The Path of Khair and Barakah
In both this Dunya and the Akhirah, Allah subhana wa ta'ala has based all goodness on one action, on one Amal. If we take hold of this action robustly and firmly and make this action part of our lives, then we will be successful in both this world and the Hereafter. And this action is not something that we are unaware of, or are ignorant about; everyone who reads the Qur’an and has Iman is very much aware of this action. But obviously, we are in the era of Fitnah and discord, and shaytan and Nafs have overwhelmed people, and so our connection to this Amal has become very weak in our lives – very much so. The real reason for all the issues and difficulties that we have in life, and the worldly issues that surround us - whichever you want to look at - is this; this is what is behind all of these problems.
And what is that Amal? Allah subhana wa ta'ala has announced clearly in the Qur’an, not just in one place but in many places: {لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬}- SubhanAllah. Is there any greater announcement than this? Your whole Deen and Dunya and environment, home, inside, outside, Ibadaat – everything there is – will be accepted in the Court of Allah when it is in accordance with the Sunnah of the Gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, when we show that we have given our allegiance to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and that we are connected to him. There is nothing you do in this world or the Akhirah but that it is made successful through its connection to the Beloved of Allah, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We must bring the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam into our lives, and we must understand that whoever is weak in this will fail, while if a person has connection to the Sunnah, he can never fail. Such a person will be successful beyond imagining, in any matter.
Allah ta’ala has announced that in respect of all aspects of the world, you will see only one solution, and if you take that solution and that path, then alhamdulillah, it will solve that problem and predicament that you are facing, whether it is at home, outside, in the shop, in your business, arguments, disputes - whatever and wherever a problem occurs, if you follow the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that issue will be solved. Today, this is the biggest issue in our lives that destroys our Deen and spoils our society and our environment. We think that if we try hard and make a big effort, we can improve our situation in society – and everyone is concerned that his or her quality of life should be good. Obviously, we do have need for money and wealth in this world; there is no doubting that. The Dunya is with us – it is surrounding us. So with this objective, the human being tries hard and makes effort. He exerts himself to the full, trying to get a shop or a business, or to rent a house and to educate his children. To support this, he wants to have good food and enough money, and he wants to have shops running so that he can quickly establish a good life in the world.
I am presenting this as an example to you of the scenarios that surround us, but because we are far from the reality and the solution that Allah ta’ala has given us, we don’t even think about that solution; our mind does not even entertain it. We try according to our own thinking, and through those efforts, we end up doing wrong actions in our attempts to get money. Many gaps open up in our Ibadaat in this way. If a person is asked ‘Why don’t you pray Salah?’ he replies ‘Oh, I am at my shop at that time; I am too busy so I can’t pray. I have to get up early for work in the morning, so I can’t come to Fajr. I have too many things to do to come to Dhuhr.’ We sacrifice great Ibadaat due to such issues in our lives – we give them up.
So brothers, we want to try to improve our issues in society, but the solution is that which Allah and Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam have announced: {لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬}. Imagine - in our lives and in our society, the practice of one Sunnah solves everything. If this is attained through one Sunnah, then what will be the situation if all the other Sunnahs are implemented also? The guarantee is there! Why? Because whose blessed tongue delivered this statement? The tongue of Allah’s Habeeb sallallahu alayhi wasallam uttered these words. It cannot be wrong, alhamdulillah. The sun can rise and set somewhere else, but the words of Allah’s Habeeb sallallahu alayhi wasallam can never be wrong. But we don’t have Yaqeen in this; our conviction in this is very weak, and it is due to this lack of Yaqeen that all these issues surround us. If someone says ‘Practice this Sunnah and leave that other practice,’ we say ‘No, no, no, I can’t do that. That’s too difficult.’ We don’t even have certainty where Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has given an explanation about how to solve a particular predicament. We have no conviction in that and instead, we get scared and start shaking.
What is the Hal of the society around us? It is so simple – so very simple. I am thinking about just one Sunnah here, but the same applies to any Sunnah method. If you put your shoes on in the Sunnah way, or if you sit down to drink water, there is so much Noor and so much Thawab in that – it is beyond your imagination what is in those actions. We cannot imagine the extent of the Thawab for implementing the Sunnah, for following his way with the correct intention. We must always make the Niyyah that we are following these ways because it is the Sunnah, that we are doing whatever action because it is the Sunnah. Definitely have this Niyyah, and then the reward that follows is greater than we can imagine. {قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ} – Allah ta’ala is saying ‘Oh My Blesseed Mehboob, tell the Ummah with your blessed statement. What should I say?’ Allah ta’ala has requested the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam to say with his blessed statement, so that the people can understand.
{قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ} Tell me, is there any Muslim who does not want Allah subhana wa ta'ala to be happy with them? Every Muslim wants this, but here, Allah ta’ala is telling us to aim beyond that, saying ‘I will not just be pleased with you, but rather I will make you My beloved; I will give you the status of Mehboobiat!’ {قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ} – this means that Allah will love that individual. And what factor will activate this condition? {فَٱتَّبِعُونِى} - Allahu Akbar! Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said {فَٱتَّبِعُونِى}, meaning ‘If you do Amal on my Sunnah, Allah will make you His beloved!’ This is the condition. We, however, engage in so many dramas in the hope of becoming Allah’s beloved, mixing lies and truth together. But SubhanAllah, people who are really passionate in their hearts and have the desire that they want Allah to love them and that they want to love Allah, then they have a straightforward and clear path in front of them. Allah has made a massive announcement here, one which is comprehensive, complete and transparent. {قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى } - and then Allah adds { يُحۡبِبۡكُمُ ٱللَّهُ}; after that, Allah ta’ala says ‘If you do Amal on the Sunnah of My Habeeb sallallahu alayhi wasallam, then I will make you My beloved! I Myself will love you, and since you are a human being who lives in the world, if it should happen that you make some mistakes thereafter then {يَغۡفِرۡ لَكُمۡ ذُنُوبَكُمۡۗ }, I will continue to forgive you.’
What a great guarantee – tell me! For what action do you get this? Not for any action other than the practice of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam – for keeping the beard according to his Sunnah, to wear the Imamah as he did, to wear attire as he wore it. But shaytan makes us love other than that; we love those colours and styles – how can I put it – we love the world and all of its colours. Our generation today is proud of those habits, and we are losing a big reward thereby; it is a huge loss for us. We work hard to bring up our children hoping they will become this and that, but we don’t teach them how to attain the real Dunya. We should teach our children from the beginning of their lives how to eat according to the Sunnah, how to lie down according to the Sunnah, how to sit according to the Sunnah – every single aspect of the Sunnah should be taught. There is no part of life which is devoid of a solution from the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam; there is no part of life about which he did not teach us how to practice.
That is the point, because this is the great glory of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. All the other Prophets came, but history has not recorded the detailed features of their lives, whereas we have accounts of even how the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would toss and turn when he went to sleep, and what he would recite when he did so – Allahu Akbar! Tell me. We know how he would position his body when he lay down, and what great words he would recite from his blessed mouth when he would shift position. Allah ta’ala created a group of people who were the friends of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and they were present when the Qur’an was revealed, and they were the noble Companions, such great individuals that even without pens, books or paper - even without words – the life of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam penetrated their very beings and they scribed the details of his life upon their hearts. Yes!
Due to this, even today, when the Dunya surrounds us, there is not a single aspect of the life of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam which is not visible to us. We have Kitabs and Dar-ul-Ulooms, knowledge, countless books, and hundreds of thousands of Hadiths, as well as Muhadditheen who have memorised so many of them by heart. Allah ta’ala created such individuals, like Imam Shafi’i rahmatullah alayh, who in the forty years of his life reached such a Maqam – SubhanAllah. What Maqam was that? Qala qala Rasoolullah – SubhanAllah! What else was there? He memorised and explained what Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said and how he acted, and that is how he became Imam Shafi’i. How did Imam Abi Hanifa rahmatullah alayh and Imam Malik rahmatullah alayh become who they were? How did Imam Bukhari rahmatullah alayh become who he was? By collecting every action of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and publishing them and distributing them by means of those Kitabs, like Kitab al-Wudhu, Kitab al-Libas; that was his effort.
So all these Uloom have been given to us, but you won’t get the benefit from the Kitabs themselves; the books won’t be asked. And if I decorate my shelves with the volumes of Bukhari and other texts, this will not give me the solution to my issues. That solution only comes from one thing, because the question will be ‘How much did you implement this in your lives? How much did you practice? What Amal did you do on the knowledge that came to you? Did you practice on the knowledge that you had?’
This is the biggest Niyyah that we need to make today, my brothers. The biggest action that we need to do first is to strengthen our Yaqeen. First of all, strengthen your belief and conviction that the words that emanated from the blessed tongue of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam are true; your belief in this must be solid and you must be one hundred percent sure and have no doubts. First strengthen this Yaqeen and this belief, this point of faith. If we don’t have this conviction and certainty, then our Iman is not complete. Our Yaqeen has gone down so much that it has become submerged, and we do not make any effort to change this situation. ‘Allahumma inni as'aluka imanan yubashiru qalbi’ – what a great Dua this is, meaning ‘Oh Allah, I ask of You such an Iman that penetrates my heart. May every word You convey to me become Yaqeenan Sadiqan so that it penetrates my heart.’
Where does Yaqeen reside? In the eyes? In the nose? No! In the heart - faith and certainty reside in the heart. So whenever you see the friends of Allah, those who we call Walis of Allah, you will see that they strengthen their Yaqeen in their hearts. Shaytan inserts Wasawis, so even when you open the Qur’an, you recite ‘A’oodhu bi-llahi min-ash-shaytan ir-Rajim.’ Why? Because when you open the Qur’an, shaytan will insert Wasawasah into your recitation unless you seek Allah’s protection from shaytan first. So it is so important to strengthen our Yaqeen, and our Yaqeen cannot be strengthened until we follow the Tariqah that delivers strong Yaqeen. So what is the method of strengthening Yaqeen? It doesn’t just come into the heart automatically, and this is the biggest thing to remember. Until the Yaqeen in our heart becomes strong, our Iman will not be strong. We have recited ‘La ilaha illa-llah’ but what ‘La ilaha illa-llah’ have we recited? Is it a ‘La ilaha illa-llah’ that we do not even know what we are saying? This will be the case until we cultivate this emotion in our hearts that when we hear a Hadith, we practice immediately.
How do we acquire this condition in our hearts? Only then will we follow the Sunnah. Why are weak in following the Sunnah? Do we have such a great personality in our Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and his statements are in front of us, and yet we don’t do Amal upon them? This is because we have no Yaqeen. I will recite a Hadith for you and let us see how much Amal there is upon this in our families and in our own lives and in our homes. Goodness is in the Sunnah, and that is why we cry. This is what happens in that home in which there is no Sunnah, in which the Tariqah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not present, and it does not matter what other things you do and however many forty-day retreats or recitations you perform. Whoever has no Yaqeen and Iman in the Sunnah, it does not matter what other actions he does. If the Tariqah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not present, then there is nothing in that place - it is empty and hollow. There is no Noor, and however much worship you do, it does not ascend. Our Duas are not accepted, and the colour of our Salah has changed.
Why? Because the Ruh, the soul, of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not in our Ibadah. We come to pray Salah, but our Libas and appearance is completely different from his Sunnah - we come with an alien appearance and dress-style. Even when we come to pray Jumu’ah this is the case, and you yourselves see that this is happening when you come. Whether inside our homes or outside, this is the situation, and this is because our Yaqeen has dissolved, and we have become habituated to this way of living. Our tongue says one thing, but our heart says another, so we have to work hard and make a big effort to make our hearts strong.
We must develop this strength of heart – so what is the method of developing our hearts? “إِنَّ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ سِقَالَةً ، وَإِنَّ سِقَالَةَ الْقُلُوبِ ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ” – SubhanAllah. There is a polish for everything, and if you want to polish your heart, there is only one cleaning agent, and that is Dhikrullah, the remembrance of Allah. So Dhikrullah is not a minor action; it is not insignificant. Allah has reserved a great reward for the people who do Dhikr, a very great reward indeed. But because Yaqeen is not present, the Masjid is empty; if Yaqeen was strong, then this Masjid would be full. Yes? We should have conviction in the great reward for doing Dhikrullah, because the nature of this great reward is that it develops the heart; and if the heart is developed, then you attain Yaqeen in the whole Qur’an and you start to implement the whole of the Sunnah. That is why Allah ta’ala says that it is a very valuable medicine – this medicine is incredibly valuable.
Take the example of Coronavirus. If the vaccination costs two thousand pounds, it is expensive because this medicine resolves a dangerous disease. The more severe the disease, the more expensive is the medicine, because it solves that problem; where the problem is greater, the value of the cure increases. So why has Allah ta’ala elevated the value of Dhikrullah? Because it cures a person immensely – it makes him a Muslim! He becomes a Muslim, and he has love for the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and he starts to practice the Sunnah; and thus his life is reformed and improved. And that is why there is a great reward – listen to how great the reward for Dhikr is. The Muhadditheen have explained the title and rank and glory and the high status of the Dhakireen. The reward is such that when a person hears about it, he says ‘Is this their status and glory?’ Say SubhanAllah.
So when you sit to do Dhikr, then praise Allah! What is the reward for Dhikrullah? The Holy Prophet himself sallallahu alayhi wasallam made a blessed statement explaining it. He said ‘After Fajr, until the sun rises up’ – which is a short time – ‘if someone spends this time sitting with those who do Dhikr of Allah, I really like this action.’ SubhanAllah. We look around here and there, searching and seeking the way to become an Ashiq of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam – come to the Tariqah that the gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has prescribed for us. But we say ‘No, no, no!’ because we enjoy other things, like this Jalsa or that conference. Everyone has their own way and method. Someone says ‘Oh it’s so simple and easy – just recite Nasheeds and you will become an Ashiq. Whoever recites a Nasheed becomes an Ashiq.’ If you listen to a real reciter, an Ashiq-e-Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, delivering his Naat, then your heart will become an Ashiq as well – SubhanAllah. Yes? That is how great an action it is to recite a Naat or Nasheed, because it is praising the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. It is a great action, a very significant action, but we don’t develop our hearts.
Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam is stating such a great point when he says ‘Those people who remain seated after Fajr and engage in Dhikr until sunrise give me immense pleasure. I very much like to sit with them. This is a favourite action of mine and so those people are beloved to me and I like sitting with them.’ Tell me – what a reward for those who Dhikr in the morning! So why don’t we do Amal upon this? Because we don’t have Yaqeen in this. Anyone who had Yaqeen that they would become beloved to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam by sitting in Dhikrullah in this way would definitely do so.
So why not? Do we not do Dhikr here? Allah ta’ala will say ‘Did I not initiate Dhikr in the Masjid? Did some people not sit down and do this action?’ It is not that it doesn’t happen, but we don’t want it. We just want automatic results, and we say ‘Give me a Tasbeeh and a Wazifah that I can do which will give me success. Give me something to recite by which I will be granted a vision of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in a dream.’ We all have this desire. People say ‘Oh, I am going to Pir Sahib to get him to blow on me because I feel like I should do Ziyarah in a dream now that I am advanced in years.’ SubhanAllah – perform the methods that have been prescribed, and Ziyarah will come to you; it will come. Just accept the invitation of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and when you wake up in the morning, say ‘Oh Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, this is your blessed statement and prescription, for you have said that you like that action and those people who sit in that Majlis which I am going to. You have said that you like sitting there with them and that you like the company of those people so much and the action that they do.’
Look at the glory of the title that the Muhadditheen have given the Dhakireen – what elevation and status they attain, in that the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam himself liked to sit with them. Tell me! So do we sit? No. We don’t sit – we will never sit. This is such a great action, so implement this, even if just a little bit. Come in the morning, pray Fajr Salah, then sit down and do Dhikrullah until sunrise, and then go. One reward has been mentioned, but there are many rewards for this Amal, so many rewards. This action will develop your heart!
I will explain another Hadith to you – a Hadith Qudsi, I think – which is also about Dhikrullah, in order that we realise and think to ourselves ‘Why do I not do Amal on this action?’ Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that Allah ta’ala has stated ‘On the Day of Resurrection, people will realise who those who deserve ‘Izzat, respect and honour, really are. Who are those people? Those poor souls were hidden, but today I will make it apparent who they are – I will make them visible and show who truly had high status and was worthy of respect in the world.’ We cannot imagine, and we think ‘Oh, he is a big shot – he is a big man with a high status,’ but Allah says ‘No – I will tell you today. Listen – I will show you who those people are.’ The noble Companions were amazed, and they said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, please tell us who those honourable people are, so that we realise to whom Allah ta’ala will give this honour on the Day of Resurrection when Allah ta’ala removes the veil and shows which men and women are the most Mu’izzat, the most worthy of respect, the most honourable.’
This Dunya and everything in it seems to be on one level of equivalence, but when you read Qur’an and Hadith, that is when you see the differentiation – so make Qur’an and Hadith the basis of your life. We think that they are backward and extreme, and we have no respect for them in our hearts, but Allah is saying ‘I will tell you today; I will remove the veil so that your eyes can open, and you realise. So Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was asked by the noble Companions ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, who are those people about whom Allah will speak on the Day of Resurrection in front of everyone and announce their greatness?’ Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam replied ‘Shall I tell you who those people are?’ They said ‘Please – tell us.’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘They are those people who sit in the Masjid and gather and assemble to make a gathering of Allah’s Dhikr.’ Is this not happening here? But we don’t have Yaqeen. We have no certainty or belief in these words.
What a great Hadith I am sharing with you here! If you had conviction and Yaqeen in this, you would see yourself ascending from level to level. So Allah ta’ala has reserved this reward for Dhikr so that when we do Dhikr, our heart will be developed, and when the heart is made, then you will practice the Qur’an and follow the Sunnah; you will have such Yaqeen and love for the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that you will think ‘I need to practice this’ – and thus the drama of life will end. So we need to generate and develop this Yaqeen by doing abundant Dhikr of Allah. We should learn Dhikr and do Dhikr, and through this, the emotions of the heart will change. Without Dhikr, you cannot improve the heart. But once the heart improves and develops, the sign of this is that the human being will immediately start following the Sunnah of the blessed Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. You won’t need to tell him or remind him.
This is the first love, and when a person’s heart starts to develop, the sign of that development and reformation is not miracles and Karamaat; rather, the Walis of Allah have confirmed that the first sign of the heart being developed is that the person will immediately start exhibiting immense love for the blessed Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. You won’t need to tell him, and he won’t be afraid or shaking with fear; he won’t be worried about the environment or country or region, and he will submit and implement the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Women without Purdah will start to observe Purdah, men without beards will grow their beards, those who sin will turn their backs on those sins, those who dress strangely will change their attire – and they will do so openly, saying ‘I am not frightened because I have love in my heart, alhamdulillah.’ Whoever has love in their heart does not hesitate to break the barriers.
But if you keep on trying to act according to this or that logic, and asking people to tell your children, remember that there is no need to ask anyone. If you want your daughter and your son and your wife and yourself to follow the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, then the first action is this: go to a Wali of Allah, knock on his door, and learn the Dhikr of Allah. This is the first step. Allah has prepared this for you because this system will always continue to operate. In every place and region and Maqam, Allah ta’ala has seated His Wali – remember this; and that person will not have horns on his head. Allah ta’ala will seat him, and he won’t have horns on his head or be displaying some miracles. He will be normal, but he will have one distinguishing feature for you to be able to recognise him, which is that the Sunnat-e-Rasoolillah will be evident in that person’s life, in the life of that Wali of Allah.
Hadhrat Aisha Siddiqua radhiAllahu anha explained this in a Hadith. She asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam ‘How do we know who a Wali of Allah is and who is close to Allah and who is not?’ I am explaining the meaning of the Hadith to you here. This is a great question that has come to us from that generation. We say ‘He’s a Wali, he’s does this, he does that, he’s a friend of Allah, he’s this, he has arrived, he has attained’ – thousands of points and qualities are held up as evidence. But no – Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘The Wali of Allah, Allah’s Habeeb, has one distinguishing feature. What is that? He will be obedient to the Sunnah and will imitate and practice the Sunnah.’ Alhamdulillah, in his eating and drinking, in his standing and walking, in his journeying and travelling – in everything. He will only have Mureeds and colleagues attached to him who agree to this lifestyle. Nobody else will be able to travel with him on that journey of life; the hearts of others will tremble and shake at the thought of that life. But those who are true, honest and sincere will say ‘We need the path, and we want to reach Allah, to go to Allah, to love Allah, and we don’t want to waste our time, and we want to correct our Salah and fully implement the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ Whoever has this desire in his heart will get Sukoon in his heart when he arrives in the company of that Wali of Allah; he will find contentment and peace.
This is the system; there is a system for everything, and if you don’t follow that system, Deen will not come into your life. People say ‘Oh, let’s do that and Deen will come; let’s do this and success will come.’ No – there is a system that Allah has set up. First and foremost, correct your heart, because the heart is the place where shaytan and Nafs get together. So what is the first thing that we need to do to become a good Muslim? We need to reform and develop the heart, to correct and realign the heart, to cleanse and improve the heart, so that our Iman can become strong. That is the first action in life. Do you understand what I am saying? The first step is to strengthen the heart according to the formula of the Qur’an and Hadith is what? It is to do Dhikrullah. Follow the system, step by step.
Why am I telling you this? Because this humble, simple servant who is sitting in front of you improved and changed his life by means of this method. I am giving you a practical example, not one that has come from the pages of Kitabs; I am giving you an Amali example. Follow the system step by step. If a person like me who is not capable can come onto the Deen in this way, then pious people like you will start floating in the air! So first and foremost, you have to correct the heart. That is the first lesson. So how does a person correct his heart? Obviously, you have to go to the doctor, and he will reform the diseased heart. You need a spiritual doctor. Yes? People say ‘Oh, there is no Wali of Allah’ – but how can that be? Wherever you go in the world there is water, and wherever you go there is bread, and wherever you go there is meat. Tell me – is there any country in the world where you cannot get these resources? Allah has prepared the earth so that it grows vegetables and wheat for you. Wherever you go, there is earth, so there is wheat and rice and edible plants. You can find everything wherever you go in the world, because Allah has prepared it. Now Deen is higher and more important than Dunya, so do you think that when Allah has prepared physical food for you wherever you go, He will not prepare what you need in respect of Deen also? Even before you get there, Allah will seat His Wali there. SubhanAllah – Allah will seat His friend so that you find him when you arrive. Allah is saying ‘Come to My Wali and rectify yourself!’
So first and foremost, seek a friend of Allah. Make Dua for that, and when you go to see him, just ask him one question. Say ‘Hadhrat, I have arrived, and I want to improve myself, so teach me Dhikrullah.’ SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah. Have the correct Niyyah first. We are weak, we are ill, so learn Dhikr; and when you learn Dhikr from the Sheikh and implement his teaching, SubhanAllah, then you will arrive at your destination. And when you arrive, then make effort and work hard with a true and sincere heart, thinking ‘I want to become a good Muslim.’ The Sheikh advises and guides and cures you just like a doctor, so do Dhikr in that manner, alhamdulillah, and put out of your mind once and for all any worries that he will prescribe Dhikr and then tell you to leave the Dunya and your shop and business and home – this is not the case. He doesn’t detach you from the Dunya; the Dunya will be in parallel – you will do everything simultaneously. The affairs of the Dunya don’t stop for a human being – he has to continue living in the Dunya.
When your heart starts to be improved and reformed, you will automatically feel love for Allah’s Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and this will not be a fake love, but rather the real, genuine love of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam will come into your heart. It won’t be about Jalsas and marches and conferences – no. Immediately, the effect and the colour of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam will overcome you. When you start doing this, your Yaqeen will become strong, and then when you hear a Hadith of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, such as the one I am sharing with you, your Iman will rise higher and higher. From just one Amal, from one seemingly small action, your whole life and community and society can be reformed.
How? Hadhrat Ibn Abbas radhiAllahu anh, that great Companion, said ‘I heard this from the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ Look here, what I am telling you is a benefit to the whole society – your issues are being solved here! You don’t need to take interest, you don’t need to beg from people, you don’t need to commit fraud or take away anyone’s rights; just do Amal on this, with belief and Yaqeen, and you will see the result of this. I would like to share an incident with you while I remember – but let me share the Hadith with you first, and then we will come back to that. So Hadhrat Ibn Abbas radhiAllahu anh speaks of a very easy action in this narration. He says ‘Anyone who washes his hands with water before and after eating will never experience poverty and destitution.’ End of story! Such a person will never have societal issues – what a big guarantee. End of story – the door is slammed shut on the issue! Put everything else to one side and leave ideas that you should do this or that; first and foremost, start this action in your family home.
You eat at least three times per day, and probably more than that. Are you eating takeaways outside? Okay, eat, eat – but first wash your hands according to the Sunnah; and do not do it for cleanliness. What should your Niyyah be? Make Niyyah for implementation of the Sunnah; the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam demonstrated this action of washing the hands to us, so have Yaqeen on this and don’t look at any particular benefit, because we should have the conviction that there is not just some particular benefit, but rather that millions of benefits flow from that one Sunnah. We shouldn’t need to be told that there is this reward or that benefit. You will see the benefits yourself. Look at Corona – what stops it spreading? Washing your hands. Yes? Tell me. You listen to their advice – but Corona still comes anyway! So when Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam gives the guarantee, saying ‘If you wash your hands before and after eating, I guarantee that poverty and destitution cannot come to that home.’ Say SubhanAllah.
This is a small-scale deed, but do we do this in our homes? People eat here and there, grabbing at food – why? Because we have no Yaqeen and no belief; we don’t have belief in the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Why not? Because we haven’t gone to a Wali of Allah and we do not have Dhikr in our lives, so we haven’t developed our hearts. If this is the case, where do we think Yaqeen will come from? Direct from the heavens into our hearts? Will it just drop straight in? You have to work hard for Iman, and you don’t get it from speeches. You have to get it from effort – if it came from speeches, then all of us would be doing Amal today due to the speeches we have heard. Brothers, Iman doesn’t come from Taqrirs, from speeches, from marches, or from lectures. Lectures and Bayans give you information – do this or that action from Hadith or Qur’an - but then you have to implement that knowledge. If I tell you to eat something because it is so nice, and I describe the pilau rice or this or that dish, does your stomach get filled by me telling you about it? No; only when you eat will your stomach become filled. In the same way, lectures and Bayans give information about what to do and how to do it, but only when you implement the action will your stomach become full. SubhanAllah.
So what a small-scale deed is mentioned in this Hadith – and we eat every day. We commit fraud and we lie and cheat in order to get money for the food we eat, but do we do Amal on this? I will tell you a story about a pious elder who wrote an account of his own experience. He said ‘I had a debt of three hundred Rupees, and I was so poor that I couldn’t repay it, even though I tried my best in so many ways to repay that debt.’ I am giving you a real-life example to explain the point to you, but if we had Yaqeen, we wouldn’t need examples. So he said ‘I was carrying this debt of three hundred Rupees, and as a result, I was very upset and downcast, and my children were also upset. Years passed while I was stuck in this predicament of this debt not being repaid. I asked from here and there and I held out my hands to beg for assistance’ – although when a Wali of Allah asks, he only asks from Allah. So don’t look around from here or there – that’s it. So he said ‘I was upset and down, and then I came across this Hadith of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and I thought to myself ‘This is amazing! I have not done Amal upon this until today.’ So I put it into practice immediately, and within just a few days, every single penny that I owed had been repaid!’ This was due to his Yaqeen.
Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh, who lived physically with Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam as his Khadim from a young age, narrated ‘I myself heard the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam saying that whoever’ – now just imagine the Khair and Barakah that we are about to get from this statement! Khair and Barakah are an incredible commodity – they are the greatest wealth in the universe. All of the bank accounts of the worlds, and the treasuries of the sultanates and kingdoms and their wealth and the precious jewels they have are all worth nothing if they have no Barakah. I tell you this with Yaqeen. Someone might say ‘Look – he owns big buildings and has so many assets and houses and money,’ but if you were to interview the person who owns all of that and ask him if he is happy, you will find that this is not the case – I am telling you the truth here, my brothers. If you say ‘Brother, you must be happy, for you have got all these assets and money,’ he will say ‘Oh, forget all of that – I can’t sleep at night because I cannot repay my debts! I have scars and wounds inside me, so don’t look at my buildings and my businesses and companies.’
So look at the reality rather than at the buildings and assets, because Barakah is such a precious commodity. Go and ask a person with a simple life, who doesn’t have much wealth or money or businesses or worldly assets, but MashaAllah, he has ten children - go to the house of such a person. I have seen this with my own eyes, where one pot of food is cooked, alhamdulillah, and no one has an empty stomach. I said ‘Hadhrat, what is happening here?’ and he replied ‘Alhamdulillah and Shukr to Allah – this is the Barakah that Allah ta’ala has given to us.’ SubhanAllah – it is not about quantity, but rather about Barakah and Khair, about goodness and blessings.
When Allah gives, we have no need for anything else – but where will that come from? Listen, and I will tell you from Hadith where you can get Khair and Barakah from. Listen to this Hadith. Where can we get Khair and Barakah from? We can get Khair and Barakah from the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam; we can get it from his Tariqah, from his methodology. Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh said that Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated ‘If anyone wants their Khair and Barakah to increase, then do one action.’ What is the action that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam prescribed? ‘Before and after eating, make the Niyyah of Sunnah and wash your hands.’ SubhanAllah – from that one Sunnah, you get the whole of the Dunya and the Akhirah!
Let us make Dua to Allah that Yaqeen and love for the words of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam increases in our hearts, and that we end all drama and pretence, and follow that one way and that one method in whatever matter is before us. {لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬} Whatever you attain will be via the methodology and the Tariqah Mubarakah of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, whether in respect of Salah or Dhikr or whatever. If we do not have this in our lives, then we are in a very great state of loss – we need to implement this.
May Allah ta’ala give us all the Tawfeeq. Ameen
Recite Durood Sharif
In both this Dunya and the Akhirah, Allah subhana wa ta'ala has based all goodness on one action, on one Amal. If we take hold of this action robustly and firmly and make this action part of our lives, then we will be successful in both this world and the Hereafter. And this action is not something that we are unaware of, or are ignorant about; everyone who reads the Qur’an and has Iman is very much aware of this action. But obviously, we are in the era of Fitnah and discord, and shaytan and Nafs have overwhelmed people, and so our connection to this Amal has become very weak in our lives – very much so. The real reason for all the issues and difficulties that we have in life, and the worldly issues that surround us - whichever you want to look at - is this; this is what is behind all of these problems.
And what is that Amal? Allah subhana wa ta'ala has announced clearly in the Qur’an, not just in one place but in many places: {لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬}- SubhanAllah. Is there any greater announcement than this? Your whole Deen and Dunya and environment, home, inside, outside, Ibadaat – everything there is – will be accepted in the Court of Allah when it is in accordance with the Sunnah of the Gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, when we show that we have given our allegiance to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and that we are connected to him. There is nothing you do in this world or the Akhirah but that it is made successful through its connection to the Beloved of Allah, Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We must bring the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam into our lives, and we must understand that whoever is weak in this will fail, while if a person has connection to the Sunnah, he can never fail. Such a person will be successful beyond imagining, in any matter.
Allah ta’ala has announced that in respect of all aspects of the world, you will see only one solution, and if you take that solution and that path, then alhamdulillah, it will solve that problem and predicament that you are facing, whether it is at home, outside, in the shop, in your business, arguments, disputes - whatever and wherever a problem occurs, if you follow the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that issue will be solved. Today, this is the biggest issue in our lives that destroys our Deen and spoils our society and our environment. We think that if we try hard and make a big effort, we can improve our situation in society – and everyone is concerned that his or her quality of life should be good. Obviously, we do have need for money and wealth in this world; there is no doubting that. The Dunya is with us – it is surrounding us. So with this objective, the human being tries hard and makes effort. He exerts himself to the full, trying to get a shop or a business, or to rent a house and to educate his children. To support this, he wants to have good food and enough money, and he wants to have shops running so that he can quickly establish a good life in the world.
I am presenting this as an example to you of the scenarios that surround us, but because we are far from the reality and the solution that Allah ta’ala has given us, we don’t even think about that solution; our mind does not even entertain it. We try according to our own thinking, and through those efforts, we end up doing wrong actions in our attempts to get money. Many gaps open up in our Ibadaat in this way. If a person is asked ‘Why don’t you pray Salah?’ he replies ‘Oh, I am at my shop at that time; I am too busy so I can’t pray. I have to get up early for work in the morning, so I can’t come to Fajr. I have too many things to do to come to Dhuhr.’ We sacrifice great Ibadaat due to such issues in our lives – we give them up.
So brothers, we want to try to improve our issues in society, but the solution is that which Allah and Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam have announced: {لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬}. Imagine - in our lives and in our society, the practice of one Sunnah solves everything. If this is attained through one Sunnah, then what will be the situation if all the other Sunnahs are implemented also? The guarantee is there! Why? Because whose blessed tongue delivered this statement? The tongue of Allah’s Habeeb sallallahu alayhi wasallam uttered these words. It cannot be wrong, alhamdulillah. The sun can rise and set somewhere else, but the words of Allah’s Habeeb sallallahu alayhi wasallam can never be wrong. But we don’t have Yaqeen in this; our conviction in this is very weak, and it is due to this lack of Yaqeen that all these issues surround us. If someone says ‘Practice this Sunnah and leave that other practice,’ we say ‘No, no, no, I can’t do that. That’s too difficult.’ We don’t even have certainty where Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has given an explanation about how to solve a particular predicament. We have no conviction in that and instead, we get scared and start shaking.
What is the Hal of the society around us? It is so simple – so very simple. I am thinking about just one Sunnah here, but the same applies to any Sunnah method. If you put your shoes on in the Sunnah way, or if you sit down to drink water, there is so much Noor and so much Thawab in that – it is beyond your imagination what is in those actions. We cannot imagine the extent of the Thawab for implementing the Sunnah, for following his way with the correct intention. We must always make the Niyyah that we are following these ways because it is the Sunnah, that we are doing whatever action because it is the Sunnah. Definitely have this Niyyah, and then the reward that follows is greater than we can imagine. {قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ} – Allah ta’ala is saying ‘Oh My Blesseed Mehboob, tell the Ummah with your blessed statement. What should I say?’ Allah ta’ala has requested the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam to say with his blessed statement, so that the people can understand.
{قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ} Tell me, is there any Muslim who does not want Allah subhana wa ta'ala to be happy with them? Every Muslim wants this, but here, Allah ta’ala is telling us to aim beyond that, saying ‘I will not just be pleased with you, but rather I will make you My beloved; I will give you the status of Mehboobiat!’ {قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ} – this means that Allah will love that individual. And what factor will activate this condition? {فَٱتَّبِعُونِى} - Allahu Akbar! Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said {فَٱتَّبِعُونِى}, meaning ‘If you do Amal on my Sunnah, Allah will make you His beloved!’ This is the condition. We, however, engage in so many dramas in the hope of becoming Allah’s beloved, mixing lies and truth together. But SubhanAllah, people who are really passionate in their hearts and have the desire that they want Allah to love them and that they want to love Allah, then they have a straightforward and clear path in front of them. Allah has made a massive announcement here, one which is comprehensive, complete and transparent. {قُلۡ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُحِبُّونَ ٱللَّهَ فَٱتَّبِعُونِى } - and then Allah adds { يُحۡبِبۡكُمُ ٱللَّهُ}; after that, Allah ta’ala says ‘If you do Amal on the Sunnah of My Habeeb sallallahu alayhi wasallam, then I will make you My beloved! I Myself will love you, and since you are a human being who lives in the world, if it should happen that you make some mistakes thereafter then {يَغۡفِرۡ لَكُمۡ ذُنُوبَكُمۡۗ }, I will continue to forgive you.’
What a great guarantee – tell me! For what action do you get this? Not for any action other than the practice of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam – for keeping the beard according to his Sunnah, to wear the Imamah as he did, to wear attire as he wore it. But shaytan makes us love other than that; we love those colours and styles – how can I put it – we love the world and all of its colours. Our generation today is proud of those habits, and we are losing a big reward thereby; it is a huge loss for us. We work hard to bring up our children hoping they will become this and that, but we don’t teach them how to attain the real Dunya. We should teach our children from the beginning of their lives how to eat according to the Sunnah, how to lie down according to the Sunnah, how to sit according to the Sunnah – every single aspect of the Sunnah should be taught. There is no part of life which is devoid of a solution from the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam; there is no part of life about which he did not teach us how to practice.
That is the point, because this is the great glory of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. All the other Prophets came, but history has not recorded the detailed features of their lives, whereas we have accounts of even how the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam would toss and turn when he went to sleep, and what he would recite when he did so – Allahu Akbar! Tell me. We know how he would position his body when he lay down, and what great words he would recite from his blessed mouth when he would shift position. Allah ta’ala created a group of people who were the friends of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and they were present when the Qur’an was revealed, and they were the noble Companions, such great individuals that even without pens, books or paper - even without words – the life of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam penetrated their very beings and they scribed the details of his life upon their hearts. Yes!
Due to this, even today, when the Dunya surrounds us, there is not a single aspect of the life of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam which is not visible to us. We have Kitabs and Dar-ul-Ulooms, knowledge, countless books, and hundreds of thousands of Hadiths, as well as Muhadditheen who have memorised so many of them by heart. Allah ta’ala created such individuals, like Imam Shafi’i rahmatullah alayh, who in the forty years of his life reached such a Maqam – SubhanAllah. What Maqam was that? Qala qala Rasoolullah – SubhanAllah! What else was there? He memorised and explained what Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said and how he acted, and that is how he became Imam Shafi’i. How did Imam Abi Hanifa rahmatullah alayh and Imam Malik rahmatullah alayh become who they were? How did Imam Bukhari rahmatullah alayh become who he was? By collecting every action of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and publishing them and distributing them by means of those Kitabs, like Kitab al-Wudhu, Kitab al-Libas; that was his effort.
So all these Uloom have been given to us, but you won’t get the benefit from the Kitabs themselves; the books won’t be asked. And if I decorate my shelves with the volumes of Bukhari and other texts, this will not give me the solution to my issues. That solution only comes from one thing, because the question will be ‘How much did you implement this in your lives? How much did you practice? What Amal did you do on the knowledge that came to you? Did you practice on the knowledge that you had?’
This is the biggest Niyyah that we need to make today, my brothers. The biggest action that we need to do first is to strengthen our Yaqeen. First of all, strengthen your belief and conviction that the words that emanated from the blessed tongue of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam are true; your belief in this must be solid and you must be one hundred percent sure and have no doubts. First strengthen this Yaqeen and this belief, this point of faith. If we don’t have this conviction and certainty, then our Iman is not complete. Our Yaqeen has gone down so much that it has become submerged, and we do not make any effort to change this situation. ‘Allahumma inni as'aluka imanan yubashiru qalbi’ – what a great Dua this is, meaning ‘Oh Allah, I ask of You such an Iman that penetrates my heart. May every word You convey to me become Yaqeenan Sadiqan so that it penetrates my heart.’
Where does Yaqeen reside? In the eyes? In the nose? No! In the heart - faith and certainty reside in the heart. So whenever you see the friends of Allah, those who we call Walis of Allah, you will see that they strengthen their Yaqeen in their hearts. Shaytan inserts Wasawis, so even when you open the Qur’an, you recite ‘A’oodhu bi-llahi min-ash-shaytan ir-Rajim.’ Why? Because when you open the Qur’an, shaytan will insert Wasawasah into your recitation unless you seek Allah’s protection from shaytan first. So it is so important to strengthen our Yaqeen, and our Yaqeen cannot be strengthened until we follow the Tariqah that delivers strong Yaqeen. So what is the method of strengthening Yaqeen? It doesn’t just come into the heart automatically, and this is the biggest thing to remember. Until the Yaqeen in our heart becomes strong, our Iman will not be strong. We have recited ‘La ilaha illa-llah’ but what ‘La ilaha illa-llah’ have we recited? Is it a ‘La ilaha illa-llah’ that we do not even know what we are saying? This will be the case until we cultivate this emotion in our hearts that when we hear a Hadith, we practice immediately.
How do we acquire this condition in our hearts? Only then will we follow the Sunnah. Why are weak in following the Sunnah? Do we have such a great personality in our Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and his statements are in front of us, and yet we don’t do Amal upon them? This is because we have no Yaqeen. I will recite a Hadith for you and let us see how much Amal there is upon this in our families and in our own lives and in our homes. Goodness is in the Sunnah, and that is why we cry. This is what happens in that home in which there is no Sunnah, in which the Tariqah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not present, and it does not matter what other things you do and however many forty-day retreats or recitations you perform. Whoever has no Yaqeen and Iman in the Sunnah, it does not matter what other actions he does. If the Tariqah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not present, then there is nothing in that place - it is empty and hollow. There is no Noor, and however much worship you do, it does not ascend. Our Duas are not accepted, and the colour of our Salah has changed.
Why? Because the Ruh, the soul, of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is not in our Ibadah. We come to pray Salah, but our Libas and appearance is completely different from his Sunnah - we come with an alien appearance and dress-style. Even when we come to pray Jumu’ah this is the case, and you yourselves see that this is happening when you come. Whether inside our homes or outside, this is the situation, and this is because our Yaqeen has dissolved, and we have become habituated to this way of living. Our tongue says one thing, but our heart says another, so we have to work hard and make a big effort to make our hearts strong.
We must develop this strength of heart – so what is the method of developing our hearts? “إِنَّ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ سِقَالَةً ، وَإِنَّ سِقَالَةَ الْقُلُوبِ ذِكْرُ اللَّهِ” – SubhanAllah. There is a polish for everything, and if you want to polish your heart, there is only one cleaning agent, and that is Dhikrullah, the remembrance of Allah. So Dhikrullah is not a minor action; it is not insignificant. Allah has reserved a great reward for the people who do Dhikr, a very great reward indeed. But because Yaqeen is not present, the Masjid is empty; if Yaqeen was strong, then this Masjid would be full. Yes? We should have conviction in the great reward for doing Dhikrullah, because the nature of this great reward is that it develops the heart; and if the heart is developed, then you attain Yaqeen in the whole Qur’an and you start to implement the whole of the Sunnah. That is why Allah ta’ala says that it is a very valuable medicine – this medicine is incredibly valuable.
Take the example of Coronavirus. If the vaccination costs two thousand pounds, it is expensive because this medicine resolves a dangerous disease. The more severe the disease, the more expensive is the medicine, because it solves that problem; where the problem is greater, the value of the cure increases. So why has Allah ta’ala elevated the value of Dhikrullah? Because it cures a person immensely – it makes him a Muslim! He becomes a Muslim, and he has love for the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and he starts to practice the Sunnah; and thus his life is reformed and improved. And that is why there is a great reward – listen to how great the reward for Dhikr is. The Muhadditheen have explained the title and rank and glory and the high status of the Dhakireen. The reward is such that when a person hears about it, he says ‘Is this their status and glory?’ Say SubhanAllah.
So when you sit to do Dhikr, then praise Allah! What is the reward for Dhikrullah? The Holy Prophet himself sallallahu alayhi wasallam made a blessed statement explaining it. He said ‘After Fajr, until the sun rises up’ – which is a short time – ‘if someone spends this time sitting with those who do Dhikr of Allah, I really like this action.’ SubhanAllah. We look around here and there, searching and seeking the way to become an Ashiq of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam – come to the Tariqah that the gracious Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has prescribed for us. But we say ‘No, no, no!’ because we enjoy other things, like this Jalsa or that conference. Everyone has their own way and method. Someone says ‘Oh it’s so simple and easy – just recite Nasheeds and you will become an Ashiq. Whoever recites a Nasheed becomes an Ashiq.’ If you listen to a real reciter, an Ashiq-e-Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, delivering his Naat, then your heart will become an Ashiq as well – SubhanAllah. Yes? That is how great an action it is to recite a Naat or Nasheed, because it is praising the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. It is a great action, a very significant action, but we don’t develop our hearts.
Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam is stating such a great point when he says ‘Those people who remain seated after Fajr and engage in Dhikr until sunrise give me immense pleasure. I very much like to sit with them. This is a favourite action of mine and so those people are beloved to me and I like sitting with them.’ Tell me – what a reward for those who Dhikr in the morning! So why don’t we do Amal upon this? Because we don’t have Yaqeen in this. Anyone who had Yaqeen that they would become beloved to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam by sitting in Dhikrullah in this way would definitely do so.
So why not? Do we not do Dhikr here? Allah ta’ala will say ‘Did I not initiate Dhikr in the Masjid? Did some people not sit down and do this action?’ It is not that it doesn’t happen, but we don’t want it. We just want automatic results, and we say ‘Give me a Tasbeeh and a Wazifah that I can do which will give me success. Give me something to recite by which I will be granted a vision of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in a dream.’ We all have this desire. People say ‘Oh, I am going to Pir Sahib to get him to blow on me because I feel like I should do Ziyarah in a dream now that I am advanced in years.’ SubhanAllah – perform the methods that have been prescribed, and Ziyarah will come to you; it will come. Just accept the invitation of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and when you wake up in the morning, say ‘Oh Prophet of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, this is your blessed statement and prescription, for you have said that you like that action and those people who sit in that Majlis which I am going to. You have said that you like sitting there with them and that you like the company of those people so much and the action that they do.’
Look at the glory of the title that the Muhadditheen have given the Dhakireen – what elevation and status they attain, in that the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam himself liked to sit with them. Tell me! So do we sit? No. We don’t sit – we will never sit. This is such a great action, so implement this, even if just a little bit. Come in the morning, pray Fajr Salah, then sit down and do Dhikrullah until sunrise, and then go. One reward has been mentioned, but there are many rewards for this Amal, so many rewards. This action will develop your heart!
I will explain another Hadith to you – a Hadith Qudsi, I think – which is also about Dhikrullah, in order that we realise and think to ourselves ‘Why do I not do Amal on this action?’ Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that Allah ta’ala has stated ‘On the Day of Resurrection, people will realise who those who deserve ‘Izzat, respect and honour, really are. Who are those people? Those poor souls were hidden, but today I will make it apparent who they are – I will make them visible and show who truly had high status and was worthy of respect in the world.’ We cannot imagine, and we think ‘Oh, he is a big shot – he is a big man with a high status,’ but Allah says ‘No – I will tell you today. Listen – I will show you who those people are.’ The noble Companions were amazed, and they said ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, please tell us who those honourable people are, so that we realise to whom Allah ta’ala will give this honour on the Day of Resurrection when Allah ta’ala removes the veil and shows which men and women are the most Mu’izzat, the most worthy of respect, the most honourable.’
This Dunya and everything in it seems to be on one level of equivalence, but when you read Qur’an and Hadith, that is when you see the differentiation – so make Qur’an and Hadith the basis of your life. We think that they are backward and extreme, and we have no respect for them in our hearts, but Allah is saying ‘I will tell you today; I will remove the veil so that your eyes can open, and you realise. So Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam was asked by the noble Companions ‘Ya Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, who are those people about whom Allah will speak on the Day of Resurrection in front of everyone and announce their greatness?’ Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam replied ‘Shall I tell you who those people are?’ They said ‘Please – tell us.’ Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘They are those people who sit in the Masjid and gather and assemble to make a gathering of Allah’s Dhikr.’ Is this not happening here? But we don’t have Yaqeen. We have no certainty or belief in these words.
What a great Hadith I am sharing with you here! If you had conviction and Yaqeen in this, you would see yourself ascending from level to level. So Allah ta’ala has reserved this reward for Dhikr so that when we do Dhikr, our heart will be developed, and when the heart is made, then you will practice the Qur’an and follow the Sunnah; you will have such Yaqeen and love for the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that you will think ‘I need to practice this’ – and thus the drama of life will end. So we need to generate and develop this Yaqeen by doing abundant Dhikr of Allah. We should learn Dhikr and do Dhikr, and through this, the emotions of the heart will change. Without Dhikr, you cannot improve the heart. But once the heart improves and develops, the sign of this is that the human being will immediately start following the Sunnah of the blessed Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. You won’t need to tell him or remind him.
This is the first love, and when a person’s heart starts to develop, the sign of that development and reformation is not miracles and Karamaat; rather, the Walis of Allah have confirmed that the first sign of the heart being developed is that the person will immediately start exhibiting immense love for the blessed Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. You won’t need to tell him, and he won’t be afraid or shaking with fear; he won’t be worried about the environment or country or region, and he will submit and implement the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Women without Purdah will start to observe Purdah, men without beards will grow their beards, those who sin will turn their backs on those sins, those who dress strangely will change their attire – and they will do so openly, saying ‘I am not frightened because I have love in my heart, alhamdulillah.’ Whoever has love in their heart does not hesitate to break the barriers.
But if you keep on trying to act according to this or that logic, and asking people to tell your children, remember that there is no need to ask anyone. If you want your daughter and your son and your wife and yourself to follow the Sunnah of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, then the first action is this: go to a Wali of Allah, knock on his door, and learn the Dhikr of Allah. This is the first step. Allah has prepared this for you because this system will always continue to operate. In every place and region and Maqam, Allah ta’ala has seated His Wali – remember this; and that person will not have horns on his head. Allah ta’ala will seat him, and he won’t have horns on his head or be displaying some miracles. He will be normal, but he will have one distinguishing feature for you to be able to recognise him, which is that the Sunnat-e-Rasoolillah will be evident in that person’s life, in the life of that Wali of Allah.
Hadhrat Aisha Siddiqua radhiAllahu anha explained this in a Hadith. She asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam ‘How do we know who a Wali of Allah is and who is close to Allah and who is not?’ I am explaining the meaning of the Hadith to you here. This is a great question that has come to us from that generation. We say ‘He’s a Wali, he’s does this, he does that, he’s a friend of Allah, he’s this, he has arrived, he has attained’ – thousands of points and qualities are held up as evidence. But no – Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam said ‘The Wali of Allah, Allah’s Habeeb, has one distinguishing feature. What is that? He will be obedient to the Sunnah and will imitate and practice the Sunnah.’ Alhamdulillah, in his eating and drinking, in his standing and walking, in his journeying and travelling – in everything. He will only have Mureeds and colleagues attached to him who agree to this lifestyle. Nobody else will be able to travel with him on that journey of life; the hearts of others will tremble and shake at the thought of that life. But those who are true, honest and sincere will say ‘We need the path, and we want to reach Allah, to go to Allah, to love Allah, and we don’t want to waste our time, and we want to correct our Salah and fully implement the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ Whoever has this desire in his heart will get Sukoon in his heart when he arrives in the company of that Wali of Allah; he will find contentment and peace.
This is the system; there is a system for everything, and if you don’t follow that system, Deen will not come into your life. People say ‘Oh, let’s do that and Deen will come; let’s do this and success will come.’ No – there is a system that Allah has set up. First and foremost, correct your heart, because the heart is the place where shaytan and Nafs get together. So what is the first thing that we need to do to become a good Muslim? We need to reform and develop the heart, to correct and realign the heart, to cleanse and improve the heart, so that our Iman can become strong. That is the first action in life. Do you understand what I am saying? The first step is to strengthen the heart according to the formula of the Qur’an and Hadith is what? It is to do Dhikrullah. Follow the system, step by step.
Why am I telling you this? Because this humble, simple servant who is sitting in front of you improved and changed his life by means of this method. I am giving you a practical example, not one that has come from the pages of Kitabs; I am giving you an Amali example. Follow the system step by step. If a person like me who is not capable can come onto the Deen in this way, then pious people like you will start floating in the air! So first and foremost, you have to correct the heart. That is the first lesson. So how does a person correct his heart? Obviously, you have to go to the doctor, and he will reform the diseased heart. You need a spiritual doctor. Yes? People say ‘Oh, there is no Wali of Allah’ – but how can that be? Wherever you go in the world there is water, and wherever you go there is bread, and wherever you go there is meat. Tell me – is there any country in the world where you cannot get these resources? Allah has prepared the earth so that it grows vegetables and wheat for you. Wherever you go, there is earth, so there is wheat and rice and edible plants. You can find everything wherever you go in the world, because Allah has prepared it. Now Deen is higher and more important than Dunya, so do you think that when Allah has prepared physical food for you wherever you go, He will not prepare what you need in respect of Deen also? Even before you get there, Allah will seat His Wali there. SubhanAllah – Allah will seat His friend so that you find him when you arrive. Allah is saying ‘Come to My Wali and rectify yourself!’
So first and foremost, seek a friend of Allah. Make Dua for that, and when you go to see him, just ask him one question. Say ‘Hadhrat, I have arrived, and I want to improve myself, so teach me Dhikrullah.’ SubhanAllah – say SubhanAllah. Have the correct Niyyah first. We are weak, we are ill, so learn Dhikr; and when you learn Dhikr from the Sheikh and implement his teaching, SubhanAllah, then you will arrive at your destination. And when you arrive, then make effort and work hard with a true and sincere heart, thinking ‘I want to become a good Muslim.’ The Sheikh advises and guides and cures you just like a doctor, so do Dhikr in that manner, alhamdulillah, and put out of your mind once and for all any worries that he will prescribe Dhikr and then tell you to leave the Dunya and your shop and business and home – this is not the case. He doesn’t detach you from the Dunya; the Dunya will be in parallel – you will do everything simultaneously. The affairs of the Dunya don’t stop for a human being – he has to continue living in the Dunya.
When your heart starts to be improved and reformed, you will automatically feel love for Allah’s Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and this will not be a fake love, but rather the real, genuine love of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam will come into your heart. It won’t be about Jalsas and marches and conferences – no. Immediately, the effect and the colour of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam will overcome you. When you start doing this, your Yaqeen will become strong, and then when you hear a Hadith of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, such as the one I am sharing with you, your Iman will rise higher and higher. From just one Amal, from one seemingly small action, your whole life and community and society can be reformed.
How? Hadhrat Ibn Abbas radhiAllahu anh, that great Companion, said ‘I heard this from the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’ Look here, what I am telling you is a benefit to the whole society – your issues are being solved here! You don’t need to take interest, you don’t need to beg from people, you don’t need to commit fraud or take away anyone’s rights; just do Amal on this, with belief and Yaqeen, and you will see the result of this. I would like to share an incident with you while I remember – but let me share the Hadith with you first, and then we will come back to that. So Hadhrat Ibn Abbas radhiAllahu anh speaks of a very easy action in this narration. He says ‘Anyone who washes his hands with water before and after eating will never experience poverty and destitution.’ End of story! Such a person will never have societal issues – what a big guarantee. End of story – the door is slammed shut on the issue! Put everything else to one side and leave ideas that you should do this or that; first and foremost, start this action in your family home.
You eat at least three times per day, and probably more than that. Are you eating takeaways outside? Okay, eat, eat – but first wash your hands according to the Sunnah; and do not do it for cleanliness. What should your Niyyah be? Make Niyyah for implementation of the Sunnah; the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam demonstrated this action of washing the hands to us, so have Yaqeen on this and don’t look at any particular benefit, because we should have the conviction that there is not just some particular benefit, but rather that millions of benefits flow from that one Sunnah. We shouldn’t need to be told that there is this reward or that benefit. You will see the benefits yourself. Look at Corona – what stops it spreading? Washing your hands. Yes? Tell me. You listen to their advice – but Corona still comes anyway! So when Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam gives the guarantee, saying ‘If you wash your hands before and after eating, I guarantee that poverty and destitution cannot come to that home.’ Say SubhanAllah.
This is a small-scale deed, but do we do this in our homes? People eat here and there, grabbing at food – why? Because we have no Yaqeen and no belief; we don’t have belief in the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Why not? Because we haven’t gone to a Wali of Allah and we do not have Dhikr in our lives, so we haven’t developed our hearts. If this is the case, where do we think Yaqeen will come from? Direct from the heavens into our hearts? Will it just drop straight in? You have to work hard for Iman, and you don’t get it from speeches. You have to get it from effort – if it came from speeches, then all of us would be doing Amal today due to the speeches we have heard. Brothers, Iman doesn’t come from Taqrirs, from speeches, from marches, or from lectures. Lectures and Bayans give you information – do this or that action from Hadith or Qur’an - but then you have to implement that knowledge. If I tell you to eat something because it is so nice, and I describe the pilau rice or this or that dish, does your stomach get filled by me telling you about it? No; only when you eat will your stomach become filled. In the same way, lectures and Bayans give information about what to do and how to do it, but only when you implement the action will your stomach become full. SubhanAllah.
So what a small-scale deed is mentioned in this Hadith – and we eat every day. We commit fraud and we lie and cheat in order to get money for the food we eat, but do we do Amal on this? I will tell you a story about a pious elder who wrote an account of his own experience. He said ‘I had a debt of three hundred Rupees, and I was so poor that I couldn’t repay it, even though I tried my best in so many ways to repay that debt.’ I am giving you a real-life example to explain the point to you, but if we had Yaqeen, we wouldn’t need examples. So he said ‘I was carrying this debt of three hundred Rupees, and as a result, I was very upset and downcast, and my children were also upset. Years passed while I was stuck in this predicament of this debt not being repaid. I asked from here and there and I held out my hands to beg for assistance’ – although when a Wali of Allah asks, he only asks from Allah. So don’t look around from here or there – that’s it. So he said ‘I was upset and down, and then I came across this Hadith of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and I thought to myself ‘This is amazing! I have not done Amal upon this until today.’ So I put it into practice immediately, and within just a few days, every single penny that I owed had been repaid!’ This was due to his Yaqeen.
Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh, who lived physically with Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam as his Khadim from a young age, narrated ‘I myself heard the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam saying that whoever’ – now just imagine the Khair and Barakah that we are about to get from this statement! Khair and Barakah are an incredible commodity – they are the greatest wealth in the universe. All of the bank accounts of the worlds, and the treasuries of the sultanates and kingdoms and their wealth and the precious jewels they have are all worth nothing if they have no Barakah. I tell you this with Yaqeen. Someone might say ‘Look – he owns big buildings and has so many assets and houses and money,’ but if you were to interview the person who owns all of that and ask him if he is happy, you will find that this is not the case – I am telling you the truth here, my brothers. If you say ‘Brother, you must be happy, for you have got all these assets and money,’ he will say ‘Oh, forget all of that – I can’t sleep at night because I cannot repay my debts! I have scars and wounds inside me, so don’t look at my buildings and my businesses and companies.’
So look at the reality rather than at the buildings and assets, because Barakah is such a precious commodity. Go and ask a person with a simple life, who doesn’t have much wealth or money or businesses or worldly assets, but MashaAllah, he has ten children - go to the house of such a person. I have seen this with my own eyes, where one pot of food is cooked, alhamdulillah, and no one has an empty stomach. I said ‘Hadhrat, what is happening here?’ and he replied ‘Alhamdulillah and Shukr to Allah – this is the Barakah that Allah ta’ala has given to us.’ SubhanAllah – it is not about quantity, but rather about Barakah and Khair, about goodness and blessings.
When Allah gives, we have no need for anything else – but where will that come from? Listen, and I will tell you from Hadith where you can get Khair and Barakah from. Listen to this Hadith. Where can we get Khair and Barakah from? We can get Khair and Barakah from the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam; we can get it from his Tariqah, from his methodology. Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh said that Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated ‘If anyone wants their Khair and Barakah to increase, then do one action.’ What is the action that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam prescribed? ‘Before and after eating, make the Niyyah of Sunnah and wash your hands.’ SubhanAllah – from that one Sunnah, you get the whole of the Dunya and the Akhirah!
Let us make Dua to Allah that Yaqeen and love for the words of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam increases in our hearts, and that we end all drama and pretence, and follow that one way and that one method in whatever matter is before us. {لَّقَدۡ كَانَ لَكُمۡ فِى رَسُولِ ٱللَّهِ أُسۡوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ۬} Whatever you attain will be via the methodology and the Tariqah Mubarakah of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, whether in respect of Salah or Dhikr or whatever. If we do not have this in our lives, then we are in a very great state of loss – we need to implement this.
May Allah ta’ala give us all the Tawfeeq. Ameen
Recite Durood Sharif