بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
"(The hypocrites) will call the believers: "Were we not with you?" The believers will reply: "Yes! But you led yourselves into temptations, you looked forward for our destruction; you doubted (in Faith); and you were deceived by false desires, till the Command of Allah came to pass. And the chief deceiver (Satan) deceived you in respect of Allah.""
20-2-1438H
Only when our intention is purely for Allah's sake, will we get the fruit of the action we are performing and see the effect of it on our faith. That is why we need to constantly renew and purify our intentions.
الإيمان (Faith) will distinguish between the believers and hypocrites on the Day of Judgement. In the beginning, all the believers and hypocrites will be together, then a wall will be set up between them. The believers will walk through a door to Jannah, and the hypocrites will be detained behind that wall.
In Surah AlHadid [57:12-14]:
"On the Day you shall see the believing men and the believing women their light running forward before them and by their right hands. Glad tidings for you this Day! Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise), to dwell therein forever! Truly, this is the great success!"
"On the Day when the hypocrites men and women will say to the believers: "Wait for us! Let us get something from your light!" It will be said: "Go back to your rear! Then seek a light!" So a wall will be put up between them, with a gate therein. Inside it will be mercy, and outside it will be torment."
The hypocrites were with the believers in this life, but did four serious things which led them to this situation:
1) "فتنتم أنفسكم" - Led themselves into temptation
2) "تربّصتم" - Awaited the destruction of the believers
3) "ارتبتم" - Had doubts
4) "غرّتكم الأمانيّ" - Were deceived with false hopes with regards to Allah
In this life people differ in their level of faith.
Allah also mentioned in Surah An-Nisa [4:137-138] and Surah Al-Munafiqoon [63:3] that the hypocrites were originally believers, then disbelieved;- their faith decreased until it diminished. This teaches us that the issue of الإيمان is a very important issue; we should always be concerned about it, and ask ourselves if it is increasing or decreasing.
We will be questioned regarding our belief in Allah, His Religion, and Muhammed ﷺ when we are in our graves. When the believer answers these questions, the Angels will say to him:
"نم صالحا علمنا أنك موقن"
"Sleep in peace; we have known that you were a true believer who believed with certainty"
[Bukhari #7287]
We have to ask ourselves - Has our faith reached the degree of certainty where we have no doubt about Allah, His Religion, and the Prophet ﷺ?
How do I know that my faith has reached the degree of certainty? Faith is news about the articles of faith/unseen which comes to you, and you accept and believe in it without any doubt. Then you should take action. This action indicates that your faith has reached the degree of certainty.
Whenever you perform any deed, such as attending a gathering of knowledge, you should see Paradise, the forgiveness of your sins, Allah. The true believer whose faith reached the degree of certainty does not see people; he sees what is behind them. He sees Allah; he thinks of the hereafter.
All the events that will occur on the Day of Judgement should be alive in front of your eyes. You should always see the Siraat, the Meezan, the Qantara, Hell, and Paradise, whenever you do good, give, withhold, etc. This is in order that you do your deeds truthfully for Allah's sake.
How do you know if your deed has been accepted by Allah? If Allah accepts the deed, there should be fruits. You know Allah has accepted your when you see the fruits of الإيمان (Faith) in your heart and life. Search for these fruits.
The Greatest Fruit is: 1) The Wilayah of Allah - Allahs Friendship, Support, Love. You should see this in your life; see how Allah supports you during difficult times. As a result of this special Wilayah, you will be given a light to see the right as right and the wrong as wrong, and to see everything in accordance to the Qur'an and Sunnah.
When you were ignorant, in darkness, you could not distinguish wrong from right. But as soon as faith entered your heart, the way of your thinking changed; you see the right as right and the wrong as wrong. You see the reality of everything. You would know that this life is the abode of play, amusement, boasting, etc. so it does not tempt you anymore. The person who lives in darkness is indulged in his amusement and says, "There's no problem, why are you make a big deal, let us enjoy?". No one says that enjoying this life in a lawful way is prohibited, but the believer does not waste his time in excessive enjoyment, at the expense of his acts of worship.
Who are the Awliyaa of Allah?
In Surah Yunus [10:62-63]:
"No doubt! Verily, the Auliya' of Allah [i.e. those who believe in the Oneness of Allah and fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which he has forbidden), and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)], no fear shall come upon them nor shall they grieve"
"Those who believed (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and used to fear Allah much"
They are those who believed, and as a result of their belief, performed righteous deeds, as well as feared Allah so abstained from all His prohibitions.
Allah described the state of the believer in Surah An'am [6:122]:
"Is he who was dead (without Faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life (by knowledge and Faith) and set for him a light (of Belief) whereby he can walk amongst men, like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out? Thus it is made fair-seeming to the disbelievers that which they used to do."
He was dead due to his lack of faith, ignorance, disbelief, and Allah gave him the life of knowledge and faith.
Many times in life, we are in confusion as to how to act or behave.This means that we are in darkness and need light from Allah. In situations like these, you would know the importance of having faith. If you increase in faith, Allah will give you light to guide you to what pleases Him. You would know how to walk amongst people and deal with them.
If you attain the Wilaya of Allah, you will receive the rest of the fruits. If you are a Wali of Allah, your life will be a good life.
2) Winning the Pleasure of Allah
If Allah is pleased with a person, his final abode will be Paradise. Paradise is only for those who believe in the oneness of Allah; الموحدين. But not everyone who says لا اله الا الله will enter Paradise, because even the hypocrites say it. It is the person who says لا اله الا الله whilst fulfilling its conditions:
1) Knowledge
2) Certainty
3) Acceptance
4) Submission
5) Truthfulness
6) Sincerity
7) Love
Many Muslims are content with the level of faith that have and do not feel like they require more than that. And yet Allah commanded us in Surah An-Nisa [4:136] to increase our faith:
"O you who believe! Believe in Allah, and His Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) , and the Book (the Quran) which He has sent down to His Messenger, and the Scripture which He sent down to those before (him), and whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away."
They are already believers, but Allah commands them to believe. This means, as Sheikh As-Sa'di رحمه الله explained, that you have to take the means of increasing your faith. You should increase in sincerity, in rectifying your deeds, etc.
The problem with the hypocrites is that Allah gave them faith and light, but because they did not take care of increasing it, it extinguished. Allah set this parable in Surah Al-Baqarah [2:17-18]:
"Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; then, when it lighted all around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness. (So) they could not see."
"They are deaf, dumb, and blind, so they return not (to the Right Path)."
The hypocrites did not put more wood in the fire, so the light extinguished. This is how الإيمان leaves the heart, if a person does not protect, maintain, and increase it. It is obligatory upon the believer to maintain his faith and stay away from the doubts, temptations, and trials which will take away his faith.
3) Security from the Hellfire
4) Allah defends the believers.
In Surah Al-Hajj [22:38]:
"Truly, Allah defends those who believe. Verily! Allah likes not any treacherous ingrate to Allah [those who disobey Allah but obey Shaitan (Satan)]."
The impacts of Allah's defense is that He:
a) Saves the believers from every disliked matter
b) Saves them from the evil of their selves.
Our self is always pushing us to do evil. If you want to know how evil our selves are, look at us in Ramadan. The Shayateen are chained, but we still quickly want to finish reciting the Qur'an, and this is due to our evil self which persists in making us commit sins. Allah protects the believers from the effects of their evil selves.
c) Saves them from the evil of the Shayateen of Jinn and Mankind.
5)
The best life in this entire world is the life of the believer. This is a fact, because Allah made this promise in the Qur'an, in Surah An-Nahl [16:97]:
"Whoever works righteousness, whether male or female, while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islamic Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)."
"من عمل صالحاً" - "Whoever works righteousness"
In order for a good deed to be accepted, it should be perfomed with:
1) Belief
2) According to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ
What is the result of this? "فلنحيينه حياة طيبة" - "Verily, to him We will give a good life"
What is the description of the good life?
Rest in the heart, peace in the mind, tranquility, broadness of the chest towards:
1) The Qadar of Allah.
The decrees of Allah have already been written before the creation of the heavens and whatever befalls us occurs by the Will of Allah. No one can avoid it or change it. But when the Qadar falls down, because of the difference in faith, people receive it differently.
When any calamity befalls the true believer, regardless if it is a sickness, loss of job or family, he receives it with peace in his mind and rest in his heart. This is because he believes that the Mercy of Allah, the Wisdom of Allah, the Nurturing of Allah is behind this decree. His belief makes him explain the decrees correctly; He knows how to analyze the situation he is going through according to the knowledge he has of Allah. He sees everything as good and from Allah.
E.g. The weather changes, and most people complain about it.
But Who decreed this weather for us? We have no good manners with Allah. We criticize the actions of Allah, saying "Kuwait's weather is not good" and "We are always sick", etc.
As for the believer, he sees this change in weather, the sickness he is afflicted with, as all good from Allah. Because he knows his Lord; that He is رب العالمين، الرحمن الرحيم، etc. He does not put us into difficulties beyond our scope. He receives the decrees with certainty; that it came from a Lord who is All-Wise, All-Merciful, and he knows that the choice of Allah is better than his choice. The believer is thus pleased and contented with his Lord, and because he is pleased with Allah, Allah is pleased with him.
These small situations we go through daily are a test for our pleasure with Allah. The situation with most people is that they are always criticizing and unhappy. And this is due to the heart - because the tongue will not utter a statement except that it is according to what is established in the heart.
2) The رزق (Provision) of Allah.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
لَيْسَ الْغِنَى عَنْ كَثْرَةِ الْعَرَضِ وَلَكِنَّ الْغِنَى غِنَى النفس
"Richness does not lie in the abundance of (worldly) goods but richness is the richness of the soul (heart, self)." [Muslim #1051]
The truly rich person is the person who has the least worldly needs, while the truly poor person is in always in need of worldly things, and is always asking. The rich believer accepts and is pleased with whatever Allah has given him of provision.
The more a person lives in luxury, the more in need he becomes. The rich person is in need of his bed, of his coffee in the morning, otherwise his day will not be good.
If you want to see the difference between the rich and poor, look at people during Hajj time. The truly poor people are always criticizing - about having no tea in the morning, or that the milk is finished, - and lose the rewards of their Hajj because of these little needs, even though they are living in luxury. They are not satisfied, although Allah made it easy for them. This is true poverty, because richness is the richness of the soul. One should restrain himself from being attached to this world.
When will the person feel at rest in his heart and have peace of mind? When he is pleased and satisfied with what Allah has given him. He sleeps wherever Allah puts him, worships Allah wherever he is, takes whatever he is given. If Allah tells him to go right, he goes right, if Allah tells him to go left, he goes left. He is satisfied regardless if Allah gives or withholds.
When something is withheld from you, and you show displeasure with Allah, then no matter how much Allah gives you, you will never be satisfied. You have to believe that Allah, الرزاق, distributed provision 50,000 years before the creation of the heavens and earth. Everyone will take his share. Be pleased with the share Allah has allowed for you, and if you are pleased, Allah will be Pleased with you and give you more than you expect.
The more ones attachment to this world is cut off, the lighter he will feel in his body and soul. But the more in need you are, the heavier you become.
E.g. In Ramadan, the strong believers feel like they have more time to do good deeds and worship Allah, and are very light. As for those whose faith is weak, they cannot move, feel lazy, heavy, tired, with headaches, until they break their fasts.
Check yourself with regards to the Qadar of Allah and the provision. This is the criteria by which you can judge the level of your faith.
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