Thursday, June 8, 2017

Ramadhan Reflection -- Taking the Path to Allah Seriously

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

Assalaamu alaykum

Allah Most High says,

وَمَن كَانَ فِى هَـٰذِهِۦٓ أَعْمَىٰ فَهُوَ فِى ٱلْءَاخِرَةِ أَعْمَىٰ وَأَضَلُّ سَبِيلًا ﴿٧٢

And whoever is blind in this [life] will be blind in the Hereafter and more astray in way. (72) [Quran, Al-Isra 17:72]

What is going to prevent us from that is beneficial knowledge.

We may think we know our deen (Islam), however if we really get beyond the surface level of understanding we would be surprised how much we don't know about our deen. The more you study, the more you will start to realize you don't know a lot. It could be that you were doing something wrong for 15 or 20 or 40 years because you never studied it but the more in depth you learn, the more you realize your made mistakes. So it is essential for us to learn about the commands and prohibitions of our Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Beneficial knowledge is having learning correct belief, practice and spiritual excellence. Beneficial knowledge is coming to know Allah--about knowing His Attributes, acts and His favors. In reality the knowledge of tauhid (the Oneness of Allah) pertains to this. Everything in Allah's creation is an act of God. That created act is the manifestation of the Names and Attributes of Allah, which point to His Essence. Wisdom is beneficial knowledge accompanied by righteous actions that is cast into the heart. 

There is something special about beneficial knowledge--it leads you to zuhd (renounce this world/indifference towards this world). This knowledge will remove from you the love of this world. The love of this world and the love of the next world is like the east and west. The more that you turn to one, the farther that you are from the other. The more that you love this world, the less that you love the next world, and the more that you love the next world, the less that you love this world.

Most people do not want to confront their sins and their mistakes but if we want to take the path to Allah seriously, we have to confront our faults. We might think we are performing good things, but we have to scrutinize our deeds and we have to be very aware that shaytan is our apparent enemy. He is trying to lead us astray. We have to learn about shaytan's plots and tricks so we don't fall into his plots and tricks.

This Ramadhan start a wird of learning beneficial knowledge. Start a regular reading of books of seerah, books of tafsir -- the Quran and hadiths, and books about people of Allah. Focus on books that are going to give you practical benefit, that there is no ambiguity about it. There is certain principles on how we should deal with those books. In practice, we take that which we know and we leave that we don't know and focus on what is apparent and clear while having a good opinion of the scholars and we focus upon what is beneficial with respect to our own selves.

May Allah grant us us tawfiq in acquiring beneficial knowledge, and enable us to understand it and put it into practice. May Allah enable us to constantly and continuously learn in our lives the knowledge that will draw us near to Him despite our deficiencies, sins and shortcomings that prevent us from moving forward in the spiritual path. May Allah forgive us and remove the shackles of our lower souls that is preventing us from much good. May we love the righteous and follow the righteous and as result Allah enable us to experience the realities of faith in this world. May Allah make the very last moment of our lives be the very best of our lives, that moment when we meet our Lord. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.

And Allah knows best and is Most Wise, and He alone grants success, and to Him is the final return of all.

Wassalaam

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