In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

 

"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"

 

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah

As-Salaam Alaykum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakaatuh

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

1)Preserve the Noor of the Heart

 

When few drops of water fall on iron, the iron being a heavy metal full of strength, gets rusted, changes its color and loses the inner strength. Our minor sins and bad company is like this water. It first changes our outer, we leave behind the sunnah of our beloved Prophet SAW, like removing beard, hijab, lowering pants below ankle, showing laziness in salah and finally abandoning it and committing all the forbidden acts like smoking, drinking, disobedience and rebellious to parents and all sort of immoral activities. The west changed our outer color, causing rust on our hearts and weakened our inner strength    .

 

Its not that we can't get back our strength but that needs two steps: first, the rust has to be removed from iron by polishing it and second we should paint the iron, so it won't get rusted again when water falls on it. The rust of hearts should be removed by making true repentance to Allah SWT. Most of the time we don't get rid of all our sins. We leave few sins and hold on to some and this takes Istaqamat (steadfastedness) of our deen. When we don't remove the rust but just paint the iron, the paint wont stick to the iron protecting its strength. If we want to be firm on our deen, we should fist repent to Allah SWT sincerely and take resolution we will lead sin free life seeking Allah SWT s help and submit to Him SWT completely. Then the paint has to be applied which is the righteous company. Being in pious company will inspire us to practice sunnah of Prophet SAW and motivate us to more and more good deeds and thus help us shine from inner and outer. Today when we are surrounded by fitna and bad environment be it school, colleges or work place, it is obvious, we will get rusted. Thus we need to polish our heart and paint our heart with righteous company so the environment doesnt weaken us    .

 

If we take the pot that was just made and the mud is raw and when we add water to it, the mud will dissolve in the water and the water will cause hole in the pot. Now when the mud is strengthened and not raw anymore and we add water to it, the water gets cold and yes the very mud which gets dissolved in it when raw, now not just retains water without getting hole in it but makes the water cold. When we become strengthened like the mud, the friends who come to us too will become righteous. When the friends can influence us with their bad akhlaq, why can't we influence them with righteousness? The key here is that we should be strong    .

 

When we paint our heart with Allah SWT's love, fear, the evils won't affect us. Our beloved Prophet SAW has said just like iron our hearts get rusted and to polish it, we need to think of death often which will make our heart soft. Today we see that when it comes to worldly studies, we go for expensive schools and colleges and it becomes our status but when it comes to deen, either we abandon it completely or look for a teacher who will teach us Quran for very less money. We least look for the quality of our deeni education    .

 

When we perform salah with Khushoo, we get noor in our heart. When we involve in useless talks, this noor is taken away and that is why Allah SWT in surah Al-Muminoon, talks about the believers who will succeed, He SWT after mentioning about salah, brings about those who keep away from vain talks    .

 

Successful indeed are the believers    .

 

Those who offer their Salat (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness    .

                                     

 

And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden   ).

 

Imam Ghazzali Rahimahullah said when we recite Quran, perform nafil salah and some other good acts and look into our hearts and if we dont see any improvement, that indicates that our heart has disease. When we get cold, our nose cannot sense the fragrance. When we have disease in our heart, we wont sense the noor of the righteous acts. There is some sin in our heart that prevents from sensing the noor or else its impossible that we can sense a flower but not the noor that has more fragrance than any worldly things. When unnecessary talks can take the noor of the heart, then we can think of sins. Aforetime, about 1200 Muslims used to come to masjid of Sheikh Maulana Zakariyya Rahimahullah for Itikaaf, the main instruction given by the sheikh was that they could eat, sleep but he should never see anyone engaging in talks in which case he will send them out as that destroys all the effort spent in ibadah, taking all the noor of heart.

 

When we have tank full of water and when we open the hole at the bottom of the tank, its obvious the water will be gone through that. We fill our hearts with noor with recitation of Quran, nafil salah but when we open our mouth for vain talks, we lose all the noor from our hearts like the opening of the hole that make the tank empty of water. After every salah, we should ponder on our talks and if we know that we spoke unnecessarily or anything wrong, we should seek forgiveness and we should make the habit of remaining silence unless we are obliged to speak when its necessary. Its important to gain noor and its more important to preserve the noor.

 

A man asked a sheikh that there is a driving center and whoever enters that training center comes out as an excellent driver while many of us enter good deeni majlis, but only few percent turn out to be good. Why do we have the difference? The sheikh replied the deeni majlis demands a person s concentration and accepting the advice and then do jihad, striving to his level best when he will succeed. Many of us dont do mujahida (striving) or we dont accept all the advise and that why we dont get benefitted as we should. Purification demands mujahida. A sheikh advised a student if he had an evil sight, he should immediately pray four units of salah. Its this mujahida we lack. The more we strive, the more we will get benefitted.

 

A man complained to a sheikh that he took bribe of six lakh rupees and he wants to purify himself. The sheikh asked him to give it back by any means and the student said he just has a house of 7 lakh rupees, the sheikh asked him to sell that and give the money back to the rightful owners. He took the courage and followed the advice of the sheikh which is not that simple. The result is Allah SWT made him a haafiz of Quran and this was when he was old. He did hajj and on his return, the sheikh made him to write a book which earned him so much money that sufficed him till the end of his life. We see that when we take advice and at the same time, strive hard, Allah SWT will help us and suffice us and bless us. Today we have talks but no acts. We say rizq comes from Allah SWT and at the same time, we indulge in haram acts to get the money. Our words are not reflected in our acts and we turn out liars. We might earn money through haram means but we will end up giving to doctors and lawyers. We might have children and money that can be used by generation after generation but Allah SWT will make us poor by heart in terms of money and children while a person earning halal income will be made rich in heart even though his income is less and he will find coolness in his children. He will be so peaceful and calm that it would reflect on his face and life. Let Allah SWT help us to accept His SWT advice and act on that advice. Ameen

 

How to obtain Istaqamat on deen

 

 

Istiqamat on deen of Allah SWT is very important if we want to succeed in both the worlds. We should first decide to lead a life pleasing to Allah SWT and we should ask for that to Allah SWT that He SWT grant us such a life keeping us away from haram earnings, mixing with ghair mahrams and all sort of shameful deeds, giving up music and then we should seek Istaqamat on the deen in performing good deeds and staying away from sins.

 

If we get five things in our lives, inshaaAllah we will get Istaqamat.

 

First we should seek for the company of those Muslims who are more pious and righteous than us for this will increase our good deeds. Today we see Muslims sitting with those higher in status and money than us and this makes us ungrateful and never be satisfied and content with what we have and we sit with those Muslims who are less deeni than us making us to think we are very pious and this fills our hearts with pride and the moment we start thinking this, our destructive phase starts. Hanzaala RA was crying, Hanzalah became a munafiq, Hanzalah became a munafiq. Was he a munafiq? He being a Sahabah, if his eeman was weighed against all the muslims of today, it cant be equal. Such is the Eeman and piety of Sahabah RA. So what made him to say that? It was the life of Prophet SAW, the most righteous in front of his eyes. Thus we should always be in company of those who are much better than us in deen which will make us think inferior in deen and this is what we need for it will motivate us to do more good deeds and keep us humble before Allah SWT.

 

Second, we should never give up Salah and we should pray with khushu for this will remove sins from our lives and we should be really firm in keeping up salah. The men should never miss salah in congregation and women should offer salah with adhan without delaying it.

 

Third controlling the tongue which backbites, hurts the feelings of muslims with words of anger. A person can do lots of good deeds but he would have uttered such a word that would earn the displeasure of Allah SWT that he would meet his Rabb in anger and his good deeds will be in vain and the honor of muslims is more sacred in eyes of Allah SWT than the holy kaaba. We will never dare to remove single stone from holy kaaba nor we cant tolerate others doing that and so lets think of honor of a muslim, which is more sacred than this.

 

Four, be conscious of Allah SWT all the time that He SWT is watching us and He SWT can disgrace us then and there for the sins we commit and He SWT even take the eeman from our hearts, the most precious thing if we earn His SWT anger. Behind every disobedience, there is displeasure and anger of Allah SWT and we never know which sin will descend His SWT anger on us. There was a man among the Bani Israel who was committing sins without giving up and he was thinking that Allah SWT was overlooking him when Allah SWT put this thought in his mind as an answer  Didn't I take the khushu from your salah and is this salah not sufficient for your sin?  We should never be careless of sins and we should be very cautious.

 

Fifth, when we commit sins and we will definitely commit for we are human beings, we should immediately offer Salah and if we delay our seeking forgiveness, our heart will be used to sins and become dirty and hard falling more into sins destroying our lives. It is important we talk to Allah SWT in loneliness to forgive us and repent for  sin we committed that we will never do that again and ask Allah SWT s help to give up sins.

 

"Do not feel secure from death at any time: Even if you seek protection in your advisors and your guards, know that the arrows of death are always pointing in our direction, whatever armour and shields we may have. Do you hope for forgiveness when you have not trodden its paths? A ship does not sail on dry land."

 

 

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem


~ 2) What is the life of this world? ~

(In the Light of Noble Qur'an)

"What is the life of this world but play and amusement? But best is the home in the hereafter, for those who are righteous. Will ye not then understand?"(Surah-6 *Al-Anaam* Ayah-32)

"The likeness of the life of the present is as the rain which We send down from the skies: by its mingling arises the produce of the earth- which provides food for men and animals: (It grows) till the earth is clad with its golden ornaments and is decked out (in beauty): the people to whom it belongs think they have all powers of disposal over it: There reaches it Our command by night or by day, and We make it like a harvest clean-mown, as if it had not flourished only the day before! thus do We explain the Signs in detail for those who reflect."(Surah-10 *Yunus* Ayah-24)

"Those who desire the life of the present and its glitter,- to them we shall pay (the price of) their deeds therein,- without diminution."

"They are those for whom there is nothing in the Hereafter but the Fire: vain are the designs they frame therein, and of no effect and the deeds that they do!"(Surah-11 *Hud* Ayah-15-16)

"Set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: It is like the rain which we send down from the skies: the earth's vegetation absorbs it, but soon it becomes dry stubble, which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah who prevails over all things."(Surah-18 *Al-Kahf* Ayah-45)

"What is the life of this world but amusement and play? but verily the Home in the Hereafter,- that is life indeed, if they but knew."

(Surah-29 *Al-Ankaboot* Ayah-64)

"Know ye (all), that the life of this world is but play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting and multiplying, (in rivalry) among yourselves, riches and children. Here is a similitude: How rain and the growth which it brings forth, delight (the hearts of) the tillers; soon it withers; thou wilt see it grow yellow; then it becomes dry and crumbles away. But in the Hereafter is a Penalty severe (for the devotees of wrong). And Forgiveness from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure (for the devotees of Allah.. And what is the life of this world, but goods and chattels of deception? "(Surah-57 *Al-Hadid* Ayah-20)

"And Allah has produced you from the earth growing (gradually),"

"And in the End He will return you into the (earth), and raise you forth (again at the Resurrection)?"

(Surah-71 *Nooh* Ayah-17-18)

Prev

Next