The Balance of Effort and Trust in Seeking Jannah

Opening — Quranic Verse and Hadith

(Musnad Imam Ahmad)

The Principle: Effort Must Be Proportionate to the Goal

Anytime we set a goal for ourselves, or we have some sort of plan, some sort of goal that we want to achieve — depending on the loftiness of that goal, that's the amount of hard work that a person will have to display in order to achieve it. Meaning that the amount of hard work we do must be proportionate to the level of the goal that we have set for ourselves. Whatever goal we have set for ourselves, the amount of difficulty, the amount of hard work that we put into it has to be proportionate to it. Otherwise, if a goal is something very high but the amount of energy that we're exerting, the amount of hard work that we're doing is not of that level, obviously we can't anticipate, we can't expect that we're going to be able to achieve that.

For example, an individual is studying and they want to — whatever subject that they're studying, it's medicine, engineering — it's a high, lofty goal. But if a person isn't spending the time that's needed, they're going to the classes, but whatever homework is assigned, whatever work that's needed for it, they're not doing that — obviously at the end of it, they cannot expect, they can't just sit and expect that okay, this is the little bit, minimum amount that I did, and I achieved that lofty goal that they had in mind.

For us as Muslims, our goal is to worship Allah. Our goal is — we want the paradise of Allah, we want Jannah, which is a very lofty goal. We want the mercy of Allah, we want the forgiveness of Allah. How is it that we can expect to acquire the forgiveness of Allah, the mercy of Allah, when from our own end we either did the bare minimum or we did below what the bare minimum is? Of course, Allah being the merciful can give and grant what He wills, when He wills, how He wills. But there's a system that Allah made.

A person who's hungry, for example, cannot expect that their hunger is going to go away when the food that Allah made, that's available to us to remove that hunger, is there — but I myself am not using it. I'm hungry, I have food in the fridge, but I'm expecting somehow, some way, shape, or form that hunger is going to go away. No. Allah gave you the ability, you have hands, you have feet, you can go, you can get the food.

The Story of Maryam and Zakariyya — Trust in Allah Beyond the Means

Can Allah provide someone with food without any means available? Of course. In the Quran, Allah mentions about Maryam عليها السلام — that every time Zakariyya عليه السلام would come, he would find that Maryam عليها السلام had food available to her. And according to some mufassireen, they mentioned that the fruits she would have available to her would be out of season.

He would find provision available for her, and he would ask: "Where did this come from?" She would respond: "This came from Allah." Seeing this, it was at this moment that Zakariyya عليه السلام then also made du'a. Zakariyya عليه السلام was quite old in age, and his wife wasn't able to have children. But at that time, seeing this mercy of Allah, it reminded him that I myself may be "out of season," but it's up to Allah. And at that time he made du'a:

"Ya Allah, I am asking of You that You provide me with a child, with a son, who will inherit from me and from the family of Ya'qub, and make him, O Lord, pleasing." And Allah accepted that du'a. Allah can, of course — that's the power, the qudra kamila of Allah. Anytime, anywhere, however Allah wants to use the asbab which He made, He could use them. And if Allah wishes to bypass the normal asbab that we see, Allah can do that as well.

Same thing with the birth of Isa عليه السلام — in fact the normal means that are there for the birth of a child were not there, and here Allah as a mu'jiza decided that Maryam عليها السلام will give birth to a son. She herself said, "Ya Allah, how? I've never done anything wrong. Ya Allah, I'm not married, I don't have a husband." But this was the decree of Allah.

So there are structures and systems that Allah has made. And whenever we use and adopt those systems and those asbab — although whenever we do use them we rely on Allah, we recognize that it's Allah who made them and it's Allah who will bring about whatever fruition those asbab are to bring about — but from our own end we are demanded, we are expected, that we use them, that we use them if they're available to us.

What Are We Striving For?

As I said, a person who's feeling hunger cannot sit and say, "Well, I have food sitting in the fridge but somehow it's gonna by itself come to me and that hunger is gonna go away." No — you're expected to work, you're expected to work hard. And as I said, depending on the goal that you have, depending on how lofty that goal is, you have to work that hard. It has to be proportionate to it.

So a person in this life — what are we working hard towards? Whatever we value, whatever we have mahabba for, that's what we're striving for. A person has love for family, love for his wife and children — so he's ready to wake up at 5am in the morning and sacrifice, he's ready to spend the night if he has to working. Why? So that he could provide for the family, that's something that he holds very close to his heart.

The Muslim does whatever he does for the sake of Allah. The mu'min does whatever he does because of his iman, because of his belief in Allah and his love for Allah:

They have intense love for Allah. So whatever the believer does is determined by what Allah wants and how Allah wants it.

So the ayah which I recited:

Man arada al-akhirata — one who intends, one who wants. Not one who just has tamanna, not just one who has a mere desire for it. Man arada al-akhirata. And not only did he just make irada — wa sa'a laha sa'yaha — he worked hard, he strove for it. And his striving was at what level? It was at the level that that goal demanded. Wa sa'a laha sa'yaha wa huwa mu'min — while believing. Fa ula'ika kana sa'yuhum mashkura — so they are the ones whose hard work is not going to go unnoticed. It will be appreciated by Allah. Allah knows, Allah will reward that person accordingly.

When Allah Intends Good for a Servant

Likewise, in the narration which I mentioned — narrated in Musnad Imam Ahmad — the Prophet ﷺ says that when Allah intends good for a servant, istama'lahu qabla mawtihi — Allah puts him to work, puts him in some situation, some circumstance where he starts to do good. And the Companions asked: "What does that mean? How is it?" So the Prophet ﷺ responded: yaftahu lahu 'amalan salihan — some good action Allah opens up for that person. That good action is open for him. He does that until those who are around him are also pleased with him.

Ramadan: A Demonstration of the Community's Potential

We, alhamdulillah — for example, this month of Ramadan which passed by. There are some of us who want to get rid of the memory of Ramadan, it was difficult. But for the believer it's an opportunity to worship Allah. So the person who hears about Ramadan at this point, after two weeks have gone, thinks: SubhanAllah, that was a moment for me to worship Allah. There were barakat of Allah that were descending during those days.

And we saw as a community — we saw what we were able to do, what Allah gave us the tawfiq to do. It truly is marvelous that the whole Muslim community, no matter where they are in the world, they're able to fast for a whole month. That's not something small. If you really think about it — that Muslims all over the world, for so many number of hours, leave food and drink, leave their desires for the sake of Allah — that's not something small. And at night they're up reciting Quran, listening to Quran, the Taraweeh prayers. The masajid this year — SubhanAllah — we saw many places, I heard the masajid were filled. That's not something small. That's something amazing. That shows what? Allah gave that tawfiq to the people. This is what the Muslim community has the potential to do.

The Lesson of Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As

We see it year after year in the month of Ramadan. Now granted, when the month of Ramadan is over, when it finishes, that same level is difficult to maintain — although we do it for a whole month, but nonetheless it's still difficult to maintain. Fasting every single day is not only difficult to maintain, in fact it may not even be encouraged at times. One of the Companions, Abdullah ibn 'Amr ibn al-'As رضي الله عنه — it was informed to the Prophet ﷺ that he had made the intention: "I'm going to fast every single day, and I'm going to spend the whole night reciting Qur'an — I'm going to finish one recitation of the Qur'an every night." When the Prophet ﷺ heard this, he went to him and said, "What is this I'm hearing?"

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1975; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1159)

"Your eye has a right over you, your body has a right over you, your wife has a right over you." So the Prophet ﷺ had to convince him. He said, "You know what — why don't you fast three days in a month rather than every single day?" He said, "Ya Rasulullah, أَنَا أُطِيقُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذَٰلِكَ — Ya Rasulullah, I could do more than that!" So finally Rasulullah ﷺ said, "Okay, fast every other day" — which is known as Sawm Dawud, fast one day, don't fast the next day. When it came to Qur'an, he said, "Finish one recitation of the whole Qur'an in a month." He said, "Ya Rasulullah, أَنَا أُطِيقُ أَكْثَرَ مِنْ ذَٰلِكَ — Ya Rasulullah, I could do more than that!" Finally Rasulullah ﷺ said, "Okay fine, finish one Qur'an within seven days, within a week." When it came to the prayer at night, he said, "Don't spend the whole night — spend some time. Otherwise, as we said, your body has a right over you, your eyes have a right over you, your family has a right over you."

So granted, we may not be able to maintain what we were doing in the month of Ramadan. But at the same time, it doesn't mean that a person now completely cuts himself off from these acts of worship. There is a base level that each one of us must be fulfilling — those are determined by what the fara'id are. You have to pray. You can't go below that. The five daily prayers are a must, they are mandatory, they are obligatory. You will be asked about it.

But beyond that — maybe in Ramadan we were reading a couple of hours of Qur'an, maybe in Ramadan we were standing a couple of hours in prayer. Okay, now after Ramadan we must at least maintain some degree of that. In the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ mentions:

The most beloved actions to Allah are those that are consistent, even if they are small in size.

From Allah's Side and From Our Side

Now here — from Allah's side, Allah gave that tawfiq in the month of Ramadan that we saw, that we were able to. You ask anyone towards the end of Ramadan how fasting is going — everybody says, "Yeah, alhamdulillah, mashallah, it's easy." Standing up in prayer becomes easy, reciting Qur'an becomes easy. That's tawfiq min Allah. That shows Allah has love for those who believe:

From our side — what are we demonstrating to Allah? What are we showing and displaying to Allah of our love for Him? Here Allah showered His blessings, showered His mercy. Whatever we have is from Allah. You look outside — SubhanAllah — how beautiful it looks. That's rahma min Allah, that's fadhl min Allah.

From our own end, from our side — love is not something that's just one-sided, right? Like in a relationship, if the husband or the wife — one of them is constantly showering the other one with love but the other one ignores it — what's going to happen? That relationship eventually is not going to survive. It has to be from both sides. That's with any relationship. Each individual in that relationship shows, yes — "I love you, look, this is what I'm doing out of my love for you."

So if a person says, "I love Allah" — what is it that we are doing, showing that love to Allah? Can we not do this much — that every day, every day, we make it a point that yes, whatever are the fara'id we have to do no matter what, but on top of that, regularly we're going to do a'mal, we're going to do certain acts of worship to show and demonstrate — "Ya Allah, no matter what the circumstances are, we are Yours."

"Ya Allah, we belong to You. Ya Allah, we're going to return back to You. Ya Allah, whatever life that You've given us, we will do whatever we can to show You, Ya Allah, that we love You and we want Your love. We want to be deserving of Your love." That's how the whole of our life is going to go by.

Striving Consistently Until Our Return to Allah

So yes, insha'Allah, if Allah gives us life, He gives us hayat, insha'Allah we may see Ramadan again next year. These are acts of worship of Allah. And if Allah doesn't have written for us — at some point in time, each and every one of us who walks on this earth will have to go back to Allah. Are we ready for that day? Are we ready for that day?

So man arada al-akhirata — one who has made the intention, not just the desire. That's what the Prophet ﷺ mentioned:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2459)

The one who is foolish — he does what? He follows his desires. He doesn't do what was demanded of him by Allah. He follows his desires, but then he has this desire in the back — "InshAllah, Allah will grant me." We don't doubt, we don't deny that Allah has the qudra to do what He wills, how He wills. But what have we done from our own end to deserve the mercy of Allah? At the end of the day, it is also true that a person who enters Jannah will not enter due to his own actions alone — it will be from the mercy of Allah. But what have we done to draw the mercy of Allah to us? What have we done to draw and attract the mercy of Allah to us?

So we make the intention. For example, maybe we were frequenting the masjid a lot in the month of Ramadan. Now we may not be coming — we may be just coming for Jumu'ah. So we make the intention: you know what, at least at least one prayer — at least one prayer I'm going to perform in the masjid. If we already have that habit, okay, let me come to the masjid two times during the day, every day. If in Ramadan I was reading a couple of hours of Qur'an, okay, at the very least let me find a time — 15 minutes, 20 minutes, half a juz, a quarter of a juz — I'm going to recite every single day.

And I tell you, my dear respected brothers and sisters — whoever is listening — this time is going to go by very fast. Whatever time we have left of this life, it's going to go by very fast. I often say that you ask anyone, irrespective of their age — however much time of theirs, whatever age they're in — the life before that, how fast did it go? Everybody, irrespective of whether they're 20, 30, 40, 50, whatever their age — everybody says, "Yeah, it went by fast." You sit — for those who are young — you sit with your grandparents, ask your grandparents, they'll say the same thing. They'll say, "SubhanAllah, life went by so fast."

So Allah knows how much time is left for us, or how much time Allah has decided for us. But whatever that time is, some day, some point in time we have to go. So might as well work hard, strive, struggle:

Allah will give. So may Allah grant us that tawfiq. May Allah allow us to become those individuals who strive for the Hereafter. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil 'Alamin.

Announcements

I request — there are mashallah a lot of individuals — if everybody can stand and fill up any gaps that are here insha'Allah, we'll pray Sunnah, then a couple of announcements insha'Allah. Please pass the donation box from left to right, please donate generously — sadaqa wards off calamities. No curb parking — please do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or Swift Highway, we have additional parking space in the used car lot.

Girls Youth Halaqa — Soulful Chats: This is a bi-weekly sisters youth halaqa. We have one tonight — today — between 5:30 to 7:30pm at the sisters' seminary sisters' prayer hall. Sisters only, ages 13 and up are allowed. We invite sisters to spend some time in the environment of the masjid with young sisters, where we will experience a unique opportunity to bond and discuss the challenges our youth face today. The topic for today will be: Post-Ramadan Blues: Setting Goals for the Rest of the Year. What to expect: halaqa, dhikr, and du'a, some games, and some cookies and milk. Everyone is requested to please bring a small notebook as well.

Sisters Dars will be this Sunday from 12:15 till Dhuhr. Join us for our weekly program. Team Fajr will be tomorrow — Fajr iqama is at 5am. Bukhari Dars continues on Mondays after Maghrib salah with Mufti Minhaj. Our Tafsir on Tuesdays continues with Mufti Azimuddin.

Please register for Deen Intensive classes starting June 20th. Please also register for the Denver classes which start August 14th. For more information regarding these programs you can visit the website.

We have our Annual Retreat — one of the largest events we have throughout the year — from May 26th to May 28th. Please mark your calendars for that. The topic is: Changing Tides of Right and Wrong: Navigating Through Modern Shifts in Modern Society. A lot of topics that a lot of us face — youth and even those who are older — we may face at the workplace and what not. This would be a good opportunity for us to come, listen, and benefit. Many guest speakers will also be presenting insha'Allah.

And lastly, there is a du'a maghfira for Sister Nafisa who passed away in Karachi. May Allah grant her Jannatul Firdaus, forgive her, and likewise all the Muslims — whether they are ill, may Allah cure them and give them shifa — and those from our communities who have passed away, may Allah forgive them and have mercy on them.