Heedlessness & Its Solutions - Shaykh Ahsan Hanif

Heedlessness & Its Solutions

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, seek His help and seek His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds. Whom Allah guides, no one is misguided, and whom He misguides, no one is guided. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. May Allah's peace, mercy and blessings be upon him and his family and companions.

The Reality of the Dunya

Allah speaks about a concept and issue that is repeated often within the Quran and within the Sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ, and that is the reality of the dunya. The reality of the dunya and how it is a distraction and it causes heedlessness, except for those that Allah has mercy upon. And the second verse is then the solution to that heedlessness and the distraction that the dunya causes.

Allah says in that first verse:

Know that the reality of the dunya is that it is just jest and play, an adornment. And it is something which people use to boast to one another, and it is an increase that people seek in their wealth and in their children. The reality of the dunya is that Allah has made it in such a way that it is a distraction for the vast majority of people.

The dunya is something which comes and it takes you away from the main focus. And what each and every single one of us should be aware of every single moment of our lives and every single day that we live those lives. And that is that Allah only created us for a single purpose, and that purpose was for His worship. To earn His pleasure, to earn His reward, to earn His Jannah. And everything else in this dunya is a means to that end. But when that means becomes the end in and of itself, as is the case for many of us, or sometimes for many of us knowingly or unknowingly, consciously or subconsciously, then that detracts us from what is more important.

And so Allah says that that is the reality of the dunya. That it is jest and play, distraction, things that people use to boast to one another. People compete in different things thinking that they are important and significant, but in the sight of Allah, they are not worth much.

The Hadith of the Dead Lamb

In the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ — in what is collected in Sahih Muslim, in the hadith of Jabir — said that we were once walking with the Prophet ﷺ and we entered into the marketplace. And as we were walking, we passed by a lamb that was dead, the carcass of a lamb. And the Prophet ﷺ, in one narration, he held it up by its ear or by its leg, and he said to the companions, "Who will buy this from me for a dirham?" A dirham is a silver coin.

Who will buy it from me for a single dirham? Had that animal been alive, it is valuable, worth much more than a dirham. But now in its present state, who is going to purchase it for a dirham? They said, "O Messenger of Allah, we wouldn't buy it even for less than that. Even if you gave it to us for free — it's dead, it's rotting, it's a carcass."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2957)

The Prophet ﷺ said, "In the sight of Allah, the dunya and everything in it is less significant than the sight of this carcass in your eyes." That's the reality of the dunya.

The Adornments of the Dunya

Allah tells us in the Quran, in another verse, in which Allah also speaks about the reality of the dunya, describing to us the very different things that we fight over, compete with one another over, the many things that are our focus. Allah says:

The dunya and its many desires have been made beautiful to you, adorned for you — from the love of women and children, and from the treasures of gold and silver, and from the fine horses and your livestock, and the agriculture that you reap and you sow. That's all the dunya is: looking for money, looking for prestige, looking for fame, looking for status. These are the many different things that the vast majority of people will compete over, and they will dedicate their lives to this. And Allah says, all this is from the adornments of the dunya.

And every single person knows here that the reality of this life is that it is temporary, that it is fragile, that it is finite. Every one of us knows, young or old, that the reality of the dunya is that you will soon leave it. Some sooner, some later. Everyone here has experienced the death of those around them. After this Salatul Jumu'ah today, there's a janazah, insha'Allah, that we're going to be offering. That's the reality of the dunya.

And that's why Allah continues in that verse that I mentioned in Surah al-Hadid, and He says:

The reality of the dunya, or its example, is like the rain that descends from the sky. And because of the vegetation that it produces, people are amazed by it — especially the disbelievers, especially those people who are so distracted by the dunya that they think that there is nothing beyond it. But then after a while, it will dry, and it will wither away, and it will turn into stubble. Because that's the reality of everything in the dunya. It has a period where it becomes green and luscious, and it is at its peak and its strength, and then the reality is that it will end in demise, end in destruction, end in death.

So Allah then says:

But in the hereafter, there is either severe punishment from Allah, or Allah's forgiveness and His pleasure. And this dunya is nothing except adornment and delusion.

The Hadith of Jannah and the Fire

In the hadith of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, in what is collected in the Sunan of Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi, the Prophet ﷺ told us that when Allah first created Jannah, He said to Jibreel, peace be upon him, "Go, O Jibreel, and look at Jannah." And so Jibreel went and he looked into Jannah — from that which Allah had prepared, from its rewards and its delights and the many blessings that Allah has prepared for the people of Jannah.

And then when he returned, Allah asked him, "What do you think of Jannah?" He said, "O Allah, I don't think that anyone will hear of this Jannah except that they will enter into it." Who's going to, in their sane mind, try to escape from Jannah, ignore Jannah, not want Jannah? Every single person will go into Jannah that hears of it. But then Allah commanded that around it, it should be surrounded by that which is difficult and that which is hard, and that which people don't naturally like to do.

And then Allah said to him, "Now go and look at Jannah." So he went and he looked at Jannah and he came back and Allah asked him, "Now what do you think?" And Jibreel replied, "O Allah, I fear that no one will enter into this Jannah now. No one." Not because of what's in Jannah, but because the path to Jannah is difficult and hard.

And then Allah told him to go and look at the fire. So Jibreel went and he saw within it the punishment of the fire, the flames of the fire, and all of the terrors that Allah has placed within it — may Allah save us from that. And then Allah asked him, "What do you think of the fire?" And he said, "O Allah, no one will hear of this except they will flee from it." Who's going to go into that fire? Who would want to even come close to a fire that in its proximity your skin melts and your face and your body cannot endure the hardship of that fire?

And then Allah surrounded it with the shahawat — with the desires, with things that people love, with things that shaitan can make easy because they're temptations for us. And then He told him, "Go and look at it again." And he returned and he said, "O Allah, I fear that no one will escape from it."

That is the reality of the dunya and the reality of that which we are fighting every single day.

Do Not Be Distracted by the Dunya

And that is when Allah addresses our Prophet ﷺ and He says to him:

Don't allow your eyes to gaze beyond — what you have, that which you are told is important of your religion in iman and tawheed and the worship of Allah, don't look beyond that. Don't look at that which others have been given and that which they enjoy from the beauties of the dunya, from the adornments of the dunya. Why? لِنَفْتِنَهُمْ فِيهِ — because that is the trial that Allah places in front of certain people.

And that is one of the greatest and most successful traps of shaitan. That shaitan distracts us all. Shaitan will use the dunya because the nature of the dunya is that it is consuming. It is overwhelming. The nature of the dunya is that once you're in it, it is difficult to just step away and step back and remove yourself from that situation. And so you become overwhelmed and consumed by it. That is the reality of the dunya and shaitan knows that very well.

And so the vast majority of people — all of us — most of our lives are often diverted, or we're trying to fight against the diversion that shaitan is trying to bring towards us. Diverting us from the worship of Allah. So we're distracted by this and we're distracted by that. And then every time we want to come closer to Allah or worship Allah or do something that we know is a better use of our time, shaitan will come and he will put something else in our path.

And that is why Allah tells us the reality of the dunya — beware of this.

The Solution: Race Towards Allah's Forgiveness

And that's why in the second verse, Allah then gives us the solution to this. And He says:

Race and compete, but towards the forgiveness of your Lord. And towards the Jannah, the width of it is like the width of the heavens and the earth, that Allah has prepared for those who believe in Allah and in His messengers. Compete for that which Allah has told you to compete in. Use that which is beloved to Allah to take you away from the destruction of the dunya and help you to refocus and orientate yourselves.

And that is why it is from the mercy of Allah upon us that Allah gives to us certain times of the year and seasons of worship — because we need that reminder. We need to be able to refocus. We need to step back and know that actually what we should be focusing on is not the dunya and not our money and not our wealth — even though those things have their place even within Islam and within the sharia — but they are not the goal. And so we can refocus on what is most important.

The Season of Ramadan

So Allah gives us seasons and Allah gives us months. And Allah, even every single day when you're praying five times a day, it is a reminder. But from the greatest of those seasons is the season that insha'Allah is coming soon — the month of Ramadan. A month in which we're told: focus now on that which is most important. And if you do so, then Allah promises you the greatest of rewards — His forgiveness and His Jannah and the mercy that He has with Him.

We ask Allah that He makes us from the people of ibadah and that Allah allows us to witness the month of Ramadan and to benefit from it.

The Second Khutbah: Hardship vs. Ease in the Sight of Allah

In what is collected in the Sahih of Imam Muslim, on the authority of the companion Anas ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him — that also goes to show how the difficulties of the dunya, even though they may be difficult and hard to endure, but when you do it for the sake of Allah and you focus on that which is most important, that which is uppermost, Allah will bless you for those difficult times. Allah will bless you and reward you for those hardships that you endure.

But those people that are negligent of Allah — they are heedless of Allah — they allow themselves to become distracted by shaitan, by their desires, by the dunya. Even if they have the most pleasant of lives, the most easiest of existences, it will be nothing compared to what is prepared for them in terms of punishment on the Day of Judgment.

The Hadith of One Dip in the Fire and One Dip in Jannah

The Prophet ﷺ told us that Allah will bring from the people of the fire on the Day of Judgment the one that had the most easiest of lives, the most luxurious life, the most pleasant life. And Allah will bring that person and then dip them into the fire — once, only a dip in the fire. And then Allah will ask them, "Did you ever experience any pleasure, any joy, any luxury?" And that person will say, "No, never, O Allah."

And then Allah will bring from the people of Jannah the believer that had the most difficult of lives, the hardest of lives — trials and tribulations, problems and calamities, one after another all his life. That's all he knew. But he was a believer, someone who knew what was most important, endured, was patient, worked towards the pleasure of Allah. Allah will bring that person and dip them into Jannah just once. And then Allah will ask him, "Did you ever experience any hardship, any difficulty, any trial?" And that person will say, "No, O Allah, never."

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2807)

Because that's the reality of the dunya. It is temporary and it's fleeting. But what is true and what remains — as Allah says — is the akhirah. That is what is true. That is what is everlasting. That is what is the greatest of rewards.

Ramadan: A Month to Refocus

So Allah tells us that this month of Ramadan is a month in which you can refocus. Work towards building up your taqwa. Work towards building up your relationship with Allah. Work towards seeking forgiveness from Allah. Allah tells us:

This month has been placed for you so that you can increase in taqwa, increase in seeking forgiveness from Allah, make tawbah for your sins, seek Allah's reward, work towards Jannah. Whoever fasts this month with iman and seeking Allah's reward, as the Prophet ﷺ told us — in the hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 38; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 760)

All of his past sins will be forgiven. You can enter Jannah within this single month of worship — if you focus and you have that intention and sincerity, if you're able to detach yourself from the dunya and you're able to focus on that which is most important.

And that's not to say that in the month of Ramadan you still don't have to work, you don't have family, you don't have responsibilities and other things that you have to do — you do. But that's part of the trial. That's part of the challenge and the hardship. How will you focus on that which is most important whilst you have other responsibilities around you that you can't also neglect? That is what Allah wants to see from the people of iman. And when you put that time and that effort into it, Allah will bless you. Allah will open up your affairs for you. Allah will make easy the path for you.

And if you look at the practice and the Sunnah of our Prophet ﷺ, he wouldn't make this month difficult. But he would focus on the core elements of worship: salah, fasting, du'a, recitation of the Quran, sadaqa and charity. This is what the Prophet ﷺ filled his month with. These are the things that you focus on because they are the things that most solidify your connection with Allah, strengthen your relationship with Him, and take you away from the destruction of the dunya.

So let us make this month that is coming — insha'Allah — and we ask Allah that we see it and witness it and benefit from it — let us make it a month in which we excel in worship, we refocus, we show to Allah a side of ourselves that we are in need of His mercy and His forgiveness. We excel therefore in everything that we can do to the best of our ability. We learn to balance between the other chores but also give preference to that which is most pleasing to Allah.

We ask Allah — by His most beloved and most beautiful names and lofty attributes — that Allah blesses us and allows us to witness the month of Ramadan. We ask Allah that He accepts from us in that month our acts of worship. And that Allah makes this month of Ramadan the best of our Ramadans — a month in which we earn His forgiveness and His mercy and His Jannah and His reward.