Friday Reflections by Dr. Ehtishamul Haque

As for the rest, the best hadith is the Book of Allah. And the best guide is the guide of Muhammad, peace be upon him. And the worst of things are its innovations. And every innovation is a creation, and every creation is a sign, and every sign is in the Fire.

All praise is due to Allah, whom we thank, ask for help, and invoke for forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evils within ourselves, and from the evils of our own wrong actions and deeds. He whom Allah guides will never be misled, and he whom He leaves to go astray will never find one to guide him.

We bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, and that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, is His servant and Messenger.

Maintaining Strength in All Situations

Dear brothers and sisters, as believers, as Muslims, we are supposed to be keeping ourselves strong in every situation. We should be strong if we are enjoying the ease of the life, comfort of the life, everything that's working in our favor.

Businesses are rising, الحمد لله. Health is good, الحمد لله. Family is nice, الحمد لله. Children are doing, الحمد لله. Keep yourself strong there. How do you keep yourself strong there? You keep yourself within the limits set by Allah.

You maintain your taqwa, which is linked to the attitude and etiquette of a believer when he's enjoying the ease and comfort from Allah. At the same time, when the challenges, problems, difficulties, calamities, sad things are striking us, we have to keep ourselves strong. How? By following the etiquettes given by our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Our Connection with Al-Qawi

And a believer is strong as long as he maintains his connection with Al-Qawi, Allah, the most powerful. If our connection is maintained with Allah, then nothing to be worried in this world. If that is shaky and compromised, then the time might come that even a stray dog at the street could chase you and force you to change your route.

If Allah is with us, and we have that connection, تعلق مع الله تعالى, and very strong tiger, strongest animal, anything comes in front of us, we'll be able to move forward and he or she has to change its route.

In the daily prayer, we remind ourselves of our pledge with Allah. We say, Ya Allah, You only we worship. We worship You only, not the money, not my boss, not the powerful people around me, not the sports stars, not the movie stars, no. I worship You only, we worship You only, O Allah, and from You only we seek the help. وإياك نستعين، وإياك نستعين.

Brothers and sisters, when this connection with Allah is maintained, and we have these facts fresh in our mind, you will be able to move the mountains from your path, سبحان الله. And there is a wisdom, that's why we repeat these phrases in every prayer, in so many rakat, from morning till evening.

The Noble Advice to Abdullah ibn Abbas

Little bit detail of this spirit we get from the nasiha of Sayyidina, nasiha of our Nabi Muhammad, to Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Abbas, who was a young sahabi, around 10 to 12 years old, at that time.

He says, I was right behind Prophet. Prophet said, "O boy, I want to teach you some words, some nasiha, some important things." Abdullah ibn Abbas, he's very young, and he got only 33 months of rifaqah, the companionship of our Nabi Muhammad.

33 months, that's it. So young. With Prophet, around Fath of Makkah. Many people do not know this fact that he was born in Shu'ab ibn Talib, where Rasulullah was isolated by the Makkan people. Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Abbas, he joined the Prophet around Makkah time, and he had only 33 months of rifaqah, the sohbah of our Nabi Muhammad.

And he mentioned this hadith, he says, I was right behind Prophet, according to some scholars, he was riding on a camel, behind Prophet, and Rasulullah gave him this nasiha.

And this nasiha, I would say, is for you, for me, for our children, for every person in Ummah Muslimah. Brothers and sisters, these words are such powerful, if we keep them fresh in our mind, I would say, if we keep them repeating now and then, reminding ourselves, focusing on them, سبحان الله, you will never ever feel weak, no matter how many tragedies, problems are surrounding you, سبحان الله.

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2516)

Rasulullah said, "Oh boy, be mindful of Allah's commands. He will protect you. Be mindful of the commands of Allah, the ahkam of Allah, the etiquettes given by Allah. You will find Him right in front of you. Whenever you are facing something, you will find Him there, Allah.

Whenever you ask, if you ask something, ask from Allah. And when you seek help, seek help from Allah.

The Ultimate Truth About Divine Decree

And the peak, peak of these phrases is this: be aware, if the entire nation, if the whole group of people, they get together, deciding that they want to benefit you with something, they won't be able to benefit you, except what Allah has decided for you. And if they decided to hurt you, to harm you with something, they won't be able to harm you, except with what Allah has already decided for you."

Practical Application in Business

People call, and they say, could you give us fatwa about this that my business is with lots of non-Muslim dealers, and we receive lots of things from their dealership. At this occasion of Christmas, or any other occasion, could I just, with the fruit basket, could I give them just one bottle of wine as well? It's gonna benefit my business.

So you wanna keep people happy, increase their happiness by breaking the commands of Allah. Well the fatwa is, no, that's not allowed, that's haram. احفظ الله يحفظك - You take care of the commands of Allah, Allah will protect you, Allah will help you to rise and shine.

If you keep pleasing people, ignoring the commands of Allah, you will be handed over to them. And the people, their capacity is so limited, they can't even keep themselves happy, satisfied, comforted, how they're gonna keep you happy, satisfied, and comforted? Their capacity is limited.

Allah is the only one who has the unlimited capacity. So, to promote your business, do honest job, be a honest worker, be a honest businessman, be a hardworking person, have all the etiquettes, good etiquettes, which are essential for your business, to be promoted by Islam, but unnecessarily, don't cross the limits set up by Allah.

Have your trust upon Allah, that they won't be able to benefit you, even if they have all together decided, they won't be able to do it, except what Allah has already decided for you.

Why? Why do we need this? Stay in the safe zone, and you will see the benefit, how you're moving safely, rising, shining, with the protection of Allah, with the support of Allah, plus, with the salamatul qalb, your ruh, your dameer, your inside consciousness is not damaged, not injured. With the confidence, الحمد لله, I am with the connection of Allah.

So, brothers and sisters, Sayyidina Abdullah ibn Abbas, was just 10-12 years old, when he got this nasiha, and he used to mention this entire life to the people, سبحان الله.

Reminding Ourselves and Our Children

How would you and me remind ourselves? How would you and me remind our children? Don't worry, do the right things, in the right way, rest of the things are assured by Allah. And see, إن شاء الله, our iman and the confidence upon our تعلق مع الله, how it will be increasing, إن شاء الله.

May Allah increase our taqwa, may Allah increase our iman, may Allah increase his blessings upon us, may Allah increase us in our health, in our wealth, in prosperity, in our taqwa, and may Allah grant us Jannatul Firdaus.

Remember Allah the Great and He will remember you, and call upon Him and He will answer you, and the remembrance of Allah is indeed the greatest.