"So be steadfast as you are commanded along with those who turn ˹in submission to Allah˺ with you. And do not transgress. Surely, He is All-Seeing of what you ˹believers˺ do. [11:112]
Allah ta'ala orders us to be steadfast in adhering to His commands and avoid transgressing the boundaries of Shariah. Our repentance should be based upon the Sunnah. When repentance is based upon Sunnah, then it will be accepted.
Before performing any action, we must ensure the action is in line with Shariah and we should consult the true scholars for guidance when we are unsure. If we perform an action against Shariah, Shaytan will make us content with it and we will consider ourselves to be righteous through it, although we may have committed grave sins.
Allah ta'ala tests our steadfastness throughout our lives, by granting us tests. We must oppose our desires when faced with these tests. If we are steadfast and we persevere, we will overcome all challenges. By opposing His commands, we are only deceiving ourselves.
The true believers are those who follow the correct lifestyle and they are steadfast. They do not waver upon the right path.
Where do we find Deen?
If we desire to be steadfast in our practice of Deen, we must attend the gatherings of dhikr. These gatherings are considered the gatherings of Paradise.
Nabi ﷺ stated, "When you pass by the meadows of Paradise, graze as you like.” They said, “What are the meadows of Paradise?” The Prophet said, “Circles of remembrance." [Tirmidhi Shareef]
Allah ta'ala constructed the Masaajid for His remembrance. In reality, the Deen of Allah ta'ala is acquired through the dhikr gatherings.
Allah ta'ala allows these gatherings to be established until Qiyaamah in order for Deen to be completed and strengthened.
What do we gain from this gathering?
The dhikr gatherings grant a person the benefits of this world and the Hereafter. Through it, one gains the adherence to the Sunnah and steadfastness in Deen. We should strengthen our faith during these gatherings.
Due to this gathering, Allah ta'ala announces forgiveness for the attendees. If we attend with correct intentions, we will never leave empty handed. Unfortunately, we are so miserly that we fail to take these opportunities to be forgiven.
The splendour of the gatherings is dhikr, however, the true objective of these gatherings is not dhikr. Rather, the true objective, is to attain the element which strengthens and completes our Deen and that is the love for Allah ta'ala.
If we are weak in our love, our Deen remains incomplete and we can never be rectified. We will remain unable to follow Islam and the Sunnah. Unfortunately, due to our lack of love today, our Deen has been destroyed.
Deen is based upon the love for Allah ta'ala. If we wish to obey Allah ta'ala, follow the Sunnah and remove the love for the world within, then we must develop the love for Allah ta'ala. Our faith will only be completed through our love for Him.
Nabi ﷺ said, "Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, gives for the sake of Allah, and withholds for the sake of Allah has perfected the faith.” [Abu Dawud Shareef]
Four things have been mentioned in this Hadith and through these four actions, our Deen will become complete. By acting only for the sake of Allah ta'ala, one seeks no personal gain. Whoever develops these traits, all his actions will be performed for the sake of Allah ta'ala.
We should take every footstep in life with the intention of pleasing Allah ta'ala. If we fail to live this way, we will face a very severe circumstance in the Hereafter.
How to acquire the love for Allah ta'ala?
Through the dhikr gatherings, a person acquires His love. This is why they are known as the gardens of Paradise defined by Nabi ﷺ himself.
We all possess faith and naturally faith creates the love for Allah ta'ala, however, we all have different levels of love for Him. Our duty is to strengthen our love for Him, otherwise, without this love, we will struggle to implement Allah ta'ala's orders.
If we are complacent with having a lower level of love, then we will continue to sway in our obedience to Him. This type of weak love will not lead us towards forgiveness and will not strengthen our connection with Allah ta'ala. Rather, our greed and love for the world will be increased.
On the other hand, if we increase our love for Him, we will find it easier to practice our Deen and we will implement His commands without hesitation. When this love becomes even more intense, then one is able to overcome all challenges on this path of obedience and he develops a positive mind-set. Thereafter, one enjoys to practice and experiences sweetness and satisfaction through His acts of obedience.
When the love becomes extremely intense, he experiences enjoyment from the pain and sorrow of his broken heart. He revives himself, as well as the hearts of those around him. Such people are the AwliyahAllah. This is the sequence of love for Allah ta'ala.
All the problems we face in life and the sins we commit, are due to the absence of Allah ta'ala's love in our heart.
There are two types of love for Allah ta'ala. False love and genuine love. False love refers to gathering to sing nasheeds, yet, failing to practice the Deen. Genuine love refers to those who listen to the instructions and obey immediately with full vigour.
Allah ta'ala grants us tests and challenges to assess our love for Him. When a person's love is strong, he is able to demonstrate His love for Allah ta'ala. A believer immediately implements the orders of Allah ta'ala without hesitation.
We consider Deeni obligations to be difficult and this is due to our lack of love for Allah ta'ala.
We should follow the instructions of Allah ta'ala blindly just as the noble Prophets عليهم السلام and the noble companions رضي الله عنهم did.
We should never fear practicing the Deen and we should never fluctuate in our practice. Rather, we should take lessons from the noble companions whose faith did not waver upon facing the most severe oppression and trials.
Hadhrat Bilal رضي الله عنه remained steadfast upon his Deen due to his extreme love for Allah ta'ala and he learnt the lesson of love from Nabi ﷺ, who in turn demonstrated his love for Allah ta'ala during the incident of Ta'if where he forgave the people and overlooked their actions, instead of causing punishment to be inflicted upon them.
How do these gatherings strengthen the love for Allah ta'ala?
Allah ta'ala has prepared a resource for this which will be available until Qiyamah and this is the company of the AwliyahAllah. Allah ta'ala has instructed us to adhere to their company, so it is incorrect to reject their existence. Unfortunately, the cure and guidance are readily available, however, we lack the desire and longing to take the cure.
If we develop the longing to improve ourselves and we sincerely seek a WaliAllah from Allah ta'ala, then Allah ta'ala will certainly send us a WaliAllah and we will feel content and satisfied with him.
Those who have no true desire to be connected with Allah ta'ala, seek a Sheikh who is attached to a high status and titles and is very educated. Such people have corrupt intentions.
We should keep our heart empty for the sake of Allah ta'ala's remembrance and we should avoid harbouring the love for wealth and materialism in our heart.
Working hard upon Deen refers to protecting our hearts from the love of the world. This is the real achievement and this is how we acquire the taste of our worship.
First, we should extract this worldly love and we should dislike it and keep it at arm's length. If worldly love enters our heart, then we are unable to acquire the love for Allah ta'ala as both forms of love cannot be mixed.
We should take hold of the shelter!
We should not criticise the waliAllah and refrain from assessing his Deen. Rather, we should be grateful to Allah ta'ala for granting us protection through this guide, otherwise, we would have been lost. If we are grateful for this guidance, our protection will multiply and we will influence others and in turn, they will be grateful for us.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to implement this into our lives. Ameen
فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَمَن تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلَا تَطْغَوْا ۚ إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
"So be steadfast as you are commanded along with those who turn ˹in submission to Allah˺ with you. And do not transgress. Surely, He is All-Seeing of what you ˹believers˺ do. [11:112]
Allah ta'ala orders us to be steadfast in adhering to His commands and avoid transgressing the boundaries of Shariah. Our repentance should be based upon the Sunnah. When repentance is based upon Sunnah, then it will be accepted.
Before performing any action, we must ensure the action is in line with Shariah and we should consult the true scholars for guidance when we are unsure. If we perform an action against Shariah, Shaytan will make us content with it and we will consider ourselves to be righteous through it, although we may have committed grave sins.
Allah ta'ala tests our steadfastness throughout our lives, by granting us tests. We must oppose our desires when faced with these tests. If we are steadfast and we persevere, we will overcome all challenges. By opposing His commands, we are only deceiving ourselves.
The true believers are those who follow the correct lifestyle and they are steadfast. They do not waver upon the right path.
Where do we find Deen?
If we desire to be steadfast in our practice of Deen, we must attend the gatherings of dhikr. These gatherings are considered the gatherings of Paradise.
Nabi ﷺ stated, "When you pass by the meadows of Paradise, graze as you like.” They said, “What are the meadows of Paradise?” The Prophet said, “Circles of remembrance." [Tirmidhi Shareef]
Allah ta'ala constructed the Masaajid for His remembrance. In reality, the Deen of Allah ta'ala is acquired through the dhikr gatherings.
Allah ta'ala allows these gatherings to be established until Qiyaamah in order for Deen to be completed and strengthened.
What do we gain from this gathering?
The dhikr gatherings grant a person the benefits of this world and the Hereafter. Through it, one gains the adherence to the Sunnah and steadfastness in Deen. We should strengthen our faith during these gatherings.
Due to this gathering, Allah ta'ala announces forgiveness for the attendees. If we attend with correct intentions, we will never leave empty handed. Unfortunately, we are so miserly that we fail to take these opportunities to be forgiven.
The splendour of the gatherings is dhikr, however, the true objective of these gatherings is not dhikr. Rather, the true objective, is to attain the element which strengthens and completes our Deen and that is the love for Allah ta'ala.
If we are weak in our love, our Deen remains incomplete and we can never be rectified. We will remain unable to follow Islam and the Sunnah. Unfortunately, due to our lack of love today, our Deen has been destroyed.
Deen is based upon the love for Allah ta'ala. If we wish to obey Allah ta'ala, follow the Sunnah and remove the love for the world within, then we must develop the love for Allah ta'ala. Our faith will only be completed through our love for Him.
Nabi ﷺ said, "Whoever loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, gives for the sake of Allah, and withholds for the sake of Allah has perfected the faith.” [Abu Dawud Shareef]
Four things have been mentioned in this Hadith and through these four actions, our Deen will become complete. By acting only for the sake of Allah ta'ala, one seeks no personal gain. Whoever develops these traits, all his actions will be performed for the sake of Allah ta'ala.
We should take every footstep in life with the intention of pleasing Allah ta'ala. If we fail to live this way, we will face a very severe circumstance in the Hereafter.
How to acquire the love for Allah ta'ala?
Through the dhikr gatherings, a person acquires His love. This is why they are known as the gardens of Paradise defined by Nabi ﷺ himself.
We all possess faith and naturally faith creates the love for Allah ta'ala, however, we all have different levels of love for Him. Our duty is to strengthen our love for Him, otherwise, without this love, we will struggle to implement Allah ta'ala's orders.
If we are complacent with having a lower level of love, then we will continue to sway in our obedience to Him. This type of weak love will not lead us towards forgiveness and will not strengthen our connection with Allah ta'ala. Rather, our greed and love for the world will be increased.
On the other hand, if we increase our love for Him, we will find it easier to practice our Deen and we will implement His commands without hesitation. When this love becomes even more intense, then one is able to overcome all challenges on this path of obedience and he develops a positive mind-set. Thereafter, one enjoys to practice and experiences sweetness and satisfaction through His acts of obedience.
When the love becomes extremely intense, he experiences enjoyment from the pain and sorrow of his broken heart. He revives himself, as well as the hearts of those around him. Such people are the AwliyahAllah. This is the sequence of love for Allah ta'ala.
All the problems we face in life and the sins we commit, are due to the absence of Allah ta'ala's love in our heart.
There are two types of love for Allah ta'ala. False love and genuine love. False love refers to gathering to sing nasheeds, yet, failing to practice the Deen. Genuine love refers to those who listen to the instructions and obey immediately with full vigour.
Allah ta'ala grants us tests and challenges to assess our love for Him. When a person's love is strong, he is able to demonstrate His love for Allah ta'ala. A believer immediately implements the orders of Allah ta'ala without hesitation.
We consider Deeni obligations to be difficult and this is due to our lack of love for Allah ta'ala.
We should follow the instructions of Allah ta'ala blindly just as the noble Prophets عليهم السلام and the noble companions رضي الله عنهم did.
We should never fear practicing the Deen and we should never fluctuate in our practice. Rather, we should take lessons from the noble companions whose faith did not waver upon facing the most severe oppression and trials.
Hadhrat Bilal رضي الله عنه remained steadfast upon his Deen due to his extreme love for Allah ta'ala and he learnt the lesson of love from Nabi ﷺ, who in turn demonstrated his love for Allah ta'ala during the incident of Ta'if where he forgave the people and overlooked their actions, instead of causing punishment to be inflicted upon them.
How do these gatherings strengthen the love for Allah ta'ala?
Allah ta'ala has prepared a resource for this which will be available until Qiyamah and this is the company of the AwliyahAllah. Allah ta'ala has instructed us to adhere to their company, so it is incorrect to reject their existence. Unfortunately, the cure and guidance are readily available, however, we lack the desire and longing to take the cure.
If we develop the longing to improve ourselves and we sincerely seek a WaliAllah from Allah ta'ala, then Allah ta'ala will certainly send us a WaliAllah and we will feel content and satisfied with him.
Those who have no true desire to be connected with Allah ta'ala, seek a Sheikh who is attached to a high status and titles and is very educated. Such people have corrupt intentions.
We should keep our heart empty for the sake of Allah ta'ala's remembrance and we should avoid harbouring the love for wealth and materialism in our heart.
Working hard upon Deen refers to protecting our hearts from the love of the world. This is the real achievement and this is how we acquire the taste of our worship.
First, we should extract this worldly love and we should dislike it and keep it at arm's length. If worldly love enters our heart, then we are unable to acquire the love for Allah ta'ala as both forms of love cannot be mixed.
We should take hold of the shelter!
We should not criticise the waliAllah and refrain from assessing his Deen. Rather, we should be grateful to Allah ta'ala for granting us protection through this guide, otherwise, we would have been lost. If we are grateful for this guidance, our protection will multiply and we will influence others and in turn, they will be grateful for us.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to implement this into our lives. Ameen