Making Improvements for Deen- Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Making Improvements for Deen

By Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and sufficient is the prayer and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Whoever takes these words from me and works with them, or teaches whoever works with them."

Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "I said, I am ready, O Messenger of Allah." So he took my hand and counted five and said:

(Related by Imam Ahmad and Tirmidhi, on the authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him — Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 8095; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2305)

"Beware of the unlawful — you will be the most worshipped of the people. And be pleased with what Allah has apportioned for you — you will be the richest of people. And be good to your neighbors — you will be a believer. And love for the people what you love for yourself — you will be a Muslim. And do not laugh too much, for excessive laughter is the death of the heart."

Introduction: The Prophet's Method of Teaching

My respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, students in Islam — peace and blessings be upon you.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, shared with us every single gem. Every single statement of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is a gem. And every good that is out there for us to benefit from, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, covered it in some aspect or another — whether it's in explaining an ayah of the Qur'an, or simply sharing some words of wisdom at one time or another.

So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, at one instance, he held the hand of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, in order to attract his attention, in order to grab his attention. He held it. And then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, asked: "Who is here who will take from me these words that I'm about to share with you? Who will listen to the following words that I have? Who is here that will follow and take from me the following words that I have? And he will practice on what I'm saying."

Because it's not simply enough to listen. But in order to practice, one must listen attentively. Without listening attentively, we will never be able to practice. So that's why he says, "Who is going to take from me these pieces of advice?" And then after he takes it from me:

Either فَيَعْمَلُ بِهِنَّ — he will practice on it himself. And if he can't do that, then at least what he will do, يُعَلِّمُ مَنْ يَعْمَلُ بِهِنَّ — he will teach it to someone else who will practice on this piece of advice.

So that tells us the framework on how we should listen to anything. When we attend a Jumu'ah khutbah, or we attend a lecture, first and foremost, we have to be present not only by our body, but by our mind and spirit — completely present in the gathering — in order to take in what is being shared. And number two, after that, the next goal would be that whatever I'm listening to, inshallah, I'm going to practice on that. And number three, along with practicing on it, I'm going to share this message and teach it to someone else who will practice on it. So if I can take the message back and teach four people in my family, five friends that I'm going to be meeting at a party or an evening gathering, alhamdulillah, I've gotten the reward of all of those people, besides the reward of my own action that I'm going to be doing.

So Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: فَقُلْتُ أَنَا — "I said, I am ready, Ya Rasulullah. I'm ready to do this." So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, took his hand then. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, made a general statement — who is going to take this from me and practice it, or teach someone else who will practice it. And when Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, showed interest, he said, "Okay, come."

Turning Towards Allah

So when a person shows interest towards deen, Allah will channel something special towards him. We're all sitting here, and more people will come towards the end, and the place will fill up. And we're all general audience members. But when a person sitting here says, "Ya Allah, I want something beyond just the mere sitting here. I want your attention. I want you to turn to me, Ya Allah, to take care of my dunya and my akhirah. I'm ready to do whatever it takes. I'm ready to step up my game. If inshallah, I can receive special attention from you." And when people are willing to step up, Allah most definitely is also willing to work towards you.

As the hadith mentions, that whosoever walks towards Allah, Allah runs towards him. What does that mean? That Allah isn't demanding too much from us. He's simply asking for us to make a move towards him. Once a person starts making a move, and starts showing Allah his earnest desire, automatically, Almighty Allah will start showering his blessings upon the individual.

So we are here — let's take this up to the next level. As we sit here, let us all inshallah in our hearts make this intention: "Ya Allah, I want something more than simply coming and praying two raka'at of Salatul Jumu'ah and listening to a portion of the khutbah, or all of the khutbah. I want something beyond that. I want to be chosen. I want to be hand-selected."

Where Do We Rank?

A thought was coming to my mind just last night. I said, subhanAllah, we rate ourselves. We always like to compare ourselves. Students like to compare themselves to their classmates. How did I rank in school? How did I rank in this exam? How did I rank percentile-wise? There's always this ranking of our business, our practice. How does it rank in the country, in the state, in the zone, in the area? So we live by this constant feedback that we get from people around us.

We always depend on this non-stop comparison and feedback that we get. So when was the last time did we ever think about our comparison to the rest of humanity when it comes to the Day of Judgment? Where do I rank percentile-wise on the Day of Judgment? At what level am I? Am I at the 90th percentile, 85th, 75th, 65th, 45th? Allah forbid. Where do I rank? Not just with the entire humanity, but with at least Muslims. If not the entire Muslims, the Muslims of my era, my time. If not the entire Muslim community of the world, but at least the Muslims of this country who are in my age group, who have similar circumstances that I do.

How do I rank up with them? This is a very interesting question that one should ask themselves, because we take it for granted that alhamdulillah, everything is going good. But when we start looking, and speaking to other people, we realize there are amazing people out there who have similar circumstances like mine, but are mashaAllah excelling, doing so much more.

And that's what parents do to their kids. They say, "Look at so-and-so in your class. He's doing so much better. He got straight A's. Why did you get a B? He's in the same age group. He also plays soccer. He's also doing this extracurricular activity. But he's gotten such good grades." So we are not content with our own life — we would like to compare. When it comes to the matters of deen, we must also compare with each other to see.

Now the real answer to that — who knows? Allah knows only. We really do not know where we rank. Only Allah knows. But at least the concern should come in: "Ya Allah, today alhamdulillah, I'm ahead of the game when it comes to the number of stores I have, when it comes to the number of clientele, when it comes to the number of patients I see, when it comes to the square footage of my house. All these things, mashaAllah, I'm up there, top 10%. But Ya Allah, when it comes to the matters of deen, where am I?" So until that thought doesn't come through our mind, we won't be able to start making an improvement.

So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he saw in Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, the excitement — "Yes, I want to be that one who will listen to what you've got to say and share it" — the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, held him by his hand. Imagine the connection — the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, holding someone's hand. SubhanAllah.

That will happen to all of us — metaphorically. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is not with us in body here. You won't be able to see Allah. But my elders, my brothers, my mothers and sisters, when a person turns towards Allah, Allah jalla jalaluhu definitely will turn towards him.

Whoever turns to Allah, Allah will turn His attention to him.

And you will also feel as though your hand is being held. People say that. They say, "SubhanAllah, I have no idea how I was able to pull this off. Everything in my life is just going amazing. It's just like someone turned on a switch. How am I able to pull off all these things?" You're right. You are not able to pull off any of these things. It is Almighty Allah who has now decided to shower you with His mercy. And because of that mercy, now everything starts falling into place — as though your hand is being held and you're being guided through a very difficult thorny path.

The Five Pieces of Advice

So when Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, presented himself, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Okay, I'm going to share with you what I've got to say." I will translate the five things and will probably cover only one today.

First: اتَّقِ الْمَحَارِمَ تَكُنْ أَعْبَدَ النَّاسِ — Protect yourself from anything that has been made prohibited by Almighty Allah, and you will become the greatest worshipper. Meaning, to become a worshipper, an abid, doesn't require excessive ibadah and salah. The first step to that is you stay away from haram. If a person stays away from haram and he's doing the basics, he's way ahead of the game — as opposed to someone who's doing a lot of extra optional things but ends up committing major sins.

Second: وَارْضَ بِمَا قَسَمَ اللَّهُ لَكَ تَكُنْ أَغْنَى النَّاسِ — Become pleased with whatever Allah has distributed and written for you, and you will become the wealthiest of people. Become happy with what Allah has destined for you, and you'll become the wealthiest of people.

Third: وَأَحْسِنْ إِلَى جَارِكَ تَكُنْ مُؤْمِنًا — Ensure that you go beyond kindness and go out of your way to show good character to your neighbor, and that will ensure that you will be a believer — مُؤْمِنًا. That's a sign of belief. It's a sign of iman when a person goes out of his way for his neighbor.

Fourth: وَأَحِبَّ لِلنَّاسِ مَا تُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِكَ تَكُنْ مُسْلِمًا — Love for the people what you love for yourself, and you'll become a Muslim.

Fifth: وَلَا تُكْثِرِ الضَّحِكَ فَإِنَّ كَثْرَةَ الضَّحِكِ تُمِيتُ الْقَلْبَ — Do not laugh excessively. Laugh, but do not laugh excessively. Because excessive laughing kills off the spirituality of the heart.

The First Piece of Advice: Staying Away from Haram

So let's take just the first part here. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, when he says:

Stay away from the forbidden things, and you'll become the greatest worshipper from amongst the people.

We know: consuming haram, earning haram, spending in haram, looking at haram, disrespect and disobedience of parents, abuse of human beings, animals, and the creation of Almighty Allah — physically abusing and oppressing them. Drinking and using intoxicants, indulging in riba and interest, and all sorts of other sins. Indulgence in black magic and sorcery and so forth. These are the famous major sins which Allah has prohibited.

When a person stays away from that, he is ensuring that he is not lighting himself on fire. Because when a person commits haram, it's as though he's starting a fire within himself. So you can put on cream, and you can comb yourself, and mashaAllah, adorn yourself, put on oil and gel. But if you light yourself on fire, that's going to cancel out everything, and it's going to do much, much more harm. A person doesn't necessarily need to go out of his way to adorn himself — out of his way I'm saying — but the least thing is that he shouldn't put himself into filth. He shouldn't put himself into harm. When a person stays away from haram, he is ensuring that at least he's staying away from the most harmful things.

The Saying of Aisha, May Allah Be Pleased with Her

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, has been reported to have said:

That the one who wishes to outdo a worshipper of Allah who struggles, who strives — he's tired, why is he tired? Because he's worshipping Allah so much, he fasts so much, he stays awake at night so much. He is really exerting himself to please Allah, to worship Allah. If you want to beat him and surpass him, Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, says: then just simply stay away from sins.

Because if that person prays all night, and by day he sins — he steals, he cheats, he's involved in haram business — what's the point? It doesn't mean he's not getting reward for that. But unfortunately the strength of that reward is going to be decreased dramatically and drastically. Because the sins add up real quick.

The Analogy of Earnings and Expenses

If a person can do that — like simple business. One way is a person is earning mashaAllah $10,000 a month or $20,000 a month. But his expenses are $40,000 a month. And there's another person who earns only $5,000 or $4,000. But his expenses are $1,000. At the end of the day, who's making more money? The second person. He's got leftover savings of $3,000 a month.

And you know very well that there are real examples of what I'm saying. There are really examples of a lot of people who definitely have initial earnings that are twice, thrice, or more than that of others. But at the end of the month, they're in the negative. And there are other people, mashaAllah — what we call barakah. Their earnings are not much. But at the end of the month, alhamdulillah, they have money to send back home to some relatives. They have money to spend in an orphanage. They have money to give to the local masjid. And they've got money to spend on their family. Even though they have such little earnings.

Same thing. It's not simply: earn a lot. Just cut down the expenses. So haram is like that — it's your expenses. Because every time we commit a haram, we're giving away our good deeds. So the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, is giving this beautiful advice: stay away from the haram and you go ahead.

The Saying of Hasan al-Basri

Hasan al-Basri, rahmatullahi alayhi — a great tabi'i, meaning the second generation after the Sahabah — he said:

No worshipper has worshipped Allah in a manner that is superior, in a manner that is more virtuous, than by leaving that which Allah jalla jalaluhu has asked us not to do.

We can take an example from our parents — kids can relate to this at home. Mothers and fathers tell us: do X, Y, and Z. Do this, do this, do that. But there are certain things they tell us don't do. At times what will the mother say? "If you can't clean out the trash, if you can't wash all the dishes, at the very least don't make a mess. Don't make a mess. If you can't go out of your way to clean up your sibling's mess, or clean up after your guests that have come to the house, at the very least please don't make a mess." Committing those sins is making a huge mess.

The Analogy of the Car Heater

As scholars have given the example of a person who has the heat on in this cold weather, on full blast, and he's traveling out on the highway. And he notices it's not getting warmer, even though he's been traveling for 15-20 minutes. And he looks behind and he sees that the windows have been rolled down by someone. Obviously, no matter how high you keep the temperature, it will never warm up in the car. Because whatever you're heating is going out, and cold air is coming in.

That's the relationship between good deeds and sins. Keep your windows up. Even if you had kept the heater off, it would have been warmer than what it is right now — you wouldn't have the cold air coming in. So when a person simply makes this commitment: "InshAllah, I'm not going to commit haram."

Advice from My Teacher

My brothers, my teacher would explain it — Mufti al-Raza al-Haqq, may Allah preserve him — he said: "To commit a sin you have to do something. Haram, you have to do it. We simply ask you not to do it." So it's not psychologically trying to make it easy for us to grasp and understand — that if you say "read this much and do this much," a person says "wow, that's a little bit difficult." But if you rephrase it and say "I'm just telling you not to do things," that sounds much more pliable, much more acceptable, much more easier to do.

So this is the key to reaching Almighty Allah. Because the Awliya Allah, the friends of Almighty Allah, they do not commit major sins. Another teacher of mine, he would mention — and I've shared this many times, this piece of advice — may Allah grant me and you all the ability to practice on this, ameen. He said: "In this day and age, if you want to become a wali of Allah and a friend of Allah — which is something you'd hear about, a murshid, a sheikh, a wali. You hear stories about that. SubhanAllah. Those are amazing people. But he says: in this day and age, if you want to become a wali of Allah and a friend of Allah, you only have to do two things. Pray your five times daily salah, and stay away from haram."

Because it's so tough out there today to remain a Muslim. If you simply pray your five times daily salah on time, properly, and number two, stay away from everything that is haram, inshallah, he would say, you'll become a wali of Allah. The prices have changed. Inflation affects prices. The day we are in right now, prices have changed. Jannah is — if you want to say it — at a lesser price. Because it's hard. And I'm not saying this out of my own whim.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said this in a hadith. He told the Sahabah, may Allah be pleased with them all — the gist of this hadith is: that you are living in an era when if you were to leave out even a tenth of what you've been ordered, it's going to be problematic for you. But a time will come when people, if they were to practice only a tenth of what they're expected to do, it will be enough for their salvation.

So let's not misunderstand this hadith — "a tenth, so that means I just gotta pray a certain number of raka'at?" No. The basics you cannot mess with. The basic fara'id you have to do. "10% means if a hundred lies, I can only lie ten times?" No. We go back to the basic things. Haram, we can never do. Haram, we can never do in any circumstance. And number two, we cannot miss our salah — the fara'id.

Conclusion

Let's take these two things to heart, inshallah ta'ala. This is very doable. It's doable for ourselves, it's doable for our spouses, it's doable for our children. And by doing so, what will we become? أَعْبَدَ النَّاسِ — the people who worship Almighty Allah the most.

InshAllah ta'ala, we'll try to cover the other four pieces of advice on another occasion. Just for those who are walking in now — we're sharing the hadith of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, where the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Who's going to take from me these words and will practice on it or teach someone else who will practice on it?" And Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, presented himself. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, held his hand and counted five things. اتَّقِ الْمَحَارِمَ تَكُنْ أَعْبَدَ النَّاسِ — Fear the haram, stay away from those things which have been forbidden, and you will become the greatest worshipper. And inshallah the other four, we will try to cover in another opportunity.

May Almighty Allah allow all of us to stay away from every major sin. And may Almighty Allah allow us to be punctual on our prayers. Ameen, Ya Rabbal Alameen.