The Light of Imaan | Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed | Friday Reminder

The Light of Imaan

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي لَا تَرَاهُ الْعُيُونُ وَلَا يَصِفُهُ الْوَاصِفُونَ وَلَا تُخَالِطُهُ الظُّنُونُ وَلَا يَخْشَى الدَّوَائِرَ، يَعْلَمُ عَدَدَ قَطْرِ الْأَمْطَارِ وَعَدَدَ وَرَقِ الْأَشْجَارِ وَعَدَدَ مَا أَظْلَمَ عَلَيْهِ اللَّيْلُ وَمَا أَشْرَقَ عَلَيْهِ النَّهَارُ، وَلَا تُوَالِي مِنْهُ سَمَاءٌ سَمَاءً وَلَا أَرْضٌ أَرْضًا

Amma ba'ad. Allah says in His noble Book — I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

And the Prophet ﷺ said to Abu Sufyan: "I have come to you with goodness of this world and the next. Accept Islam and you will be safe."

The Need for Counsel on Every Journey

My dear respected brothers, sisters, youngsters and elders — it is a norm in life that whenever we choose to tread upon a new journey, a new path, a new ambition, that journey is successful with specific elements. Whatever journey it may be — a journey of starting college, a journey of getting into a graduate program, a journey of getting a new job, a journey of getting married, a journey of having children — whatever journey it may be, it is necessary for us to have specific elements in order to find success in that pathway.

One of the elements that are absolutely necessary for us to find success in those specific ambitions that we have is good counsel — people that can help guide us. How many times have you heard about a youngster who joins college and spends a few extra years, and when you ask him why, he says, "I didn't have anyone to tell me that I didn't need these classes, or I shouldn't have taken these courses." How many times do we start a business and no one is there to advise us, and without counsel we struggle, and with counsel we're able to find ease and success. Marriage counseling, counseling for children — in every frame and in every prism of life, people that can help guide us are essential, and they're able to help us get through those journeys and find success.

Like all of those journeys in which we hope to find some form of success, this journey of life is the most important journey, and the success of what is determined as success in the Akhirah is not open for discussion. And that is success:

We can argue who is successful — some may say a person that has more degrees, another may say a person that has a large family, one may say a person that has more wealth. We can argue and go back and forth on the definition of success in this world. But the definition of success in the Akhirah is not open for debate.

So if we aim to find that success which has already been predetermined for us, we also need some form of guidance. We also need something or someone that can help us on this difficult journey of life where there are ups and downs, and there are tests, and there are difficulties, and there are hurdles. Allah says: does the human think that just because they believe they will not be tested?

Let them know that these difficulties will surely come. But with the right guidance and the right counsel, one is able to steer the ship in the right way — one is able to know where to turn, and when to turn, and how to turn.

The Light of Imaan

Allah says:

What is that guidance for us? Who is that counselor for us? What is that light for us? Allah explains that the light that allows us to steer the ship — in the way that it can ease our journey to please Allah — is the light of Imaan.

In the light of Imaan that lives and is protected and preserved within our hearts is an extension of how we live our days and spend our nights. It's an extension of the actions that we do. The Prophet ﷺ says, when a person commits a sin:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3334; also recorded in Ibn Majah, Hadith 4244)

That a dark dot engulfs that person's heart — it clogs it up — until that person repents. That light is Imaan. It helps guide us in the different hurdles in life. It allows us, it gives us the determined focus on what to do and how to do it. It becomes that variable that helps us make our decisions in life.

Today there are different variables that we look at before coming to a decision, and those variables are fairly consistent: family, ease, health. One of those variables must also be: Is it better for my Imaan?

Allah says: أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا — is a person who is dead. فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ — and We give them life. And Ibn Abbas says: أَحْيَيْنَاهُ بِالْإِيمَانِ — We gave them life through the light of Imaan. Is that person the same as an individual who has no light? لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا — due to the fact that he has no light, or she has no light, they are continuously bumping into the wall. They don't know how to steer their car. They struggle to steer their ship.

And Allah reminds us: this is the light of Imaan. This is Noor. And Noor is not a concept that is abstract or simply a mystical ideology — rather it is something which is very tangible and real.

It's like driving late at night in a mountainous region — perhaps up to Pennsylvania or Colorado — and in the middle of the dark mountains, when we're driving on the curvy roads of those hills and there are no street lamps and neither have we ever traveled on that road before, it is our first time driving a car in those mountains. Without street lamps, the only light that is left to guide us are the lights of our car — our headlights. If for a moment those headlights are turned off, now there's no light. Now those curvy roads are difficult to steer within. Now it's difficult to know how fast to drive, and where to turn, and when to stop. And it is a matter of a few moments until that person falls into a tragic accident. That's how real the light of Imaan is — that this life of ours has only one Siraat al-Mustaqeem, and everything else is thorny pathways that have curves and turns that we are unable to navigate within without the light of Imaan.

The Parable of Light in Surah An-Nur

Allah explains — in perhaps one of the most descriptive, beautiful verses, which has analogies and symbols that we could talk about for rather a long time — where Allah says:

There are more than 27 different opinions of what this means, but for the sake of this lesson — اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ — the most accepted opinion is اللَّهُ مُنَوِّرُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ: Allah is the one that gives light to everything in this world. And amongst those creations that He gives light to is the heart of a believer — munawwir — He puts light into our heart. Ibn Abbas says this light in this ayah is referring to Imaan — that every single one of us are blessed with this natural, innate guidance which is the light in the heart.

The Mishkat — The Niche in the Wall

He continues and says: مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ — the example of this light is like a light which is hidden in a crevice of a wall. So no ordinary wind can come and drop the light. Not at the slightest wind would this light fall and lose its candle.

There are some individuals that Allah speaks about where He says:

That there are individuals that worship Allah on the edge of the mountain. When goodness comes to them, they become extremely happy and content with life and how life is moving. And when difficulty comes and hits them, they turn their face away from Allah. It's because that light hasn't been protected in that crevice — كَمِشْكَاةٍ. Like anything which is valuable to us requires to be protected, tucked away in this crevice — كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ — and in this crevice, in this niche in the wall, is this candle.

Now the candle needs to be there — the heart needs to be able to accept the light of Imaan:

Allah has only given us one container in which we can add love to. This candle is there, it's protected in this crevice, and the light is the light of Imaan.

The Zujajah — The Glass

And then Allah says: الْمِصْبَاحُ فِي زُجَاجَةٍ — that this candle within the crevice of the wall is protected with a glass. The container that it lives within is a glass. How does that relate to us? Symbols don't do good if we can't identify the benefit of them.

When Allah says كَمِشْكَاةٍ, that crevice in the wall is the chest that we have. The chest is where Imaan lives, and that light is the light of Imaan. That candle that is brimming and illuminating is the light of Imaan. In order for it to continue giving light, we need to continue feeding it. And how do we feed that light? How do we give it more light? How do we allow it to become a factor within our decisions? Through the good deeds that we fulfill during the day — and it gives us more light.

And the heart is a glass — which is the container of this light. How beautiful is the analogy of the heart as glass. Because the Prophet ﷺ has reminded us:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4918)

A believer is just a mirror for another believer. It's glass. And the beauty within that is: whatever is in the inside will be the same as what is in the outside. You can't lie to yourself when you're looking through a glass or when you're looking at a mirror — the reflection is what we have.

Allama Iqbal once says — where he says: just look in the mirror, look in the mirror, and remind yourself who you are. Remind yourself who you are, because the mirror will never lie to you.

The glass is beautiful because whatever is in the inside is a mirror reflection of what is in the outside. A believer doesn't lie to a believer. A believer doesn't deceive another believer. And a believer — whatever they have inside of their heart — will find its way outside the heart.

If we truly have love for Allah in our heart, at times of difficulty this love of Allah will come to protect us. If we truly preserve the love of the Prophet in our heart, at times of need this love will be there as a protection for us. And if we are people that are just turning the switch on in the morning and turning it off when no one is watching, there might come a moment in our life — when we are around people and in front of people — that we forget to turn that switch on. And the field that is within the heart, built with animosity, hatred, jealousy, will propel itself to come out and it will expose who we truly are. It's a glass that protects our Imaan.

The Kawkab Durriy — The Shining Star

And the beauty of this glass is: it's like shining stars. What does that mean? That a believer doesn't choose to just be lit up for himself or herself and their family. But a shining star is shining because it is able to give light to so many around them. It's shining in its way of helping people. A shining star is only a shining star because it can guide others. A shining star is only a shining star because it can assist people. A shining star is a shining star because it protects others from harm and helps people be guided in this world. It helps others retract what they're doing and redirect their life.

We're shining stars. Our Imaan that is living in our heart is such a force that not only can it guide me, but it can guide everyone around me — if we just realize that it's the most important counsel that we need. It's more important than the advice that we get from our board of advisors. It is more important than the advice that we get from our guidance counselors from college. This is the advice that allows us to navigate within the struggles of life. And they will truly come. And when they come, this light will help us.

We're stars. And stars help each other. Stars guide each other. The Prophet ﷺ says:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat of al-Tabarani; also referenced in Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Qada' al-Hawa'ij)

One of the greatest acts that a person can ever do is to bring happiness to somebody else. Put a smile on someone else's face. We're like stars.

The Blessed Tree — The Olive

يُوقَدُ مِن شَجَرَةٍ مُّبَارَكَةٍ زَيْتُونَةٍ لَّا شَرْقِيَّةٍ وَلَا غَرْبِيَّةٍ — they are lit up from this blessed tree, which is an olive tree, which is neither from the west nor the east, neither the south nor the north. Rather it's a tree that comes from Jannah. Scholars speak about the beauty of this tree. The reason why Allah tells us that it doesn't come from any place of the world is because Imaan is not limited to any specific person or culture. Every individual that has a heart that is alive can illuminate with the light of Imaan. And that light can illuminate people around them. It's a tree which everyone can have from.

Allah says the example of these trees are like individuals who continue to do good, and they're able to benefit from their fruit in this world. They're able to see the benefit of the good that they do in this world. No one sees money while they're still in school. No one sees a job while they're still in school, rarely — we get internships. No one gets the passing mark when they're still sitting in the examination hall. Allah tells us: no, no — in this examination hall I will give you the results so you can enjoy life.

Don't worry about that — that will also be taken care of from this beautiful tree. And now this tree, which is beautiful with its oil — the olive oil that comes to light up our Imaan — the example of this oil with our Imaan is like the example of an individual that, regardless of who he or she is around, they still have Imaan in them. Regardless of what situation they're in, they still live with Imaan. They don't need to — Allah says:

لَوْ لَمْ تَمْسَسْهُ نَارٌ — even if fire doesn't touch this oil, it still gives off light. A believer is an individual that when he or she is in the masjid or not in the masjid, there are individuals that live with a certain level of Imaan. Maybe that Imaan does increase and decrease, but it's still there.

نُّورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ — light upon light. Light upon light because the light is in the heart and the light is being illuminated to others for them to also benefit. That is light upon light.

The Mirage — Life Without Imaan

And what happens to an individual when they forget or neglect the greatest counsel that they have in life? Allah says:

People that live without Imaan in their life — Allah draws an analogy about them on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. These individuals, أَعْمَالُهُمْ — they work so hard. Allah says:

Should I not inform you about the people that will be the biggest losers? There are those individuals that work very hard in this world — عَامِلَةٌ نَاصِبَةٌ — they work very hard. And while they're working, they think that they're doing something amazing. صُنْعًا is different from جَعَلَ — وَاصْنَعِ الْفُلْكَ — صُنْعًا means to do something with perfection. They think they're doing something amazing. But the effort that they're making, Allah says: ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ — their effort has been misguided. They need to reroute their effort. They need to bring their effort back to Siraat al-Mustaqeem.

Imagine sending money to the wrong Ahmad. You send him so much money, but it's the wrong person. We worked so hard, but it was in the wrong pathway. Allah says this is the example of people that don't have Imaan. They're working very hard — كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ — and they're looking at this dew, this water that they perceive is water at the end. They think that if they do this, they'll get the well. They look at it — it's water. It's right in front of them. And all they need to do is do that same thing one more time and that water will be in their hands. And they continue doing it, but there's no water. There's no water.

Allah says it's because this person who is so thirsty — ظَمْآنُ — he is so thirsty that they're looking there, they perceive that it's water. But when they finally get that which they were searching for their entire life, they realize that it's not water — rather it's a dry well. يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاءً حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءَهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا — they find nothing there.

Allah caps off this discussion with an emphatic statement where He says: when Allah has not blessed someone with the light of Imaan, there is no light for them in their life.

Istiqamah — Holding Firm to the Light

Brothers and sisters, we live with this light. It's in our heart. And it is the most important counsel that we have. The most important — the beauty of this light is that regardless of the fluctuation of what's happening around us, this light still plays a factor in our life. It still plays a role.

And Ibn al-Qayyim says that is the definition of istiqamah — that regardless of what goes up and what goes down, who leaves the world and who comes into the world, Imaan is still there and plays a role in our life. Of course there is a fluctuation of it, but it's still there, and it allows us to make the right decision, to make the right turn, to make the determined decision.

And a person that is freed and has none of this light — they don't have the ability to make the correct decisions. Allah says:

They're in such darkness that even if they stick their hand out, they can't see it. What that means is: if good things hit their face, they still won't be able to recognize that it was good. It's right in front of them, but they don't see it to be good, because the light of Imaan is lacking.

Conclusion — Protect and Fuel the Light

We are blessed — we are blessed — that we have the greatest counsel in the world. And that counsel is Imaan in our heart. May Allah make us amongst those people that allow us to use this light of Imaan. Firstly, recognize that it's there and it's there to help us. To increase it by doing more good deeds, by fueling that fire through good deeds.

And Ibn Abbas says the greatest way to fuel that fire of Imaan is by reciting Quran. The more we recite it, the more that light becomes stronger, and the more that it illuminates to everyone around us. And the more it benefits people. May Allah make us amongst those people that allow this light to be real in our life, and allow this light to illuminate to all of those that are around us.