Achieving True Servitude to Allah

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَسَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ

Introduction — Continuing the Discussion on True Servitude

If you remember from last week, we talked about the true meaning of servitude to Allah. We were speaking about the true meaning of being a true servant of Allah. We made it very clear that as a Muslim — the one who is supposed to submit himself and herself to the will of Allah — I cannot understand myself, I cannot understand my life, I cannot understand the context where I am without that relationship, that profound relationship to Allah. Because I belong to Him, as we always say:

We all belong to Allah and to Him our return shall be. With that premise being clear, you know now that my duty to Allah is to serve Him the way that is befitting Him. We spoke about this principle, this concept, last week. Today — inshallah — we are going to talk about: how can I accomplish this?

I understand my duty to Allah. I understand that I need to be a true servant of Allah. And we mentioned that being a true servant of Allah is an honor — in that kind of relationship it is an honor to be a true servant of Allah. But how can I make this happen? How can I truly be a servant of Allah?

And it is not a secret. Allah, with His rahmah and His mercy, He clarified this to us in the Quran, and the Prophet ﷺ clarified it in the Sunnah. Our ulama say: if you would like to be a true servant of Allah, you have to acquire three characteristics — three things you need to apply in your personal life, in your relationship with Allah, so that you can accomplish that ultimate goal of putting yourself in His service.

The Three Characteristics of True Servitude

What are these three things?

• Number one: You are doing it out of love for Allah.
• Number two: You are doing it out of hope in Allah's mercy.
• Number three: You are doing it out of fear of Allah's punishment.

Three things I need to work on. I need to prove my love for Allah. I need to prove that I have hope in His mercy all the time. And I also need to prove that I truly fear Allah.

Why is this problematic today? It is problematic today because, based on what we talked about last week, we said that people live in a very individualistic society and everybody wants to feel that they are free to do whatever they want to do — because they believe they own themselves, they own their fate, they own their destiny, they know everything. So that ultimate freedom, in reality, doesn't exist. Why? Because eventually you are going to die — try to stop this. So if you cannot stop what you believe you own, then perhaps someone else might be owning this.

So as a Muslim, I need to do it in a way that is befitting Him, and where do I get this from? I learn it from Him. I am sure you have heard these statements from some of the young men and women of our time. When you tell people, "You need to love Allah," they say, "I love Allah the way I see it befitting Him. I want to love Allah my way." But when you look at their doings, they are doing things they call worship — but that is not how Allah wants you to worship Him. That is not how you prove your love to Allah.

Because we are human beings — if you tell somebody "I love you," what is the next thing they are going to ask you to do? Prove it. And if you prove it in different ways, they will always come back and say, "Look, that's nothing." "Well, I did everything I could." "Yeah, but that's according to you, that's befitting you. You're loving me in your own way, but that's not how I want it from you."

They are doing this because they want to make worship light for themselves. They say, "I don't want to have any kind of regulation — five daily prayers, fasting, Ramadan — no, I love Allah, so I live a spiritual life with Allah." But look, Allah made it very clear:

The First Characteristic: Love for Allah

"If you truly love Allah, then follow me." The Prophet ﷺ made it clear — just like we do it to ourselves — if you love somebody, then prove it. Prove it their way, not your way. He says: if you truly love Allah, then prove it. How do you do that? By following the example of the Prophet ﷺ.

فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ — He shall love you and He will forgive you. So for those brothers and sisters out there saying, "I love Allah, I live for Allah," then prove it. Whatever that you do that you call an act of spirituality, an act of worship — that is not going to benefit you with Allah unless it is done His way.

The Prophet ﷺ says in the Hadith Qudsi that Allah says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502)

"My servant — men and women — they are not going to bring themselves closer to Me in anything better than the thing that I made obligatory upon them." Because what does that exactly mean? I submit myself to Allah, I put my trust in Him, I will be in His service according to His rule. That is what it means. You want to love Allah? Then prove it — and you prove it His way, not your way.

The Second Characteristic: Hope in Allah's Mercy

The second thing that we need is to have that hope in Allah. There is no such thing as losing hope in Allah's mercy, because Allah's mercy is so amazing and so great — there is no doubt about it. However, some people are so dependent on this principle of hope that they misbehave. In the Arabic we say: if someone feels safe from the punishment, they will misbehave eventually. If there are no consequences, then why bother — do whatever you want to do.

And here is the same thing too. When people depend so much on hope — "Allah will forgive me" — they will misbehave, they will break Allah's rules, because they know He is so merciful. But He Himself, who said "I am merciful," also said: "I have consequences, I have punishment."

And we hear that a lot from people today. When you say, "Hey, why don't you do this?" they say, "Listen, I fear only Allah. I fear nobody but Allah." Yet their actions speak completely the opposite — they are doing everything that is haram or everything Allah is displeased with, and they still say, "I only fear Allah." That is false. You are fooling yourself. And if you are doing that, relying too much on Allah's mercy without taking into consideration the consequences of what you are doing, then we have a problem. So be careful with that principle.

Allah says in Surah Yusuf:

A lot of people say "we believe" — their tongues say "we believe in Allah" — but their behavior is completely the opposite, it proves the other way around. So be careful. Watch what you do.

Yes, you might be relying on Allah for mercy and for rahmah, and we deserve that rahmah of Allah with our actions — if we do what Allah is asking of us, then we have earned it. So for those who always say, "I fear only Allah," I say: then prove it to me. Let your actions speak for themselves.

The Third Characteristic: Fear of Allah

Number three — having fear. Fear of what? Wait a minute — Allah is the Most Merciful, why would I have to fear Him? Well, that is very important as well, because the fear of Allah helps us become humble. We humble ourselves when we know that no matter how smart you think you are, how strong you think you are, how clever you think you are — at the end of the day Allah can take all of this away from you in the dunya and the akhira. So I am always under that awareness that Allah might test me — not necessarily punish me, but at least test me by taking these things away from me. So I carry that level of fear.

But what kind of fear are we talking about? When it comes to fear, there are two levels. There is a natural fear — when you fear something natural, you are afraid of fire, afraid of snakes, afraid of whatever that is. That is normal, that is okay. But the fear that our ulama speak about — the kind you should reserve only for Allah — they call it khawf al-sirr: that private, inward sense of fear that comes with reverence, that comes with haybah, which means you give Allah the great estimation of who He is. That kind of realization of His greatness humbles you. That is what we call fear in this context.

And if you don't have that, how are you going to humble yourself to Allah? If you always feel safe, thinking Allah has given you all these good things in life because He likes you and loves you, and you don't feel that Allah might test you and take that away from you — then how are you going to always be under His mercy, asking for His forgiveness, trying your best to ask Allah to keep the ni'mah that He blessed you with?

This is how it works. You want to be a true servant of Allah? You are going to need to work on these three things:

• True love for Allah — proven by following the example of the Prophet ﷺ, following the instructions: the salah, the fasting, giving charity, doing good deeds, staying away from the haram. All of these things are the proof that you love Him.
• Hope in Allah — no matter how much I mess up, I still have hope in Allah to forgive me. But without premeditating it — without saying, "I know Allah is going to forgive me, so let me do all these things." No, that doesn't work like that.
• Fear of Allah — yes, I always feel calm and serene in the presence of ibadah and ta'ah, walhamdulillah. But I still always need that element of fear that brings humbleness to my life, that makes me realize I need to do more, so that Allah keeps those blessings in my hand.

And you are never allowed to lose hope in Allah — never, ever. Because He said: only those who despair of the mercy of Allah are those who reject Him. If you don't know who Allah is, you are going to despair of His mercy. But make sure that you bring these three elements into your heart and into your daily practice. Only then will you be a true servant of Allah.

A Scholarly Discussion: Which is Better — Fear or Hope?

My dear brothers and sisters, our ulama ask: which is better for the believer — to focus on the area of fear or the area of hope? Love — we understand that. But now, should I always think about the punishment, the Day of Judgment, and all of that? Or should I think about Paradise and the love of Allah? Which one is better?

Some ulama say it is better for the believer to always have hope. Some say always have fear of Allah. And some give a different opinion, and this is the best opinion:

When you are performing acts of worship — whenever you practice something of good deeds — have hope that Allah will accept from you. Have hope in Allah's acceptance, because we know we make a lot of mistakes and errors. And as we try to worship Allah, we sometimes even feel guilty, like we don't feel worthy enough to do that — because we feel hypocritical in that moment. Don't do this to yourself. In that moment of worship, think about hope in Allah's mercy.

But then they said: when you make a mistake, or as you are even thinking of committing a sin — that is when you need to think of Allah's punishment and be afraid of Allah. Don't say, "Well, I know Allah will forgive me, inshallah." That will make people cross a lot of limits.

So the way to balance it is: when I am doing something good, have hope in Allah's acceptance of what you do. But when you are about to do something wrong, think about how Allah can take you swiftly in a moment like this — and you are not prepared for it.

Conclusion — A Call to Inner Reflection

My dear brothers and sisters, to be a true servant of Allah requires from us to practice these three things: love for Allah, hope in His mercy, and fear of His punishment. This happens primarily in the heart — which means you are going to have to have a lot of contemplating moments, a lot of inner conversations with yourself.

Living a very, very busy and distracted life — with phones and the internet and social media — you don't even have enough moments. Think about the last time you had five minutes quietly, having an inner conversation with yourself. When was the last time you did that? That is what you need to do — to start thinking about these moments with Allah.

Make a commitment today: that you would like to be a true servant of Allah. I am going to work on my love for Allah truly. I am going to work on my hope in Allah's mercy and fear of His punishment. And I will do it right — so I can count as one of the true servants of Allah.

Du'a