Embracing Steadfastness: Navigating Life's Spiritual Ups And Downs

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 Almighty says in His glorious Book, after we seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan:

So be steadfast as you have been commanded, and whoever repents with you — do not let them go astray.

O my Lord, open my heart and ease my affairs, and untie the knot from my tongue.

Respected brothers and elders, mothers and sisters — peace and blessings be upon you.

The Blessings of Jumu'ah

All praise is due to Allah. We begin by thanking and praising Allah, the Almighty, for granting us another blessed day of Jumu'ah. The day of Jumu'ah is the best day that the sun rises. The day of Jumu'ah has many blessings. The Fajr of Jumu'ah is the most blessed of prayers throughout the week. The day of Jumu'ah has a time period wherein all the du'as are accepted — the ulema mention between Asr and Maghrib. So Allah Almighty has given us another day to worship Him, another week to increase our rank in the hereafter.

As Nabi ﷺ tells us:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2329)

The best of people are those who have a long life filled with righteous actions. And our righteous actions — ultimately their purpose is for the pleasure of Allah Azza wa Jalla. We do good, we live in an appropriate manner according to the Shari'ah, according to the teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah of Nabi ﷺ, so that we may attain Jannah, so that we may attain the pleasure of Allah Azza wa Jalla, and so that He may enter us into Jannah.

Entry into Jannah is by Allah's Mercy

Nabi ﷺ informs us that a person shall not enter Jannah through his own actions alone. His own actions will not be the sole reason that he is taken and put into Jannah and saved from the Hellfire. It is the rahmah of Allah Azza wa Jalla that allows one — that Allah Azza wa Jalla — to enter us into Jannah. The Sahaba, رضي الله عنهم أجمعين, understood this, but they asked a very pertinent and beautiful question:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5673; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2816)

"Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Not even I — unless Allah Azza wa Jalla covers me, envelops me with His mercy and with His fadl, with His grace." And we attain this rahmah and love of Allah Azza wa Jalla through righteous actions and living a righteous life.

The Ups and Downs of the Human Condition

So ultimately, every single one of us aims for Jannah. So we engage in righteous actions. But the situation of the human — of man — is such that there will be times when a person is doing better, and there will be times when a person is not doing so great. He'll have times of spiritual high, and she'll have times of spiritual low. A person sometimes will be able to do what's best, what's awla. He'll be able to not only do the fara'id, he'll be able to do the wajibat, the sunan, the mustahabbat, the extra things, and he or she is consistent with that. But there will be times when a person will struggle even with the most basic things. A person will struggle with his fara'id. A person will struggle with lowering his gaze. A person will struggle from staying away from dhunub. This is the situation of the human being — we have ups and we have downs.

But Nabi ﷺ informs us and tells us:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 277)

Try your best to have istiqamah. Try your best to stay on the right path. Try your best to do what's right at all times. But you will never always be able to be perfect. You will never always be able to do what's best. You're going to have falls, slips, mistakes. So Nabi ﷺ says, فَقَارِبُوا — try your best.

And this is not a command that's just for us. This is a command that was given to Nabi ﷺ himself:

Stay steadfast as you were commanded. The Sahaba, رضي الله عنهم أجمعين, when they asked Nabi ﷺ — they saw him one day and noticed that he looked physically aged and older than before. You know when you see somebody after a very stressful week, they physically look like they've aged a year or two. So the Sahaba were worried: what's going on, why do you look like this? Nabi ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3297)

Surah Hud and its sisters — the other surahs that were revealed along with it — have made me old. And when they inquired further, Nabi ﷺ pinpointed this ayah: فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ. Because how difficult it is to have istiqamah. And all of us know that. Every single one of us struggles with that — struggles with always being on top of our game in terms of our deen, in terms of our dhikr, in terms of our tilawat, in terms of our visitation of the masajid, in terms of our 'ilm and amal.

The Prophet's Understanding of Human Nature

But Nabi ﷺ also understood our condition. Nabi ﷺ was a person that was in tune with how the human being works — in tune with how we function as human beings. So his advice was not for angels; his advice was for human beings. Allah Azza wa Jalla tells us that He didn't send down an angel — He sent down a human:

He is a human being — just like us — that eats, that walks, that does his day to day things as a human being. So he understands us like no one else. And Nabi ﷺ was not a person that was pessimistic, not a person that made a person feel that it was impossible. Nabi ﷺ was a person that uplifted humanity — that took people from the darkest of the dark. People who used to bury their daughters alive. People who used to fight wars for generations over the most trivial of matters. He took these people and made them the best people that this world has ever seen.

As Nabi ﷺ says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3651; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2533)

The best of people are my generation, then those that follow, then those that follow. The Sahaba, رضي الله عنهم أجمعين, they changed and they became such amazing human beings. Through what? Through the constant effort of Nabi ﷺ. Through the sohbah — the companionship — of Nabi ﷺ. Being in the presence of Nabi ﷺ.

Many of the Sahaba, as we know from the seerah, did not have a glorified past. Many of the Sahaba, رضي الله عنهم أجمعين, were engaged with other types of pursuits. But Nabi ﷺ changed them. Nabi ﷺ changed entire societies. And this is one of the dala'il — the proofs — of nubuwwah. In our literature, our ulama have books where they write on the proofs of prophethood. What is the proof that Nabi ﷺ is a true prophet? There are many, many proofs — and one of them is the societal change that Nabi ﷺ was able to bring. What he achieved in twenty years was nothing short of a miracle. And it wasn't an impact that started with him and ended with him — no, it continued. That's why we have Islam till today.

The Importance of Good Company for Istiqamah

So what was an important factor? There are many things that allow a person to change. And of course, one factor is Nabi ﷺ being Nabi ﷺ himself — he would place his blessed hands on the heart of a person and their heart would change. But another very important element — coming back to our topic of discussion today — is being in the right company.

Something that helps with istiqamah, something that helps with standing firm on what we believe and consistently doing right things, is being in good company — being with people who are achieving the same goal. If we have a goal and we're spending our time with people who have the opposite goal, we're not going to achieve much. If we are becoming a computer scientist and all our conversations are with people who only talk about basketball — that's all we do in our free time — our knowledge of computer science is not going to increase. Our ability to code is not going to increase. You need to spend time with those people who have the same goals so that we can get better at what we're trying to do.

And that works the same way for our religiosity, for our istiqamah. If we want to ease the burden on ourselves of trying to be better people — of trying to make it for Fajr in jama'ah, of trying to recite Qur'an and stay away from dhunub — we need to fill our lives with people who are also on the same path. If we're having trouble coming for Fajr, pair up with a neighbor. We're so fortunate to live in such a city where every street must have at least two or three Muslims. Just pair up with a neighbor and say, "Hey, we're going to make it for Fajr together — you text me, I'll call you." This allows for helping in istiqamah. Sohbah, good companionship, good friends, good communities.

But if we're isolated, if we're not talking to others, if we're not mutually helping others —

Help each other in righteousness. Help each other in being upright. If we're not doing that, then the job becomes much more difficult. It's already a difficult job that Nabi ﷺ told us — it's not easy being on istiqamah, it's not easy always doing the right thing. But we can make it easier, and let's not make it harder.

So my dear respected listeners, brothers, sisters, mothers, and elders — we have to fill our lives with people who are on the same path. As Nabi ﷺ tells us:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4833; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2378)

A person is upon the religion — the way of life — of his close friend. If our friends and the people around us are cognizant about how they spend their time, and where they want to be in terms of their religion a year from now or a decade from now, then we will also progress and we will also be able to have istiqamah. But once we lack in good companionship, the job becomes much more difficult — not impossible, but much more difficult.

And when we live in an area, in a society where there are many Muslims around us, many ulema around us, many students of knowledge around us, many righteous people engaged in different types of khidmat of deen — then let us fill our lives with these people too. People from different communities, different areas, doing different khidmat. When we see them, we will gain more himmat, more motivation. When we see people advancing in their deen, we will also have inspiration and continuous motivation to do what's right.

The Reward: Jannah

And the reward of this istiqamah is Jannah:

Those that say, "Allah is my Lord," and they are consistent and steadfast upon that — on the Day of Judgment, angels shall come to them and say, "Do not fear, do not fret, and receive the glad tidings of Jannah which you were promised."

And this is why we do righteous things. This is why we want to live a good life — so that we can be amongst the group that has salvation in the hereafter, and we can attain the pleasure of Allah Azza wa Jalla, and ultimately enter into the abode of peace with the righteous people, with the Anbiya, with the martyrs, and with the Saliheen.

May Allah Azza wa Jalla grant us tawfiq.

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right and donate generously.

Mufti Mu'adh Chatti is on his first trip to the United States from the UK. He is visiting Masjid Dar Es Salaam today and will be giving a lecture titled Introduction to Imam Abu Hanifa and His Methodology today after Maghrib Salah.

The Sisters Tanweer Program is still accepting applications. The deadline is July 31st.

Maktab After School Program registration is now open for boys age 7 and above and girls age 6 and above. Please check in at the office or visit our website.

Our weekly programs are continuing:

• Team Fajr — tomorrow, iqamah at 5am.
• Tuesday Tafsir — continues after Maghrib Salah.
• Weekly Salawat and Khatirah — every Thursday after Maghrib Salah.

There is a group of brothers standing outside representing a Latino Muslim Revert Organization that has been guiding and supporting new Muslims over the last 6 years. They are currently fundraising to purchase a 15,000 square foot building. As of today they have raised 90% of their fundraising goal, with only 7 days left for closing. They need our community's support to reach the remaining 10%. The volunteers are standing outside — please donate generously.

The Islamic Center of Wieden is holding Islamic Games. Please join them tomorrow from 9am to 10pm at Ackerman Park.

Du'a Requests

Please keep the following in your du'as:

• The people of Gaza — we continue to make du'a for them.
• The situation of the riots in Bangladesh.
• Brother Habib Siddiqi — for a speedy and complete recovery.
• The grandfather of two students at Dar Es Salaam — recently diagnosed with cancer.
• Sister Nasreen Taj, who passed away in Karachi — may Allah have mercy on her soul.