No Baggage

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

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Some people, before they get married, they asked Allah for a spouse. After they get married, they become lax with their worship. They do sunnah fasts less, don't wake up for tahajjud anymore, can't pray Fajr on time anymore, let alone pray at the masjid.

There are others who before an important job interview, they asked Allah to give them the job. And after they get the job, they have more friends to go out after work or on weekends. They now can afford to buy a new car or get a loan to buy a house or go vacation a few times a year. Before every job performance review, they asked Allah so they get a promotion. When they get the promotion, now they qualify to get a bigger loan to buy a bigger house or another car or take more vacations but they don't have the money to give regular charity or go to hajj or pay for classes to teach them their religion.

All things we have in this life, including a spouse, friends and a job, are supposed to bring you closer to Allah, not farther away from Him. They are means to Allah. It is not the other way around--that you use Allah as means to your ends, i.e your worldly desires.

If your relationship with Allah has not improved or things have kept you distant from the remembrance of Allah, then you need to evaluate who you are with and take steps to remedy your situation while you have the opportunity to do so.

Abu Huraira reported: The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,

A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look at whom he befriends.

[Sunan Abu Dawud]

So, don't be afraid to give up your friendship/companionship with people who cannot help you come close to Allah and those who are causing you to become more distant from Allah. If you do this purely for Allah's sake, He will not forsake you. We have much work to do, in so little time, to prepare for our own meeting with Allah. We can't afford anything to bog us down in our journey to Allah.

May Allah increase us in our love for Him and His beloved Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and assist us in all our affairs. Ameen.

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

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam