Embracing Complete Submission: Rejecting Shaytan's Path To False Freedom

Opening Praises and Recitation

الحمد لله الحمد لله الذي هدى، والصلاة والسلام على عباده الذين اصطفى، خصوصاً على سيد الرسل وخاتم الأنبياء، وعلى آله وأصحابه الذين اجتبى، أما بعد:

فأعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم، بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم:

صدق الله العظيم، وصدق رسوله النبي الكريم، ونحن على ذلك لمن الشاهدين والشاكرين، والحمد لله، الحمد لله.

The Universal Challenge: Breaking Free from Allah's Commands

Respected elders, brothers and sisters — after asking many scholars, many imams and leaders regarding the challenges and the problems, or the type of questions that they are normally asked, or those type of challenges which are faced not only locally but globally — of course, locally you'll have many challenges within our communities, within our families — but if you look at a broader picture, a bigger picture, at what are some of the most common challenges which are faced by the world, or in fact especially the Muslims globally, you'll find that those challenges are always the same and those problems are always the same.

And if you were to find the answer for that, the answer will always be this ayah — the one that I have just recited. Allah is saying:

O believers, enter into the fold of Islam completely — completely submit yourselves to the orders of Allah. Wa lā tattabi'ū khuṭuwāti sh-shayṭān — and do not follow the footsteps of Shaytan. Innahu lakum 'aduwwun mubeen — because if you start to follow the orders and the footsteps of Shaytan, then Shaytan is your open and clear enemy.

If you look at what Islam really means — al-istislām al-kāmil — completely submitting ourselves, our desires, our nafs, before Rabbul 'Ālameen — and it's always the same reason. Not just until the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, but all the way from the time of Adam alayhis salatu wasallam until now, those challenges are exactly the same. Why are we bound by so many restrictions in our deen? Why do we have to do so many things? We need to have a little bit more freedom. Why do women have to wear hijab? Why do men have to dress in a certain manner? Why do we have to do this and why do we have to do that? Why do children have to listen and obey their parents?

And it's always the same reason. It's coming from the same exact door — whether it's directly coming from Shaytan, or from the followers of Shaytan, or from other external forces, regardless of how this setup is or how it's put. It's always the same reason: that we need to have more and more freedom, we need to be a little liberal. And sometimes when we start looking within ourselves, we start telling other people, "You know, I'm not a fundamentalist, I'm liberal" — as if the word "fundamentalist" is like a curse word. "No, I'm liberal" — simply which means that I have accepted the footsteps and the ways of Shaytan, and I have rejected the orders of Allah. I have accepted this lifestyle and I have rejected that type of style.

The Story of Habil and Qabil: The Same Challenge Throughout History

A simple example of this we find in the Quran. We all know the story of Habil and Qabil — and of course this is also mentioned in the Bible as Cain and Abel. What happened over there? Where did that problem start? What type of mentality was there?

At that time, the children that were born to Adam alayhis salam were born in a certain manner — they were always coming in twins, in pairs. And the rule of Allah at that time was that the pair of this would have to marry the pair from the other one. So where children would be born — a boy and a girl from one pair, and another boy and a girl from the other pair — the rule from Allah at that time was that you were not allowed to get married to your own pair; you had to marry the pair of the other one.

So this was something which was not understood — or unimaginable — for Qabil. And he started thinking to himself. The same question is coming into his mind, and he's thinking: "Why am I restricted? What's the reason that I have to follow this certain way? Why is it that I have to do according to this manner?" And he started asking all of these questions: "Aren't we born from the same parents? Why can I not get married to my own sister — the one that's born from my own pair? Why do I have to get married to the other one?" But no — of course this was the order of Allah.

So the challenges were always the same. And as soon as we start accepting the ways of Shaytan, then Shaytan only misleads us and we start following further and further into the footsteps of Shaytan.

Allah's Restrictions Are a Favor Upon Us

Allah, by granting us this deen, has done us a favor. These restrictions being applied upon us — these are not something which we should take as a burden, or feel, "I just need to get out of these restrictions and I have to go against them." Rather, Allah is using these ways so that we can get closer to Him.

Once my beloved teacher was telling us that he was traveling from one country to another, and on the way he was in transit. So while he was waiting, one person came and sat next to him and started asking some questions. He was sure that this person didn't just come like that — this person came with some sort of planning, with questions already planned from before. It wasn't just a coincidence where he was asking random questions.

The first question he asked was about some flight going to some part of the world — and he knew there was no such flight on the screen. Automatically from there he understood that this person came with some planning. That was just there to start off the conversation, just the way you would assume that any person waiting over there is also looking for another flight. Then after that, the questions start: "The way you are dressed like this — I have a question regarding this. Why do you have to be dressed in this certain manner?" And then he asks more: "Why do women have to cover themselves? Why is there discrimination in aqeeqah? Why are there so many other rulings in Islam?"

And of course, we have nothing to hide in our deen. So he provided him with all the answers. But look at where it's coming from — it's coming from the path of that freedom, where a person just wants to break free from these restrictions and head towards freedom.

And believe me, as much as we want freedom — ask ourselves: if there was total freedom in the world, you might not even want to live in that part of the world. If a country had absolutely no laws, would you want to live in that land? Would you want to live in that country where there are absolutely no laws, anybody can do anything to your house, anyone can do anything with your mother and your sister, anyone can take any of your possessions and belongings? I'm sure none of us over here would want to live in that part of the world where even the authorities won't have any power to do anything or say anything.

This World Is a Prison for the Believer

Rasulullah ﷺ tells us:

That this world is a prison for the believers, and it is a jannah for the non-believers. Just look at this hadith very carefully. When the Prophet of Allah is telling us that it's a prison for us, it automatically tells us that this prison won't last for too long. There will be a day when we will be escaping from this prison, and that is the time when we will leave this world. And as soon as we leave this world, we will be heading towards that life which is eternal.

Allah is keeping us for a very short period of time. A person might want every luxury in the world and every freedom of the world — but as soon as a person even plans his vacation, the first fear in his mind is that very soon this vacation is going to come to an end. The time is running out quickly. And before he knows it, that vacation is over and he's back.

What are the luxuries of this world? What are the freedoms of this world? Allah has given us a very small life in this world. The life of this world, compared to the life of the hereafter, is very, very short — it's not even equivalent to a drop in the ocean. And of course, if a person is trying to sacrifice that life for this life, then this person would be the most foolish person. Very soon, this prison will turn into Jannah for us, and the same Jannah will turn into a prison for them.

You know, sometimes we get stuck somewhere and later on when you arrive at the right place you feel so lost — this person feels very lost because nobody informed him before, nobody told him before. Everyone else has it, everyone else has done it, but he's the only person still lurking around in the darkness. Allah is telling us all of these things in this world. Rasulullah ﷺ has already told us all of these things, so that when we face Allah on the Day of Judgment, we are not dumbstruck — we don't feel that nobody told us before.

And the reason why we find ourselves in this state is because our connection with Allah has totally been lost — completely lost. We have disconnected ourselves from Rabbul 'Ālameen.

The Parable of the Wise King

Whatever a person is doing in this world, he is preparing for the life of the hereafter. Whatever I'm investing over here, I'm investing for the hereafter. It reminds me of a story from the past — where there was a nation that used to select their kings, and that king would live for a certain period of time, and after his term was over they would mount him on an elephant or a camel and take him out of the country to a foreign land or an island.

So every king had to go through the same exact thing. They would live their life as a king, and after that they had to go to that island. And every king who was leaving that city, people could recognize that this person was very sad — he was leaving his kingdom and going to another place which was unknown.

So when they took away one king, on the way the people turned back and found one man whom they thought was fit to be their next king. They made him the king. As soon as this person became the king, the first thing he did was ask his people: "I want to know where all the other kings go after their term is over — where do they go?" They said they go to a certain island. He said, "Tell me what's there on that island. I want to go see myself."

So they took him over there, and once he arrived he saw that the entire island was a jungle — full of deadly beasts and wild animals — and he also saw the corpses and dead bodies of the previous kings over there.

Now this king goes back, and the first thing he instructs his people: "Whatever money I have or whatever money I'm getting, I want to invest it for that island." The first few months, he orders his people to get rid of all the unnecessary jungle — all the trees and bushes. The next few months, another plan: get rid of all the harmful and deadly beasts — remove all the animals from the jungle. And a few months later he has already made plans for building huge buildings, castles, and palaces over there.

And finally, just the way all the other kings' terms had to come to an end, his term also came to an end. So they did the same exact things — they dressed him in a nice manner, mounted him on top of an elephant or a horse, and started taking him out. And as he was leaving the country, leaving that city, he was so happy — waving to the people. And the people were very confused. All the other kings that left in the past had some sort of sadness on their face, but he was leaving very, very happy. What was the reason?

They found out that this king turned out to be very smart. Every penny that came into his pocket, he made sure it was invested in that island. Throughout his entire term he lived as a pauper — as a very poor person — you couldn't even recognize that this person was a king. And as soon as he was transferred over there, he was living a luxurious life.

This is the example of our world, where life is very temporary and we are trying to enjoy every single luxury that exists here, forgetting the real benefit — the real life. This is just like a dream. The real life is that life we will be facing once we die and leave this world. Any changes that we want to make, we can only make them in this world. As soon as we get over there, there are absolutely no changes we can make. A person wants to become good — he can't become good anymore. A person wants to repent to Allah — he can't repent anymore. A person wants to achieve higher levels and ranks in Jannah — he can't do anything over there. It's too late. Time's up. Game's over.

The Benefits of Staying Within Allah's Boundaries

And really, when we look at all of these things that Allah is placing before us — all of these boundaries — as human beings we also want to know the benefits. We want to know: what am I getting in return for this?

The first thing that we'll be getting is the pleasure of Allah, the closeness to Allah — that my Allah will be happy with me. The more I restrict myself to the orders of Allah, Allah will be happy with me. Just like you have children who are dependent upon you — as long as they are dependent on you, you take care of every single need of theirs. You come home from work extremely tired and exhausted, but your child is asking you for something — no matter how tired you may be, you say, "No, I have to go to the market, I have to buy something for him and bring it back and give it to him."

But no sooner do those children start to grow older and become independent — he gives you a phone call from work and says, "Dad, I want some money, can you please give it to me?" — then you won't even give them a few bucks. You'll say, "Yeah, just wait for some time and I'll give you something later." Why? Because before, they were completely dependent on you and they were restricted by all the rules you put upon them — go to bed on time, clean your room, do all these things. So as long as they were connected to and under your restrictions, you were providing them with everything, taking care of them. But now that they have left your restrictions, it's as if that thing has been drifting away.

This is the exact example between us and Allah. Today we feel so lost because we have absolutely no connection with Allah.

The Power of Du'a: The Story of the Sahabah in the Desert

Just the way a person sometimes gets lost on the way to someone's house — but he's satisfied because he has his GPS, he has Google Maps, he has his smartphone. But imagine the person who doesn't even have a smartphone and gets lost in the middle of nowhere — the only option is to turn back. He can't do anything. And when we hear of such a person getting stranded, we immediately run to the market to make sure the same doesn't happen to us.

But that same connection between us and Allah — where is that connection? When Rasulullah ﷺ is already giving us the heads up and telling us all of those ways of establishing our connection with Allah, they absolutely mean nothing to us.

During the time of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, once he sent a group of Sahabah to some place. As they were traveling, the night was extremely dark. They happened to stop and station somewhere. This incident has been narrated in Al-Bidāyah wan-Nihāyah — Allama Ibn Kathir rahmatullahi alayhi mentions this.

So as they stopped on the way, it was night time and they all had to go to sleep. In the middle of the night when they woke up, they saw that all of their camels had run away — and on those camels they had all of their belongings. All of their belongings, all of their rides — everything was gone. There's nothing left. They were right at the verge of death.

Just imagine — all your belongings gone, you're stuck in the middle of a desert, absolutely no help. So they started speaking to one another and making their wills — that it seems as if tonight is our last night, each and every one of us is probably going to die. So they started making their wills: "Maybe if one of us survives he can carry out this will for me — give this portion to my children, to my parents," and so on. And then they started getting extremely worried.

So one of the Sahabah — seeing the condition of the Muslims at that time — stands up after Salatul Fajr, gathers all the people, and makes a pulpit out of stones and whatever else was there. He stands on top of the pulpit and starts addressing the people and says:

"Aren't you people Muslims? Aren't you people in the path of Allah? Aren't you people the helpers of the deen of Allah?" And they said, balā — yes, of course we are.

"Then why are you people so worried?" So they said, "Of course we will be worried — it's our last night, tomorrow we will be becoming history, we have no other future after this, and you expect us not to be worried?"

So he says, "I don't think you people have any reason to worry. Haven't you heard the Prophet ﷺ saying that the most powerful thing we have is our du'a? So as long as you have that du'a and that connection with Allah, you don't need to worry." Where are our du'as? Where is our connection with Allah?

So he collected everyone, and collectively they made du'a to Allah. They started beseeching Allah, crying and begging Allah. And suddenly they saw that there was a stream of water — a fountain — gushing right beside them. They started making their wudu and ghusl, washing and cleaning themselves. And after all of this was over, they started traveling once again.

The Sahabi says that in no time, all of their camels with all of their belongings — not a single thing missing — everything came back. And then they started traveling again.

As they started traveling, Abu Hurairah radiyallahu ta'ala anhu asked the Sahabi: "Do you remember the place where we just left? Do you remember the place where that miracle just occurred?" He said, "Sort of — not really — but we can go back and check." So they went back, and when they arrived to that same spot, everything was gone. There was nothing there.

Abu Hurairah radiyallahu ta'ala anhu said that he knew this miracle was to be gone — that if this was a miracle from Allah, it wouldn't be existing anymore; it would come to an end. "How? How do you know?" He said, "I left a cup of water over there, because I knew it was going to go away, so at least this cup of water will indicate that the miracle took place here."

SubhanAllah — where is the power of our du'a? They used to make everything in their life through their du'as. Today we are turning towards other means and complaining that we are bounded by so many restrictions in our deen.

Closing: Reconnect with Allah

This is the time that Allah is giving us so that we can turn back to Him and get closer and closer to Rabbul 'Ālameen — so that we can establish this connection with Allah. And once that connection has been established, then we will become like the Sahabah riḍwānullāhi ta'ālā 'alayhim ajma'een — where not only did they have that smartphone, but their GPS was in their heart. Right away they knew that if they were faced with any type of challenge or problem, they knew how to connect themselves with Rabbul 'Ālameen.

The only difference between us and them is that today we don't know how to connect ourselves with Allah.

May Allah make this a means of connecting ourselves with Him, and to stay steadfast and firm upon His deen, and to revive the Sunnahs of Rasulullah ﷺ.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين والمسلمات، وآخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين.