Arsalan Majeed - Spirituality in Islam

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan.

Indeed, the truest hadith is the Book of Allah, and the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. And the worst of affairs are those that are newly invented, and every newly invented matter is an innovation, and every innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the fire.

All praises for Allah. We praise Him, we ask for His help, we beg for His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evil consequences of our sins, and the evil that which our souls may incline us towards. Whomsoever Allah guides, there is no one that can misguide him. And whomsoever Allah allows to go astray, there is no one that can guide him to the right path.

I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of any act of worship, except Allah alone who has no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is His most perfect worshipper and final messenger.

Introduction to the Topic

Dear brothers and sisters, I was requested to give a khutbah today regarding the topic of Islam and spirituality. My topic in this khutbah I have divided into three parts:

Number one: discussing what is spirituality inside of Islam. Number two: how does Allah encourage us to maintain spirituality in the Quran and through the sunnah of His Prophet, peace be upon him. And number three: what are some misconceptions that Muslims have regarding spirituality.

Part One: What is Spirituality in Islam?

Dear brothers and sisters, spirituality in Islam is basically connecting all of our actions, whether they be religious or whether they be non-religious actions, to Allah and to the hereafter. So let's take for example salah, which is a ritualistic act of worship. It can become something that we connect to Allah with, or it can be something that is not rewarded by Allah.

And that depends on the person's khushu' or the person's state of awareness he has of Allah during his prayer. So spirituality is connecting our actions, whether they be religious or whether they be non-religious, with Allah and the hereafter.

Part Two: How Allah Encourages Us to Maintain Spirituality

Moving on to part two: how does Allah encourage us to maintain a sense and a constant level of spirituality? Spirituality amongst all of us, of course, we notice sometimes we feel more spiritual, sometimes we feel less spiritual. And this is iman increasing and decreasing. This is our spirituality increasing and decreasing. And that is normal and natural for people.

First Method: Through Taqwa

The first way that Allah reminds us to maintain a level of spirituality is by constantly reminding us to have taqwa of Him. What is taqwa? Before we talk about what taqwa is, let's talk about what taqwa isn't.

Unfortunately, sometimes people mistranslate the word taqwa and they say that it refers to fear. Taqwa is not necessarily fear. Fear is an emotion that a person has. Rather, taqwa is a state of mind. It is a state of consciousness of Allah. Taqwa is when you're going through life and you're always conscious of Allah in all of your daily affairs, whether they be religious affairs or whether they be non-religious affairs. And it's to connect our actions to Allah.

Umar asked Ubayy ibn Ka'b, "What is taqwa?" And Ubayy ibn Ka'b asked Umar a question back and he said to him, "Oh Umar, have you ever taken a path, have you ever walked upon a path that is very narrow and full of thorns?"

So Umar replied to him and said, "Yes I have." So Ubayy asked him, "What do you do when you walk on this path?" So Umar replied, "You know naturally I would try to avoid the thorns, right? I don't want any thorn to prick me nor do I want any thorn to get on my garments or my clothes. So I lift up my garment and I avoid the thorns as I'm going through this path."

So Ubayy ibn Ka'b said that this is exactly what taqwa is inside of the life of a Muslim. Is that when he's going through life, he's always conscious of Allah's limits. He's conscious of the temptations of this dunya that Allah has told us to avoid or to engage in with certain Islamic guidelines. And as he's going through life, this consciousness is taqwa for him. Is to be aware of Allah in all of his actions, not necessarily to fear in those actions.

Now the concept of taqwa, dear brothers and sisters, it is heavily stressed inside of the Quran. It is mentioned nearly 260 times inside of the Quran. In fact, when Allah begins His book, He begins it with a mention of people that are conscious of Allah. They are people of taqwa. They are people of spirituality. Who are those people?

"That is a book which there is no doubt in. No doubt, meaning the Quran, there is no doubt that it's from Allah. And there is no doubt that the meaning that it contains and whatever it contains inside of it is true. It is the guidance for who? For the people that are spiritual. The people that maintain spirituality and consciousness of Allah in their daily life." May Allah make us amongst these people.

Second Method: Reminding Us of Death and the Hereafter

The second way Allah reminds us to keep a level of spirituality in our life is to constantly remind us about death and the hereafter.

"Every single soul shall taste death." Meaning every single soul will go through that experience. None of us, no one in this world lives forever and no one will live forever. Only Allah is everlasting. He is eternal without beginning and He will continue to exist without an end. That is a quality that is only exclusively reserved for Allah.

He said when one leg is joined to the other leg. This is figurative. Meaning when a person is shrouded at the time of death, when he is about to be buried. At this moment the journey of the soul has begun to Allah. The journey of the soul has begun to the hereafter.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6416)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Be in this world as if you are a stranger. You are someone that is passing by. You are not making a permanent home in this world. Rather you are preparing for the hereafter."

Why Does Allah Remind Us of Death?

Now why does Allah constantly remind us of death and the hereafter? Is it to instill in us a sense of morbidity? No, of course not. Rather there are many wisdoms why Allah maintains our spirituality through this method and reminds us constantly of the hereafter.

Amongst the wisdoms is to remind us that this world is not our permanent home. We are all headed toward the life that will come. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said in a hadith recorded by Imam al-Tirmidhi, that the comparison or the similitude of this world compared to the hereafter is like when one of you goes to the ocean and he dips his fingers inside of the ocean. So let him look at what he brings out when he takes his fingers out.

In other words, what the Prophet, peace be upon him, is saying, is that when you go to the ocean, when you go to the beach, and you dip your fingers inside of the sea in front of you, and then you take your fingers out, the few drops of water that cling to your fingers compared to the ocean you see in front of you when you lift your head up, is the similitude of the blessings and enjoyments of this world and the temporality of this world compared to the everlasting nature and the blessings of the hereafter. So the Prophet, peace be upon him, is putting this world into perspective for us and telling us that your abode, your eternal residence is in the hereafter. So prepare and work for that.

The second reason Allah constantly reminds us of death and the hereafter is to instill in us a sense of accountability in front of Allah. When a person has no accountability for his actions, he's not answerable for what he has to do. He can do whatever he wants. He doesn't have to worry about his actions. But Allah is telling us in the Quran that you are accountable for your actions.

"Whoever does an atom's worth of good will see it on the Day of Judgment. And whoever does evil or a bad action equivalent to that amount will see it on the Day of Judgment." Meaning we're accountable for our actions.

Allah says that no soul will bear the burdens of another soul on the Day of Judgment. Everyone will have his own actions, his own deeds to be answerable and responsible for in front of Allah.

The third reason Allah reminds us of the hereafter and instills in us a sense of spirituality through this method is to tell us that the ups and downs of this dunya are not permanent. The difficulties, the trials and the tribulations that we go through in this life, they are not permanent. They will not stay forever.

Allah says that these days we rotate them amongst the people. Some days you find yourself in a very high mood. Some days not feeling so great. And similarly the difficulties and the moments of joy and happiness and depression in our lives. Allah is telling us that these things are not permanent.

In fact, if we look at the lives of the prophets, dear brothers and sisters, we see that the most beloved of people to Allah, they were the most severely tested. When Allah tests a person, it's not because He hates him.

Rather the Prophet, peace be upon him, told us: "When Allah loves a group of people, He puts them through a trial and test to test their iman." And this is why the prophets, they were the most severely tested and they had the greatest test in their lives.

Look at the Prophet, peace be upon him. A role model and example for all of us. For 40 years of his life, he was known as someone of great standing inside of his community. Yet, when he began his da'wah, he was kicked out of his own home. There were multiple assassination attempts on the Prophet, peace be upon him. All of his male children passed away during his life. Many wars and battles he went through, many difficulties.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri - there is a hadith that is mentioned that one time he visited the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, was sick. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, had a blanket on him. So Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, when he visited him, he placed his hand on the blanket. And he could feel the heat pulsating from his blessed body through the blanket all the way to the hand of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri.

And so when the Sahabi saw this, he said, "How difficult is your fever? Even the illness you have in your body, oh Prophet of Allah." And so the Prophet, peace be upon him, told him that the prophets are the most severely tested in this world. And the more iman a person has, the greater his test will be in this life. And Allah reminds us constantly of the hereafter to tell us that these tests in life, they're not permanent. Rather, they're a means of reward for us.

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, the reason we're reminded of the hereafter is Allah encourages us to race toward good deeds.

"Race toward good deeds. Excel with one another in doing good actions. Wherever you are, Allah will gather you and bring you on the Day of Judgment. Allah is able to do all things." Excel with one another and do good deeds and focus on the hereafter.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2459)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "The intelligent and the wise person is the one who holds himself accountable and prepares for the life that is to come. And the person who is helpless is the person who follows his whims and desires, doesn't care about his spirituality whatsoever, yet he has great hopes from Allah that Allah will reward him." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said the true person who is intelligent and focused on the hereafter is the one who works for the life to come.

Part Three: Common Misconceptions About Spirituality

Finally, dear brothers and sisters, I would like to conclude this khutbah with sharing a few misconceptions that people have regarding spirituality in Islam.

First Misconception: Differentiating Between Deen and Dunya Actions

Number one: differentiating between acts for the deen and acts for the dunya. And what do I mean by this? What I mean by this is sometimes we find ourselves in a dichotomy thinking that, "Oh, this action is only for the deen or for the hereafter," or "this action is only for the dunya." Rather, for a Muslim, all of his actions can be for the akhira.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1)

And that goes back to the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him: "Actions are but by intention." Meaning, even mundane, everyday actions a Muslim goes through, that all human beings go through, he can turn them into acts of worship if they're done for the sake of Allah.

So, for example, when a person eats or when a person sleeps, he has an intention to please Allah through these actions. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, told us that these actions, based on your intentions, even they can become acts of worship.

The Sahaba, if you look at their lives, they did not simply sit inside of the masajid. Rather, they went out, they did business, they went about their daily affairs. They found the fluctuations of iman inside of them. Yet the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught them that whatever action you do, if you do it for the sake of Allah, even in your business, your job, whatever, it becomes an act that is rewarded by Allah.

Second Misconception: What Zuhud (Asceticism) Really Means

The second misconception that some people have, brothers and sisters, is a misconception regarding what zuhud or asceticism really means. Some people, they think that zuhud is simply giving up the dunya in all of its forms, not enjoying anything from the dunya. But this is not the meaning of zuhud or asceticism, or something that Allah tells us in the Quran.

Rather, Allah says in the Quran: "Who has forbidden the good things from this dunya on My believing slaves? Say, therefore, My believing slaves in this world, and exclusively for them on the Day of Judgment." Meaning, that we are allowed to enjoy the good and pure things that Allah has made for us inside of this world.

In fact, in another ayah at the end of Surah Al-Hadid, Allah censured those people that took asceticism to an extreme level.

He says, "Almost to the level of monkhood. They imposed it upon themselves. We did not impose this or we did not enjoin this upon them. They weren't able to fulfill its obligations or give it its due right once they imposed it upon themselves."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6446)

The Prophet, peace be upon him, rather told us that zuhud or asceticism is to be content with what Allah has given you. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "Contentment is not by having a lot of worldly possessions. Rather contentment is being content by Allah, with Allah. It's an internal satisfaction that you have. It's an internal enrichment that you have."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2963)

In another hadith, the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught us: "Don't look at people that are above you in terms of material wealth and possessions. Don't compete with them. But look at people that are below you. That will make you appreciate Allah's blessings upon you even more."

So, zuhud is not to give up from the enjoyments of this dunya as Imam Sufyan al-Thawri said. He said, zuhud is not having long hopes in this worldly life - i.e., to focus on the hereafter and prepare for the hereafter. And it's not necessarily to wear a certain type of clothing or to eat coarse foods.

Conclusion

May Allah make us amongst those people who are constantly connected to Him. May Allah make us amongst those people of Ahlul Jannah.