Allah (SWT) Loves Your Effort | Hidden Treasures Episode 08 | Shaykh Idris Nawaz

Allah Loves Your Effort

A lot of us when we come into the month of Ramadan, we feel like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is expecting us to change our lives. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has, as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam mentioned:

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has opened up the doors of the skies. The doors of Jahannam are locked. The devils that make us do things that we don't want to do, that make us disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — those are all chained.

And so we expect that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is looking for us to just become amazing people. But a lot of us are also trapped into our own chains of misdeeds. And sometimes we feel like it's too much to handle. And so some of us, what happens is that we really don't want Ramadan. We don't want to experience Ramadan. Because we're too scared to just go out of our bubble and become good people. Because we're put into those positions.

But here's the question that you want to ask yourself: Does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala look at the outcome? Or does He look at the initiation?

The Story of Yusuf

In the story of Yusuf alayhi salam, when he was being approached by the wife of the king, the Qur'an mentions:

غَلَّقَ isn't like غَلَقَ. غَلَقَ just means she locked. But غَلَّقَ means she put multiple, multiple locks on each door. On top of that, it wasn't just one door — it was أَبْوَاب. Some of the tafasir mention that it was seven doors. Others say that it was more than that. So the wife of the king literally put Yusuf alayhi salam in a position where he couldn't get out — just like some of us who have been trapped into our own misdeeds.

But did Yusuf alayhi salam just give up? Did Yusuf alayhi salam just sit there and be like, man, there's nothing for me to do, I can't go anywhere? Yusuf alayhi salam still got up. And he still started moving. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala didn't expect Yusuf alayhi salam to get out. He didn't expect Yusuf alayhi salam to leave the house. But He loved that Yusuf alayhi salam got up.

So much so that He used that action to prove his innocence. How did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala prove Yusuf alayhi salam's innocence? It was through the tears on the back of his shirt. If Yusuf alayhi salam didn't get up, would that have happened? No. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loved that he just got up and tried.

The Story of Musa

When Musa alayhi salam was running away from Fir'aun's army and he raised his hands up and said, "O Allah, help me" — Allah didn't have mercy upon him just yet. But when Musa alayhi salam just tried, he just took initiation and he threw his staff and put it on the ground, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loved that so much that He caused the sea to split from where the staff was brought to the ground.

The Story of Hajar

When Hajar alayhi salam was running between Safa and Marwa looking for water, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loved that initiation so much that He made the water of Zamzam spurt from Ismail's feet.

Just Try

And so, my dear brothers and sisters, if there is something that I want to tell you all, it is this: don't be scared of Ramadan. Don't think that you have to change your life and do so much all at once.

Just try. Try your best. Allah loves the initiation, and He will take care of the outcome Himself.