Taqwaa & Friendship Of Allah
Taqwaa & Friendship Of Allah
We are drowned in sins. Those who disobey Allah, cannot be His
Friends whilst committing sins and living a sinful life. We should make a firm resolution,
now, here from today we want to become the Friends of Allah and we want to remain
the Friends of Allah until our departure from this world. Allah is the best friend, because His
Friendship will be beneficial, not only in this world but also in the Hereafter.
How can one become the Friend of Allah Ta’aalaa? Who is
the Friend of Allah? 1 urge you to listen carefully to what Allah says in the Glorious
Qur'aan:
Behold! Verily on the Friends of Allah there will be no fear, nor will they grieve. (They are) those who accept Imaan and adopt Taqwaa. (10:62-63)
Indeed, the Friends of Allah Ta’aalaa, will
neither fear nor grieve. They will remain in peace and contentment. Who are they? They are
those who accept Imaan and after accepting Imaan, adopt Taqwaa.
The way and the method of becoming a Friend of Allah
Ta’aalaa is to accept Imaan, i.e. to believe in everything that was brought to us by
our Beloved Rasool sallallahu
alayhi wasallam
without a shadow of
doubt.
Only those are true Believers who believe in Allah and His Messenger and thereafter they do not doubt. (49:15)
Thus the Friends of Allah Ta’aalaa are
those who accept Imaan in what was sent by Allah through His Beloved Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, and after accepting Imaan they adopt Taqwaa.
Taqwaa
What is Taqwaa? Allaamah Sayyid Mahmood Aaloosi Baghdaadi Rahamatullahi alayh
, quoting a couplet, defines Taqwaa very
beautifully:
Abstain from all sins, minor and major, that is Taqwaa
Never undermine a minor sin, because the mountains are made up of small
pebbles.
Abstaining from all sins - major and minor - is Taqwaa. And one
who adopts Taqwaa will become the Friend of Allah. Today, when we begin to commit a sin, we
say to ourselves, 'is this a major sin or a minor one? If it is a major sin, I should
abstain from it and if it is a minor sin, then it doesn't really matter.’ Our elders
and pious predecessors have said that every sin whether minor or major is a sin in the
Eyes of Allah. Why? Because it is disobedience to the Creator:
disobeying the Creator Who has given us eyes;
disobeying the Creator Who has given us a tongue;
disobeying the Creator Who has given us ears;
disobeying the Creator Who has given us life;
disobeying the Creator Who has given us health and wealth;
disobeying the Creator Who has given us wife and children;
disobeying the Creator Who has honoured us with Imaan;
disobeying the Creator Who has created us in the Ummah of the
sovereign of both worlds, Muhammad-ur-Rasoolullah
sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
A believer,
one who has love for Allah Ta’aalaa,
one who intends to become a Friend of Allah cannot commit sins - major or
minor, because it is disobedience to Allah.
Abstaining from all sins, both major and minor, is Taqwaa. And, never
undermine the minor sin. Do not think that if I commit this sin it does not really matter;
it is only a minor sin. Why? Because the mountain that you see in front of you has been
made up of small pebbles. If the small pebbles can make up a mountain, then the minor and
small sins will lead a person to commit major sins.
Those people who accept Imaan and adopt Taqwaa, (they abstain from sins
and follow the Commands of Allah in the light of the teachings of the beloved Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam ), how will Allah reward them?
For them are glad tidings, in this world and in the Hereafter - there is no change in the Words of Allah. This is indeed the supreme triumph. (10:64)
What is Taqwaa?
To abstain from sins.
And what is the meaning of abstaining from sins?
To perform A'maali Saalihah (good deeds). For those people who abstain
from sins and perform good deeds, there are glad tidings, both in this world and in the
Hereafter. Those who accept Imaan and perform good deeds and adopt Taqwaa, Allah will
make them the rulers in this world.
Allah has promised to those of you who accept Imaan and perform good deeds that He will definitely make them the rulers in the earth. (24:55)
Today we are trying to solve the problems of Kashmir, Somalia, Bosnia,
Albania and Palestine. Here is the solution! If Allah Ta’aalaa is our
friend, (if we strive as an Ummah and make friendship with Allah), then there are glad
tidings for us in this world and in the Hereafter. If Allah is ours, then this
world is ours and the Hereafter is ours. An Urdu poet has very beautifully said:
If you (Allah) are not mine, then nothing is mine
If you are mine then everything is mine - the heavens are mine, the earth
is mine
If Allah is not mine then nothing is mine. I have a Mercedes but if my relationship with
Allah
is not strong then that Mercedes cannot profit me in this world or the Hereafter. I am a
millionaire, I own factories, I am a political leader, I am a community leader, but my
relationship with Allah is not strong, then these worldly positions cannot give me
success, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. How beautifully it has been said.
If you are not mine then nothing is mine; if you are mine then everything is mine, the heavens are mine and the universe is mine. If Allah is ours then everything is ours. The solution to our problems - the problems of the Muslim Ummah - is to make friendship with Allah Ta’aalaa through adopting Taqwaa.
Indeed, those people who say 'Our Rabb is Allah (and)
thereafter they remain firm, then (at the time of death) the angels will descend upon them
(saying), 'Do not fear, nor grieve, but receive glad tidings of Jannah that was promised
to you.' (41:30)
Those people who accept Imaan and thereafter they remain firm, i.e. they
abstain from sins and perform A'maali Saalihah, then the angels will descend at the time
of death to strengthen them and to give glad tidings of Jannah.
The angels will further say,
'We are your friends in this world and in the Hereafter
Therein you will have all that you shall desire, and therein you will have all that you
ask for.' (41:31)
Whilst in this world, you were restraining your desires for the Pleasure
of your Creator, now in Jannah, He will give you anything that you desire.
And after death, what will happen in the grave? Those people who accept
Imaan and perform A'maali
Saalihah, Allah Ta’aalaa will strengthen them in the
grave when they are questioned,
'Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is your Rasool? So friends,
let us turn to Allah, for He Alone is the true and best friend.
A person came crying and weeping to Shaikh Shiblee Rahamatullahi alayh and said, 'O Shaikh, I have destroyed
myself; make du'aa for me that may Allah take me away from this world.' People, whose
relationship with Allah is strong, will never ever dream of committing suicide. Those
people who enjoy the pleasures of this world; alcohol, drug, women, dubbing, etc., they
are the people who will ultimately, want to commit suicide because they will get sick of
this world. Those who enjoy the pleasures of this world by committing pins will be
surrounded by problems from all four sides. They have brought these problems upon
themselves through disobedience to Allah Ta’aalaa. Such people begin to feel
they will only find peace, if they are dead.
An Urdu poet has said:
Now out of fear you desire to die
(But) even after death, if you do not find peace, where will you go?
Now, overpowered by calamities and problems, you desire to
die and you consider death a solution to all your problems, but if, after death, you do
not find peace in the grave, if you do not find peace on the Day of Qiyaamah, if you do
not find peace on the Pul Siraat and you are deprived of entry in Jannah, then where will
you go?
So the person said to Shaikh Shiblee, 'I have a big problem. Make du'aa that
may Allah Ta’aalaa take me away from this world.’ The Shaikh said, 'Calm down,
take it easy, what is the problem?' He replied, 'I had a very close friend, and I loved
him very much. We were friends for a very long time. He sacrificed everything for me and I
sacrificed everything for him. I had never thought that he will ever leave me but he has
betrayed me and has left me. Now my heart
is empty. I cannot survive without him. I love him so much that I want him
back, and if I cannot have him back, then I want to die.’ The Shaikh soothed him and
asked him to calm down saying, 'Look, there is no need to lose hope. Why do you want to
die when there is a solution to your problem?' He quickly said, very happily, 'Tell me
what is the solution, tell me quickly! Since he has left me I have not been eating,
drinking or sleeping. There is no joy in my life. Please tell me quickly.’ The Shaikh
replied, 'The only way to forget a friend who has left you is to make a new friend.’
He said, 'O Shaikh, after ten to fifteen years of loyal friendship, he has betrayed me and
I am suffering. And you are telling me to make a new friend. I fear that if the same thing
happens, then what will become of me.’ Shaikh Shiblee said, 'What if I find you a
friend who will never betray you. In fact, if you are disloyal to him and after years of
disloyalty, you go back to him saying O my friend! Forgive me. I want to be your friend
again, he will immediately accept you again as a friend.’ He said, 'O Shaikh! Show me
this friend! Who is this friend that is so loyal.’ The Shaikh replied, 'Turn to Allah and
make friendship with Him.'
Turn to Allah, my friends! Let us
turn to Allah and strengthen our relationship with Him. And what is the way of strengthening
our relationship with Allah. It is accepting Imaan and adopting Taqwaa.
Refrain from drugs,
abstain from alcohol,
abstain from adultery,
abstain from fornication,
abstain from not performing Salaat,
abstain from not giving Zakaat,
abstain from disobedience to parents,
sit in the company of the 'Ulamaa,
join those Islaamic movements which are supervised by authentic and
reliable 'Ulamaa and
strive to rectify your lives and the lives of the whole society.
Today, we must go from here, with this firm resolution of adopting Taqwaa
- the key to friendship with Allah.
Mercy
Of Allah
Rasoolullah sallallahu
alayhi wasallam has said, '
Allah
Ta’aalaa stretches out His Hand at night so that He Tray forgive the one who has
sinned during the day And He stretches out His Hand during the day so that He may forgive
the one who has sinned during the night... (Muslim)
Allah
spreads His Hands out from Maghrib till Fajr and says, 'O the one who was sinning during
the day, come to my door and ask for forgiveness, I am ready to forgive you.’ And
then from Fajr till Maghrib, He spreads His Hands out again, and says, 'O the one who was
committing sins at night! Come, come to my door, bow down before me, weep and ask for
forgiveness, just say, 'O My Rabb! Forgive me! (And I will forgive you).’
In another Hadeeth Rasoolullah
sallallahu alayhi wasallam
said,
The one who repents from sins is like the one who has no sin. (Bayhaqi)
Let us turn to Allah Ta’aalaa now Whose Mercy is
descending at this moment.
Let us make a firm resolution to adopt Taqwaa - to abstain from all sins,
major and minor.
Inshaa'allah, if we adopt Taqwaa, restrain our Nafs, restrain our unlawful
desires, then Allah Ta’aalaa will let us fulfill all our desires in Jannah. May Allah
Ta’aalaa give us the tawfeeq to follow His Commands. Aameen