Part 6

“What have you responded to the Messengers?”

for He will certainly ask us about it and demand us to answer lim; Allah, Most High, said,

“Truly, We will ask those whom we sent them the Messengers and We shall also ask the Ones We sent to them”

The Prophet (38) said: “It was revealed to me that you will be tested and asked about me” , meaning that we will be asked about

" Ahmad and others It was declared hasan by al-Albani

HEARTFELT ADVICE TO A FRIEND

him in our graves.

Hence whoever is aware of any act of Sunnah then abandoned it for the sake of someone else’s view, he will be questioned about it and then will know the consequences of his actions.

Fourth Element: Station of Excellence (a/ihsan) and Vigilance of Allah (a/muraqaba)

Station of excellence (a/-shsan)' renders to mean the state of being vigilant of Allah (a/-muraqaba)* - th: t is to say, to worship Him as if you could see Him [watching ) |}. This state stems from having a perfect belief (Aamal al-iman) in Allah, His Names and Attributes; to the point that you become as if you can envision Him above His Throne above the heavens; arranging the affairs

of the entire creation and issuing His commands that governs _-”

the cosmos, all the while, the deeds and souls of His slaves are presented before Him. In this state, a believing servant witnesses all that with his heart, and experiences [the application of] His Attributes and Names; he sees [in his heart and mind] that He is the Sustainer [of all that exists] (a/-Qayyam), the Ever-Living

, excellence. To worship Allah as if one is seeing Him, and

Owing that even though one sees Him not, He sees the servant.

* Muragabah: self-inspection. The servant having the sure knowledge that Allah Sees him in all cir

cumstances and knows all that he is doing, as such the hq does his utmost not to fall into the prohibited matters and to correct his own failings.

HEARTFELT ADVICE TOA FRIEND

(al-Hayy), the All-Hearing (a/-Sami'), the All-Seeing (a/Basir), the All-Powerful and Strong (a/-‘Agz), the All-Wise (a/-Hakim), and the Commander Who has authority over everything; Who Loves, Hates and Be Pleased; Who angers and does all that He is pleased to do; Who decrees all that He wants while being above His Throne; and nothing or anyone escapes from His Knowledge for He knows that which deceives the eyes and what the breasts conceal.

The state of mindfulness is the foundation from which all the deeds of the heart emanate as it necessitates becoming humble (al-haya’) and shy (a/-ijlal from Allah, respectful (a-/agim) to Him, and turning (a/-inabah)* to Him. Furthermore, it calls forth one’s love (al-mahabba) of Allah, fear (a/-khashiya) of Him, [full] reliance (al-tawakkul) on Him, submission (a/-kbusha')> to Him and the feeling of humility (a/-du/). It also/ends all the whispers (a/-waswasa)

> Haya’: modesty, derived from the word Aayd?, or life because it is through modesty that the heart is granted life and it is through the absence of modesty that it dies. It is a state that arises through the servant being aware that Allah is watching him, having love, fear and awe of Him and thinking little of himself. Al-Junayd said, ‘a/-Hayda’ is to recognise the bounties of Allah and then to recognise ones own shortcomings. Through this a state is engendered which is termed a/-Haya’, the reality of which is that it is a mannerism that prevents one from committing vile actions and from being lax in fulfilling the rights of Allah.’

* Inaba: returning, ibn al-Qayyim, Madani as-Salikin [1/467] said, ‘indbah comprises four matters: the love of Allah, submission to Him, turning to Him, and turning away from everything besides Him. A person cannot be said to “penitent” unless he meets all four requirements and the explanation of the Salaf to this word revolves around this. The word also carries the meaning of quickness, returning and precedence; therefore the penitent is rushing to do that which would please his Lord, turning back to Him at every moment and foremost in doing that which He loves.’

Fourth Element: Station of Excellence (al-ihsan) and Vigilance of Allah

of devils, casts away the doubts and commits the heart and the mind to become devoted to Allah alone.

How close a servant is from his Lord depends on his share from the state of thsan, and because of which, the reward and rank of salah differ from one to another so that the difference between the salah of one person and another can be like the distance between heavens and earth though both perform the sa/ah similarly.

Acknowledgment of the Favour (al-minna) of Allah

It is to acknowledge the infinite blessing for being at the service of Allah. That your heart and body are deployed to serve Him [alone] - and are only for Allah, whose Grace and Favour were conferred upc’ vou, to facilitate for you being in such a state [of servitude]. Had it not been for Allah’s Grace and Favour upon you, nothing of that would have occurred, which is something that the companions of the Prophet (#8) acknowledged when they used to repeat a line of poetry, that reads as follows: .

‘By Allah, was it not for Allah, neither would we have been guided, nor able to give charity nor perform the prayer’

Allah, Most High, said:

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“They consider it a favour to you that they have ac-

Fifth Element: Acknowledgment of the Favour (al-minna) of Allah

cepted Islam. Say, ‘Do not consider your Islam a favour to me. Rather, Allah has conferred favour upon you

that He has guided you to the faith, if you should be truthful.”

It is Allah who permitted a servant, to become a believer in the first instance. It is Him who facilitated for people to pray, just as Prophet Ibrahim ——s said in the ayah,

OF bas cA oy Ee Sere roe eel onanoy

“Our Lord!, And make us Muslims [in submission] to

You and from our descendants a Muslim nation fin submission] to You”

“My Lord, make me one who establislicrs the prayer, and [many] from my descendants.”

It is therefore a fact that it’s the favour (a/-minna) of Allah that He conferred upon His slaves to worship and obey Him. Indeed,

this is from the greatest of Allah’s graces upon His servant: Allah, Most High, said,

“And whatever you have of favour - it is from Allah”

HEARTFELT ADVICE TO A FRIEND

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“And [remember] when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely increase you [in favour]; but if

you deny, indeed, My punishment is severe.” [Fussilat (41): 7]

This element by far is one of the greatest elements and most beneficial for the servant of Allah; so the more profound the Tawhid of a person is, the more perfected his share from this element will be. One of the benefits attained from this element is that it prevents the heaft from feeling egoistic about the good deeds performed because when a person acknowledges and affirms that Allah, Most High, is the One who guided the servant to Him and that it is His favour upon the servant that he is a believer, he will consequently no: ' = fascinated by his good deeds or even feel superior to other peopie because of that; therefore all such debased feelings are instantly removed from his heart and so neither does he talk about them nor feel better than others because of them; and this is the nature of any accepted good deed.

From the other benefits of acknowledging Allah’s favour upon us, is that it makes a person praise the One really entitled and deserving of praise; not praise one self but rather acknowledges the fact that all the praise is due to Allah alone just as one acknowledges the fact that the grace he basks in and the bounties one is blessed with are from Allah alone. This benefit manifests the perfection (tamam) of one’s tawhid of Allah.

That being said, a person will never have a firm foothold in the rank (maqam) of tawhid, until after one acknowledges and experi-

Fifth Element: Acknowledgment of the Favour (al-minna) of Allah

ences all what has been said. As soon as one comes to cognize this, one deeply roots his footing on its ground, and as soon as the heart experiences that, one will then reap its fruit that no worldly grace or blessing can ever match, i.e. a person will then lavish in the (a/-mababba) love and intimacy (a/-uns) of Allah while basking in the amiability of His company and longing (a/-shawq) to the moment of meeting Him, and luxuriate in His remembrance and worship. Truly, there is no good in life for a person when the path leading to all that is blocked and when the heart is shunned from all that as a person of this kind is as Allah described in the ayah,

“Let them eat and enjoy sche and be diverted by [false] hope, for they are going to know.”

Sixth Element: Blaming One’s Self for Inadequate Efforts

It is to maintain the feeling that your endeavours and efforts to worship Allah are always inadequate; and that the right of Allah upon you is greater; therefore your obedience, worship and servitude (a/-‘wbiidiya) must be greater than what you perform, as the level of you: _vitude to Allah must befit His Glory and Power.

If the servants and subjects of kings exhibit high regards (a/- ta’zim), respect (al-ibtiram), reverence (a/-tangir), awe (al-khashiya), dread (a/-mahaba) and sincerity (a/-nush) towards their masters to the extent they dedicate their body-limbs and Learts to serve them, then it befits more that the King of all kings (Malik al-Maluk) and the Lord of the heavens and the earth be treated not only in a similar manner but far more superior.

If a servant (a/-‘abd) acknowledges that his state of servitude (a/- “budiya) does not fulfil, or is even close to fulfilling the due rights of Allah upon him. A person‘will then realise their shortcomings and will thus hasten to seek His forgiveness, apologise for ones deficiencies, inadequate worship and obedience. It is for this reason we are in more need of His forgiveness due to our inadequate worship and obedience than we are in need of asking His reward

Sixth Element: Blaming One’s Self for Inadequate E; sfforts

for the worship and obedience we have performed. There is no pride or credit to be claimed by a person, even if one was able to fulfil all the requirements of his state of servitude (al-‘ubidiya) to Allah, Most High, because in that case one would only be fulfill ling the natural (role) of his status as a servant to his Master, Allah Glorified be He, requires. It is obvious that if a servant served his master then he requested from his master a reward for his service, people would have deemed him a.fool though in the true terms and sense of reality he is nota truly a slave of another man since mankind is owned and is wholly a servant of Allah alone from all aspects. That being said, when Allah rewatds His servants for their worship, which they are obligated to perform anyhow - as His servants - then that is due to Allah’s favour and grace that He