Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "Allah makes the way to Jannah easy for him who treads the path in search of knowledge." [Muslim].
We need to renew our intentions every time we leave our house to attend circles of knowledge. We should hope Allah will make the path to Paradise easy for us.
The person who believes with certainty that he will one day meet Allah will prepare for this meeting. Acts of worship will not be a burden for him. He will take advantage of his health and time to come closer to Allah; to prepare for the real life.
Don't exhaust your life and health on worldly things. They are blessings which Allah conferred upon us to use for the next life. Don't distract yourself with worldly affairs such that on the Day of Judgement you will feel بغن (regret) for having the chance to come closer to Allah but wasting it.
The person who believes with certainty that he will one day meet Allah will prepare for this meeting. Acts of worship will not be a burden for him. He will take advantage of his health and time to come closer to Allah; to prepare for the real life.
Don't exhaust your life and health on worldly things. They are blessings which Allah conferred upon us to use for the next life. Don't distract yourself with worldly affairs such that on the Day of Judgement you will feel بغن (regret) for having the chance to come closer to Allah but wasting it.
Allah gave the disbelievers the chance to believe but they didn't take advantage of it. There will even be believers who feel regret on the Day of Judgement after seeing other believers surpassing them and occupying higher, loftier homes with Allah. They had the exact same chance but did not make use of it.
Allah opened the gate of knowledge for us, therefore we should take advantage of it.
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It is important for us to learn about Allah's names and attributes because:
1) Weak acts of worship are due to weak belief and weak belief is due to weak knowledge.
E.g. We say the Dhikr after the prayer but there is no feeling of greatness of Allah in our hearts.
2) The more your faith increases the more you will be able to fight the whispers of the Shaytan. Most people suffer from وسواس and this spoils acts of worship.
E.g. As soon as the person enters the prayer, he starts planning everything until its end.
One of the whispers of the Shaytan is that he has steps. The first step of the Shaytan is casting the evil whisper to test you. The ignorant person who doesn't detect that this whisper is from the Shaytan responds to him. This is why the Shaytan has no power over the knowledgeable people, because they are heedful that this is from the Shaytan. They immediately repel it and say أعوذ بالله.
The ignorant person will listen to these whispers and the Shaytan will plan for him until he spoils his acts of worship.
Another serious step of the Shaytan is that he makes acts of worship heavy on the heart. When you want to recite the Qur'an or do something good he will make it heavy. But when the person finishes the act of worship he becomes energetic. This is because he was overpowered by the Shaytan during the entire act of worship.
There are so many good deeds you want to do but he puts obstacles in front of you in order to prevent you. The knowledgeable person knows this and will immediately seek refuge with Allah from this because being prevented from a good deed is something serious.
Another step is that he whispers evil thoughts about Allah. That Allah is forsaking you, not responding to your prayer, wants to make your life difficult, etc. Thinking bad about Allah, despairing of Allah's mercy is a serious matter. People fall into depression to an extent that they left the religion.
The Shaytan makes the person not accept the Qadar of Allah and be discontent with it.
Therefore we need knowledge, especially the knowledge about Allah.
Q. What is the difference between the whisper of the self and the whisper of the Shaytan?
A. The self is always inciting you to do one specific thing all the time. A matter that your self desires and likes. This will come again and again. Whereas the Shaytan distracts you with many different matters.
You have to strive hard against your evil self and the Shaytan.
We say every day in our morning and evening supplications: "أعوذ بك من شر نفسي، و من شر الشيطان و شركه "
We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves. Keep praying until Allah gives you a tranquil soul. A soul that knows who Allah is. Who knows the reality of itself, the hereafter, the reality of this life, the Shaytan.
When you know Allah is your Wakeel, AlRahman, AlRaheem, alWadood, AlRaoof. When you know this, you will expect good from Allah, nothing will distract you, you will explain situations in life correctly.
3) There is lack of morality nowadays. The believer is the one who practices high morals. When you see immorality then know that behind it is weak faith.
Allah calls the believers in 98 verses in the Qur'an. After every call is a warning or a command where Allah is either calling us to practice a certain behavior or warning us against something evil.
E.g.
Your faith should prevent you from mocking, making fun, backbiting, suspecting other people. There is a relation between Eeman and morals. Committing these sins indicates weakness of faith.
"Haya’ (modesty) and Iman (faith) are two that go together. If one is lifted, the other is also lifted.” [Recorded by al-Hakim]
Immodesty indicates weakness of faith. الحياء is a part of Eeman. Yet nowadays nudity is widespread, even amongst those who have knowledge. This is due to weak belief in Allah.
If they knew Allah is الحي and loves modesty then they would be modest.
If morals are not based on Eeman then the person will not receive the admonition when reminded.
Once a Bedouin transgressed against Umar which caused him to become angry. He was reminded with one verse from the Qur'an: خذ العفوا and immediately desisted.
His knowledge and belief made him immediately stop. Nowadays, people argue when you remind them, yet the early generations would be afraid. The difference between them and us is their faith. High morals indicate high faith.
When you practice morals do so hoping the reward from Allah, wanting Allah to praise you, not the people.
The problem is, even those around us don't remind us. They see us committing wrong but no one reminds us unless Allah puts this inspiration in our heart.
Another moral which people hardly practice nowadays: Patience.
Allah joined patience with Eeman in the Qur'an.
In (2:153):
What does it mean when Allah says He is with those who are patient? This is the companionship of Allah. He is with the person by His knowledge, with His seeing, hearing. He will support the person, defend him, keep him firm.
الصبر is preventing oneself from responding to any thought that contradicts the Shariah.
Every action is preceded with a thought. Whenever a thought comes, you have to be patient and not act upon it.
Whoever tastes the companionship of Allah will not lose his temper, act foolishly. He will control his tongue.
In another verse (3:146) Allah says:
And in (39:10): إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُم بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
We need to practice patience, especially in difficult situations. This is the test. Remind yourself of the rewards and you will receive them.
As soon as you get the problem hits you need to show patience. Not after you tell the whole world and complain.
E.g. If you are oppressed by your husband in one matter and you tell the whole world about all his secrets and all the times he oppressed you, you become the bigger oppressor.
Hold your tongue, don't react. Don't respond to the whispers of the Shaytan if you really want the reward.
Patience is required in three times:
1) When we perform acts of worship
From the moment you intend to do any good deed, the first thing the Shaytan will do is to try and stop you from doing it. Here you need patience to repel the whispers of the Shaytan.
While you are doing the good deed you need patience to continue it and collect your heart as the Shaytan comes and whispers trying to make you finish faster and distracting you.
If you find yourself praying and your heart is somewhere else then you are not being patient.
You need patience after finishing the act of worship by asking Allah to accept it. Ask Allah to accept it from you for every little thing you do.
The Shaytan has no power over us except in one thing.
On the Day of Judgement, after the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of Hell enter Hell, the Shaytan will come and address the People of Hell.
Allah, out of His mercy, is telling us what's going to happen in the future on the Day of Judgement. The Shaytan has no power over us, except that he calls us, and people responded. Regret will not benefit the person on that Day.
2) When we prevent ourselves from committing sins
The Shaytan and our self is always inciting us to commit sins. He comes in the way we like.
E.g. Someone offended you. Naturally you will feel bad. You want to forget but the Shaytan will remind you of that same event again and again. He doesn't want you to forgive nor forget. If the person responds to the whispers and the planning of the Shaytan, as soon as you get the first chance with that person, you will commit the sin.
As soon as the Shaytan reminds you of that person, pray for them as much as you can. You will be humiliating the Shaytan. Do this every time the Shaytan comes to remind you of that person, and He will not come to whisper again about that situation.
3) When a decree of Allah befalls us
If it is pleases you, thank Allah. If it is an adversity, show patience. As long as you are on the journey to Allah you have to practice الشكر and الصبر until the end of your life.
Another moral that is barely practiced is الحلم والاناة:
Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudri said: “We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he said: ‘The delegations of ‘Abdul-Qais have come to you,’ and no one had seen anyone. While we were like that, they came and alighted. They came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Ashajj ‘Ansari was left behind. He came afterwards, and halted at the halting-place, made his she-camel kneel down, and changed of his traveling clothes, then he came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him: ‘O Ashajj, you have two characteristics that Allah likes: Forbearance and deliberation.’ He said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, was I born with them or are they acquired?’ He said: ‘No, rather it is something that you were born with.’” (Ibn Majah)
الحلم is to withhold oneself from a reaction.
Patience leads to الحلم
اناة is to verify the matter and to not behave in haste. It is the opposite of عجل.
As soon as his people saw the Prophet they ran without thinking. This is reacting quickly.
الحلم comes before الاناة. The person first holds himself from a reaction, the he verified and is not hasty, and then takes the correct action.
This was an inborn quality in him. If you don't have it then you need to strive hard to attain it.
Nowadays we lack both.
Eg. When we receive a message we immediately send it to the whole list. Then we find out that it was inauthentic. This indicates that we are hasty.
We have to be حلماء and then verify and act. Don't be hasty otherwise you may fall into a blameworthy action.
Allah loves these two characteristics.
After knowing that morals are built on faith then you need to strengthen your Eeman and the Eeman of those under your guardianship. The first thing you do is teach them about Allah, what He loves, and hates, what will bring them closer to Allah. You teach this to yourself first, then your children.
Don't expect good morals from your children if it is not based on faith. The person to blame are the parents, for not teaching them about Allah, and what He loves and hates. Then you need to build morals on this Eeman.
If the person knows Allah by His names and attributes, He will yearn to please Allah. If Allah loves it he practices it, if Allah hates it he abstains.
The companions prior to Islam would commit many sinful crimes. After embracing Islam they became the best people on the earth because the Prophet took care to build Eeman in the hearts of the Sahabah, then the verses about the lawful and unlawful came.
Shu'bah bin Mugheera was a highway robber prior to Islam. After he embraced Islam, he became one of the best leaders in his morals. His faith and belief changed him.
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Legal reasons that make us take care of studying Allah's names and attributes
Allah took care of focusing on His names and attributes in the Qur'an.
The greatest verse in the Qur'an is Ayat Al-Kursi, the greatest Surah in the Qur'an is Surah Al-Fatihah, and the Surah which is considered a 1/3rd of the Qur'an is Surah Ikhlas. The common factor is that they all talk about Allah. Ayat Al-Kursi compromises of 27 names and attributes of Allah alone. Also, most of the verses after the Huruf Muqata't are either praising the Qur'an, the Prophet, or Allah.
The greatest verse in the Qur'an is Ayat Al-Kursi, the greatest Surah in the Qur'an is Surah Al-Fatihah, and the Surah which is considered a 1/3rd of the Qur'an is Surah Ikhlas. The common factor is that they all talk about Allah. Ayat Al-Kursi compromises of 27 names and attributes of Allah alone. Also, most of the verses after the Huruf Muqata't are either praising the Qur'an, the Prophet, or Allah.
Eg1. In (20:1-8):
Allah is defying the Arabs to bring a Quran like this, even though their language is made up of these letters.
Allah is talking about His greatness. This Qur'an comes from the One who created the heavens and earth.
When a Surah begins talking about certain names of Allah, you need to know that the entire Surah revolves around these names.
Eg2, In (57:1-6)
'
6 Verses, one after the other, about Allah.
Eg3. The last three verses of Surah AlHashr:
Do we know the meaning of every single one of these names? Do we worship Allah by these names?
Allah is drawing our attention to worship Him by His names and attributes.
Eg4. In (4:176):
In Surah An-Nisa, Allah talks about the weak categories of people.
Allah ends this verse with:
والله بكل شئ عليم
Whoever disputes regarding these shares then Allah knows everything. He knows what is good, what is not good, what suits you, etc.
When Allah states how much a woman should have, He knows that's enough for us. He knows that the man is responsible for spending on others. The woman is free of responsibilities in this aspect.
When Allah states how much a woman should have, He knows that's enough for us. He knows that the man is responsible for spending on others. The woman is free of responsibilities in this aspect.
Eg5. In (5:120):
In the beginning of the Surah Allah tells us that He judges as he wills.
To Him belongs the heavens and the earth, therefore it is up to Him to judge as He wills. We have no right to question.
Eg6. In Surah Talaq (65)
This Surah is about divorce. Allah mentioned "و من يتق الله...." five times. People have lack of knowledge and belief in Allah thus they do not fear Him with regards divorce. There are a lot of problems in general because people don't fear, know, or magnify Allah.
It is important to take care of the names and attributes of Allah in our journey to Allah.
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