjid – why? What is the logic behind coming to pray Salah in the Masjid? This is done because goodness in the Hereafter will result – say SubhanAllah. Remember – difficulty, doing Wudhu, leaving your shop, rushing, leaving your bed and your sleep, rubbing your eyes, all of this tells you that your Salah is for what? That from that Salah, that one Salah, your Hereafter will improve; you will see it in the Akhirah. This is the definition of Ni’mah – if your result in the Hereafter becomes better, then that it is a Ni’mah. So even if something difficult ends up giving you a good result in the Hereafter, then it is a Ni’mah – SubhanAllah.
So should you leave the Ni’mahs that Allah gives you if they will result in betterment for your Akhirah? Do you leave these Ni’mahs, these gifts from Allah? SubhanAllah, we leave the Ni’mahs of problems and difficulties – we don’t accept these as Ni’mahs. How ungrateful a person is who runs away when Allah gives him a Ni’mah, saying ‘Oh no, no, no – I don’t want problems or difficulties.’ It is sad to say that it is a big Munkar who behaves like this – do you understand the word Munkar? A person who denies Islam is a Munkar, the one who denies Deen is a Munkar, so that makes us rejecters if we deny the blessings that Allah has given to us – such big rejecters. We say ‘I don’t want this difficulty,’ or ‘This is not what I need,’ or ‘My life has been turned upside down,’ and we get depressed as we plunge into a dark mood about it; we fall into depression and forget Allah. We leave Allah and distance ourselves from Allah. We say ‘Oh, this has happened to me, so I don’t believe anymore. Why is this happening just to me? Why me?’
You see so many people in the world today who have left Allah for this reason, thinking ‘Why am I getting all these problems? Is this only in my destiny? Why not other people?’ Imagine these statements! They are Munkars of Allah’s Ni’mah, rejecters of Allah’s Ni’mah. Allah has given them a Ni’mah but they reject and deny it. They make it into a punishment by falling into depression and mental illness, and they reject Allah; they leave Allah and become Munkars of the Ambiya alyahimus-Salam. They say such weird things and they think that the proofs of the Qur’an are useless – they reject the proofs of the Qur’an and will not accept them, Allahu Akbar. This makes them Munkars of these big Ni’mahs that Allah ta’ala has given them. It is not as if we can say that the Prophets of Allah did not get problems. Did the Sahaba-e-Kiram not have problems, and did the Sahabiahs not have problems? Did they not have issues and have to pass through trials and difficulties? Tell me. Yes, but they embraced every challenge that came their way, because they knew that they were Ni’mahs from Allah; they knew.
And another big point is that when Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has himself defined the issue for us, then what is there to worry about? SubhanAllah. Difficulties, challenges, hurdles, obstacles – a person should not deny or reject these things, and he shouldn’t get scared. Rather, he should think ‘What is the Hikmah in this issue that Allah ta’ala has given me?’ Seek Allah’s Hikmah in every twist and turn. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said this. Look here – this is an Ajeeb point, a unique point - all the greatest Ambiya and Awliya and Qutbs and the Ghawths, were immersed in problems. We all think that our problems are the biggest problems around – this applies to all those sitting in the gathering here. Everyone has their own particular problem, say a mental health issue, or children problems, or physical health problems, or societal issues – everyone will have something, an illness or whatever – and for him, that problem is the biggest problem in the world, not other people’s problems. If I have an earache, I think ‘Oh, this is the worst problem in the world; I am in the worst position.’ If one person has heart problems, another will think ‘No, my issue is the worst – I need a stomach operation, so I am in the worst situation imaginable.’ A person becomes a Munkar of everything that happens around him. In reality, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the decree of Allah subhana wa ta'ala is saying something else, namely, that these problems occur when Allah ta’ala wants to give a human being a lofty, elevated place in Jannah - say SubhanAllah.
Look at this. On one hand is a person who is a Munkar because he is running away from the reality of life, and on the other is a person who embraces the Ni’mahs of Allah – and look where that will take him. It will take him to the highest levels of Paradise – and all due to this different way of thinking. Shaytan has affected the first person, but the second type of person thinks in a different way. When shaytan controls the mindset of a person, he changes the way a person thinks, but the other type of person thinks ‘Oh Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said that these challenges are the ways in which Allah ta’ala takes the believers to the heights, to the highest levels of Paradise in the Hereafter.’ There are many levels of Paradise, and Allah is saying ‘When I want to take someone to the highest level of Paradise in the Hereafter, what do I do? I make him occupied with issues and tests, whether children problems, body problems, mental health problems, feelings, emotions, thoughts.’ Someone might even go mad, but Allah ta’ala says that there are different ways and styles and standards, and He knows best about the situations that He puts a person in.
Allah ta’ala gives a unique example here, because everyone thinks that his or her difficulty is the biggest thing in the world. Take a small child, for example; the biggest difficulty for a small child will be when their favourite toy gets broken. We laugh, and say ‘What is wrong with you, child? Why are you crying just because your toy is broken?’ But the child carries on screaming and wailing, saying ‘Oh my toy car!’ He stops eating and sleeping, because for him that toy was the most valuable thing he had. And everyone has their own particular love and attraction, and the issues that Allah gives may reflect this, but when Allah ta’ala gives compensation for the loss, then that person forgets all their issues. Allah says ‘I will compensate a person for all the difficulties, pain and trouble that he is experiencing, and will give him a high-level reward.’ Say SubhanAllah.
So is it not a great Ibadah to endure these problems? Tell me. Allah ta’ala has given this great Ibadah to human beings, but we run away from this. A person goes mad while running away from it, thinking about it so much that he beats himself up about it and becomes crazy. He continually scolds himself about the issue in his mind – { إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيۡهِ رَٲجِعُون}. Think about this, brothers; why do we put ourselves into these emotionally problematic situations? Allah ta’ala has given us life for a set amount of time, and for as long as we are in the world, Allah will give us our Rizq. One person may be in Pakistan, another has set up in England, a third has gone to Dubai; nobody can organize his life according to his own desire, doing what he wants to do and being what he wants to be – nobody. Allah is in control. How did you know that you were going to come here? Some people arrive here, and they don’t even know how it happened. Someone asks ‘How did you end up here?’ and they say ‘Oh - well, I was living in Ahmadabad in Deccan, and I managed to get the visa stamped so I came.’
In my case, there was a time in my life when I could not have imagined coming here to live. In the early days I would never ever have thought to come here. Just for a joke, while I was studying for a PhD in Geology, a friend of mine said ‘Let’s take a trip together,’ so I said ‘Where to?’ He said ‘England,’ I replied ‘No, I can’t go to England – I don’t want to go there,’ but he said ‘Don’t worry, they don’t give visas out easily; let’s put our passports forward for fun – just to see what happens.’ So he took my passport, filled out the application forms and handed them into the embassy - and it so happened that even though all his documents had been ready, his visa application was rejected but my passport received the stamp of the visa! SubhanAllah – tell me. This is Kismet – my visa was approved and his was rejected. He said ‘What has happened here? I was all ready to go and you didn’t even want to go.’ He had been trying, and in order to get my visa, he had applied for me to be enrolled on a university course over here, and that too was accepted. I am explaining to you how Allah’s system works. I didn’t know that I would come here, nor what I would become, nor what would happen to me in life and so on – SubhanAllah. How could I know that we would do Dhikr together in Bolton Jamia Masjid? I could not imagine such a thing in those days. And could Siddiqui Sahib, who was that good friend of mine at that time, have imagined that things would turn out the way they did? Everything is based on Allah’s planning – remember this. Allah sends people wherever He wants to send them. What else can I say to you?
Everyone’s destiny is written, but people think ‘Oh no, I want it to turn out like this. This has happened due to this reason, whereas I want to do something else.’ No - things happen automatically, SubhanAllah. Every man has his own story, every man has his own tale, and everyone passes through unique circumstances; it is Allah ta’ala who takes people through those circumstances. Allah ta’ala did not leave the Ambiya out of this system, so how can we dare to try and control things? But no, we say ‘Oh, he is better off than me. He has succeeded and I have failed – I am wretched!’ No – why are you running after other people? We have the examples in front of us of great Nabis; Allah ta’ala has presented their lives to us and we cannot forget their lives. The Kitabs have mentioned their histories, and the Qu’ran mentions their details – they are not folk tales! Allah ta’ala has shared them with us in order that we may acquire Taqwa and strong conviction, so that Iman can be strengthened, and the path of life can be followed properly. That is why these events have come down to us in history. The story of Hadhrat Yusuf alayhi salam is not a fiction or a folk tale. No, Allah ta’ala gave the many lessons of his story as a means for the paths of life to open up for us. Yes? They are there for those who ponder over the Qur’an and worry about the lessons its stories contain.
My Sheikh, may I give my all to him, made a beautiful statement. He said ‘Without pondering, doing Tadabbur and then practicing upon the Qur’an, it is not beneficial to anybody.’ He said this – imagine! He was a great Sheikh of Hadith, and these are his words that I am explaining to you. He said ‘Without thinking about and pondering over the Qur’an, and without doing Amal upon the lessons it contains, recitation of Qur’an after Qur’an will be of no benefit.’ Rather such a person should be warned that the Qur’an will send curses upon that person who does not attach himself to these two aspects of the Qur’an. The Qur’an was sent in order to be analyzed and pondered over, and also to be practiced upon, not just to be recited and recited over and over again.
Yes, if you have Tadabbur and Amal on the Qur’an, and alongside that, SubhanAllah, you have recitation and reading and memorization, then it will take you to light beyond light – Noor ‘ala Noor. Then it will give you increase and multiply your Darajaat. Then you can do beautiful recitation and enjoy the Qur’an’s eloquence and read for long periods and learn the seven Qira’aat - the enjoyment of all of that will come to you then. But if you leave the first two things and do not ponder over the Qur’an nor practice upon it, then it will never benefit you. Rather, it will curse that person and say ‘I have no connection with this person. He has treated me like a book or novel and is just reciting me again and again, repeating and repeating, turning the pages, but his way of life is contrary to me. He does not accept my definitions of Haram and Halal, and his face and appearance are weird, and his household issues and circumstances are weird - so what has he turned me into?’ The Qur’an complains, saying ‘He hasn’t understood me. Am I some normal book of the world? Have I been revealed for nothing? Am I like some novel to just be read? Am I like a work of fiction to him?’ Is this the case or not? Tell me. So without Amal and Tadabbur, the Qur’an we recite will not be accepted.
So brothers, first and foremost we need to understand the message of the Qur’an and know why Allah ta’ala revealed the Qur’an and gave it to us. Do Tadabbur – ponder over the Qur’an and work out what the Qur’an is telling us – and practice upon that. These are the two things that every one of us must do first and foremost – everything else comes after this. We have taken everything else to be greater and have totally forgotten the essence and the Ruh of the Qur’an – and the Qur’an will complain about this in the Hereafter. The Qur’an will complain in the Hereafter, saying ‘These people abandoned me!’ Yes? The Qur’an is not something that should be abandoned! Today, an individual living in a village in the desert somewhere, even if he has a broken-down recitation, if his lifestyle is in accordance with the Qur’an and he has Fikr and focuses his life on good practice, then he will be at a high level in the Hereafter; he will be recorded in the Hereafter as having a deep connection with the Qur’an, a very deep connection. My brothers, this is Allah’s Hikmah and wisdom, so don’t play games with Allah’s Deen; don’t play games with Allah’s Deen.
The difficulties that we experience in life are not there to make us go mad or get depressed or run away from the Deen. Rather, Allah is saying ‘I want to elevate you and give you a high rank through the problems you encounter in the world.’ What will you be given due to the pain and difficulty that you experience in the world? Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said that you will get a high-class of Paradise as compensation, and Allah ta’ala says ‘I will give you such a Maqam that when people arrive on the Day of Judgement, they will see that the best of people are those who put up with the greatest problems and difficulties in life’ – and obviously, the Ambiya will be the greatest of them. The Prophets of Allah will have the highest rank, and the Imam of those Ambiya, our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, had the most difficulties of anyone in history. So if we run away from our issues and problems and complain that Allah ta’ala should look after His people and give problems to the others, then think about who was the most beloved person to Allah. If that thinking was correct and Allah gives ease in the world to those He loves, then nothing would have happened to Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Look at his beloved daughter and the other members of his beloved family – look at their family history. They had nothing in their homes – no possessions. So why was this? SubhanAllah, it was because they were to be given a high Maqam in the Hereafter due this Ibadah of persevering through their difficulties and issues.
So when you get a difficulty, then know that Allah ta’ala has given you a great Ibadah to implement; understand this. This is first thing that we have understood today; this is lesson number one, so realise that this is not some waste of time. The problems and difficulties that you go through at times in your life are Ni’mahs from the Ni’mahs of Allah; they are not a bad thing – indeed, they are good. If they come, then obviously, they will be contrary to your natural desires, but accept them and embrace them and turn them into Ibadah.
So here is the next point that we need to understand: how do you make the problems and challenges of life into Ibadah? How can you turn a problem or a difficulty or an obstacle into worship? Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has mentioned this in a Hadith – look at what a beautiful and important point this is. The wording of the Hadith is as follows: “أَفْضَلُ الْعِبَادَةِ انْتِظَارُ الْفَرَجِ” ‘Waiting for Allah’s Rahmah while you are experiencing a problem is the greatest act of worship.’ This is how a difficulty becomes an Ibadah, indeed it is the biggest act of worship you can do at that time. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that while you are experiencing issues and problems, then wait for Allah’s Rahmah at that time. What does that become? To await Allah’s Mercy becomes the greatest act of Ibadah at that time.
This is clear cut direction and guidance for those times when a human being has problems and difficulties, whether small or big. Allah ta’ala is saying ‘Even if a problem is small, you should not imagine that I will not compensate you for it.’ This applies even to a small-scale problem - for example, being pricked by a needle. How much pain do you get from being pricked by a needle? It is a minor degree of pain, but even if a needle pricks you, then consider that this incident is not a waste either because Allah is saying ‘I have given you pain, but behind that is My Hikmah; and My Hikmah is to give you a very precious result, namely that I will put that pain upon your scale of deeds in the Hereafter.’ SubhanAllah – tell me! So should we be depressed or upset? No, we should embrace the issue, thinking ‘This can become Ibadah for me, and I could become a Ghawth or a Wali of Allah through these problems. I could attain these ranks through this.’ This is the greatest gift that Allah ta’ala gives to His Walis, because we follow the Nabis of Allah, don’t we?
And who demonstrated this lesson more clearly than anyone? Our Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam gave this lesson to the Ummah. He experienced such great difficulties in life, and he gave us this Dars, this lesson, saying ‘This is the greatest Ibadah in life, so do not shun this. Make this into the greatest worship and do not shun this opportunity.’ Don’t become mad and cry and shriek and complain and commit suicide – no! Allah is saying that you can attain His nearness through this Ibadah; you will become Allah’s friend and Qutb; you will become Allah’s Abdal. Regarding the Walis of Allah, you may think that they just sit there and that Allah ta’ala has made them into Walis of Allah automatically, but no. If Allah ta’ala has made someone into a Qutb, then look at their life history and what they had to go through. Then you will see how they became Qutbs and Abdals - but we can’t even put up with small problems. We say that we want to be Walis of Allah and wish that we were born as a Wali of Allah and were naturally pious. How can we become pious without difficulties? If the Prophets were not exempted from this, then how can we be?
So a person should be detached from his problems. Maybe you will have to leave your country or leave your homes – challenges will come. As for my Hadhrat, I did not witness these events first-hand, but I remember the pain they caused him. Hadhrat Sahib had twelve or thirteen children – how many? Twelve or thirteen – but only three survived. Look at how many of his children passed away. Allah ta’ala took their lives, but that is how he became Ali Murtaza - it happened through those tests. We think that a person just becomes a Wali of Allah by sitting down, and that he becomes a Wali of Allah automatically, but look at his life history. Look at the tests and challenges that came to him. If a person gets pain and problems and difficulties, and then he accepts that these are a Ni’mah from Allah. Some people ask for such things; they say ‘Oh Allah, give me a challenge!’
And the Ambiya have instructed us how to handle such events. Allah ta’ala took away two of the children of Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam, and he was a Nabi. We see this event mentioned in the Qur’an and we treat it as a story and just keep reading Surah Yusuf again and again, reciting those verses and enjoying them, but is this why the Surah was revealed? Read the story and understand the lesson behind it. The first point to take out, the first lesson, was what? How did it all start? SubhanAllah – look at this lesson. He had to endure a tragedy - this was what a great Prophet of Allah had to endure. He was a great Prophet and he cried so much that his vision was damaged. Do you understand what I am saying or not? This is an event of the Qur’an, which explains this story to us so that we realise that a Wali of Allah is not made for nothing. Allah is saying ‘I don’t make a person a Wali of Allah just like that. I don’t make him a Wali until have given that Ni’mah which is a great Ni’mah, the true Ni’mah.’
So brothers, do you understand what I am saying? InshaAllah, goodness will come from this lesson today. If we treaty our difficulties as Ni’mahs, then they will most certainly become Ni’mahs. Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow – I don’t even know what is going to happen today when I leave here. We should be alert and waiting every second. What are we asking from Allah? After every Salah, we make Dua and say ‘Oh Allah, make me Your friend. Oh Allah, make me Your Wali, and oh Allah, give me ease, and oh Allah, show me Your Dhat. Oh Allah, grant me Ziyarah.’ We keep asking for these things, so why do we run away when Allah ta’ala gives us the chance to do Ibadah through challenges? Say SubhanAllah. Why do we run away when Allah ta’ala is saying ‘I am giving you Ibadah on this path of problems that I give you’? But we say ‘Oh no, I want to be sat at home, eating good food, with no problems and in a good state of health all the time. Oh Allah, make me a Qutb while giving me everything in accordance with my needs.’ This has never happened in history.
Look at the example of Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam – he kissed his children and embraced them to his heart, but Allah told him to cope without them. The Imam-ul-Ambiya sallallahu alayhi wasallam had Imam Hussain radhiAllahu anh playing on his blessed chest – imagine how they were playing and how much love he had for his grandson. They were playing and then suddenly Hadhrat Gibril alayhi salam came and immediately Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam started to cry. Hadhrat Umm Salma radhiAllahu anha came and asked ‘Why are you crying? What has happened? Just now you were playing with Hassan and Hussain, and you were happy – what has happened now?’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam replied ‘Hadhrat Gibril alayhi salam came and showed me the dust of Kerbala and told me that this is where Hussain will become Shaheed.’ This was one of the difficulties that came to the Imam of the Ambiya. He loved Imam Hussain so much, and we will go off-track here if we go into that event, but look at how much love was there. Imam Hussain had many tests and challenges – very big tests indeed – and he was to lose not one or two or three, but the entire family. Do you think he became what he became for nothing? Take the life of any Wali of Allah and you will find the same. Do you understand what I am saying?
So now will you become upset when problems come, my brothers? Will you be scared of the tests when they come? Do you understand my words today, or not? Maybe you find the topics I pick to be weird, and this is an Ajeeb topic, but I am trying to explain what you find if you look back in history. Have you ever heard this point explained like this from anybody? Mostly it is just pray Salah and keep fasts, and do this and do that, but look at what I am explaining to you. This is an important factor of life, and I am trying to explain it to you in a simple way. I don’t know if my explanation is easy for you to understand, so if you understand what I have said so far, please put your hands up so that I can see and be satisfied that you have understood what I am saying. Okay, good. Very good, MashaAllah. At least this way I get some feedback that you are understanding what I am saying. Okay, let’s continue.
What the point that I am making? Who did Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam love? He loved them all, but especially one in particular, and the other brothers were jealous because Allah ta’ala had given him great beauty, and Hadhrat Ya’qub used to embrace and kiss his son Yusuf alayhi salam. So Allah ta’ala said ‘Let me tell you, oh Ya’qub, that the story of the events of your son will continue until Yawm al-Qiyamah, as people will continue to recite Surah Yusuf – and they will recite it with great enjoyment. And how shall I start this story? I will start with an experience of the type for which the universe came into existence, through which I make a person a Wali and a Qutb and a Ghawth. I will start with that Sunnah!’ And what is that? He caused him pain by detaching that son from him. May Allah protect us from such a calamity – imagine the feeling if somebody takes their young child away from them. Imagine how a family feels if a child is kidnapped or taken away – what state would they be in? Say your child went to school and you were waiting for him to come back, and he just didn’t arrive, and you were there waiting and waiting. The mother would run out into the streets and the father would be asking people and running here and there, to the left and to the right - but nobody can tell him where the child has gone because somebody has picked him up and taken him away. Would he be able to sleep at night? Would the mother want to remain alive? She would rather die than endure such a loss. When a child is snatched away like this, then there is no enjoyment of life thereafter.
The child of Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam was taken away like this, and he was left making Duas – the Duas of a Nabi. And the child was also a Nabi, but he was thrown into a well. He was a Prophet, but what difficulties he went through in the various stages of his life, starting from the marketplace where he was sold as a slave. And all the while, his father was crying and crying, thinking ‘Oh, where has my Yusuf gone?’ He was a Prophet of Allah, so what did he turn that sadness into? He turned it into a Ni’mah of Allah, and he made use of that Ni’mah. He did that Ibadah for forty years, asking Allah ‘May this loss become a Ni’mah for me.’ He endured this for forty years, and yet we cannot put up with issues for two days. After a couple of days, we get scared and cannot take it and start contemplating suicide and wishing we were dead. We want to run away, and we complain that we cannot take any more of it. That Nabi kept on making Dua, but straightaway we say ‘Oh, my Duas are not being accepted.’ No, your Dua is being accepted, and through them Allah ta’ala will deliver you to that high rank to which He wants you to go, SubhanAllah.
So for example, if there is a delay in your prayers being answered, then understand that Allah is giving you more by this means. An important point about this Hadith is coming to my mind – listen to this. SubhanAllah, Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has mentioned something here that we can learn from. He said “أَفْضَلُ الْعِبَادَةِ انْتِظَارُ الْفَرَجِ” He said that waiting, waiting during that period of time in which Allah’s mercy is hoped for, that time in which you wait for Allah’s mercy will become a Ni’mah and a blessing for you. It is about waiting, waiting patiently – remember this word ‘waiting’; it is about persevering through the difficulty. What will that difficulty become? And what do you have to do in order to turn it into a Ni’mah? You have to wait patiently. Allah’s Nabi, Ya’qub alayhi salam, waited for forty years – forty years! He didn’t give up and say ‘Oh, my Dua has not been accepted.’ No, he said ‘It cannot be that acceptance will not come.’ He was a Nabi, my brothers, Bani Israeel’s great Nabi – think about the generations that came from him. Look how he kept up his Dua, whereas we make one Dua at Tahajjud and then complain that our Dua has not been accepted. Allah says ‘No, it has been accepted, and your Darajah has been raised even higher.’ Forty years later, Allah ta’ala accepted his Dua and said to Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam ‘He will come from there, and you will see the result of your waiting.’ Look at the miracles – these were such great human beings – he smelled his son’s fragrance from so far away, SubhnaAllah.
Allahu Akbar, and his vision came back to him as the story took a turn and became a Ni’mah, SubhanAllah. But if our business decreases for a few days, we say ‘Let’s take out a Haram loan and consume interest and use that person’s money’ – we follow the wrong path. We use the wrong means and the wrong tools, saying ‘Oh no – I can’t live like this anymore.’ Don’t do this, brothers; don’t go towards wrong. Don’t think about suicide and don’t do wrong actions; rather, consider your difficulties as a Ni’mah and then wait and persevere patiently. I am reminding you about this matter of waiting. How do difficulties become Ni’mahs? They do so when you wait patiently.
Consider another Nabi, SubhanAllah – we are talking about Nabis here, about Prophets. This is why Allah ta’ala has mentioned these events, so that you can take courage and strength. Don’t treat these events as stories or folk tales; instead, take their lessons on board. That is why it is said that the Walis of Allah and the Ghawth and the Qutb ponder over the verses of the Qur’an, and then do Amal on them – otherwise the Qur’an will not be beneficial. What will it become otherwise? It will send curses upon the human, saying ‘He thinks that I am a story book that is only good for reading and reciting.’ It is definitely good to read the Qur’an, to look at the Qur’an and to touch the Qur’an; all these things are great, but we must follow the process and the method that Allah ta’ala has given. There is nothing greater than the Qur’an, but it must be approached in the right way. Don’t follow the Qur’an in your own way, according to your opinion; rather, follow the manner of Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, for then you will get success, SubhanAllah.
So yes, another example is that of Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam. Tell me now – can our issues compare to his experiences? Allah caused insects to live on his body – insects lived on Ayyub alayhi salam due to the sickness that he suffered from. Imagine his situation, which he understood was a Ni’mah and so he waited and waited, and he persevered in the expectation of Allah’s Rahmah. What did he do? If an insect fell off his body onto the ground, he would pick it up and put it back onto his body! SubhanAllah, a beautiful point comes out here, so listen attentively to this point. This is called understanding reality. He would pick up those insects and put them back onto his body – why? He would say ‘I am putting the insect back onto my body because otherwise, where will that insect go? Allah has created that insect to consume my flesh, so let it carry on.’ He had a disease at that time which Allah ta’ala had given him, so he said ‘Let that insect carry on.’ And he would put it back onto his skin.
So why did he put the insect back onto his body? This is an Ajeeb point – you will be amazed when you hear this. Allah subhana wa ta'ala put so much love for those insects in the chest of Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam, a love like the love that a father has for his child – that is how much love Allah ta’ala gave him. He was putting the insects and bugs onto his body, whereas we would run away from them, but he looked at them as if they were his own children, knowing that they were the creation of Allah. That was the amount of love for those insects that Allah ta’ala put into the heart of Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam. He could not accept the idea that the insects might go hungry, and just as a father does with his child, he looked after them. After many years of tests and trials, the Hikmah of Allah became clear – inevitably goodness comes out in the end. So Allah ta’ala put love for those insects into his heart so that he kept on picking them up and putting them back when they fell off his body. After years of this, he passed the test and went to that fountain of water which purified his body; it cured his body. As for us, when we get a little bit of pain, we start crying and complaining.
So do you understand now? Difficulties are a Ni’mah from Allah ta’ala. It is a Ni’mah because what comes from it is very great indeed. Difficulties elevate our Darajah for every second that we endure them; this is such a great Ibadah. Problems and worries elevate your Darajah every second that you pass through them. How does this become Ibadah? It is only Ibadah when we wait patiently for Allah’s Rahmah.
Now we need to understand what waiting entails. Waiting is when you take medicine and say ‘Oh no, I’ll be fine soon. I will take this medicine and I will be fine - I will be cured. If I take that injection, I will be cured.’ Such a person understands that this is Allah’s Ni’mah, so he makes Dua and then takes the remedy, the injection, the cures and medicines, and then he waits patiently. Islam is not against medicines – listen to this as well. Islam is not opposed to remedies and cures, but waiting is another thing altogether. So let me explain to you the definition of waiting patiently so that you will understand. Have you ever waited for a conveyance? For example, what do you do if the train is late? What do you do if an aeroplane flight is delayed? If you are working and have to wait for someone to do something before you can proceed, what do you do? Immediately, you will resort to something and spend that time in another way by doing a secondary action – say SubhanAllah. Is this not the case? If you are at the station, for example, and they announce that the train is thirty minutes late, you will say ‘Okay, let’s go and have a cup of tea.’ You would say that, wouldn’t you, while waiting for your train? Or you might say ‘Let go for a coffee’ – everyone has their own habits. Someone might say ‘I’ll just go and have a cigarette’ or ‘Let’s play a game while we wait.’ While waiting for something to happen, every human being has his habits and methods of spending time while waiting for that thing to happen.
He keeps himself occupied, and this is the Tadabbur of the Qur’an that I am explaining to you – I am trying to explain it in a simple way. Yes? Without waiting and being patient, you cannot get the elevation in status. For example, while waiting these days, you might take the phone out and watch a programme, or if you are on the Deen, you might start listening to a speech; if you have got love for your Hadhrat, then you will download his Bayans; if you have love for Dhikr, then you will start doing Dhikr. Everyone has his passion and his love. The person who likes music will start playing music and listening to instruments and so on. Now one type of person is always waiting, and he waits and waits with Dhikr, and gets more and more elevated; he doubles and triples his rank. When an opportunity comes for waiting in life, when you are delayed, then utilize it in a proper way by doing the right thing – say SubhanAllah. And if you are delayed, for example by having to wait for a plane, never get upset or down. If I hear that the plane departure will be delayed by five hours, then I would find a place to settle down, pray Nafl, and then do Dhikr – I am trying to explain how Allah ta’ala makes everything easy. That way, I will not worry – rather, when the plane arrives, I will say ‘Oh, it has come too soon – I was happily immersed in Ibadah.’ In the same way, Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam would pick up those insects with love - Allah ta’ala placed so much love inside him during the time he was waiting and waiting that he didn’t want that problem to go away.
I am explaining personal points to you here - and I am a normal person and am nothing compared to you pious people. So what about the true Walis of Allah? They understand Allah ta’ala has given them difficulties and problems and they accept them as a Ni’mah. On the other side you have people who get scared and shake and run here and there, saying ‘How much longer do we have to wait?’ They cry and complain, but the plane will arrive when it arrives – it won’t make any difference. Both I and they will get onto that plane at the same time; but he is mad with anger at that time, shouting ‘Why hasn’t it come? Why is it late? Where has it gone?’ He pulls his hair out, saying ‘Oh, my plane is late? What will happen to me? Where will I go? These planes are always late!’ And he swears and cries and talks rubbish and smokes cigarettes – he is quite mad by the time the plane arrives. Such people of the world are quite mad – they are like donkeys and dogs! They even commit suicide if they do not understand the Ni’mahs behind problems and difficulties, and they cannot wait for goodness to arrive. Spend a little time comparing these two ways of waiting.
Do you understand what I am saying, or not? Put your hands up again if you understand. If you have understood up to this point, put up your hands. Okay, very good – even the little kids understand because they put their hands up. Okay – SubhanAllah! So now, brothers, we need to see more here. We are sitting here after Isha so we can give a lengthy talk now and still do Dhikr after that. There is no need to rush off today, is there? Let me finish what I am saying – inshaAllah, we will carry on. That is why I scheduled the Majlis after Isha, so that we can take our time in the discussion -SubhanAllah.
So brothers, Intidhar – waiting – requires that you have to do something. When you wait in the world, you don’t just do nothing; you have to do something to keep yourself busy. You might start phoning your children and say ‘How are you, my child? I am here getting late for such and such.’ So you have to pass the time, and everyone passes that time according to what he likes to do. Allah ta’ala says ‘When you wait for My Rahmah, for My Mercy, SubhanAllah, while enduring the pain and difficulties and problems and worries that I have given you, then you won’t cry and complain and scream.’ A person can do that if he wants to – he is a human being after all – but what does that person do instead of shrieking and screaming? He won’t become mad and drive himself towards suicide – what will he do? He will wait patiently – say SubhanAllah. How will that person wait? He will wait in the same way that Hadhrat Ya’qub alayh salam waited, in the same way that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam demonstrated to us, SubhanAllah. The noble Companions waited and the Awliya’llah waited – it was only after this that they became Walis of Allah. Don’t become like an ape or a monkey or a mouse; rather, become a man when you have got problems – a man – and then Allah ta’ala will record that this servant of Allah, when asked how he was while suffering with problems, said ‘Oh, I’m fine. I might be a little down, but don’t worry, tomorrow inshaAllah I will be better.’
Remember this point: when you have a difficulty or a problem, don’t become like a big-head in front of Allah, saying ‘No, no – I am totally fine, no problems at all.’ Allah ta’ala doesn’t like that. Say ‘Yes, I have got pain and I have got issues, but Allah’s Fadhl will come.’ I will tell you a Dua, a beautiful Dua. Fix this Dua firmly in your mind; in Punjabi, we have a saying ‘Tie a knot on this’ – in other words, attach it to yourself and remember it. What Dua should you make when a difficulty comes? Say ‘Oh Allah, please compensate me with a Ni’mah of the Hereafter for this difficulty’ - SubhanAllah. Do you understand what I am saying? Say ‘Oh Allah, I know that this difficulty is a Ni’mah, but I am very weak, oh Allah, and I am not courageous or brave. The difficulty is coming, and I am feeling it in my body and in my emotions and in everything, but I know this is Your Ni’mah, and I am waiting for You. InshaAllah, everything will be fine again, whether tomorrow or the day after. You will elevate my Maqam and I will reach that station. Oh Allah, give me that Maqam and status, but change this Ni’mah that You have given me in the form of a difficulty into goodness and ease for me, because both are Ni’mahs!’ Say SubhanAllah.
So both are Ni’mahs, which is why you should not say that difficulties are bad things – no. Difficulties are a Ni’mah, but ask Allah to change that Ni’mah into a good Ni’mah that is easy for you. Don’t try to be big-headed and think ‘I am strong; I am a Wali of Allah, so I am not affected.’ No – such people are false; they are liars. Those people are false. Rather, say ‘Oh Allah, I am waiting for You. I am going through hardship, but I am waiting for Your ease and comfort’ – SubhanAllah. Now in that waiting, Allah ta’ala has given us that Tariqah to wait with strength. And as I said, everyone waits in a manner that accords with his tastes and passions. So Allah ta’ala has given a Tariqah to His beloved servants when they are waiting, saying ‘This is how you should wait for My mercy.’ Allah ta’ala says ‘This is the method.’ So the servant of Allah waits for Allah’s mercy in the right way, whether for four years or for five years – Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam waited for forty years. He waited for forty years, and he used that time correctly in the way that Allah ta’ala advised him.
So whenever Allah ta’ala gives you a problem or difficulty, then wait in the correct way, in the way that Allah ta’ala has prescribed – then it will become a Ni’mah for you. Do you understand what I am saying? Is what I am saying okay? So what is that Ni’mah? How is Allah ta’ala saying we should use our time when problems arise? Allah ta’ala is saying ‘When problems and difficulties come to you, wait in this way, and that journey will thereby become easy. Whether it lasts for ten years or fifteen years, you won’t feel that problem if you wait and persevere in the manner that I have prescribed to you via Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’
So how should we persevere? What is this method? Utilise that Dua, according to your capability, whenever you have any difficulties or problems or worries or sickness. If it is declared that you have this, then don’t worry and don’t be scared. Just keep making that Dua. And how should you wait? Allah ta’ala is saying ‘Persevering is the greatest Ibadah that you can do right now. The greatest Ibadah for you right now is facing this problem that has come to you. Be patient!’ How will you do this? SubhanAllah – to do this, you will have to do the best Ibadah, the greatest Ibadah. To make that problem or difficulty into a Ni’mah, you have to do the greatest Ibadah – and what is that? It is stated that the best means, the Afdhal means, is doing the Dhikr of Allah during that time of difficulty. Do Dhikr of Allah.
A person may ask ‘How? Oh Allah, tell me how?’ Allah ta’ala says ‘This is the greatest action during the time that problems are surrounding you.’ Even if you spent mountains of gold and silver, Dhikr is greater than that, and it is greater than giving Sadaqah, and it is even better than breaking your sword while fighting an enemy in a just cause - Dhikr is greater than all of these. Dhikr of Allah is so great that when you go into your grave, you will be free from all its calamities due to that Dhikr of Allah. When you go into the grave you will be free from the challenges of that place, and when you wake up from the grave, as you are dusting yourself down and brushing off all the soil from that grave, you will be doing Hamd of Allah and Dhikr of Allah in gratefulness that Allah took you so easily through the predicaments of the grave. In every Maqam and phase of life in the Hereafter, Dhikr will give you greatness. So while you are facing life’s challenges, wait during that time with Dhikr of Allah – that is the greatest. { قِيَـٰمً۬ا وَقُعُودً۬ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ} – walking, sitting and lying down – Allah is saying that you should be doing Dhikr of Allah in every second. Do Dhikr in every second of your life - do so much Dhikr that when death comes, Dhikr is on your tongue at that time. Don’t waste a second of your life. When difficulties and problems come, do Dikr, and when death comes, which will be the biggest and most severe problem, even then you should be doing the Ibadah of Dhikrullah.
So, my brothers, what an easy path this is. One hundred percent, there will be problems in life; without doubt, difficulties are going to come in life – that is the objective of life, and so you cannot run away from them or escape them. No injection will save you from them, no money or wealth can buy you a way out, for they can come from above or below or from the left or the right. They can come from any angle or direction, whether through your body or your children or your home, outside, inside, from the world, or from the Dunya. They can come from any angle, so we should be prepared – why? Because then we will be ready to wait for Allah’s mercy. And we will be able to control that waiting time with Dhikrullah, so be regular in Dhikrullah. As Allah said, whether standing, sitting or lying down, don’t discard Dhikrullah. Whenever a problem comes to a Dhakir, alhamdulillah, through his Dhikr he will attain elevation while waiting for the problem to be relieved. Allah ta’ala says ‘When I see that, I will elevate you to a high rank and I will remove that problem and give you a high status as well.’
SubhanAllah, look at how Dhikr gives a person such a beautiful connection to Allah, to the extent that Allah even gives him ease and comfort from the problems of the world through Dhikr, and he also attains a high status. So how ungrateful is the person who doesn’t do Dhikrullah. A Dhakir is saved from being ungrateful and he strengthens his Yaqeen and belief by doing Dhikr of Allah in every circumstance of life – and thus he becomes a friend of Allah. Through Dhikr of Allah, he becomes a Wali of Allah. Do you understand today’s topic? Do you understand the message? So will you do Dhikr of Allah regularly? Yes – it will benefit you greatly and everything will become easy. You will attain constant ease, so do it just as Allah ta’ala has told you to do it, and don’t shake or tremble. There is no greater method than the one that Allah prescribes. Allah ta’ala says that there are five times when you must pray Salah – you have to pray those five Fardh Salahs. But you can’t make the five into six, saying ‘Oh, let me add another Fardh to make it six. Let’s make another Jamat between Dhuhr and Asr.’ Will that be beneficial? No. Don’t imagine that there would be any benefit in adding another Fardh so as to make six. Allah ta’ala says ‘What I have prescribed for you, what has been written for you, is the Tariqah you must use.’ So what does Allah ta’ala say about Dhikr?
{ يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱذۡكُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ ذِكۡرً۬ا كَثِيرً۬ا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكۡرَةً۬ وَأَصِيلاً } Allah ta’ala has told us this in the Qur’an – this is the method that has been set for us. Do Dhikr Katheer, in high quantity, in the heart. Don’t do any other amount of Dhikr – it has to be performed in high quantity - and only by doing Dhikr of the heart can you do Dhikr Katheer. So it is essential that you learn Dhikr of the heart because only in that way can you do Dhikr in abundance; when you do Dhikr in the heart, then that condition is fulfilled. { قِيَـٰمً۬ا وَقُعُودً۬ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ} – you need to be a Dhakir in every second, whether in the marketplace, in the street, whether you are home or outside. It is not necessary that Dhikr should be audible or visible; you don’t have to see it or hear it.
Let me tell you about an event from the life of a Wali of Allah, an event from these days. This Wali of Allah had a heart operation – listen to this. I know this individual, which why I can tell you about it. So he had a heart operation, and while the surgeons were in the operating theatre, they removed his heart and were shocked to hear his heart going ‘Allah, Allah, Allah.’ SubhanAllah! The surgeons didn’t understand how this could happen – they were worldly people, and they didn’t know about Dhikr of Allah. ‘What is going on here?’ they said, since they were amazed that a heart could say ‘Allah.’ But there was a Sufi there, a pious Mureed who was with the surgeons in the theatre. He said ‘You carry on doing what you are doing – you will not be able to understand this.’ He was one of their colleagues, so he said ‘Keep doing the operation – we can talk about it afterwards.’ They agreed, and continued with the operation, and put everything back, sealed him up and finished the operation. Some time later, the surgeon, who was a very high-level surgeon, came to the patient and asked him ‘Moulana Sahib, what do you do that could make your heart do such a strange thing?’ He replied ‘What was so strange? I was asleep so I don’t know what was going on. If it was going ‘Allah,’ it was just doing what it was created for!’ SubhanAllah.
So brothers, do Dhikr of the heart. If you learn Dhikr of the heart, you don’t even have to move your lips and your heart will take you to that Maqam that wherever you are, at your shop, at work, at home, inside or outside, your heart will consistently be doing Dhikr of Allah. And you don’t have to worry about it, asking yourself whether or not it might have stopped because you can’t feel the beats or something – no, no, no. Keep to the prescription that Allah has given and recharge the battery of the heart twice a day, in the morning and evening. You have to charge its battery – and if someone says ‘How do I charge it, oh Allah?’ then Allah says ‘Sit in front of a Sheikh, My Wali, and do Dhikr – your will heart will be charged in this way.’ If you don’t have a teacher nearby, then listen remotely on the phone – Allah has prepared the means. You can join in online. If you are in America, then you can still go the website and join in, and in this way your heart will be boosted. That is why Allah ta’ala has given us this technology. Allah says ‘I created this technology for this purpose’ – say SubhanAllah. It was created for Dhikr of Allah! So how does a person’s heart get charged rapidly? When he sits in front of the Sheikh and does Dhikr.
And those people who live nearby but do not attend are the most unfortunate and the most ungrateful of people, and they will be seized, and their reward taken away; but as for those who are not in front of their Sheikh but their heart is with him, even though they may be seventy miles or two hundred miles away, and they sit waiting to hear his voice come out of their phones – is there any comparison between these two groups? The ungrateful people cannot even get close to the second group – there are severe punishments in the grave and on the Plain of Hashr for those who do not take the benefit of these gatherings even though they know what the rewards of Dhikr are. Those people will suffer a severe punishment in those places. Allah will say ‘You sat enjoying your lives while My Dhikr was taking place.’ When Dhikr is happening in one place, are you wandering around in the world or reciting Qur’an to yourself? Every high-class Ibadah has its time, but Allah is saying ‘The morning time is for remembering My Name, and I sat My teacher down in the Masjid, so why do you run to the Qur’an and open it to read?’
The Qur’an itself says to do Dhikr in the morning and evening, so how can you read Qur’an while the Majlis is taking place? Is this the time for reading the Qur’an? Allah’s remembrance is happening, and yet you go to the Qur’an and start reading it? Weird! Am I telling you not to read the Qur’an? No! But the friend of Allah is explaining that Allah says ‘This is My time. I have announced this in the Qur’an { يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱذۡكُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ ذِكۡرً۬ا كَثِيرً۬ا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكۡرَةً۬ وَأَصِيلاً } – morning and evening are the times for Dhikr.’ This servant says
‘My Mawla Allah, You give me the peace of the morning and of the evening with the remembrance of Your Name!’ SubhanAllah.
‘Where would I be if the thought of you was to come out of my heart? Oh Allah, I can never be detached from You, I can never leave You, morning or evening!’
This is the pattern of life that Allah ta’ala has given us - read Salah at these times, read Qur’an at these times, do this action at that time, do Tasbeeh at this time, do Dhikr at that time. Allah has made this pattern and this schedule for us, so when it is time for Dhikr, how can you do some other action at that time? You are playing games then if you say ‘Allah I want to please You.’ Allah says ‘I give you the Hukm that you should do Dhikr at this time, so are you wishing to follow your own opinions and desires instead? Who are you trying to fool? In the morning as the sun is rising, I have no preference for anything other than Dhikr. At that time the birds are singing, and the heavens and the trees and the leaves and the branches and the sand and the skies are doing Dhikr - and what are you doing? Are you telling me that you are reading Qur’an at that time? Is Dhikr inferior to that according to you, even though everything else in the Universe is doing My Dhikr? I want to hear My Dhikr at that time of the morning.’ I am not prohibiting you or telling you not to read the Qur’an but do it at the right time.
So those who attend the Majalis morning and evening are charging their batteries, and those who reject Dhikr of Allah when it is happening in front of them are the most unfortunate and wretched of people, and they will get punishment in the grave and on the Day of Judgement. A person who has learned Dhikr but doesn’t leave his bed or his house and does not bother, then he will have no Barakah in his home or in his life. He has learned Dhikr and Allah has called and invited him, yet he doesn’t sit in that Majlis in the morning and evening to charge his battery – this is not optional for us. This is the Hukm of Allah throughout the Qur’an – ‘Remember Me! Remember Me! Remember Me!’ These are instructions - and does Allah give instructions for nothing? Count how many times this comes in the Qur’an. How many times in the Qur’an does Allah give the order for Salah? How many times Has Allah given the order to fast? And these come with conditions; the order for Salah comes with conditions – that is enough. Just do this amount.
Allah is saying ‘Pray Salah five times a day, it is enough to perform Hajj just once in your lifetime, complete this number of compulsory fasts and do not exceed that. If you want to do more, then for the rest of the time, do My Dhikr Katheeran Katheera, because I like Dhikr more. Why do you do Hajj after Hajj after Hajj? What sort of Hajj is it when there is dirt inside you? Purify yourself first by means of Dhikr! Don’t run to perform Nafl Hajj after Nafl Hajj. Quantity is not preferable here – I have restricted the quantity of Hajj that is necessary. Instead, run after that action which is unlimited in quantity!’ Which Ibadah would that be? Dhikr or Hajj? Which is better? Tell me.
This is an Ajeeb point that I am trying to explain in front of you here. Do you regard Dhikr as some minor action, a waste of time? ‘No, no, I don’t feel like doing it – we don’t have to do it together. I can do it in my bed.’ You will find out the reality tomorrow, my son, and you won’t be able to say that I didn’t tell you, openly and in clear words. How wretched and cursed in this world and the Hereafter is the one who leaves the Dhikr of Allah and rejects it, while as for the one who works hard and runs to the Dhikr of Allah, the Rahmah of Allah will come to the feet of that person. We want Allah’s mercies and His preferment and His treasures and rewards, so how can we run away from Dhikr of Allah? This Dhikr is that worship which Allah ta’ala says contains all goodness. Can a person do Dhikr according to his own liking? If so, he should be prepared to face the consequences in the Akhirah. The two extremes will come to pass at that time – both extremes. Do you like Allah’s Dhikr or do you like what is opposite? Here in this gathering, there are angels in their millions – if you don’t believe this, that is your problem, but the Qur’an and the Hadith tell us this. You don’t have to come; sleep in your bed and stay at home – it is up to you.
Allah ta’ala says that if one Jama’ah leaves the practice of Dhikr, then Allah will replace them with another Jama’ah. Yes? Allah is not dependent on anybody. But ill-fated and wretched are those who reject this, both at home and beyond. Those homes where young children are sitting and no Dhikr is done – what sort of houses will these be? MashaAllah, don’t judge by wealth and piles of money or models of cars or houses – these are not Rahmahs or Ni’mahs. The Rahmahs and Ni’mahs are present where the family has nothing, but Dhikr of Allah is taking place in the home. Yes? Allah bears witness and Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam testifies – you might not see that goodness, but Rahmah is guaranteed there. The difficulties and problems they experience are given because Allah ta’ala wants to elevate their status. There is less food in their houses because they are higher in rank, and there is not much bread or chapattis because Allah has elevated their status; they have no sofas in their houses, and they do not own any buildings or assets or houses, and they have no commodities, all because Allah wants to elevate their status. Allah gives them difficulty, but their Darajaat is ever rising, and in reality, you can’t say that they have no assets, because Rahmah is raining down on those people through the difficulties of their lives. Reflect on the condition of our homes for a few moments.
What Qur’an is being recited by those who don’t believe this, those who don’t understand this simple point? Tell me. What Hifdh are they doing if they don’t understand this point? What Tilawat are they doing if they don’t understand this point? They don’t have Yaqeen and belief in the fact that where Dhikr of Allah does not take place, there is darkness – they are dead! Rasoolulah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has announced that the houses in which no Dhikr of Allah takes place are dead, so imagine how dead that human being is who sits or lies down, big-headed, saying ‘Oh, I don’t care about Dhikr. This Dhikr of Allah is a waste of time.’ So will we do Dhikr or not? I put that question to you.
I am emphasizing this because this is my duty, alhamdulillah. I have love for you, so I will only tell you those things that I love myself - and I love this action! People say ‘Why do you keep persevering on Dhikr?’ Alhamdulillah, my Sheikh has given me this duty, so I want to share this with you - at one time I myself didn’t know what morning was or what evening was. Do Dhikr this way and Allah will give you all the sustenance and all your requirements will be met. As for food, you will have people knocking at your door giving you the assistance that you desire. Have Ikhlas, have sincerity in this, for this is such a great action at this time with the world the way it is. To have the hand of a Wali of Allah is such a massive, massive reward, and if he teaches you Dhikr, this is the biggest Ni’mah in the world at this moment in time. I say this clearly, so value this and appreciate this.
My Sheikh noor ‘ala marqadah rahmatullah alayh said ‘Take the hand of a Wali of Allah, and all day long until the night, I guarantee that the more Khidmah you do and love you have, the faster Allah’s Rahmah will reach towards you - if you value what you learn from him.’ But we don’t appreciate or value it, and we have no Muhabbat and no Khidmah – nothing. We are empty boxes – hollow. We waste so much time in our lives. Allah ta’ala has given such a great Ni’mah to you by giving you a guide, and you have a connection with that guide because you have been taught Dhikr. You have been given the Dhikr of the heart and the lessons on the Latifahs, and your heart is alive, and Allah has given you places to do Dhikr - morning and evening there are gatherings of Dhikr of Allah. And Dhikr of Allah is such a great action that the whole Qur’an is inviting you towards it, and in this world and in the grave and at Qiyamah you will get the reward for Dhikr. And yet you say ‘Oh, I am not doing Dhikr – it’s not for me; it’s a waste of time.’ Say SubhanAllah!
Is this enough for today’s discussion inshaAllah? Have your batteries been charged a little? Tell me – have your cells been charged? Come to the Majlis morning and evening and charge your hearts, otherwise you will always have problems and difficulties, and those issues will make you into a Kafir. Such words will come out of your mouth at that time, words that are against Allah and against the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and those words will make you a Kafir at that time. You will complain when difficulties come to you. Remember this – Allah controls the means and the resources. Your money will not help you, nor your house, nor your wife and your children. My friends, establish the life of Dhikr and you will attain everything that you are running after.
Do you understand what I am saying? Will you implement this? Come – the harder you work, the more you will benefit. I used to go from here and travel thousands of miles to my Sheikh in order to learn this reward of Allah’s Name, so can you not even come from where you live locally, from the neighbouring town? Can’t you make it to the Majlis? What will you get? Tell me. We say ‘Oh, he just became a Wali of Allah and got to sit down like he does automatically.’ No – you have to work hard. And the hard work is not visible – although I swear by Allah that I have done nothing. I don’t even consider that I have done anything to deserve Allah’s rewards. Such efforts as have been made are not visible, but this great gift of Allah is so great that in comparison, our efforts and hard work are nothing. Even travelling great distances for the sake of remembering Allah is nothing – this is how much you should appreciate how valuable is this gift that Allah ta’ala has given. If, for fifteen or twenty years, I used to spend my money and my time by going from here, going through difficulties of hunger and lack of clothes, not knowing what was going on, then in reality, that was easy and was nothing when compared to the fact that now I am doing Allah’s Dhikr morning and evening. Those problems were nothing.
So be grateful servants of Allah. Wilayat is nothing - becoming a friend of Allah can happen within seconds. Just one experience of pain can make you into a Wali of Allah if you wait patiently. Do you now understand what waiting is? When pain and difficulty come, do Dhikr of Allah – that is called waiting patiently, not talking rubbish and nonsense when problems come. No - make Dua and ask from Allah.
وأخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين
Allah subhana wa ta'ala is the Creator of the Universe and He has created the Khulq in the manner of His choosing. Every single thing that Allah ta’ala has made is based upon His Wisdom, upon His Hikmah. Allah has made the night, and alongside that, He made the day; and Allah subhana wa ta'ala made light and He also made darkness; and Allah created heat, and He also created cool temperatures. In other words, everything that Allah has made has been created with something else that goes with it. Human beings are the Ashraf-al-Makhluqaat, the highest of created things, and Allah ta’ala gives the human being life, and Allah ta’ala made something that goes with it, a feature which is essential, and without which you cannot say that a person has life – and that feature is difficulties and problems. To experience these is part of life, a factor that comes with life, in the same way that there is light and darkness, or the sun and the moon. Human beings have been created in such a way that in their lives, problems and difficulties are an essential ingredient, whether sickness or other ups and downs; these will certainly be attached to the life of a human being.
This is the reality of life - it is composed of two aspects: one is the everyday life that we live, and the other, without which it is not complete, consists of the challenges that we have to face. A child, even a very small child, has difficulties as soon as it is born. Whether the child is young or older, and in whatever phase of life a person passes through, difficulties, problems, challenges and tests will come; a person cannot avoid these things. Nobody has passed a life without these until today - every human being is included in this. Allah has not just selected a few people for negative things to happen to, such that some do not have this experience at all – no. Every human being has to face this, whether a person is sinful or he is good, whether he prays Salah or he doesn’t pray, whether he is a friend of Allah or a Ghawth or a Qutb – whatever level of person he is - so much so that the Prophets, who are the highest category of people, also faced this. They had to live their lives as well, and if you look at the history of any Prophet, you will see that he faced issues, worries, difficulties and predicaments. This is compulsory for everyone. If Allah ta’ala gives problems and difficulties to such a high class of people as the Prophets, this means that it cannot be something bad, SubhanAllah, so don’t be afraid of these issues.
Why do we run away from these issues then? This itself has become a big problem today. This is all part of the flow of life, and a person who rejects this reality of life is a failure; he will never succeed if he cannot face up to its challenges. He tries to ignore this reality and complains about his problems and challenges and says there are too many tests. ‘Why me?’ he says. What does he expect? What else does he want? If he wants to live, then he must remember that tests come with life. If Allah ta’ala has given life, then He has attached challenges to that, and you can’t run away from those challenges. I have given you the examples – everyone is included. It is not a matter of what we like and what we don’t like; rather, we should accept that these problems are actually good for us, especially in view of the fact that the Prophets alyahimu-s-Salam, those great personalities, themselves faced challenges and problems. Likewise, look at the lives of the noble Companions radhiAllahu anhum – all of history bears out this fact. This is the reality.
We might say that this is not good – who wants to have problems and worries and sadness? Nobody wants these things, but we have to consider what is behind all of this. The Hikmah of Allah subhana wa ta'ala is most definitely behind this, and we need to understand this because we need to live our lives in such a way that enables us to take benefit from everything that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given to us. This is a very big aspect of life, so how can we take benefit from it? Tell me. If we do not understand it and reflect on it, we cannot take that benefit, and if we do not, it is because we are ignorant and do not understand it. This is the Tadabbur and the Tafakkar that the Qur’an speaks about; Allah is urging us to ponder and analyze and think about the Universe and about Creation, and when we do ponder and analyze, then we will attain. It is not enough just to have routine of getting up, having breakfast, praying Salah, going to work, coming home and then going to sleep. Is that all there is to life? Tell me. It is such a big loss for a human being that Allah ta’ala has given us issues and difficulties and yet we are not taking the benefit from them. When a problem or difficulty comes, all we think of is ‘May this problem go far from me. I don’t want to be affected, and I don’t want to be included in that group. Let me escape this and be free from it.’ That is our mentality and approach all the time.
Look, let us hear the blessed statement of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is a beautiful Hadith in which Allah subhana wa ta'ala shows that these difficulties are a Ni’mah, a treasure. Yes? These difficulties and problems are a treasure that Allah ta’ala gives to human beings, to His servants. Allah gives issues to His beloved servants as a Ni’mah, a treasure, but we don’t consider it to be a Ni’mah. We only have one definition of Ni’mah, which is to avoid any difficulty in life, to have good food and tasty dishes, to get whatever we want, and to have everything in accordance with our own needs and requirements. That’s what we regard as a Ni’mah. If my shop is progressing and flourishing, if I have the children that I wanted and the house that I wanted, we think that this is a Ni’mah. This is our definition of a Ni’mah, a treasure from Allah, but Allah ta’ala says that there are different forms of Ni’mah in this world; the issue is that we don’t recognize them because Allah gives in His own style and manner.
If you want to understand the definition of Ni’mah, then listen to the words of this humble Faqeer. If you like them, then accept them; otherwise, reject them. I will explain what the definition of a Ni’mah is, what a gift and a treasure from Allah really is. A treasure from Allah includes everything that brings about a consequence that is better for you. Do you understand what I am saying to you? In other words, if something is good for our Akhirah, then it is a Ni’mah, in reality. That is a real treasure. Salah is a great Ni’mah, but think about how much difficulty you have to go through for your prayers; you have to crush your Nafs to make Wudhu first and then leave home and all the things that you might want to do, and then take time to rush to the Masjid – why? What is the logic behind coming to pray Salah in the Masjid? This is done because goodness in the Hereafter will result – say SubhanAllah. Remember – difficulty, doing Wudhu, leaving your shop, rushing, leaving your bed and your sleep, rubbing your eyes, all of this tells you that your Salah is for what? That from that Salah, that one Salah, your Hereafter will improve; you will see it in the Akhirah. This is the definition of Ni’mah – if your result in the Hereafter becomes better, then that it is a Ni’mah. So even if something difficult ends up giving you a good result in the Hereafter, then it is a Ni’mah – SubhanAllah.
So should you leave the Ni’mahs that Allah gives you if they will result in betterment for your Akhirah? Do you leave these Ni’mahs, these gifts from Allah? SubhanAllah, we leave the Ni’mahs of problems and difficulties – we don’t accept these as Ni’mahs. How ungrateful a person is who runs away when Allah gives him a Ni’mah, saying ‘Oh no, no, no – I don’t want problems or difficulties.’ It is sad to say that it is a big Munkar who behaves like this – do you understand the word Munkar? A person who denies Islam is a Munkar, the one who denies Deen is a Munkar, so that makes us rejecters if we deny the blessings that Allah has given to us – such big rejecters. We say ‘I don’t want this difficulty,’ or ‘This is not what I need,’ or ‘My life has been turned upside down,’ and we get depressed as we plunge into a dark mood about it; we fall into depression and forget Allah. We leave Allah and distance ourselves from Allah. We say ‘Oh, this has happened to me, so I don’t believe anymore. Why is this happening just to me? Why me?’
You see so many people in the world today who have left Allah for this reason, thinking ‘Why am I getting all these problems? Is this only in my destiny? Why not other people?’ Imagine these statements! They are Munkars of Allah’s Ni’mah, rejecters of Allah’s Ni’mah. Allah has given them a Ni’mah but they reject and deny it. They make it into a punishment by falling into depression and mental illness, and they reject Allah; they leave Allah and become Munkars of the Ambiya alyahimus-Salam. They say such weird things and they think that the proofs of the Qur’an are useless – they reject the proofs of the Qur’an and will not accept them, Allahu Akbar. This makes them Munkars of these big Ni’mahs that Allah ta’ala has given them. It is not as if we can say that the Prophets of Allah did not get problems. Did the Sahaba-e-Kiram not have problems, and did the Sahabiahs not have problems? Did they not have issues and have to pass through trials and difficulties? Tell me. Yes, but they embraced every challenge that came their way, because they knew that they were Ni’mahs from Allah; they knew.
And another big point is that when Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has himself defined the issue for us, then what is there to worry about? SubhanAllah. Difficulties, challenges, hurdles, obstacles – a person should not deny or reject these things, and he shouldn’t get scared. Rather, he should think ‘What is the Hikmah in this issue that Allah ta’ala has given me?’ Seek Allah’s Hikmah in every twist and turn. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said this. Look here – this is an Ajeeb point, a unique point - all the greatest Ambiya and Awliya and Qutbs and the Ghawths, were immersed in problems. We all think that our problems are the biggest problems around – this applies to all those sitting in the gathering here. Everyone has their own particular problem, say a mental health issue, or children problems, or physical health problems, or societal issues – everyone will have something, an illness or whatever – and for him, that problem is the biggest problem in the world, not other people’s problems. If I have an earache, I think ‘Oh, this is the worst problem in the world; I am in the worst position.’ If one person has heart problems, another will think ‘No, my issue is the worst – I need a stomach operation, so I am in the worst situation imaginable.’ A person becomes a Munkar of everything that happens around him. In reality, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the decree of Allah subhana wa ta'ala is saying something else, namely, that these problems occur when Allah ta’ala wants to give a human being a lofty, elevated place in Jannah - say SubhanAllah.
Look at this. On one hand is a person who is a Munkar because he is running away from the reality of life, and on the other is a person who embraces the Ni’mahs of Allah – and look where that will take him. It will take him to the highest levels of Paradise – and all due to this different way of thinking. Shaytan has affected the first person, but the second type of person thinks in a different way. When shaytan controls the mindset of a person, he changes the way a person thinks, but the other type of person thinks ‘Oh Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said that these challenges are the ways in which Allah ta’ala takes the believers to the heights, to the highest levels of Paradise in the Hereafter.’ There are many levels of Paradise, and Allah is saying ‘When I want to take someone to the highest level of Paradise in the Hereafter, what do I do? I make him occupied with issues and tests, whether children problems, body problems, mental health problems, feelings, emotions, thoughts.’ Someone might even go mad, but Allah ta’ala says that there are different ways and styles and standards, and He knows best about the situations that He puts a person in.
Allah ta’ala gives a unique example here, because everyone thinks that his or her difficulty is the biggest thing in the world. Take a small child, for example; the biggest difficulty for a small child will be when their favourite toy gets broken. We laugh, and say ‘What is wrong with you, child? Why are you crying just because your toy is broken?’ But the child carries on screaming and wailing, saying ‘Oh my toy car!’ He stops eating and sleeping, because for him that toy was the most valuable thing he had. And everyone has their own particular love and attraction, and the issues that Allah gives may reflect this, but when Allah ta’ala gives compensation for the loss, then that person forgets all their issues. Allah says ‘I will compensate a person for all the difficulties, pain and trouble that he is experiencing, and will give him a high-level reward.’ Say SubhanAllah.
So is it not a great Ibadah to endure these problems? Tell me. Allah ta’ala has given this great Ibadah to human beings, but we run away from this. A person goes mad while running away from it, thinking about it so much that he beats himself up about it and becomes crazy. He continually scolds himself about the issue in his mind – { إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّآ إِلَيۡهِ رَٲجِعُون}. Think about this, brothers; why do we put ourselves into these emotionally problematic situations? Allah ta’ala has given us life for a set amount of time, and for as long as we are in the world, Allah will give us our Rizq. One person may be in Pakistan, another has set up in England, a third has gone to Dubai; nobody can organize his life according to his own desire, doing what he wants to do and being what he wants to be – nobody. Allah is in control. How did you know that you were going to come here? Some people arrive here, and they don’t even know how it happened. Someone asks ‘How did you end up here?’ and they say ‘Oh - well, I was living in Ahmadabad in Deccan, and I managed to get the visa stamped so I came.’
In my case, there was a time in my life when I could not have imagined coming here to live. In the early days I would never ever have thought to come here. Just for a joke, while I was studying for a PhD in Geology, a friend of mine said ‘Let’s take a trip together,’ so I said ‘Where to?’ He said ‘England,’ I replied ‘No, I can’t go to England – I don’t want to go there,’ but he said ‘Don’t worry, they don’t give visas out easily; let’s put our passports forward for fun – just to see what happens.’ So he took my passport, filled out the application forms and handed them into the embassy - and it so happened that even though all his documents had been ready, his visa application was rejected but my passport received the stamp of the visa! SubhanAllah – tell me. This is Kismet – my visa was approved and his was rejected. He said ‘What has happened here? I was all ready to go and you didn’t even want to go.’ He had been trying, and in order to get my visa, he had applied for me to be enrolled on a university course over here, and that too was accepted. I am explaining to you how Allah’s system works. I didn’t know that I would come here, nor what I would become, nor what would happen to me in life and so on – SubhanAllah. How could I know that we would do Dhikr together in Bolton Jamia Masjid? I could not imagine such a thing in those days. And could Siddiqui Sahib, who was that good friend of mine at that time, have imagined that things would turn out the way they did? Everything is based on Allah’s planning – remember this. Allah sends people wherever He wants to send them. What else can I say to you?
Everyone’s destiny is written, but people think ‘Oh no, I want it to turn out like this. This has happened due to this reason, whereas I want to do something else.’ No - things happen automatically, SubhanAllah. Every man has his own story, every man has his own tale, and everyone passes through unique circumstances; it is Allah ta’ala who takes people through those circumstances. Allah ta’ala did not leave the Ambiya out of this system, so how can we dare to try and control things? But no, we say ‘Oh, he is better off than me. He has succeeded and I have failed – I am wretched!’ No – why are you running after other people? We have the examples in front of us of great Nabis; Allah ta’ala has presented their lives to us and we cannot forget their lives. The Kitabs have mentioned their histories, and the Qu’ran mentions their details – they are not folk tales! Allah ta’ala has shared them with us in order that we may acquire Taqwa and strong conviction, so that Iman can be strengthened, and the path of life can be followed properly. That is why these events have come down to us in history. The story of Hadhrat Yusuf alayhi salam is not a fiction or a folk tale. No, Allah ta’ala gave the many lessons of his story as a means for the paths of life to open up for us. Yes? They are there for those who ponder over the Qur’an and worry about the lessons its stories contain.
My Sheikh, may I give my all to him, made a beautiful statement. He said ‘Without pondering, doing Tadabbur and then practicing upon the Qur’an, it is not beneficial to anybody.’ He said this – imagine! He was a great Sheikh of Hadith, and these are his words that I am explaining to you. He said ‘Without thinking about and pondering over the Qur’an, and without doing Amal upon the lessons it contains, recitation of Qur’an after Qur’an will be of no benefit.’ Rather such a person should be warned that the Qur’an will send curses upon that person who does not attach himself to these two aspects of the Qur’an. The Qur’an was sent in order to be analyzed and pondered over, and also to be practiced upon, not just to be recited and recited over and over again.
Yes, if you have Tadabbur and Amal on the Qur’an, and alongside that, SubhanAllah, you have recitation and reading and memorization, then it will take you to light beyond light – Noor ‘ala Noor. Then it will give you increase and multiply your Darajaat. Then you can do beautiful recitation and enjoy the Qur’an’s eloquence and read for long periods and learn the seven Qira’aat - the enjoyment of all of that will come to you then. But if you leave the first two things and do not ponder over the Qur’an nor practice upon it, then it will never benefit you. Rather, it will curse that person and say ‘I have no connection with this person. He has treated me like a book or novel and is just reciting me again and again, repeating and repeating, turning the pages, but his way of life is contrary to me. He does not accept my definitions of Haram and Halal, and his face and appearance are weird, and his household issues and circumstances are weird - so what has he turned me into?’ The Qur’an complains, saying ‘He hasn’t understood me. Am I some normal book of the world? Have I been revealed for nothing? Am I like some novel to just be read? Am I like a work of fiction to him?’ Is this the case or not? Tell me. So without Amal and Tadabbur, the Qur’an we recite will not be accepted.
So brothers, first and foremost we need to understand the message of the Qur’an and know why Allah ta’ala revealed the Qur’an and gave it to us. Do Tadabbur – ponder over the Qur’an and work out what the Qur’an is telling us – and practice upon that. These are the two things that every one of us must do first and foremost – everything else comes after this. We have taken everything else to be greater and have totally forgotten the essence and the Ruh of the Qur’an – and the Qur’an will complain about this in the Hereafter. The Qur’an will complain in the Hereafter, saying ‘These people abandoned me!’ Yes? The Qur’an is not something that should be abandoned! Today, an individual living in a village in the desert somewhere, even if he has a broken-down recitation, if his lifestyle is in accordance with the Qur’an and he has Fikr and focuses his life on good practice, then he will be at a high level in the Hereafter; he will be recorded in the Hereafter as having a deep connection with the Qur’an, a very deep connection. My brothers, this is Allah’s Hikmah and wisdom, so don’t play games with Allah’s Deen; don’t play games with Allah’s Deen.
The difficulties that we experience in life are not there to make us go mad or get depressed or run away from the Deen. Rather, Allah is saying ‘I want to elevate you and give you a high rank through the problems you encounter in the world.’ What will you be given due to the pain and difficulty that you experience in the world? Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said that you will get a high-class of Paradise as compensation, and Allah ta’ala says ‘I will give you such a Maqam that when people arrive on the Day of Judgement, they will see that the best of people are those who put up with the greatest problems and difficulties in life’ – and obviously, the Ambiya will be the greatest of them. The Prophets of Allah will have the highest rank, and the Imam of those Ambiya, our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, had the most difficulties of anyone in history. So if we run away from our issues and problems and complain that Allah ta’ala should look after His people and give problems to the others, then think about who was the most beloved person to Allah. If that thinking was correct and Allah gives ease in the world to those He loves, then nothing would have happened to Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Look at his beloved daughter and the other members of his beloved family – look at their family history. They had nothing in their homes – no possessions. So why was this? SubhanAllah, it was because they were to be given a high Maqam in the Hereafter due this Ibadah of persevering through their difficulties and issues.
So when you get a difficulty, then know that Allah ta’ala has given you a great Ibadah to implement; understand this. This is first thing that we have understood today; this is lesson number one, so realise that this is not some waste of time. The problems and difficulties that you go through at times in your life are Ni’mahs from the Ni’mahs of Allah; they are not a bad thing – indeed, they are good. If they come, then obviously, they will be contrary to your natural desires, but accept them and embrace them and turn them into Ibadah.
So here is the next point that we need to understand: how do you make the problems and challenges of life into Ibadah? How can you turn a problem or a difficulty or an obstacle into worship? Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has mentioned this in a Hadith – look at what a beautiful and important point this is. The wording of the Hadith is as follows: “أَفْضَلُ الْعِبَادَةِ انْتِظَارُ الْفَرَجِ” ‘Waiting for Allah’s Rahmah while you are experiencing a problem is the greatest act of worship.’ This is how a difficulty becomes an Ibadah, indeed it is the biggest act of worship you can do at that time. Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that while you are experiencing issues and problems, then wait for Allah’s Rahmah at that time. What does that become? To await Allah’s Mercy becomes the greatest act of Ibadah at that time.
This is clear cut direction and guidance for those times when a human being has problems and difficulties, whether small or big. Allah ta’ala is saying ‘Even if a problem is small, you should not imagine that I will not compensate you for it.’ This applies even to a small-scale problem - for example, being pricked by a needle. How much pain do you get from being pricked by a needle? It is a minor degree of pain, but even if a needle pricks you, then consider that this incident is not a waste either because Allah is saying ‘I have given you pain, but behind that is My Hikmah; and My Hikmah is to give you a very precious result, namely that I will put that pain upon your scale of deeds in the Hereafter.’ SubhanAllah – tell me! So should we be depressed or upset? No, we should embrace the issue, thinking ‘This can become Ibadah for me, and I could become a Ghawth or a Wali of Allah through these problems. I could attain these ranks through this.’ This is the greatest gift that Allah ta’ala gives to His Walis, because we follow the Nabis of Allah, don’t we?
And who demonstrated this lesson more clearly than anyone? Our Nabi Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam gave this lesson to the Ummah. He experienced such great difficulties in life, and he gave us this Dars, this lesson, saying ‘This is the greatest Ibadah in life, so do not shun this. Make this into the greatest worship and do not shun this opportunity.’ Don’t become mad and cry and shriek and complain and commit suicide – no! Allah is saying that you can attain His nearness through this Ibadah; you will become Allah’s friend and Qutb; you will become Allah’s Abdal. Regarding the Walis of Allah, you may think that they just sit there and that Allah ta’ala has made them into Walis of Allah automatically, but no. If Allah ta’ala has made someone into a Qutb, then look at their life history and what they had to go through. Then you will see how they became Qutbs and Abdals - but we can’t even put up with small problems. We say that we want to be Walis of Allah and wish that we were born as a Wali of Allah and were naturally pious. How can we become pious without difficulties? If the Prophets were not exempted from this, then how can we be?
So a person should be detached from his problems. Maybe you will have to leave your country or leave your homes – challenges will come. As for my Hadhrat, I did not witness these events first-hand, but I remember the pain they caused him. Hadhrat Sahib had twelve or thirteen children – how many? Twelve or thirteen – but only three survived. Look at how many of his children passed away. Allah ta’ala took their lives, but that is how he became Ali Murtaza - it happened through those tests. We think that a person just becomes a Wali of Allah by sitting down, and that he becomes a Wali of Allah automatically, but look at his life history. Look at the tests and challenges that came to him. If a person gets pain and problems and difficulties, and then he accepts that these are a Ni’mah from Allah. Some people ask for such things; they say ‘Oh Allah, give me a challenge!’
And the Ambiya have instructed us how to handle such events. Allah ta’ala took away two of the children of Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam, and he was a Nabi. We see this event mentioned in the Qur’an and we treat it as a story and just keep reading Surah Yusuf again and again, reciting those verses and enjoying them, but is this why the Surah was revealed? Read the story and understand the lesson behind it. The first point to take out, the first lesson, was what? How did it all start? SubhanAllah – look at this lesson. He had to endure a tragedy - this was what a great Prophet of Allah had to endure. He was a great Prophet and he cried so much that his vision was damaged. Do you understand what I am saying or not? This is an event of the Qur’an, which explains this story to us so that we realise that a Wali of Allah is not made for nothing. Allah is saying ‘I don’t make a person a Wali of Allah just like that. I don’t make him a Wali until have given that Ni’mah which is a great Ni’mah, the true Ni’mah.’
So brothers, do you understand what I am saying? InshaAllah, goodness will come from this lesson today. If we treaty our difficulties as Ni’mahs, then they will most certainly become Ni’mahs. Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow – I don’t even know what is going to happen today when I leave here. We should be alert and waiting every second. What are we asking from Allah? After every Salah, we make Dua and say ‘Oh Allah, make me Your friend. Oh Allah, make me Your Wali, and oh Allah, give me ease, and oh Allah, show me Your Dhat. Oh Allah, grant me Ziyarah.’ We keep asking for these things, so why do we run away when Allah ta’ala gives us the chance to do Ibadah through challenges? Say SubhanAllah. Why do we run away when Allah ta’ala is saying ‘I am giving you Ibadah on this path of problems that I give you’? But we say ‘Oh no, I want to be sat at home, eating good food, with no problems and in a good state of health all the time. Oh Allah, make me a Qutb while giving me everything in accordance with my needs.’ This has never happened in history.
Look at the example of Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam – he kissed his children and embraced them to his heart, but Allah told him to cope without them. The Imam-ul-Ambiya sallallahu alayhi wasallam had Imam Hussain radhiAllahu anh playing on his blessed chest – imagine how they were playing and how much love he had for his grandson. They were playing and then suddenly Hadhrat Gibril alayhi salam came and immediately Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam started to cry. Hadhrat Umm Salma radhiAllahu anha came and asked ‘Why are you crying? What has happened? Just now you were playing with Hassan and Hussain, and you were happy – what has happened now?’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam replied ‘Hadhrat Gibril alayhi salam came and showed me the dust of Kerbala and told me that this is where Hussain will become Shaheed.’ This was one of the difficulties that came to the Imam of the Ambiya. He loved Imam Hussain so much, and we will go off-track here if we go into that event, but look at how much love was there. Imam Hussain had many tests and challenges – very big tests indeed – and he was to lose not one or two or three, but the entire family. Do you think he became what he became for nothing? Take the life of any Wali of Allah and you will find the same. Do you understand what I am saying?
So now will you become upset when problems come, my brothers? Will you be scared of the tests when they come? Do you understand my words today, or not? Maybe you find the topics I pick to be weird, and this is an Ajeeb topic, but I am trying to explain what you find if you look back in history. Have you ever heard this point explained like this from anybody? Mostly it is just pray Salah and keep fasts, and do this and do that, but look at what I am explaining to you. This is an important factor of life, and I am trying to explain it to you in a simple way. I don’t know if my explanation is easy for you to understand, so if you understand what I have said so far, please put your hands up so that I can see and be satisfied that you have understood what I am saying. Okay, good. Very good, MashaAllah. At least this way I get some feedback that you are understanding what I am saying. Okay, let’s continue.
What the point that I am making? Who did Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam love? He loved them all, but especially one in particular, and the other brothers were jealous because Allah ta’ala had given him great beauty, and Hadhrat Ya’qub used to embrace and kiss his son Yusuf alayhi salam. So Allah ta’ala said ‘Let me tell you, oh Ya’qub, that the story of the events of your son will continue until Yawm al-Qiyamah, as people will continue to recite Surah Yusuf – and they will recite it with great enjoyment. And how shall I start this story? I will start with an experience of the type for which the universe came into existence, through which I make a person a Wali and a Qutb and a Ghawth. I will start with that Sunnah!’ And what is that? He caused him pain by detaching that son from him. May Allah protect us from such a calamity – imagine the feeling if somebody takes their young child away from them. Imagine how a family feels if a child is kidnapped or taken away – what state would they be in? Say your child went to school and you were waiting for him to come back, and he just didn’t arrive, and you were there waiting and waiting. The mother would run out into the streets and the father would be asking people and running here and there, to the left and to the right - but nobody can tell him where the child has gone because somebody has picked him up and taken him away. Would he be able to sleep at night? Would the mother want to remain alive? She would rather die than endure such a loss. When a child is snatched away like this, then there is no enjoyment of life thereafter.
The child of Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam was taken away like this, and he was left making Duas – the Duas of a Nabi. And the child was also a Nabi, but he was thrown into a well. He was a Prophet, but what difficulties he went through in the various stages of his life, starting from the marketplace where he was sold as a slave. And all the while, his father was crying and crying, thinking ‘Oh, where has my Yusuf gone?’ He was a Prophet of Allah, so what did he turn that sadness into? He turned it into a Ni’mah of Allah, and he made use of that Ni’mah. He did that Ibadah for forty years, asking Allah ‘May this loss become a Ni’mah for me.’ He endured this for forty years, and yet we cannot put up with issues for two days. After a couple of days, we get scared and cannot take it and start contemplating suicide and wishing we were dead. We want to run away, and we complain that we cannot take any more of it. That Nabi kept on making Dua, but straightaway we say ‘Oh, my Duas are not being accepted.’ No, your Dua is being accepted, and through them Allah ta’ala will deliver you to that high rank to which He wants you to go, SubhanAllah.
So for example, if there is a delay in your prayers being answered, then understand that Allah is giving you more by this means. An important point about this Hadith is coming to my mind – listen to this. SubhanAllah, Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has mentioned something here that we can learn from. He said “أَفْضَلُ الْعِبَادَةِ انْتِظَارُ الْفَرَجِ” He said that waiting, waiting during that period of time in which Allah’s mercy is hoped for, that time in which you wait for Allah’s mercy will become a Ni’mah and a blessing for you. It is about waiting, waiting patiently – remember this word ‘waiting’; it is about persevering through the difficulty. What will that difficulty become? And what do you have to do in order to turn it into a Ni’mah? You have to wait patiently. Allah’s Nabi, Ya’qub alayhi salam, waited for forty years – forty years! He didn’t give up and say ‘Oh, my Dua has not been accepted.’ No, he said ‘It cannot be that acceptance will not come.’ He was a Nabi, my brothers, Bani Israeel’s great Nabi – think about the generations that came from him. Look how he kept up his Dua, whereas we make one Dua at Tahajjud and then complain that our Dua has not been accepted. Allah says ‘No, it has been accepted, and your Darajah has been raised even higher.’ Forty years later, Allah ta’ala accepted his Dua and said to Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam ‘He will come from there, and you will see the result of your waiting.’ Look at the miracles – these were such great human beings – he smelled his son’s fragrance from so far away, SubhnaAllah.
Allahu Akbar, and his vision came back to him as the story took a turn and became a Ni’mah, SubhanAllah. But if our business decreases for a few days, we say ‘Let’s take out a Haram loan and consume interest and use that person’s money’ – we follow the wrong path. We use the wrong means and the wrong tools, saying ‘Oh no – I can’t live like this anymore.’ Don’t do this, brothers; don’t go towards wrong. Don’t think about suicide and don’t do wrong actions; rather, consider your difficulties as a Ni’mah and then wait and persevere patiently. I am reminding you about this matter of waiting. How do difficulties become Ni’mahs? They do so when you wait patiently.
Consider another Nabi, SubhanAllah – we are talking about Nabis here, about Prophets. This is why Allah ta’ala has mentioned these events, so that you can take courage and strength. Don’t treat these events as stories or folk tales; instead, take their lessons on board. That is why it is said that the Walis of Allah and the Ghawth and the Qutb ponder over the verses of the Qur’an, and then do Amal on them – otherwise the Qur’an will not be beneficial. What will it become otherwise? It will send curses upon the human, saying ‘He thinks that I am a story book that is only good for reading and reciting.’ It is definitely good to read the Qur’an, to look at the Qur’an and to touch the Qur’an; all these things are great, but we must follow the process and the method that Allah ta’ala has given. There is nothing greater than the Qur’an, but it must be approached in the right way. Don’t follow the Qur’an in your own way, according to your opinion; rather, follow the manner of Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, for then you will get success, SubhanAllah.
So yes, another example is that of Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam. Tell me now – can our issues compare to his experiences? Allah caused insects to live on his body – insects lived on Ayyub alayhi salam due to the sickness that he suffered from. Imagine his situation, which he understood was a Ni’mah and so he waited and waited, and he persevered in the expectation of Allah’s Rahmah. What did he do? If an insect fell off his body onto the ground, he would pick it up and put it back onto his body! SubhanAllah, a beautiful point comes out here, so listen attentively to this point. This is called understanding reality. He would pick up those insects and put them back onto his body – why? He would say ‘I am putting the insect back onto my body because otherwise, where will that insect go? Allah has created that insect to consume my flesh, so let it carry on.’ He had a disease at that time which Allah ta’ala had given him, so he said ‘Let that insect carry on.’ And he would put it back onto his skin.
So why did he put the insect back onto his body? This is an Ajeeb point – you will be amazed when you hear this. Allah subhana wa ta'ala put so much love for those insects in the chest of Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam, a love like the love that a father has for his child – that is how much love Allah ta’ala gave him. He was putting the insects and bugs onto his body, whereas we would run away from them, but he looked at them as if they were his own children, knowing that they were the creation of Allah. That was the amount of love for those insects that Allah ta’ala put into the heart of Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam. He could not accept the idea that the insects might go hungry, and just as a father does with his child, he looked after them. After many years of tests and trials, the Hikmah of Allah became clear – inevitably goodness comes out in the end. So Allah ta’ala put love for those insects into his heart so that he kept on picking them up and putting them back when they fell off his body. After years of this, he passed the test and went to that fountain of water which purified his body; it cured his body. As for us, when we get a little bit of pain, we start crying and complaining.
So do you understand now? Difficulties are a Ni’mah from Allah ta’ala. It is a Ni’mah because what comes from it is very great indeed. Difficulties elevate our Darajah for every second that we endure them; this is such a great Ibadah. Problems and worries elevate your Darajah every second that you pass through them. How does this become Ibadah? It is only Ibadah when we wait patiently for Allah’s Rahmah.
Now we need to understand what waiting entails. Waiting is when you take medicine and say ‘Oh no, I’ll be fine soon. I will take this medicine and I will be fine - I will be cured. If I take that injection, I will be cured.’ Such a person understands that this is Allah’s Ni’mah, so he makes Dua and then takes the remedy, the injection, the cures and medicines, and then he waits patiently. Islam is not against medicines – listen to this as well. Islam is not opposed to remedies and cures, but waiting is another thing altogether. So let me explain to you the definition of waiting patiently so that you will understand. Have you ever waited for a conveyance? For example, what do you do if the train is late? What do you do if an aeroplane flight is delayed? If you are working and have to wait for someone to do something before you can proceed, what do you do? Immediately, you will resort to something and spend that time in another way by doing a secondary action – say SubhanAllah. Is this not the case? If you are at the station, for example, and they announce that the train is thirty minutes late, you will say ‘Okay, let’s go and have a cup of tea.’ You would say that, wouldn’t you, while waiting for your train? Or you might say ‘Let go for a coffee’ – everyone has their own habits. Someone might say ‘I’ll just go and have a cigarette’ or ‘Let’s play a game while we wait.’ While waiting for something to happen, every human being has his habits and methods of spending time while waiting for that thing to happen.
He keeps himself occupied, and this is the Tadabbur of the Qur’an that I am explaining to you – I am trying to explain it in a simple way. Yes? Without waiting and being patient, you cannot get the elevation in status. For example, while waiting these days, you might take the phone out and watch a programme, or if you are on the Deen, you might start listening to a speech; if you have got love for your Hadhrat, then you will download his Bayans; if you have love for Dhikr, then you will start doing Dhikr. Everyone has his passion and his love. The person who likes music will start playing music and listening to instruments and so on. Now one type of person is always waiting, and he waits and waits with Dhikr, and gets more and more elevated; he doubles and triples his rank. When an opportunity comes for waiting in life, when you are delayed, then utilize it in a proper way by doing the right thing – say SubhanAllah. And if you are delayed, for example by having to wait for a plane, never get upset or down. If I hear that the plane departure will be delayed by five hours, then I would find a place to settle down, pray Nafl, and then do Dhikr – I am trying to explain how Allah ta’ala makes everything easy. That way, I will not worry – rather, when the plane arrives, I will say ‘Oh, it has come too soon – I was happily immersed in Ibadah.’ In the same way, Hadhrat Ayyub alayhi salam would pick up those insects with love - Allah ta’ala placed so much love inside him during the time he was waiting and waiting that he didn’t want that problem to go away.
I am explaining personal points to you here - and I am a normal person and am nothing compared to you pious people. So what about the true Walis of Allah? They understand Allah ta’ala has given them difficulties and problems and they accept them as a Ni’mah. On the other side you have people who get scared and shake and run here and there, saying ‘How much longer do we have to wait?’ They cry and complain, but the plane will arrive when it arrives – it won’t make any difference. Both I and they will get onto that plane at the same time; but he is mad with anger at that time, shouting ‘Why hasn’t it come? Why is it late? Where has it gone?’ He pulls his hair out, saying ‘Oh, my plane is late? What will happen to me? Where will I go? These planes are always late!’ And he swears and cries and talks rubbish and smokes cigarettes – he is quite mad by the time the plane arrives. Such people of the world are quite mad – they are like donkeys and dogs! They even commit suicide if they do not understand the Ni’mahs behind problems and difficulties, and they cannot wait for goodness to arrive. Spend a little time comparing these two ways of waiting.
Do you understand what I am saying, or not? Put your hands up again if you understand. If you have understood up to this point, put up your hands. Okay, very good – even the little kids understand because they put their hands up. Okay – SubhanAllah! So now, brothers, we need to see more here. We are sitting here after Isha so we can give a lengthy talk now and still do Dhikr after that. There is no need to rush off today, is there? Let me finish what I am saying – inshaAllah, we will carry on. That is why I scheduled the Majlis after Isha, so that we can take our time in the discussion -SubhanAllah.
So brothers, Intidhar – waiting – requires that you have to do something. When you wait in the world, you don’t just do nothing; you have to do something to keep yourself busy. You might start phoning your children and say ‘How are you, my child? I am here getting late for such and such.’ So you have to pass the time, and everyone passes that time according to what he likes to do. Allah ta’ala says ‘When you wait for My Rahmah, for My Mercy, SubhanAllah, while enduring the pain and difficulties and problems and worries that I have given you, then you won’t cry and complain and scream.’ A person can do that if he wants to – he is a human being after all – but what does that person do instead of shrieking and screaming? He won’t become mad and drive himself towards suicide – what will he do? He will wait patiently – say SubhanAllah. How will that person wait? He will wait in the same way that Hadhrat Ya’qub alayh salam waited, in the same way that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam demonstrated to us, SubhanAllah. The noble Companions waited and the Awliya’llah waited – it was only after this that they became Walis of Allah. Don’t become like an ape or a monkey or a mouse; rather, become a man when you have got problems – a man – and then Allah ta’ala will record that this servant of Allah, when asked how he was while suffering with problems, said ‘Oh, I’m fine. I might be a little down, but don’t worry, tomorrow inshaAllah I will be better.’
Remember this point: when you have a difficulty or a problem, don’t become like a big-head in front of Allah, saying ‘No, no – I am totally fine, no problems at all.’ Allah ta’ala doesn’t like that. Say ‘Yes, I have got pain and I have got issues, but Allah’s Fadhl will come.’ I will tell you a Dua, a beautiful Dua. Fix this Dua firmly in your mind; in Punjabi, we have a saying ‘Tie a knot on this’ – in other words, attach it to yourself and remember it. What Dua should you make when a difficulty comes? Say ‘Oh Allah, please compensate me with a Ni’mah of the Hereafter for this difficulty’ - SubhanAllah. Do you understand what I am saying? Say ‘Oh Allah, I know that this difficulty is a Ni’mah, but I am very weak, oh Allah, and I am not courageous or brave. The difficulty is coming, and I am feeling it in my body and in my emotions and in everything, but I know this is Your Ni’mah, and I am waiting for You. InshaAllah, everything will be fine again, whether tomorrow or the day after. You will elevate my Maqam and I will reach that station. Oh Allah, give me that Maqam and status, but change this Ni’mah that You have given me in the form of a difficulty into goodness and ease for me, because both are Ni’mahs!’ Say SubhanAllah.
So both are Ni’mahs, which is why you should not say that difficulties are bad things – no. Difficulties are a Ni’mah, but ask Allah to change that Ni’mah into a good Ni’mah that is easy for you. Don’t try to be big-headed and think ‘I am strong; I am a Wali of Allah, so I am not affected.’ No – such people are false; they are liars. Those people are false. Rather, say ‘Oh Allah, I am waiting for You. I am going through hardship, but I am waiting for Your ease and comfort’ – SubhanAllah. Now in that waiting, Allah ta’ala has given us that Tariqah to wait with strength. And as I said, everyone waits in a manner that accords with his tastes and passions. So Allah ta’ala has given a Tariqah to His beloved servants when they are waiting, saying ‘This is how you should wait for My mercy.’ Allah ta’ala says ‘This is the method.’ So the servant of Allah waits for Allah’s mercy in the right way, whether for four years or for five years – Hadhrat Ya’qub alayhi salam waited for forty years. He waited for forty years, and he used that time correctly in the way that Allah ta’ala advised him.
So whenever Allah ta’ala gives you a problem or difficulty, then wait in the correct way, in the way that Allah ta’ala has prescribed – then it will become a Ni’mah for you. Do you understand what I am saying? Is what I am saying okay? So what is that Ni’mah? How is Allah ta’ala saying we should use our time when problems arise? Allah ta’ala is saying ‘When problems and difficulties come to you, wait in this way, and that journey will thereby become easy. Whether it lasts for ten years or fifteen years, you won’t feel that problem if you wait and persevere in the manner that I have prescribed to you via Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’
So how should we persevere? What is this method? Utilise that Dua, according to your capability, whenever you have any difficulties or problems or worries or sickness. If it is declared that you have this, then don’t worry and don’t be scared. Just keep making that Dua. And how should you wait? Allah ta’ala is saying ‘Persevering is the greatest Ibadah that you can do right now. The greatest Ibadah for you right now is facing this problem that has come to you. Be patient!’ How will you do this? SubhanAllah – to do this, you will have to do the best Ibadah, the greatest Ibadah. To make that problem or difficulty into a Ni’mah, you have to do the greatest Ibadah – and what is that? It is stated that the best means, the Afdhal means, is doing the Dhikr of Allah during that time of difficulty. Do Dhikr of Allah.
A person may ask ‘How? Oh Allah, tell me how?’ Allah ta’ala says ‘This is the greatest action during the time that problems are surrounding you.’ Even if you spent mountains of gold and silver, Dhikr is greater than that, and it is greater than giving Sadaqah, and it is even better than breaking your sword while fighting an enemy in a just cause - Dhikr is greater than all of these. Dhikr of Allah is so great that when you go into your grave, you will be free from all its calamities due to that Dhikr of Allah. When you go into the grave you will be free from the challenges of that place, and when you wake up from the grave, as you are dusting yourself down and brushing off all the soil from that grave, you will be doing Hamd of Allah and Dhikr of Allah in gratefulness that Allah took you so easily through the predicaments of the grave. In every Maqam and phase of life in the Hereafter, Dhikr will give you greatness. So while you are facing life’s challenges, wait during that time with Dhikr of Allah – that is the greatest. { قِيَـٰمً۬ا وَقُعُودً۬ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ} – walking, sitting and lying down – Allah is saying that you should be doing Dhikr of Allah in every second. Do Dhikr in every second of your life - do so much Dhikr that when death comes, Dhikr is on your tongue at that time. Don’t waste a second of your life. When difficulties and problems come, do Dikr, and when death comes, which will be the biggest and most severe problem, even then you should be doing the Ibadah of Dhikrullah.
So, my brothers, what an easy path this is. One hundred percent, there will be problems in life; without doubt, difficulties are going to come in life – that is the objective of life, and so you cannot run away from them or escape them. No injection will save you from them, no money or wealth can buy you a way out, for they can come from above or below or from the left or the right. They can come from any angle or direction, whether through your body or your children or your home, outside, inside, from the world, or from the Dunya. They can come from any angle, so we should be prepared – why? Because then we will be ready to wait for Allah’s mercy. And we will be able to control that waiting time with Dhikrullah, so be regular in Dhikrullah. As Allah said, whether standing, sitting or lying down, don’t discard Dhikrullah. Whenever a problem comes to a Dhakir, alhamdulillah, through his Dhikr he will attain elevation while waiting for the problem to be relieved. Allah ta’ala says ‘When I see that, I will elevate you to a high rank and I will remove that problem and give you a high status as well.’
SubhanAllah, look at how Dhikr gives a person such a beautiful connection to Allah, to the extent that Allah even gives him ease and comfort from the problems of the world through Dhikr, and he also attains a high status. So how ungrateful is the person who doesn’t do Dhikrullah. A Dhakir is saved from being ungrateful and he strengthens his Yaqeen and belief by doing Dhikr of Allah in every circumstance of life – and thus he becomes a friend of Allah. Through Dhikr of Allah, he becomes a Wali of Allah. Do you understand today’s topic? Do you understand the message? So will you do Dhikr of Allah regularly? Yes – it will benefit you greatly and everything will become easy. You will attain constant ease, so do it just as Allah ta’ala has told you to do it, and don’t shake or tremble. There is no greater method than the one that Allah prescribes. Allah ta’ala says that there are five times when you must pray Salah – you have to pray those five Fardh Salahs. But you can’t make the five into six, saying ‘Oh, let me add another Fardh to make it six. Let’s make another Jamat between Dhuhr and Asr.’ Will that be beneficial? No. Don’t imagine that there would be any benefit in adding another Fardh so as to make six. Allah ta’ala says ‘What I have prescribed for you, what has been written for you, is the Tariqah you must use.’ So what does Allah ta’ala say about Dhikr?
{ يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱذۡكُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ ذِكۡرً۬ا كَثِيرً۬ا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكۡرَةً۬ وَأَصِيلاً } Allah ta’ala has told us this in the Qur’an – this is the method that has been set for us. Do Dhikr Katheer, in high quantity, in the heart. Don’t do any other amount of Dhikr – it has to be performed in high quantity - and only by doing Dhikr of the heart can you do Dhikr Katheer. So it is essential that you learn Dhikr of the heart because only in that way can you do Dhikr in abundance; when you do Dhikr in the heart, then that condition is fulfilled. { قِيَـٰمً۬ا وَقُعُودً۬ا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمۡ} – you need to be a Dhakir in every second, whether in the marketplace, in the street, whether you are home or outside. It is not necessary that Dhikr should be audible or visible; you don’t have to see it or hear it.
Let me tell you about an event from the life of a Wali of Allah, an event from these days. This Wali of Allah had a heart operation – listen to this. I know this individual, which why I can tell you about it. So he had a heart operation, and while the surgeons were in the operating theatre, they removed his heart and were shocked to hear his heart going ‘Allah, Allah, Allah.’ SubhanAllah! The surgeons didn’t understand how this could happen – they were worldly people, and they didn’t know about Dhikr of Allah. ‘What is going on here?’ they said, since they were amazed that a heart could say ‘Allah.’ But there was a Sufi there, a pious Mureed who was with the surgeons in the theatre. He said ‘You carry on doing what you are doing – you will not be able to understand this.’ He was one of their colleagues, so he said ‘Keep doing the operation – we can talk about it afterwards.’ They agreed, and continued with the operation, and put everything back, sealed him up and finished the operation. Some time later, the surgeon, who was a very high-level surgeon, came to the patient and asked him ‘Moulana Sahib, what do you do that could make your heart do such a strange thing?’ He replied ‘What was so strange? I was asleep so I don’t know what was going on. If it was going ‘Allah,’ it was just doing what it was created for!’ SubhanAllah.
So brothers, do Dhikr of the heart. If you learn Dhikr of the heart, you don’t even have to move your lips and your heart will take you to that Maqam that wherever you are, at your shop, at work, at home, inside or outside, your heart will consistently be doing Dhikr of Allah. And you don’t have to worry about it, asking yourself whether or not it might have stopped because you can’t feel the beats or something – no, no, no. Keep to the prescription that Allah has given and recharge the battery of the heart twice a day, in the morning and evening. You have to charge its battery – and if someone says ‘How do I charge it, oh Allah?’ then Allah says ‘Sit in front of a Sheikh, My Wali, and do Dhikr – your will heart will be charged in this way.’ If you don’t have a teacher nearby, then listen remotely on the phone – Allah has prepared the means. You can join in online. If you are in America, then you can still go the website and join in, and in this way your heart will be boosted. That is why Allah ta’ala has given us this technology. Allah says ‘I created this technology for this purpose’ – say SubhanAllah. It was created for Dhikr of Allah! So how does a person’s heart get charged rapidly? When he sits in front of the Sheikh and does Dhikr.
And those people who live nearby but do not attend are the most unfortunate and the most ungrateful of people, and they will be seized, and their reward taken away; but as for those who are not in front of their Sheikh but their heart is with him, even though they may be seventy miles or two hundred miles away, and they sit waiting to hear his voice come out of their phones – is there any comparison between these two groups? The ungrateful people cannot even get close to the second group – there are severe punishments in the grave and on the Plain of Hashr for those who do not take the benefit of these gatherings even though they know what the rewards of Dhikr are. Those people will suffer a severe punishment in those places. Allah will say ‘You sat enjoying your lives while My Dhikr was taking place.’ When Dhikr is happening in one place, are you wandering around in the world or reciting Qur’an to yourself? Every high-class Ibadah has its time, but Allah is saying ‘The morning time is for remembering My Name, and I sat My teacher down in the Masjid, so why do you run to the Qur’an and open it to read?’
The Qur’an itself says to do Dhikr in the morning and evening, so how can you read Qur’an while the Majlis is taking place? Is this the time for reading the Qur’an? Allah’s remembrance is happening, and yet you go to the Qur’an and start reading it? Weird! Am I telling you not to read the Qur’an? No! But the friend of Allah is explaining that Allah says ‘This is My time. I have announced this in the Qur’an { يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱذۡكُرُواْ ٱللَّهَ ذِكۡرً۬ا كَثِيرً۬ا وَسَبِّحُوهُ بُكۡرَةً۬ وَأَصِيلاً } – morning and evening are the times for Dhikr.’ This servant says
‘My Mawla Allah, You give me the peace of the morning and of the evening with the remembrance of Your Name!’ SubhanAllah.
‘Where would I be if the thought of you was to come out of my heart? Oh Allah, I can never be detached from You, I can never leave You, morning or evening!’
This is the pattern of life that Allah ta’ala has given us - read Salah at these times, read Qur’an at these times, do this action at that time, do Tasbeeh at this time, do Dhikr at that time. Allah has made this pattern and this schedule for us, so when it is time for Dhikr, how can you do some other action at that time? You are playing games then if you say ‘Allah I want to please You.’ Allah says ‘I give you the Hukm that you should do Dhikr at this time, so are you wishing to follow your own opinions and desires instead? Who are you trying to fool? In the morning as the sun is rising, I have no preference for anything other than Dhikr. At that time the birds are singing, and the heavens and the trees and the leaves and the branches and the sand and the skies are doing Dhikr - and what are you doing? Are you telling me that you are reading Qur’an at that time? Is Dhikr inferior to that according to you, even though everything else in the Universe is doing My Dhikr? I want to hear My Dhikr at that time of the morning.’ I am not prohibiting you or telling you not to read the Qur’an but do it at the right time.
So those who attend the Majalis morning and evening are charging their batteries, and those who reject Dhikr of Allah when it is happening in front of them are the most unfortunate and wretched of people, and they will get punishment in the grave and on the Day of Judgement. A person who has learned Dhikr but doesn’t leave his bed or his house and does not bother, then he will have no Barakah in his home or in his life. He has learned Dhikr and Allah has called and invited him, yet he doesn’t sit in that Majlis in the morning and evening to charge his battery – this is not optional for us. This is the Hukm of Allah throughout the Qur’an – ‘Remember Me! Remember Me! Remember Me!’ These are instructions - and does Allah give instructions for nothing? Count how many times this comes in the Qur’an. How many times in the Qur’an does Allah give the order for Salah? How many times Has Allah given the order to fast? And these come with conditions; the order for Salah comes with conditions – that is enough. Just do this amount.
Allah is saying ‘Pray Salah five times a day, it is enough to perform Hajj just once in your lifetime, complete this number of compulsory fasts and do not exceed that. If you want to do more, then for the rest of the time, do My Dhikr Katheeran Katheera, because I like Dhikr more. Why do you do Hajj after Hajj after Hajj? What sort of Hajj is it when there is dirt inside you? Purify yourself first by means of Dhikr! Don’t run to perform Nafl Hajj after Nafl Hajj. Quantity is not preferable here – I have restricted the quantity of Hajj that is necessary. Instead, run after that action which is unlimited in quantity!’ Which Ibadah would that be? Dhikr or Hajj? Which is better? Tell me.
This is an Ajeeb point that I am trying to explain in front of you here. Do you regard Dhikr as some minor action, a waste of time? ‘No, no, I don’t feel like doing it – we don’t have to do it together. I can do it in my bed.’ You will find out the reality tomorrow, my son, and you won’t be able to say that I didn’t tell you, openly and in clear words. How wretched and cursed in this world and the Hereafter is the one who leaves the Dhikr of Allah and rejects it, while as for the one who works hard and runs to the Dhikr of Allah, the Rahmah of Allah will come to the feet of that person. We want Allah’s mercies and His preferment and His treasures and rewards, so how can we run away from Dhikr of Allah? This Dhikr is that worship which Allah ta’ala says contains all goodness. Can a person do Dhikr according to his own liking? If so, he should be prepared to face the consequences in the Akhirah. The two extremes will come to pass at that time – both extremes. Do you like Allah’s Dhikr or do you like what is opposite? Here in this gathering, there are angels in their millions – if you don’t believe this, that is your problem, but the Qur’an and the Hadith tell us this. You don’t have to come; sleep in your bed and stay at home – it is up to you.
Allah ta’ala says that if one Jama’ah leaves the practice of Dhikr, then Allah will replace them with another Jama’ah. Yes? Allah is not dependent on anybody. But ill-fated and wretched are those who reject this, both at home and beyond. Those homes where young children are sitting and no Dhikr is done – what sort of houses will these be? MashaAllah, don’t judge by wealth and piles of money or models of cars or houses – these are not Rahmahs or Ni’mahs. The Rahmahs and Ni’mahs are present where the family has nothing, but Dhikr of Allah is taking place in the home. Yes? Allah bears witness and Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam testifies – you might not see that goodness, but Rahmah is guaranteed there. The difficulties and problems they experience are given because Allah ta’ala wants to elevate their status. There is less food in their houses because they are higher in rank, and there is not much bread or chapattis because Allah has elevated their status; they have no sofas in their houses, and they do not own any buildings or assets or houses, and they have no commodities, all because Allah wants to elevate their status. Allah gives them difficulty, but their Darajaat is ever rising, and in reality, you can’t say that they have no assets, because Rahmah is raining down on those people through the difficulties of their lives. Reflect on the condition of our homes for a few moments.
What Qur’an is being recited by those who don’t believe this, those who don’t understand this simple point? Tell me. What Hifdh are they doing if they don’t understand this point? What Tilawat are they doing if they don’t understand this point? They don’t have Yaqeen and belief in the fact that where Dhikr of Allah does not take place, there is darkness – they are dead! Rasoolulah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has announced that the houses in which no Dhikr of Allah takes place are dead, so imagine how dead that human being is who sits or lies down, big-headed, saying ‘Oh, I don’t care about Dhikr. This Dhikr of Allah is a waste of time.’ So will we do Dhikr or not? I put that question to you.
I am emphasizing this because this is my duty, alhamdulillah. I have love for you, so I will only tell you those things that I love myself - and I love this action! People say ‘Why do you keep persevering on Dhikr?’ Alhamdulillah, my Sheikh has given me this duty, so I want to share this with you - at one time I myself didn’t know what morning was or what evening was. Do Dhikr this way and Allah will give you all the sustenance and all your requirements will be met. As for food, you will have people knocking at your door giving you the assistance that you desire. Have Ikhlas, have sincerity in this, for this is such a great action at this time with the world the way it is. To have the hand of a Wali of Allah is such a massive, massive reward, and if he teaches you Dhikr, this is the biggest Ni’mah in the world at this moment in time. I say this clearly, so value this and appreciate this.
My Sheikh noor ‘ala marqadah rahmatullah alayh said ‘Take the hand of a Wali of Allah, and all day long until the night, I guarantee that the more Khidmah you do and love you have, the faster Allah’s Rahmah will reach towards you - if you value what you learn from him.’ But we don’t appreciate or value it, and we have no Muhabbat and no Khidmah – nothing. We are empty boxes – hollow. We waste so much time in our lives. Allah ta’ala has given such a great Ni’mah to you by giving you a guide, and you have a connection with that guide because you have been taught Dhikr. You have been given the Dhikr of the heart and the lessons on the Latifahs, and your heart is alive, and Allah has given you places to do Dhikr - morning and evening there are gatherings of Dhikr of Allah. And Dhikr of Allah is such a great action that the whole Qur’an is inviting you towards it, and in this world and in the grave and at Qiyamah you will get the reward for Dhikr. And yet you say ‘Oh, I am not doing Dhikr – it’s not for me; it’s a waste of time.’ Say SubhanAllah!
Is this enough for today’s discussion inshaAllah? Have your batteries been charged a little? Tell me – have your cells been charged? Come to the Majlis morning and evening and charge your hearts, otherwise you will always have problems and difficulties, and those issues will make you into a Kafir. Such words will come out of your mouth at that time, words that are against Allah and against the Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and those words will make you a Kafir at that time. You will complain when difficulties come to you. Remember this – Allah controls the means and the resources. Your money will not help you, nor your house, nor your wife and your children. My friends, establish the life of Dhikr and you will attain everything that you are running after.
Do you understand what I am saying? Will you implement this? Come – the harder you work, the more you will benefit. I used to go from here and travel thousands of miles to my Sheikh in order to learn this reward of Allah’s Name, so can you not even come from where you live locally, from the neighbouring town? Can’t you make it to the Majlis? What will you get? Tell me. We say ‘Oh, he just became a Wali of Allah and got to sit down like he does automatically.’ No – you have to work hard. And the hard work is not visible – although I swear by Allah that I have done nothing. I don’t even consider that I have done anything to deserve Allah’s rewards. Such efforts as have been made are not visible, but this great gift of Allah is so great that in comparison, our efforts and hard work are nothing. Even travelling great distances for the sake of remembering Allah is nothing – this is how much you should appreciate how valuable is this gift that Allah ta’ala has given. If, for fifteen or twenty years, I used to spend my money and my time by going from here, going through difficulties of hunger and lack of clothes, not knowing what was going on, then in reality, that was easy and was nothing when compared to the fact that now I am doing Allah’s Dhikr morning and evening. Those problems were nothing.
So be grateful servants of Allah. Wilayat is nothing - becoming a friend of Allah can happen within seconds. Just one experience of pain can make you into a Wali of Allah if you wait patiently. Do you now understand what waiting is? When pain and difficulty come, do Dhikr of Allah – that is called waiting patiently, not talking rubbish and nonsense when problems come. No - make Dua and ask from Allah.
وأخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين