The Purpose of a Believer- Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

The Purpose of a Believer

By Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created this world as a test for His believers. This entire world that we are living in, this material world that we are passing through this life, is a test for the believers.

And the Creator of this world Himself has said that He did not create this in vain. And this is the conclusion that those who have been termed as the intelligent ones will reach.

Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth, and in the change of the night into day and day into night, there are indeed signs for those who have intelligence. There are those who remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala standing, sitting and reclining — meaning in all conditions. And they ponder and reflect over the creation of the heavens and the earth. And upon reflection, the conclusion they reach, they say: O Allah, You are pure from all defects. O our Lord, You have not created this dunya in vain, this world with no purpose. You have not created it batilan, without any purpose. You are pure from all defects, subhanaka. This would be a major defect. So we ask You to save us from the adhab of the fire of Jahannam.

So this dunya is a test that we are all going through — these material means around us. And this is known as a daarul asbab, a world of means. And behind these material means is the qudra and power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made these means visible to us, perceptible to us. These are things that we see with our eyes, we touch with our hands, we hold and grasp, we utilize them.

And He has instilled in our hearts the love for these material means. He says:

You love the material world of this world — hubban jamman, very strong attachment you have.

He has a strong love for the material dunya. And behind these material means Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has hidden His qudra and His power. He Himself is running all the affairs and He is the musabbibul asbab. He is the one who puts the power in the asbab to benefit us and to harm us. But we do not see that hidden element, which is the amr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The amr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is there with everything that benefits us, with anything that harms us. Nothing can benefit, nothing can harm without the permission and the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Four Types of Means (Asbab)

So these material means that we are using in this worldly life — putting all means together, the asbab that we are utilizing and that we use to fulfill our daily functions — the scholars have divided them into four different types.

1. Asbab Dunyawiyya Qat'iyya (Definite Worldly Means)

These are material worldly means which are of a surety in their nature — in the cause and effect relationship established in this physical world of laws that Allah has created. According to the physical laws of nature, there is a direct cause and effect relationship established, according to the norms of our existence. These are called asbab qat'iyya.

For example, food for life. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made it such that our bodies require food, they require air to breathe, they require water. This is a fact of biology — that it is from water that Allah has made everything that is living. All living organisms come from water. This is mentioned in the Quran. So water as a source of life is an asbab qat'iyya — a definite cause and effect relationship that you need water for life.

And when we say that this is a definite means for sustaining life, then it has implications with respect to fiqh rulings. So much so that if a person does not drink water and chooses to abstain from drinking water or eating food, and ends up dying, then this person ya'atham — this person will be a sinner. And he will be like a person who has killed himself. He will get the sin of suicide, because he abstained from that which was made as a sabab by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to sustain life.

This is with regards to self-infliction. If someone withholds water from someone else and does not allow someone to drink water, does not allow someone to eat food, and puts him under house arrest — like Uthman radiyallahu anhu, the khalifa who was maqtool shaheed radiyallahu anhu, and the person dies from thirst — or Hussain radiyallahu anhu and his family in Karbala, and the people die from thirst — then the person who was withholding the water would be considered responsible for murder, for killing the person. Even though they actually did not kill them, they withheld the source of life. So this is called sabab qat'i.

2. Sabab Dhanni (Probable Means)

A sabab dhanni is something which is a cause and effect relationship but is not 100%. Sometimes it might work, sometimes it may not work. It's not 100% guaranteed. Like medicine for shifa. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sometimes puts shifa in the medicine, and sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not put shifa in the medicine. Who actually has shifa and cure? The shifa and cure lies with Allah and Allah alone.

If He wishes, He may put that shifa in the medicine, and a person takes the medicine, takes the course of antibiotics, takes whatever prescription is prescribed by the physician, and then the person is, mashallah, cured of the sickness. And sometimes a person takes a medication and his condition might even become worse. Somebody might be allergic to penicillin and end up having a worse outcome by taking a medication that they are allergic to.

That is why in the past the Muslim physicians — it is recorded in history — that when they would write their prescription, on the top they would say: "In the name of Allah, the sole Being who has the cure in His hands, I write the following prescription." And this is what Ibrahim alayhissalam also said — that when I become sick, then He is the one who gives me cure. Where did the sickness come from? It came from Allah too, but he did not attribute the sickness to Allah. He says, I become sick, then Allah is the one who gives me cure. This is the adab in how you speak about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

But this is not 100% guaranteed. So what happens is that if somebody refuses to take medicine and dies, we cannot classify that as suicide. If somebody decided not to take medicine and ended up dying — or if somebody did not pay for someone's medication, the husband said, he is such a stingy person, or he is having a bad relationship, and he says, I will not pay for your medication to his wife, and then the wife ends up dying — then the husband will not be guilty of murder. But if he withheld water and food from her, then he would be considered a murderer. So this is the second type of sabab: sabab qat'i, sabab dhanni.

3. Sabab Wahmi (Illusory / Superstitious Means)

Such means that people have come up with which are completely based on conjecture and have no basis with reality. They are based on superstition. And these are — for example — in the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, he prohibited saying: "Do not say that the rain fell upon us because such-and-such star was in the sky, in such a particular constellation." This is not refuting the science of meteorology, which is the science of weather and weather systems. It is talking about believing in positions of stars having a direct relationship on our lives, which is astrology.

So there are many people who still believe in astrology. And that is why they have the section in the newspaper — if you are born in this particular month of the year, then this is a particular name that you will have in the zodiac — and then based on that, they have people who write those columns, and people who read those columns. If no one would believe in those columns, in these fortune tellers, then they wouldn't have those columns in the newspapers. And they have all these different helplines and hotlines, and different people call different fortune tellers, and believe in what they have to say. If there are different lines in the palm of your hand, this indicates different things — palm readers.

Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2230)

The one who goes to a palm reader and believes what he has to say has rejected the wahy that was revealed on Muhammad ﷺ. So that is very strong wording — the wording of kufr. To say that if this line is like this, there are so many lines coming out, that refers to how many life partners a person will have — so there is a cause and effect relationship established which has no basis. So what is this? This is sabab wahmi. It is totally based on conjecture and has no basis with reality. Superstition. If you see a black crow, it means something evil. If you see a black cat — so these are from the mushrikeen, from Hindus, from other cultures. They have all of these various superstitions, and they have nothing to do with our religion.

4. Sabab Shar'i / Sabab Ghaybi (Unseen, Divinely Legislated Means)

Unseen asbab which are based on the shari'ah — based on what Allah and Rasulullah ﷺ have told us. There are many good deeds and there are many sins for which there is a definite cause and effect relationship established with respect to our worldly existence itself — not only with respect to reward or punishment in the hereafter. If you do this good deed, you'll have this result in your worldly life. And if you commit this sin, you'll have this result in your worldly life. So when we see that cause and effect relationship established, then we have to believe in it. That is a sabab. What type of sabab? A sabab shar'i. And with regards to the scale of believability, it is number one — it is 100% true, 100% effective, and you must have 100% conviction and belief in it as a believer, as a mu'min.

A simple example: when we stand up for the saf, Rasulullah ﷺ said:

Straighten your lines — for straightening the lines is part of the completion of the prayer. And make sure that your lines are not crooked, because this will create division in your hearts. Meaning if the line at the time of prayer is not straight, if there is crookedness in the line of prayer, then this will create animosity, ill feeling, and hatred amongst the hearts of the believers for each other. How will that happen? Why? So where is the cause and effect relationship? From a physical, worldly perspective, we do not see that. But this is definitely, clearly, and explicitly borne out from the words of Rasulullah ﷺ.

On the opposite side, Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 54)

You will not enter into Jannah until you believe. You can never be true believers until you love one another. Shall I not inform you of such an action — if you inculcate it as a practice, then you will begin to love one another? Spread Salam amongst yourselves. So Salam has been mentioned in the hadith as a means of creating love amongst one another.

Rasulullah ﷺ also said:

Giving gifts to each other will create love. So there is a cause and effect relationship established, and we have to take these and believe in them as well.

The Hidden Order of Allah Behind All Means

And with regards to the worldly means — whether they are qat'i, of sure nature, that we are sure they are effective; or they are dhanni, which are possible — we have to realize that the worldly means are that which is visible in front of us and we are adopting. But behind those worldly means, there is a hidden order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And it is because of that order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we are able to benefit from those worldly means or are being harmed by them. If the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is taken away, then that worldly means by itself can neither benefit us nor harm us.

So somebody could have a valid question: what is the point of this entire discussion? The person who believes that there is an order of Allah, when he is thirsty, he is going to drink water. The person who does not believe that there is an order of Allah sees that water quenches thirst — this is a sabab qat'i, a 100% full-proof physical means, that water does quench thirst. If you stop someone's water, you will be guilty of murdering that person. If you stop drinking water, you will be guilty of committing suicide. So water as a source of life is something which the physical means is 100% definite.

So a believer will also drink water when he is thirsty. And if he doesn't, he will be sinful if he dies. He must drink water.

Do not kill yourself. Killing oneself is haram. It is fard to sustain your life as an amanah from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So the believer is drinking water and the disbeliever is also drinking water. One believes the water itself quenches my thirst; the other believes that the water cannot quench my thirst without the permission of Allah. So what is the practical difference? Likewise, a disbeliever abstains from fire. Why does he abstain from fire? He doesn't jump into a fire. The reason he does not jump into the fire is because the fire will kill him. And he believes fire as a worldly means will harm him, will take away his life, will burn him. And the believer also does not jump into a fire. But the true believer doesn't believe that the fire by itself can harm him. All the ghairullah — anything in existence besides Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — can neither benefit nor harm without the permission of Allah.

But the permission of Allah is always there with the fire. It's always there. It's not separated. Whenever there is fire, the permission of Allah that the fire should harm you, the order of Allah that the fire should harm you, is always attached with it.

So where does it make a practical difference? The practical difference comes when the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala comes on one side, and on the other side we have the worldly means — and there is a clash. Like right now is the time for Jumu'ah. It's the time for Jumu'ah and a person has a store, and he has a line of customers waiting to purchase items from him and make him money. And he could have a great profit if he serves all of these customers. Maybe he did not have customers the entire week. Right now when the adhan of Jumu'ah is going, all the customers came into his shop.

So now this is a test of faith. The one who believes that the worldly means are the end all, and the source of my rizq and my provision is in these worldly means — when the adhan of Jumu'ah is being called, it is a no-brainer for him. It does not make material sense, logical sense for him, to abandon all these potential customers and go to the masjid where there are no customers. Because he will lose out on all this benefit.

Whereas the one who believes that material means cannot benefit me, cannot harm me, unless the amr of Allah is associated with them — unless Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala puts a command for me to have barakah in my rizq — I cannot have barakah without the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made a very clear command in the Quran:

O those who believe, when the adhan for Jumu'ah is called, then hasten to the dhikr of Allah and leave all transactions. Leave buying and selling. But what about these customers? I need money. Yes, but the one who told me that I will gain benefit in my rizq and I will have barakah in my provision — and I will be able to benefit from that income if the permission of Allah is there. And without the permission of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I might, in a quantifiable sense, have more money. But there will be no benefit for me in that money.

So that person who believes in the amr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and is not a slave of the material sabab will be able to sacrifice the material sabab and say labbaik, and close the shop in the face of the customers, and come to the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala works with the material means when He chooses. And He can work without the material means when He chooses. And He can work against the material means when He chooses.

Examples from the Quran: The Ashab ul-Kahf and Ibrahim alayhissalam

We talked about food as a source of life. We talked about fire as something that harms. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives examples in the Quran to show this same point. We just had the retreat on Suratul Kahf. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives the example of the Ashab ul-Kahf:

Do you think it was a very strange sign of My qudra? It is nothing strange for Me at all. It is very easy. These young men who wanted to preserve their iman:

They lived in their cave for 309 years. And how did they continue to remain alive? Were they eating food? No. Were they drinking? No. Without food, without drink, their life was sustained. So the sabab is not there, but the amr is there. Normally in our worldly existence, the sabab and amr are going together. Therefore it is difficult for us to ascertain if what is happening is happening because of the sabab or happening because of the amr. So if you want to do a true test, we separate the sabab and the amr and look at both of them by themselves.

Over here we have the amr of Allah — the order of Allah — that their life should continue. And the sabab, the means of existence of life, is not present. Yet they are living without the worldly means. What does that tell us? It tells us that the amr by itself is effective.

On the other hand, we have the worldly means:

Ibrahim alayhissalam was thrown into the fire by Nimrud. The fire was burning. We know from the historical reports that it was such a massive fire that the wood was collected for weeks on end, and a massive bonfire was created. It was so big that birds flying over it would roast and fall down. And it was so hot, the blaze, that they could not bring Ibrahim alayhissalam close to the fire. They had to fling him into it with a catapult. They built a whole catapult to project him and fling him into the fire from a distance.

So fire — which is a means of destruction of life — the means is present there. But the order of Allah for that fire to burn was removed. So what did the fire do? When Ibrahim alayhissalam came out, it had burned the rope that was tying his arms and his feet, but it did not burn a single hair of his body. He remained there in the fire for 40 days. And when he was finally taken out, he said: these were the most enjoyable days of my earthly existence.

So if we just take these two examples — the Ashab ul-Kahf and the story of Ibrahim alayhissalam — in one example, the physical mean is there in full force: the fire is burning. But if the order of Allah is not there, the fire cannot do its intended effect. Whereas these people are surviving without food. So we are compelled to come to the conclusion that when we have the amr with the sabab — when you have the order of Allah with the means — together we find them effective. It is not the sabab that is doing anything. Rather, it is the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that is attached with the sabab. It just so happens to be attached most of the time. But if Allah wants to, He can detach it at any time.

Further Examples: Ibrahim alayhissalam, Khalid ibn al-Walid, and the Lesson for Abdullah ibn Abbas

Then Ibrahim alayhissalam is striving so hard with the strength of 40 men to slaughter his son Ismail alayhissalam with that knife — and it is just not cutting the throat of Ismail alayhissalam. It's not working; it's not cutting.

And Khalid ibn al-Walid is swallowing the poison from the Roman spy — which was meant to poison the entire water supply of the Muslim army in its concentrated form. Which, if it had been diluted with the entire water supply, would have caused death to the entire army. He drinks the whole concentrated poison. And he says:

When he catches that spy — Khalid ibn al-Walid, the general, the sword of Allah — he says: I say in the name of that Allah that when His name is taken with conviction, nothing in the heavens or the earth can harm in the least. When His name is taken, nothing — anything — neither in the heavens nor the earth. And He is as-Sami' — He is hearing my words — and al-'Alim — He knows my condition. So nothing happened to him, because he had that level of conviction.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the hadith qudsi:

I treat My slave depending on his conviction in Me. If you don't have the level of conviction, don't try it. So this is the meaning, this is the height of iman.

When a person reaches this level of iman, then he reaches the level that Rasulullah ﷺ was teaching the young boy Abdullah ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhu:

(Jami' at-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2516)

Oh dear boy — know that if all the human beings of the world and all the jinn of the world gather together to benefit you in the least, they cannot benefit you at all — except for that which Allah decrees. And if they all gather together to harm you in the least, they cannot harm you in the least — except for that which Allah has decreed for you.

We have heard this how many times? Numerous times. I myself from this podium have mentioned this hadith multiple times. But let us examine it once again, deeper, and try to understand the significance of the words of Rasulullah ﷺ.

If the mu'min has this level of iman, then he has absolutely no fear from any creation, nor any hope in any creation. He is not fearful of anyone except Allah. He has no hope in anyone except Allah. That is the meaning of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ — he has no fear of any creation except for Allah, and he has no hope in any creation except for Allah.

This was the first lesson of iman taught to Abdullah ibn Abbas as a young boy. This is the first lesson taught in the first communication Allah had with Musa alayhissalam.

The First Communication of Allah with Musa alayhissalam

The first communication Allah had with Musa alayhissalam — when he told his wife that he saw some fire in the distance. She was pregnant and it was cold and a dark night.

He saw a fire and told his wife: Wait. I will bring some burning wood from there. And we are lost in this dark night — I might find a guide. So he goes to the fire and finds a bright green bush — the greenest bush he ever saw in his life. And the amazing thing was that at the same time it was completely engulfed in flames. It was burning and it was green. And he was very much amazed by this sight. Then he heard a voice and did not know which direction it was coming from — from all directions at the same time. And the voice told him:

Indeed I am Allah. And it then says:

O Musa, take your shoes off. You are in the noble valley of Tuwa. And you are going to communicate with your Creator.

Then He asked him:

What do you have in your right hand, O Musa? He was enjoying talking to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He could have just said that he had a staff in his right hand. But he went on and started praising that staff. He said: This is my staff. I lean on this staff. I guide my sheep with it as a shepherd. And I have multiple benefits in it. So this is a creature that is benefiting me.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted to test him, and wanted to teach and educate him. That which you are so sure of that can benefit you — and you trust it, it is your trusty aid, it is your tool that is on your side — that you are so sure of, that has ma'arib ukhra, that benefits you:

Just throw it down for a moment. And all of a sudden it became a huge serpent. And now he is running away from it. Why is he running away? He is afraid. So that which is a source of benefit has become a source of harm. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells him:

Go and grab this serpent. You think it is going to harm you. First you thought it was going to benefit you. Then it turns out to be a source of harm. Now I am telling you — grab it. If I grab it, it is going to bite me, it is going to harm me. Sanu'iduha sirataha al-ula — I will make it back into something beneficial for you.

So what does that tell us? It tells us that any benefit we have from anything around us in our environment — this material means that is benefiting us — or anything that could potentially harm us — the benefit and the harm is coming from only Allah, and Allah alone.

The Practical Conclusion: Sacrificing Material Means for the Order of Allah

And again I want to repeat in case you did not understand — at the end of the day, you will say: what is the whole point of this discussion? Should we stop adopting things which benefit us? And should we stop avoiding things which harm us? Because it is Allah and not those things — the fire cannot burn, the water cannot... No. You have to continue to adopt those things which benefit. Continue to abstain from those things that harm. Just like the one who does not believe in the entire discussion we had today.

But the difference is: if an order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala comes contrary to what the material means dictate, then we will not sacrifice the order of Allah for the material means. We will sacrifice the material means for the order of Allah. Why? Because we know that it is the order of Allah that is actually benefiting us or potentially could harm us — not the means.

So therefore, if people tell you that you will be building up your equity, you will be paying less monthly payment than if you are renting, and why in the world do you not take a conventional mortgage — a haram mortgage — then we will say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran that if you sign that dotted line and enter into this riba transaction, you are not entering into a riba transaction — you are entering into war with Allah. You are declaring war against Allah.

Get ready to engage in war against Allah and His Rasul. So we would be engaged in war against Allah. Then what can we complain of? You ask the one you are engaged in war with to help you? You are at war against Him and then you cry to Him:

There is a very big contradiction going on. So this is what happens.

The person who believes that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give him barakah in his halal income and in his halal expenditure — because the test of maal is both on the earning side and the spending side — in his halal income, the way he earns, he earns halal; and the way he spends, he spends halal. Allah will put barakah in it. If a person has that belief — because now he is believing that my success does not lie in having more millions, but rather in fulfilling the amr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — this is the reality that we all have to work on and correct our aqeedah, correct our belief.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us tawfeeq to act upon this. We humbly request all the brothers in the back to please come in, fill in the gaps. There are people waiting outside. Perform the sunnah. JazakAllah khair.