Earning The Tawfeeq Of Allah - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we ask for His help and we ask for His forgiveness.

And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him. Whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him.

And we bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, He is alone and has no partner. And we bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. As for what follows, Allah Almighty said in the Glorious Qur'an. I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan.

Sadaqallahul Azeem. Respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, students, dear listeners, Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

The Greatest Gift: Understanding Tawfeeq

One of the greatest gifts that Allah can give anyone is what we call Tawfeeq. The ability to lead a life that is pleasing to Him. And we hear this word often, and we ask often that we pray for each other's Tawfeeq. When we are encouraged to do something, we say, well, I need Tawfeeq.

That is when Allah basically puts pieces down of the puzzle all together, so you get paved. You need to get from one point to another point. And if someone were to come and lay out the bricks, the pavers for you, so that you can easily just walk straight, you don't have to worry about the path, what direction to go, it's clearly laid out.

As soon as you take one step, the next place where you need to put your foot is highlighted. And then the next place where you need to put your foot is highlighted. This is what you may call Tawfeeq from Allah.

Not merely the presence of means, but for those means to all come and play together. There are many people who have the means to achieve great things in life. They have the family background, they have the health, they have the wealth, they have the intelligence.

They have beautiful environment, but they still aren't able to achieve what they set out to. Or they're still not able to achieve the goals that their parents and they had set for themselves. Or they are not able to achieve the pleasure of Allah. What's lacking? Tawfeeq.

There are people who are very close to the Prophet ﷺ. Blood relatives who he grew up under, who they saw him grow. From a young child who had the assistance of Allah into a grown man. And they knew him in and out like their own children, better than their own children. Yet they were deprived of believing in Allah and believing in the Prophet ﷺ. So that's called the absence of Tawfeeq. When Tawfeeq has been taken away.

So this is something that is of most importance to all of us. So the scholars have written some of the means and the reasons and the asbaab through which a person becomes deprived of this Tawfeeq. And it's very important for us to know. So that we can ourselves stay away from that.

The Six Means of Losing Tawfeeq

Ibn Qayyim al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy upon him, has written in his book, attributing this to one of the scholars of the past or who had come even before him. And he said there are six things that lead a person to become deprived of Tawfeeq. First one, he says, is, and of course each one requires a lot of discussion, but inshallah we'll try to just give some basic understanding of it. And whatever we can take from it and practice on any of these things. I mean staying away from that inshallah will be a benefit to us.

First: Being Engrossed in Blessings While Forgetting to Give Thanks

For a person to become so involved and indulged in blessings of this world from Allah, that they become forgetful and negligent to thank Allah for it. What happens with little kids? You take them out to a trip or to a museum or to some type of work, and then afterwards the mother will tell, for example, or the father will tell the kids, okay now, we're coming back, what should we do? Did you say thank you to your mother? Did you say thank you to your father? And say, oh, we completely forgot. They didn't forget the ice cream, they didn't forget the merry-go-round, go-rides, they didn't forget any other things.

Every single thing caught their eye. But one thing they did forget at times is to say, جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا or thank you to their parents who took them out, etc. This is how we are, we do the same thing.

Allah blesses us with blessings, so many, and we indulge, we love it, we're enjoying it so much. But did we just simply do sajda to shukr? Did we thank Allah? Say, اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ. We thank you Allah for giving me these beautiful children, to give me for this my beautiful spouse, to give me this beautiful home, to give me this beautiful job. Whatever blessings we have, or is it that we indulge in what we call trigger happy, enjoying so much that we completely forget where it came from. And I think that happens a lot.

So this is what he says, the first thing, a person being so involved in the blessing, forgetting about the one who shared with us that blessing. Well, let me give an example of how repugnant and how horrible this actually is. This is a person who invites someone over for dinner to his home, and a person rushes in, he sends for the car, he sits in the car, and before anyone even says anything, he rushes into the door. Doesn't say, assalamu alaikum. Doesn't greet anyone. He leaves his shoes there, or with the shoes, without the shoes, whatever the case may be. Goes and literally just attacks the dinner table.

While the host is still watching in disbelief, what's happening? Imagine this person goes, he takes a plate and starts filling it up, and just starts eating away. Focusing just on the food and saying, this is great, this is awesome, and let me more of this and more of this. And after that he burps away, washes his hand, and out the door he leaves.

Who would ever want to invite this type of person again to his house? Accidentally, even. This type of individual, who did not even greet the host, did not even thank the host, did not even speak to the host, was focused on one thing and only one thing, how can I get the most food in this short period of time? And eat and leave. This is the example of a person who focuses on indulging in the blessings that Allah gives him or her, without even turning back and turning towards Allah and saying, Ya Allah, I appreciate everything you're doing for me.

And I don't deserve this, but you have given me way more than I deserve, and for this, I am simply saying, Alhamdulillah. I'm simply praising you and ascribing greatness to you. So this is the first thing that happens for a person to become deprived of tawfeeq.

The ayah I recited at the beginning, Allah tells about Shaitan. Shaitan makes a very big declaration in the Qur'an. He says, O Allah, with most definite emphasis, لَأَتِيَنَّهُمْ. Most definitely I shall come to them, from the front, from the back, from the right, from the left. I'm going to attack this human being from all directions. If you've destined for me to go to Jahannam, then I want to take with me as many as I can.

But Ya Allah, he says, the secret behind bringing down the human race, the secret behind corrupting us, he says, وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ. You will find that majority of them are ungrateful. Whether Allah says this or the Shaitan, regardless, main thing you have to focus on, where's the pitfall of the human being? Where does he go down? Where does he become prey for Shaitan? It's when he or she becomes ungrateful to Allah.

This is what Shaitan is a master of. Shaitan himself was the greatest ungrateful jinn and creation of Allah. That Allah blessed him with so much, and he asked him to do one thing. I'm asking you to simply prostrate, bow down, and show your obedience to someone who I created. Yes, he's created from soil and mud, and you've been created from fire, so what? It all came from me. I'm asking you to simply bow down.

And he said, no. He forgot about all the blessings that Allah had blessed him with. That's called kufran ni'mah, that's called being ungrateful. And so he's the greatest kafir, he's the greatest ungrateful person. And so he knows that this what brought me down, and this will bring everyone else down as well. Which is to become ungrateful to Allah.

Second: Desiring Knowledge Without the Intention to Practice

Number two thing that will deprive us of the tawfeeq from Allah is their desire to learn and gain information, yet they have no concern to practice on what they know. It's always about learning facts, learning things. But without the intention, not while we're learning, nor afterwards is the intention that I need to practice on this knowledge. And this becomes a reason and a means for a person to also become deprived.

We see that Shaitan also had this aspect, he was extremely knowledgeable, he could probably go on and on, all day all night for years speaking about the important aspects of humbleness and humility and servitude to Allah. But when he came to practice, zero. So what happens is that people who become so indulged in discussions and mind games of all sorts, philosophical games of writing and reading and purchasing, etc. That's great that they're reading, but if they're not practicing on it, if they have no intention to practice on it, that becomes another reason why people are deprived of tawfeeq.

Again we're speaking about the six reasons why human beings at times become deprived from the God-given blessing of putting everything together in order to please Allah.

Third: Hastening to Sin While Delaying Repentance

Number three, he says, to run towards, مُسَارَعَة إِلَى الذَّنب, to run towards sin. Always constantly running towards sin and then when it comes to the time of tawbah, delaying it. When it comes to sin, without a second's notice, they'll say, I'm ready for it, I'm ready. You tell people, you wanna do this, you wanna do that, they're ready for all of it. But when it comes to the opportunity of repenting, then we say, I have to think about it. I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. You need to give some time. I'm still young. All sorts of excuses we have.

But how often a person says, I'm old enough for this. You know, I've been there, done that. Enough of this sin. That was my old life. Okay, so let me stop. Instead, Shaitan will make sin enjoyable in every single phase of our life. In every age we're in, Shaitan will present different sins and will make us run towards that. So this is the third reason why people become deprived of tawfeeq. Is when they run and hasten towards sin. But when it comes to the time of tawbah, they delay it.

When Allah is so beautiful in His mercy and His forgiveness. And as the hadith mentions, that He waits, Allah waits in the morning.

Allah opens up His court and waits for the person who sinned all night. That now, as dawn comes in, maybe he or she will have some shame and will turn to me in repentance. And he waits, maybe he'll come back now. And Allah waits before the evening comes that the one who had sinned and broken Allah's orders all day, maybe now as the sun is about to come to set, he will start thinking about life and death. He'll start thinking about the grave. And then possibly reflect over what he has done or she has done to Allah's commandments and repent. Allah is waiting.

(Hadith tradition)

Allah is willing and waiting to accept the repentance of every single servant, so long as the death rattle doesn't begin. When it is the time when a person sees the angel of death, as Allah says:

What's gonna happen when the soul reaches the throat and it's about to come out through the nose, and you are all looking at the dying man, you're looking at the dying patient, you're looking at the sick person, and we are closer to him even at that time than all of you. You're holding his hand, someone is kissing the forehead, someone is pressing the legs, someone is saying comforting words in the ear, Allah says, we are closer to this sick dying person than any of you are. However, you're not able to sense it, you're not able to see it. So that will come. A person will definitely... That time is too late.

Anytime before that a person repents, Allah is willing to. Even in one day, thousands of times a person sins, and thousands of times a person renews his or her tawbah, Allah is willing to forgive. But if a person does not want to take advantage from Allah, take advantage of these beautiful attributes, then Allah says in the Qur'an, in Surah Hud:

Do you expect us to stick to you Islam, force down Islam your throats, to bring Islam to your feet, while you yourself don't want it, while you are hating, you are disliking Islam, disliking the deen, don't expect me to force it down you if you don't want it.

Allah says He chooses whoever He wishes, and He guides the one who turns to Him.

The one who turns to Allah, he will see that Allah is already waiting for him. So these are so far we did three things that become a means for depriving a person from tawbah.

Fourth: Being Deceived by Association with the Righteous Without Following Their Example

Number four, to become deceived, to become deceived with this notion that I have had the company of pious people. But a person does not have the desire to follow in their footsteps. When a person says, my father was so and so, my mother was such a great person, and growing up I had company of this sheikh and that sheikh, and these are the righteous people that my family hails from, this qabilah, this tribe, etc. And then a person mentions this as a source of honor for himself, and thinks that really I am special, because I've had all of these things. But when it comes to action, but that person mashaAllah was like this, and that person practiced the deen like this, what about you? And when it comes to that person, he says, well, you know, don't talk about that.

Because the Prophet ﷺ said, مَن بَطَّأَ بِهِ عَمَلُهُ لَمْ يُسْرِعْ بِهِ نَسَبُهُ. Or as the Prophet ﷺ said, whosoever's actions slow him down, his relations and his lineage will not allow him to move forward. If you or someone finds themselves, their actions are weak, and they become like weights on their feet, that do not allow them to walk and fast-paced move forward towards akhirah. Then that person's lineage will not come to push them. Lineage is beautiful, it's great, but it cannot cancel out weakness in actions.

Strength in actions will take a person so forward, that a person like Ikramah bin Abi Jahl, he's become, may Allah be pleased with him, whose father is the one who gave so much, became such a means of so much harm coming to Islam, and specifically to Rasulullah ﷺ. And Allah knows what He has prepared for him. But when he came to his son, no one could see anything. He shot like an arrow, a darting arrow, subhanAllah, past everyone. And in the expeditions that came towards the end of his life, he took the front line, and he said, I have to catch up. I can't wait, sit in the sidelines. I've got so much baggage with me. I'm going to definitely try my best to outdo, undo whatever, I have baggage. So that's a beautiful example.

And there are many more amongst the companions, whose fathers, whose lineage was not great at all. But when he came to them, they went so forward. So, to fall into deception that a person says, I had the company of the righteous people. But when it comes to actions, he said, this is my picture of my grandfather, my father, my sheikh, my so and so. When it comes to action, a person is not doing it. So this is the fourth means for a person to become deprived of Tawfeeq.

Fifth: Chasing the World While It Turns Away

Number five. That is, the dunya is turning away from them. The dunya is wrapping up. It's leaving them. Every single second. I'm sure all of you probably are noticing how quickly this week and every week is passing. We can remember so well what happened last Friday night, what happened in Jumu'ah. It is literally like a week. That's how fast these weeks are going.

So akhira is wrapping, it was always wrapping up. But it's so much more apparent that it's wrapping up now. And that our life is coming to an end very quickly. We're moving at, it feels like unprecedented levels. And that's one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. يَتَقَارَبُ الزَّمَانُ That the time, it will be a time wrap, the Prophet ﷺ said. That everything will seem so back to back, so close.

So he says, the fifth reason for a person to get deprived of tawfeeq from Allah is that although the dunya is wrapping up, he is still running after it. He doesn't realize that that store is closing. The next store is opening up over here. Why am I running to a store whose shutters are being brought down? And I'm turning my back to the store where the shutters are being brought up. You're gonna go there, you're gonna get nothing. If you need to purchase your items, go here. This is where the store is opening up.

Nabi Ali ﷺ, his famous statement, which I usually mention here in the khutbah, he says that dunya is... ارْتَحَلَتِ الدُّنْيَا مُدْبِرَة وَارْتَحَلَتِ الْآخِرَة مُقْبِلَة Dunya is wrapping up, and akhira is opening up and coming towards you. Dunya is walking away, akhira is coming towards you.

And each one of them have sons. Make sure you become from the sons of the hereafter. And ensure that you do not become from the sons of the dunya. Because today you have an opportunity for action. Although there is no retribution, punishment or even reward, too much. The real reward and the real punishment is in the hereafter. There is only repercussions, there is only reward and punishment. And no opportunity to do any deeds. This is the time to do it. دَارِ الْعَمَلِ is now, دَارِ الْحِسَابِ and دَارِ الْجَزَاءِ is tomorrow. The opportunity for us to do actions is right now.

And if you make mistakes, we're student driver as they say. You make mistakes, a person misses something, makes a mistake, Alhamdulillah, no immediate صَاعِقَة and lightning bolt is gonna strike us. We can realize our mistake and just do tawbah and stand up and move forward. Say, inshallah, I'm not gonna do this from tomorrow, I'm not gonna do this, and life moves on. That's not gonna happen in hereafter. We have opportunities to make corrections and amends every single hour of the day. Jumu'ah is a beautiful weekly moment for us to reflect on what we have achieved in this past week and what we have not and make amends to that. So this dunya is an opportunity for us to change.

So he says the fifth reason why people be deprived of tawfeeq is the fact that they are involved in the dunya although the dunya is wrapping up.

Sixth: Turning Away From the Hereafter As It Approaches

And the counterpart, which is the sixth thing is, how quickly akhira is facing towards them and coming towards them, yet they turn away from it. A person is told to... A person says, you know, after a fard salah, we have a talk, or we have a ta'aleem, or we have a few words that we're gonna be read from the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, a person will very quickly run. But then you'll see that very easily Shaitan will make him stuck in the lobby or in the parking lot for the next 45 minutes. The masjid will get empty and the person will continue talking.

After Jumu'ah, this is an opportunity for us to do du'a, quietly, or reflect on something. Turn to Allah and make du'a for the ummah and for ourselves. But a person feels rushed. But very soon, he goes to the lobby, or goes outside and gets caught up in another random conversation. What's happening? That when it comes to the matters of deen, all of a sudden, something within us tells us, I don't have time for this. Although that is something that you have definitely... If you don't have time for it, you have to make time for it.

And then it doesn't mean that we actually... Many times that we don't actually have time. That same time that we could have used for the deen gets completely squandered away and wasted.

Recap of the Six Reasons

So this is the sixth reason to recap all six things as we come to an end here. The six reasons that Ibn Qayyim writes that become a means for a person to be deprived of tawfeeq. What was tawfeeq? We gave an example of Allah putting all the pieces together, all the means that we have in our life, putting it all together for us to easily achieve our goal. You have to go from point A to point B, and you're confused of how to go there. There's all sorts of obstacles and different things in the path. And imagine someone comes and puts a paving stone for you to say, here you come, here you go. And then the next one, and the next one, all the way till you reach your final destination. That's what's tawfeeq. That Allah leads you by your hand till you arrive into His paradise, until you arrive to His pleasure.

But this most important blessing of Allah, six actions become a means for deprivation. And one of them was, the first one was to be so involved in the blessing that we forget the one who granted us that blessing, meaning Allah. Number two was to be desirous of seeking knowledge without having the desire to practice on it. Number three was to be racing towards sin but staying back and hesitating from repenting. Number four to be arrogant over our companionship and friendship with righteous people without the desire to follow in their footsteps. And number five to run towards the worldly materialistic life while it's turning its back to us. And lastly to turn our backs to that hereafter which is coming right at us.

Closing Supplications

We ask Allah to make us from amongst those who are saved from all the six traits and attributes that have been mentioned here that He makes us from amongst the muwathaqeen.

Oh Allah we ask You for the tawfeeq of the people of guidance. The people who are guided by You, the tawfeeq they have, grant us that tawfeeq. This is something we need to constantly be asking.

Oh Allah grant us tawfeeq for that which You love and which You are pleased with. Whether it comes to actions, whether it comes to statements, and actions, whether it comes to actions, whether it comes to intention, when it comes to a certain way of life. Whatever is pleasing to You, may You allow us to do that.

Indeed You are capable over everything. Amin, ya Rabb al-'alamin. Please kindly stand up inshallah. Fill up the rows and perform the sunnah salah.