6a - Name of Allah الرقيب

The Prophet ﷺ said:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ يُعْطِي الدُّنْيَا مَنْ يُحِبُّ وَمَنْ لَا يُحِبُّ وَلَا يُعْطِي الدِّينَ إِلَّا لِمَنْ أَحَبَّ فَمَنْ أَعْطَاهُ اللَّهُ الدِّينَ فَقَدْ أَحَبَّهُ 

"Verily, Allah the Exalted gives the world to those He loves and to those He does not love, but He only gives the religion to those He loves. Whoever is given the religion, then Allah has loved him."

Allah doesn't give the favour of religion and faith to just anyone, He chooses among His servants. Feel the importance of what you're doing. Allah chose you out of all the people. In (49:7):

Allah made faith dear to your heart. The fact that you love Allah, want to know about Him, is something granted to you by Allah. It is He who made disbelief, rebellion, and disobedience to Him hateful in your heart. It's Allah's action - not yours, the teachers, or anyone else's. 

And whomever Allah has done that for is of الراشدون. They are the guided ones amongst Allah slaves; the ones whom Allah chose. This is a huge blessing from Allah. Understand how much Allah favours you when He teaches you about Him.

And Faith is the best deed in Allah's sight. 

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم سُئِلَ أَىُّ الأَعْمَالِ أَفْضَلُ قَالَ  " الإِيمَانُ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ "

It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked: "Which deed is best?" "He said: Faith in Allah and His Messenger ﷺ"

عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ سَأَلْتُ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم أَىُّ الْعَمَلِ أَفْضَلُ، قَالَ " إِيمَانٌ بِاللَّهِ، وَجِهَادٌ فِي سَبِيلِهِ "

Narrated by Abu Dharr, "I asked the Prophet, "What is the best deed?" He replied, "To believe in Allah and to fight for His Cause."

Belief in Allah entails belief in His existence, His names, attributes, actions. Knowing Allah, and then worshipping Him according to it, is the most beloved deed.

And when the Prophet ﷺ said it is the best of deeds, it indicates it's great reward and heaviness on the scales. Try your best to learn as much as you can about Allah, call Him by His names - He loves that you say, "يا الرحمن have mercy on me, يا الرزاق provide for me, etc." 

The Impacts of Believing in Allah's Name الرقيب 

Allah watches our hearts, concerns, thoughts, utterances, actions. We are under his observation throughout our lives. We cannot hide from Allah. Believe that Allah is watching you, what you're doing, what you're thinking of. 

If you really believe in Allah's name الرقيب - which entails His names الحفيظ، السميع، العليم، البصير - it will:

1) Make you a محسن.And الإحسان is the highest state of Eeman; to perfect your worship to Allah. 

2) Make you sincere

3) Make you modest - avoid what's shameful. 

4) Make you practice Taqwa 

In (4:1):

What will help you be pious and fear Allah?

"إن الله كان عليكم رقيبا"

How can I practice Taqwa?

The Prophet ﷺ said: “Temptations and trials will be presented to men’s hearts like the way a reed mat is woven, stick by stick. And any heart which is filled by them will have a black mark put into it. But any heart which rejects them will have a white mark put into it. 

The result will be that there are two types of hearts: one white like a white stone that will not be harmed by any turmoil and temptation so long as the heavens and earth endure; and the heart black and dust-colored like a vessel which is overturned, not recognizing what is good or rejecting what is evil but only being impregnated with passion.” [Muslim]

So when trials are exposed to me, I need to:

1) Beware of sinning with my heart - committing sins like arrogance, envy, pride, jealousy, showing off, hypocrisy, etc.

We are put through trials throughout the day. As soon as I go through the test, two parties appear in my heart: Knowledge + Faith sit on one side of the table, and the Shaytan + my evil desires sit on the other. 

Both sides struggle and fight each other, and this struggle can take place in seconds - which is why many people don't perceive it. But the believer is aware of this struggle which occurs in his heart. 

If your knowledge about Allah, what He loves and hates, the Halal and Haraam, overcome the Shaytan and your evil self, you've practiced Taqwa, and your name with Allah is a متقي. You've won and you'll be rewarded.

But if the Shaytan and your evil self overcomes you, you'll be the opposite - an arrogant person, a liar, an envious person, a hypocrite, etc. And a sin will be written in your record. 

E.g. Women love to beautify themselves. This is something natural in them. And Allah ordered the woman to cover herself. My trial is in the middle of the table - if my knowledge and faith is strong, I do what Allah is pleased with, my concern is Allah's pleasure and no one else, I don't care what the people say. I've passed the test.

E.g. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "I certainly know people of my nation who will come on the Day of Judgement with good deeds like the mountains of Tihamah, but Allah will make them like scattered dust"

Thawban said, "O Messenger of Allah! Describe them to us and tell us more, so that we will not become of them unknowingly"

The Prophet ﷺ said, "They are your brothers and from your race, establishing the nights with prayer as you do, but they will be people who, when they are alone, violate the sacred limits of Allah" 

These people have abundant righteous good deeds. They even get up for prayer at night. But when they are alone, in seclusion, they violate and transgress the limits of Allah. 

This could take the form of going to a place where no one knows you, so you do whatever you want, totally heedless of Allah's observation. 

Or it could happen when you're completely silent, just with your thoughts.  

2) Protect my heart from turning to or being attached to other than Allah.

Regardless of how intense the situation is, don't let your heart have hope that someone else will relieve you. 

When Ibrahim عليه السلام was thrown into the fire, Jibreel offered him help. But he refused help and said, "حسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل" 

Allah is able to make our lives easy, but He sometimes makes us our life constricted, go through hardships and difficulties - to test our Tawheed. Will our hearts turn to other than Allah? Or will we stand at Allah's gate, regardless of what happens, until He cures us, relieves us, guides us? Or will we outwardly say we are trusting in Allah, while our hearts are busy running to people? 

As your faith increases, as your Tawheed will increase. But as soon as your faith weakens, you'll start turning to people for help, and your heart will get distracted, thinking help is in people's hands and not Allah's. 

It is from the weak certainty of the person that when Allah gives him a blessing he thanks the people and not Allah. And when Allah prevents him from a blessing, he blames and accuses the people, falsely believing that they are in charge of giving and preventing. He doesn't realize that Allah is the true provider; everything is in His hands.

What is our test in this life? الاسباب - The means

E.g. I'm sick. I go to the hospital in search of a cure. In the morning I leave my house saying:

"بسم الله توكلت على الله و لا حول ولا قوة إلا بالله"

Total reliance on Allah.

Then as soon as I enter the hospital, I see a doctor I know, and immediately my heart feels at rest towards her. She'll give me the medicine I need, everything will go smoothly, etc.

This is the test. Your heart didn't rely on Allah - it turned to the means. And I felt at rest. And this is the problem - you felt that the means would help you for sure. This means that you failed with Allah. 

Your heart totally absorbed this person, and relied on the means, and forgot Allah, whom you said, "توكلت على الله..." When you left your home.

Our hearts are susceptible to turn to the people especially when they help and give us. But the people are just means, and Allah's testing our Tawheed. The peoples whose hearts are full of Tawheed will never turn to the means, no matter how strong it is. Their hearts are always attached to Allah and they thank Allah for that blessing.

Allah is الاول - He comes before the means; He brings the means into existence. 

Two things are required from us whenever Allah brings the means: 

1) Believe that this is from Allah 

Allah is the One who brought this person to me, Allah is testing me. This should be clear in your heart. This is not because you prayed or because you are a good person. Allah is المنان. 

2) Don't incline towards that means; don't let your heart turn towards it for even  a blink of an eye. 

E.g. After studying with a teacher for a while, and being guided, many students hearts get attached to her. And this is wrong. She's just a test for you from Allah; brought to you by Allah. 

There may be teachers who sit for hours teaching and there's no effect, and teachers who just say one verse and people are guided - because guidance is in Allah's hands. Don't ever let your heart become attached to people, no matter who they are. 

E.g. Many parents chose good friends, good schools, protected their children from evil and yet their children are misguided. You wonder how this happens. It's because they relied on the means, and not Allah. This doesn't mean you don't take the means. Take the means, but your heart should be at rest with Allah. He will give you the result because He is الآخر; He'll give you the benefit of taking the means.