People vary in their level of faith, although they may hear and read the exact same information. Acçordingly, their certainty differs, and this affects everything in their lives.
The true believer lives what Allah and the Prophet said. He witnesses and sees this information throughout his life.
Eg. Everyone sees the sun rising and setting, but whenever the believer sees it he is reminded of the narration where the Prophet tells us that the sun prostrates under the throne of Allah and asks for permission to rise every night. The believer sees with his heart and deals with every piece of information from the Qur'an and Sunnah this way. He believes with certainty.
Ramadan is approaching, but people receive it differently. Some will receive it with high faith, and others will receive it as if it were any other month.
The believer believes that this is a great, special month, unlike any other. Therefore, he will be anxious to reach the month of Ramadan. He will remember all the texts and narrations regarding Ramadan.
HADITH: Indeed the month of Ramadan has come and it is a blessed month. Allah has enjoined fasting therein, the gates of paradise are open, the gates of hellfire are closed and the Devils are chained. In it is a night greater than a 1000 nights. Whoever has been deprived of this night has been deprived of abundant good.
This Hadith consists of a concept which many people are unaware of, and that is the concept of بركه. Barakah is continuous and increasing good.
Eg. A word you may say, which you may not think much of, but Allah blessed it and it had a great effect on the people.
We need to believe:
1) Allah is the one who grants the Barakah.
2) Allah, by His wisdom, specified certain places, people, and times to be blessed.
Ramadan is a blessed month. The good deeds that are performed in this month increase and are continuous in reward.
Some scholars said that any deed you do during Ramadan has multiple rewards and use this Hadith as evidence.
The believer, during the day and night of Ramadan will be doing abundant good deeds. He doesn't waste any minute of his time, especially during the day.
What removes the Barakah during our day in Ramadan? Our lifestyle. Most people focus on the nights of Ramadan, because of Taraweeh. They sleep the entire day just so that they can establish the prayer at night.
Fasting during the day in Ramadan is obligatory whereas Taraweeh is voluntary. The obligatory is more beloved to Allah.
The day for most people have no value. They stay awake the entire night and miss Suhoor. Because they are awake all night, they take it early and then sleep until Fajr.
HADITH: Come to the blessed meal
Suhoor is a blessed meal. If you take it you will have Barakah in your body, health, time, etc.
If you worship Allah according to the teachings of the Prophet, your faith will increase and you will see the effect of it after Ramadan.
If you live according to your own lifestyle then there will be no effect on your faith. People enter and leave Ramadan in the same state because of this.
Ramadan has an effect on your soul and body. When you sleep at night and you wake up for Suhoor, leaving what you love doing (sleeping) to do something which Allah loves (taking Suhoor) and this is what increases your faith. When you leave what you love and do what Allah loves this increases your faith.
Or you are used to having tea or coffee every morning, and you leave it in Ramadan for the sake of the pleasure of Allah. In this way your faith will increase.
After the month of Ramadan you will have more control over your self and desires instead of the other way around. This is how you become a strong believer.
HADITH: The strong believer is better than the weak believer
When you tell someone to quit a bad habit they say they can't change themselves. The month of Ramadan is a month which changes the behaviour of people. If you follow what Allah and the Messenger legislated hoping for the reward, it will change you and rectify your bad habits. It will have an effect on your soul.
Don't surrender to your bad habits. You can change it.
ليلة القدر
Worshipping Allah on this night, is not equal, but better than worshipping Allah for 83 years. If a person lived for 83 years and worshipped Allah every second of his life, then worshipping Allah on this night is still better than that.
This indicates Allah's فضل and mercy. He honoured this nation by granting us this night. We may not even live that long.
This means that from now we should be invoking Allah profusely, asking Him to make us reach that night, and enable us to worship Him on that night.
If you are truthful then Allah will grant it to you. Don't think you can just walk into Ramadan, without asking Allah to help you. Many people miss this night because they had nothing in their hearts.
And whoever is deprived of this night has been deprived of abundant good. If you pray for now, your hopes and desires and fears will all be rewarded. These are considered عبادات. Such that if something happened and you didn't reach that night by sickness or death, then you will get what you hoped for written in your record. You will never be a loser with Allah.
Praying and asking Allah indicates your righteousness.
When you reach the last 10 nights of Ramadan:
On that night, the Angels descend including Jibreel, so many that their number will be more than the pebbles on earth. Barakah will descend with them. There is no evil in that night. It is peace and tranquil until dawn.
Allah decrees all what is going to happen in the following year. Everything of provision, death, birth, calamities, proposerity, etc. will be decreed for the coming year.
اللهم انك عفوا تحب العفوا فعفوا عنا
This is a great dua. You are asking Allah to pardon you. If Allah pardons you, nothing can stop you from entering Paradise except death.
What is the wisdom of being commanded to say this dua on that particular night? In Surah Dukhan Verse 4:
Every matter is ordained by Allah on that night for the following year. If you ask Allah for forgiveness, and Allah forgives you, you will live in عافيه for the coming year.
It is important to be keen and ask Allah for forgiveness during that night. And whoever has been given wellbeing in his affairs will be a winner and successful with Allah.
You have to ask yourself and think. We haven't been legislated or commanded with anything for no reason. But no one ever asks or thinks, this is why it doesn't effect their faith. They miss this night and don't care.
Instead of establishing every night with prayer, they think of the dates. On the 27th night the mosques are full, and after it no one goes.
And Laylat alqadr is not on the 27th every year. The Prophet said to search for it in the last ten nights, but people choose certain dates, and they miss the night, except for those whom Allah had mercy on.
We should have belief in our heart and it should affect our thinking, our attitude, our way of life. You should be different from an ignorant person. You should know how to behave during the month of Ramadan.
The believer follows the Qur'an and Sunnah in his life. Only few come out of this month with their faith increased, most people go back to what they were doing of sins and transgression.
-------
آيات الكرسي
This is the greatest verse in the whole Qur'an because it talks about the names and attributes of Allah. It talks about Allah's greatness, highness, and perfect attributes. It discusses almost 27 names and attributes of Allah.
It is in سورة البقرة which started talking about belief and ended with belief. Ayat alKursi talks about our belief in Allah.
The story of the Baqarah in relation to Ayat AlKursi: Bani Israeel refused to follow the commands and were stubborn when they were command to slaughter the cow. They didn't give Allah His due right and showed stubbornness and didn't submit to the command of Allah. They had no belief in Allah to push them to do it.
It's important to study this verse so that it will increase our faith and belief in Allah.
الله لا اله الا هو
الحي القيوم
لا تاخد سنة و لا نوم
HADITH: Allah doesn't sleep and it doesn't fit His majesty to sleep. He lowers the scales and raises them. The deeds of the day are ascended to him before the deeds of the night, and the deeds of the night are raided to him before the deeds of the day. His veil is light, and if he were to remove that veil, The splendour of his countenance would burn everything Allah's eyesight reaches (I.e. Everything)
If we know who Allah is, we would love, honour and magnify Him.
له ما في السماوات و ما في الارض
Everything belongs to Allah. He is the One who created everything, He owns everything, and He disposes the affairs of everything.
If Allah takes something from you be pleased, and know that it belongs to Allah and not us. He has given it to me for a certain time, and He has taken it back.
If he gives me something I have to show gratitude. Don't feel pride and self-admiration. This is something Allah has given me, and He is able to take it away.
من ذ الذي يشفع عنده الا باذنه
شفاعة - Intercession
If you want to bring good to someone or protect and repel harm from him, you will ask someone who has power and authority to do that.
Eg. The Intercession of the Prophet on the Day of Judgement. Mankind in its entirety will be gathered waiting for the judgement of Allah. The sun will come close to the heads, and people will sweat severely, and that will go to each Prophet asking them to ask Allah to remove distress from them. The Prophet Muhammed will go and ask permission from Allah to remove this harm. Acçordingly Allah will relieve the people it.
Eg2. The Prophet will ask permission for the People of Paradise to enter Paradise.
The شفاعة has three conditions:
1) Allah's permission has to be given
2) Allah has to be pleased with intercessor
3) Allah has to be pleased with the one interceded for.
Eg. Ibrahim was asking for permission to intercede for his father. This is not accepted, because the third condition is not fulfilled.
Eg2. The person who goes to graves and invokes dead people is not accepted because the first and second conditions are not fulfilled. And you don't know if the third condition is fulfilled.
يعلم ما بين أيديهم و ما خلفهم
Allah knows about the past, present, and future. He is informing us of His vast knowledge.
We have forgotten many things we have done, but Allah does not forget. Nothing escapes His knowledge, and nothing is hidden from Him.
This should make you aware of your actions and the movement of your heart.
و لا يحيطون بشئ من علمه الا بما شاء
No one knows about Allah's knowledge except what Allah has taught them. He teaches the Prophet and Messengers and the Angels.
و يعلمكم الله
Whatever the Prophet taught us about Allah, is what Allah has taught us about Himself.
Eg. Palm readers, horoscopes, fortune tellers, etc.
Some people do this out of fun, and curiosity, or to 'test' it. But your prayers will not be accepted for 40 days if you do this. And you are considered a disbeliever if you believe in it.
Nowadays this has taken new forms.
No one knows about the future, or the people, الا بما شاء.
وسع كرسيه السماوات والأرض
We don't know how it looks like but we believe that it exists.
HADITH: All the 7 heavens and the 7 earths and all that is between them compared to the Kursi is like a ring in a desert.
Throw a ring in the desert, it is nothing in comparison to the size of the desert.
"and the Kursi compared to the throne of Allah is like a ring in a desert"
If this is the greatness of His creation, then how great is Allah?
و ما قدر الله حق قدره
People who persist in sins, stubbornness, disobeying Allah, mocking, dishonouring and killing Messengers, etc. really don't know who Allah is. They don't give Allah his due estimate. We should not be like Bani Israeel.
There are some incorrect interpretations which say the Kursi = العرش. They are two separate creations.
و لا يؤده حفظهما
No fatigue touches Allah when He protects the heavens and the earth. When you want to praise Allah properly you negate and affirm: No fatigue touches Him, He is القوي.
We believe in the perfect strength of Allah.
و هو العلي العظيم
Allah is above the 7 heavens. The Sufis say Allah is everywhere, yet Allah tells us He is the most high. Allah is the most perfect, and the perfect One should always be high. Our natural disposition tells us that. That the great should always be high. When people are in distress they automatically look up.
If Allah was everywhere why do they raise their hands up when they ask Him?
He rises over the throne in a manner which suits his majesty. We don't know how, but we believe.
He is high in His being, attributes, power, etc. Everyone is subdued to Allah.
We should have submission and humility in our hearts if we believe in these names.
People argue and dispute and judge Allah. They use their minds to judge Allah, when it is Allah who gave them that mind.
Nowadays people are raising doubts about the existence of God and are focusing specifically on Muslim youth. The trend of the world is towards atheism.
Richard Dawkins was asked about a doubt he has until now which he can't find an answer to. He replied, "The perfection in the Universe"
He can't find an answer to His doubt, although it is easily cleared with belief in a Creator.
Don't let your children memorise Ayat AlKursi like parrots without teaching them the meaning. The Aqeedah is there.
After Ayat Al Kursi:
In Verse 256:
The relation between this verse and Ayat AlKursi: After talking about His noble self and His perfect attributes, Allah tells us not to compel people to believe. The truth is manifest and clear.
فمن يكفر بالطاغوت = لا اله
و يؤمن بالله = الا الله
فقد استمسك بالعروة الوثقى لانفصام لها
The trustworthy handhold is لا اله الا الله. It is Tawheed.
The fruit of Tawheed:
in Verse 257:
Allah will be your protector, supporter, etc. Allah has general and special wilayah, the latter of which is only for the believers.
Allah will bring them out of darkness into light. He will grant them light in their lives, where they can see wrong from right, they will have light in their graves, light on the Day of Judgement, etc.
Allah will grant them strength to do acts of worship.
Allah will grant them success in their lives.
He will reform all their affairs, both the worldly and religious affairs. They will go right.
We have to have knowledge first, then belief, then love for Allah. If you love Allah you will love whomever Allah loves, and hate whomever Allah hates.
Your heart will be attached to Allah. You won't associate anyone in worship to Allah. In this way you will be one of the Awliyah of Allah.
Comments
Post a Comment