Steadfastness: Angels' Glad Tidings and the Promise of Paradise

Opening

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be upon His Trustworthy Messenger.

As for what follows, Allah says in the Glorious Book, after we seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan:

"Those who say, 'Our Lord is Allah,' and then remain steadfast — the angels descend upon them, saying, 'Fear not, nor grieve, and rejoice in the Paradise which you were promised.'"

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Stand straight, and you will not grieve."

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 204)

"The one who fasts Ramadan and then follows it with six days of Shawwal — it is as if he has fasted the entire year."

Dear respected brothers and elders, mothers and sisters, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

The Exam Analogy: Waiting for a Result

I want us to take a step back and imagine ourselves sitting in a classroom after finishing a very important exam that our entire future and that specific career depends on. You worked for four to six years to make sure you make it this far.

And you just submitted that final exam and are just waiting — waiting, waiting — in your seat, shaking your feet, biting on your fingers, scratching your head, looking left and right, anxious, sweating profusely, heart beating fast, a little bit of anxiety, a little bit of fear, waiting for the response from the grading committee. Did I pass? Did I do well? Oh — all my four to six years have just been a waste, a complete waste.

So that fear — as the Arabic proverb goes, الانتظارُ أشدُّ من الموت — that waiting is more severe than death itself. Waiting for an answer, waiting for something, waiting for a calamity is sometimes worse than the calamity itself when you know something is about to happen.

So imagine yourself in such a situation: somebody taps you on your shoulder, you turn around, and it's one of the proctors. The proctor says, "Don't worry. You've got nothing to fear about, nothing to fret about, nothing to worry. You're already in. You made it. So don't worry about it."

That moment — that sigh of relief — is something unimaginable. All those six years are worth it. All those struggles are worth it. Just because that proctor told you, "Don't worry. You made it."

Now this is an example that I'm giving you. But this is a reality that we hope for all of us on Qiyamah.

The Reality of Qiyamah: The Angels' Glad Tidings

When Allah describes those people:

"Those that say, 'Our Lord is Allah,' and then they are steadfast upon that — the angels will descend upon them."

Now I want you to think of a more important example. When you and I are standing on Qiyamah — on the plains of Qiyamah — with millions and thousands of people, everyone is sweating profusely. So much so that their knees, their ankles — some are drowning in their sweat. Terrified. Because they don't know if they will be from amongst the people who will be given the book on their right hand.

"The person who has been given the book of deeds on his right hand will say, 'Here, look at my book! Read my book!' Everyone look at my book. I made it. I passed."

"But the one who has been given his book on his left hand will say, 'Oh, how I wish I had not been given my book. How I wish I would not be taken to task. How I wish the matter would just come to an end.'"

So on that Day of Qiyamah, when people are terrified — they don't know if they're going to be from the Ahlul Haqq, if they're going to be from the people of Jannah or the people of Jahannam. If they're going to be taken to task, having to give account for every single action. If they're going to pass the Bridge of Sirat. If they're going to meet Nabi ﷺ at Hawd al-Kawthar. If the angels are going to drag them to Jahannam, or welcome them into Paradise.

Imagine that terror. Imagine all that fear, anxiety, and worry. I did this, I did that wrong, I made that mistake. I don't know what the future holds. I don't know where I'm going. That terror is incomparable to the example I gave previously of the exam.

But there will be from amongst them a group where Allah will send His angels, and they will say:

The angels will come down and descend upon them. "Nothing to worry about. Nothing to be anxious, sad, or depressed about. There is nothing for you to worry about." لَا تَخَافُوا — don't worry about what's about to come. And don't worry about what you did in the past. "And We give you the glad tidings of Jannah — that which you were promised."

The angels will say something beautiful: "We were your patrons, your friends, your supporters, your guardians in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. You shall have whatever your hearts desire. You shall have whatever you ask for. A hospitable abode from الْغَفُورِ الرَّحِيمِ."

And then when the believers are taken towards Jannah, right before its gates, Allah describes these people:

When Allah will take people in groups and droves in front of Jannah — when they come in front of it and its gates are opened — it is again the guardian angels who will say: سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ طِبْتُمْ — "Peace upon you. You did well. You did good." Enter into Jannah eternally.

The Culmination of Our Entire Journey

My dear respected brothers, sisters, listeners, elders, youngsters — our entire life, the culmination of this entire journey, is to hear these two things: طِبْتُمْ — you did well — and enter into Jannah. We are your guardians today. لَا تَحْزَنُوا, don't fear. لَا تَخَافُوا. This is what the culmination of our entire life is. We want to be those people who hear on Qiyamah the angels telling us: don't fear, don't fret, and you did well.

Imagine — after a long period of struggle, a long period of trials and tribulations in this dunya — a person finally makes it to that gate, and hears these blessed words from the angel: طِبْتُمْ — you did well. فَادْخُلُوهَا خَالِدِينَ — enter it eternally. There is no end to this bliss.

This is what every single one of us aspires for. This is what every single one of us hopes for. Just imagine that day when the angels say this to us — and we ask Allah to make us amongst them.

In this world, if we do something small — if we do well on an exam, or if there is somebody we look up to, a teacher, a parent, an elder, a good friend — and they say, "Man, you did well. You did good. You excelled." That joy that every single one of us feels when an elder, a father, a grandfather, an uncle praises us — we feel good about that. Now imagine that day when the angels will say: you did good, enter into Jannah.

Istiqamah: The Key Quality

My dear respected brothers and sisters, this is what we aim for. Allah describes those people though — who are those people? اسْتَقَامُوا — they were steadfast. These were people that continuously strove to excel, strove to do what's best.

Allah is so merciful and so kind to us. He gives us these moments in time. Just like certain places — certain أَمَاكِن — are special, like the مَسَاجِد, like the حَرَمَيْنِ الشَّرِيفَيْن, الْمَسْجِدُ الْأَقْصَى, and various places across the world that Allah selected to be special — Allah has also given us certain times that are special, certain أَزْمِنَة, certain time periods that are special.

And Allah is so merciful He has given us throughout the year different special time periods. And the best — the epitome and the cream of the crop — is Ramadan. Ramadan is that cheat sheet. Ramadan is that boost in this journey so that we can hear طِبْتُمْ. Ramadan is that boost to give us the ability to do better, to excel, to pass in this test.

Allah is so merciful, so kind. He has given us Ramadan. Just imagine the blessings of Ramadan. We start off — we already know it's a special month. We're all fasting together as a means of it being easier. We're all doing things together. And then it ends with these beautiful last 10 nights. These last 10 nights, incomparable to anything before that. And within those last 10 nights we have لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْر — a night that carries more reward than a thousand months.

Allah is literally giving us excuses. If we're sitting in an exam, we're getting the answers passed to us — but if we're not noticing that the answers are coming in, there is no one to blame but ourselves. So Allah is giving us these boosts, these opportunities. He gave us Ramadan.

But the key thing for every single one of us is to remember that it doesn't end with Ramadan. It's just the beginning. It's an ability for us to have اسْتِقَامَة for the rest of the year. We have now charged up, fueled up, so that we have energy until the next Ramadan.

So my dear respected listeners, we need to have اسْتِقَامَة. And Nabi, peace and blessings be upon him — being the Prophet of Allah, the most wise of creation — says: have steadfastness. But realize, وَلَنْ تُحْصُوا — that you will never be completely perfect all the time. Mankind will never, insan will never always be on top of his game. Sometimes higher, sometimes lower. Sometimes better, sometimes not so good. Sometimes a step forward, sometimes a step backward. That's just how insan is.

So Nabi, peace and blessings be upon him, tells us: قَارِبُوا — try your best. سَدِّدُوا — do your best. But we have to have the aspiration. What is our aspiration? To hear from the angels لَا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا. To hear from the angels طِبْتُمْ فَادْخُلُوهَا خَالِدِينَ. This is our aspiration. This is our goal. This is our himmah. This is our desire. And for that, we have to have اسْتِقَامَة.

The Six Fasts of Shawwal: Proving Our Istiqamah

And again, Allah is giving us opportunities. Right after Ramadan finishes, Allah gives us this beautiful opportunity:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 204)

"The one who fasts Ramadan and then follows it up with six additional fasts in Shawwal — it is as if he has fasted the entire year."

What a beautiful Allah that we have. He is giving us the opportunity of reward for the entire year. We finish Ramadan, and there is a chance to prove our اسْتِقَامَة. There is a chance to say: Ya Allah, this Ramadan will change me. This year I will be different. This year I will try my best to have اسْتِقَامَة.

Well, here is the step that you already need to take: fasting six additional days. And a sign of قَبُولِيَّة — a sign of acceptance of an amal — is that we are able to have اسْتِقَامَة on that amal, able to continue to be steadfast.

We don't have to pray 20 rak'at of tarawih every day anymore. We don't have to fast every single day anymore. Once a week, twice a week — start with these six days. Start with visiting the masjid more often. If we were able to stay for an hour or an hour and a half every night, then 15 minutes for Isha and 15 minutes for Fajr is not a tough ordeal.

So اسْتِقَامَة. Because when we have اسْتِقَامَة, we are showing Allah that we were sincere. And we hope from Allah that this اسْتِقَامَة is a sign of our acceptance.

Conclusion

My dear brothers and sisters, in conclusion — we read these ayahs at the beginning. These ayahs describe those people — those special, lucky people. May Allah make us from amongst them. From whom the angels will say: لَا تَخَافُوا — don't fear. لَا تَحْزَنُوا — don't fret. And in another place in the Qur'an: طِبْتُمْ — when we are standing in front of the gates, the angels will say: you did well. And this is what we want to hear — that we did well.

May Allah make us from amongst them. May Allah grant us barakah in this year. May Allah help us, help the Ummah, and help the Muslims of Gaza. وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah.

In terms of parking, please do not park on the curb behind the seminary building or the Swift Highway. We have additional parking spaces in the used car lot.

Next weekend, we have a two-day workshop with Sheikh Tamim on reviving Islamic literacy — The Straight Path Simplified. It is dedicated to discussing and clarifying the principles of tawbah and tazkiyah. This is Friday, April 19th at 7:30 p.m., continuing until Saturday, April 20th at 4:30 p.m. It is open to all brothers and sisters. Sheikh Tamim, Sheikh Kawthar, Mufti Azimuddin, and Dr. Salim will be speaking at that event, inshallah.

In line with what we were discussing about اسْتِقَامَة, it is also helpful that in the coming weeks — on Friday, May 10th to Sunday, May 12th — we have our annual retreat. Alhamdulillah, we have these different events that can help us and boost us and keep us firm on the straight path, inshallah ta'ala. This annual retreat is on Islam and AI, which is a very important topic as it becomes more relevant to every single one of us in the modern world. Please do sign up. Most of us here are local, so it is not too expensive — you just have to drive out, as hundreds are flying in from other states. Please make the intention to bring yourselves, your family members, and your young ones — teenagers especially — to this important event, as it could be life-changing for many of us, inshallah ta'ala.

Every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., there is a Many Muslims program for ages 0–5 in the sister side banquet hall, lower level.

For summer programs, we have quite a few coming up: the Tamheed Summer Arabic Program, the Qur'an, Islamic Studies and Sports Camp, and Tarbiyah for Tots.

Our weekly programs will continue. Team Fajr will continue tomorrow, inshallah — Fajr Iqamah is at 5:30. Tuesday Tafsir will continue after Maghrib Salah with a new surah, Surah al-Mumtahinah, starting this Tuesday inshallah. And the weekly salawat and khatira continues every Thursday after Maghrib Salah.

Du'a Requests

We are making our weekly du'as for the brothers and sisters of Palestine. There is a du'a request for Dr. Yaqub, whose mother-in-law has passed away — please pray for her maghfirah. And brother Tanwir Zaman is suffering from cancer — please make du'a for his shifa'.