Just A Tear For The One We Fear
By Abdul Nasir Jangda | 2026-01-19T08:19:05.990357+00:00 | Topic: General
Just A Tear For The One We Fear
Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda
Opening and Introduction
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
Alright, now here's a little bit of the problem. I don't like talking after wassalam because I can't do the epic voice thing. Alright? So, while I'm talking, when I quote an ayah, it's not gonna sound epic. I'm just gonna go ahead and quote it, okay? So, you might not feel as excited, and I apologize, but some people are epic sounding, some people are epic looking.
The Mercy Behind Divine Warnings
So to inshallah dial it back in, what we were talking about. We were talking about this beautiful, beautiful narration of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). And this entire weekend has been dedicated under the shade to talking about this one tradition of the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam). And you know, I tell people, I mentioned this when I lecture even in my tafsir lectures. When Allah tells us about the life of the hereafter, when Allah tells us about paradise, when Allah tells us about the fire of hell, when Allah tells us about the day of judgment, I want you to understand the level of mercy that that is.
How merciful that makes Allah. You know, there's this big philosophical question that Muslims get asked, and Muslim intellectuals are constantly dealing with, that the Qur'an talks about the fire of hell very prominently. And what kind of a religion do you have? And it's so angry, and it's so scary, and it's so frightening, and your God is so scary, and He's frightening you.
Allah telling us about the punishment in the fire of hell is actually an amazing form of Allah's mercy. It's kind of like a teacher or a parent, somebody that is responsible for your actions letting you know, that listen, I specifically do not want you to break this jug. I do not want you to break the jug.
The Analogy of Clear Instructions
Don't play with the jug. It's glass, you're a child, it will break if you mess with it, you play with it, if you toss it around. And if you end up breaking it, you will not get to play video games for two days.
Now, that's mercy. Because if the parent never even told you to begin with, don't play with the jug, how do you know you're not supposed to play with the jug? Or they said, don't play with the jug, but never bothered to tell you, well, what happens if I do play with it and I end up breaking it? They never told you what were the consequences. And then all of a sudden they come and they snatch your video game away and they say, you're not playing video games.
Now it feels like, oh my God, the oppression. Like, why are you doing this to me? Why do you hate me so much? But if I'm telling you, don't mess with it, don't play with it, because it will break, and then you won't have video games for two days. Now I know exactly what I'm dealing with.
The Prophet's Mercy in Guidance
And then if I still go ahead and choose to do it, then that's my own choice. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam), look at the level of mercy the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) is displaying to us. The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him.
He's telling us the day of judgment is coming, guys. And it's so severe that the sun will be right there above people's heads. And there will be no shade on that day where you can seek refuge and you can take shelter, except for one shade, and that is the shade of Allah.
The Seven Categories of Shade
And there are seven categories. And of course, Ibn Hajar rahmahullah, he mentions that there are other narrations, other hadith. He has actually an entire book dedicated to this. Al-Khisal al-Musila ila al-Dhalal. That the qualities that will take you all the way to the shade of the Arsh of Allah. However, nevertheless, this narration mentions seven categories of people.
He's letting us know there are seven qualifications. There are seven different things that we are looking for. We have seven positions to fill. If you can fit the description, the qualifications that fit into any one of these seven positions or categories, you're guaranteed a place. You're guaranteed a spot. You got nothing to worry about.
The Job Interview Analogy
You can throw it on cruise control and just chill there. That's all that we're already being told. Everything's being told to you. There's no mystery. Like if you go for a job interview, a lot of you are college students. When you start going in for job interviews, it is nerve-wracking. It is the most nerve-wracking experience of your life. Because you know, everything you've done up to this point is for this right here. This is your future. This is make it or break it. And when you walk into that room, you don't know what they're going to ask you. You don't know what they're exactly looking for.
What do they want to hear? What do they not want to hear? And it feels it's really, really scary. But then guess what happens? Well, the guy that's going to be interviewing you, the guy who works with him or who works on his team is like your cousin's best friend. And he ends up calling you up and saying, Hey, I heard you're coming in for an interview.
Well, guess what? I work with that same team. Oh my God, fantastic. And he tells you, look, this is exactly what he's going to ask you and this is what they're looking for. If you hit these points, boom, it's all taken care of. You got the job. What a hookup, right? And you'd walk into that room full of confidence.
You'd sit down with a big smile from here to here on your face because, you know, you got this all figured out. The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) gave it to us like that on a silver platter. He said, here, take it.
Reframing the Topic: Love Over Fear
That's what we've been talking about this entire weekend. And I had a few final thoughts here. What I was requested the primary thing to touch on here in my session here was, you know, the topic was to shed a tear for the one we fear.
With all due respect to the organizers, I would slightly adjust that a little bit. My talking point is the mercy of Allah. And even though the fear of Allah is a component of our relationship, but that's not what I would stress here with you guys today.
To shed a tear for the one that we love, to shed a tear for the one that we respect, to shed a tear for the one that we feel a sense of commitment to, to shed a tear for the one that we fear, we might have disappointed. That's what matters. That's really what I want us to focus on here.
Addressing the Active Youth: The Need for Private Connection
And as you leave today's conference, and he talked to you about building that personal, private, intimate relationship with Allah. You know, we have two drastic spectrums of the Muslim community, particularly in the youth community. We have two opposite ends of the spectrum.
I'm going to address both sides. The first side is the more religiously active youth, the active youth, all right? They're involved with the MSA, and they're organizing the conferences, they're taking the seminars and the classes, they're doing all of this. For them, what I want to bring to your attention based on that last portion of the hadith:
(Bukhari 660, Muslim 1031)
"And a man who remembers Allah in privacy so that his eyes shed tears"
What I want to address to the active youth is the need to have that private, intimate relationship with Allah. You can become so active, so active, so active, that you forget to invest time into your own personal relationship with Allah. Serving humanity is the goal. It's what we need to do, but not at the expense of our personal relationship with Allah.
The Balance in Islam's Five Pillars
That's why look at the five pillars of Islam, you find that balance there. After iman, what comes next?
Salah. Salah is an individual act. Yes, there are certain, there's the element of congregational prayer, but it still allows for that personal reflection. Fasting, everyone's doing it at the same time, but it's a personal experience, all right? But then you got charity, that's community, that's serving mankind, serving humanity, serving people, your fellow brethren.
And then there's the hajj, the communal experience of hajj, the collective experience of hajj. There's a balance. Activists, 90% of the time tend to lose that sense of balance.
Wisdom from the Teachers: Maintaining Intimate Connection with Allah
Find time for just you and Allah. One of my teachers, when we were graduating, he shared this piece of advice with us, and he said he was given this advice by his teacher, who was given this piece of advice by his teacher. And he said that his teacher told him, because he was telling me that he was, mashallah, also very good.
He was a people person. He was good at working with people. He was good talking to people. He was a very, very dynamic speaker. So that naturally just kept involving him more and more and more in community work, in lecturing, in talking, in teaching, and preaching, right? So he was constantly out there engaged with the people. And he said that his teacher took him aside.
And he said his teacher was the very opposite type of scholar. The one that wasn't a very dynamic or prolific speaker. The one who wasn't, he wasn't like anti-social or anything, but he just didn't have a very outgoing personality. There are people like that. And there's nothing wrong with that. But so he was the opposite type of scholar, who was teaching a lot.
He was always there to answer questions for people. He was doing a lot of research, writing books. And so he said he pulled him aside and he said, Abdullah, listen.
And he said the phrase in Urdu, and I'll just repeat it, but I'll tell you what it means. He said that as you continue to increase your public presence, as you continue to raise your voice and talk out and speak to the people, engage with the people, make sure that your intimacy with Allah also increases.
The Necessity of Private Worship
If I'm working a lot more with the community, but I'm not also gradually increasing my time that I personally spend with Allah, whether that be in prayer, or that be in deep thought, or that be making dhikr, or that be reciting Quran, just sitting there and thinking.
Al-muraqabah, that's also an aspect of our religion and deen and an aspect of our relationship with Allah. But find time for yourself and Allah alone. You got to, you have to.
Addressing the Hesitant Youth: Islam is Not a Cookie-Cutter System
So that's the first thing for one side of the spectrum, the active, the active youth, the activists. For the other side of the spectrum, which is a good portion of our youth community, they feel very threatened or very hesitant. They feel uncomfortable at the moment, approaching and getting involved and being a part of the bigger scene of what's going on.
They feel that things are either being defined for them. They feel that things are being shoved down their throat. They feel that they are being told to conform and to fit into a specific mold. They feel that this is a cookie cutter system. You want to take my individuality away. You want to take my personality away.
I'm my own person. I'm not ready to just subject to some system that's telling me that I got to be exactly like this. And they feel some level of, they feel uncomfortable with that.
And I'll tell you right now, for those youth that are listening, that fit into that category, I'll tell you right now, the reason you feel uncomfortable is because that's not what Islam wants from you. Islam is not a cookie cutter system. Islam doesn't want you to be clones of each other.
The Personal Relationship with Allah
No, no, no, no. The basis of Islam is again your private, personal, intimate relationship with Allah. And nobody, nobody, nobody can define that for you. No one can define that for you. It is your relationship with Allah. When Wissam just told his story about discovering tahajjud, that was, it sounded like from somebody who might know a traditional method of praying at night, that might sound like very, very weird and bizarre.
But it's his personal relationship with Allah. It doesn't matter what I think of it. As long as it's valid in the eyes of Allah. As long as it's valid according to the principles that our beloved Messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) he laid down and he taught us, doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. So I want you to know that here today. Don't feel that you have to exactly fit in.
Getting to Know Allah: The Foundation of Love
But realize that what makes you Muslim is your relationship with Allah. And now let's talk about this. We keep talking about a relationship with Allah. But you, in order to love, you have to get to know the person, right? It's hard to love without knowing. You have to know, you have to be familiar. And that leads to love. That leads to admiration which leads to love. So we need to get to know who are we dealing with. Who is Allah? And that's where this comes in.
Allah's Call to Those Who Have Wronged Themselves
Who are we dealing with? We are dealing with the one who in surah number 39, ayah number 53, who tells us, he tells the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) to proclaim, to announce, to say:
Mercy of Allah
"Say: 'O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.'''
O my slaves. He is having this proclamation made. O my slaves, Allah is calling out. Now which slaves is Allah talking to? The righteous, the pious, the scholars? No, no, no (الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ) The ones who have wronged themselves. And the word for wrong is not just wrong, but crossing the line.
(أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ) They've crossed all lines against themselves. They are self-sabotaging, self-imploding. (أَسْرَفُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ) They're harming themselves.
(لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ) Do not ever, ever, ever despair from the mercy of Allah. Don't you dare ever lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Grammatically speaking, this is called the forbidding form of the word. Don't you dare. It is forbidden for you to ever despair from the mercy of Allah.
What is Truly Haram: Despair from Allah's Mercy
Like Wissam was saying, we got a lot of talk in our communities about what's haram. This is haram and that is haram and that is (حَرَام). The (حَرَام) we need to be talking about, the (حَرَام) we need to understand, that comes first and foremost, it is (حَرَام) to lose hope in the mercy of Allah. It is haram to despair from the mercy of Allah.
(لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ) Why? (إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا)Allah can and will forgive all the sins. All the sins. (إنّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ) Why? Because He and only He alone is the constantly forgiving, the constantly merciful.
The Nature of Allah's Mercy
We as Muslims need to understand, we need to attach our hopes onto the mercy of Allah. We need to attach our hopes onto the mercy of Allah. And when you attach your hopes to something, when you are attached to like a balloon, how high you float or how high you fly up is gonna be based on the strength of that balloon, the amount of air in that balloon, right? When we attach our hopes to the mercy of Allah, we need to understand the nature of the mercy of Allah.
Like in the sense of how confident it should make us, how much of a sense of security should it give us, how much love it should bring into our hearts for the one we're dealing with. The nature of the mercy of Allah, Allah tells us himself in the Qur'an:
"Most definitely my mercy, it encompasses everything. Everything."
That means the greatest sin that you can commit, Allah's mercy is greater than that. The most horrible, despicable person you know, Allah's mercy is greater than that person's crime and than that person's evil. Allah's mercy encompasses, engulfs, takes over everything.
Hadith Qudsi: Allah's Mercy Supersedes His Wrath
In a hadith Qudsi, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says that Allah has said:
(Bukhari 7554, Muslim 2751)
"Most definitely my mercy, it supersedes my anger and my wrath."
Allah's mercy is so available for us.
The Door of Repentance
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) tells us, the manifestation or the access, the access door to the mercy of Allah is what we call tawbah, repentance, to turn back to Allah. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) gives us this beautiful analogy, where he says that the door of tawbah is as vast as far as the distance from the east to the west.
You know when somebody has a past, what do we call that in our common language? They have baggage. You know if a door is narrow, I can walk through it, but then if I pick up two suitcases, can I walk through it anymore? I can't make it through anymore because I got too much baggage. But it doesn't matter how much baggage you have, because the door of Allah's mercy, Allah's forgiveness and the door of repentance is bigger than any amount of baggage you might personally have.
Another Hadith Qudsi: Allah's Unlimited Forgiveness
And then I'll end this point on a hadith Qudsi, again where the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says that Allah has said:
(Tirmidhi 3540)
"O son of Adam, O human being. And this is a singular address. So Allah is talking to each and every single person individually. As long as you continue to call out to me. He didn't say pray. Not even pray. As long as you continue to call out to me, as long as you have the capacity to just say, Ya Allah, O Allah, I need you. And you continue to have hope in my mercy. I will forgive you and I won't even mind. It's not even a big deal. Don't worry about it."
The Cup Analogy: Unlimited Forgiveness
He then goes on to say (يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ), O human being, O each and every single person. (لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّماءِ) If your sins were to reach the limits of the sky.
I'm gonna give you guys a little bit of an example. This is how my teacher explained this hadith to me. He said, I want you to imagine, to explain it, to understand it. Every time you, one person, committed a sin, a cup appeared in this world. And then when he committed a second sin, a second cup appeared. And then when he committed a third sin, a third cup appeared.
And so on and so forth. To the point that this person kept committing sins, kept committing sins, kept committing sins, to the point that the entire world, north, south, east, west, became completely, the earth became completely covered with cups. There was not a single inch left on the surface of the earth. The entire earth was full of cups. But then guess what, that person keeps sinning. And there's no more room on the earth, so where are we gonna put the cups now? So he committed a sin again, and now you put it on top of the previous cup.
And then it kept stacking on top of that. And this person kept committing sins to the point that eventually the entire world, all the way from the ground to the sky, became completely filled with cups. One person committed that many sins. One person. (لَوْ بَلَغَتْ ذُنُوبُكَ عَنَانَ السَّمَاءِ) And then what does he say? (ثُمَّ اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي) And then after all that, (ثُمَّ), then after all that (اسْتَغْفَرْتَنِي) You asked me for forgiveness once. You sincerely asked me for forgiveness once.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, (غَفَرْتْ لَكَ وَلَا أَبَالِي) I will forgive you, and I won't even mind. That's how merciful and forgiving Allah is. That is who we are dealing with.
The Wrong Perception of Allah
So I want you to take this, I want you to really really internalize this. This is a huge issue we are dealing with today. That is who our relationship is with. That is who we are dealing with. You know a good friend of mine, a local native of yours here from Chicago, brother Abdurrahman Murphy. He was telling me about a situation, a story one time.
He went to a community and he was talking to high school kids. And he said he was talking to these kids and it just kind of occurred to him. And he asked him, how many of you think that Allah is mad or angry with you right now? And he said every single hand went up in the room.
That is our perception of who Allah is. Where does the motivation and the inspiration come from then? Wherever this mentality comes from, the Allahu a'lam, where you got being scared and feeling deprived keeps you motivated, it goes against everything psychology teaches us, and it goes against everything that the Qur'an teaches us, and it goes against everything that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did. Making people feel loved and letting people know that they are welcome and that they are being received into open arms, that is what motivates people. That is what drives people. And so know that that's who you're dealing with.
The Seven Categories Require Effort and Commitment
The final note that I wanna end with is this second point. And again, I've been talking about balance, so I wanna bring balance to my talk here with you today. And I'm gonna end on this final point. A final observation about this entire hadith and all seven categories that we studied about over the span of the entire weekend.
The just ruler, the young person who grew up, was raised in the worship of Allah, trying to please Allah. The person whose heart was constantly linked to the house of Allah. Two people who love each other for the sake of Allah, based on their relationship with Allah, and they join, they combine, they come together based on that, and they depart based on that.
And a person who is called by a member of the opposite gender, who is very attractive and very appealing, the full package, all right? And then that person is able to resist that temptation, solely based on their relationship with Allah and their cognizance and their awareness of Allah. And a person who gives whatever is within their capacity for the sake of Allah, and they protect it, they guard it, they save it. They don't use it as a means of showing off or celebrating themselves.
And then finally a person who finds private intimate time to connect and build a relationship with his Lord Allah. These seven categories of people, you know what's very consistent throughout all seven categories of people? One thing that we can find consistent in all seven qualities or characteristics or traits, is that you will have to work hard at it. Not that it's difficult, but you will have to work at it a little bit. You have to invest yourself into it.
Examples of the Required Effort in Each Category
You know why? The just ruler, there will be times where his power and his control over those people that are his subordinates under his authority, his power is so absolute over them, he will have to catch himself and say, no, no, I could do it if I wanted to, but that didn't make it right. I gotta do what's right.
Or the subordinate will speak back or will insubordinate against him. And he has to have the awareness of mind, the consciousness, the cognizance not to retaliate, not to attack, just because I have power and I have the upper hand. The second category, the young person has more distractions than any other demographic within our community.
But that young person will continue to catch themselves and say, no, no, no, I gotta stay the course, I gotta stay the course, this is just a distraction, this is just trying to... this is a speed bump, I just hit a speed bump, I gotta keep going. That person who is trying to build a relationship with the masjid, with the house of Allah, he goes there, he's trying to build a relationship with the house of Allah, and then some uncle yells at him, and then some sister screams at her for not being covered properly according to the
opinion of that sister. Now it is your responsibility to make sure that somebody else is not gonna become a wedge between you and the house of Allah.
No, no, no, no. My relationship with this place is based on Allah. I could care less what that person has to say. They have to remind themselves. Two people whose relationship is based on Allah, well, guess what, if your relationship is based on Allah, then when something petty, something trivial comes up between the two of you, then you gotta behave yourselves. Then you gotta behave yourselves.
Because if you're true in your commitment that this relationship, this friendship is based on Allah, and the mutual love that we have for Allah, then you're not gonna let something petty make bad people out of you, you're not gonna misbehave. And then of course, the temptation, the attraction, that sometimes it'll become so severe that you actually stand there and start compromising, making excuses for yourself. But at the end of the day, I'm just a human being.
How much am I supposed to resist? I'm just a human being. Or we'll get married later. Or whatever else, the excuse or the compromise you might be making there with yourself at that time, no, you're gonna catch yourself and you're gonna say, no, I know what my Allah wants from me and I'm not gonna engage in this because this will displease my Allah.
The Challenge of Charity and Recognition
And then giving charity. Somebody else will give $100. A week after you gave $1000 and they'll publish it in the newsletter and they'll present him with an award and they'll thank him from the microphone or one of your other friends will be like, man, you know Abdullah, he's a super awesome guy.
He gave $100 man, mashallah, that brother is so generous and you're sitting there and you gave $1000 a week ago and you're just thinking like, where's my props? Where's my pat on the back? When am I gonna get some love? And you're gonna wanna say, yeah, mashallah, that's really good. Alhamdulillah, you know brother, I dropped a grand on him last week. No, no, no, no, I'm gonna catch myself.
I'm gonna say, mashallah, good for you, good for brother Abdullah, good for everybody. Alhamdulillah. Because I know what I did, I did it for my Allah.
Personal Accountability in Private Worship
And then like I was talking about earlier, I will make time for Allah. And then when I get up here on the microphone, and I'm talking and I'm doing a great job, and then I'm getting invited to three other conferences and I'm hitting my stride, and then again I start to convince myself, this is my deen, this is what I'm doing for the religion, this is why Allah will be pleased with me. That could be true.
But again, that does not preclude me from the necessity, the need that I have to still, after I'm done with this lecture, to go back up to my room, when nobody else is in my room, to clap and to say, jazakallah,
The Potential of Youth: Striving for All Seven Categories
And the last thing that I'll say here is this, these are seven categories. You guys are young people, I said this in my last couple of talks as well, you guys are young people. Your potential is limitless. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has said:
(Muslim 2638)
"People are like mines of gold and silver."
You guys are worth more than gold and silver. You have so much potential, you are capable of so much. And your academic achievements, and your involvement in the community, and your activism is a testimony to that, mashallah. The number of relationships that you balance is a testament to that.
I want you to make one commitment. Notice nowhere in the hadith did it say that you can fit into only one category. Did it say that anywhere? Did it say that one person can only fit one category? Did they say that anywhere guys? Did you hear that at any time during the weekend? Yes or no? No.
The Example of Abu Bakr: Called from All Gates of Paradise
Strive to be the type of person who fits into every single category. Because you know what, there will be people like that on the Day of Judgment. And I'll end with this, I talked about heroes earlier this weekend. To look up to these amazing type of people. Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu. An amazing companion of the Prophet named Abu Bakr. May Allah be pleased with him. He was such an amazing and remarkable individual. He strove to always do be the best and to do the best.
And subhanAllah there was one time during his lifetime, when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم told him:
"Congratulations Abu Bakr."
Paradise has 8 gates. Paradise, Jannah has 8 gates وَأَنْتَ تُنَادَى مِنْ كُلِّ بَابِ And your name will be called out from all 8 gates of Paradise. Let's try to be people like that.
Conclusion
Because we're all capable of it. (جزاكم الله خيراً - jazakum allahu khairan) for your time and your patience. والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته