Part 31

Do not ever side against Allah and His Messenger. If one is ever guilty of this, it will lead him to distance and separation from Allah. Distance means having rival parties on opposite sides, and separation means to have both parties polarized. This is not an easy matter. The lesson to be learned here is to be on the side of Allah and His Messenger even if all the others are on the other side. The consequences of that are significant and long lasting. There is nothing more useful to the servant of Allah during his worldly life and the hereafter than being consistent on the side of Allah and His Messenger. It should be noted however that the majority of people cling to the other side, especially when desire and fear are intense. In such

“’ He is Bishr bin Al-Harith bin ‘Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Ata’, known as Bishr AlHafy. He is among the greatest ascetics and worshipers. He lived in Baghdad and died in it in 227 AH. See Tahdhib At-Tahdhib, vol.1, p.444, Tarikh AlBukhary Al-Kabir, vol.2, p.85, Al-Jarh wat-Ta‘dil, vol.2, p.356, Mizan Al-I'tidal,

cases, you will hardly find any one on the side of Allah and His Messenger. Furthermore, it is usual for people to think that those who are on the side of Allah and His Messenger have defects in their minds and choose badly and may even be considered insane. Those who think in this way are the inheritors of the enemies of the Messengers. The enemies of the Messenger accused him of being insane when they were on one side and he was on_ the other. But whoever adapts himself to be in the good side will need deep knowledge of what the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was sent with, in order to remove any doubts he may have and he will need complete patience in order to face the enmity of the enemies and the blame of the blamers. This will never be achieved without a strong will in seeking Allah and the Hereafter; he should love the Hereafter more than this worldly life and prefer it more and love Allah and His Messenger more than anything else. According to the nature of man, there is no harder deed than this. Himself, his desires, his nature, his Satan, his brothers, and his companions call him from one side to immediate pleasures and if he resists them, they will be against him. But if he is patient, Allah will help him and this difficult matter will become easy and pain will become pleasure. Allah praises His servant and He will make him taste the pleasure of being on the side of Allah and His Messenger and grant him honor in a way that will increase the happiness in his heart and which will empower him. All those who fought him before will be either afraid of him or peaceful and his helper. He will be stronger while his enemy will be weaker. Do not think it is difficult to confront people and take the side of Allah and His Messenger. If you are alone, Allah will be with you; you will be in His eyes, in His trust, and under His protection. He will only be testing your faith, belief, and patience. What can help you_ if Allah abandons you? Indeed, it is easier to take the side of Allah and His Messenger but if you suffer from greed and fear, you will not be able to. If you

say, ‘What will help me if | leave greed and fear?” You should answer yourself, ‘Through monotheism, trust in Allah, and my knowledge that rewards are from Allah alone, sins are removed by Allah, and all matters are according to the will of Allah and not from anyone or anything else.

Advice: How to Set Your State Aright

Let's strive to be close to Allah. Let’s long for the dwelling of peace wherein there is no toil, stress or weariness. The easiest way is to consider the fact that you are passing a period that lies between two other periods, namely your current life, which is the present one and it is between your past and your future.

The past can be set aright through repentance, regret and asking the forgiveness of Allah, and this is a way, which affords you no toil, weariness or hard work, as it is concerned with the heart.

The future can be set aright by abstaining from misdeeds, and this is a means of comfort and relief for you, for it is not a difficult act, but it is an intention that relieves your body, heart, and your mind.

In brief, your past is set aright through repentance; your future is set aright through abstention, determination and intention, which have nothing to do with overburdening the body.

However, our concern here is with the present time as it stands between the two other periods. If you waste it, then you are wasting your happiness and salvation. On the contrary, if you maintain it through setting your past and present aright, indeed you will attain success, salvation, relief, and pleasure.

Improving your present state is much more difficult than setting your past and your future aright, because it means that you should abide by the most deserving and beneficial deeds to

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achieve happiness. There are great differences between people in this regard. This is your chance to take the provision for your Hereafter, either Paradise or Hellfire. So, if you take this path to your Lord, you will attain glorious happiness and great success during this short period of time which has no value compared with eternity.

However, if you prefer vain desires, idleness, play and amusement, the period would pass quickly, followed by a permanent and great pain, the suffering of which is much more severe than the suffering of patience, the patience required to obey Allah.

Chapter: The Sign of Good Will

The sign of good will is when one seeks the pleasure of Allah, preparing for His meeting, feeling grief for any moment that passed in anything other than satisfying Him or keeping close to Him, and feeling delighted with Him, in other words, to have no interest in life except Allah all throughout the day.

Chapter: Asceticism in this Worldly Life

If people are satisfied with this worldly life, then they will be satisfied with Allah. If people are content with this worldly life, then they should be content with Allah. If people are delighted with their lovers, then they should be delighted with Allah. If people get acquainted with their masters and_ kings approaching them to attain dignity and glory, then they should know Allah and seek His pleasure, and then they will attain the utmost glory and dignity. One of the ascetics once said, "| can never imagine anyone who has heard about Paradise and Hellfire, and can still waste an hour with no prayers, supplications, recitation or charity." Someone told him, "| am weeping too much," to which he replied, "To laugh while confessing your sin is much better than to weep while feeling arrogant due to your knowledge. Indeed, the deeds of the

arrogant are not accepted (by Allah)." Thereupon, he told him, "Advise me." The ascetic replied, "Abandon this worldly life leaving it to its seekers, as they have abandoned the Hereafter leaving it to its seekers. In this worldly life, imitate the bee, it eats good food, and provides good food for others. If it stumbles onto anything it never damages it."

Chapter: Kinds of Asceticism (Abstinence)

There are many kinds of asceticism (abstaining from things in this worldly life):

Abstaining from unlawful things, which is an individual duty.

Abstaining from doubtful matters. This is evaluated by the degree to which the doubtful matter relates; if the doubtful matter is major, then avoiding it will be a duty, and if it is minor, then avoiding it will be recommended.

Abstaining from being overly curious.

Abstaining from the matters, which do not concern you, either, speech, a look, a meeting, or anything else.

Abstaining from one's self, which means feeling inferior for the sake of Allah.

A general kind of asceticism, which means avoiding everything rather than Allah, or even anything that preoccupies you and keeps you away from Allah. The highest level of asceticism is concealing it, and the most difficult is overcoming one’s desires. The difference between it and piety is that asceticism is abandoning whatever is not beneficial for the Hereafter, while piety is abandoning evil deeds for the sake of the Hereafter. The heart, which is overwhelmed with vain desires is incapable of either asceticism or piety.

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Yahya bin Mu'adh said, "l wondered at the cases of three people, one who performs acts of worship for the sake of people, and fails to perform them for the sake of Allah, and one who is greedy in giving charity, while he is asked by Allah to lend a goodly loan but in vain, and the last one is he who seeks the company of people, while Allah calls him to worship Him.

Disobeying a Command is Worse than Committing a Sin

Sahl bin ‘Abdullah * said, “Abandoning the command of Allah is worse than committing a sin, for Adam was forbidden to eat from the Tree, but he ate from it, and Allah forgave him. Satan was commanded to prostrate before Adam, but he refused, and Allah did not forgive him.”

| said, “This is a serious issue and is of great importance, which is, “Disobeying commands is worse in the sight of Allah than committing sins.” There are several points concerning this.

Point one: that which Sahl mentioned about Adam and Satan, the enemy of Allah.

Point two: the cause of committing a sin is in most cases, lust and need. The cause of disobeying a command in most cases, is pride and love of glory. It is well known that whoever has the weight of an atom of pride in his heart will not enter Paradise, but whoever dies and has the Oneness of Allah in his heart. will enter Paradise even if he had committed adultery and theft.

Point three: obeying a command is dearer to Allah than abandoning a sin, as has been indicated in many texts, such

“5 He is Sahl bin ‘Abdullah bin Ydnus At-Tustary Abu Muhammad. He was born the year (200) A. H. He was an Imam and a_ scholar in the field of theology, mathematics and the flaws of deeds. He wrote a book called (fi Tafsir Al-Qur’an), and the book (Raqaiq Al-Muhibin). He (may Allah have mercy upon him) died in (283) A. H. Adopted from Al-Bidayah wa-Nihayah