Bayans
Clips
Naat
Sheets
Store
Live

دین پر چلنا آسان ہو سکتا ہے
Urdu Bayan, 28 mins
17th June, 2021

Click for English
Download Audio

Comments

​It Can Be Easy to Practice Deen
​The gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said “الدُّنْيَا مَلْعُونَةٌ مَلْعُونٌ مَا فِيهَا إِلاَّ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ ”.
The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam made this statement regarding the reality of this world, and he has clearly explained to us here what the reality of this world is and what the effect of the world is. Allah ta’ala has created an effect in everything. For example, if you drink water, you attain coolness and the thirst is quenched; and if you eat food, its quality is that the stomach is filled. In other words, everything has an effect. So what is the effect and quality of the Dunya and what it contains? The effect or quality of everything that is within the world is that it is “مَلْعُونَةٌ” - so what does this mean? How many things are in this world? Tell me. In the life of a human being who lives in this world, his life is taken up with his home life, his life outside the home, his business, and with so much else that is contained in this world; it is all attached to a person. And here it is stated that everything that is present in the world, that is contained in the Dunya, its reality is what? It is “مَلْعُونَةٌ”, which means that it is all far from the Rahmah of Allah; these things all take you far away from the Mercy of Allah.
The reality of everything that is present in the world is that it all takes a person far from Allah; they make him Ghafil. The life at home, getting up, walking around, all the aspects of worldly affairs, the wife, the family, daily issues – all of these make you Ghafil and negligent in respect to Allah. What does this mean? This means that the Dunya and all these things make us Ghafil and negligent in obeying the orders of Allah; they detach us and make us lazy and ignorant. And obviously, if a person lives a life of ignorance and continues to disobey Allah, then his Hereafter will be spoiled, and he will go straight to Jahannam.
So this is a serious situation, because we need to live in this world and it is not permitted in Islam for a person to detach himself from the world and go into the wilderness or the jungle to live a life of isolation. If, for example, a person leaves his wife and children and family, this is not permitted in Deen. But on the other hand, it is stated here that we need to save ourselves from all these things that are attached to the Dunya, because they take you far from Allah. So what is the solution to this? We have to live in this world, and we cannot physically detach ourselves from this world – that is the Hukm of Islam. You have to live among your wife and children and family and go to work, in order to fulfil the needs of the home - but at the same time, we must not be ignorant of Allah. The next part of the statement solves the dilemma, because obviously everything is in the world: “إِلاَّ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ ” – SubhanAllah. So all the things in the Dunya create ignorance, but our living in the world should not make us Ghafil; we should continue to obey Allah’s orders and instructions and make our Akhirah, and at the same time, keep living in this world.
There is also a verse of the Qur’an along these lines, asking how we could fail to achieve this balance of life, and advising that the way to do so is to do Dhikr of Allah. This is the way to attain the necessary balance. We have permission to do so many things in this world, so we can do them all. We can live alongside the Dunya and take part in everything, but what should be the style of our living? What method should be employed? The world will not affect your heart if you do what in parallel? You should do Dhikr of Allah in parallel. Now what we do, and the mistake that we make is that we are living in the world, but in parallel we have left the Dhikr of Allah. And what happens as a result? We become lost in the world and become so Ghafil that we destroy our Hereafter. If Allah ta’ala has put this effect in worldly things, then they will obviously have their effect. Their effect will take place, and if a person passes away in that state, then obviously there is punishment in the grave and in the Hereafter for that person. So Allah has given us the solution to this through this advice that as long as we are in the world, we should live with Dhikr of Allah in parallel.
Worldly, material things pull you towards them and make you Ghafil and ignorant. For example, when a person is stood in his shop and the time for Salah comes and the Adhan is being called, if he does not move out of his shop it is because the Dunya has pulled him; it has attracted him. SubhanAllah - we see this every day. The example could be of a taxi driver or of a person standing at his place of work – these examples from our everyday lives are there in front of us. So we can weigh ourselves now. If the order was that some Dunya activities take precedence over Salah, if this had been the order, Allah would have said ‘Fine, this person and that person and the other person should come, but this other person doesn’t need to come to the Masjid.’ But no, the Hukm in respect of Salah is that as soon as the Adhan is called, everything should be left at that point and people should make their way to the Masjid. So why do we not have the power within us to do this?
And this is the same with all of Allah’s Akhams – this is just one example. The whole Deen is with us, and it is there to guide us, so there is no excuse for us to discard any of it; and this is what will take us toward Jahannam. These are the things that take a person far from Allah’s Rahmah. If he is immersed in the Dunya and the enjoyment of life, he says ‘Oh, if I go to pray Salah in the Masjid, it will take fifteen minutes and my customers will go and I will lose £150 profit.’ Shaytan puts that Waswasah into him so that he doesn’t leave his place of work. He thinks ‘If I leave my place of work, then my work will finish.’ On the other hand, if he has courage and determination, he says ‘No, I want to pray Salah and live my life in this Dunya as well.’ I am living in the Dunya, and you are living in the Dunya, and we just have to make the intention. In my life, I cannot remember anything becoming a barrier to Salah, and I ran a business and had jobs as an employee and ran a shop – I did everything. Despite that, I cannot remember any aspect of life, whether going on journeys or following up other opportunities, which got in the way of Allah’s orders.
When Allah’s order comes to pray Salah, then you must do so unless you are in a very deep sleep or are unconscious or ill – the Shari’ah excuses are there if you really can’t come to the Masjid. But even then, you cannot leave Salah. The command to pray is such that even if you are ill and cannot get up from where you are lying, then you pray lying down; and if you cannot move at all, then you pray with movement of the eyes only, or just turn your body side to side, or just recite with your mouth – but you cannot leave Salah. If a person is standing at his shop when the order to pray Salah comes, and he forsakes that Salah just to gain £150 in profit, can you imagine how severe is the punishment he is earning? Tell me. Imam Ahmad Bin Hanbal rahmatullah alayh says that the person who deliberately leaves Salah is not a believer. Some Imams have stated that this action takes a person into Kufr. I think it is Imam Abu Hanifa rahmatullah alayh who says that such a person should be jailed until he makes Tawbah!
The law is there, it has been established, but nowadays in the Dunya, we can see what the state of Salah is within our own homes and families. What do our children do with their Salah? In this great Hadith, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has stated that such a person is “مَلْعُونَةٌ” – there can be no Rahmah upon such a person or upon his children. They will have temporary things such as wealth and money and routines, but even dogs are given food by Allah ta’ala. Those who don’t believe are given food, and animals receive grain and food, so this is not the standard for success. Having a pocket full of money is not a standard of success; the Rahmah of Allah is the standard of success, and a person who does not pray Salah is devoid of Allah’s Rahmah. If Allah and His Rasool have said that Rahmah is dependent upon Salah, then how can it be that a person who prays Salah will not attain Rahmah?
So if there is a problem in this respect, then Allah subhana wa ta'ala has told us to take the cure. If you do not have the determination to pray in Jamah and you don’t want to leave your shop or your home and your wife and children to attend prayer in the Masjid, despite knowing everything, then don’t expect Allah’s Rahmah; rather, expect Allah’s Adhab and expect distress. It is not only in times of sadness and problems that you should be making prostrations and doing Khatams and Wazifahs – no; this is not how success will come. If you want success in life, this comes when a person implements Allah’s Ahkams totally in life. Don’t just wait for Ramadhan and then say ‘I will do this, that and the other,’ and don’t wait for a problem to come before you start waking up for Tahajjud. That’s fine – it’s good to turn to Allah and ask in your time of need, but Allah knows, and the question will be ‘What type of human being is this, who asks of Me today, knowing that I will respond to his call, and then he leaves Salah tomorrow?’
Real enjoyment comes to a person who goes for Salah, leaving his shop with many customers waiting. I was speaking to a brother who lives in Pakistan, and he has a big shop, MashaAllah, with many customers, so I asked him whether he prays in Jamah at Salah time. He said ‘Hadhrat, my habit has been that when time for Salah comes, all the customers are asked to leave the shop, and I lower the shutters.’ SubhanAllah – there are people like this, both in this country and in Pakistan where this brother lives. His shop is in a big marketplace. I was surprised, and I said to myself ‘Look at the Sha’n of Allah ta’ala. He had Yaqeen in the promise of Allah and had no worries that he would lose customers - whoever is due to come will come, and if Allah has not ordained Rizq from someone, then he will not get Rizq from that person. So what about those of us who have no customers and no shop and are sat at home, but we don’t even leave our home to go to the Masjid? We don’t even obey Allah’s order to come to the Masjid from our homes. Why? The reason is that we are immersed in the love of the world – and the punishment for being ensnared in the love of the world is severe. The punishment in this world is that a person lives in a state which is far from the Rahmah of Allah and lives like an animal. Just because he is eating and earning money, don’t think that there will be Barakah in that life; somewhere or other, there will be a big loss for such a person.
When a person hears a great Hadith such as the one we have heard, they should immediately do Tawbah today. And after doing Tawbah, we will overcome this weakness of ours, this Ghaflah and negligence that overcomes us and stops us from going to Salah and keeps us stuck in bad habits, lacking determination to take out five minutes from sitting in the office in order to pray Salah. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given such greatness to this Ummah that every inch of the earth is pure for Salah. If you are forced into a corner, Allah ta’ala says ‘Don’t worry – just wipe your hands on the earth and then wipe your hands here and there and then pray Salah.’ SubhanAllah - Allah ta’ala has made everything totally easy for us so that we can pray, but we are ashamed, and we are ashamed to ask, thinking ‘What will my boss say? What will that other person say? I don’t want to make this request.’ But we don’t think ‘What will my Rabb say? What are Allah’s angels saying about me at this moment in time? What is my situation? Where do I stand?’ Yes?
Our homes are like graveyards – why? The reason is that we are weak. So if this is our situation, then Allah says that the cure is to do Dhikr of Allah, to remember Allah. Allah has promised: ‘I have made an attraction in the world which makes you far from Salah and far from Allah and neglectful of His Ahkams, but I have made a greater power and attraction in My Dhikr, for as soon as you do My Dhikr, you will be pulled towards me!’ Allahu Akbar.
I remember one of the statements of Hadhrat Sufyan Thawri rahmatullah alayh - the Walis of Allah also lived in this same world, and yet they attained piety. He lived in this world and its effect was the same upon him as well, but they took action to stop it taking hold. Hadhrat Sufyan Thawri rahmatullah alayh gave an example of this, and he was a great Sheikh from our pious predecessors. He was such a great Wali of Allah – listen to this example and imagine how deep his connection with Allah must have been. The Khalifa of that time – not like a king of today, but a person with real power and authority - had made an error, so Hadhrat Sufyan Thawri rahmatullah alayh, who was a true Faqir and a Dervaish who had a connection with Allah, said to him ‘This is wrong – this action that you have done is against Shari’ah.’ The king replied ‘How dare you say this to me? Don’t you know who I am?’ He was sitting with his ministers, and he said ‘Seize him and hang him!’ The kings of that time had such power and authority that no court case was needed; he just ordered instantly that he should be hanged for daring to say this to him.
The order was due to be carried out two days later, and when Hadhrat Sufyan was observed to be sitting comfortably, apparently without any worries, a colleague asked him ‘Are you not afraid of being hung?’ replied ‘Why should I be afraid of this? I have not said anything wrong. I just spoke up and pointed out the law and principle that Allah, our Rabb has made. I spoke in accordance with that, so he is hanging me without any justification.’ As he said this, the earth where the king was sitting opened up and he started to sink into the earth! Imagine the deep connection that he must have had with Allah; in reality, Allah is so close to us. That is why the Duas of the Walis of Allah have the effect that they do; it is not some special achievement. What do they do? They establish a connection, and they obey Allah’s orders. They turn away from the Dunya and turn towards Allah. So he passed away, and one of his students saw him in a dream, wandering around in Jannah in a unique condition, SubhanAllah. Allah gave beautiful wings to that Wali of Allah, so that he could fly from tree to tree. He gave Salam and asked ‘Hadhrat, how come you attained this Maqam? Why did Allah give this to you?’ He replied ‘Allah gave me this Maqam from His Rahmah and His Grace because I was patient and I persevered and I saved myself from disobedience to Allah.’
We can see the greatness of the reward in this example, so should we leave Salah? Tell me. Any orders that come from Allah, whether to pray Salah, or to fast, or the order to pay Zakah, or to perform Hajj, or to observe Purdah – whatever orders come from Allah, don’t look at the Dunya, just obey those orders straightaway. There will be problems and issues and difficulties, and barriers may present themselves, and shaytan will invite you to go the other way, but never follow him, saying ‘Oh, I can’t help it – I sin. I am forced to do it; I try, but I can’t help it.’ So are you following the words of shaytan? SubhanAllah, what a weird human being you are. Do Dhikr of Allah! Whatever weaknesses that surround you, do abundant Dhikr of Allah, for Allah ta’ala gives a cure when you do Dhikr.
Hadhrat Sufyan Thawri rahmatullah alayh, who I was speaking about – what does he say? He made a great statement, saying ‘Allah ta’ala has given such a great Ni’mah to that person who does Dhikr of Allah!’ Allah ta’ala announces that the world, by contrast, is “مَلْعُونَةٌ”. Allah announces that He gives some people kingship, and others he makes into ministers, and some get assets or buildings or large families – people take these as Ni’mahs in the world, but they don’t realise that the greatest Ni’mah is given to those human beings who are doing Allah’s Dhikr. SubhanAllah – is this some minor achievement? Can we do this Dhikr ourselves? Even just thinking and acknowledging this to be a great Ni’mah is a great thing, but shaytan has suppressed our thinking so we don’t even have this thought within ourselves. We don’t appreciate and value this Ni’mah, and our hearts reject it. If a Mercedes comes into my hands today, people will congratulate me and say MashaAllah, but have we praised Allah for this Ni’mah? If I need a house, the day a house comes into my ownership I will be very happy and will not sleep that night due to the excitement, but has anybody praised Allah? SubhanAllah, when Allah takes you away from all other things and seats you down in His house on the night of Jumu’ah and enables you to do Dhikr, this is truly a worthy thing for us to praise Allah for. We should say ‘Wow – what an achievement!’ Allah ta’ala selected you from millions and brought you here to the Dhikr of Allah – how praiseworthy is He that we are able to remember Him on such a night. What a great Karam of Allah, and what Grace He is showing us here!
So Imam Thawri rahmatullah alayh said ‘Allah ta’ala has given a truly great Ni’mah if you find yourself in this situation, and it should be a source of great pride. Do you think this Dhikr is a minor thing? Beware! If you attain this Ni’mah of doing Dhikr of Allah’ – and this is Imam Thawri speaking here, not a normal person – ‘don’t consider this Dhikr to be minor!’ So if you come in the morning to do Dhikr and sit in the evening to do Dhikr and engage in the Dhikr that has been prescribed to you, don’t think that this is some insignificant, minor action. Allah ta’ala has announced great things in respect of Dhikr, and Imam Thawri said ‘I became what I am due to Dhikr. How did Dunya come out of my heart? How did Dunya detach itself from heart so that I came towards the path? It was Dhikr that pulled me.’ Allah has put such a quality in Dhikr that as soon as you do Dhikr, it pulls you towards Allah; you are pulled towards Allah. SubhanAllah – it pulls you and drags you towards Allah’s orders and will make you close to Allah. A person achieves Islah through Dhikr and the heart is illuminated through Dhikr of Allah and you will attain Allah’s love through Dhikr of Allah.
So Dhikr of Allah is such a great action, but our jaws don’t move in the remembrance of Allah. We are sick! If a person does not obey Allah’s Ahkams, that person is sick. He is diseased – indeed, he has a chronic disease and is desperately in need. May death not come quickly to that person so that before death, he gets a chance to do Islah for himself and his family. May he get the opportunity to say to them ‘What are you doing, my kinsfolk? Death is close - it is hovering above our heads, so what actions are you doing?’ Explain the Masa’il to them with love and tenderness - it is not about picking up a stick or beating them with shoes. No, take them out of the fire of Jahannam – say SubhanAllah. What a great thing – think about it. We should realise that Dhikr of Allah is such a great Ni’mah and being able to do Dhikr of Allah should make you happier than if you attain something great in the world. What a great reward if Allah ta’ala sends you to His Friend, to a teacher who prescribes Dhikr to you and teaches Dhikr to you – and how sad if you then do not do that Dhikr!
I would like to explain a point here in passing. What is our biggest enemy, according to the definition of Allah? It is shaytan. And what is the nature of our enmity with shaytan? Tell me. What is the clash? Does he stop you from eating food, or from earning a crust, or from running your business? Does he get involved with your sins or your observance of Purdah? Does he interfere with your physical life? Nothing of the sort – his enmity is focused on stopping you from getting to Allah. He is determined to stop you from going towards Allah, and according to the Hadith, the biggest path and the best way to reach Allah is what? It is Dhikr of Allah.
So remember one thing: even if you are Bai’ah with a teacher and you have learned Dhikr from him, you are not saved; shaytan will not leave you. Until a human being dies, he stands in front of you - and what does he do? He whispers into the heart of that person and gives him Waswasah, injecting evil and negative thoughts – against what? Against that action which will take you towards Allah. He will give Waswasah such as ‘Oh, leave this. There is no benefit in Dhikr and no enjoyment in Dhikr.’ He will tell you that you don’t understand what Dhikr is and that there is no need to do such lengthy Dhikr - so what happens then? A Dhakir who is established gets influenced by the Waswasah and shaytan takes that student down; he drags him down. Even though he is a well-established Dhakir, he says ‘Oh, there is no benefit in this. I don’t know – I am not enjoying myself in Dhikr and I don’t like it anymore.’ His thoughts go here and there due to the thousands of Waswasah that shaytan gives him, and he becomes detached from Dhikr of Allah in the end, leaving it slowly but surely as he tells himself that he doesn’t enjoy it.
In reality, Dhikr is not for enjoyment – no Ibadah of Allah is for enjoyment. The objective of Salah is not enjoyment. Do you get tranquillity and enjoyment from Salah? Tell me. Do you enjoy fasting? When you take money out of your pocket to pay Zakah, is that enjoyable? There is no need for enjoyment in the worship of Allah – remember this. If Allah was to instil enjoyment into Ibadaat, then a human being would worship for the sake of the enjoyment rather than for the sake of Allah. Say SubhanAllah. In that case, it would be Shirk! So don’t make an excuse with ‘I don’t enjoy Dhikr.’ Oh madman, if Allah was to make Dhikr enjoyable, then that would become our motivation - ‘Oh let’s wake up in the morning to do Dhikr.’ No! We have to get up to do Dhikr not for enjoyment but for the sake of Allah - SubhanAllah. If a person comes to Dhikr for enjoyment, thinking ‘Let’s go and sit down because I really like the taste of Dhikr,’ that is Shirk, a weird type of Shirk. Really, we should do Dhikr thinking ‘I am not doing this for enjoyment, but rather for the sake of Allah; I am praying Salah for the sake of Allah; I am doing Sujood for the sake of Allah. I have no need for enjoyment, and I don’t mind whether there is taste or no taste, and I don’t care whether or not I see something or feel a sweetness or whatever.’
No – we have no connection with that way of thinking. It doesn’t matter whether we see anything or not, whether we feel anything or not, during or after Dhikr, but remember this point: worship of Allah certainly does have an effect, and Dhikr of Allah certainly does have an effect. You may not feel any enjoyment, but don’t leave Dhikr of Allah. The quality of Dhikr of Allah will come into effect, and it will drag you towards Allah and will take you away from sins – and this is what we need, my brothers. Do you want enjoyment, or do you want Jannah? Tell me. No, we don’t want enjoyment – we want Allah’s Radha, Allah’s pleasure. Yes? We need Allah’s pleasure – may we attain a life in Allah’s pleasure, SubhanAllah.
And finally, I would like to present to you the statement of my Hadhrat Sahib rahmatullah alayh, which he included also in one of his letters to me. SubhanAllah, the Walis of Allah know all the hidden facts. He said ‘The Hukm of Allah is such that we have been ordered to obey Allah and save ourselves from Allah’s displeasure and follow His Ahkams and obey His Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ This is the syllabus of a Muslim’s life, remember this. Do you know what I mean by a syllabus? Yes? This is our mission statement, the objective of life that has been given to us, namely that we should obey Allah, and save ourselves from disobedience, and obey the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and not love the material things of the world, and distance ourselves from the love of the world so that it does not penetrate our hearts and live our lives according to the Radha of Allah. Hadhrat Sahib said that this is the syllabus of life, the syllabus that we have to follow and implement. And to do this, to make the implementation of this syllabus easy, then do Dhikr of Allah – in this way, you will attain all of the elements of the syllabus. Hadhrat Sahib told me this. He said ‘You will attain all of these things if you do Dhikr of Allah, if you remember Allah.’ Hadhrat Sahib gave me this Nasiha that by doing the Dhikr of Allah, all of the actions required by the syllabus would become easy.
So Waswasah will come from shaytan to try to take you far from this path. If thoughts come that urge us to obey shaytan and leave Dhikr due to the idea that we are not getting enjoyment, reject this as impossible. Make firm your resolve and say ‘No matter what happens, I will not leave Dhikr of Allah. The benefit of Dhikr is undoubtedly there, one hundred percent – the benefit will definitely reach me.’ If you read the statements and writings of Hadhrat Hakeem-ul-Ummah, Hadhrat Thanwi Sahib rahmatullah alayh, he made a very famous statement which my Hadhrat Sahib would quote, saying ‘Whether you feel like it or not, whether your heart accepts it or not – SubhanAllah - whether you feel enjoyment or not, never leave the Dhikr of Allah.’ This was the statement of Hadhrat Thanwi Sahib rahmatullah alayh, and he said ‘The benefit will be there for sure; without question, the benefit will reach the human being who does Dhikr.’ Yes? So keep on doing Dhikr with Sabr, and inshaAllah, you will be a person who follows the Deen, and love for Allah will come into your heart, and the nearness to Allah will come, the Qurb of Allah will come, and you will start to attain everything because Allah ta’ala has put everything in His Dhikr.
May Allah ta’ala give us all the Tawfeeq. Ameen.
Recite Durood Sharif.
22nd Jun, 2021
margin-right:-5px