5 Steps to Success - Ustadh Aqeel Mahmood

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

أَمَّا بَعْد، فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

The Life and Legacy of the Prophet

The Messenger of Allah, عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ, lived on the face of this earth for a period of 63 years. More than half of his life he wasn't even a prophet or a messenger. He became a prophet and a messenger at the age of 40, and for 23 years he spread the message of Islam. In those 23 years, because of the goals that he had and the objectives that he had set for himself, he managed to spread the word of Islam and the word of Allah. As a result of his effort, as a result of his high aspirations, as a result of these goals that he had and the intention that he had, Muslims are now to be seen everywhere across the whole of the globe. Wherever you go you'll find Muslims. The Messenger of Allah, عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ, was one man — just one man at the beginning — and out of this one man came forth a whole nation.

Our Goals in Life — and the Ultimate Goal

As Muslims we all have different objectives and different goals in life. Some of us want to succeed in our workplace. We want to make sure we get that promotion — to become the boss, to become the manager, to get a pay rise. We want to make sure that we achieve these goals. We want to make more money than we made last year. Others maybe want to get married and they want to have a huge family. Maybe others want to have a nice big house. Maybe they've set their eyes on something that they want — a house in a specific part of the town — and they're gathering money, they're collecting money for this objective, for this goal.

Each and every one of us has different goals in life, different things that we want to achieve, different objectives, things that we're chasing after. Yet every single Muslim should have the same goals in mind. Ultimately, every single one of us — as Muslims, as believers in Allah — we should all have the same objective and the same ultimate goal.

And this goal that every single Muslim should share is to seek the pleasure of Allah. And as a result of seeking the pleasure of Allah, to attain His reward — to get Jannatul Firdaus, to be able to get the rewards of Allah, Paradise itself. This should be the goal of every single Muslim. Every single Muslim, in the back of his mind and deep down in his heart, should have this goal and should be making his way and trying to achieve it in his daily life.

Allah talks about how a person, if he makes the effort to please Allah and seeks His reward and His pleasure, Allah will make things easy for him and give him the good of this world. Allah says:

Whosoever wants the reward of this world — then verily with Allah is the reward of this world and the reward of the hereafter. Any one of us who wants to succeed in this life — with regards to their family, with regards to their wealth, with regards to their health — they need to make sure that they are seeking out the rewards of Allah, wanting good from Allah, doing good deeds to please Allah. And if someone does this, he'll be successful in this world and he'll also be successful in the everlasting life in the hereafter.

Yet the question still remains, brothers and sisters — how can we attain this goal of achieving the pleasure of Allah? What can we do to attain this high aspiration, to get this high goal of pleasing Allah and gaining His reward, gaining the reward of Jannah itself, of Paradise itself? I want to mention five ways in which a person can do this. Five ways in which a person can attain this great reward and this goal that every single Muslim should have in the back of his mind.

The Five Steps to Success

Step 1: Attach Yourself to Allah in Every Aspect of Life

The first way in which a person can achieve this high goal is by attaching oneself to Allah in every single aspect of his life. Whatever he is doing, he always has Allah in the back of his mind. He's always thinking about Allah and he feels the presence of Allah whenever he does something, whenever he says something. Every time he's about to do something, he thinks about what he's doing. Is this action that I'm going to do going to benefit me? Is there any reward in this action? Will I be sinful if I commit this act? And so he thinks about what he does before he does it.

And the same with regards to his speech — he thinks about what he says before he says it. He's careful about what he says. Is what I'm going to say going to benefit me? Is there any reward in what I'm going to say? Is what I'm going to say right now to my friend, or to my husband, or to my wife, or to my children, or to my colleagues — is it something which is going to benefit me? Is it going to cause harm? Is it going to upset someone? And so a person thinks twice before he speaks. And that's why the Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, said:

Whosoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, then let him speak good or remain silent. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6018; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 47)

If a person doesn't have anything good to say, then he shouldn't say anything at all. A person should have the presence of Allah in every single thing that he does and in every single thing that he says. Allah is ever watchful and He has the ability to see everything that is happening.

Everything that we do, everything that we say, Allah knows what we are doing. Nothing is hidden from Allah — in the earth and neither in the heavens. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, Allah knows about it. We could be in the middle of the countryside, in the middle of the night, in a cottage on our own, with nobody else around — in our rooms, with the lights off, under our blankets on the bed, doing something on our mobile phones. Yet out of all of these things, being in this solitary environment, Allah knows exactly what we're doing. Even though we may feel like we're alone and nobody is watching.

And this is why when someone is fasting, for example, and he's at home and there's nobody at home, and he's in the kitchen and he's fasting — yet it's warm, it's hot outside, he's thirsty, he's hungry, he's been fasting for hours in the heat — and there's nobody else around and there's water there for him to drink. He opens the fridge and there's food inside, yet he refrains from eating and he refrains from drinking. Why does he do this? Because of the fear of Allah. Not because of any individual, but because he knows if he ate or drank, Allah will know what he's doing, even though nobody else will know. He feels the presence of Allah. He knows that Allah is ever watchful.

One of the ways a person can remember Allah and keep Allah in his heart when he does something is by increasing in his remembrance of Allah. As Allah says:

Remember Me and I will remember you. A person needs to keep his tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah. A person can't be in the masjid all the time — when a person's in the masjid, his iman increases, yet when he leaves the masjid, he doesn't have the same level of iman. Yet when a person remembers Allah — when he's at home, when he's traveling, when he's about to eat, after he's eaten — these adhkar that the Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, has told us about help us remember Allah. We thank Allah for the food. When we travel, we ask Allah to protect us on our journey. So a person is constantly remembering Allah.

The Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, would seek forgiveness from Allah — he would say أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ 70 to 100 times every single day. And this is the Messenger of Allah — the one whose past and future sins were forgiven. So what about our position, brothers and sisters? How many times do we seek istighfar? How many times do we ask Allah's forgiveness for all the sins that we have committed in the day — things that we know about and things that we don't know about?

Step 2: Build a Relationship with the Quran and the Sunnah

The second way that a person can gain the reward and the pleasure of Allah and attain this high and lofty goal is by making sure he has a relationship with the Quran and with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. How many times have we sat down and read the Book of Allah? Just sat down on our own, taken some time out of our schedules — 10 or 15 minutes — sat down with the Book of Allah and read the Quran. This book in which a person, if he were to read just one letter, would get 10 good deeds — just by reading one letter. If a person sat down and read the Quran for 10 or 15 minutes, imagine how much reward he will get and how much of the Quran he'd be able to read.

And how many of us sit down with the Book of Allah and contemplate what it says — read the translation of the Quran, try to understand what Allah is telling us? What is it that He wants from us? What should we be doing? How are we supposed to act? This Book of Allah which, if a person were to read it, his iman would increase. The Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, said that no people gather in the house of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah, reading the Quran and studying it, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy overshadows them, and the angels gather around them because they're reading the Book of Allah. And Allah mentions those people with those who are around Him.

Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2699

We like for people to praise us and to mention us in our absence in a good way. When a person talks about us behind our back in a good way, we get happy — friends of ours, colleagues, maybe our boss talks about us in a good way, family members, other people that we know. We like for people to talk about us in a good way in our absence. Now imagine Allah Himself — our Creator — talking about us in our absence, talking about us with those who are around Him from the angels. Imagine Allah talking about us because of our obedience to Him. And a person can only get the remembrance of Allah — Allah will only remember him — if we remember Allah. If we take our time to ponder over the Quran, to think about why we're here, to read the Book of Allah.

Step 3: Come Together and Cooperate with One Another

From the ways that a person can attain this high and lofty goal of Jannah and the pleasure of Allah is for the believers to come together and cooperate with one another in attaining this goal — for them to all come together and to work together in attaining this high and lofty goal of reaching Jannah and the pleasure of Allah. We all get together sometimes for pleasure, or for business, or for money — yet how many of us get together to remember Allah, to go to a lecture, to go to a class, to remember Allah?

The Messenger of Allah said in a hadith that the wolf only eats the stray prey — and the meaning of this is true. If a person is on his own, he is an easier target for the Shaytan. The Shaytan is attracted to the one who is on his own, the one who is isolated, the one who doesn't mix — he is an easier prey for the Shaytan. When a person is with other people and they're talking about Allah and they're reminding each other of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, then the iman will increase. They'll be stronger when they're together. And this is why Allah tells us to unite and tells us to be together:

Hold on to the rope of Allah and don't differ amongst yourselves. When a person is with other people and they're together and they remember Allah, this makes them stronger, this gives them more strength to be able to worship Allah and increases their iman. So a person should cooperate with his fellow Muslims and with her fellow sisters so that they can attain this high and lofty goal.

Step 4: Use Your Intellect for the Sake of Allah

From the ways in which a person can achieve this goal, the fourth way is by using our intellect — using these brains that Allah has given us — to be able to worship Allah in a better way, to be able to please Allah, to be able to use the intellect that we've been given in doing those things which will please Allah, and being able to differentiate between those things which are good for us and those things which are bad for us. Being able to use this intellect in a positive way — Islamically — what is good for me and what is bad for me.

Sometimes we take so much effort, we use so much of our brains, so much of our intellect, so much brain power to gather wealth — thinking of ways of how we can make money. Maybe if I sell this, maybe if I sell that, I'll make some money. And we think about different careers that we can have, different jobs, how can I make more money. And we think about different ways of having fun, different ways of entertainment — how can I enjoy myself today, what things can I do, where can I go? Yet how many of us spend that same amount of brain power just thinking about seeking the pleasure of Allah? How can I please Allah today? What things can I do? What acts of worship can I do to please Allah? How can I attain the reward of Allah?

This human who has been given this intellect and has been blessed by Allah with this intellect — how is he using it? How is he using his brain power? How is he using this gift from Allah? Is he using it for good or is he using it for evil and for bad?

Step 5: Cut Off from Everything That Prevents You from Reaching Jannah

The fifth and final way of being able to attain this goal — this goal of Jannah, this goal of Paradise, the ultimate goal — is by cutting off and staying away from those things which are preventing a person from attaining this goal, from attaining this objective of Paradise itself.

For example, a person who mixes with people who he knows that if he's with them, if he associates with them, if he socializes with them, they're not going to help him attain this high and lofty goal. They're going to pull him back, they're going to prevent him from reaching this high aspiration that he has. People who have a negative influence on him — the way they speak, the things that they do. Maybe they're smoking marijuana, and a person might think, "I'm not smoking anything, I'm just with them" — but the effects will rub off. The way they act, the way they behave, the smell — because he's with them, it'll have an effect on him.

The Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, said:

A man is upon the religion of his close friend, so let each one of you look at whom he takes as a close friend. (Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4833; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2378)

Be careful about who you socialize with. Because consciously or subconsciously, you're going to be affected by who you socialize with — by the things that they say, by the things that they do, because you're with them all the time, they're the ones who are influencing you.

And from the things that can cause a person to stray from this high and lofty goal is watching bad television channels. A person who spends his time with this box and watches things which he shouldn't be watching. Imagine that you lived a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago, and you time-traveled to this day, and you went into a house, and you went into a room, and you saw a man and a woman and three children — all staring at this box. And they're not saying anything to anyone, they're not talking to one another. They're just staring at this box. And they laugh sometimes, and sometimes they'll cry. And they're looking at this box for hours and hours, not talking, not speaking. You'd think that this box had put a spell on these people — that they were in some kind of a trance, with this box that has some sort of control over them.

And we think about the state of the people today, and this is the case with many of us. We spend so much time on this thing and it influences us so much. A person watches a television program so much that he starts to speak like those people who are speaking in that show — words and slogans and catchphrases that he ends up repeating. And we see this in children sometimes, how they pick up things. So it's very important for a person to make sure that he's careful about what he sees and knows that whatever he sees and whatever he hears is going to have an effect on him.

The Messenger of Allah, صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, said:

The (lustful) glance is a poisonous arrow from the arrows of Iblis. Whoever refrains from it out of fear of Allah, Allah will replace it with a sweetness that he will find in his heart. (Reported by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak, and attributed to various sources including Musnad Ahmad)

Whoever stays away and refrains from looking at something that isn't halal for him — he lowers his gaze, he avoids looking at things which are forbidden to him — then Allah will replace that with a sweetness in his heart until the Day of Judgment. He'll bring about a sense of sweetness in his heart because of the fact that he obeyed Allah, because he avoided looking at things which are forbidden to him.

Summary of the Five Steps

We were talking about how a person has many different goals in life — with regards to money, getting promotions, maybe buying a house in a specific location — and he always has these goals in mind. Yet every single Muslim should have the same objective and the same ultimate goal, which is Jannah itself, attaining the pleasure of Allah. And we mentioned five different ways in which a person can attain this goal:

The first was making sure that he has an attachment to Allah in every single thing that he does and in every single thing that he says — he's conscious and he's wary of Allah. The second was making sure that we have a relationship with the Quran and with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah. The third was for the believers to come together, to work together, to cooperate in making sure that we can all attain this high and lofty goal. The fourth was using our intellect for purposes of good — using our intellect to be able to get closer to this goal of achieving the rewards of Allah. And the fifth was cutting off and staying away from those things which are preventing us from attaining this goal.

The Salah — The Act That Encompasses All Five

Now is there any action that we can do which encompasses all of these goals? Is there one single act of worship that a person can do which combines all five of these things? And we can say yes, there is. That one act of worship that encompasses all five is the salah — the prayer.

When a person prays, doesn't he have an attachment to Allah? Doesn't he think about Allah when he's praying? The Messenger of Allah, عَلَيْهِ الصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ, said that the salah is a conversation between you and your Lord. So you're conversing with Allah. You have this link with Allah. In the prayer itself, doesn't a person read the Book of Allah? In every single rak'ah he reads Surah al-Fatihah. He reads another surah. He thinks about what he's reading, he contemplates what he's reading, and he reads the Book of Allah and increases his relationship with the Quran. Doesn't the salah bring people together? When a person prays in congregation and the Muslims are together, he's with other Muslims, and his iman increases. It makes all the Muslims come together and pray in one place at one time.

And also a person uses his intellect — he thinks about what he's doing, thinks about the prayer, what he's going to say, how he's going to say it, the actions that he's doing, what supplications he's going to make when he's in sujood. And also, when a person prays, he cuts off from everything else which is preventing him from attaining this goal. When he starts the salah, he says اللَّهُ أَكْبَرُ and he raises his hands. Nothing else matters. It's as if he's saying: nothing else is important, nothing else matters. Now I'm in a conversation with Allah. He cuts off from everything else. Any worldly affairs, any worldly issues, any problems that he might be having don't matter anymore. Now he's focused on his conversation with Allah for the next two or three minutes.

And so the salah, brothers and sisters — as the Messenger of Allah said, the prayer is the key to Paradise. If a person wants to be able to enter Paradise peacefully and easily, then he should look at his salah. He should look at his prayers. If there's anything wrong with his prayers, he's going to have problems entering Paradise. If his prayers are correct and sound and good, then everything else after this will be easy for him, and it'll be easy for him to enter Paradise.

And a person should cooperate with one another to be able to attain this goal of attaining Paradise — the great reward of Allah. And one of those ways is by attending lectures, by attending seminars, by attending any events that happen in masajid. And we're grateful and thankful to Allah that we're able to have scholars coming here. As you may know, we have this event coming up — the Winter Conference — the chosen lessons, or pearls from the lives of the Prophets. It's encouraged for people to come and benefit from the scholars, to learn about the Prophets of Allah. How much do we really know about the Prophets of Allah? What do we know about them? How much have we actually thought about the lives of the Prophets and the lessons we can take from their lives?

So we ask Allah that we benefit from what we've heard today, and that Allah helps us to be able to attain the high and lofty goal of Jannah itself.

Du'a

Closing Reminder

Verily, Allah commands justice and good conduct and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded.

فَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ الْجَلِيلَ يَذْكُرْكُمْ، وَادْعُوهُ عَلَى نِعَمِهِ يَزِدْكُمْ. وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَعْلَى وَأَوْلَى وَأَكْبَرُ. وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ.