بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
The very purpose of fasting is so we may become people of taqwa (God-fearingness). It is meant to transform us into a true slave of Allah, a better human being. Have we accomplished this purpose even a little?
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,
We have to scrutinize ourselves. The purpose of this is not to despair but the purpose of this is that we can actualize our servitude before our Lord and engender this great trait of heart that is supposed to be there. How many times we have exposed our selves to the wrath of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. This should scare us and bring about a deep sense of fear in us.
Allah didn't create us in vain. There is a purpose behind creation--to worship the Creator, and to Him we shall return.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (56) [Quran, Adh-Dhariyyat 51:56]
أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿١١٥
Then did you think that We created you in vain and that to Us you would not be returned?" (115) [Qur'an, Al-Mu'minun 23:11]
We can receive great blessings if we do what Allah commands us to do. It is very easy for us to become deceived, as human beings.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ ٱلْكَرِيمِ ﴿٦﴾ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّىٰكَ فَعَدَلَكَ ﴿٧﴾ فِىٓ أَىِّ صُورَةٍ مَّا شَآءَ رَكَّبَكَ ﴿٨
O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous, (6) Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you? (7) In whatever form He willed has He assembled you. (8) [Qur'an, Al-Infitar 82:5-8]
If we reflect on this, it increases your fear of God and encourage you to blame and reproach your selves to avoid remissness and persevere in your zeal. All of these fruits are things that we are in dire need of. These are an essential part of our Deen (i.e. the religious dimension of the human being). It is the state that relates to how serious we take our relationship with our Lord and degree to which we prepare ourselves for the Hereafter.
Fear is something that is important. It prevents a lot of harm from coming to us, even in the worldly sense. If we didn't have fear how are we going to protect ourselves from sickness, how are we going to protect ourselves from someone who is going to harm us. Fear is a protection for us and there is a wisdom behind it. The greatest part of fear is the fear that relates to anything that we distance ourselves from Allah and then there is the fear of the Elect. We hope by mentioning this, mercy will descend and our heart will attach to them.
Abu Yazid al-Bustami said there are people were they were to be taken of Divine presence, they would have sought refuge in the way that people sought refuge from the Hellfire, Torment for them is a state of heedlessness, that is anything that will distract them from their Lord. This is the highest degree of taqwa of all. These are people who love Allah. For them they consider a sin to fall out of remembrance. This does not happen overnight. This is something you have to strive for over the period of your lifetime. The hope is that before we meet Allah we would attain something of this. If we look in this world, there are people who reach great fame and success early in their life, but most people take a long time to get there. If this is so for this temporal world, what about the eternal world of the Hereafter? How much we are going to put in for that which is going to last eternally?
May Allah grant the highest taqwa and safety in this world and the next world. May Allah remove us from our state of heedlessness and make us of people of Taqwa and people of His remembrance. 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
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
The very purpose of fasting is so we may become people of taqwa (God-fearingness). It is meant to transform us into a true slave of Allah, a better human being. Have we accomplished this purpose even a little?
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,
... يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٣﴾ أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَٰتٍ ۚ فَمَن كَانَ مِنكُم مَّرِيضًا أَوْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ فَعِدَّةٌ مِّنْ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ[Qur'an, Al-Baqarah 2:183-184]
O you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become God-fearing - (183) [Fasting for] a limited number of days. ...
We have to scrutinize ourselves. The purpose of this is not to despair but the purpose of this is that we can actualize our servitude before our Lord and engender this great trait of heart that is supposed to be there. How many times we have exposed our selves to the wrath of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. This should scare us and bring about a deep sense of fear in us.
Allah didn't create us in vain. There is a purpose behind creation--to worship the Creator, and to Him we shall return.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ﴿٥٦
And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. (56) [Quran, Adh-Dhariyyat 51:56]
أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ عَبَثًا وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ ﴿١١٥
Then did you think that We created you in vain and that to Us you would not be returned?" (115) [Qur'an, Al-Mu'minun 23:11]
We can receive great blessings if we do what Allah commands us to do. It is very easy for us to become deceived, as human beings.
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says,
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ مَا غَرَّكَ بِرَبِّكَ ٱلْكَرِيمِ ﴿٦﴾ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكَ فَسَوَّىٰكَ فَعَدَلَكَ ﴿٧﴾ فِىٓ أَىِّ صُورَةٍ مَّا شَآءَ رَكَّبَكَ ﴿٨
O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord, the Generous, (6) Who created you, proportioned you, and balanced you? (7) In whatever form He willed has He assembled you. (8) [Qur'an, Al-Infitar 82:5-8]
If we reflect on this, it increases your fear of God and encourage you to blame and reproach your selves to avoid remissness and persevere in your zeal. All of these fruits are things that we are in dire need of. These are an essential part of our Deen (i.e. the religious dimension of the human being). It is the state that relates to how serious we take our relationship with our Lord and degree to which we prepare ourselves for the Hereafter.
Fear is something that is important. It prevents a lot of harm from coming to us, even in the worldly sense. If we didn't have fear how are we going to protect ourselves from sickness, how are we going to protect ourselves from someone who is going to harm us. Fear is a protection for us and there is a wisdom behind it. The greatest part of fear is the fear that relates to anything that we distance ourselves from Allah and then there is the fear of the Elect. We hope by mentioning this, mercy will descend and our heart will attach to them.
Abu Yazid al-Bustami said there are people were they were to be taken of Divine presence, they would have sought refuge in the way that people sought refuge from the Hellfire, Torment for them is a state of heedlessness, that is anything that will distract them from their Lord. This is the highest degree of taqwa of all. These are people who love Allah. For them they consider a sin to fall out of remembrance. This does not happen overnight. This is something you have to strive for over the period of your lifetime. The hope is that before we meet Allah we would attain something of this. If we look in this world, there are people who reach great fame and success early in their life, but most people take a long time to get there. If this is so for this temporal world, what about the eternal world of the Hereafter? How much we are going to put in for that which is going to last eternally?
May Allah grant the highest taqwa and safety in this world and the next world. May Allah remove us from our state of heedlessness and make us of people of Taqwa and people of His remembrance. 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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