The Journey We Are Upon (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

The Journey We Are Upon

Praise be to Allah. We praise Him, we ask for His help, we ask for His forgiveness, and we ask for His guidance. And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our souls and from the evil of our deeds.

Whomsoever Allah guides, no one is misguided, and whomsoever He misguides, no one is guided. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

Indeed, all praise and thanks is due to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, the Lord of the Worlds. And may the peace and blessings of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, be upon His final Messenger, Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam.

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, I want to concentrate and focus on three verses in the book of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. And these three verses are a great encouragement and reminder to us all about the journey that we are all upon. And Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, reminds us about the great blessings that are in store for the believers, bi'ithnillahi ta'ala.

The Promise of Allah to the Steadfast Believers

So Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, tells us in Surah Fussilat:

That verily those who say Allah is our Lord and they remain steadfast upon that — that angels will descend upon them at the time of death, telling them and saying to them: fear not, nor have any grief. But receive the glad tidings of the paradise which you have been promised. We have been your supporters and your friends in this worldly life, and so we will continue to be in the hereafter. Therein — i.e. the paradise — you shall have anything that you desire and anything that you ask for. This indeed is an accommodation, a gift from the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

Submitting to Allah as Our Lord

So Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, tells us in the journey that we are on. As we have all said:

That I am pleased with Allah as my Lord. I am pleased that I submit myself to my Lord, Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala — the One بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ, the One in Whose hand is the entire dominion. That no leaf falls from the tree, no fish swims through the sea in the deepest depths of the sea, except that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, decreed and commanded that. That nothing happens except by Allah's permission. Whatever you see in front of you — this is by Allah's permission. That you submit to the One who is in control of everything. That you will only fulfil what Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has commanded and stay away from what He has prohibited, in a way and in a fashion that our beloved Nabi ﷺ taught us.

That every prayer that we make, we remind ourselves of this submission:

That You alone we worship, and You alone we seek aid. That your prayer is not valid unless you say these verses in every single unit of your prayer. That it is not for the believing man or woman, if Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, decrees a matter, that we have any choice in the matter. سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا — that we say: we have heard and we obey. And that whoever disobeys Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and His Messenger ﷺ, indeed they have gone far into great misguidance.

Whatever Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has commanded us — you are not looking for a way out. You are not looking for a shortcut. But you know that you are following the most perfect way to live your life. There is no other way, there is no other life that you desire. Reminding yourself that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, said and revealed on the day of Arafah to our beloved Nabi Muhammad ﷺ:

That Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, revealed: today I have completed your deen, and completed My favour upon you, and named Islam as your religion, your way of life — how you will submit to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Istiqamah — Remaining Firm as Commanded

Those who say رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا — and then they remain firm upon that. That this istiqamah is not based upon your shahawat. It is not based upon how you want this istiqamah to be.

That you will remain firm and upright as you have been commanded. 'Ibad Allah — the servants of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala — this is how you will remain upon the straight path.

And we know that our beloved Nabi ﷺ described to us this sirat al-mustaqim, this straight path, in that he drew a line in the ground — a straight line in the sand. And on either side there were other lines that were drawn, and at the end of each of these lines there was a caller — a shaytan taking you away from the path of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So we know that the way to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, is as Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, commanded us. So you go through all of these tests and trials. You try to remain upright. The times that you made du'a, the trials, the tribulations — you had trust in Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. You turned back to Him, subhanahu wa ta'ala. You made du'a. This was the journey that you went through throughout your whole life.

The Blessing at the Moment of Death

And then at the moment of death, when your soul is to be taken — where there may be great regret, there may be a state of fear that you are all in — but Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, gives a great blessing to the believers. And what is that blessing? That angels will descend upon them:

That do not be afraid and do not be sad. لَا تَخَافُوا مِنَ الْمُسْتَقْبَلِ وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا عَلَى مَا مَضَى — that do not be afraid of that which is in the future, and do not be sad about that which is in the past.

At that time you will realise, you will grasp, the sacrifice that you made — the trials and the tribulations, the patience that you demonstrated. But all of it, insha'Allah ta'ala, was all worth it. The times it was so easy to commit the haram. The times it was easy to take a shortcut. Nobody else would know that you had engaged in something displeasing to Allah — except Allah. But you remembered that. And the sacrifices that you made, the trials and tribulations that you went through — all of them suddenly become so insignificant. They become so insignificant. Why? Because the reality about the journey of our lives, of our existence, the reality is about to be brought forth without any doubt. The life of the grave, the things that we read about in the book of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala — all of that will become an absolute reality.

The shaytan in this journey in your life will try to take you away from that. And this is why Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, warns us:

And do not follow the footsteps of the shaytan. That he is indeed to you and I a clear and present enemy.

So when you say that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, is your Lord and you remain firm upon that, the believers will have this great blessing at the time of their death. Not only that — they will be reminded that the angels were their awliya and their helpers in this life, and so they will also be in the hereafter. And we ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to make us from them.

The Angels as Our Supporters — In This Life and the Next

بسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين. All praise belongs to Allah, jalla wa 'ala. And may the peace and blessings of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, be upon His final Messenger, Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

So Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, says:

That the angels who are supporting you and helping you in this life — you may ask: how? Because this is the reminder, this is what the angels will say to you: we were there to help you, we were there to protect you.

When you recited Ayat al-Kursi before you slept, you had the protection of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and the angels were sent to protect you. The nafaqah or the sadaqah — the charity that you gave — the mala'ikah made du'a for you. That sick person that you visited — 70,000 of them asking Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to forgive you until you returned home. The halaqat al-'ilm — the circles of knowledge that you attended in the masjid. The time that you spent after salah making the dhikr and the du'a to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala — the mala'ikah there with their wings over you, asking Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to have mercy upon you. All of which, maybe, we don't think about too often.

You made du'a for your brother, for your sister — and the mala'ikah saying: and for you the same. For that which you asked for your brother or your sister, that you have that as well. This is how they supported us by Allah's permission in this life.

And in the hereafter, they will intercede, they will plead on the believer's behalf. They will be a witness to the good deeds that you and I did in this life. They will plead to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, for you not to go to the hellfire, but to go to the paradise. You will have everything that you wish for and you will have everything that you desire.

This nuzul — this gift, this accommodation — this beautiful thing that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, grants to the believers — is from whom? From Al-Ghafoor, from Al-Rahim. The One who forgives and forgave all of your sins. And who is Rahim? That special mercy to the believers.

Paradise Is Attained Through Allah's Mercy

And as a reminder — subhanAllah — that you and I will only attain and be from the people of paradise not through your actions, not through your ijtihad, and through your sabr and so on, your deeds — no. But a person will only attain the Jannah through the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is as our Nabi, alayhi salatu wa salam, said:

The Companions asked: "Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?" And he ﷺ replied:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5673; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2816)

That none of you will earn or go to paradise through their actions. Not even you, O Messenger of Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? And then our Nabi, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said: no, not even me — except that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy envelops me, covers me, through His grace and through His mercy.

So Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, reminds us that to achieve the paradise will ultimately be through the mercy of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and His blessings. And we ask Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, that He has mercy upon us and that He grants us those blessings so that we can be from those people.

And remember — that life will be full of tests and tribulations. But remember that you are pleased with Allah as your Lord, and that you are happy with Islam as your religion, your way of life, and Muhammad ﷺ as your Messenger. You wouldn't want to have it any other way. Because there is no happiness, there is no salvation, except in worshipping Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, and following our beloved Nabi Muhammad ﷺ.

Du'a

O Allah, grant victory to the Muslims in every place. O Allah, grant victory to the Muslims in Palestine, O Lord of the Worlds. Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ — And establish the prayer.