Getting Closer to Allah S - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Getting Closer to Allah — Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَكَفَى وَصَلَاةً وَسَلَامًا عَلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَقَدْ قَالَ اللَّهُ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ بَعْدَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ.

Respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, students, Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

The New Islamic Year and the Lesson of Hijrah

As we welcomed the beginning of the new Islamic year this past week, we were reminded of the incidents that took place and the climate in which Muharram was welcomed — or rather the climate in which this Islamic year, Muharram, became the new year. And the fact that Umar al-Khattab (r.a.) chose this as the beginning of the new year.

The first year had to be chosen for the Islamic calendar — just a reminder for myself and all of us. That was chosen from which year should the first year of the Islamic calendar begin. And it was under the leadership of Umar al-Khattab (r.a.) that it was decided that it would be the Hijrah, the migration of Rasulullah ﷺ and his companions from their beloved city in which they were born, in which they were raised, from the most beloved spot on earth to the Prophet ﷺ, from the city which has the most sacred spot on earth, the Ka'bah, from a city that boasts so many great blessings — from amongst which is the multiplication of the reward for any good deed that is performed in that precinct.

Every salah, every sadaqah, every smile, every good deed is multiplied. And Rasulullah ﷺ left all of that and went to a new city far away. It took him many, many days — well over a week — to travel through those deserts to arrive in Madinatul Munawwarah.

We are reminded every new year of how that all began and how that hijrah of Rasulullah ﷺ took place. We are reminded of Islam's everlasting demand that it requires hijrah, it requires movement. Hijrah is of course movement, moving.

When a person leaves his land, leaves his hometown, that is hijrah. But more importantly, what we want to focus on is the fact that that was the greatest turning point in the annals of history for Islam. It brought about, it ushered a new change.

It brought about such a new chapter, subhanAllah, that the Muslims were definitely waiting for — waiting for that nusrah, waiting for that help of Allah. And that came once they were pushed to the ultimate sacrifice of leaving behind family, leaving behind property, leaving behind their homes that they had lived in for years and years, centuries. Their forefathers had dwelled in. All of that — the biggest sacrifice of leaving all of that for the sake of Allah — was asked.

And they said, labbayk. They said, Ya Allah, Ya Rasulullah, we are ready for this. And Allah then brought about nusrah, brought about His assistance. But this lesson that we learn from here is that Islam requires from us movement, it requires harakah, it requires living with the times, and interacting with the times, and constantly being prepared for what comes, what challenges are presented. Not allowing ourselves to be overpowered, not allowing ourselves to be taken by surprise by these challenges, but rather being on top of our game, being ready for whatever challenge Allah puts in front. If it's for the sake of Islam, we are ready — we are prepared to make sacrifices that Allah asks from us. Hijrah teaches us that lesson.

The True Spirit of Hijrah Today

Today, many people leave their area — many people move from towns, from their states, from their streets. There is non-stop movement taking place of homes, and places, and country of residence. But the vast majority of those who are moving, are moving for economic reasons, are moving maybe for their children's education, moving for a certain college, moving for a better job, a better shot at trying to make ends meet, and running away from persecution, and so forth. All sorts of various reasons of why a person migrates.

Hijrah is solely for the sake of Allah, for the deen of Allah — that I am not able to practice my faith in the situation where I live, so I'm going to make this struggle, and I'm going to leave for Allah so that I can practice my deen. That is why it is so rewarding.

Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned the various virtues of the muhajireen. The Qur'an mentions so many virtues:

Allah is saying — in the nutshell of this ayah — those who sacrificed and who made hijrah, and who traveled for the sake of Allah, sacrificing wealth, children, family, and those who did not, they can never be equal. They can never be equal. Those who struggle and strive, they have a much, much greater rank than those who simply sit around — the qa'ideen, who are sitting around.

It is not like people enjoy moving. It's not like people want to move away from their birthplace. It's not that people want to move away from relatives and parents and family and a nice job. They're forced to because of circumstances. The question is: what is that issue that forces you to move? When Allah sees it is only for Him — it is only so that a person can practice His deen in a more complete manner — this is so pleasing to Allah.

An Illustration of Intentions

If we're sitting in a room here and a person is speaking, like I'm speaking here — a person is in the back and he moves forward, and he comes right in front. Multiple people do that. And you ask different people: you're sitting all the way in the back of the room, what happened that you all of a sudden stood up and you came here?

There are some people who may say, you know what, it's too cold in the back — the door keeps on opening and a cold breeze comes in. Some may say that there are children in the back making too much noise and I'm just getting disturbed. Some may say that the lighting is not good enough in the back and here it's better lighting. And a person may say, no — I would like to gain as much nearness and closeness to the speaker as possible because I am gaining some true benefit from what words he is sharing. And I would like to have a direct access to him and what he is saying, undisturbed — so that I can sit back and really allow those words to go deep into my heart and let it marinate. Allow myself to truly appreciate and understand and absorb what is being said.

Those are all various intentions, obviously. When something as small as a 10-foot walk can have such varying intentions — with obviously varying rewards — then imagine a person who leaves his homeland and travels a far distance. SubhanAllah. Imagine the reward from someone who does it for the right reason compared to someone who says, I have a good job here, my children are doing well in school, I have a beautiful home, everything is going right — but I am not able to worship my Lord the way I ought to.

Sometimes we hear people who say, I have everything set in my life, but I'm simply moving from one state to another or one city to another so I can get closer to my parents and serve them. Beautiful intention. That I'm fine in my place, but I'm making this huge hijrah, leaving simply so that I can go sit with my mom and dad 20–30 minutes a day, stop by on the way back from work, check on them, maybe spend a weekend with them, invite them over to my house on a weekend. That's the sole intention. The only love of parents and the khidmah for parents are what motivates a person — subhanAllah, what a beautiful intention.

Similarly, when a person has got everything right in his life, but the only thing is he's not able to practice the deen — including serving his parents, which most definitely is for Allah. If a person feels that I'm obliged to serve my parents because it is a command of Allah. Allah forbid, Allah forbid, Allah forbid for me even uttering this, but unfortunately this is a reality — it's not that I need to have a bigger share of the inheritance and the will. I need to be around when the distribution of the house takes place. Otherwise my siblings and others will assert more than their right. That's why I say, even serving parents — intentions can differ.

A person who serves his parents only for the sake of Allah — even though his parents have nothing to give physically. Of course, they have everything. They're the doors to his paradise. He'll get to jannah through serving them. But he makes that sacrifice for Allah. That is the hijrah that is demanded from us today.

The True Muhajir

The hijrah, the way that was done by the Prophet ﷺ in the exact sense, may not be applicable for all of us. But the Prophet ﷺ said so beautifully:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6484)

That the true muhajir, the true spirit of hijrah, is not packing your bags and moving. The true spirit of hijrah is to leave that which Allah and His Rasul ﷺ have prohibited. To leave that gathering, to leave that job, to leave those friends, to leave that club, to leave those institutions or places where a person says that my affiliation with that place, with that club, with that group of people, with that group of friends, with that job, is not allowing me to truly gain my potential. Is not allowing me to truly earn Allah's pleasure.

It's a very difficult thing. A person recently came and told me — he said, subhanAllah, I'm trying to make this change in my life. I'm trying to get closer to Allah. I know what's right, I know what's wrong. I've heard all of that. I'm reading, I'm connecting myself with scholars. But what really holds me down is old friends. What holds me down and doesn't allow me to move forward is old acquaintances. Those relationships that have been built through high school years, through college years. All sorts of stuff that holds us down. And he said, I have to take that very difficult step of cutting those ties with friends who are not pushing me forward, but rather like an anchor, are not allowing me to go forward, but rather force me to stay in my place. I know what's right, I know what's wrong, but I'm not able to move forward because of that friendship. And he said, I have to make that very difficult effort of distancing myself.

And I said, subhanAllah, that's exactly right. That's exactly what a person has to do. And that's hijrah right there. That is hijrah — when a person knows that this group of people do not allow me to get closer to Allah.

How many husbands and wives, how many children, and how many friends, cousins, uncles, aunts — we know unfortunately not only do they not practice the faith the way it should be, but Allah forbid, they actually become a means of stopping others. يَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ — they do not allow others in their family to practice their faith the way they want to, the way they know it should be practiced, because of some misunderstanding, some irrational fear, whatever you want to call it. And now that tough decision comes upon an individual: am I going to give preference to these relationships, or am I going to give preference to my relationship with Allah?

That's why the Prophet ﷺ said:

There is no obedience to the creation if it entails the disobedience of Allah. There is no obedience to the creation if it entails disobedience to Allah.

That hijrah teaches us that lesson — that there must be harakah. What type of harakah? Happiness for the sake of Allah, anger for the sake of Allah, giving for the sake of Allah, holding back for the sake of Allah. Our actions on a daily basis require movement. There's no stagnation in deen. There's no stagnation. If you're stagnant, you will go down.

A person who wants to evade enemy fire — there's a laser that's going around, and he wants to evade that fire — he has to dodge, he has to duck. He cannot say, I've moved from here to here, now I'm going to stand still. He will definitely take a hit. Shaytan and nafs, and the evil company around us, are non-stop putting out their attacks, non-stop trying to bring us down. A person needs to always be in harakah, in movement. And that movement must be for the sake of Allah.

Actions Are Judged by Intentions

Again, Rasulullah ﷺ mentions the fact that the true muhajir is the one who leaves — hijrah means to leave — he leaves that which Allah and His Rasul have prohibited. Hence, in the very famous hadith which we all know, memorize, and quote every single day:

Indeed actions are based on intentions — and for every person is what he intended. Whosoever makes this huge sacrifice of leaving his home and does a hijrah only to please Allah and to please the Prophet ﷺ, then that is exactly how that deed will be written. He will get hijrah for the sake of Allah, alhamdulillah — great reward.

However, the one who leaves his town — he may call himself a muhajir, a migrant for the sake of Allah — but Allah knows the intentions of the heart. Allah knows what no one else knows. And Rasulullah ﷺ is saying that if the motivation of that hijrah was simply to earn a raise, simply to earn more money — and remember, earning more money was not for the sake of Allah, because if someone makes a move for another higher-paying job and his intention is to use that wealth to spend back for the deen of Allah, then that is not reprehensible, but rather worthy of reward.

Brothers, they ask sometimes: I have a job that pays a certain amount over here, but if I travel 60–70 miles I get 25,000 or 50,000 more. I say: make your intention correct. What is your intention of earning that extra amount? If you make the intention that you're going to give for the deen of Allah, inshaAllah every mile of that extra travel each way, Allah will give you reward for that — because of your intention. So we don't want to put everything into one bucket and say this is hijrah for dunya so it's blameworthy. No. Earning wealth for the sake of Allah is not blameworthy. Definitely not. If our intention is to serve the deen, then this is definitely a great cause of reward.

So Rasulullah ﷺ said: when a person makes his hijrah for dunya — meaning he has normal base desires that every other person has, that's all that motivates his migration, nothing beyond that — or he's fallen in love with some lady and he wants to get married. Not that, subhanAllah, this lady will become an amazing mother for my children, she is righteous, she comes from a righteous family, she will safeguard my deen and the deen of my children — which is a very good intention. But instead he's motivated by base desires only and goes to marry this lady. Then his reward will be written as though he is a muhajir for a wife, a muhajir for a higher-paying job, with no deeni incentives, with no deeni intentions. And all the effort that was done — hard work — unfortunately not rewarded. All going down the drain.

Making the Intention in Our Daily Moves

The same applies to the small hijrahs you and I make today. When we change jobs, when we change schools, when we change neighborhoods, we have to simply make this intention. I'm doing it for the school of my children — because such and such place has a better Islamic school for my kids. Such and such place has a high school in which the MSA is strong, so that my youth, my children's iman will be saved. Such and such city has a good college, and I want my children to stay at home and go to college so that they'll be protected from all the trials and tribulations that are out on campus. These are all, mashallah, good intentions a person can make.

But respected friends, it's not only about traveling and moving. It's while you're stationary as well — make that hijrah. At the beginning of this new Islamic year, 1437, 1437 years since the Prophet ﷺ left Makkah al-Mukarramah and went to Madinah, you and I need to make those resolutions again. That inshaAllah ta'ala, this coming year, I'm going to sit down and see: what are the things that are holding me back? What are the things that are not allowing myself or my children to move forward? And I have to cut myself off from that. I have to make hijrah from that.

Is it possibly overindulgence in certain things? Is it overeating? Is it overspending? Is it wasting of time? Is it having my priorities wrong? Is it not having enough Islamic education? Is it certain friends, mutual friends that we've kept that constantly bring our iman level down? And when there's a program going on in the masjid, when there's a good activity going on, we're always having a party and we feel obliged to keep on accepting those invitations — every single Saturday, every single Friday — even though well in advance we've told them there's an event in the masjid, how about you join us? But we get pushed away. We get pushed away to the extent that we see year after year, Muharram after Muharram, we're exactly in the same place where we were 15 years ago, 20 years ago.

The amount of Qur'an that I knew 20 years ago, 10 years ago, 5 years ago — we haven't moved forward one more surah. Ramadans have come and gone, Eid has come and gone, but the number of surahs I've memorized, the number of surahs whose translation I had read and understood, the number of surahs whose tafsir I had read through in a good authentic tafsir book, the amount of knowledge I had about the calculation of zakah, the amount of knowledge I had about the hundreds of aspects of prayer — including one of the most important aspects of concentration, devotion, and focus in prayer — if I am where I was 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even 20 years ago, Allahu Akbar, that's definitely a very sad state. That's a moment for me to reflect. Why is that?

In every worldly aspect I'm moving forward. The business is growing. MashaAllah, income is increasing. Cars are increasing. The square footage of the home has increased exponentially from 20–30 years ago. But my concentration in salah, the ability to cry in front of Allah, the relationship I have with my parents, the relationship I have with my spouse, the relationship I have with my children, the relationship I have with my neighbors — whether Muslim or non-Muslim — has been consistent, stagnant. That is a moment of reflection for us. That there are certain things I have to make hijrah of. I have to leave them. And I have to come into harakah, come into motion — in seeking knowledge, in practicing, in all of those facets.

It Is Never Too Late

Respected friends, it's never too late. Khalid ibn al-Walid (r.a.) — all of us have heard his name as the most amazing general anyone has seen. Not only in Islam, but perhaps anyone has seen. Who has so many battles and skirmishes in his name, yet not a single defeat. Not a single defeat. And he was running towards death — but death just had to miss him. And he died on a bed at home. He did not pass away in battle.

Khalid ibn al-Walid (r.a.), who is revered, whose battle tactics and plans are marveled at — all that he has done for the sake of Islam is there in the annals of history. But he is not one of the first ten to accept Islam, not one of the first twenty, or the first thirty, or the first forty. And not only that — he actively participated in fighting against the Prophet ﷺ. We know that in the Battle of Uhud. Not only did he participate, but he actively became a means of Rasulullah ﷺ being physically injured — his blessed teeth becoming shaheed, his cheeks becoming bloody, blood flowing, and him falling into a pit. All the horrible incidents that took place in Uhud. Who is the man behind that? Who orchestrated the comeback of the disbelievers? It was Khalid ibn al-Walid (r.a.). That man who gave so much physical and emotional pain to the Prophet ﷺ — in that same battle, Hamza (r.a.) became shaheed, which was the low point for Rasulullah ﷺ in that battle.

That same person — he comes a few years later, subhanAllah. In the last years of Rasulullah ﷺ's life, he takes the shahada. And Rasulullah ﷺ looks at him when he comes to Madinah and accepts Islam, and makes this comment, and he said: you are so intelligent. What took you so long? You're so smart. You have an amazing personality, amazing intelligence. But what took you so long? But subhanAllah — as they say in Urdu, der aayad, durust aayad. You came late, but you came right. You came late, but you still made it.

Look at Abu Hurairah (r.a.), whose name all of us have heard. No khutbah goes by, no dars of an imam goes without narrating Abu Hurairah's (r.a.) hadith. The one who narrated the most hadith, more than any other companion of the Prophet ﷺ. Was he the first to accept Islam? Second, third, fourth? Fifth, tenth, twentieth, hundredth? Absolutely not. SubhanAllah — way later, towards the end of the life of the Prophet ﷺ, just 2 to 2.5 years before the death of the Prophet ﷺ. Can you imagine? Just 2 to 3 years before the death of the Prophet ﷺ, he accepts Islam. But look how quickly he progressed.

Islam, alhamdulillah, is beautiful. Even if you start the race really late, you can put on the afterburners and go forward, go real fast. It's just you and I making that decision. That this hijri year, we wake up and we say: that's it, that's the end of that. I am getting into gear. And I'm going to ensure inshaAllah that I aim to be among those people who although came late, but went ahead.

How many new Muslims you and I know personally who accepted Islam recently, but are really way ahead of those who are born Muslims? Why do we sit back and watch while others are winning the race? Let us wake up. Let us get into harakah. Let us make hijrah. Let us decide what are the things that are holding us back. Let's begin to leave them. Let's cut ourselves off from those habits, those ideas, those cliques that do not allow us to progress. And let us embrace and take on inshaAllah ta'ala those things — including those circles, those groups of people — that will become a source of good influence upon us and the lives of our children.

The Blessing of 'Ashura and the New Year

I ask Almighty Allah to make this hijri year a blessed year for us, and allow the blessed day of 'Ashura tomorrow to be a blessed day for us — which we are instructed to fast by the Prophet ﷺ, and which was a fardh fast before the fasting of Ramadan became obligated. After that it remains nafl. Rasulullah ﷺ, after fasting the 10th, said: if I were to live till next year, then I would have fasted the 9th as well, along with the 10th. So if we can fast the 9th and 10th together, we definitely should, to revive the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ and earn the virtue.

What is the virtue? The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith related by Imam al-Tirmidhi, that he hopes from Allah that Allah will forgive the sins of the past year.

This is the new start. A new hijri year, a new beginning — pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. And inshaAllah ta'ala we are getting our past sins forgiven. But minor sins, the ulama explain. Major sins that we're involved in — we still have to seek repentance, specific repentance from Allah for those major sins.

Along with that, of course we remember those who passed away and became shaheed — not only in these past days of Dhul-Hijjah, but all of those people. Like Umar al-Khattab (r.a.) who became shaheed in Muharram. And Uthman (r.a.) who became shaheed in Dhul-Hijjah. And of course Husayn (r.a.) who became shaheed on the 10th of Muharram. Not only should we take this moment to remember them, and make du'a for them, and read about their history, but also make du'a that Allah gives all of us the strength to also remain firm in the face of the tyrants of today. That Allah allows us to be on the path of the righteous ones who had to possibly suffer a defeat in this world, but are most definitely victorious on the Day of Judgment. It's better to go down here apparently being defeated, but the main thing is that a person is amongst the group of victorious people on the Day of Judgment.

May Allah give all of us victory in this dunya and the akhirah. Happiness in this dunya and akhirah. Keep our families strong, healthy, and happy. And strong in their iman in this dunya and akhirah. May Allah make this new year better for us than all the previous years we've ever witnessed. May Allah take us from this world on a day, in a year, in which He is most pleased with us. Amin. Rabbil 'Alamin.

We request you inshaAllah to fill up the safs and perform the Sunnah. Kindly move forward so the brothers in the lobby can come inside.