The True Meaning of Success

The True Meaning of Success

I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. And he who obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great victory. Know, O servants of Allah, that the best speech is the speech of Allah, the Exalted. And the best guidance is the guidance of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. And evil is the cause of its incitement, and every incitement is a creation, and every creation is a misguidance, and every misguidance is in a fire.

Then, after — O servants of Allah, my dear brothers and sisters.

The Season of Celebrating Success

This is the season of celebration, the season of celebrating success and graduation. Many families, many people celebrate their achievements — a milestone in the life of their children or themselves. Some people have certain unconventional ways of celebration. You've seen that going viral these days. But the fact that we celebrate our success is a human thing; it is embedded in our ambition to achieve and be successful.

So may Allah make us all successful in this dunya, Rabbil 'alameen, and in the akhirah. Brothers and sisters, alhamdulillah Rabbil 'alameen, succeeding in this dunya is great. And Allah wants us to be among the successful ones in this dunya — achieve and accomplish and be grateful to Allah. There is nothing wrong with that.

But what does it really mean to be truly successful? The true meaning of success — as we celebrate success in this dunya, as we see, alhamdulillah, one milestone in the life of our children, our family, our friends, our loved ones around us, and even ourselves — what is the true meaning of success as a believer? What is the ultimate success for me?

The Day of Ultimate Success and Loss

SubhanAllah, Allah in the Qur'an has shown us one of those scenes of success. That is mentioned in Surah al-Haqqah, when Allah described how people celebrate when they attain this ultimate success, and how those who lose grieve about it. That is the Day when you are all going to be presented before Allah — hiding absolutely nothing. You cannot conceal anything anymore. All will be exposed.

Those who receive their book in the right hand — what does that mean? It means you passed. Once you pass on that Day, it doesn't matter what grade you receive. Because back on that Day, just crossing over the bridge over Jahannam to al-Jannah — that is the ultimate success. What comes after that is blessed from Allah obviously.

So Allah says about the people of Jannah — those who pass — they will not hide their accomplishment. They are going to show their report card to everybody. They are calling everyone: "Look what I've done! Look at my achievement!" Just like many people do these days — they take pictures and photos of their graduation ceremonies and of course their certifications, and put them all over the internet for people to see and celebrate with them. In the same way, the people of Jannah, those who pass, will show everybody what they have accomplished. May Allah make us among them.

Then Allah describes the people who lose — those who fail, those who don't pass. When they receive their records — as a matter of fact, in another ayah, Allah describes that they even try to hide their left hand behind their backs, because they know, they anticipate. They know themselves. So they know that probably they are not going to receive it in their right hand. They hide their left hand behind their backs, hoping — hopefully, accidentally — it falls in their right hand. But that does not happen with Allah.

Those who receive their book in their left hand — behind their backs — this person now starts grieving. He says: "I wish I had never lived this day. I wish I hadn't done this. I wish when I died, it was the end of me." Grieving constantly. Why? Because they realize they failed miserably. And that is the ultimate loss — just as on the other side is the ultimate success.

The True Definition of Success: At-Taqwa

Brothers and sisters, when it comes to the true meaning of success and the ultimate success for a believer, Allah defined that for us in the Qur'an. And the ultimate one — the ultimate success — is what? At-taqwa. As Allah mentioned to us, everything is about at-taqwa. Allah accepts only from the righteous ones. May Allah make us among them — al-muttaqeen.

And the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said to us — look, Allah is not going to look at your image or your wealth. Which means all the time you spend worrying about how you look, your muscles, your weight — good for you — but at the end of the day, if it doesn't wake you up for Fajr, what's the point of it? If it doesn't help you stand for Tahajjud, what's the meaning of this? It's nothing. Allah is not going to be impressed by your size.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 45, Hadith 34 — reported by Abu Hurayrah)

Allah is going to be looking at your deeds, looking at your hearts, your intentions, how sincere you are. That is the ultimate success.

Another thing Allah told us about success in the akhirah:

If you are spared Jahannam — in the least — and you enter Jannah, that is the ultimate success. You won. And subhanAllah, the Arabic term zuhziha — like barely, barely pushed aside, like you're still close to it — if you don't even get into the fight at that level, then you have succeeded. That is the meaning of success: that you don't end up in Jahannam. So the ultimate success is ending up in Jannah. May Allah make us among the people of Jannah.

The Qualities of the Truly Successful

Brothers and sisters, the success that Allah described in the Qur'an — He says:

Truly successful people are those who purify themselves. All your life, all that you do in this dunya — day and night, in your thoughts, in your work, whatever you do — you observe this principle: to please Allah, to purify your soul. You want to make sure that when Allah looks at you, you are as pure as you can possibly be. That is the ultimate success — to have tazkiyah; that you worry about your akhirah, your heart, and your deeds, to be pleasing to Allah.

Brothers and sisters, the word qad aflaha man zakkaha — "successful is the one who purifies themselves." The word aflaha in the Arabic language is mentioned in the Qur'an many, many times. I went searching for the terms aflaha and muflihoon, and there are many instances in the Qur'an. What Allah is showing us is that there are so many traits, so many qualities of those who are truly successful.

Nowadays, people go online, or go to bookstores, and look for self-improvement books. They want to buy from the experts and read all about success — the success stories of millionaires, billionaires, scientists, and all the successful people. They look for qualities they can follow, because they want to be successful too. If that is in the matter of dunya, and we read all these books about success in the dunya — what about success in the akhirah?

There is one book available to everybody. You don't even have to pay a penny for it. It is there, out there for free, and everybody has access to the exact same knowledge — that is the Qur'an. And Allah repeatedly said al-muflihoon, ula'ika hum al-muflihoon — these are the successful ones.

Have you tried to sit down with the Book of Allah and count these traits, qualities, and characteristics of successful people, so that you can follow them? Because if you worry about being successful in the dunya — how about the akhirah? So let me share with you a few of these qualities that Allah mentioned in the Qur'an about successful people.

1. True Belief and Khushu' in Prayer

Truly successful are those who believe. The true success comes with belief in Allah. Allah described these successful people with many qualities. Those who, when they pray, they pray with khushu' — with concentration. Alhamdulillah Rabbil 'alameen, the fact that we are here in this masjid is enough testimony that we pray. And I hope we maintain the five daily prayers regularly, brothers and sisters. However, this ayah does not speak about you simply praying — it speaks about the quality of your prayer. How is your salah?

In terms of waking up in the morning — everybody wakes up in the morning. But how many people, when they wake up, use their time wisely so they can be successful in this dunya? Those who wake up early can accomplish so much before Dhuhr time, versus those who start their day at Dhuhr. Everybody wakes up, but those who want to succeed focus differently. Similarly, we all pray — but how many of us, when we pray, truly accomplish something from our salah? It truly counts.

Ask yourself: the last time you prayed Fajr, how was your salah? Do you even remember what you recited? Do you even remember what the imam recited? Just think about this. That is the least of focus and concentration when it comes to your salah. So my dear brothers and sisters, one of these qualities is as-salah with focus and khushu'.

And of course, Surah al-Mu'minoon mentions multiple qualities of these believers — such as giving zakah, avoiding laghw (vain talk), and alladhina hum li-furujihim hafidun — those who protect themselves from committing, audhu billah, the haram and zina and so on. All these qualities are mentioned in the beginning of Surah al-Mu'minoon.

2. Continuous Self-Purification (Tazkiyah)

Allah says: successful is the one who is tazakka — who constantly improves, grows, and purifies themselves. Look — the verb in the Arabic language is tazakka. Tazakka is a present-tense verb, which means the action itself is continuous. And this is what we believe about success even today — it's a process, not an event. Similarly, your tazkiyah — when you purify yourself — it's a process. We are going to make mistakes, we are going to fall short, we may sin — but we are still constantly trying to purify ourselves. And they remember their Lord and pray, of course with khushu' again.

3. Consciousness of Allah — Taqwa

Be conscious of Allah with taqwa — that consciousness. Ask yourself: "Is Allah pleased with this? Is my action going to be pleasing to Allah? Will I be held accountable for this?" Be conscious of Allah. Make that shield of taqwa between yourself and whatever would displease Allah, so that you may become successful.

4. Returning to Allah in Repentance — Tawbah

Allah is commanding us, ordering us, and instructing us to return back to Him in repentance. Come back to Allah. Return back to Allah with tawbah — with repentance. Meaning: "Ya Rabbi, I made a mistake, please forgive me." You try your best to always come back to Allah, no matter what you do. There is no safety away from Allah. Safety is always with Him. No matter how sinful you think you are, no matter how wrong you think you are, returning back to Allah is the ultimate safety. So come back to Allah, so that you become among the muflihoon.

5. Giving in Charity

Allah commands us to give — give to your relatives, give to the miskeen (the poor), and those who are travelers completely disconnected from everything. Give them. Give in charity, because those who do so seek the pleasure of Allah with their charities — and those are truly the ones who are successful.

Our time demands a lot of giving from us — especially knowing what is happening in Gaza, what is happening in Kashmir, what is happening in Syria, and what is happening around the world, subhanAllah, especially for our brothers and sisters. This is the time to give, and to give generously, insha'Allah. Those are truly the ones who are successful. May Allah bless you.

How to Start the Journey Toward Success

My dear brothers and sisters — how close am I to success? How can I be successful? Whatever I need to do to succeed — you start with the essentials. You start with the essentials. You need to pray five times a day. And if you already pray five times a day, then make them better. Just improve. Have you given your zakah? What about your Ramadan — are you still reflecting on the quality of it? You can compensate by fasting on Mondays and Thursdays and so on, to improve on the quality of the essentials.

Where do we learn that from? A man came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him — a Bedouin, came from the desert. The Sahabah used to love these Bedouins because they asked unique questions that the Sahabah themselves would not dare to ask the Prophet. So this Bedouin came to the Prophet and said:

"Ya Muhammad!" — He called the Prophet by his name. The Prophet replied: "Labbayk" — "I am listening." The man said: "Is it true? Is it true that a man came to us and said that you are the Messenger of Allah? Is that true?" The Prophet said: "Allahumma na'am" — "Yes, that is true."

The man said: "Who raised the heavens and who leveled the earth?" Then he said: "I ask you by the One who raised the heavens and leveled the earth — Allahu arsalaka ilayna? — did Allah truly send you to us?" The Prophet said: "I swear, He did."

Then the man said: "Your man is telling us that we need to pray five times a day. Is that true?" The Prophet said: "Yes, it is true." He said: "I ask you by the One who raised the heavens and leveled the earth — did Allah command you that we do that?" The Prophet said: "Yes, He did."

Then he said that your man is also saying that we have to pay a certain amount to the poor — is that true? The Prophet said yes. The man said: "I ask you by the One who raised the heavens and leveled the earth — did He ask you for us to do this?" The Prophet said: "Yes, He did." And the man asked about the pillars of Islam and fasting as well.

When he was done, he turned around and said: "Hal 'alayya ghayruha?" — "Do I need to do anything else besides that?" The Prophet said: "La, illa anta tawwa'" — "Nothing obligatory — unless you want to add more voluntarily."

The man turned around and said: "Wallahi, la azidu 'ala hadha wa la anqusu." — "I swear, I am not going to add anything else, but I am not going to take anything out either. That is my limit."

And as he was leaving, the Prophet said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 14 — reported by Talhah ibn 'Ubaydullah)

"If he is true to what he just said, if he fulfills that — he is successful." Aflah — he is successful.

So brothers and sisters, we start with the basics. I am not asking you right now to change your lifestyle completely to become, mashallah, like Abu Bakr as-Siddiq or Umar ibn al-Khattab. Wallah, if you can, that would be great. But let us start like this Bedouin — we begin with the essentials. Fix the essentials. And slowly and gradually, we add to them.