Allah ta'ala loves His servants, so He created opportunities for them to be saved from Hellfire. We hear about hellfire but only Allah ta'ala knows it's reality. It is such a severe heat which no one can bear. If the heat was to be exposed to this world, it would destroy it.
What takes a person to Hellfire?
Sins are what destroys a human being. Allah ta'ala is closer to a person than his own jugular vein, but we have distanced ourselves from Him. Through sujood, we become so close to Allah ta'ala. This is where a person meets Allah ta'ala multiple times through Fard prayers. Allah ta'ala has given us Nawaafil, voluntary prayers and the person who has a passion to become closer to Allah ta'ala, implements the Nawafil with love as he enjoys it just as much as the Fard. Allah ta'ala's love is then awakened inside him.
We have placed a veil in between us and Allah ta'ala, which is why we do not feel the same emotions. How can we meet someone with barriers in place? It is our fault that we do not present ourselves to Allah ta'ala with the standard we should, in order to gain the taste of prayer.
The real prayer is that which Allah ta'ala's magnificence and greatness is present. Through our prayers, we should attain its true essence. After praying, we should assess whether we have attained the objective of our prayer. Has my heart moved? Has a light been developed inside me? How much nearness to Allah ta'ala have I attained through my sujood? Prayers are a great action in itself, however, we should aim to attain the true outcome of our prayers.
Every prayer should be elevated greater than the one we previously prayed. The next prayer should be performed in a better way, so that a person can take benefit from his prayer.
Why do we commit sins after praying? A true believer is purified through his prayers and is not even inclined towards sinning. It is stated that prayers prevent a person from sin. This is because such a person becomes aware of Allah ta'ala's greatness and superiority over him and this enables him to flee from sin. Thus, if we are praying, but our sins are not being eliminated, it means that our prayers must be improved.
We pray, but we sin alongside. These sins are what spoils our deen. It is a matter of shame that we do not have the passion to improve and progress further, just as we have a passion to attain worldly progression.
If someone owns a small shop, he has a passion and desire to expand his shop as he wants to grow his business. He focuses on his desire and gradually his shop becomes bigger. We should use this passion in the same way for our deen.
Before fulfilling any worship, we should reflect over its purpose. Every worship has its own procedure which we must follow. Allah ta'ala has given us a target for our prayers. We should intend to perfect our prayers whereby we see Allah ta'ala and He sees us. Whoever is ambitious to attain such a level, has a unique prayer because they pray according to that determination. We should also aim to attain such a level through our prayers.
Allah ta'ala has placed an excellent quality and strength within fasting due to which we may be successful in the Hereafter. Each of us are fasting, but the successful one, is he who has fulfilled the objective of his fast and become a Muttaqi. Without Taqwa, a person cannot enter Paradise.
A person who fasts for no other objective besides this, may acquire this status from the first fast of Ramadan. It is not necessary that he acquires it after a month of fasting. This is because fasting holds the quality of creating Taqwa. We fail to have the intention of acquiring Taqwa, which is why we do not acquire it. If we haven't attained it after the first day, then we should try the next day. Allah ta'ala has given us thirty attempts to become a Muttaqi so that we may depart Ramadan as a Muttaqi and celebrate this achievement in the form of Eid.
Eid is for those who have become a Muttaqi and Allah ta'ala rejoices when a person becomes a Muttaqi.
When a human being is rewarded by Allah ta'ala, he should thank Allah ta'ala. The first worship we perform after Ramadan ends, is the Eid prayer and the prostration performed during the Eid prayer, reflects our gratitude to Allah ta'ala for granting us Taqwa.
Taqwa is granted to those who fast with the intention of becoming a Muttaqi. We should assess our fasting each day. How many acts have we performed through which we have become a Muttaqi?
What is a Muttaqi?
A Muttaqi is he who does not commit sins. He lives with such caution, that he understands sin to be a very filthy thing. If he lies, he can sense the stench.
You must work hard to be become a Muttaqi, yet a Muttaqi doesn't need to work hard to leave sin. Automatically he will gain an awareness and a dislike towards sin and everything which Allah ta'ala dislikes. He will not want to lie or backbite. Even if it is a minor sin, he will refrain from it without a doubt. He worked hard, which is why it has become easier for him to leave wrongdoing.
He is able to cool down his anger. He will not have a wild approach in taking revenge upon someone. Rather, before performing any wrongdoing, he will reflect over it. This shows that his fast has given him success. He has become a Muttaqi as he took the first step and He has now recognised Allah ta'ala. He fasted and tried to meet his objective through his fast.
We should assess our fasts and if we have not attained similar results, then it is very unfortunate.
Our standard for fasting is one. We fast and then perform Taraweeh and then we look at our phones. We make our desires happy and then we go to sleep. Instead, we must assess whether we are achieving our target of fasting or not.
The next ten days are for forgiveness, so our target is to earn forgiveness from Allah ta'ala during this month. All our actions should be in accordance to seeking forgiveness.
If a person has seen even one percent of a change, then congratulations to him for treading upon the path! Allah ta'ala will draw him in and He will be given Allah ta'ala's assistance.
Whenever we fast, we should intent to meet our target and become a Muttaqi and we must fulfil the actions which earn us taqwa. A Muttaqi is not he who prays taraweeh and recites Quran. Rather, it is he who has tried to protect himself from sin until the evening.
We should also work on our prayers which we perform everyday. Before we begin praying, we should thank Allah ta'ala for enabling us to pray to Him. We should converse with Him.
Why has Allah ta'ala informed us that He is closer to us than our jugular vein? He has given us courage and determination by providing us with this information. When a person begins to worship, he should remember that Allah ta'ala is very close to him and is encouraged to converse with Allah ta'ala as though He is seeing Him. Unfortunately, nowadays, we don't even supplicate to Allah ta'ala.
Hadhrat Sheikh Abdul Hayy Aarifi Rahmatullahi alayh would say, "When Allah ta'ala has said to you that He is close to you, it means that you should speak to Him all the time."
If you have pain, then you should speak to Allah ta'ala and ask Him to remove it. However, we do not have certainty in this method.
Allah ta'ala is close to us all the time and has placed no condition upon this. We don't have to be in a certain place or a certain time to invoke Him. He is always close to us in every position, whether we are sitting, standing or sleeping. He has enabled this connection so that we may turn to Him at any time and whenever we have a need.
We can speak to Him whenever we want and we will receive the response in our heart. If we ask Allah ta'ala to the remove the pain from our body, then Allah ta'ala arranges the worldly means for our solution and cure through doctors and medicine. He places the ideas in our mind which are influenced by His guidance. This method of turning to Him, is creating a connection with Allah ta'ala.
Allah ta'ala gave us Ramadan and prayers to build this connection with Allah ta'ala and strengthen our relationship with Him, not to simply get over and done with our worship.
When a person develops this connection with Allah ta'ala and He knows that Allah ta'ala is close to him, he becomes a unique person. He will become confident and independent of everyone. When he lowers his head, he senses Allah ta'ala and Allah ta'ala will place a feeling in his heart to do such a feeling and he will run towards that action.
This world is a place of resources and nothing is impossible for Allah ta'ala to grant us. We are from the nation of the Prophet ﷺ and Allah ta'ala will certainly grant us if we follow the method.
We should make a habit of praying Salaatul Haajah - the prayer of need. Even if we do not have a need, we should still pray to Allah ta'ala asking Him for our needs of the day. Allah ta'ala has given us this prayer so that we may turn to Him under every circumstance.
Nowadays, we seek worldly resources and then we turn to Allah ta'ala for assistance. We should run to Him first and seek His protection before running to people for assistance.
We don't call our parents or our Sheikh by their names out of upholding respect for them. However, we have been given permission to remember Allah ta'ala, so we should remember Him with His personal name as this is very beloved to Him. Allah ta'ala desires a personal relationship with us and wishes to eliminate the distance between us and Him.
We do not need to separate those who engage in dhikr to a certain group, because this causes disunity amongst people. Furthermore, Shaytan places negative whispers in people's mind in order to divide them. In reality, people sit to engage in dhikr so that they can be remembered by Allah ta'ala. Such people wish to attain Allah ta'ala's nearness through dhikr and there is no other objective.
There is no limit of dhikr. When we remember Allah ta'ala, He remembers us. When we remember Him in a gathering, Allah ta'ala remembers us in a better gathering. Allah ta'ala speaks proudly of us to His angels. He introduces us in the heavens because we have performed such a great action. Allah ta'ala is proud of us due to our dhikr whilst we do not even know.
Those who are always in the habit of engaging in Dhikr, are constantly being mentioned proudly by Allah ta'ala. If Allah ta'ala is always proud with a person, then imagine what he may attain from Allah ta'ala.
If he is stuck in a calamity, it will become a great reward for him and he will not experience pain. This test is not due to a sin he has committed, rather, he is a special person and is receiving Allah ta'ala's Mercy through it.
Allah ta'ala loves His servants, so He created opportunities for them to be saved from Hellfire. We hear about hellfire but only Allah ta'ala knows it's reality. It is such a severe heat which no one can bear. If the heat was to be exposed to this world, it would destroy it.
What takes a person to Hellfire?
Sins are what destroys a human being. Allah ta'ala is closer to a person than his own jugular vein, but we have distanced ourselves from Him. Through sujood, we become so close to Allah ta'ala. This is where a person meets Allah ta'ala multiple times through Fard prayers. Allah ta'ala has given us Nawaafil, voluntary prayers and the person who has a passion to become closer to Allah ta'ala, implements the Nawafil with love as he enjoys it just as much as the Fard. Allah ta'ala's love is then awakened inside him.
We have placed a veil in between us and Allah ta'ala, which is why we do not feel the same emotions. How can we meet someone with barriers in place? It is our fault that we do not present ourselves to Allah ta'ala with the standard we should, in order to gain the taste of prayer.
The real prayer is that which Allah ta'ala's magnificence and greatness is present. Through our prayers, we should attain its true essence. After praying, we should assess whether we have attained the objective of our prayer. Has my heart moved? Has a light been developed inside me? How much nearness to Allah ta'ala have I attained through my sujood? Prayers are a great action in itself, however, we should aim to attain the true outcome of our prayers.
Every prayer should be elevated greater than the one we previously prayed. The next prayer should be performed in a better way, so that a person can take benefit from his prayer.
Why do we commit sins after praying? A true believer is purified through his prayers and is not even inclined towards sinning. It is stated that prayers prevent a person from sin. This is because such a person becomes aware of Allah ta'ala's greatness and superiority over him and this enables him to flee from sin. Thus, if we are praying, but our sins are not being eliminated, it means that our prayers must be improved.
We pray, but we sin alongside. These sins are what spoils our deen. It is a matter of shame that we do not have the passion to improve and progress further, just as we have a passion to attain worldly progression.
If someone owns a small shop, he has a passion and desire to expand his shop as he wants to grow his business. He focuses on his desire and gradually his shop becomes bigger. We should use this passion in the same way for our deen.
Before fulfilling any worship, we should reflect over its purpose. Every worship has its own procedure which we must follow. Allah ta'ala has given us a target for our prayers. We should intend to perfect our prayers whereby we see Allah ta'ala and He sees us. Whoever is ambitious to attain such a level, has a unique prayer because they pray according to that determination. We should also aim to attain such a level through our prayers.
Allah ta'ala has placed an excellent quality and strength within fasting due to which we may be successful in the Hereafter. Each of us are fasting, but the successful one, is he who has fulfilled the objective of his fast and become a Muttaqi. Without Taqwa, a person cannot enter Paradise.
A person who fasts for no other objective besides this, may acquire this status from the first fast of Ramadan. It is not necessary that he acquires it after a month of fasting. This is because fasting holds the quality of creating Taqwa. We fail to have the intention of acquiring Taqwa, which is why we do not acquire it. If we haven't attained it after the first day, then we should try the next day. Allah ta'ala has given us thirty attempts to become a Muttaqi so that we may depart Ramadan as a Muttaqi and celebrate this achievement in the form of Eid.
Eid is for those who have become a Muttaqi and Allah ta'ala rejoices when a person becomes a Muttaqi.
When a human being is rewarded by Allah ta'ala, he should thank Allah ta'ala. The first worship we perform after Ramadan ends, is the Eid prayer and the prostration performed during the Eid prayer, reflects our gratitude to Allah ta'ala for granting us Taqwa.
Taqwa is granted to those who fast with the intention of becoming a Muttaqi. We should assess our fasting each day. How many acts have we performed through which we have become a Muttaqi?
What is a Muttaqi?
A Muttaqi is he who does not commit sins. He lives with such caution, that he understands sin to be a very filthy thing. If he lies, he can sense the stench.
You must work hard to be become a Muttaqi, yet a Muttaqi doesn't need to work hard to leave sin. Automatically he will gain an awareness and a dislike towards sin and everything which Allah ta'ala dislikes. He will not want to lie or backbite. Even if it is a minor sin, he will refrain from it without a doubt. He worked hard, which is why it has become easier for him to leave wrongdoing.
He is able to cool down his anger. He will not have a wild approach in taking revenge upon someone. Rather, before performing any wrongdoing, he will reflect over it. This shows that his fast has given him success. He has become a Muttaqi as he took the first step and He has now recognised Allah ta'ala. He fasted and tried to meet his objective through his fast.
We should assess our fasts and if we have not attained similar results, then it is very unfortunate.
Our standard for fasting is one. We fast and then perform Taraweeh and then we look at our phones. We make our desires happy and then we go to sleep. Instead, we must assess whether we are achieving our target of fasting or not.
The next ten days are for forgiveness, so our target is to earn forgiveness from Allah ta'ala during this month. All our actions should be in accordance to seeking forgiveness.
If a person has seen even one percent of a change, then congratulations to him for treading upon the path! Allah ta'ala will draw him in and He will be given Allah ta'ala's assistance.
Whenever we fast, we should intent to meet our target and become a Muttaqi and we must fulfil the actions which earn us taqwa. A Muttaqi is not he who prays taraweeh and recites Quran. Rather, it is he who has tried to protect himself from sin until the evening.
We should also work on our prayers which we perform everyday. Before we begin praying, we should thank Allah ta'ala for enabling us to pray to Him. We should converse with Him.
Why has Allah ta'ala informed us that He is closer to us than our jugular vein? He has given us courage and determination by providing us with this information. When a person begins to worship, he should remember that Allah ta'ala is very close to him and is encouraged to converse with Allah ta'ala as though He is seeing Him. Unfortunately, nowadays, we don't even supplicate to Allah ta'ala.
Hadhrat Sheikh Abdul Hayy Aarifi Rahmatullahi alayh would say, "When Allah ta'ala has said to you that He is close to you, it means that you should speak to Him all the time."
If you have pain, then you should speak to Allah ta'ala and ask Him to remove it. However, we do not have certainty in this method.
Allah ta'ala is close to us all the time and has placed no condition upon this. We don't have to be in a certain place or a certain time to invoke Him. He is always close to us in every position, whether we are sitting, standing or sleeping. He has enabled this connection so that we may turn to Him at any time and whenever we have a need.
We can speak to Him whenever we want and we will receive the response in our heart. If we ask Allah ta'ala to the remove the pain from our body, then Allah ta'ala arranges the worldly means for our solution and cure through doctors and medicine. He places the ideas in our mind which are influenced by His guidance. This method of turning to Him, is creating a connection with Allah ta'ala.
Allah ta'ala gave us Ramadan and prayers to build this connection with Allah ta'ala and strengthen our relationship with Him, not to simply get over and done with our worship.
When a person develops this connection with Allah ta'ala and He knows that Allah ta'ala is close to him, he becomes a unique person. He will become confident and independent of everyone. When he lowers his head, he senses Allah ta'ala and Allah ta'ala will place a feeling in his heart to do such a feeling and he will run towards that action.
This world is a place of resources and nothing is impossible for Allah ta'ala to grant us. We are from the nation of the Prophet ﷺ and Allah ta'ala will certainly grant us if we follow the method.
We should make a habit of praying Salaatul Haajah - the prayer of need. Even if we do not have a need, we should still pray to Allah ta'ala asking Him for our needs of the day. Allah ta'ala has given us this prayer so that we may turn to Him under every circumstance.
Nowadays, we seek worldly resources and then we turn to Allah ta'ala for assistance. We should run to Him first and seek His protection before running to people for assistance.
We don't call our parents or our Sheikh by their names out of upholding respect for them. However, we have been given permission to remember Allah ta'ala, so we should remember Him with His personal name as this is very beloved to Him. Allah ta'ala desires a personal relationship with us and wishes to eliminate the distance between us and Him.
We do not need to separate those who engage in dhikr to a certain group, because this causes disunity amongst people. Furthermore, Shaytan places negative whispers in people's mind in order to divide them. In reality, people sit to engage in dhikr so that they can be remembered by Allah ta'ala. Such people wish to attain Allah ta'ala's nearness through dhikr and there is no other objective.
There is no limit of dhikr. When we remember Allah ta'ala, He remembers us. When we remember Him in a gathering, Allah ta'ala remembers us in a better gathering. Allah ta'ala speaks proudly of us to His angels. He introduces us in the heavens because we have performed such a great action. Allah ta'ala is proud of us due to our dhikr whilst we do not even know.
Those who are always in the habit of engaging in Dhikr, are constantly being mentioned proudly by Allah ta'ala. If Allah ta'ala is always proud with a person, then imagine what he may attain from Allah ta'ala.
If he is stuck in a calamity, it will become a great reward for him and he will not experience pain. This test is not due to a sin he has committed, rather, he is a special person and is receiving Allah ta'ala's Mercy through it.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to implement. Ameen