DARS 5
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has made a beautiful arrangement for the human being to understand reality - and between us and reality, we always have a veil in front of us. Allah ta'ala has made a beautiful arrangement, so that a person who has wisdom and understanding should really be able to see the consequence of something. For example, day and night: Allah ta'ala has given such signs to us during these two times - one is sleep, and the other is staying awake. Allah ta'ala has developed such a system, via these two phases, that a human being can always compare where he is to where he should be. A person wakes up, and he sees real things in front of him, real things. He sees real human beings, he sees real occurences, events and incidents, people living - everything is real. It is happening, it is live. And after some hours, when that individual sleeps, then that reality disappears, and everything turns to dreams - sleeping, in other words.
So there is a difference in these two phases. When a person sleeps, it is a dream. He is not awake, and the dream is what? It is not reality, it is not real. What is real is what he was watching and seeing and observing during the day. So he then sleeps through the dream world and its illusions, and he sees scenes in the life of dreams, and it is different from the life that he lives during the day. What a great, great reality! But this is a sign for those who have wisdom and understanding, for those who have concern. And then, after the night passes, when the eyes of that individual open in the morning, then that world of dreams and the unreality of those dreams disappears, and he comes back to life during the day time. So this is the fluctuation of the phases.
Now one thing is essential, for every human being, whatever he believes, whatever cult or sect: everybody believes that death is truth. Nobody can reject - nobody is able to reject. So the next point - alhamdulillah, only those with Iman know what the reality of this. Those who believe in Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam know the next reality, but those who don't have that, cannot have this awareness and knowledge. So this is the practical experience - sleeping, waking up; sleeping, waking up - this is a big practice! And what is this practice for? What does this life of ours become? It becomes a dream, the actual physical life. And Mawt, death, that then becomes the reality, the real life. So first of all, here, we sleep, then we wake up and think that is reality; but when a person dies, then the physical life on planet earth seems to him to have been a dream. Everything disappears, everyone has gone, relationships have ended, and daily matters and affairs end. Then he goes to the real world, the real life, the proper realm, the permanant abode - the Hereafter, the life after death. And this is why Allah ta'ala, in the whole Qur'an, and in many of the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, has said, in regards to this afterlife, 'Have concern for this; it's going to come - prepare for this.'
A great statement of Hadhrat Ali KaramAllahu wajh radhiAllahu anh is that 'Dunya, this world, is turning its back on you, and the reality is coming in front of you.' So what should we do? That world is turning its back on you, leaving you, so we should get ready and prepare for that thing that is to come. Don't be amongst those people who are running after that which is leaving you, which is turning its back on you. Today, the action is not for thinking about yesterday; it is the day that is to come that is useful. Hadhrat Ali KaramAllahu wajh radhiAllahu anh said this. So the real thing that we should be looking at is the thing that is about to come - death. We need to prepare for the the thing that will come tomorrow. Don't run after the day that has passed. Like, for example, after a dream, we wake up and it's morning and real life, but once we pass away, the life in this world will become a dream. So a person puts a veil, a barrier, between himself and reality, and this is the difference between life in the grave and the hereafter, and life here.
The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated, with regards to the reality of the phase of death and the grave, that, with regards to the grave, ' I have not seen anything more severe than the grave. I have seen places, different stages, but I have not seen anything more severe than the period in the grave, than the punishments of the grave.' Why? Because if a person is successful in the grave, like Hadhrat Uthman radhiAllahu anh stated, that here, in the grave, the questioning will occur; here, he will be questioned. And this is the first phase; if he attains success, and gives the right responses to the angels, then he will surpass all of the phases to come after that; he will pass them, he will be successful, SubhanAllah.
We see the events after death of various people that have died - they have explained, that 'We went into the grave, and we were questioned!' - I am talking about people who I know, close friends and relatives I am speaking about; they were pious people, good people, from my relatives. And they gave a message of reassurance from the grave that 'It was a severe time, the questoning, but I gave a reponse.' Alhamdulillah, he said 'The severity came, but after that, I gave the answer to the questions, and through Allah's Fadhl and Grace, I became successful.' SubhanAllah. So the most difficult time is that time in the grave. And the reason for this is that the human being will be questioned there with regards to Aqaid, our beliefs, and our Amal and our practise - the proper questions will be asked, because a person's progression is based on his belief and his practise. Were our beliefs and our practise correct? With which Iman did I pass my life? Robust, and solid, and good - which I thought it was? So this is what we need to think about.
So if a person has the right faith and belief and Amal and practice all life long, then he will be able to answer correctly. If he was persistent, steadfast, with the right Aqeedah, the right faith, the right belief , the right practices, and he passed his life like this, then he will not even shake in the grave, and very confidently he will be able to answer in the grave. All of the points about which he will be challenged in the grave, he will be able to pass nicely. And that is why it was said by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that the grave will be severe. We will be asked about the summary and the essence of our whole life on planet Earth when we are in the grave. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has started the Qur'an al-Hakeem with this point - {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem}, Allah has said. And Allah has stated that the whole of success for a person is based on what? {Walladhina yu'minoona bi ma unzila ilayka wa ma unzila min qablik wa bil-Akhirati hum yuqinoon} - Allah says that this is the faith and belief of a person, the Straight path. SubhanAllah. That those people who have got Iman - upon whom, upon what have they brought Iman? {Bi ma unzila ilayka} - this is the test, this is the objective, this is the belief, the Aqeedah. If a person has this faith, believing whatever was revealed to the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and he lives his life according to that - and the name of that life is {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem}, the name of that life is guidance; he is a rightly guided person.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given one standard to us, one standard, and according to this standard, a person will be questioned in the Akhirah, the Hereafter: 'Tell me - who is Allah? Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? Sallallahu alayhi wasallam - very weighty questions. La ilaha illa'llah, Muhammadar-Rasoolu'llah. So here, we see that nobody will be able to hide or conceal anything in the Hereafter. Everything of the truth will be revealed. And here, we need to think about what is in the Qur'an - why don't you think about the Qur'an, why don't you ponder over the Qur'an? We think about analysing the Qur'an, taking notes and points, and taking big meanings out and telling people etc. No, no. Allah says in the Qur'an, 'Think about the Qur'an, think about what I have revealed in the Qur'an. Is your life according to the Qur'an, yes or no?'
Now look, for example, if I continue to say 'I'm a Muslim' - ok, he's a Muslim, he prays Salah, he does Hajj, he does Umrah, people won't mind. And this is the truth today, and we have no right to say to a Muslim, 'Oh you are not a Muslim, you don't have faith, and you're not correct.' We have no right to say to a person that he is a disbeliever, even if you see, for example, that, if you are practising and he's practising, but you are on a good standard, a good platform of practice, and you see that he's not practising according to that standard, even then, you cannot belittle someone, you can't put that person down. You can't give a Fatwa that this person is not a believer, he's a Mushrik, or he's this and that - nobody can dare to say that, nobody has the right. This decision is Allah's alone, because this is a decision that is based on the knowledge of the Unseen. It is related to the condition of the heart.
And who knows the condition of the heart? Allah knows the condition of the heart. Allah ta'ala knows everything, everything that is hidden and concealed, Allah knows it! The main decision in the Hereafter, whatever Allah decides, whatever Allah defines as a person of faith will be a person of faith. If a person doesn't have faith and is devoid of faith, even if the whole world and humanity promises and swears that he's got faith, and they accept him as a high level person, with Iman, and Hajj, and 'Ilm, and knowledge and Taqwa - even if the population of the whole world says that he is good, if Allah ta'ala says he has failed , then that person is finished, he's nothing. Whose decision is it, ultimately? It is Allah's! Only that person can be successful in the Hereafter who Allah ta'ala says is successful, or who Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has defined as successful. He will get through all the phases and the tests and the challenges, and he will get all the rewards. It is not what we think is success. If Allah ta'ala says 'This is a person of faith', then you have faith; if Allah says 'You don't have Iman, belief', then he won't have belief.
Allah's Qur'an says {Yaqooloona inna nu'minoona bi'llahi wa-l-yawmi-l-Akhir, wa ma hum bi mu'mineen} of those people who say that they have belief in Allah and on the Day of Judgement, Allah says, 'They are saying this but this people are not Mu'mins, they are not believers, SubhanAllah. You can continue to say, you can continue to claim. There was a Munafiq, a hypocrite, and these verses came for him; he was made an example. He was that same individual, an example for people like him. For example, he used to pray Salah and sit in the Masjid, he said he was a lover of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he used to follow after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam - Abdullah bin Salool - and nobody could dare to say to him openly that he was a disbeliever, or he was this or that. How could they, because he was outwardly practising. Inside, Allah ta'ala knew what his faith was, and that the Salahs he was praying and all the actions he was doing were just to filfil his desires - this was not real Iman that he had. It wasn't the standard that Allah ta'ala mentioned. Allah says 'Whatever I have revealed to you, Oh Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam' - he did not accept that.
Remember, there is one criteria for Allah, one criteria: {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem} - 'Whatever I revealed to thee' - SubhanAllah. And what did Allah ta'ala reveal? {Bi ma unzila ilayka} - what did Allah ta'ala reveal? The Qur'an and the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is the criteria for success - Allah ta'ala will judge Iman based on this. So the example I am giving was also a man, and at the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam he would sit in the Masjid, Ashiq, coming, going, here, there, everything - he was involved in all of the actions, but Allah says, 'There will be people like him, and others, who will come until the Day of Qiyamah; they will continue to say, and make claims for themselves, but Allah says 'No, these people are not Mu'mins; they are never Mu'mins - impossible! Don't look at their Salah, don't look at their attendance in the Masjid, don't look at their actions. If you want to see, then look at that point, that criterion that I have established, that are those people implementing that criteria, totally, 100 per cent? What is that criteria? The Qur'an and the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah and Shariah.
Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has announced - Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh relates this, what a beloved Companion, who lived his whole youth with the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam - and Allah ta'ala says 'Ya baniyya...' Allah ta'ala mentions, subhanAllah, there is a whole Hadith that Allah ta'ala addressed in this way, saying 'Oh My Creation!' And at the end of the Hadith, Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh states that Allah ta'ala mentions in this Hadith directly - 'Fa man ahabba Sunnati, fa qad ahabbini, wa man ahabbani, fa huwa maiya fil jannah.' SubhanAllah! Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh related this Hadith, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that 'Oh my child, oh my companion, whoever has loved my Sunnah, has loved me, and whoever loves me, he will go with me into Paradise.' SubhanAllah!
So the Munafiq, the hypocrite at that time, was doing all of the outward actions - but inside? He was physically with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and he said 'I am a lover of Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam - look, I am bowing, I am prostrating', but inside, he was against; he was opposed. He had hatred for the Shari'ah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he had hatred for the practice of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he didn't like them inside. Allah knows the hearts! And today, Allah knows the hearts, but they don't need to show, demonstrate, because everything is visible, everything can be seen. MashaAllah, everything is in front of us openly - every person is doing this - this is in front of us. Openly people say 'What is this? How can this be?' Today, the Deen that we have got, we call this modernism, modern thinking, progressive people, developed people, and whoever doesn't follow that mindset is called backward and fundamentalist, extreme - openly. And at the time of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the Munafiq was hidden, and Allah ta'ala revealed him, but today it is evident and we can see visibly where hypocrisy is evident, and people follow their desires, the life of the desires. On one side, we have the Holy Prophet's sallallahu alayhi wasallam Sunnah and Shari'ah, and today, we can see the contrast - it is very clear and visible. So Allah ta'ala has announced!
And when will this be realised? When will it be revealed? In the Qabr, in the grave. My brothers, very quickly, a person will die and the reality of the grave will be in front of us. We need to prepare for that. If we don't make the criteria of success according to the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah and Shari'ah - whatever he says is Halal is Halal, whatever he says is Haram is Haram. But the whole life is Haram! Yes? If Allah ta'ala has addressed something as Haram, those things that Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has declared are Haram, unlawful, all the Hadith are there, evident. All the Kitabs, the books, tell us clearly what is right and wrong - they mention the Holy Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam's Shari'ah and Sunnah. And this is what we learn from the Hadith. What else do we learn, apart from the lifestyle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, what he liked, lawful and unlawful. Time and time again - every Hadith, every point, every technical point, all of the Kitabs - Sahih Bukkhari, Sahih Muslim, Ibn Majah, Muwatta of Imam Malik, an-Nisaee, Ahmad - all of the collections of Hadith, alhamdulillah, don't tell us anything else. All of the collections of Hadith tell us this is Haram, this is unlawful, don't do this, don't do that, this should be done, do this action, don't do that action, and we leave all of these Kitabs and knowledge behind.
And if someone gives us a bit of knowledge, some Tableegh about Salah etc, we think that's enough, and we are solid Muslims, true Muslims. Allah says 'What difference does it make if you are saying this?' Allah ta'ala announced at that time {Wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri}. Allah says 'It doesn't happen due to you saying; it's due to you doing, practising!' Allah says 'Despite you saying, if you live your life according to your desires, a life in contrast to the Holy Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah, and his way, that will be the life of Nafs and desires, remember!'
So this is the right life, the proper life; and we have spent our lives like this, we should feel that. So this is a great message that Allah has given. This is why the Qur'an was revealed, my brothers, alhamdulillah. That is why we are reciting some verses of the Qur'an, and may Allah ta'ala give us the understanding of these things, may Allah ta'ala give us the preparation for death. This is the preparation for death. Every day, we hear that this person has died, he has died, that person has died, and Allah ta'ala has shown us, due to Coronavirus, many people have died. We get phone calls, this person has died, that person has passed away, and the fear of death has grown. We shouldn't be afraid of death - we should be preparing for death, just like Hadhrat Ali KaramAllahu wajh radhiAllahu anh stated, SubhanAllah. It is not anything to be scared of, afraid of - rather, prepare for it, get ready for it. We are going to go to the grave; it is a reality, so prepare for it.
So Allah says {Wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri} - 'Even if people continue to say this, I have told you the reality.' Whoever lives a life like this until Yawm-il-Qiyamah, just like the hypocrite who lived like this, for whom this verse was revealed at that time. So don't follow the desires. Whoever follows his desires and lives his life like this, then Allah says that his Salah, standing, sitting, claims of love and faith, all of this is a drama. Only that person who simply makes the Sunnah and Shari'ah his guide and his success standard can be a believer. And whenever Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam says 'Do this', whichever man or woman does that will be successful. As for the rest, who say 'Oh, I do this much, I pray this much', and so on, Allah says that nothing of theirs will be successful, no Sadaqaat, no Nawafil, no actions will be accepted. It doesn't matter how much Ibadah you do if it doesn't fall in line and accord with Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's methodology.
And what a reward Allah ta'ala has kept, what a great reward. Allah ta'ala has said that the Sunnah will be so valuable when the time of Fasaad comes, when people will leave the Deen and shun the Deen, mock the Deen, not following the Shari'ah and Sunnah, but instead following the life of their desires, saying 'Whatever my heart feels, that's correct; the Shari'ah is not correct. Today, I feel like going out without the Burqah, without Purdah. I will follow this way, I won't obey the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam by wearing the Burqah, the covering of the body or the Hijab.' Or, 'Today, I feel like listening to musical instruments and music, this is the desire of my Nafs, so I will do Amal on this by following this Deen of following my desires. And I will die on this, doing what I want to do - I am free, I can do what I like!' But if I say ' No, the Holy prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that your heart feels this, and everybody has desires, but we must suppress our desires out of the fear of death. After I die, how will I answer to Allah? How will I give the answer when I am asked 'Man Rasoolukum?' I won't be able to answer who my Prophet is.' So if, out of this fear, he suppresses his desires, than that's the Deen of Shari'ah that he is following.
Abu Hurayra radhiAllahu anh narrated a Hadith - I am telling you the meaning of this Hadith -that the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that a day and age would come, a time of Fasaad in the Ummah, when base desires would arise and the people would follow these desires, saying 'Oh let's do this action, this is permissable, it doesn't make any difference, oh it's only a small thing, it's a minor matter' - they would follow their desires and continue to reject Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah and his Shari'ah and his ways.
There are always two paths, it doesn't matter how you look at it. If you want to eat, there are two ways, if you want to sleep, there are two ways, if you want to earn, there are two ways, if you want to maintain relationships with you relatives, there are two ways. One is according to Shari'ah and Sunnah, and one is accrding to the base desires - remember this. There are always two paths running alongside each other, in parallel. So those people of wisdom, who fear death, they don't run after gossip, saying 'Oh Allah is Ghafur-ur-Raheem, He will forgive me, this is a minor matter' - never, nothing of the sort. This is the deception of shaytan. My brothers, there are only two paths, Allah has said clearly. As I said to you in the beginning, one is a dream, and one is real life. There are two paths, and we have an option.
Allah ta'ala says that whoever embraces and takes on the Shari'ah, it doesn't matter if he has got issues, obstacles, barriers, difficulties, and he has to give up things, but if he stays steadfast on that path, whether it is earning, or eating, or drinking, or relatives, or occupation, work - whatever he has to do, he says 'I'm not going to consume interest, I'm not going to consume Haram, I won't do wrong.' Obviously, as a result of that, he has to give up things, yes, so that on a worldly basis, he may see that he is going into loss in material terms. Today, life is based on Nafs and desires and material things - that's why Allah says {wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri, wa mahum bi mu'mineen} - There are people who say 'We do believe in God and the Last Day', but they do not really believe. They don't. And a person will realise this at the time that he goes into the grave. And those women who don't observe Purdah and wander around outside go, they will go into the grave; and those menfolk who used to live their life against the Shari'ah and the Sunnah in their faces and appearances, making excuses, they will realise in the grave; and those whose worship was not in accordance to Shari'ah, they will realise in the Hereafter.
But there are people who for whom the whole basis of their life is thinking that even for one second, that they cannot leave the Deen; they think that if they obey Nafs and desires even in one action, then that's failure. {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem} is one Straight path. Allah ta'ala says 'Whatever I reveal to thee, O Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam' - bring Iman into that. A person who has Iman in {wa ma unzila ilayka}, who believes in the lifestyle and Shari'ah of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that is success. But Allah ta'ala says that those who do not have Iman in that, who do not believe it, will be the losers.
May Allah ta'ala give us the Tawfeeq to live our lives under the guidance of this verse, SubhanAllah. Allah ta'ala says that the Qur'an gives us guidance through these verses - we haven't passed away! Allah says that those people are the successful people. Let's change now, let's observe now, let's improve now. Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the severest time he had have seen - and can anyone give a greater explanation than the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam? The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is saying that of all the places that he had seen, the severest place and abode will be the grave itself. And the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the grave will be very difficult and hard - but the easiest phase also can be the grave! Why? Because there are two paths - one gives severity and difficulty, and one gives ease. So whoever observes a life of Shari'ah and Sunnah, then it may be difficult for him to live here, there may be difficulties and obstacles - and nowadays, everyone , 99 percent of people, are on the other side, and he is on his own on the other side, living in contrast to the 99 percent, because he is preparing for that place which the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has mentioned is a severe phase - the grave.
So if you give up the luxuries of the world now, and you observe the right path now, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's path, then you will get that pass in the grave. But what do we do? 'Oh, it's ok, I pray Salah, I do Tasbeeh, I do Purdah as well, but I do this at the same time' - so we pull in opposite ways. Alla ta'ala says 'You are deceiving yourselves! Whatever I call Iman is Iman - otherwise, it is not real.' And Allah ta'ala has given the example of that hypocrite at the time of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Allah revealed this verse {wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri}. And people give that reference, for that person, at that time, who disliked the Sunnah and Shari'ah of Rasoolullah sallalahu alayhi wasallam. What was his opposition? We don't have time today, we will explain what he was opposed to, and what Allah ta'ala mentioned about this, if Allah ta'ala gives us life.
Wa akhiru da'wana anil-hamdulillahi rabbil-Aalameen.
17th Jun, 2020
سُلطان العارفین الغوث الازہر سیدی اِمام احمد رفاعیؒ
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جس کی اللہ تعالی کے ساتھ ہم نشینی اچھی ہو تو وہ قران کریم کا تدبر کے ساتھ مطالعہ لازم پکڑ لیتا ہے ، اس کے احکامات کی پیروی کرتا اور اس کے آداب سے خود کو آراستہ کرتا ہے ۔
اور جس کی نبی کریم ﷺ کے ساتھ ہم نشینی اچھی ہو تو وہ آپ کے اخلاق و آداب کو اپناتا ہے اور اور آپ کی شریعت اور سنت کی پیروی کرتا ہے ۔
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(کلیات احمدیہ للامام ابی الہدی)
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has made a beautiful arrangement for the human being to understand reality - and between us and reality, we always have a veil in front of us. Allah ta'ala has made a beautiful arrangement, so that a person who has wisdom and understanding should really be able to see the consequence of something. For example, day and night: Allah ta'ala has given such signs to us during these two times - one is sleep, and the other is staying awake. Allah ta'ala has developed such a system, via these two phases, that a human being can always compare where he is to where he should be. A person wakes up, and he sees real things in front of him, real things. He sees real human beings, he sees real occurences, events and incidents, people living - everything is real. It is happening, it is live. And after some hours, when that individual sleeps, then that reality disappears, and everything turns to dreams - sleeping, in other words.
So there is a difference in these two phases. When a person sleeps, it is a dream. He is not awake, and the dream is what? It is not reality, it is not real. What is real is what he was watching and seeing and observing during the day. So he then sleeps through the dream world and its illusions, and he sees scenes in the life of dreams, and it is different from the life that he lives during the day. What a great, great reality! But this is a sign for those who have wisdom and understanding, for those who have concern. And then, after the night passes, when the eyes of that individual open in the morning, then that world of dreams and the unreality of those dreams disappears, and he comes back to life during the day time. So this is the fluctuation of the phases.
Now one thing is essential, for every human being, whatever he believes, whatever cult or sect: everybody believes that death is truth. Nobody can reject - nobody is able to reject. So the next point - alhamdulillah, only those with Iman know what the reality of this. Those who believe in Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam know the next reality, but those who don't have that, cannot have this awareness and knowledge. So this is the practical experience - sleeping, waking up; sleeping, waking up - this is a big practice! And what is this practice for? What does this life of ours become? It becomes a dream, the actual physical life. And Mawt, death, that then becomes the reality, the real life. So first of all, here, we sleep, then we wake up and think that is reality; but when a person dies, then the physical life on planet earth seems to him to have been a dream. Everything disappears, everyone has gone, relationships have ended, and daily matters and affairs end. Then he goes to the real world, the real life, the proper realm, the permanant abode - the Hereafter, the life after death. And this is why Allah ta'ala, in the whole Qur'an, and in many of the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, has said, in regards to this afterlife, 'Have concern for this; it's going to come - prepare for this.'
A great statement of Hadhrat Ali KaramAllahu wajh radhiAllahu anh is that 'Dunya, this world, is turning its back on you, and the reality is coming in front of you.' So what should we do? That world is turning its back on you, leaving you, so we should get ready and prepare for that thing that is to come. Don't be amongst those people who are running after that which is leaving you, which is turning its back on you. Today, the action is not for thinking about yesterday; it is the day that is to come that is useful. Hadhrat Ali KaramAllahu wajh radhiAllahu anh said this. So the real thing that we should be looking at is the thing that is about to come - death. We need to prepare for the the thing that will come tomorrow. Don't run after the day that has passed. Like, for example, after a dream, we wake up and it's morning and real life, but once we pass away, the life in this world will become a dream. So a person puts a veil, a barrier, between himself and reality, and this is the difference between life in the grave and the hereafter, and life here.
The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated, with regards to the reality of the phase of death and the grave, that, with regards to the grave, ' I have not seen anything more severe than the grave. I have seen places, different stages, but I have not seen anything more severe than the period in the grave, than the punishments of the grave.' Why? Because if a person is successful in the grave, like Hadhrat Uthman radhiAllahu anh stated, that here, in the grave, the questioning will occur; here, he will be questioned. And this is the first phase; if he attains success, and gives the right responses to the angels, then he will surpass all of the phases to come after that; he will pass them, he will be successful, SubhanAllah.
We see the events after death of various people that have died - they have explained, that 'We went into the grave, and we were questioned!' - I am talking about people who I know, close friends and relatives I am speaking about; they were pious people, good people, from my relatives. And they gave a message of reassurance from the grave that 'It was a severe time, the questoning, but I gave a reponse.' Alhamdulillah, he said 'The severity came, but after that, I gave the answer to the questions, and through Allah's Fadhl and Grace, I became successful.' SubhanAllah. So the most difficult time is that time in the grave. And the reason for this is that the human being will be questioned there with regards to Aqaid, our beliefs, and our Amal and our practise - the proper questions will be asked, because a person's progression is based on his belief and his practise. Were our beliefs and our practise correct? With which Iman did I pass my life? Robust, and solid, and good - which I thought it was? So this is what we need to think about.
So if a person has the right faith and belief and Amal and practice all life long, then he will be able to answer correctly. If he was persistent, steadfast, with the right Aqeedah, the right faith, the right belief , the right practices, and he passed his life like this, then he will not even shake in the grave, and very confidently he will be able to answer in the grave. All of the points about which he will be challenged in the grave, he will be able to pass nicely. And that is why it was said by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that the grave will be severe. We will be asked about the summary and the essence of our whole life on planet Earth when we are in the grave. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has started the Qur'an al-Hakeem with this point - {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem}, Allah has said. And Allah has stated that the whole of success for a person is based on what? {Walladhina yu'minoona bi ma unzila ilayka wa ma unzila min qablik wa bil-Akhirati hum yuqinoon} - Allah says that this is the faith and belief of a person, the Straight path. SubhanAllah. That those people who have got Iman - upon whom, upon what have they brought Iman? {Bi ma unzila ilayka} - this is the test, this is the objective, this is the belief, the Aqeedah. If a person has this faith, believing whatever was revealed to the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and he lives his life according to that - and the name of that life is {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem}, the name of that life is guidance; he is a rightly guided person.
Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given one standard to us, one standard, and according to this standard, a person will be questioned in the Akhirah, the Hereafter: 'Tell me - who is Allah? Who is your Lord? Who is your Prophet? Sallallahu alayhi wasallam - very weighty questions. La ilaha illa'llah, Muhammadar-Rasoolu'llah. So here, we see that nobody will be able to hide or conceal anything in the Hereafter. Everything of the truth will be revealed. And here, we need to think about what is in the Qur'an - why don't you think about the Qur'an, why don't you ponder over the Qur'an? We think about analysing the Qur'an, taking notes and points, and taking big meanings out and telling people etc. No, no. Allah says in the Qur'an, 'Think about the Qur'an, think about what I have revealed in the Qur'an. Is your life according to the Qur'an, yes or no?'
Now look, for example, if I continue to say 'I'm a Muslim' - ok, he's a Muslim, he prays Salah, he does Hajj, he does Umrah, people won't mind. And this is the truth today, and we have no right to say to a Muslim, 'Oh you are not a Muslim, you don't have faith, and you're not correct.' We have no right to say to a person that he is a disbeliever, even if you see, for example, that, if you are practising and he's practising, but you are on a good standard, a good platform of practice, and you see that he's not practising according to that standard, even then, you cannot belittle someone, you can't put that person down. You can't give a Fatwa that this person is not a believer, he's a Mushrik, or he's this and that - nobody can dare to say that, nobody has the right. This decision is Allah's alone, because this is a decision that is based on the knowledge of the Unseen. It is related to the condition of the heart.
And who knows the condition of the heart? Allah knows the condition of the heart. Allah ta'ala knows everything, everything that is hidden and concealed, Allah knows it! The main decision in the Hereafter, whatever Allah decides, whatever Allah defines as a person of faith will be a person of faith. If a person doesn't have faith and is devoid of faith, even if the whole world and humanity promises and swears that he's got faith, and they accept him as a high level person, with Iman, and Hajj, and 'Ilm, and knowledge and Taqwa - even if the population of the whole world says that he is good, if Allah ta'ala says he has failed , then that person is finished, he's nothing. Whose decision is it, ultimately? It is Allah's! Only that person can be successful in the Hereafter who Allah ta'ala says is successful, or who Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has defined as successful. He will get through all the phases and the tests and the challenges, and he will get all the rewards. It is not what we think is success. If Allah ta'ala says 'This is a person of faith', then you have faith; if Allah says 'You don't have Iman, belief', then he won't have belief.
Allah's Qur'an says {Yaqooloona inna nu'minoona bi'llahi wa-l-yawmi-l-Akhir, wa ma hum bi mu'mineen} of those people who say that they have belief in Allah and on the Day of Judgement, Allah says, 'They are saying this but this people are not Mu'mins, they are not believers, SubhanAllah. You can continue to say, you can continue to claim. There was a Munafiq, a hypocrite, and these verses came for him; he was made an example. He was that same individual, an example for people like him. For example, he used to pray Salah and sit in the Masjid, he said he was a lover of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he used to follow after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam - Abdullah bin Salool - and nobody could dare to say to him openly that he was a disbeliever, or he was this or that. How could they, because he was outwardly practising. Inside, Allah ta'ala knew what his faith was, and that the Salahs he was praying and all the actions he was doing were just to filfil his desires - this was not real Iman that he had. It wasn't the standard that Allah ta'ala mentioned. Allah says 'Whatever I have revealed to you, Oh Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam' - he did not accept that.
Remember, there is one criteria for Allah, one criteria: {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem} - 'Whatever I revealed to thee' - SubhanAllah. And what did Allah ta'ala reveal? {Bi ma unzila ilayka} - what did Allah ta'ala reveal? The Qur'an and the Shari'ah and Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is the criteria for success - Allah ta'ala will judge Iman based on this. So the example I am giving was also a man, and at the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam he would sit in the Masjid, Ashiq, coming, going, here, there, everything - he was involved in all of the actions, but Allah says, 'There will be people like him, and others, who will come until the Day of Qiyamah; they will continue to say, and make claims for themselves, but Allah says 'No, these people are not Mu'mins; they are never Mu'mins - impossible! Don't look at their Salah, don't look at their attendance in the Masjid, don't look at their actions. If you want to see, then look at that point, that criterion that I have established, that are those people implementing that criteria, totally, 100 per cent? What is that criteria? The Qur'an and the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah and Shariah.
Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam has announced - Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh relates this, what a beloved Companion, who lived his whole youth with the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam - and Allah ta'ala says 'Ya baniyya...' Allah ta'ala mentions, subhanAllah, there is a whole Hadith that Allah ta'ala addressed in this way, saying 'Oh My Creation!' And at the end of the Hadith, Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh states that Allah ta'ala mentions in this Hadith directly - 'Fa man ahabba Sunnati, fa qad ahabbini, wa man ahabbani, fa huwa maiya fil jannah.' SubhanAllah! Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh related this Hadith, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that 'Oh my child, oh my companion, whoever has loved my Sunnah, has loved me, and whoever loves me, he will go with me into Paradise.' SubhanAllah!
So the Munafiq, the hypocrite at that time, was doing all of the outward actions - but inside? He was physically with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and he said 'I am a lover of Allah and His Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam - look, I am bowing, I am prostrating', but inside, he was against; he was opposed. He had hatred for the Shari'ah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he had hatred for the practice of Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he didn't like them inside. Allah knows the hearts! And today, Allah knows the hearts, but they don't need to show, demonstrate, because everything is visible, everything can be seen. MashaAllah, everything is in front of us openly - every person is doing this - this is in front of us. Openly people say 'What is this? How can this be?' Today, the Deen that we have got, we call this modernism, modern thinking, progressive people, developed people, and whoever doesn't follow that mindset is called backward and fundamentalist, extreme - openly. And at the time of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the Munafiq was hidden, and Allah ta'ala revealed him, but today it is evident and we can see visibly where hypocrisy is evident, and people follow their desires, the life of the desires. On one side, we have the Holy Prophet's sallallahu alayhi wasallam Sunnah and Shari'ah, and today, we can see the contrast - it is very clear and visible. So Allah ta'ala has announced!
And when will this be realised? When will it be revealed? In the Qabr, in the grave. My brothers, very quickly, a person will die and the reality of the grave will be in front of us. We need to prepare for that. If we don't make the criteria of success according to the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah and Shari'ah - whatever he says is Halal is Halal, whatever he says is Haram is Haram. But the whole life is Haram! Yes? If Allah ta'ala has addressed something as Haram, those things that Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has declared are Haram, unlawful, all the Hadith are there, evident. All the Kitabs, the books, tell us clearly what is right and wrong - they mention the Holy Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam's Shari'ah and Sunnah. And this is what we learn from the Hadith. What else do we learn, apart from the lifestyle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, what he liked, lawful and unlawful. Time and time again - every Hadith, every point, every technical point, all of the Kitabs - Sahih Bukkhari, Sahih Muslim, Ibn Majah, Muwatta of Imam Malik, an-Nisaee, Ahmad - all of the collections of Hadith, alhamdulillah, don't tell us anything else. All of the collections of Hadith tell us this is Haram, this is unlawful, don't do this, don't do that, this should be done, do this action, don't do that action, and we leave all of these Kitabs and knowledge behind.
And if someone gives us a bit of knowledge, some Tableegh about Salah etc, we think that's enough, and we are solid Muslims, true Muslims. Allah says 'What difference does it make if you are saying this?' Allah ta'ala announced at that time {Wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri}. Allah says 'It doesn't happen due to you saying; it's due to you doing, practising!' Allah says 'Despite you saying, if you live your life according to your desires, a life in contrast to the Holy Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah, and his way, that will be the life of Nafs and desires, remember!'
So this is the right life, the proper life; and we have spent our lives like this, we should feel that. So this is a great message that Allah has given. This is why the Qur'an was revealed, my brothers, alhamdulillah. That is why we are reciting some verses of the Qur'an, and may Allah ta'ala give us the understanding of these things, may Allah ta'ala give us the preparation for death. This is the preparation for death. Every day, we hear that this person has died, he has died, that person has died, and Allah ta'ala has shown us, due to Coronavirus, many people have died. We get phone calls, this person has died, that person has passed away, and the fear of death has grown. We shouldn't be afraid of death - we should be preparing for death, just like Hadhrat Ali KaramAllahu wajh radhiAllahu anh stated, SubhanAllah. It is not anything to be scared of, afraid of - rather, prepare for it, get ready for it. We are going to go to the grave; it is a reality, so prepare for it.
So Allah says {Wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri} - 'Even if people continue to say this, I have told you the reality.' Whoever lives a life like this until Yawm-il-Qiyamah, just like the hypocrite who lived like this, for whom this verse was revealed at that time. So don't follow the desires. Whoever follows his desires and lives his life like this, then Allah says that his Salah, standing, sitting, claims of love and faith, all of this is a drama. Only that person who simply makes the Sunnah and Shari'ah his guide and his success standard can be a believer. And whenever Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam says 'Do this', whichever man or woman does that will be successful. As for the rest, who say 'Oh, I do this much, I pray this much', and so on, Allah says that nothing of theirs will be successful, no Sadaqaat, no Nawafil, no actions will be accepted. It doesn't matter how much Ibadah you do if it doesn't fall in line and accord with Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's methodology.
And what a reward Allah ta'ala has kept, what a great reward. Allah ta'ala has said that the Sunnah will be so valuable when the time of Fasaad comes, when people will leave the Deen and shun the Deen, mock the Deen, not following the Shari'ah and Sunnah, but instead following the life of their desires, saying 'Whatever my heart feels, that's correct; the Shari'ah is not correct. Today, I feel like going out without the Burqah, without Purdah. I will follow this way, I won't obey the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam by wearing the Burqah, the covering of the body or the Hijab.' Or, 'Today, I feel like listening to musical instruments and music, this is the desire of my Nafs, so I will do Amal on this by following this Deen of following my desires. And I will die on this, doing what I want to do - I am free, I can do what I like!' But if I say ' No, the Holy prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that your heart feels this, and everybody has desires, but we must suppress our desires out of the fear of death. After I die, how will I answer to Allah? How will I give the answer when I am asked 'Man Rasoolukum?' I won't be able to answer who my Prophet is.' So if, out of this fear, he suppresses his desires, than that's the Deen of Shari'ah that he is following.
Abu Hurayra radhiAllahu anh narrated a Hadith - I am telling you the meaning of this Hadith -that the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that a day and age would come, a time of Fasaad in the Ummah, when base desires would arise and the people would follow these desires, saying 'Oh let's do this action, this is permissable, it doesn't make any difference, oh it's only a small thing, it's a minor matter' - they would follow their desires and continue to reject Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's Sunnah and his Shari'ah and his ways.
There are always two paths, it doesn't matter how you look at it. If you want to eat, there are two ways, if you want to sleep, there are two ways, if you want to earn, there are two ways, if you want to maintain relationships with you relatives, there are two ways. One is according to Shari'ah and Sunnah, and one is accrding to the base desires - remember this. There are always two paths running alongside each other, in parallel. So those people of wisdom, who fear death, they don't run after gossip, saying 'Oh Allah is Ghafur-ur-Raheem, He will forgive me, this is a minor matter' - never, nothing of the sort. This is the deception of shaytan. My brothers, there are only two paths, Allah has said clearly. As I said to you in the beginning, one is a dream, and one is real life. There are two paths, and we have an option.
Allah ta'ala says that whoever embraces and takes on the Shari'ah, it doesn't matter if he has got issues, obstacles, barriers, difficulties, and he has to give up things, but if he stays steadfast on that path, whether it is earning, or eating, or drinking, or relatives, or occupation, work - whatever he has to do, he says 'I'm not going to consume interest, I'm not going to consume Haram, I won't do wrong.' Obviously, as a result of that, he has to give up things, yes, so that on a worldly basis, he may see that he is going into loss in material terms. Today, life is based on Nafs and desires and material things - that's why Allah says {wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri, wa mahum bi mu'mineen} - There are people who say 'We do believe in God and the Last Day', but they do not really believe. They don't. And a person will realise this at the time that he goes into the grave. And those women who don't observe Purdah and wander around outside go, they will go into the grave; and those menfolk who used to live their life against the Shari'ah and the Sunnah in their faces and appearances, making excuses, they will realise in the grave; and those whose worship was not in accordance to Shari'ah, they will realise in the Hereafter.
But there are people who for whom the whole basis of their life is thinking that even for one second, that they cannot leave the Deen; they think that if they obey Nafs and desires even in one action, then that's failure. {Ihdinas-Siraat-al-Mustaqeem} is one Straight path. Allah ta'ala says 'Whatever I reveal to thee, O Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam' - bring Iman into that. A person who has Iman in {wa ma unzila ilayka}, who believes in the lifestyle and Shari'ah of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that is success. But Allah ta'ala says that those who do not have Iman in that, who do not believe it, will be the losers.
May Allah ta'ala give us the Tawfeeq to live our lives under the guidance of this verse, SubhanAllah. Allah ta'ala says that the Qur'an gives us guidance through these verses - we haven't passed away! Allah says that those people are the successful people. Let's change now, let's observe now, let's improve now. Allah's Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the severest time he had have seen - and can anyone give a greater explanation than the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam? The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is saying that of all the places that he had seen, the severest place and abode will be the grave itself. And the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that the grave will be very difficult and hard - but the easiest phase also can be the grave! Why? Because there are two paths - one gives severity and difficulty, and one gives ease. So whoever observes a life of Shari'ah and Sunnah, then it may be difficult for him to live here, there may be difficulties and obstacles - and nowadays, everyone , 99 percent of people, are on the other side, and he is on his own on the other side, living in contrast to the 99 percent, because he is preparing for that place which the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has mentioned is a severe phase - the grave.
So if you give up the luxuries of the world now, and you observe the right path now, Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's path, then you will get that pass in the grave. But what do we do? 'Oh, it's ok, I pray Salah, I do Tasbeeh, I do Purdah as well, but I do this at the same time' - so we pull in opposite ways. Alla ta'ala says 'You are deceiving yourselves! Whatever I call Iman is Iman - otherwise, it is not real.' And Allah ta'ala has given the example of that hypocrite at the time of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Allah revealed this verse {wa minan-Naasi man yaqoolu aamana bi'llahi wa bi-l yawmi-l akhiri}. And people give that reference, for that person, at that time, who disliked the Sunnah and Shari'ah of Rasoolullah sallalahu alayhi wasallam. What was his opposition? We don't have time today, we will explain what he was opposed to, and what Allah ta'ala mentioned about this, if Allah ta'ala gives us life.
Wa akhiru da'wana anil-hamdulillahi rabbil-Aalameen.