Salvation from Trials - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Salvation from Trials

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide him, and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide him.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.

O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared, and do not die except as Muslims.

O you who have believed, fear your Lord, Who created you from a single soul, and created from it a wife, and spread among them many men and women. And fear Allah in Whom you ask for mercy, for Allah is ever watching over you.

O you who have believed, fear Allah and say the right words. He will correct your deeds and forgive your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great triumph.

Hasten Towards Good Deeds Before the Trials Come

O you who are resistant towards performing good deeds — before you are afflicted by the fitnahs and the trials and tribulations, those fitnahs and those trials and those tribulations will attack you, will surround you from all over the place. And you will be afflicted by trial after trial, by fitnah after fitnah.

This is something very similar to the patches of the dark night. As soon as the sun sets, you start seeing the darkness, and it continues becoming darker and darker. The same way, you will be afflicted by the trials, and every trial will be greater than the previous one.

This is the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ. And he encouraged us: hasten towards good deeds, before you are afflicted by these kinds of fitnahs, by these kinds of calamities, by these kinds of trials. And then you may not find the opportunity to worship Allah the way He deserves.

Then Rasulullah ﷺ further explained. He said: you will be afflicted by such trials and tribulations. You will see a person who wakes up in the morning in the state of iman, but by evening, he will turn kafir, a disbeliever. A person may go to sleep at night in the state of iman, but the next morning, he will turn disbeliever.

And when the Prophet ﷺ talked about these kinds of great trials, the companions got worried. And they asked the Prophet ﷺ for his advice. And they said, O Messenger of Allah, what do you instruct us? What do you advise us? What should we do in these kinds of times, in these kinds of trials and tribulations? Although the companions themselves were not afflicted by these kinds of trials, by such trials that we are facing nowadays. But may Allah shower His mercy upon those companions.

They asked the Prophet ﷺ the question, and the Prophet ﷺ advised them in the first place. And that advice is suitable for the whole ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Advice of the Prophet ﷺ: Stay Away from Fitnah

The Prophet ﷺ replied and said: in these kinds of trials and tribulations, try to become an old mat of your house. An old mat — something that has no value whatsoever, something you cannot sell. Meaning, this was an indication that you try your best to stay away from these kinds of trials and tribulations.

Rather than actively taking part in the trials and the fitnahs, as a believer, as a follower of Muhammad Rasulullah ﷺ, you must try your best to stay away. That is why the Prophet ﷺ in the same hadith said: when the people are afflicted by these kinds of great trials and fitnahs, the person who is sitting is better than the one who is standing. And the one who is standing still is better than the one who is walking in that trial, in that fitnah. And then he said: and the one who is walking in that fitnah is better than the one who is running and rushing towards the fitnah.

So the advice of the Prophet ﷺ for us all — whenever we are afflicted by any kind of fitnah, and every day, almost every day, we find and we hear about a new fitnah, a new trial, a new problem within the community, within the society — as a believer, your stance should be according to the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ: try your best to stay away as much as you can. Unless someone has dragged you into the fitnah, and then obviously you have to defend yourself.

Unfortunately, whatever took place last week or so in Leicester, it is very unfortunate. We as Muslims must condemn the act of the Hindu community, whatever they did — the violence they showed towards the Muslims. We have to condemn it. But at the same time, those Muslims, out of their ignorance and lack of wisdom and knowledge, whatever they did, it is also wrong. It cannot be justified. And it has left the whole community, particularly in Leicester, living in a state of fear. SubhanAllah.

We are living in the time of trials and fitnahs. Try your best to stay away from all kinds of fitnahs.

Keys of Good and Keys of Evil

Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 237)

Amongst the people are some who are seen as the keys for the good, for the khair, and they are the lock for the evil. And amongst the people are those as well who are the keys — they are the ones who open the door towards the evil, and when it comes to the khair, they become the lock for the khair.

And then Rasulullah ﷺ said: glad tidings is for the one upon whose hands Allah has placed the keys of the khair. And woe and destruction is for the one that Allah has placed the keys of evil on his hand.

So before you take any step to your right or left, ask yourself: what kind of person are you going to be according to this hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ? Are you going to open the door towards the khair, or are you going to open the door towards the evil? As a believer, as a Muslim, as a true Mu'min, you must be مِفْتَاحًا لِلْخَيْرِ — a key towards the good. And you must be trying your best to stop the evil within the community, within the society.

Taqwa and Awareness That Allah is Watching

Another piece of advice, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam: we as believers must always keep in mind تَقْوَى اللَّهِ وَمُرَاقَبَتُهُ — Allah's taqwa and the awareness that Allah is watching. Always keep in mind that whatever you do, whatever you say, Allah is watching you, and Allah will hold you to account on the Day of Judgment with regard to every single statement that you make.

Any action that you take, Allah is going to question you on the Day of Judgment. If your statement causes evil and problems within the community, within the society, you will be held accountable before Allah on the Day of Judgment. Whatever you do, any step that you take — if it has caused problems to the wider community, you will be held accountable before Allah on the Day of Judgment. So keep in mind that Allah is watching you, and have the taqwa of Allah.

Staying Connected to the People of Knowledge

And finally, my dear brothers and sisters in Islam, people usually fall into trials and fitnahs when they disconnect themselves from the people of khair and from the people of knowledge. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud used to say: people will remain on good and khair as long as they continue seeking knowledge from the elders, from the seniors, from the scholars. And then he said: as soon as people start taking knowledge from the young ones — youngsters who have very little knowledge of the deen —

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, remember — if Allah has guided you towards His deen and you started practicing, and you offer your five daily prayers, you fast during the month of Ramadan, you have memorized a few ajza' of the Quran — it does not mean that you have become amongst the scholars, such that you are able to lead the community and say whatever you want. No, wallahi, this is one of the biggest problems that we are facing nowadays. People have disconnected themselves from the scholars, from the people of knowledge.

And whenever we are afflicted by any kind of calamity, by any kind of fitnah, we must straight away turn to the scholars, the people of knowledge who can guide us based on the evidence of the Quran and the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ.

When Scholars Differ: The Solution of the Prophet ﷺ

Yes, sometimes you may say that we hear different opinions from the people of knowledge, from the scholars — then what is the solution? The Prophet ﷺ has again given us the solution. In a very famous hadith, he ﷺ said to his companions: whoever amongst you is going to live long after me, you will definitely see a lot of ikhtilaf and dispute amongst yourself. So what is the solution? Hold fast to my sunnah, my practice, my way, and the way of the Khulafa' ar-Rashidun.

And if you are still confused, then again the Prophet ﷺ has given us a solution. Did he not say that within the deen of Allah there are many matters that are clearly halal, there are matters that are clearly haram, and in between there are doubtful matters? So did the Prophet ﷺ say go ahead and fall into those doubtful matters? No. Whoever tries to avoid doubtful matters has indeed protected and safeguarded his deen and his dignity and his honour as well.

So whenever — on an individual level or a communal level — whenever we are afflicted by any kind of trial, any kind of fitnah, we must turn to the people of knowledge. May Allah guide us all towards the straight path, and may Allah grant us firmness and steadfastness on His deen until the last breath of our life.

Seeking Refuge in Allah: The Du'a of Every Salah

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the Prophet ﷺ has warned us against these great trials and tribulations. Along with other kinds of instructions and advice, he ﷺ has also encouraged us to make du'a to Allah. In fact, the Prophet ﷺ has ordered us to seek Allah's refuge from four things in every single salah. As he ﷺ said in a hadith reported by Imam al-Bukhari:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1377; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 588)

O Allah, I seek Your refuge from the punishment of the grave. And I seek Your refuge from the punishment of Jahannam. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from the evil of the fitnah of Dajjal. O Allah, I seek refuge with You from every kind of fitnah of this life — from all kinds of fitnah.

So remember this du'a. Memorize this du'a. And constantly and regularly ask Allah that He protects you from all kinds of fitnah and trials.

Closing Du'as

O Allah, turn our hearts. Make our hearts firm upon Your deen and obedience.

O Allah, we ask You for guidance, righteousness, protection, and wealth.

O Allah, we ask You for health, chastity, trustworthiness, and good morals.

O Allah, guide us to the best of morals — no one guides to the best of morals except You. And remove from us its evil — no one removes from us its evil except You.

O Allah, accept from us — for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing. O Allah, accept from us — for You are the All-Repentant, the All-Merciful.