We must protect our faith. With faith, Allah ta'ala mentions righteous deeds in the Quran. We must uphold our faith with our body in order to reaffirm our faith in Allah ta'ala. The way to do this is through practice. This demonstrates our belief in Allah ta'ala without seeing Him and without seeing Paradise and Hellfire. Allah ta'ala determines to see how strong our faith is and for this purpose, He tests us.
If a person claims to believe in Allah ta'ala, his actions determine how much he is implementing the orders of Allah ta'ala. Those people with faith who fail to practice, do so out of laziness.
If we had faith in Allah ta'ala, we would recognise Allah ta'ala as our creator and we would adhere to His instructions. We wrongly believe that we are free and protected whilst not practicing the deen. Thus, we act as we please. We should not fall under the misconception that we can reject Allah ta'ala's order and sin, whilst claiming to have faith. In reality, Allah ta'ala is giving us a chance through His wisdom so that perhaps we may return to Him and submit to Him.
If Allah ta'ala had taken us to task due to our sins, we wouldn't have had this opportunity today to sit in this gathering. This opportunity is given through His mercy. Unfortunately, due to Allah ta'ala's delay in punishing us, we become proud and stubborn over our actions, although Allah ta'ala is most powerful and may destroy us at any time.
We must implement the instructions of Allah ta'ala to prove that we believe in Him. Only with this proof, we will be admitted to Paradise. Allah ta'ala may test our faith by granting us worldly success, to see whether we practice deen alongside. We are never free from implementing His laws.
We must have the intention to perform deeds for the sake of Allah ta'ala and the Hereafter. If our deeds are not for Allah ta'ala's sake, it will cause us to enter Hellfire. When we intend an action for His sake, Allah ta'ala makes it easy for us. This is a way to perform sincere actions.
Similarly, we should sit in the dhikr gatherings only for the sake of Allah ta'ala. Our actions are according to our intentions. We may engage in dhikr, however, our intentions should be correct - to shun the world and gain the Hereafter. If we have worldly intentions, we will only receive benefit of the world which is temporary. The one who sits for the sake of Allah ta'ala, will have everlasting benefit in the Hereafter.
Our intentions must be pure when doing actions for the deen. It is pointless performing good deeds whilst having corrupted intentions. For example, we must take bay'ah with correct intentions and not for fame or fulfilling worldly needs.
There are some who take bay'ah with incorrect intentions. If they had taken bay'ah to rectify their soul, they would lead a simple life. They would not perform the work of deen to gain benefit of the world. Allah ta'ala may not take them to task yet, however, it is only a matter of time.
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
"So woe to those whose hearts are hardened at the remembrance of Allah!" [39:22]
The objective for all of his actions are not for sake of the Hereafter. It is for the sake of worldly promotion. Such a person does not feel enjoyment in practicing Allah ta'ala's orders. He is destroyed due to his hard becoming hardened, which is why no part of the deen impacts him positively. The solution to a hard heart is the dhikr of Allah ta'ala.
A person may study Islamic knowledge, Fiqh and Tafsir, however, his heart remains hard, he possesses evil temptations and negative intentions. This is because he is distant from dhikr and his intentions are incorrect.
It is a shame that even the learned people today claim that one does not need to pray Taraweeh despite it being proven in Ahadith. Such people's hearts are hard as they are distant from the remembrance of Allah ta'ala.
During his time, Nabi ﷺ sought refuge from Dajjaal. The companions were afraid of Dajjaal then. Today, we sin and do not have any fear. When we fail to accept the truth, it means we are overtaken by the mission of Dajjaal.
If a person engages in dhikr and his heart has become strong, Dajjal will never be able to attack him. Some may not be able to notice the positive impact of dhikr upon their heart and that is because their intention is not correct. We are given benefit of our actions according to our intentions.
When we engage in dhikr, our heart becomes soft, our intentions are corrected and thus, our actions are performed for the sake of Allah ta'ala and also accepted by Him. Those who do not perform dhikr, their actions are incomplete.
When our intentions are correct, our actions, even if they are small, become so valuable that Allah ta'ala opens all seven doors of Paradise for us.
Allah ta'ala is not pleased with us because our hearts our hard and due to this we have committed sins and not performed our actions for the sake of Allah ta'ala.
Nabi ﷺ states that this month has come to allow us to earn Allah ta'ala's pleasure. Ramadan does not teach us anything else.
We are given this month so we can improve ourselves. Nabi ﷺ said, The most necessary actions to perform during this month are repentance, performing dhikr in abundance and engaging in actions which lead one to Paradise and distances him from Hellfire. This is what we must fulfil during this month.
We should attend all three gatherings of dhikr during Ramadan. We must not waste Ramadan and we must repent to Allah ta'ala for all the actions we performed with incorrect intentions.
One who does not repent during Ramadan, his life is a waste and he will perform Satanic actions.
We should invite others towards true repentance. We should learn dhikr in abundance and whoever does this, has attained Ramadan.
The more the student sits in the company of the Sheikh, the more he is protected and he will be given a high status in the Hereafter. We visit a Sheikh so that we may be encouraged towards good through him.
We must protect our faith. With faith, Allah ta'ala mentions righteous deeds in the Quran. We must uphold our faith with our body in order to reaffirm our faith in Allah ta'ala. The way to do this is through practice. This demonstrates our belief in Allah ta'ala without seeing Him and without seeing Paradise and Hellfire. Allah ta'ala determines to see how strong our faith is and for this purpose, He tests us.
If a person claims to believe in Allah ta'ala, his actions determine how much he is implementing the orders of Allah ta'ala. Those people with faith who fail to practice, do so out of laziness.
If we had faith in Allah ta'ala, we would recognise Allah ta'ala as our creator and we would adhere to His instructions. We wrongly believe that we are free and protected whilst not practicing the deen. Thus, we act as we please. We should not fall under the misconception that we can reject Allah ta'ala's order and sin, whilst claiming to have faith. In reality, Allah ta'ala is giving us a chance through His wisdom so that perhaps we may return to Him and submit to Him.
If Allah ta'ala had taken us to task due to our sins, we wouldn't have had this opportunity today to sit in this gathering. This opportunity is given through His mercy. Unfortunately, due to Allah ta'ala's delay in punishing us, we become proud and stubborn over our actions, although Allah ta'ala is most powerful and may destroy us at any time.
We must implement the instructions of Allah ta'ala to prove that we believe in Him. Only with this proof, we will be admitted to Paradise. Allah ta'ala may test our faith by granting us worldly success, to see whether we practice deen alongside. We are never free from implementing His laws.
We must have the intention to perform deeds for the sake of Allah ta'ala and the Hereafter. If our deeds are not for Allah ta'ala's sake, it will cause us to enter Hellfire. When we intend an action for His sake, Allah ta'ala makes it easy for us. This is a way to perform sincere actions.
Similarly, we should sit in the dhikr gatherings only for the sake of Allah ta'ala. Our actions are according to our intentions. We may engage in dhikr, however, our intentions should be correct - to shun the world and gain the Hereafter. If we have worldly intentions, we will only receive benefit of the world which is temporary. The one who sits for the sake of Allah ta'ala, will have everlasting benefit in the Hereafter.
Our intentions must be pure when doing actions for the deen. It is pointless performing good deeds whilst having corrupted intentions. For example, we must take bay'ah with correct intentions and not for fame or fulfilling worldly needs.
There are some who take bay'ah with incorrect intentions. If they had taken bay'ah to rectify their soul, they would lead a simple life. They would not perform the work of deen to gain benefit of the world. Allah ta'ala may not take them to task yet, however, it is only a matter of time.
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ
"So woe to those whose hearts are hardened at the remembrance of Allah!" [39:22]
The objective for all of his actions are not for sake of the Hereafter. It is for the sake of worldly promotion. Such a person does not feel enjoyment in practicing Allah ta'ala's orders. He is destroyed due to his hard becoming hardened, which is why no part of the deen impacts him positively. The solution to a hard heart is the dhikr of Allah ta'ala.
A person may study Islamic knowledge, Fiqh and Tafsir, however, his heart remains hard, he possesses evil temptations and negative intentions. This is because he is distant from dhikr and his intentions are incorrect.
It is a shame that even the learned people today claim that one does not need to pray Taraweeh despite it being proven in Ahadith. Such people's hearts are hard as they are distant from the remembrance of Allah ta'ala.
During his time, Nabi ﷺ sought refuge from Dajjaal. The companions were afraid of Dajjaal then. Today, we sin and do not have any fear. When we fail to accept the truth, it means we are overtaken by the mission of Dajjaal.
If a person engages in dhikr and his heart has become strong, Dajjal will never be able to attack him. Some may not be able to notice the positive impact of dhikr upon their heart and that is because their intention is not correct. We are given benefit of our actions according to our intentions.
When we engage in dhikr, our heart becomes soft, our intentions are corrected and thus, our actions are performed for the sake of Allah ta'ala and also accepted by Him. Those who do not perform dhikr, their actions are incomplete.
When our intentions are correct, our actions, even if they are small, become so valuable that Allah ta'ala opens all seven doors of Paradise for us.
Allah ta'ala is not pleased with us because our hearts our hard and due to this we have committed sins and not performed our actions for the sake of Allah ta'ala.
Nabi ﷺ states that this month has come to allow us to earn Allah ta'ala's pleasure. Ramadan does not teach us anything else.
We are given this month so we can improve ourselves. Nabi ﷺ said, The most necessary actions to perform during this month are repentance, performing dhikr in abundance and engaging in actions which lead one to Paradise and distances him from Hellfire. This is what we must fulfil during this month.
We should attend all three gatherings of dhikr during Ramadan. We must not waste Ramadan and we must repent to Allah ta'ala for all the actions we performed with incorrect intentions.
One who does not repent during Ramadan, his life is a waste and he will perform Satanic actions.
We should invite others towards true repentance. We should learn dhikr in abundance and whoever does this, has attained Ramadan.
The more the student sits in the company of the Sheikh, the more he is protected and he will be given a high status in the Hereafter. We visit a Sheikh so that we may be encouraged towards good through him.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to implement. Ameen.