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کیا رمضان ہمیں خوف اور امید دیتا ہے؟
Urdu Bayan, 43 mins
18th April, 2021

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​Does Ramadhan Give us Fear and Hope?
Alhamdulillah, we are extremely grateful for the tremendous grace and blessings that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given to us by bringing us into this very great and Adheem month and allowing us to pass through this month and utilize this month. This is all through Allah’s extreme Fadhl and Karam and blessings.
The way I see it, we should think about this month that Allah ta’ala has given us and ask ourselves what qualities this month has, and what messages this month of Ramadhan contains. If a person does not have concern within him before he does any action, then he will not attain the right benefit from that Amal – remember this. We should not do an Amal without Fikr, without concern. So what does ‘without Fikr’ mean? It means without worry and concern, without thinking that ‘Allah has given me this worship, so it must be great, and I need to be aware of its qualities and inbuilt characteristics.’ When a person does this, then he gets a lot of benefit when he practices that Amal. This is such a great month, so we need to consider what rewards Allah ta’ala has assigned to us and bestowed upon us. Allah says {وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ} – Allah has praised this quality that His servant has when he has Fikr and analyses and ponders and reflects. Pondering and reflecting in this case means that a person should think ‘Oh Allah ta’ala, You have given me this month, so what is to be obtained in this month?’
Obviously, we do have some Fikr to pray Salah, as we say ‘Oh, it is time to pray Salah’, so we quickly do Wudhu and make Sajdah and pray Salah. But if a person thinks that every action and part of Salah is Adheem and great, then he would real satisfaction from that prayer. But we do not have proper Fikr about it anymore, and we just think ‘Oh, let me just pray Salah – I’ll do it and I’ll get Thawab afterwards’ – end of story. InshaAllah, Allah al-Kareem will accept that we have done that Amal, but if we do not ponder over and reflecting upon it, the importance of the Amal is decreased in a person’s eyes. Whenever he does anything good, then, if he reflects and ponders about its greatness and glory, then he increases the level of that Amal. Allah ta’ala has not given us A’maal for a small reason - He doesn’t give the Hukm to do an Amal lightly.
So this is Ramadhan, and Allah ta’ala has instilled such beautiful features and characteristics in Ramadhan, and if a person realizes what they are, then he makes Dua for them and makes an effort to try to attain the maximum from it. So what is the great thing that is present for a person to attain in Ramadhan? It is the platform of the Deen – rather, Deen is made from this platform. Deen is made and the Akhirah is made from this platform. Allah ta’ala’s Radha is obtained from this Amal!
You may be aware of Abdullah bin Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh, who was a Faqih and a Muhaddith and a friend of Allah. He was a pious worshipper, and he lived at the time of Hadhrat Hasan al-Basri rahmatullah alayh. He was a Ghulam – a slave – but this does not matter, because in the Sight of Allah, a person’s status and background does not matter. He was the son of a slave and he was a slave himself – the son of a slave, but in terms of Fuyudh and Barakaat, he was like a king. The real status of a human being increases due to his connection with Allah ta’ala, not due to his worldly connections and whether he is this or has some title or profession – this is not what defines the true status of a person. It doesn’t matter how poor a person is or what tribe or clan he is from – if the connection with Allah is there, then that is what will elevate a person. Remember – if you want to be great, don’t look at secondary things in the Dunya. If you want to be great, then recognize and strengthen your connection with Allah, for then Allah will automatically elevate you to the highest. In the Sight of Allah, such a person becomes elevated. Who does not want to be respected and such like? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that respect is a great thing. So this is a great path, for through it, you will become Allah ta’ala’s and Allah ta’ala will become yours – that’s it.
So he was from a slave family, and the pious elders make reference to a great statement of his although he did not study that much in a formal sense. However, he did not just study, but he also did Amal; he had ‘Ilm but he also did Amal upon that knowledge. Due to his Amal, Fikr and concern came into him and he became a great personality. When this happens to someone, this is called Noor ‘ala Noor; this is when a person has ‘Ilm and then on top of that he has Fikr and concern as well – knowledge and Fikr. When an Alim has Fikr, this is what makes the Amal of a scholar greater than a non-Alim. A scholar’s status becomes elevated if he has that Fikr and concern. If his ‘Ilm is accompanied by Amal performed with Fikr and concern, then however good a non-scholar is, the status of the Alim will be higher. But many don’t do this and are satisfied with their knowledge alone. But Allah ta’ala stated {وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ} – and Allah calls these people {أُوْلِى ٱلۡأَلۡبَـٰبِ}.
So he was one of those people, for he had ‘Ilm and also concern and he reflected, and as the pious elders do, everything he said was in the light of the Ahadith even if they say something in their own words. So Hadhrat Malik bin Dinar made this beautiful statement, saying ‘If two oceans are developed’ – listen now to what he said. We need to develop these within ourselves – we are sitting here to learn this. He said ‘If two conditions are developed within a person, then due to these, the two paths of a human being become very strong indeed. What are those two paths? To save himself from Jahannam and to enter into Paradise!’ Say SubhanAllah. We need to develop two conditions, two passions or qualities, so that these two paths become very strong – the path to be saved from Jahannam and the path to Jannah will become strong and clear. What else does a person need? He is successful once this is attained.
So what are these two conditions, these two feelings and emotions that we need to develop? They are Khawf and Rija’ – fear and hope. SubhanAllah – what a fantastic point he made here. He said that these two feelings need to come into a person’s heart - fear of Allah and also hope in Allah subhana wa ta'ala. When he has these two things, then alhamdulillah, he has two beautiful feelings within him. If he has Khawf, fear, then what is the sign of that? I might say that I am afraid of Allah and that I have a lot of fear, but it is not saying that makes it real – there is a sign, a practical sign. Even if a person is crying and says that this is because he is afraid of Allah – no, this is not proof. If you cannot see the sign of Khawf, then he will not succeed. So what is the sign of Khawf? It should be visible and apparent. Me or you can claim that we are afraid of Allah – everybody can say this. It could be that you are, but just because a person cries while he leads Salah, this does not show that he has Khawf. This is not the definition, even if it is the emotion of Khawf. Everything has a Daleel, a proof, so what is the Daleel that a person has fear of Allah?
This is what we call Fikr – Tafakkur. Look how the friends of Allah extract the real meaning. What is the sign of fear of Allah? The person who has fear of Allah will definitely have one thing inside him, within his life – and what is that? If a person has Khawf, then he will definitely save himself from disobeying Allah. Whether he is on his own or with other people, whether he is inside or outside, in whatever condition, whether others are looking or whether in isolation when nobody can see him or question him or grab him, he will still say ‘No! There is nobody else, but My Maula is here so I will not do this action.’ It will not matter how big an attraction there is for something in the world, how greedy it makes him, but he will never sell his soul in opposition to the order of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. When a person has this feeling and emotion, then the real Khawf of Allah has come into that person. This is the fear that will take a person close to Allah due to his Amal, because the more the fear of Allah increases in a person, the more his Amal will increase.
His Darajaat will increase and improve, and he will proceed and advance so much in respect of Allah’s Ahkam that you cannot imagine. He will think ‘How did I do this action? How did I make so much effort? How did I manage to work so hard? How did I do Ibadah all night long? How was I able to do so much Tilawat of the Qur’an? How did I manage to make so much effort on that Amal?’ Do you understand what I am saying? What underlies this and makes it possible? It is the passion of Khawf, of fear of Allah.
If a person does not have this and is disobedient, then he is always looking for excuses not to do things. People like us will say ‘Oh, I can’t stop this – I was forced to do it. Oh, I am afraid of Allah and I tried not to do this sin – I do have a lot of fear of Allah – but I couldn’t help it and felt forced to do it.’ He looks for excuses and spends his time thinking about excuses – in reality, the fear of Allah is not inside him because he didn’t develop that Khawf or work hard to acquire that Khawf. By contrast, when Khawf is there, Allah ta’ala says that a person will feel it and experience it.
So this is a fact, that a person should develop the fear of Allah inside him. If he doesn’t have Khawf, he will definitely be disobedient. When a person is disobedient, he will commit sins and break the commands of Allah – this is first sign that Khawf has come out of a person and that he has no fear of Allah. If I have no fear of Allah today, I will not have fear tomorrow, and I will lie to my Ustadh and will not respect my Sheikh and will have no modesty. The veil will drop, and there will be no thought of ‘How can I do this action in front of my Sheikh? How will I be able to face him if I do this Amal?’ His Nafs forces him and then he implements that Amal, the reason being that he doesn’t have real Khawf inside him. He has no real fear within, so he implements dirty actions to the point that he becomes used to them – shame and Haya for those actions disappears. What is this a sign of? If I am doing dirty and sinful and impure actions, then in reality I don’t have the Khawf of Allah. If I had fear, then I wouldn’t do these actions. Is this not the case?
Now what are we reflecting and pondering about? Ramadhan – yes? Is Ramadhan giving us this Khawf? Think about it. It absolutely is giving us this Khawf! Say SubhanAllah – it is. It is definitely giving us Khawf – it is making us practice Khawf. Have we thought about this? Do you understand what I am saying? 100%, Ramadhan is making us practice this development of Khawf. Tell me, when we keep a fast, Allah ta’ala has made us leave Halal and permissible things. Sometimes you are on your own at home with your wife and Shahawaat come, but will you touch her? Will you? No – you will not extend your hand? Why? What is stopping you or preventing you? It is Khawf that has developed due to Ramadhan, SubhanAllah. Ramadhan has instilled Khawf in you, so you will not do that action at that time. Even if a person is offered food, he will say ‘No, I cannot because I am fasting - I cannot do this action.’ For the most sinful and disobedient of people, when he keeps a fast, the status of Khawf becomes so high within him that he doesn’t commit wrongful actions during the fast. Say SubhanAllah.
What a great condition Ramadhan is developing inside a human being, Allahu Akbar. This is a great condition and a treasure that a human being is given in Ramadhan. Allah ta’ala give His servants thirty days to practice this – and you would not be able to do this on your own. It is due to the Barakah of this month – this is the Barakah of Ramadhan, SubhanAllah. The ways in which Ramadhan transform of the human being are the Barakaat of this month. Never mind you and me, I can give you the example of children aged 7 or 9 who keep the fast. If you tell him ‘You are allowed to break the fast’, he says ‘No, I don’t want to.’ Why? It is the same, even for a young child like that – who is that child afraid of? He gets to the destination of Allah’s Irfan and Ma’arifah that is reached by the Wali of Allah. Just like the Wali of Allah, he is afraid – he has the high, elevated status of Ma’arifah. There has been no conferring of greatness upon him, he has learned no special lessons and has done no Dhikr, but when the 7 year-old child keeps a fast in Ramadhan, he attains the rank that the great Awiya-llah have attained! Say SubhanAllah.
We should think like this and recognise that through the emotion we have attained due to Ramadhan, we have started to leave all of our sins. What factor has made this possible? The answer comes immediately that ‘Oh servant, you have started to fear Allah, your Lord! Before Ramadhan, you had no fear. You had no Khawf and no ‘Aql, no understanding. You made out that you were so good, and you used to lie to people, and whenever you got an opportunity, you used to break the rules didn’t you? But now in Ramadhan, you have become so obedient that the same eye that used to look around and commit sins, when it tries to look, you force it to look down. Why? Because you have got a fast and do not want to cast evil glances. In reality, it is not the fast but the Khawf of Allah that is making you do this.’ Say SubhanAllah. What a beautiful thing Allah ta’ala has given us.
Did we know this before? No. {وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ} When you do Fikr and ponder, then see where the Fikr takes you to! Now you will get satisfaction from the fast. You won’t put your hand towards this, and you will think twice and desist. Even when you are on your own you will think ‘No, no, no, I can’t do this sin.’ If you pick up the phone and incline towards those sins that are so close to you, if you do start to commit them, by Allah, you feel regret and remorse straightaway – and this is the second emotion. If by chance the Nafs does overwhelm and overpower you – because there is no shaytan in Ramadhan – and if it forces you and you commit a little bit of a mistake, you will feel so much remorse and regret and shame. And that feeling of remorse and regret is so high that due to this, Allah forgives that person. SubhanAllah – and this is because regret and remorse come into that person who has Khawf.
This is the next topic that I will cover now. If you have Fikr and concern, so many points come into the mind, so may Allah ta’ala give us Barakah in our thinking. If it comes to my mind, then you will get benefit as well, won’t you? If I share an example that comes into my mind with you, will you do Dua that I do Amal on that ‘Ilm? Please do this Dua for me in Ramadhan and ask ‘Ya Allah, elevate both the knowledge and the Amal of this man who speaks to us as he does Fikr and ponders and thinks and reflects. May the concerns that come into his mind be delivered to us through his words so that we also feel them.’
So the second point here is that regret is also a great emotion through which a sinful person can attain a high status and be brought to the heights of a great Wali of Allah. Why? Because after sinning, he cries and says ‘Oh Allah, how did I do this sin? Oh Allah, I have done wrong!’ – and he beats himself and rubs himself in the dirt. ‘How did I do this sin in Ramadhan? I am such a sinful person! How did I drink water? I am so distressed and upset.’ His shame and distress make him go to an Alim or a Mufti and ask them how he can compensate for the sin and what will happen to him. He seeks a way out and a solution. This is a person who would openly commit sins with the phone without regret, but in Ramadhan, his soul has awoken, and he feels remorse. He becomes more elevated at that time. Khawf will make him not go towards the sin, but if he does commit it, his Khawf increases even more and then Allah ta’ala elevates him even more at that time, SubhanAllah. May Allah ta’ala give us Khawf and fear after sinning – Ameen.
So who is giving us these emotions and feelings? Ramadhan is giving them to us – these are the blessings and the Barakaat of Ramadhan, SubanaAllah, alhamdulillah. So when Khawf comes into us in Ramadhan, then according to the statement of Hadhrat Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh, his path has become strong, and that path will deliver him to Paradise. That is why it is written that the person who fasts will get Paradise. Why? Because he has Khawf inside him. Due to fear, he stops himself and recognizes what is wrong; this is called Ma’arifah, nearness to Allah, recognizing Allah – Ma’arifah. Have you understood this point?
So what is the second thing that is developed in Ramadhan? Rija’ – hope. The first thing was fear, and the second is hope – SubhanAllah. So Khawf takes a person to such a high status, but alongside that, he must have hope. What is the sign of hope? I told you the sign of fear – what is the sign of fear? That he won’t commit sins because he has Khawf. If a person is crying and making a show of sadness despite having so many sins, what does this mean? That he has no fear – we realise that such a person does not have fear. There are two things – the fake person and the genuine person. You find this everywhere, but there is a way of finding out which is which. How can you distinguish the fake from the genuine person? Shall I tell you how? There is a very simple way to tell whether someone is genuine or fake.
The Faqir will tell you the difference between the fake and genuine so that you can see the difference between the true Sheikh and the false Sheikh - just as you tell the difference between real honey and the fake honey, and there is a very simple way to do this. Shall I tell you? Take a piece of paper and put a drop of honey on the paper. Yes? There is a Tariqa and a way to find out all such matters. So after putting the drop of honey on the paper, let it absorb into the paper, and then see whether there is any wetness underneath the paper. If it is dry under the paper, then consider that honey to be genuine, proper honey – I have told you this secret today! SubhanAllah. You eat honey don’t you? So now you can find out whether you are eating real or fake honey, SubhanAllah. There is always a way to find out whether something is genuine or fake.
So what is the sign of hope? There is a sign of fear, so what about hope in Allah? It has a fantastic attribute; while Khawf saves you from sins, what does hope do? SubhanAllah. If you have hope in Allah, it will enable you to do more deeds, more A’maal, extra A’maal. When a human being does more, he does so on the basis of the hope that he has. I will give you an example from the Dunya. If you are working in a factory and you work an extra four hours, why would you do so? You do so because you think that you will get more payment, don’t you? Say SubhanAllah – you understand the example, don’t you? If you have the hope that you will get paid more, then you will do more work. In the same way, after Salah you say to yourself ‘Why don’t I pray Nafl on top of this Namaz?’ Or a person thinks ‘I have prayed Fajr, so why don’t I start praying Tahajjud as well?’ The more you have hope that Allah will give you more, that hope will make you go towards increasing your A’maal. Your A’maal will increase because you know that Allah ta’ala will give you more results and rewards.
So those people who don’t have hope in Allah will never do A’maal. They are liars if they say ‘Oh, I have hope in Allah – Allah is Ghafur-ur-Raheem’ – this is all a drama; it is fake. The person in whose heart this sense has developed and who understands reality and has hope in Allah’s Rahmah in his heart, and in His Karam and Grace, then he does not sit down with his legs crossed, saying ‘Allah is Karim’, while he carries on committing sins. Astaghfirullah – people do this. I tell you today the big difference between those people. Those people who commit sins and say ‘Allah is Ghafur and Rahim and will show mercy on me’ – they are false. They use this as a base and platform to commit their sins, saying that Allah is Merciful and will forgive. The person who really believes that Allah is forgiving and merciful is the true person who does deeds. He doesn’t just sit down and give up and say ‘Oh, I will commit sins.’ Say SubhanAllah. So if you see that a person wakes up for Tahajjud and runs after Nawafil after his Fardh Salah and always seeks to do extra deeds, then know that he has taken a tremendous path indeed. The person who has the most hope has the highest path. He says ‘I will do this and this and this’ – he is always looking to do more actions because he knows he will get more reward.
This is just like a person who runs a shop and has hope that if he keeps on running the shop, he will get more customers and will make more money. He does market research and wonders whether he should this or that stock and sell this or that brand and buy from this or that supplier or warehouse. He has hope that by buying more stock and better brands, he will get more turnover. Say SubhanAllah. The businessmen will understand this example that I am giving – they will understand this example very well. They have this experience of how more stock and different brands bring more sale, more turnover and higher profits. The person who has hope for the Akhirah is eager in the same way. He wakes up for Tahajjud and runs after this action and that Amal, gives Sadaqah and much more besides, all because he has hope in Allah for increase. He thinks ‘The more I do, the more Allah will give to me.’ He doesn’t just sit down with his legs crossed doing nothing, saying ‘I have hope in Allah and I don’t have to do anything – I will just ask Allah.’ These are the liars, the fake people. Just like when you put the honey on the paper and look to see whether it goes through, you can see in this way whether a person has real hope or not. Say SubhanAllah. Do you understand what I am saying? This is the sign of a person who has hope. He doesn’t just sit down and give up – he runs after A’maal.
So these are the two conditions we need to develop in our life. If Khawf is developed, we will be saved from sins and the path to Jahannam will be blocked off; and if hope in Allah is developed, then that person’s path is solid and elevated and he is on that path leads to Paradise, SubhanAllah. So we are in Ramadhan, and I told you about how you do not commit sins in Ramadhan due to Khawf – and in the same way, the sign of hope is also open and plainly evident in this month. You are hungry and thirsty and yet you are still working – why? Because you have hope that when you break the fast, Allah will forgive us – alhamdulillah. Say SubhanAllah loudly! Both things are evident in the fast, aren’t they? Yes!
{وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ} When we have Fikr and concern and ponder over the fast and think ‘Why am I doing this?’, beautiful facts of Ramadhan come into our lives. And Allah gives all of this just for one fast - so much that you would give your life for that action. But Allah says ‘No, I am Karim and Rahim! Go, Ummah of My Rasool – I give you thirty days of this action!’ SubhanAllah - there is an open playing field. If you are lazy today, tomorrow you will get another chance. In these thirty days, you will become solid and robust, and will have the hope that you will come out from Ramadhan with such great hope in Allah. This hope increases your status, and what status will your hope bring you to? You will think ‘If I do this, I will get this reward; if I do that, I will get more reward.’ You do Ibadah in Ramadhan that you do not do in other months, don’t you? So what enables you to do this Ibadah? It is hope of Allah that drives us to do this and that and the other. When the hope of a human being increases, then he will increase his A’maal and will think ‘Let me do this Amal, let me do that Amal.’ The sign of such a person is that he will do the best deeds. After doing this for thirty days, he will continue to do this afterwards.
Shall I tell you sign of a person who has Yaqeen in Allah, who truly has hope? SubhanAllah. He will not leave Ramadhan without the Sunnat-e-Rasoolillah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. If he didn’t wear Imamah, he will wear the Imamah; if he didn’t have a beard, he will keep the beard; if she didn’t wear a Burkha, she will wear the Burkha. These are the signs of the successful Mu’min. A person who has develop the high stage of hope in Allah during Ramadhan will continue his deeds after Ramadhan – if not, he will be the same afterwards and will have no hope because he didn’t try. If a person has hope, then he will make effort and will increase. “من احب سنتى فقد احبنى” Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is saying here ‘The love of my Sunnah is the greatest, and if you love me, then I will love you. If a person loves me, will he not arrive at that stage where he practices my Sunnah?’ So if a person stops and puts the brakes on after thirty days and does not practice the Sunnah, if he has not changed his face, and has not changed his body nor his attire and his dress code, and if his head was bare and yet he is now not wearing a Topi, and if he was wearing a Topi and yet he is now not wearing an Imamah, which is the highest stage of covering the head, then hope is not present. But if he comes out of Ramadhan with the crown of the Imamah upon his head, then consider that he has the hope of Allah within him, SubhanAllah.
The Qur’an also gives another message: {وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ} You can also try this – will you try? SubhanAllah – Ramadhan is explaining these points to us. We need to ask ‘Oh Ramadhan, how do we attain these things that you have taught us?’ SubhanAllah – ‘What is the path to obtain both these factors permanently? Oh Ramadhan, you are here today and your Barakah is here today, but in thirty days, you will go and what will I do then? What will I do then?’ SubhanAllah, I will tell you an event from yesterday and you will understand. {وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ } - Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh did Fikr, and these points keep coming into my mind, SubhanAllah. These Majalis after Asr in Ramadhan are very good, MashaAllah – Barakah comes in these Majalis, yes? I’m tired, you’re tired, everyone is tired and is down. I am always down anyway, but alhamdulillah, the energy is there. May Allah ta’ala give us the Tawfeeq to do Amal on what I am saying. Are you listening to what I am saying or not? Keep reading and listening, okay? Keep reading and listening.
So Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh was a great Wali of Allah, a pious servant from the history of Islam. So now I will share with you an event concerning him and a Kafir, a person who was staunch in his disbelief, and there was a debate between them. He had Yaqeen in what he believed, and Hadhrat Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh was strong as well. Shaytan had made the non-believer strong in his convictions and he believed that success would come from what he believed in – shaytan makes his clients strong. So Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh challenged him saying ‘Is your lord true and honest?’ to which he replied ‘Yes – my lord is true.’ So Malik bin Dinar said ‘Okay, let’s sort this matter out here and now. You believe in your lord, so you call upon your lord and I will call upon my Lord, and we will kindle a fire, and both put our hands into it. Whoever’s hand comes out unburnt, his Rabb is true!’ SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah.
This is the Yaqeen you should have in the Name of Allah. If there is a competition between two actions, ask ‘Is the Sunnah right or is this other way correct?’ Even if the whole world is against you, stand firm and say ‘The Sunnah is correct – I will not leave the Sunnah’, even if thirty or forty men are against you and you are alone dressed in the Sunnah, and they are joking and saying ‘Oh, look at his Imamah!’ If someone says ‘Oh look, she is wearing a Burkha – she has covered herself’, Allah says ‘Are you laughing at My women for covering their faces? I will make the whole world cover their faces!’ SubhanAllah. One woman must have said ‘I have had enough of being mocked and pestered in the Dunya.’ Look at how the Niqab was mocked and joked about in this country; look at how much hate there was for this. These women were mocked at, but now Allah ta’ala has made everyone cover their faces, both men and women. This is Allah’s glory and power.
So a person should have Yaqeen on the level of Malik bin Dinar rahmatullah alayh, and when you consider something to be Haq, then be firm upon it. Even if you are stood on your own and the whole world is against you, say ‘This is the Sunnat-e-Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam and I will not leave this – never!’ Make this your standard. If they say ‘We will turf you out of the Masjid’, then I will go to another Masjid. If they throw me out of there, I will go to a third Masjid. SubhanAllah – if the third Masjid is no good, we will go to the fourth Masjid. Yes? Look – Allah ta’ala has now given us another Masjid. I was forced into being late for Dhuhr – this happened yesterday, I think. Due to this reason, I could not get to Zakariyya Masjid for Dhuhr, so I said ‘What shall do? I can’t get there in time – where can I pray my Salah with Jama’ah? So I was thinking and the time was passing, and I decided to go to Ashrafiyyah Masjid. I had never been there before, but I thought ‘Maybe I will be able to get there in time.’ So I quickly made my way there.
I was late for a permissible reason, not due to Ibadah. It was due to having to give service to a human being – I became late due to being engaged in his Khidmah. Allahu Akbar – I was serving and assisting him, and it was very essential because he was upset and distressed. This human being was upset and broken-hearted, so the time passed while I was speaking to him and I was delayed in going for Salah. I didn’t complain, Astaghfirullah, that I had missed the Salah, but I had hope and thought ‘Oh Allah, for Your sake I was doing some work of the Deen, so show me the path and take me to Salah.’ So I was thinking that maybe I would miss the Salah by the time I arrived and that maybe I would have to pray Sunnah afterwards. SubhanAllah, I got there in time – Salah there was at 2pm, SubhanAllah. Allah ta’ala gave me the solution. I thought ‘Okay, so this is Ashrafiyyah Masjid – I have heard the name before, and I believe that it is a new and beautiful Masjid, so I will do the Ziyarah of the Masjid as well and see how well they have made it.’
I was very happy when I saw the Masjid, and then remembered a big event that occurred at this Masjid Ashrafiyyah. When I entered, it looked nice; you may have seen it – they have made a beautiful, elegant Masjid there now. But I had seen it thirty or thirty-five years ago – and I had also visited at that time in an Ajeeb manner. We were passing by one night, at a time when many of you were not even born or had any link with me. My Jamat was with me and we were wandering around coming back from visiting somewhere, so I said to my colleagues ‘There must be a Masjid near here where we can pray Salat-ul-Isha.’ So we were passing by, and someone looked down the street and said ‘I can see a Masjid – there is a Masjid there.’ And as I sat after Salah yesterday in Muraqabah, I thought to myself ‘I have been here before, thirty-five years ago.’ The Walis of Allah give us lessons like this.
So I said to myself ‘Look at what that Masjid has become now’ as I remembered that incident and the event with my Jamat – maybe some of the brothers who were with me then have passed away; their souls have departed. So when we arrived at that time, they told us that it was called Masjid Ashrafiyyah, and they said it was an old Masjid, perhaps the oldest of all – I am not from Bolton, but you know the history of this town. So we prayed Isha, and my habit at that time was to do Dhikr after Isha, and this is an example of where you should never be ashamed of the Haq. Never be embarrassed – I didn’t know whether they would like this or not, or what mind-set they had about such things. So after Isha, we asked them for permission to do Dhikr afterwards – and they were happy! This was thirty-five years ago. They said ‘Yes, do Dhikr – we will sit with you as well.’ Alhamdulillah, they were people of the heart who must have learned Dhikr, and we did such a good Muraqabah that evening. I said to my colleagues afterwards that I felt so content and satisfied in that place that I felt like doing more Muraqabah in that locality. Alhamdulillah, now so much Muraqabah is done being done in this locality – maybe the Dua that we made then is being accepted now! Say SubhanAllah. Oh people of Bolton, look how Allah subhana wa ta'ala makes things develop over time!
So what happened next? I remembered yesterday that this was the first Masjid that I did Dhikr at in Bolton, and that the people of that Masjid had joined in with that Majlis so many decades ago. So my heart said ‘How great it would be to do Dhikr here again – it was so nice last time.’ So I prayed my Salah and left, and no sooner had I sat down, someone said to me ‘As soon as you left, the Imam Sahib and the committee members came to me and said ‘We saw that Hadhrat came here, so please request him to come here and host Dhikr here. We would like to have a Majlis here.’ SubhanAllah. I said ‘SubhanAllah – we have so many options! Allah’s Karam and mercy has multiplied.’
So a new Masjid has been built and opened, but I didn’t think that I would go there because you know how it is today with Dhikr. Today, those who do Dhikr are considered the most foolish and backward people. People are afraid of running around to ask people whether we can do Dhikr. If you ask ‘Can we give a speech?’ they say ‘Yes, give a speech.’ If you say can we do Taqreer?’ they say ‘Yes, do Taqreer.’ If you say ‘Can I do a Bayan on Hadith?’ they say ‘Yes, go ahead.’ They give Ijaza for everything, but if you say ‘Can we hold a Majlis of Dhikr here?’ they say ‘Oh, get out, you backward people! Go away – what is this Bid’ah? We don’t need Dhikr here – no!’ Isn’t this the case? Tell me the honest truth. Don’t you get told to get out? Yes? Imagine, SubhanAllah – look at the Hal of our Deen today. But what does the Qur’an say? It tells us to make the Masjids full of Dhikr. Allah says ‘How dare you! Never stop doing Dhikr in the Masjids or else I will remove those Masjids.’ There is just the outline, the sketch of a Masjid, but the Noor is not there – it is like a skeleton.
SubhanAllah, so I hesitated and said ‘I don’t want to lose our prayer here’, but since Allah had instilled in their hearts to go and request Dhikr, and since I was also thirsty from before, I said ‘Yes, definitely we will host Dhikr – shall we start in Ramadhan?’ SubhanAllah - why should we think about after? So on Wednesday, we will do Dhikr there. So, all of you people, this Wednesday, come and do Dhikr there in that Masjid after Asr. I have told you about this event from the past so that you can have more satisfaction.
{وَيَتَفَڪَّرُونَ فِى خَلۡقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٲتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ} Think about everything – ponder and reflect, and you will get the taste afterwards. So what was I saying before? Ah yes. The question arises as to how to maintain what we learn in Ramadhan after the month passes, and you will understand from this event how to maintain both things, both hope and fear, and keep the feeling of Ramadhan for the rest of your life. How? So after the debate, Malik bin Dinar said ‘Okay, let us put our hands in the fire, and whoever’s hand does not get burnt will show whose Rabb is true.’ Now this Kafir was strong because shaytan makes his clients strong – even a sinful person can become staunch and solid. His wrong beliefs make him solid, so he said ‘Okay, I’ll put my hand into the fire as well as you.’ So they lit the fire and put their hands into it - but both hands were protected! The hand of Allah’s Wali didn’t burn, but neither did the hand of the unbeliever. Now Malik bin Dinar stayed quiet when he saw that both hands had emerged unmarked. ‘That is weird’, he thought to himself.
Now Allah ta’ala knows the hearts of His beloved servants and He knew that His servant was upset – say SubhanAllah. He did not challenge Allah or complain, but he didn’t understand the Hikmah of his Rabb at first. He did not complain or doubt or lose out, but he couldn’t understand the Hikmah of Allah. Allah knows best and Allah’s Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam know best – whose Kalimah was this? This was the Kalimah of the Sahab-e-Kiram - ‘Allah and His Rasool know best!’ This is what they used to say. So who understands the Hikmah of Allah? He was a Wali of Allah and he got stuck on that Hikmah. Allah said ‘Let Me open the door on the Hikmah behind this because I know best. I am the Hakim – let Me cool down the heart of My friend.’ So Allah said ‘Malik, don’t be upset – your hand was saved and his hand was saved as well. But his hand was saved because your hand was in the fire alongside his – this was due to your Barakah!’ Say SubhanAllah. ‘Now tell him to put his hand in without yours and see whether his hand gets burnt or not.’ The Mas’ala became clear that one moment in the company of the Wali of Allah, just sitting with him for one moment, is greater than one hundred years of Ibadah. So due to the Sohbat of the Wali of Allah, the hand of that Kafir also did not get burned. The fire had Haya and modesty, thinking ‘How can I burn that man’s hand when his hand has the company of the hand of the Wali of Allah!’
So when you sit in the Sohbat of the Wali of Allah, will Allah not give to you at that time? Will you not get anything? Will you lose out? Will you leave empty-handed? You will get everything in the company of that Wali of Allah – whatever is inside that Wali of Allah, you will obtain the same. SubhanAllah. Keep his company with Ikhlas, with sincerity, with Muhabbat, with love, with Adab, with manners, with Aqeedah, with belief in the Sheikh, with love for the Sheikh. Act with Adab and do not be immodest, have Haya and good manners. Don’t be rude and go against the etiquettes when you keep company with that person, or treat him with a lack of respect, and then it cannot be that your sitting with him will not give you Khawf and Rija’, because he cannot be a Wali of Allah if he doesn’t have fear of Allah and hope in Allah inside him. Say SubhanAllah.
All else is a waste of time, no matter how many titles a person has and claims of being this and that, and announcements and titles - he cannot be a Wali of Allah if he doesn’t have these two signs within: firstly fear of Allah, and also hope in Allah. The hope he has in Allah will take him to such a high level that every deed he does will be according to the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, because he has reached the high class of practice. This is the fruit of his hope and his fear. His fear is so strong that he leaves everything that is wrong, saying ‘No, I cannot do this.’ He won’t even do the Mutashabbihaat - the doubtful things. Haram is Haram, but many things are doubtful, and he will leave them as well because he wants to implement a high level of practice. This is what develops in a person who has hope in Allah and fear of Allah. If a person has these two things within him, then keep his company, with good conviction and the right belief, which is to have love for him, Aqeedah in him, Adab and manners, and Khidmah. My Hadhrat Sahib told me about these four things, and in every letter that Hadhrat Sahib wrote to me, he would say alongside this advice ‘The benefit of these is not for me – the benefit will be to you, because in this way, whatever is inside me, you will also acquire.’ SubhanAllah - remember these four factors, these four points of connection.
May Allah ta’ala give us the Tawfeeq to practice upon this - Ameen. What beautiful points Ramadhan has taught us here! Have you understood? SubhanAllah – come, let us recite Durood Shareef.
20th Apr, 2021
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