THE END
O man! You were before a non-existent. Allaah says,
“Does not man remember that We created him before while he was nothing?” (Maryam 19:67.)
Then He created you from a mixture of male and female discharge and made you hearing, seeing. Allah says,
“Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning? Verily, we have created man from drop of mixed sexual discharge of man and woman in order to try him; so, we made him hearer and seer.” (Al-Insan 77:1-2.)
Then you moved gradually from a state of weakness to strength and you shall be returned to a state of weakness again. Allah says,
“Allah is He Who created you, in (a state of) weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then after strength gave (you) weakness and grey hair. He created what He will and it is He Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful” (Ar-Rum 30:54.)
Then the end is death and you, through these stages, move from weakness to weakness; you cannot avert evil from yourself nor can you bring about benefit for yourself except by using that strength and provision that Allah gave you. You are by nature poor and needy. Many are the things that you need to remain alive which you do not possess or which you sometimes have and sometime are deprived of. Many are also those things that are useful to you and you would like to have and which you achieve sometimes and do not achieve other times. Many are things that harm you, ditch your hope, waste your efforts and bring on your tribulations and calamity which you would like to avert; and which you sometimes succeed in averting and which you fail sometimes to avert. In view of this, do you not feel your helplessness and your need to Allah? Allah says,
“O you people! It is you who stand in need of Allah. But Allah is Rich (free of all needs) Worthy of all praise.” (Fatir 35:15.)
You are exposed to a weak virus which you cannot see with your naked eyes, and that causes you painful disease which you cannot prevent and you then go to a weak human being like yourself to treat you. Sometimes, the medicine works and sometimes the doctor fails to cure you and both you and your doctor then become confused.
O man! What a weak creature you are when the fly snatches something from you and you cannot take back from it! Allah says the truth when He says,
“O mankind! A similitude has been coined, so listen to it: Verily, those on whom you call besides Allaah cannot create (even) a fly, even though they combine together for the purpose. And if the fly snatches away a thin from them, they will have no power to release it from the fly. So weak are (both) the seeker and the sought.” (Al-Hajj 22:73.)
If you cannot take back what the fly snatches away from you, which then of your affairs do you have control over? Your forelock is in the hand of Allah, so is your soul. Our heart is between two of His fingers which He turns round as He wills. Your life, death, happiness and misery are all in His Hand.
Your undertakings and sayings are by the permission of Allah and His Will. You do not move except with His permission and you do not perform any act except by His Will. If He leaves you to yourself, He leaves you to weakness, negligence, sin and misdeed; and if He leaves you for others, He leaves you with the one who cannot avail you of any benefit, harm, death, life or resurrection. You cannot dispense of Allah for a twinkle of an eye. You rather need Him in every aspect as long as you live. You invite His wrath with sins and disbelief though you seriously need Him in all aspects. You forgot Him though, your return is to Him and it is in front of Him that you shall stand. (From Al-Fawaaid by Ibn Al-Qayyim.)
O man! As a result of your weakness and your inability to shoulder the consequences of your sins that “Allaah wishes to lighten (the burden) for you and man was created weak.” (Al-Nisaa 4:28.) He sent Messengers, revealed Books, ordained Laws, established the Straight Path before you and established signs, proofs and evidences and made in everything a sign that shows His Oneness, Lordship and His sole right to be worshipped. But inspite of all this, you block the truth with falsehood, take Satan as a friend besides Allaah and argue with falsehood. “Man is ever more quarrelsome than anything” (Al-Kahf 18:54.)
Allah’s favours in which you move and enjoy have made you forget your beginning and end! Don’t you remember that you were created from a mixed sexual discharge, that your return will be to a grave and that final destination after Resurrection will either be Paradise or Fire? Allaah says,
“Does not man see that We have created him from a mixed drop of sexual discharge, yet behold, he (stands forth) as an open opponent, and he puts for Us forth a parable and forgets his own creation. He says: ‘Who will give life to the bones after they are rotten and have become dust?’ Say (O Muhammad): He will give life to them Who Created them for the first time! And He is the All-Knower of every creation!” (Yaa seen 36:77-79.)
He also says,
“O man what has made you careless about your Lord, the Most-Generous? Who created you, fashioned you perfectly and gave you due proportion. In whatever form he willed, He put you together. ” (Miftaah daaris-Sa’aadah 1, p. 251.)
O man! Why are you denying yourself the joy of standing before your Lord, meditating with Him, so that He can enrich you out of poverty, heal you from your ailment, relieve you of your sorrow, forgive your sins, remove your harm, help you when you are wronged, guide you when you are confused or go astray, give you knowledge when you are ignorant, give you security when you are frightened, show mercy to you when you are weak, drive away your enemies and provide for you your livelihood. (Miftaah daaris-Sa’aadah 1, p. 251.)
O man! The greatest blessing that Allah endowed man with after that of the religion is the blessing of intelligence, so that he can distinguish with it between what benefits him and what harms him, to understand the commandments and prohibitions of Allah and in order to know by it, the greatest goal which is to worship Allah alone Who has no partner. Allah says,
“And whatever of blessings and good things you have, it is from Allah, and when harm touches you unto Him you cry aloud for help. Then when He has removed the harm from you, behold, some of you associate others in worship with their Lord.” (An-Nahl 16:53-54.)
O you man! The wise person loves lofty matters and abhors debased ones. He loves to emulate every righteous and magnanimous among the Prophets and pious people and yearns to join them even if he cannot reach their status. The only way to that is what Allah directs us to when He says,
“If you (really) love Allah, then follow me (Muhammad) Allah will love you and forgive you your sins.” (Al-Imran 3:31.)
If man can do this, Allah will make him join the rank of the Prophets, the Messengers, the Martyrs and righteous people. Allah says,
“And whosoever obeys Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace of the Prophets, the Siddiqqeen, the Martyrs and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!” (An-Nisa 4:46.)
O you man! I advise you that you go into a seclusion with yourself and think deeply of the truth that has come to you reflect over the proofs and evidences; if you find it to be truth hasten to follow it and do not be a slave of customs and traditions. Know that your own soul is dearer to you than your friends, companions and heritage of your fore-fathers. Allah has admonished the disbelievers with this and called them to it. He says,
“I exhort you to one (thing) only; that you stand up for Allah’s sake in pairs and singly and reflect. There is no madness in you companion (Muhammad). He is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment.” (Saba 34:46.)
O man! When you accept Islam, you stand to lose nothing. Allah says,
“And what loss have they if they had believed in Allah and the Last Day and they spend out of what Allah has given them for sustenance? And Allah is Ever All-Knower of them.” (An-Nisa 4:39.)
Ibn Kathir said, “What would have harmed them had they believed in Allah, followed the praiseworthy way, believed in Allah hoping for His promise in the Hereafter for him who did good deeds and spent out of what He has given them in ways which He loves and is pleased with? He knows their good and evil intentions; he knows who deserved success among them so that He might give him success and show him guidance and appoint him for good deeds with which he is pleased. He also knows who deserves disgrace and expulsion from His Divine Affection which whoever is expelled from the door of Allah has failed and lost in this world and the Hereafter.” (See Ibn Kathir 1. 497.)
Your Islam does not stand between you and anything that you want to do or to have among the things that Allah has made lawful for you. Rather, you will be rewarded for any good deed you do in which you seek the pleasure of Allah even if that is in the interest of your worldly life or increases your wealth or portion or fame. Even the lawful things that you use, when you make do with only the lawful and abstain from unlawful, you will be rewarded for that. The Messenger of Allah said, “There is an act of charity in satiating your sexual desire.” The companions said, “O Messenger of Allah! Will anyone of us satiate his desire and still get reward for that?” He answered, “Tell me, if he satiates it in an unlawful way, will he be committing a sin by that? Likewise, if he satiates it in the lawful way, he will have reward for that.” (Muslim.)
O man! The Messengers have brought the truth and conveyed the will of Allah, and man needs to know the Law of Allah so as to live his life with sure knowledge and to be among the successful in the Hereafter. Allah says,
“O Mankind! Verily, there has come to you the Messenger (Muhammad) with the truth from your Lord. So, believe in him, it is better for you. But if you disbelieve, then certainly to Allah belongs all that is in heavens and in the earth. And Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise.” (An-Nisa 4:70.)
He also says,
“Say (O Muhammad): O Mankind! Now truth has come to you from your Lord. So, whoever receives guidance, he does so for the good of his own self; and whosoever goes astray, he does so to his own loss; and I am not (set) over you as a disposer of affairs.” (Yoonus 10:108.)
O man! If you embrace Islam, you benefit none but yourself, and if you disbelieve you harm none but your own self. Allah is in no need of His slaves. Sin of the sinners does not harm Him nor does acts of obedience of the obedient ones benefit Him. He is not disobeyed unless by His knowledge and He is not obeyed except with His permission. Allah says in what was reported from Him by His Prophet, “O My Slaves! I have made injustice forbidden for myself and I have also made it forbidden amongst you, so do not wrong one another. O My slaves! You are all in error except him whom I guide so seek guidance from Me, I will guide you. O May slaves! All of you are hungry except whom I feed so seek food from Me, I will feed you. O My slaves! All of you are naked except him who I clothe; so, seek clothing from Me, I will clothe you! O My slaves! You commit sins by day and night, but I forgive all sins. So, seek forgiveness from Me, I will forgive you. O My slaves! You can never be able to harm Me; and you can never be able to benefit yourselves, let alone benefiting Me. O My slaves! If the first and the last of you, and all the jinn and mankind among you were to be as pious as the most pious one among you, that adds nothing to My Kingdom. O My slaves! If the first and the last among you, and all the jinn and mankind of you are to be as sinful as the most sinful one amongst you, that decreases nothing from My Kingdom. O My slaves! If the first of you and the last among you were to stand at one place and ask Me and I grant to each and everyone his request, that decreases nothing from My Kingdom except like what a thread reduces from the ocean when it is dipped inside it and then withdrawn. O My slaves! These are only your deeds that I enumerate accurately for you, and upon which I give you reward. So, whoever finds good reward, let him thank Allah, but whoever finds anything else, let him not blame but himself.” (Reported by Muslim.)
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May peace and blessings be upon the noblest of all Prophets and Messengers. Our Prophet Muhammad, as well as his household and companions together.
By Dr. Muhammad bin Abdullah As-Suhaym
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