بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Lustrous desires have power over souls; they seize and control hearts; hence to abandon or get rid of them is difficult. However, whosoever fears Allah and keeps his duty to Him, Allah will suffice him, and whosoever seeks His aid, He will help him.
... وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّـهِ فَهُوَ حَسْبُهُ ۚ...
...And whosoever puts his trust in Allâh, then He will suffice him... [Qur'an, At-Talaq 65:3]
He who gives up desires sincerely for the sake of Allah will not find it difficult to give them up except at the beginning. This is for him to be tested: is he sincere in giving them up or not, so if he bears this hardship for a short period patiently, the hardship turns into pleasure. The greater the desire for the forbidden, the greater the soul is desirous to do it, and the more the reasons are there to commit it; then, the greater the reward is when abandoning it. In fact applying self-restraint and getting rid of desires double the reward.
Piety is not in contradiction with the natural tendencies to lustrous desires, if they are not committed, and if one strives with oneself to loath them. Rather, this is the gist of jihad and piety. Moreover, whoever gives up something for the sake of Allah, Allah will substitute for him with something better. The substitutes from Allah are many; the greatest of them is to be in the companion of Allah, and to love Him, the peace of heart when remembering Him, its strength and vigor, the satisfaction with his Lord Glorified and Exalted, together with the reward he receives in this worldly life and what he expects of the full reward in the Hereafter.
Some examples of the things to be left for the sake of Allah and which Allah will substitute them with something better:
1. The one who gets rid of bad companions whom he thinks that in abandoning them he will attain Allah's utmost intimacy and pleasure, Allah will reward him with righteous companions, with them he will find pleasure and benefits, and by keeping their companion and association he will gain the best of this worldly life and the Hereafter.
2. The one who stops fearing other than Allah, and singles Allah alone with apprehension, he will be protected from illusions, and Allah will provide him with security against any dangers, so his worries will be turned into safety, coolness and peace.
3. The one who avoids being undutiful to his parents and becomes filial obedient, Allah will be pleased with him and will provide him with dutiful children, and He will let him enter Paradise in the Hereafter.
4. The one who abandons passionate love, and avoids the reasons leading to it; who bears the pangs and torment of the desertion and remoteness of the beloved, and turns wholly to Allah will be provided with consolation and comfort, self-dignity, he will be saved from the anguish, humiliation, and captivity of passionate love. His heart will be filled with freedom, and love of Allah Glorified and Exalted, a love that composes his heart and satisfies its hunger. As the heart is only pleased and content; it enjoys tranquility and serenity but with the worship and the love of its Lord and by returning to Him.
The story of Prophet Yusuf (peace be upon him) is a great example of this. The wife of the governor sought to seduce him, but he denied her firmly and sought refuge in Allah, though many reasons have combined for him to disobey Him. He has such reasons that others have not. If these reasons or some of them become possible for another person, he may respond to the seduction. Rather there is an individual who may go by himself voluntary to the positions of temptations, seeking his own destruction, and returning with manifest loss in this worldly life and the Hereafter, unless Allah saves him with his mercy.
As for Yusuf there were many reasons to commit adultery but he was patient and exercised restraint, preferring and choosing what Allah has prepared for him. So he got happiness and power in this worldly life, and he would have Paradise in the Hereafter. He had become the master, and the wife of Al-'Aziz had become his maid. It was reported that she had said: "Glory to Allah who had made kings into slaves due to their sins, and made slaves into kings because of their acts of obedience". It behooves the wise firm man to be patient and ponder matters and consequences, preferring not present transient pleasure to the future remaining one.
5. The one who stops lying, and stick to truth in whatever he gets or leaves, he will be guided to Al-birr (piety, righteousness and each and every act of obedience to Allah) and he will be before Allah one of the Siddiqun (those followers of the Prophets who were first and foremost to believe in them, like Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). He will be blessed with the tongue of truth among people, so they would confer honor and supremacy upon him and will lend hearing to what he says.
6. The one who manages his anger will preserve his pride and dignity; and will keep away from the humiliation of apology and the consequences of remorse. He will enter in the company of the righteous (who repress anger)
الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿١٣٤
Who spend [in the cause of Allah] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good; (134) [Qur'an, Ale'Imran 3:134]
A man came to the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said: O Messenger of Allah, advise me. So he has said: "Do not get angry..." [Bukhari]
Al-Mâwirdi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The one who has sound mind and strong determination should receive the anger flurry patiently with his toleration so he can drive it away, and should meet his fits of anger resolvedly to drive them away; so that he would receive the most honorable goodness, and enjoy sound health.”
Abu 'Abla said: “One day 'Umar Ibn Abdul-Aziz was very angry with a man. He ordered him to be punished, so the man was brought, disrobed and pulled in ropes; and whips were brought, but then he said: 'let him go' and addressing the man, he said 'were it not for my anger I would have hurt you.' Then he recited the above verse (who restrain anger).
7. The one who abandons seeking fame and exhibitionism, Allah will uplift him and fame will come to him dragging its wake.
8. The one who desists from imitating the fools, and turns away from the foolish will safeguard his honor, spare himself their trouble, and be saved from hearing what hurts him.
خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ ﴿١٩٩
Take what is given freely, enjoin what is good, and turn away from the ignorant. (199) [Qur'an, AleImran 3:199]
9. The one who leaves envy will be saved from its various harms. Envy is incurable disease, a lethal poison, an outrageous behavior and an evil moral. It is found in inferior relatives, peers, comrades, acquaintance, and friends.
A wise man said: "I have not seen an oppressor who is more resembling to the oppressed than the envier: permanent concerns, inseparable worries and a confused heart."
10. The one who stops consuming much food will be saved from gluttony and other various diseases, because he who eats too much, drinks too much; hence he sleeps too much, the result is that he will lose a lot.
11. The one who quits procrastination in paying his debts Allah will help him paying them off. In fact he is really entitled to invoke Allah’s help.
12. The one who abstains from backbiting and slandering people and looking for their flaws will be compensated with safety from their evils and is provided with insight into himself.
Al-Ahnaf Ibn Qais (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "He who is fast in relating to people what they hate, they will say about him what they do not know".
A Bedouin woman, in recommending her son, said: "Beware of exposing the flaws of people, as in this case you will be taken as an aim. Surely an aim will not stand for many arrows. An aim which was afflicted alternately with arrows, immediately its force will be weakened.”
Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If a believer is pious, his piety will divert him from the shortcomings of people
Likewise, the pains of a sick man will distract him from the pains of all other people.
May Allah grant us deeds that are pleasing to Him and help us give up those things that would incur His wrath and displeasure. Ameen.
And Allah knows best and He alone grant success.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.
Wassalaam
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