Istiqamah: The Lifelong Struggle And Its Divine Reward

Opening Du'a

In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. My Lord, open my heart, open my mind, open my tongue, so that they may understand what I say.

Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. O Allah, enlighten our hearts with Your knowledge. Grant us to obey You. Grant us to do what You love and are pleased with — from what I say, what I do, my intention, and my guidance. You are capable of everything.

Allah Almighty said:

Beloved elders and brothers, mothers and sisters and dear listeners, السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ.

The Verse That Made the Prophet's Hair Turn White

Allah mentions in Surah Al-Hijr:

O Muhammad ﷺ, worship your Lord until death comes to you. And the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in a hadith:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3297)

Surah Hud and its sisters — the likes of this surah have made my hair grow white. The scholars of tafsir explain that the verse the Rasulullah ﷺ was referring to was the ayah in Surah Hud:

Remain steadfast the way you have been asked to do so.

The task of remaining steadfast — why is it something that the Prophet ﷺ felt had made it so burdensome on him, so challenging that it turned his hair white? That means istiqamah and steadfastness is something genuinely very challenging. We can always work on doing well in a sprint, a short race, but to remain consistent for a marathon — that's not 26 miles or 26 years, but it literally is your entire life. That is definitely challenging.

And that's what deen is about. Deen is not about one month or one year or a few years. It's beginning to the end — a person is constantly struggling. And this is why istiqamah is so appreciated by Allah, because it is so difficult. And only those who are blessed by Allah, who are true in their love for Allah, are blessed with something of this sort.

Allah says:

Those who struggle and strive to reach us, We will definitely guide them to Our paths. This struggling and striving to reach Allah is part of istiqamah.

The Reward of Istiqamah — Surah Fussilat

Allah mentions in Surah Fussilat (Hamim Sajdah) regarding the people who will have a very good ending, whose last day of their life will be beautiful. Allah says:

Indeed, those who said, "Our Lord is Allah," and then remained steadfast — it's not simply to say "Allah is my Lord" in the masjid, in Ramadan. It's important to remain steadfast outside, by our actions. Our actions speak louder than our words. It's performing salah, listening to the khutbah, giving the khutbah — all of these things are external. The real test of our faith is when we leave this environment. Especially when we are tested and faced with things that do not go along with what we want and wish. Then our steadfastness and true faith becomes tested.

Sometimes we get tested and we fail right in the parking lot. Sometimes we get tested and we fail as soon as we get home. Think about it — how many times have we heard a powerful talk, or gave a powerful talk, and then went home and failed? We fail in the parking lot, we fail at work — because of not having istiqamah.

At the time of their death, the angels of mercy will descend, and they will say to them:

"Do not be afraid of what waits for you in the future. Do not be saddened or grieving over what you are leaving behind in this dunya. Because what awaits you is going to be far, far greater than what you left behind. Take the glad tidings of paradise which you had been promised all along. We are your friends, your caretakers in this dunya, and in the hereafter we will also be with you. You shall get whatever your heart desires, whatever your nafs desires — Allah says you will get it in the akhira. And you will get whatever you demand, whatever you call for, whatever you ask for. Before you say it, before you pronounce it, it will be there in front of you."

That is the Jannah Allah has prepared for the people who have istiqamah and steadfastness.

Istiqamah Is the Greatest Miracle

That's why the saying is:

Istiqamah is more virtuous than one thousand miracles.

When you look at some of the people, they said: we went to go meet a very famous scholar, a saint, a famous sheikh. We thought — we had heard so many great things — we went to see him, looking for some amazing miracle. We didn't see water coming out of his fingertips. We didn't see birds coming and sitting next to him doing tasbih with him. This is what we expect — when we see a sheikh or a righteous person, we expect to see some miracles.

So the students of those shuyukh responded by saying: our sheikh — yes, he doesn't have any of those things you're talking about. But one thing is: it's been four decades since he has missed the takbeerat al-ula. Four decades since he has heard the adhan outside of the masjid — he has always heard the adhan inside the masjid. Four decades he never saw the back of a musalli — that means you're always in the front row.

If this is not the greatest miracle, what is? Consistency in whatever they do. Whether it's reciting, staying in the masjid from Fajr till ishraq, whether it's staying from Maghrib till Isha, whether it's their tahajjud salah — regardless of what it is, they never miss a day. Whether it's Eid day or the day of their daughter's wedding, son's wedding — there is consistency. And that is the greatest miracle.

The Story of Ali and Tasbih Fatimi

Ali رضي الله عنه was asked regarding the tasbih that was taught to him and his wife, Fatima رضي الله عنها, by the Prophet ﷺ:

This is Tasbih Fatimi — to be recited after every salah and before going to bed. The Prophet ﷺ taught this to Fatima رضي الله عنها when she came to ask for a servant. Rasulullah ﷺ said: shall I not tell you something far greater and far better than that? This tasbih. Meaning, a servant will not give you as much peace of mind and comfort as this tasbih will.

So Ali رضي الله عنه and Fatima رضي الله عنها began to do this consistently. One day he was sitting with his students — the tabi'een — and he mentioned that Rasulullah ﷺ had taught them this and he had not left it since. The students were shocked. They said:

"Not even on the day of Siffin?" — when you were at the helm of the battle, you were the Ameer al-Mu'mineen and the general of the entire army, fighting an extremely difficult battle. On that day, you probably didn't do your Tasbih Fatimi.

And he said: "Not even on the day of Siffin. I didn't miss my tasbih."

Not only did he pray, but he did his tasbih. Think about it — the smallest of things come our way, our schedule falls apart. We have a great habit going of reading Surah Yasin, doing our tasbih, reading Hasbiyallah before going to bed. Some small thing happens, and our whole schedule falls apart. That is the lack of istiqamah.

The Real Miracle We Should Strive For After Ramadan

The real miracle that you and I should be looking forward to, and trying to have within our lives, is steadfastness on the good habits that we picked up in the month of Ramadan. That is the great sign that we have benefited, and truly taken something from this month.

Otherwise, SubhanAllah — non-Muslims show up for an interfaith iftar. We have non-Muslims in schools who are doing the fast-a-thon, 18, 20, 50, 100 non-Muslims fasting in solidarity — no iman, nothing. How many thousands of non-Muslim women wear the hijab on hijab day? This is all called environment. It doesn't even require iman. It doesn't even require belief. And that doesn't get you anywhere.

What comes out of environment — if you do something simply based on the environment — is very short-lived. It's not deep at all. The reality is that the a'mal that come through iman is what helps. Someone sitting in sin city, in the middle of nowhere, with no masjid, but who is steadfast — he is going to come out much stronger than someone sitting in Ramadan in Madinah al-Munawwarah doing things only because the environment is there. Because as soon as he comes back and leaves that environment, if he doesn't have it inside him, he won't be able to remain steadfast.

So the idea is: if we go to Madinah, or if we go for i'tikaf, or we go to the masjid, we have to keep telling ourselves — we're not doing this because everyone else is doing it. We're not doing it because this is the normal expected thing from me. Instead, I'm doing it because I love Allah. I love my Prophet ﷺ. I know my salvation lies in this. Yes, it's nice and easier when other people are doing it — it becomes more enjoyable, it becomes easier. But I'm not doing it because of other people. I'm doing it because of Allah.

So when our a'mal are based on true iman, and not based on environment, then beloved friends, the changing of seasons and the changing of months will not affect our output. Whether it's Ramadan or Shawwal will be the same. Whether it's Makkah, Madinah, or America will be the same. Consistency will be present. And this is something that you and I need to strive for.

Because we see every year there is a huge spike across the globe in Ramadan — which is great. But as soon as this month comes to an end and Shawwal begins, we see a massive change, and we start going back to where we came from. This masjid itself — look at how in the month of Ramadan our Salatul Fajr and Salatul Isha swell in attendance. If we have four safs, it becomes 20, maybe 30 safs between men and women. MashaAllah, how many people start coming. But now, when Ramadan leaves, if we go right back to those four safs, then we know as a community we have unfortunately failed. We haven't really gotten much from this month.

Are we all sure we're going to die in Ramadan? That is one out of 12 months. More than likely we'll die outside of Ramadan on a normal average day. So on a normal average day, if we don't have a habit of getting up for Fajr — Allah forbid — or don't have a habit of coming to the masjid as men and praying, then the day you and I leave this world will be like any other day where we either missed our prayer or didn't come to the masjid.

That is why our life outside Ramadan definitely needs to become like the life of a day in Ramadan. The difference is that in Ramadan we stayed away even from the halal — we didn't eat, didn't drink, and stayed away from intimate relations throughout the entire day. But Allah doesn't ask us to do that the rest of the year. Allah is simply asking: you can do whatever you want, but just stay away from the prohibited things. Eat what you want, but stay away from prohibited food. Drink what you want, but stay away from prohibited drink. Be intimate only with your spouse. Protect your gaze from haram. Protect your ears from haram.

You've done so much — you stayed away even from the permissible things for 14 to 16 hours a day for 30 days. Surely you can stay away outside Ramadan from just a few basic things that are absolutely forbidden.

Protecting the Tongue and the Gaze

The main two ways we commit sin are the sin of the eye and the sin of the tongue. If we control our eyes and control our tongues, the Prophet ﷺ said:

Whoever takes responsibility of protecting whatever is between his jaws — his tongue — and whatever is between his thighs — his private part — I will guarantee for him Jannah. Control these two pieces of the body: the tongue and the private part. Guaranteed Jannah.

And what leads to the problems of the private part where a person makes mistakes? It is the eye. A person who controls his eye, more than likely, will not have a problem of misusing his private area. But the problem is when we allow our eyes to roam around freely, to look at that which Allah has forbidden, to look at what Shaytan is trying to use to entice people — then SubhanAllah it's a slippery slope.

Fasting from Technology

This is the commitment we need to all make in the month of Ramadan and carry forward — that these two organs, our eyes and our tongue, are to be protected. And the best way is: just as we have built some self-control in this blessed month, moving forward as youth and adults, we have to keep this fast. Let us all learn how to fast from our technology. Give as much time away from it as possible. Utilize it only for work. Let us enjoy the day outside with our family. Let us not use it for entertainment, for surfing, for watching things. This is the lion's den.

Right now, alhamdulillah, we are good in Ramadan. But after Ramadan — starting from today — if we find ourselves surfing on our phones at night or alone, then we know we are going right back to where we started from. The vast, vast majority of sins, the vast majority of wasting time, the vast majority of misplacement of our resources, is because of the irresponsible use of technology — and most specifically our smartphones.

So if we are serious about becoming disciplined, if we are serious about retaining the spirituality we gained in the month of Ramadan, we have to start with something that is right in our hands. Learning how to responsibly use our phones, and cutting out all unnecessary time from it. Literally putting it in another room, putting it away on a shelf. We are genuinely addicted.

I was talking about this, SubhanAllah, in our i'tikaf that we just had. There were some youngsters who were on their phones for many days. Right before I began one of my programs, I went downstairs and told the boys: listen, you're in i'tikaf — either hand it in to the office the way you were asked to, or please go home. You know, it's 1 a.m., you don't need to really be here. Your parents are thinking you're benefiting, but you're not, because all the time you're on the phone.

I told them: turn it in, otherwise you have to go home. No imam is going to come and tell you that at any other place. Because this is a free world — do whatever you want. But this environment here, I want it to be beautiful for all the people who come here. I want people to benefit when they come here. This type of pollution ruins it for me and ruins it for everyone else.

So they came, turned in their phones. I followed them up to the office and they turned them in. Then I had my 1 a.m. late night candlelight conversation talk. MashaAllah, they all sat there. After Fajr, they came up to me and said: "As-salamu alaykum, Imam. Thank you so much for doing what you did. We appreciate that. We needed that. We really realized what a horrible addiction this is."

Dads don't do that anymore. Moms don't do that anymore. That is the reality. We have to, after Ramadan — right now, starting from this weekend — create an environment. At the Eid party: phones away. If you're on your phone, you're not part of the Eid party. As a family — if you choose to be on your phone, go to your bedroom. When you decide you're going to be off the phone, then you're more than welcome to come join the Eid lunch, Eid dinner. We don't want three generations sitting on their phones.

We have to start from this very basic principle: weaning ourselves off of that. And then inshaAllah more than half of our community's addictions will come to an end, if we can get to the root cause of these addictions.

Closing Du'a

I ask Allah to grant you and I steadfastness in staying away from these filthy things — away from those sources of wasting our time, sources of sin, sources of breaking our marriages, sources of leading us to unchaste things. I ask Allah to grant you and I steadfastness in coming to the masjid every single day, steadfastness in reading Quran every single day, steadfastness in the dhikr of Allah every single day.

We ask Allah to allow us to fast the six days of Shawwal — either starting from tomorrow or from Monday inshaAllah — and to continue this habit even afterwards.

Let us move forward, fill up all the rows, stand up and perform our sunnah. Jazakumullah khairan. وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ.

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