Your Importance

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Look up to the skies often
Day and night
For you will find beauty in every inch
It will bring you joy.
You might ask
What can you see in a pitch black night?
What can you see in a gloomy day
overwhelmed with rain clouds?
You see Allah at work
And everything He painted is beautiful!
And beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Imagine if we can see what is beyond the sky. It is something more tremendous beyond our imagination.

All that is known of the universe, including what we can see, is within what is called the lowest heavens (part of the temporary world).

Allah says,

إِنَّا زَيَّنَّا ٱلسَّمَآءَ ٱلدُّنْيَا بِزِينَةٍ ٱلْكَوَاكِبِ ﴿٦

We have adorned the lower heaven with the adornment of the star. [Quran As-Saffat 37:6]

Above the lower heaven there are six more heavens, and above it is the Baitul Ma'mur, and above it is the Sidratul Muntaha (it is a lote tree which marks the end of the heavens) and beyond that is another world--Paradise and the Throne of Allah.

The sky that we see as compared to the one above it is like a ring in a desert, and the one above as compared to the one above it is like a ring in a desert, and similarly to the one above it as compared to the right above it, and so on. How insignificant what we can see as compared to what is out there. And imagine how much more insignificant we are on the ground.

The heavens are moaning. On every space equivalent to the size of four fingers, there is an angel bowing or prostrating to Allah.

Abu Dharr reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

I see what you do not see and I hear what you do not hear. Heaven moans and it has the right to moan. There is no place in it the width of four fingers without an angel placing his brow on it, prostrating to Allah Almighty. By Allah, if you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much and you would not enjoy women on beds and you would go out to the streets seeking the help of Allah Almighty.

[Tirmidhi]

The Baitul Ma'mur (a creation of Allah equivalent to the Ka'bah to us) is visited by 70,000 angels everyday, they pray and do tawaf in it. Each day a fresh batch of 70,000 angels come to it. Till the Day of Judgement the same batch of angels will not get a chance to return to it again. When this is the number of Allah’s work force, how powerful must Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) be?

The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said narrating about the journey of ‘Isra wa Miraaj,

Then I was shown Al-Bait-al-Ma’mur. I asked Jibril about it and he said, This is Al Bait-ul-Ma’mur where 70,000 angels perform prayers daily and when they leave they never return to it (but always a fresh batch comes into it daily).

[Bukhari and Muslim]

Imagine, this has been going on for millions or billions or whatever number of years (Allah knows best). There is such a vast creation up there that should humble us to the core. Every time we look up to the skies, it should remind us of this and should humble us.

As you can see Allah does not need us. He does not need our prayers and does not benefit from our worship and obedience nor harm by any disobedience from us and any of His servants. But we need Him. We need Him in every moment of our lives--in this world and the Hereafter.

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مَا لَكُمْ إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمُ ٱنفِرُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّـهِ ٱثَّاقَلْتُمْ إِلَى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ أَرَضِيتُم بِٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا مِنَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۚ فَمَا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ ﴿٣٨﴾ إِلَّا تَنفِرُوا۟ يُعَذِّبْكُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًا وَيَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ وَلَا تَضُرُّوهُ شَيْـًٔا ۗ وَٱللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿٣٩

O believers, what is amiss with you, that when it is said to you, 'Go forth in the way of God,' you sink down heavily to the ground? Are you so content with this present life, rather than the world to come? Yet the enjoyment of this present life, compared with the world to come, is a little thing. (38) If you go not forth, He will chastise you with a painful chastisement, and instead of you He will substitute another people; and you will not hurt Him anything, for God is powerful over everything. (39)

[Qur'an At-Tawba 9:38-39]

هَـٰٓأَنتُمْ هَـٰٓؤُلَآءِ تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّـهِ فَمِنكُم مَّن يَبْخَلُ ۖ وَمَن يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَن نَّفْسِهِۦ ۚ وَٱللَّـهُ ٱلْغَنِىُّ وَأَنتُمُ ٱلْفُقَرَآءُ ۚ وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا۟ يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوٓا۟ أَمْثَـٰلَكُم ﴿٣٨

Here you are - those invited to spend in the cause of Allah - but among you are those who withhold [out of greed]. And whoever withholds only withholds [benefit] from himself; and Allah is the Free of need, while you are the needy. And if you turn away, He will replace you with another people; then they will not be the likes of you. (38)

[Qur'an Muhammad 47:38]

Be a grateful servant. It is only our own loss if we are not grateful. How do you show gratitude?

"You must fill up your time with acts of worship, so that no period of time elapses, whether by night or by day, without being used in some act of goodness." (quoting from Imam Al-Haddad's Book of Assistance)

Learn the religion of Allah (this is part of worship with sincere intention for His sake only) so you know what you should do, how to worship Him. Don't delay the learning. If you can learn from a learned person, that's good, if not find somebody who are more learned than you, and if not pick up a book, but learn now. Procrastination is not an excuse. Majority of the screaming people in the Hellfire is because of their procrastination on this earth.

وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذْ وُقِفُوا۟ عَلَى ٱلنَّارِ فَقَالُوا۟ يَـٰلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٢٧
بَلْ بَدَا لَهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يُخْفُونَ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا۟ لَعَادُوا۟ لِمَا نُهُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَـٰذِبُونَ ﴿٢٨

If you could but see when they are made to stand before the Fire and will say, "Oh, would that we could be returned [to life on earth] and not deny the signs of our Lord and be among the believers." (27) But what they concealed before has [now] appeared to them. And even if they were returned, they would return to that which they were forbidden; and indeed, they are liars. (28)

[Qur'an An-An'am 6:27-28]

May Allah not leave us alone even for a blinking of an eye. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam