Allah's Divine Protection and Steadfastness Through Life's Trials

The Protection of Allah and the Importance of Steadfastness

Protect us from any calamity which will befall us. Today, we will spend our money — some people spend money on getting bodyguards, some people spend money on getting the best home security system, the safest car, making sure we have the best insurance plan. But what can be a greater protection, a greater bodyguard for us than the angels of Allah who have been commanded to protect us.

How many times have we experienced a near-death scenario where if we had taken one more step, or if we had stayed in a place for a second longer, then something horrible might have happened to us. Now this is not a coincidence, this is not luck that this calamity did not afflict us. Rather, it is these angels who have been commanded by Allah to deflect that calamity from us. And when Allah intends for us to return to Him, our time of death approaches, then He will call these angels back and that calamity will afflict us and then we will pass away.

So as Muslims, we should never lose hope in Allah. We should never be depressed over anything which happens to us. Why? Because we have these hidden armies of Allah always by our side. We always have these angels surrounding us and protecting us from any calamities which might afflict us. This is why whatever afflicts us, whatever difficulties we go through — in work, in school, at home — it should never make us lose hope in Allah.

Allah Does Not Burden a Soul Beyond Its Capacity

Allah mentions in the Qur'an:

That Allah will never burden us with anything which we cannot handle. Meaning that whatever comes our way, we can handle it. It will be difficult — Allah never said that we won't go through difficulties. But we will be able to handle those difficulties. So when Allah gives us a difficulty, then we must take it, we must abide by it, and get through it with istiqamah.

That is why whenever Allah gives us a difficulty, He is looking to see how we will respond. In the month of Ramadan, it is very easy for us to do a lot of actions and get that high. In Umrah, in Hajj, in Makkah al-Mukarramah and Madinah al-Munawwarah, it is easy for us to do a lot of actions. However, when our spouse is pulling us one way, when our children are pulling us the other way, when our boss is pulling us in a separate direction, when all these difficulties seem to be overwhelming us — then not to miss your Fajr salah, then not to miss your 'Isha salah, then not to miss your daily adhkar, then not to miss your daily tilawat, then not to miss your Surah al-Kahf on Friday — this is what Allah is looking at.

That He is saying: I am going to test you, I am going to throw these tests and trials at you, and I want to see if you have that base level which you will never fall under. Every single one of us should have a base level — no matter what comes our way, no matter what difficulties come our way, we never fall below that base level.

And what is that? Number one, we never miss a fard, an obligation that Allah has put on us — we never miss a fard, such as salah for example. Number two, we never indulge in any haram action. And if we happen to slip, if we happen to commit a sin, then we must immediately realize what we have done, the gravity of what we have done, and we must immediately turn back to Allah.

Tawbah: Turning Back to Allah After Sinning

Allah mentions in an ayah:

Those people that when they commit a fahishah, a sin, or they oppress themselves — ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ — they immediately remember Allah, they realize what they have done is wrong, thus they seek repentance for their sin. وَمَن يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — no one forgives other than Allah. And these people, they do not persist in that action. They do the sin, but they immediately turn back to Allah, and they don't persist in that action, and they realize what they have done.

Now what does this person get? He has committed a sin, but he has repented to Allah immediately:

For these people is forgiveness from their Lord — number one, forgiveness from their Lord. وَجَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا — not only forgiveness, but he will be given gardens, those gardens are such that rivers are flowing underneath them, and he will remain in these gardens forever and ever. وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ — how amazing, how wonderful is the reward of the one who does this tawbah.

When he commits a sin, he immediately turns back to Allah and seeks forgiveness for that action. So immediately when we commit a sin, we must always turn back to Allah — immediately pray the two rak'ah tawbah salah. Ask Allah for forgiveness for our sin, and make sure that we do not commit that sin again. If we do this, then this is not against steadfastness, because we immediately turn back to Allah.

So immediately we must always have hope in Allah that He will forgive us. That is why as Muslims, we should never lose hope, because there is always that light at the end of the tunnel. There is always that light at the end of the tunnel — we know that whatever difficulty is going to afflict us, there is some good to it. Why? Because every single second that we are going through that calamity, that difficulty, we are getting closer and closer to Allah. We are getting more and more reward. We are getting our ranks in Jannah raised because of this calamity, this difficulty that we are going through patiently and with steadfastness.

So whenever we are going through a difficulty, we must always remember these ayat. It will help us get through these difficulties — that if I am steadfast, if I am consistent in my actions, even though all these difficulties are afflicting me, then I will be amongst those whom Allah mentions — that angels will be surrounding them. They will have nothing to worry about. That on the Day of Judgment, when they pass away, these angels will say: Do not worry about your family, do not worry about your spouse you are leaving behind, do not worry about your children that you are leaving behind. Do not worry about any of that, because we will take care of them. Now is your time to relax. Do not worry about your salah. Do not worry about your tahajjud. Do not worry about your adhkar. Do not worry about du'a. You have completed all of that. You have succeeded. Now it is your time to relax and enjoy and have all your desires fulfilled.

But right now, it is our time to work. We must make sure that we are steadfast in all of our actions. We ask Allah to make us amongst those people. Ameen.

The Secret Recipe for Attaining Istiqamah

So now we know the importance of steadfastness. We know the rewards of steadfastness. But how do we attain this? What is the secret recipe to attaining this istiqamah?

The Prophet ﷺ mentions in a hadith — it is reported on the authority of Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) — that the Prophet ﷺ said: Indeed, for every action there is an eagerness and excitement. That immediately when we start an action, there is that feeling of excitement that we are starting something new.

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 6777; also reported by Ibn Hibban)

وَلِكُلِّ شِرَّةٍ فَتْرَةٌ — but no sooner does that excitement start than it will dwindle down, it will go away. We have all experienced this. We start a new action and we have that excitement in our heart that we are doing something new. But then after a few days, that feeling of excitement goes away.

So the Prophet ﷺ says: if the one committing this action is moderate, if he behaves properly, if he has that steadfastness in his life — then hope for him, meaning hope for his success. He is a successful person. But if fingers are being pointed at him, meaning that he was not steadfast — that as soon as the excitement fell off, he also fell off that action and no longer committed it — then for this person, do not hope for any success. He is not worthy of that success.

So we must make sure that whenever we start an action, we feel that excitement — it helps us start the action. But when that excitement goes away, we must make sure that we do not fall off. Because some people will start off with a high and lofty goal: a thousand salawat a day, twenty rak'ahs of tahajjud a day, reading ten ajza' of Qur'an a day. But after a few days or a few weeks, it is zero — they are not doing anything — because they got burnt out.

Three Steps to Maintaining Steadfastness

So how do we make sure that this does not happen to us? There are three things we should make sure that we do:

Number one, most importantly, we always supplicate to Allah. First and foremost, we must make sure that Allah is the one who gives us the tawfiq to have istiqamah. So we must always be asking Allah in du'a to allow us to have that steadfastness in our actions.

Number two, we must make sure that we surround ourselves with good company — people who remind us of Allah when we look at them. That is a sign of a good friend: that when you look at him, you are reminded of Allah. And we must also make sure that we are in the right environment, because the environment is everything. If you are at work, then praying salah is hard because no one else is praying salah. But if you are in the masjid at the time of salah, to not pray salah is almost impossible — everyone else is praying salah, so you will be praying salah. If you are in the masjid, everyone is reciting Qur'an, you will also recite Qur'an. If you are in the masjid, everyone is doing dhikr, you will also do dhikr. So we must make sure that we surround ourselves with people who attach themselves to the masjid, and thus we will also be in the masjid as well. And in the masjid, as mentioned, there are angels surrounding it — so you will also take part in the barakah and mercy of those angels.

Number three, we must make sure that we attach ourselves to a scholar who will help us on our spiritual journey. Perhaps the scholar will tell us that doing 2000 salawat a day is not the best thing for us. Doing 20 rak'ahs of tahajjud is not the best thing for us. Fasting every single day might not be the best thing for us. Rather, we should start off small — 100 salawat, fast every Monday and Thursday — start off small, and then eventually build up until we can reach that high and lofty goal. But if we start off too high, then we might end up not doing anything at all.

So those three things: we must make sure that we make du'a to Allah, we surround ourselves with good company and a good environment, and we attach ourselves to a scholar who will help us on that spiritual journey. And inshallah, if we make sure that we do these three things and attain that steadfastness, then inshallah we will be amongst those whom Allah mentions — who will be surrounded by angels when they pass away, and who will be promised that final abode of Jannah.

I ask Allah to allow us to be from amongst those people. Ameen.

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