If a person travels on the right path, he will definitely attain his destination. Nabi ﷺ mentioned that there are many pathways and only one path is correct and the rest are wrong. This is the time of fitna which we are living in. In a Hadith, Hadhrat Hudayfah رضي الله عنه mentioned that there are seventy signs of the era of Dajjaal and all those signs are currently visible.
A person will think he is on the right path, he will have the Quran in his hand and the mark of prayer on his forehead, but he will not be upon the correct path. Every sect will consider his path to be correct.
A person who is upon the right path will face obstacles in life just like a traveller who faces hardship in reaching his destination. We shouldn’t be relaxed on our journey of life. Rather, we should be attentive and alert always.
The objective of Ramadan is to save us from the wrong path and help us tread the right path. There is only one straight path which we seek from Allah ta'ala in every prayer. This is how important it is to avoid going off track and becoming deviated. We should always seek the straight path from Allah ta'ala especially in times of fitna, as it is difficult for a person to attain it himself.
What has been defined as the straight path?
The straight path is the path of Taqwa. Only the Muttaqi are upon the straight path and the rest are upon the wrong path.
The sole reason for fasting, is to fulfil this objective and come upon the straight path.
What is Taqwa?
The Muttaqi is the one who battles against his base desires. This is a big duty and the Prophet ﷺ classed this action as the higher struggle. A person may overcome worldly clashes, physical fight and opposition from enemies, but to fight the nafs and break the idol of his desires, is the biggest achievement. A person is not considered a solid believer until he opposes his nafs.
Hadhrat Sulayman علیه السلام said, "To overtake this kingdom is easy, but when a person overcomes his nafs and is victorious over his desires, he is the sole person who can take over the world."
He becomes so powerful that no one in the world can challenge him or make him fail. Such a believer becomes capable of Paradise and is worthy of reward for his worship as he has forsaken his desires.
Nowadays, we follow and obey our desires. We practice the deen and make things haraam and halal according to our own desires. Our heart doesn't enjoy engaging in acts of worship, so we abandon worship and give in to our desires.
We should learn to replace the feeling of our heart with the instructions of Allah ta'ala. We are servants of His order, so we cannot make our own decisions as he has made His commands incumbent upon us.
Allah ta'ala has issued our entire life's timetable and schedule. We should not follow this schedule according to our own desires. We are required to crush our own desires in this world and then in Paradise, we will have our own desires fulfilled and everything will run according to our desires.
This world is a constricted prison cell which we are living in. Allah ta'ala demonstrated this world with an example of jail. A prisoner is not free to do as he pleases. He must follow the orders and he eats whatever is given to him. Similarly, we should also consider this world as a prison cell with restrictions. This is when a person becomes a Muttaqi.
The main target of Ramadan is to crush our desires and submit to Allah ta'ala. When a person travels towards his target, then Allah ta'ala increases the reward for all his acts of worship which he performs alongside. This is only for a person who strives to meet his target.
We fail to travel towards our objective and we run towards attaining rewards via worship. In reality, a person is given the rewards when he is travelling upon the straight path.
In Ramadan, a person make a conscious effort to travel upon the path of Taqwa which is why he is given success through his deeds alongside. Those who don't travel upon the path of Taqwa alongside their deeds, will not attain success.
We should assess whether our desires are correct according to Shariah. Thereafter, we should decide to act according to the response we receive. If it goes against Shariah, we should avoid it no matter how much loss we face. We should do this out of our love for Allah ta'ala. Such observers are solid and true Muslims.
Suppressing our desires is a lifelong job as the battle with the desires never finishes. A sinner should never be afraid of this journey. He should begin with selecting small actions to perform. This is why Allah ta'ala selected His Mercy for the first ten days, in order to assist us. This is why we see sinners begin to fast. Thereafter, they become capable and qualities are developed within them. During the second portion of Ramadan which is forgiveness, the sinner recognises his sins and begins repenting. The desire of wanting to change begins to arise within him. Allah ta'ala slowly assists him in this way as he begins to follow Allah ta'ala's orders one by one.
When a person begins travelling via Allah ta'ala's invitation, then this path spreads out and Allah ta'ala draws him in. Thereafter, his actions change and he performs those actions which earn him forgiveness. Then, he seeks Allah ta'ala's assistance to become better. Then, Allah ta'ala takes him to the third portion of Ramadan where he is forgiven and freed from Hellfire
When a person comes walking to Allah ta'ala, Allah ta'ala comes running to him. This is the objective of the three thirds of Ramadan. Allah ta'ala wants us to make small effort to deliver us to the stage of forgiveness. The same person who was sinful, is now given this status and is successful.
This is Allah ta'ala's system and we must follow this procedure and work hard if we want to become a Muttaqi. We should initiate the battle with our nafs and then leave the rest to Allah ta'ala. During these ten days, we should challenge and oppose our desires verbally instead of embracing our desires and giving in to them.
First, we must accept that we are a slave of our desires and we need to free ourselves in order to become successful in the Hereafter. We should make this concept solid.
There is a lot of wisdom behind the sheets system. The result of our prayers and Quran is visible within our sin sheet. The acts of worship are merely deeds, but, the sins define our level of Taqwa. In reality, the effect of our deeds are determined by our sin sheet.
A person can pray and recite Quran, but he may be deficient of Taqwa. This means that he needs to work harder to remove his sins. This is the real outcome that we must attain from our worship. Thereafter, the Sheikh makes the student work harder so that his sins are eliminated.
Worship is beneficial for us, but we should also assess how much we have detached ourselves form sin. If our worship has not detached us from our sins and eliminated the dirt within, then it means that our worship and dhikr is still weak as we haven't received the positive effects of our worship. If we are still sinning, then we are lacking in something and we are a hypocrite.
The person who fills his sheets in constantly, is fighting with his nafs and performing Mujaahadah. It doesn't matter if his sheets are not perfect, however, as long as he is working hard, he will be successful.
In the Hereafter, your worship will not save you if you have committed sins. If you're a Muttaqi, you'll be safe from sin, because with Taqwa, your worship will become pure and accepted. Your prayers will be free from ostentation, you will be free from sins like usury.
Whoever creates an intention in Ramadan to tread the path of Taqwa and save himself from sin and disobedience to Allah ta'ala and he strives on this path, then he has began travelling the path of Taqwa. Furthermore, when a person begins travelling, then consider that he has arrived to his destination. This is an easy formula that Allah ta'ala has given to us.
If you make an intention to work hard in Ramadan, then you will pass the rest of the year as a Muttaqi and die as a Muttaqi. Thus, making an intention and taking the first step is very valuable to Allah ta'ala.
We shouldn’t fear because Allah ta'ala will take us to the heights if we start working hard.
We must start our journey by intending to abstain from Haraam and Allah ta'ala's mercy will enshroud us. We must promise to weigh all our affairs according to Shariah and the laws of Allah ta'ala. In this way, we have already become a Muttaqi. If we commit a sin, we should approach our teacher and Allah ta'ala will assist us. If a person dies whilst he struggles with himself in such a way, he will be raised as a Muttaqi. This is the Sunnah of Allah ta'ala.
If a person travels on the right path, he will definitely attain his destination. Nabi ﷺ mentioned that there are many pathways and only one path is correct and the rest are wrong. This is the time of fitna which we are living in. In a Hadith, Hadhrat Hudayfah رضي الله عنه mentioned that there are seventy signs of the era of Dajjaal and all those signs are currently visible.
A person will think he is on the right path, he will have the Quran in his hand and the mark of prayer on his forehead, but he will not be upon the correct path. Every sect will consider his path to be correct.
A person who is upon the right path will face obstacles in life just like a traveller who faces hardship in reaching his destination. We shouldn’t be relaxed on our journey of life. Rather, we should be attentive and alert always.
The objective of Ramadan is to save us from the wrong path and help us tread the right path. There is only one straight path which we seek from Allah ta'ala in every prayer. This is how important it is to avoid going off track and becoming deviated. We should always seek the straight path from Allah ta'ala especially in times of fitna, as it is difficult for a person to attain it himself.
What has been defined as the straight path?
The straight path is the path of Taqwa. Only the Muttaqi are upon the straight path and the rest are upon the wrong path.
The sole reason for fasting, is to fulfil this objective and come upon the straight path.
What is Taqwa?
The Muttaqi is the one who battles against his base desires. This is a big duty and the Prophet ﷺ classed this action as the higher struggle. A person may overcome worldly clashes, physical fight and opposition from enemies, but to fight the nafs and break the idol of his desires, is the biggest achievement. A person is not considered a solid believer until he opposes his nafs.
Hadhrat Sulayman علیه السلام said, "To overtake this kingdom is easy, but when a person overcomes his nafs and is victorious over his desires, he is the sole person who can take over the world."
He becomes so powerful that no one in the world can challenge him or make him fail. Such a believer becomes capable of Paradise and is worthy of reward for his worship as he has forsaken his desires.
Nowadays, we follow and obey our desires. We practice the deen and make things haraam and halal according to our own desires. Our heart doesn't enjoy engaging in acts of worship, so we abandon worship and give in to our desires.
We should learn to replace the feeling of our heart with the instructions of Allah ta'ala. We are servants of His order, so we cannot make our own decisions as he has made His commands incumbent upon us.
Allah ta'ala has issued our entire life's timetable and schedule. We should not follow this schedule according to our own desires. We are required to crush our own desires in this world and then in Paradise, we will have our own desires fulfilled and everything will run according to our desires.
This world is a constricted prison cell which we are living in. Allah ta'ala demonstrated this world with an example of jail. A prisoner is not free to do as he pleases. He must follow the orders and he eats whatever is given to him. Similarly, we should also consider this world as a prison cell with restrictions. This is when a person becomes a Muttaqi.
The main target of Ramadan is to crush our desires and submit to Allah ta'ala. When a person travels towards his target, then Allah ta'ala increases the reward for all his acts of worship which he performs alongside. This is only for a person who strives to meet his target.
We fail to travel towards our objective and we run towards attaining rewards via worship. In reality, a person is given the rewards when he is travelling upon the straight path.
In Ramadan, a person make a conscious effort to travel upon the path of Taqwa which is why he is given success through his deeds alongside. Those who don't travel upon the path of Taqwa alongside their deeds, will not attain success.
We should assess whether our desires are correct according to Shariah. Thereafter, we should decide to act according to the response we receive. If it goes against Shariah, we should avoid it no matter how much loss we face. We should do this out of our love for Allah ta'ala. Such observers are solid and true Muslims.
Suppressing our desires is a lifelong job as the battle with the desires never finishes. A sinner should never be afraid of this journey. He should begin with selecting small actions to perform. This is why Allah ta'ala selected His Mercy for the first ten days, in order to assist us. This is why we see sinners begin to fast. Thereafter, they become capable and qualities are developed within them. During the second portion of Ramadan which is forgiveness, the sinner recognises his sins and begins repenting. The desire of wanting to change begins to arise within him. Allah ta'ala slowly assists him in this way as he begins to follow Allah ta'ala's orders one by one.
When a person begins travelling via Allah ta'ala's invitation, then this path spreads out and Allah ta'ala draws him in. Thereafter, his actions change and he performs those actions which earn him forgiveness. Then, he seeks Allah ta'ala's assistance to become better. Then, Allah ta'ala takes him to the third portion of Ramadan where he is forgiven and freed from Hellfire
When a person comes walking to Allah ta'ala, Allah ta'ala comes running to him. This is the objective of the three thirds of Ramadan. Allah ta'ala wants us to make small effort to deliver us to the stage of forgiveness. The same person who was sinful, is now given this status and is successful.
This is Allah ta'ala's system and we must follow this procedure and work hard if we want to become a Muttaqi. We should initiate the battle with our nafs and then leave the rest to Allah ta'ala. During these ten days, we should challenge and oppose our desires verbally instead of embracing our desires and giving in to them.
First, we must accept that we are a slave of our desires and we need to free ourselves in order to become successful in the Hereafter. We should make this concept solid.
There is a lot of wisdom behind the sheets system. The result of our prayers and Quran is visible within our sin sheet. The acts of worship are merely deeds, but, the sins define our level of Taqwa. In reality, the effect of our deeds are determined by our sin sheet.
A person can pray and recite Quran, but he may be deficient of Taqwa. This means that he needs to work harder to remove his sins. This is the real outcome that we must attain from our worship. Thereafter, the Sheikh makes the student work harder so that his sins are eliminated.
Worship is beneficial for us, but we should also assess how much we have detached ourselves form sin. If our worship has not detached us from our sins and eliminated the dirt within, then it means that our worship and dhikr is still weak as we haven't received the positive effects of our worship. If we are still sinning, then we are lacking in something and we are a hypocrite.
The person who fills his sheets in constantly, is fighting with his nafs and performing Mujaahadah. It doesn't matter if his sheets are not perfect, however, as long as he is working hard, he will be successful.
In the Hereafter, your worship will not save you if you have committed sins. If you're a Muttaqi, you'll be safe from sin, because with Taqwa, your worship will become pure and accepted. Your prayers will be free from ostentation, you will be free from sins like usury.
Whoever creates an intention in Ramadan to tread the path of Taqwa and save himself from sin and disobedience to Allah ta'ala and he strives on this path, then he has began travelling the path of Taqwa. Furthermore, when a person begins travelling, then consider that he has arrived to his destination. This is an easy formula that Allah ta'ala has given to us.
If you make an intention to work hard in Ramadan, then you will pass the rest of the year as a Muttaqi and die as a Muttaqi. Thus, making an intention and taking the first step is very valuable to Allah ta'ala.
We shouldn’t fear because Allah ta'ala will take us to the heights if we start working hard.
We must start our journey by intending to abstain from Haraam and Allah ta'ala's mercy will enshroud us. We must promise to weigh all our affairs according to Shariah and the laws of Allah ta'ala. In this way, we have already become a Muttaqi. If we commit a sin, we should approach our teacher and Allah ta'ala will assist us. If a person dies whilst he struggles with himself in such a way, he will be raised as a Muttaqi. This is the Sunnah of Allah ta'ala.
May Allah ta'ala allow us to implement. Ameen