Whoever believes in the Hereafter belittles the worldly life:
Dear noble brothers, some of the Ayaat which Allah the Almighty calls His Words and which none can change are the following ones from Surat Aal-'Imran:
﴾ By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allah's Cause) of that which you love; and whatever of good you spend, Allah knows it well. ﴿
I repeat the Ayah:
﴾ By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allah's Cause) of that which you love… ﴿
Man mistakenly thinks that he can be admitted to the endless Jannah (Paradise) which Allah the Almighty has promised us, and which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard of, and nobody has ever thought of by praying two Rak'aat and giving a little amount of money as Sadaqah. How ignorant such a man is!
﴾By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allah's Cause) of that which you love… ﴿
The thing which you love is the most valuable one you have, but and you spend it willingly in Allah's Cause. This valuable thing can be money, sense of self-respect or dignity when you are humble before Allah, submitting yourself in prostration to Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He:
﴾ By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise), unless you spend (in Allah's Cause) of that which you love ﴿
[ [Aal-'Imran, 92]
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Whoever thinks that he can be admitted to Jannah without being tried, without being tested, without making any effort and without dedicating any time in Allah's Cause is deluded.
Dear noble brothers, whoever believes in the Hereafter will belittle the worldly life. In this regard, it is said, "Whoever knows Allah as he should, everything will be insignificant in his sight." Also, it is said, "Whoever knows Allah the Almighty as he should will belittle the worldly life", and he will sacrifice whatever he owns in this life in Allah's Cause, for it is insignificant in comparison to the Hereafter.
Dear brothers, believe it or not, if you favor the Hereafter over the worldly life, you will win them both, but if you favor the worldly life over the Hereafter, you will lose them both.
One of the things that which you love is keeping asleep early in the morning when the breezes are gentle and it is calm. However, Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise)… ﴿
So, Al-Birr in this respect is attained by waking up to pray Al-Fajr although you would love to remain asleep and you need this badly.
﴾ …unless you spend (in Allah's Cause) of that which you love ﴿
Another thing man loves is the woman, but Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise)… ﴿
Accordingly, you should lower your gaze from looking at forbidden things to attain Al-Birr.
One more example of the things man loves is money, which is actually endeared to all of us:
﴾ By no means shall you attain Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, etc., it means here Allah's Reward, i.e. Paradise)… ﴿
Regarding money, we will not attain Al-Birr, unless we earn and spend it lawfully.
In fact, this Ayah is one of the basics of religion. It indicates the fact that Jannah to which the pious are promised to be admitted has a heavy price. Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah ennoble his face, says, "Verily, the Good of Allah is expensive, and so asking for Jannah without striving is a sin."
Whoever sows dissention among Muslims is a disbeliever:
We move to another Ayah from Surat Aal-'Imran, and this one is considered one of the Divine Laws of our Lord, Exalted and Sublime be He:
﴾ O you who believe! If you obey a group of those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians), they would (indeed) render you disbelievers after you have believed! ﴿
A Jew named Shas bin Qais, who was an old man of great infidelity and very hostile to Muslims, passed by a group of people from Aws and Khazraj while they were gathered to talk. He was angry about the friendship among them in Islam after the enmity that existed among them before they became Muslims, so he said, "The people of Banu Qila (meaning the Aws and Khazraj) have gathered in this country?! No, by Allah, we have no place with them if they meet with each other", so he ordered a young man from among the Jews and said ,"Go and sit with them and remind them of the day of (Boath) and what was before it, and narrate to them some poetry which they used to say ." (Boath) was the day when the Aws fought Khazraj, and the Aws won . So he did what he was told to do.
The Aws and Khazraj were new converts to Islam and when they heard the poem, they quarreled until two men from the two groups, Aws bin Qibti, one of Children of Haritha from the Aws, and Jabbar bin Sakhr, one of children of Salamah from the Khazraj started to argue. Then one of them said to his companion, "If you wish, by Allah, I will put it back now as it was (in its youth)." The two groups were all angry and said, "We did, weapon, weapon, your appointment at Alzahira", so they went out to it, and the Aws and Khazraj agreed on their claim that they were upon in the pre-Islamic era. Then Allah the Almighty sent down to them this Ayah:
﴾ O you who believe! If you obey a group of those who were given the Scripture (Jews and Christians), they would (indeed) render you disbelievers after you have believed! ﴿
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was informed of that, and he went out to them very angry. When he arrived to them, he, peace be upon him, said:
(( O Muslims, are you imitating the behavior of the days of ignorance while I am among you after Allah the Almighty honored you with Islam and cut off the pre-Islamic matter from you and brought you together? Are you going back to what you used to be as disbelievers?! O Allah, O Allah. ))
The people knew that it was an evil whisper (from Shaitan) and a plot from their enemy, so they threw the weapons from their hands, and cried and hugged each other, then they left with the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, obedient to him.
Shortly after that incident, the Divine Revelation was sent down to the Noble Prophet with this Ayah from Allah the Almighty:
﴾ And how would you disbelieve, while unto you are recited the Verses of Allah, and among you is His Messenger (Muhammad PBUH)? And whoever holds firmly to Allah, (i.e. follows Islam Allah's Religion, and obeys all that Allah has ordered, practically), then he is indeed guided to a Right Path. ﴿
What do you deduce from this Ayah? We deduce that whoever causes division among the believers, whoever makes Muslims break up into sects and parties, whoever strengthens the conflicts among Muslim groups, and whoever accuses other Muslims of false things out of bigotry, ignorance, transgression and grudge, is actually doing a work of Kufr:
﴾ And how would you disbelieve, while unto you are recited the Verses of Allah, and among you is His Messenger (Muhammad PBUH)? And whoever holds firmly to Allah, (i.e. follows Islam Allah's Religion, and obeys all that Allah has ordered, practically), then he is indeed guided to a Right Path. ﴿
This Ayah reminds us of another one in Surat Al-An'am:
﴾ Verily, those who divide their religion and break up into sects (all kinds of religious sects), you (O Muhammad PBUH) have no concern in them in the least. ﴿
According to this noble Ayah, whoever causes division, enmity, and grudge among Muslims, is doing that which is equal to Kufr.
Whoever does not act upon Allah's Order will never reap fruitful results:
Dear noble brothers, only the believers are addressed when it comes to certain Divine Orders like the following one:
﴾ (O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance.) ﴿
It is not about only remembering Allah the Almighty , because even the hypocrite remembers Allah, but he does not remember Him but little. Thus, the Divine Order is to remember Allah abundantly, and this is why the believers are addressed:
The believers are also addressed in the next Ayah. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always), and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah. ﴿
I repeat the Ayah:
﴾ O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always ﴿
The Divine Order is not about fearing Allah, but rather, it is about fearing Him as He should be feared. In other words, it is "to obey Him and never disobey Him, to remember Him and never forget Him, and to be grateful to Him and never deny His Blessings upon you."
﴾ Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always ﴿
There is a basic truth in Islam: if man does not act upon Allah's Order, and he does not act according to Allah's Divine Way in his daily life, he will never get the fruitful results of this religion. Such a person is in a very hard situation, because he does not belong to the believers who reap the fruitful results of their steadfastness and religious commitment, nor does he belong to the people of the worldly life who deviated from Allah's Divine Way. He is in the middle which is unbearable. It is just like a country, which is in the state of neither peace nor war.
Hence, whoever does not act upon Allah's Order in the best manner is neither a disbeliever nor a believer , and so he cannot get the fruitful results of Iman (having faith). This is why the following Divine Order is precise. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always ﴿
To clarify this point, take the example of studying. When someone is not willing to study, he will not like studying. Better yet, he will not get high grades in the exams even if his parents pressure him. There will always be a fluctuation in his grades. But if he gives the study its due, he will reap its fruitful results, and studying will be a great pleasure for him.
Accustom yourself to be firm when it comes to religious issues, you should not be a hesitant believer, particularly, in this era when temptation, misguidance, killing with no clear reasons, and chaos are widely prevailing. So, unlike the Muslim who lived fifty years ago when temptations were limited, and his faith was not that strong, it was average, the Muslim at present should be fully religiously committed in order to reap the fruitful results of religion, such as tranquility, success, protection, support, and victory. Otherwise, he will be deprived of them as long as he is not steadfast as he is supposed to be. This is the meaning of the Words of Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, in this Ayah:
﴾ O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always ﴿
Enjoining Ma'roof and forbidding Mukar makes this Ummah the best:
Allah the Almighty then says:
﴾ Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-M'aroof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful. ﴿
I repeat this part of the Ayah:
﴾ Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islam), enjoining Al-M'aroof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do)… ﴿
It was reported in the books of religion that Allah the Almighty sent His Angels to destroy a village, so the Angels said, "There is a righteous person in it." Allah the Almighty said, "Start with him." They asked Allah the Almighty, "Why should we do that, O Lord?" Allah the Almighty said, "Because he never frowned upon watching Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden) is committed."
This steadfast man did not care about the way his wife, children, sisters and brothers, friends, neighborhood and people behaved, and this means he refrained from enjoining Ma'roof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden) Thus, Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, said, "Start with him." Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ And your Lord would never destroy the towns wrongfully, while their people were right-doers. ﴿
The people of the village may have been pious, but they might have been destroyed, because they refrained from performing the sixth obligation, which is enjoining Ma'roof and forbidding Munkar. I will give you an example from our daily life to clarify this truth. If fire breaks out in the first floor of the building and you live on the last floor, the fire will reach other floors one after the other till it reaches your house if the dwellers of the other floors do not work hard together to put out the fire. I repeat the Noble Ayah:
﴾ And fear the Fitnah (affliction and trial, etc.) which affects not in particular (only) those of you who do wrong (but it may afflict all the good and the bad people)… ﴿
The Muslim may be proud of himself for being a Muslim who belongs to the Ummah of the Prophet, peace be upon him. However, Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, says:
﴾ You (true believers in Islamic Monotheism, and real followers of Prophet Muhammad PBUH and his Sunnah (legal ways, etc.)) are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma'roof (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden), and you believe in Allah. And had the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians) believed, it would have been better for them; among them are some who have faith, but most of them are Al-Fasiqoon (disobedient to Allah - and rebellious against Allah's Command) ﴿
The reason of being the best of peoples is explained; so if we abandon enjoining Al-Ma'roof and forbidding Al-Munkar, we will actually have abandoned our faith. In this respect, some scholars said, "There are two phases of the Ummah: The phase of responding to the Divine Message conveyed to Muslims, and the phase of conveying the Divine Message." Unfortunately, it seems that Muslims nowadays belong to the phase of conveying, with no privileges of belonging to the Ummah. Thus, the Muslim at present becomes just like the Jews Allah the Almighty mentions in the following Ayah:
﴾ And (both) the Jews and the Christians say: "We are the children of Allah and His loved ones." Say: "Why then does He punish you for your sins?" Nay, you are but human beings, of those He has created… ﴿
You are but a human being like all other common people. The main point is that if man does comply to Allah the Almighty’s Will, he is not under His Protection. Accordingly, As long as you obey Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, you will attain His Protection, Care, Support, and Prosperity. Besides, happiness will be cast into your heart due to your deep belief in Allah the Almighty. On the other hand, if you deviate from Allah's Divine Way, you will be an average person who is afflicted with worry, sadness, anxiety, pain, distress, confusion, boredom, and monotony.
In brief, whatever afflicts people afflicts you unless you are under the Protection of Allah, because then you will have a special treatment.
The war between Haqq and Batil is an ancient one:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgement that they make. ﴿
By Allah, dear brothers, when I interpret this Ayah at At-Tawosiyyah Masjid (a Masjid in Damascus), I said that if it were the only Ayah in Allah's Book, it would be enough for us:
﴾ Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds… ﴿
Some people said, "The righteous will be admitted to Jannah, so surely they will not be held equal with those who earn evil deeds." Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ …In their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgement that they make. ﴿
Your life, household, relations, position, health, children, status, worries and Da'wah are all special since you belong to the people of Al-Haqq. You should believe that the war between Al-Haqq (truth) and Al-Batil (falsehood) is an ancient and everlasting one in the worldly life.
Allah's Laws regarding His Creations:
Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, says in Surat Aal-'Imran:
﴾ If a good befalls you, it grieves them, but if some evil overtakes you, they rejoice at it. But if you remain patient and become Al-Muttaqoon (the pious), not the least harm will their cunning do to you. Surely, Allah surrounds all that they do. ﴿
This means , that everything that happens in this Universe is by Allah's Will, but when it comes to evil wishes and slander of man's enemies, keep in mind that every man but has opponents and enemies. It was reported that when our Master Musa, peace be upon him, made Munajat (talking secretly to Allah the Almighty) to His Lord, he said:
("O Allah, do not leave any opponent or enemy of mine." Allah the Almighty said, "O Musa, I cannot respond to this Du'a.")
There are even enemies to Allah, Exalted and Sublime be He, aren’t there? This is a Divine Law applied to Allah's Creation :
﴾ Thus, have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the Mujrimoon (disbelievers, polytheists, criminals, etc.). ﴿
When Haqq and Batil wrestle, the people of Al-Haqq are promoted by their patience, steadfastness, and satisfaction with Allah's Qada' and Qadar, and they show the reality of the people of Al-Batil. In other words, if the people of Al-Batil gather alone in one place, their malicious intentions would not be apparent and clear. Similarly, when the believers (who are the people of Al-Haqq) gather alone in one place, no one will notice their patience and strong faith. Hence, the mixing between the people of Al-Haqq and the people of Al-Batil reveal the virtues of the believers and the evil reality of the disbelievers.
Reciting the Noble Quran should be done attentively:
Dear noble brothers, the companions of the Noble Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them, used to say, "He who recites Al-Baqarah and Aal-'Imran has a special position in our sight", but this recitation should be done attentively with contemplaition. Indeed, when someone wants to recite the Noble Quran, he should do this attentively.
Well, you may recite the Quran devotionally, and you may recite it attentively, and you may recite it both ways. In other words, you may recite the entire Noble Quran once devotionally, and another time attentively. It is very important to recite the Noble Quran attentively with a present mind. In fact, Al-Baqarah and Aal-'Imran are among the great Suras in the Quran.
The wisdom behind mentioning the Children of Israel a lot in the Quran:
One of you may ask, "Why does Allah the Almighty mention the Children of Israel a lot? What should we do about this?" The answer is: Muslims may commit the same mistakes the Children of Israel committed, and so they may be afflicted with the same calamities. You may notice that in the phases of the Muslims' backwardness, Muslims were afflicted with the same calamities that befell the Jews, and thus Allah the Almighty mentions the Children of Israel a lot to be an exalted method of discipline. Namely, Allah mentions the Jaws, so that Muslims should pay heed, because they are addressed as long as they perform the acts of worship formally, and they adore money and their personal interests instead of Allah the Almighty. When their situation is like this, then they are included in the following Hadith:
((Thawban narrated: The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish. Someone asked: Will that be because of our small numbers at that time? He replied: No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and last enervation into your hearts. Someone asked: What is wahn (enervation). Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): He replied: Love of the world and dislike of death. ))
