Definition of Taqwa || Taqwa the fear of Allah || Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed || Miftaah Institute

The People of Taqwa and Jannah

Allah tells us about Jannah:

It is prepared for those that have taqwa. Who are those that have taqwa?

Those that don't only spend in times of ease, but they also spend in times of difficulty. And they don't just spend in the path of Allah.

Swallowing the Highest Form of Anger

وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ — They swallow their anger when they're at the epitome of anger. Allah didn't say وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَضَبَ — that they swallow their anger. الْغَيْظُ is the highest form of anger that one can be at.

The reward of that is different than the reward of swallowing your words when it's easier to swallow them. We have to learn how to perform those deeds that are difficult for us. And them being difficult for us gives us more reward than those that find it easy to do so.

The Reward is Proportional to the Difficulty

Do we think the reward of saying Ahad for us is the same as Bilal saying "Ahad" when he was under the rock of Umayyah ibn Khalaf? The reward was different. Do we think the expenditure that we do in the path of Allah will be the same as Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) when he spent his money in the hijrah of the Prophet (peace be upon him)?

And during the battle of Tabuk, the journey of Tabuk, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked the Sahaba to spend money for the sake of Allah. And Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) came with half of his wealth. And he said, "Today I will surpass Abu Bakr because I'm giving half of my money." And it was a time in his life where he had extra money and he was doing well in business. And then Abu Bakr walked up.

When Abu Bakr came, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked him:

"What have you left for your family?"

And Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said that he knew he had lost, just by how the Prophet asked him the question — مَا أَبْقَيْتَ لِأَهْلِكَ؟ "What have you left for your family?" And Abu Bakr said:

"O Messenger of Allah! I have left for them Allah and His Prophet."
(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 1678; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3675)

This was difficult for him — to take every single penny out. But he did it. And that is what earned him the title and the rank of being the greatest after the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Mastering What Is Difficult for Us

And the stories continue — where the Prophet (peace be upon him) describes the best fast. The best fast is a fast in which we don't gossip and backbite, but also a fast which is a little longer because the struggle continues a little more.

So dear brothers and sisters, in this time, in this juncture of our life — while many of us may be quarantined, and for the future as well, because these are advices that are not limited to this time — we should figure out all of those things that we struggle with and learn how to master those things.

And when we master those things and they become easier for us, we say alhamdulillah and move on to the next thing. And we understand, muhtasiban — we recognize — that while we are doing something which is difficult for us, the reward of that is better in the eyes of Allah than it is for those that find it easy.