How To Be Successful - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

قَالَ اللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْمَجِيدِ، بَعْدَ أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ:

وَقَالَ تَعَالَىٰ فِي مَقَامٍ آخَرَ:

وَعَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا، هَذَا الْحَدِيثُ:

(رَوَاهُ ابْنُ مَاجَهْ فِي سُنَنِهِ)

The Path to Success

My dear elders, respected mothers, sisters, students, brothers, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ. Allah Azza wa Jal, our creator, our nourisher, our provider, the grantor of health, the grantor of honor, the one to whom we shall all return one day, and in front of whom we shall all have to stand one day. Allah Azza wa Jal loves us, cares for us, and has granted us countless blessings in order for us to recognize His greatness and lead a life of servitude to Him.

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala did not leave any ambiguity. He created success, He created Jannah, and created a path for that. And created hellfire, created failure, and created a path for that.

Allah Azza wa Jal laid out very clearly the characteristics and the attributes of both groups of people. Those who wish to gain success may follow the path of the prophets. And those who strive to lead a life that is enjoyable to them, and are absolutely unaware or uncaring of what Allah thinks, they will end up following the path of shaitan, which will eventually lead them to the depths of hellfire.

May Allah protect us all. Ameen.

This World: A Place of Tests and Trials

Respected friends, Allah Azza wa Jal has made this place, this world, a دَارُ بَلَاءٍ, a دَارُ امْتِحَانٍ, a place and abode of tests and trials and tribulations, in order to differentiate those who are truthful in their love for Him, and those who are not.

Allah Azza wa Jal says:

Do people think that they will be left alone, and not be tested merely by proclaiming that they're believers? That shall not happen.

Indeed, we have tested the people prior, the nations prior to this ummah as well. And we have made it very clear, the distinction is very clear, those who fail those tests go on one direction, and those who pass those tests go on one direction.

You Shall Reap What You Sow

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made this world not only a دَارُ الِامْتِحَانِ and a دَارُ الْبَلَاءِ and a boat of test, but my respected friends, Allah azza wa jal has also made it a very clear logical path. You shall reap as you sow. Whatever type of بِذْرٌ, whatever type of seed we put into this world, Allah shows us.

A person puts a seed for an apple tree, and of course it is not very difficult to understand that you will have a tree with apples, and with a mango, mangoes, and with bananas, bananas and so forth. So when a person makes the right decisions in his life, Allah azza wa jal will shower him with His mercy.

Indeed, Allah azza wa jal will not waste the reward of those who do good.

The Old Man Planting Trees

Just like a mango tree, or a date tree for that matter, does not grow overnight and doesn't even give you fruit in one year. It takes years for it to start bearing fruits, as commonly it's said, that if you see an old man, he was planting trees for a date tree. Someone asked the old man, why are you planting these seeds for a tree now? You are so old, you will never see this tree grow.

You are so old, you will definitely never be able to pluck the fruits from this tree. And he answered that if everyone thought like that, we wouldn't have any fruits in the world. If everyone thought only for themselves, and about my generation, about myself and I, then no one would be able to benefit.

Fifty years ago, someone thought about me, someone thought about my children, and they made right decisions, and because of which we are all enjoying all sorts of fruits. So although this may be my last year or my last moment, but most definitely I am going to do the right thing. And so that's just an extra point to take home.

The idea is that our decisions cannot be based on immediate results. Instead we have to think in the long term. So just like a tree may not bear fruit immediately in the first few years, similarly our actions may not bear fruits immediately.

Sometimes it takes a while. Allah Azza wa Jal, in the story of Yusuf A.S., as well as the story of Musa, as well as the story of pretty much all the prophets, shows us that results take time.

The Story of Musa and Harun: Patience and Trust

When Allah Azza wa Jal, Musa and Harun, when they're tired of Firaun's oppression, and they beg and turn to Allah Azza wa Jal, one prophet is making dua, the other prophet is saying, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

O Musa and Harun, your dua and your supplication has been accepted. You have been oppressed, your nation has been oppressed by the Pharaoh, and you have supplicated asking help, your dua has been accepted. The scholars of tafsir write that this took place well before that time when Allah ordered Musa A.S. in the midst of the night.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when he says rather in Surah Dukhan, and other places as well, when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

He talks about in the middle of the night, leave your nation and go. Scholars of tafsir write that there is approximately 40 years between the acceptance of the dua and the time when Allah ordered, that this is the time for you to leave. Tonight pack up, get your community and leave the town. Go towards the sea.

And Firaun will wake up, his army will wake up and realize by that time you'll have gone further. And of course they will come close to you and you will be thought, you will be thinking that you're caught, إِنَّا لَمُغْتَرَقُونَ between the sea and Firaun's army. But don't worry.

Move forward. Hit the sea with the staff, the water with the staff.

Keep moving forward. Let Firaun's army come. And that same water that was a source of your deliverance will become a source of them being punished and drowned in front of your very eyes. So there was a long time, 40 years.

The Story of Yusuf: Hidden Blessings

When the story of Yusuf, Allah Azzawajal says something beautiful. At the very beginning in the third ruku, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is talking about when Yusuf A.S. has already been pulled away from his father. And he has been taken away far away.

And then eventually he's been thrown into a well, all alone. And then eventually he's been picked up and he's been sold off into slavery. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala at that time is saying:

This is all part of the plan in order to give Yusuf a station and a place on earth. And you wonder, what station? What place? What power are you speaking about? The poor kid was at home by his loving father. And he's been snatched away from that. And now he finds himself from the frying pan into the fire and beyond that, in the hands of slave dealers.

What could be the worst situation? But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has got the entire big picture of course in front of him. And He says:

This is all part of the plot and plan of how we plan to give Yusuf a position. In a scrimmage, or even in a football game, or a basketball game. Many times a person looks at the enemy, or looks at the opposing team, and wonders that they're possibly losing, or they're possibly retreating. But in reality, when they're making certain moves, some of the most successful moves on a battlefield or in a football field, are the ones that are deceiving to the opponent. The ones that seem like a retreat, but in reality are an attack from another front.

Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has his own ways as well. He is mentioning here that this may seem like a failure, this may seem like Musa Alayhi Salaam, or rather Yusuf Alayhi Salaam, and pretty much all the prophets are going through suffering. But no, it's all under control.

Success Belongs to the Believers

So brothers and sisters, we see this تَرْتِيبٌ of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala:

Allah does not waste the reward of those who do good. Eventually:

Those who have faith will definitely be at the top. It may not seem like that in the beginning.

The Story of Nuh: Patience in Preaching

What did Nuh Alayhi Salaam's people say?

Why should we follow you, O Nuh? Look at your followers. These are أَرَاذِلُنَا. These are the ones who are the lowest in the economic status. The poorest amongst us, the least educated. بَادِيَ الرَّأْيِ They are not thinkers, they're not philosophers. They are very superficial people.

They're very simple people. They're the ones who are following you. Why would we as intelligent, well-educated, high-heeled people want to follow you? So it seemed like, wow! What's gonna happen to this iman? What's gonna happen to this Islam of Nuh Alayhi Salaam? No one's following him for a thousand years, only 80 people.

And then on top of that, the poor ones, the less educated ones, the not very philosophical ones, the simple-minded people, simpletons. But a time came. A time came when Allah says:

Build that ship. And when that ship was being built, even at that time people did not get the hint. What happened? They made a mockery of Nuh. And they said, why are you building a ship over here in the midst of land? Why were you doing this? So even at the last moment before Nuh Alayhi Salaam became successful apparently in the world, it was difficulty.

It was despondency amongst probably a lot of people. It was, of course, apparently looking like a failure. But Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has His plan.

Success Takes Time: A Universal Lesson

So what do we learn from all the stories of the Prophets and most definitely from the story of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam? That success does not come overnight. It takes time. But most definitely it will come so long as the actions have lined up.

As long as the actions are lined up, it will take time. The flip side of this is also most definitely true. That when a person leads a life of sin, follows the path of shaitan, then definitely they're heading towards the hellfire.

Definitely going towards failure. It may not seem like that. You have the story of Fir'aun, the opposites. You have the story of Qarun, the opposites. You have the story of Abu Jahl. You have the story of Abu Lahab. You have the story of all these individuals who stood up against the Prophets, who were riding with the tide, who were at the top of the mountain, pretty much in every sense of the word. And they were so intoxicated in their power and their wealth, that they have the guts and the audacity to claim divinity for themselves.

That's how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

I let them go. I give them respite. إِنَّ كَيْدِي مَتِينٌ Indeed, my planning is very well thought out. My planning is very thorough.

So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says:

We allow you, we keep on giving you bait. We keep on allowing you to reel out the bait and thinking that you're not gonna get caught. Even Fir'aun didn't get caught when he started walking.

Can you imagine that? When he walked onto that same water, that became a means of his drowning, it did not become water, it seemed land for him. And that's why he said, look, the rivers and the ocean in front of me is welcoming Fir'aun. I told you all along I was God.

Look at this. This is amazing. Now it's a proof. We see some people today as well. Everything wrong seems right to them. Everything wrong, they seem it's a miracle from God for them.

SubhanAllahil Azeem. Fir'aun is there as well. He doesn't realize that in this lies my destruction.

Allah till the very end let him fall into his deception.

They are blind and they are intoxicated. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, So this is what we see today. People are literally intoxicated. They're literally blind from the truth. They don't realize that they're digging their pit in hell every single day.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims unfortunately, leading a life of heedlessness. So he walks in with his entire army. And once the entire army is in sea, in the water, then Allah Azawajal orders the water, the land to change back into water.

And immediately of course they're sunk in. So things do not happen. We cannot expect results immediately. We have to have hope in Allah and look forward. And we also have to have fear in Allah.

The Illusion of Worldly Success

A person says, If I am leading a life of sin, how come my life hasn't gone bad? How come I'm still making so much money? You notice that. People, the people who are sinning sometimes, they tell you that, that my revenue only increasing every year. Investments are only doing better. I moved from one house to the other.

I've neglected, I started neglecting more prayers, neglecting this and that. But my dunya is only increasing. How do you always say that Subhanallah, Allah is upset? It doesn't look like that.

So one person mentioned this to a scholar. And he said, When was the last time that you got a chance to visit the house of Allah? When was the last time that you were able to separate yourself from your bed and stand in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? He said, I can't think of the last time. He said, that is a sufficient punishment.

What else would you like? That is the biggest punishment that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows you to be indulged in your fulfillment of your desires and does not give you an opportunity to stand in front of Him. Doesn't give you an opportunity to visit His house. What greater punishment are you asking for? What greater punishment are you asking for?

The Formula of Consequences

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in so many hadith has explained to us this formula. You do what you'll get. You do good deeds, you're rewarded for that. You do evil, it'll catch up to you sooner or later.

In the world it may not seem that it's catching up to us, but most definitely it will catch up to us. So the hadith I mentioned at the very beginning of our talk here. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned a hadith related by Abdullah ibn Umar radiyallahu anhuma.

I'm speaking about consequences of actions. Consequences of actions. So today I'm gonna share with you one hadith here.

He said, أَقْبَلَ عَلَيْنَا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he came to us. فَقَالَ, and he said, يَا مَعْشَرَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ O the group of migrants, O the group of immigrants from Mecca to Medina. These are the early Muslims.

خَمْسٌ إِذَا ابْتُلِيتُمْ بِهِنَّ وَأَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ تُدْرِكُوهُنَّ He said, five things, if you were to ever get tested with them. Five incidents, five issues, five characteristics, five qualities, if you ever to fall into the test. وَأَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ أَنْ تُدْرِكُوهُنَّ And I beseech Allah, and I seek refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from you all ever having been put in a situation where you get tested by these five things.

What are those five things? He says, number one:

Lewdness and Plague

لَمْ تَظْهَرِ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي قَوْمٍ قَطُّ حَتَّىٰ يُعْلِنُوا بِهَا إِلَّا فَشَا فِيهِمُ الطَّاعُونُ وَالْأَوْجَاعُ الَّتِي لَمْ تَكُنْ فِي أَسْلَافِهِمُ الَّذِينَ مَضَوْا Any nation, he's not speaking, he's warning the Muhajireen, but more so warning all of us. He said, these are the rules of Allah. These are the rules, the students who appreciate the example of the vending machine.

You put in a vending machine, and whatever button you press, that's what you get, at least most of the time. Right? And sometimes you get something extra. You put in a dollar, you get a dollar worth of things. You put in two dollars, you get a two dollar worth of things. The system of Allah is very simple. Very simple.

Whatever type of product you choose, that's what you will get. So Rasulullah ﷺ is saying, that any community which allows evil, lewdness, acts of lewdness, zina and the like, whenever that becomes rampant within a community, حَتَّىٰ يُعْلِنُوا بِهَا when they openly speak about it on the airwaves, when they openly speak about fuhsh and indecency, adultery and fornication, and all the things that are attached to that on social media. Whenever these things become common within a community, the Prophet ﷺ said, the repercussion will be such that plague and such sicknesses and diseases that were not heard ever before in the forefathers will become common.

Of course, a hundred years ago, who heard of AIDS? And who heard of cancer? And who heard of all these other things that are taking us at an alarming rate and just take AIDS itself? There are communities in the world that are 25% of the population. Some places 33% of the population is gonna die because of that. Subhanallah. And the Prophet ﷺ is saying, whenever fahisha and lewdness becomes common, Allah ﷻ's response to that will be, that sicknesses that you never heard before will become common.

Cheating in Transactions

Number two, the Prophet ﷺ said, وَلَمْ يَنْقُصُوا الْمِكْيَالَ وَالْمِيزَانَ إِلَّا أُخِذُوا بِالسِّنِينِ وَشِدَّةِ الْمُؤُونَةِ وَجَوْرِ السُّلطَانِ عَلَيْهِمْ And when it comes to buying and selling, when people begin to cheat, give less, take more. In financial transactions, when people will begin to cheat and deceive each other, the response from Allah ﷻ will be, that drought, years of drought will be thrown at them.

Life will be difficult, things, prices will become expensive. You know, it'll be difficult to get by by a hundred dollars or ten dollars. And third punishment, an oppressive ruler will be sent upon them.

Three things when we cheat financially. First thing is that, drought. Number two, life will become hard. Just to get by, pay the bills will become difficult. And three, oppressive rulers will be sent down.

Withholding Zakat

The third action with its retribution, وَلَمْ يَمْنَعُوا زَكَاةَ أَمْوَالِهِمْ And as soon as people stop giving and paying the zakah, the mandatory, obligatory alms on their wealth, إِلَّا مُنِعُوا الْقَطْرَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ Allah will hold back the rains.

And then he says something amazing. He says, وَلَوْلَا الْبَهَائِمُ لَمْ يُمْطَرُوا If it wasn't for the mute animals, the poor animals, the cats and the dogs, the donkeys and the horses of the world, they would have never even had a single drop of rain. The only reason they have any type of vegetation and rain is because Allah is having mercy on the animals.

When these sins reach at that level, Allah says, you don't deserve to live. But I'm gonna still send down rain because there are innocent animals in creation of mind that is there.

Breaking Covenants

Number four, وَلَمْ يَنْقُضُوا عَهْدَ اللَّهِ وَعَهْدَ رَسُولِهِ And no sooner do they break their covenant with Allah and His Prophet ﷺ, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala سَلَّطَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ عَدُوًّا Allah will send an enemy مِنْ غَيْرِهِمْ from outside of their circle.

Allah will send an enemy from outside of their circle. فَأَخَذُوا بَعْضَ مَا فِي أَيْدِيهِمْ And He will usurp from that which they have. So whenever they break the promises with Allah and His Rasul, afflictions will come from outside of the Muslim community.

Governing Without Allah's Law

وَمَا لَمْ تَحْكُمْ أَئِمَّتُهُمْ بِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ وَيَتَخَيَّرُوا مِمَّا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا جَعَلَ اللَّهُ بَأْسَهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ And no sooner, and as soon as the leaders of the Muslim community stop making decisions based on the book of Allah, and stop choosing for their communities and for themselves what Allah has revealed, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will bring about a war amongst the Muslims themselves.

(رَوَاهُ ابْنُ مَاجَهْ فِي سُنَنِهِ)

Five actions with five repercussions. Anyone of us sitting here can probably think for ourselves that most definitely the five repercussions are taking place as we speak because of the five actions that we as a community, as the ummah have involved ourselves in.

The Way Forward: Repentance and Action

Going back to the very basic where we started off from, whatever action we'll do, every action will have its response from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, good and bad. Sometimes there's a delay in it, but it will most definitely come to catch up to us.

Today as the ummah is suffering and we are all asking for dua, and we should be involved in dua and supplicating to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the entire community that is going through difficulty in this country and more so in our other countries around the world, Muslim and non-Muslim. We have to use this hadith as a moment of reflection to see what level of cheating and deception maybe I'm involved in. What level of indecent actions am I involved in, or my children may be involved in.

What level of disregard to the Quran and Sunnah am I involved in? So whenever those things are gonna happen, the repercussions we must expect from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

What is the way out? Alhamdulillah, we're alive, we're here for Salatul Jum'ah, we're listening, we have a chance. All of us, we may not be able to change the entire world situation, but we can definitely change our own.

And we can be able to earn the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by simply turning to Him in repentance, and saying that, Ya Allah, whether it's my financial transactions, whether it's my etiquettes with my parents, my spouse, my children, whether it is my connection or lack of connection with you and your house, O Allah, whether it is my connection or lack of connection with the Quran, these are things I can take control of. I do not want to ruin my life, the one life that I have. And I definitely do not want to become the means of ruining it for the whole world and for the community.

When a person begins to make that U-turn, no sooner do they make that U-turn, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will change the difficult conditions into favorable conditions. And those difficult conditions, they may not get removed immediately, mind you. But they will no longer be regarded as a punishment.

That condition will remain the same possibly. But that condition will no longer remain a punishment. It will remain a blessing in disguise. And what do I mean by that? That it will become a means of a person gaining the highest levels of paradise. Every difficulty they're going through will be regarded as sabr. That sabr will get them far.

A Test Through Comfort: The Palestinians and Us

As we pray today and every day for Masjid al-Aqsa and for the people around there, it is a moment for reflection today that Jum'ah took place 8-10 hours ago there. How the situation was, I'm not aware. Maybe some of you are more aware than I am whether Jum'ah took place and what situation it was and what not.

But we know as of last week and we know throughout this week as well, things were very difficult and people were not allowed to come. But you saw possibly the WhatsApp videos, you probably saw the YouTube videos and links of the perseverance of old women, young children, chanting Allahu Akbar and not being allowed to come inside but praying outside. Their Fajr, praying their Isha outside.

Having a sit-down right outside of the Masjid surrounded by one of the strongest armies of the world. And some of them of course most definitely got killed in the way, they got punished, they got locked up, they got things thrown at them, they got live bullets thrown at them, but it didn't stop them from that.

My brothers and sisters, today coming to Dar-ul-Salam for Jum'ah, you had no roadblocks, you had no metal detectors. You had no SWAT teams. You had no one patting you down at the door. You had no one yanking you from your son or your daughter or from your old mother or father.

We are able to come in Jum'ah with ease. Ask ourselves, if I'm up against those people, Palestinians tomorrow on the Day of Judgment, and Allah says, this is the difficulty I put them through and this is how they responded. The ease that I tested you with, how did you respond? That's a question for me, for my family and for all of us here.

As our Palestinian brothers and sisters, and rather the entire ummah is being tested again and again through the issue of Quds, and for that matter the entire world, wherever the issues are taking place. Too many countries to name. We are also being tested, not by the Muslim ban only, yes, not by the Muslim ban only, not by a healthcare crisis only, but simply by the peace that we enjoy in this country.

The ability to pray with comfort and ease and come to the house of Allah without any fear of repercussion, without any fear of being bombed, without any fear of any suicide attackers. Alhamdulillah, may Allah continue to shower this peace upon us in this country. But my friends, this is also a test from Allah to see how we appreciate this type of peace.

And of course the appreciation is coming to the houses of Allah, connecting ourselves with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I pray that He allows all of us to have a wake-up call from what the ummah is going through and begin to appreciate the blessings that we all have. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala save us from neglecting Him, His prophet, His book, neglecting His house.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for us to repent collectively and individually from our major and minor sins.