In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Leaving that which does not concern us is the most difficult of the deeds of light and inner development.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) that, "From the beauty of the surrendering of a person to Allah is their leaving which that which of no concern to him." [A sound (hasan) hadith, transmitted by Tirmidhi and others]
People used to come to Imam Malik and asked him hypothetical questions and he used to get angry and told them not to ask about things that have not happened yet. One day a man came to Imam Malik and asked him about his age. Imam Malik asked, "Does this concern you?" "If I tell you my age there is only two things you will say...'I thought you were younger or I thought you were older.'"
A lot of our time on social media and phone is spent talking about things that haven't happen, or things that has happened, or things that is happening that we have no control over, or things that just have no benefit.
The goodness of your Islam (constant state of surrendering to Allah) is that you do not concern yourself with that which is of no benefit, that you remain steadfast in the submission to the commands and prohibitions of Allah and surrenders to His rulings in accordance to His destiny and decree (qada wa qadr). This is the sign of the heart having been expanded by the light of its Lord, and the descent of tranquility (sakinah) into the heart.
Some early Muslims said, “Whoever busies himself with that which does not concern him misses out on much of that which does concern them.”
The scholars explain that only things of true benefit, worldly or next-worldly, should concern us. Everything else is, in reality, a waste of time and should, therefore be left, even when not in itself legally disliked or impermissible. As for the merely permissible, it is the way of those seeking the path of the next life to have high intentions in such matters, which make them rewarded acts.
What concerns you? This life revolves around two things (An-Nawawi):
1. Well being of your material life, what you need to survive and thrive...your body, family, community, country.
2. Spiritual well being-- making it to your grave with a heart that is saleem (sound, healthy, whole, pure)
يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ ﴿٨٨﴾ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّـهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ[Qur'an, Ash-Shu'ara 26:88-89]
The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children (88) But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart. (89)
A sound heart is the heart that is pure and empty of attachments to other than Allah, empty of hatred, showing off, arrogance, conceit, rage, etc. Neither your wealth nor your children, the people you love so much, for whom you invest your heart, soul, money, time and energy, none of that matter when you go to your grave.
Al-Awza`i said, ‘`Umar ibn `Abd al-`Aziz wrote to us, ‘Whoever is frequent in remembering death is content with but a little of this world. And whoever counts his speech from his actions speaks little except in that which benefits him.’’ [Mirqat al-Mafatih, 8: 585 #4840]
It has been related in a Prophetic hadith that, “The people of the Garden will not remorse except for moments that passed them by without remembering Allah.” (Tabarani from Mu`adh (may Allah be pleased with him)).
Allah Almighty says,
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١﴾ ٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى صَلَاتِهِمْ خَـٰشِعُونَ ﴿٢﴾ وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنِ ٱللَّغْوِ مُعْرِضُونَ[Qur'an, Al-Mu'minun 23:1-33]
Certainly will the believers have succeeded: (1) They who are during their prayer humbly submissive (2) And who shun all vain things. (3)
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ[Qur'an, Al-Hashr 59:18]
O you who have believed, fear Allah. And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow - and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do.
ـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَقُولُوا۟ قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا ﴿٧٠﴾ يُصْلِحْ لَكُمْ أَعْمَـٰلَكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ فَازَ فَوْزًا عَظِيمًا ﴿٧١[Qur'an, Al-Ahzab 33:70-71]
O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. (70) He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment. (71)
Allah is the Name that encompasses all the Names Allah Ta'ala. It is as if Allah is telling us to be aware of His Names that are expressed through His creation. Allah commanded us to be conscious of the One who is beyond time and space. This is the highest level of awareness. And speak truthfully and on target. This is about minding our own business. Speech should be direct and focus on that which is of benefit to us, families, communities, cities, countries and ultimately to humanity and beyond that, to the cosmos. If you have consciousness of Allah, His Names, His attributes, you are in obedience to Him, you avoid His prohibitions, and you speak honestly, truthfully and you speak about that which is of benefit, then Allah will forgive your sins and He will rectify and set in order for you all your deeds. The tongue is very powerful-- the tongue can kill or heal, uplift or bring down, build or destroy. Many times a scar that someone gets by being hit with a hand heals quicker than a scar that one gets by someone's tongue.
The person who is in a state of obedience to Allah and His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) has attained a tremendous success. This is spiritual success. Your spiritual success will ultimately manifest in material success. But you have to put the spiritual success first. If you put material success before spiritual success you will end up being a miserable human being and doing things that is more than likely will hurt yourself, your family and your community and so on. The more spiritually successful you are the more guidance Allah will give you regarding what deeds--activities, projects, businesses, jobs, etc, that you should be spending your time on. So you are not wasting your time.
The Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "It (Ramadhan) is the month, whose beginning is mercy, its middle, forgiveness and its end, emancipation from the fire."
Almighty Allah has divided Ramadhan in three parts the first ten days reflect the mercy of Almighty Allah; the other ten days represent forgiveness of Almighty Allah, while the last ten days represent safety from the fire of Hell.
If we hope for Allah's forgiveness and safety from Hellfire, be conscious of Allah Ta'ala and leave that which does not concern us this Ramadhan.
May Allah make us of people who are concerned with that which benefit us in His religion and Hereafter. May Allah not make us among those who gossip, backbite, slander, lie, pollute their tongues with disobedience. May Allah make us among those who use their tongues to free the oppressed, to bring solace to those in pain, to bring happiness to those who are depressed, to guide people. May Allah make our tongues moist with His remembrance and sending salawat upon His beloved Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace), with calling people to good and forbidding evil. May Allah shower His mercy on us, our parents and all our believing ancestors, and forgive us and them. May Allah protect our children and offspring until the Day of Judgment and make them of the righteous. May Allah accept our fasting, prayers, charity and du'a. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wasallam.
And Allah knows best and He alone grants success.
Wassalaam
No comments:
Post a Comment