بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
At times when a person aims at performing great forms of Ibadah with which Allah purifies the Soul of the servant, draws him close and dear to Himself, clears for him his path from obstacles, filth and stain – he finds that his determination weakens at times even before he begins the act or deed.
Allah in His Greatness has made certain Ibadat to be compulsory (Wajib), some Voluntary/superogatory (Nawafil) but it is known also that there is no Nafil that the servant is capable of doing that he did not do, that he will not regret on the Day of Qiyamah. And Allah in His Infinite Wisdom made everything in His Dunya and the Akhirah in degrees. In the Dunya, not everybody is wealthy for instance. Likewise, in Akhirah everybody will not be equal, never.
Allah has divided the people into:
- The SABIQUN; and they are the first ones to come, who are closest to Allah. Allah Ta’ala said of them:
((والسابقون والسابقون* أوْلآئك المقربون)) الواقعة: 10-11
“And those foremost will be foremost. These will be those nearest to Allah” Al-Waqi’ah: 10-11
Elsewhere He, Ta’ala said:
((والسابقون الأولون من المهاجرين والأنصار والذين اتبعوهم بإحسان رضي الله عنهم ورضواْ عنه…)) التوبة: 100
“And the first to embrace Islam of the Muhajirun and the Ansar and also those who followed them exactly (in Faith). Allah is well-pleased with them as they are well-pleased with Him.” At-Tawbah: 100
They are the people of Ihsan who worship Allah like they are looking unto Him, they feel the presence of Allah, and their hearts would almost cleave asunder with fear when his verses are recited or the Name of Allah is mention.
Even these, they vary in stages.
- ASHAB AL-YAMIN; they are the people of the Right Hand who are purified from the filth of the Shaytan and are safe from the pains of the Akhirah, but those positions of theirs do not raise them to the position of the first class. They never failed in the deeds of the Wujub and have come considerable in the deeds of the Mandub but they have not exceled to climb the heights of the SABIQUN. According to some Ulama, it is their likes that commit good deeds but mix them with evil at times due to the Ghaflah of human errors.
Allah Ta’ala said:
((وءاخرون اعترفواْ بذنوبهم خاطواْ عملا صالحا وءاخر سيئا عسى الله أن يتوب عليهم إن الله غفور رحيم)) التوبة: 102
“And (there are) others who have acknowledged their sins, they have mixed a deed that was righteous with another that was evil. Perhaps Allah will turn unto them in forgiveness. Surely, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” At-Tawbah: 102
And it is mentioned by the Ulama of Tafsir and Siyar that this verse was sent down regarding one of the companions of Rasul ﷺ on the Day of Quraydhah.
- ASHAB ASH-SHIMAL; these are the backtrackers whom Allah promised to make them the fuel for hell for they either are those who abandon the Wajibat of Iman or they uproot Iman from their hearts in its entirety or both. May Allah save us from this category. It is better that a person spends his life in a wooden box in this life than for him to be of this category.
The Allamah Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah who endured the torture, trials and seclusion of prisons with his Shaykh and Mentor, Ibn Taymiyyah, expanded copiously on the stages of Muqarabah (closeness) to Allah in his book “Madarij As-Salikin” and it is possible to return there for elucidation.
But the point we are trying to stress here is that the internal laziness of the self can form a barrier for a person to climb up the heights. A person blames the shaytan in most times forgetting that his nafs is the number one enemy before him. This is why the Allamah Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyyah said that a person can never fight the kuffar on the fields when the enemy in his breasts is overpowering him.
A Slave of Allah would make up his mind to Ibadah, and immediately he begins, his mind will design, fabricate and beautify to him many reasons to reduce the level of what he intended originally or to stop it in worst occasions. That is the weak soul, unattached to its Lord, suffering from the blemishes of the worldly adornments and the scope of the myopic being like myself – which tries to fool you that you are doing well and you are one of the close servants of Allah already. Tell him that he fools himself and not anybody.
Another soul said, “Why do I have to stress and suffer myself in order to worship Allah?” it should be told, “O fool! Why do you not sit home and leave your daily income for Allah to bring it to your doorstep.
But the Dunya is world of earnings for Dunya and Akhirah as Ibn Qudamah explained in “Mukhtasar”.
So whomsoever faces such impediments should cure that by recalling Allah, seeking His refuge from the evil of himself and the patient recalling that it is only in the patience that one succeeds. And after Dhikr and the du’a, there is no better way to clear the stains of this sinful heart but by reading the stories of the leaders of Ibadat well and reciting the Qur’an.
Allah Ta’ala said:
((الذين يوفون بعهد الله ولا ينقضون الميثاق* والذين يصلون ما أمر الله به أن يوصل ويخشون ربهم ويخافون سوء الحساب* والذين صبرواْ ابتغاء وجه ربهم وأقامواْ الصلاة وأنفقواْ مما رزقناهم سرا وعلانية ويدرءون بالحسنة السيئة أوْلآئك لهم عقبى الدار* جنات عدن يدخلونها ومن صلح من ءابائهم وأزواجهم وذرياتهم والملآئكة يدخلون عليم من كل باب* سلام عليكم بما صبرتم فمنعم عقبى الدار)) الرعد: 20-24
“Those who fulfill the covenant of Allah and break not the Mithaq (covenant). Those who join that which Allah has commanded to be joined, fear their Lord, and dread the terrible reckoning. And those who remain patient, seeking their Lord’s Countenance, perform s-Salat and spend out of that which We have bestowed on them secretly and openly, and defend evil with good, for such there is a good end; And Paradise (everlasting gardens), which they shall enter and (also) those who acted righteously from among their fathers, and their wives, and their offspring. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (saying): “Salamun Alaikum (peace be upon you) for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!” Ar-Ra’ad: 20-24
We ask Allah to forgive us our numerous mistakes and to make us among the people of the Sabiqun. Amin.
2:16AM
17TH Ramadan 1431
