Die before You Die

[UmmKhadeejah]

Bismillahirrahmanirraheem

Instant Effect of Good and Bad Deeds

There is no good deed that goes unrewarded instantly, but this is a matter of perception. Accordingly, no sin is barred of instant punishment. Therefore, if you commit any sin, do not delay but turn to Allah immediately in repentance as its punishment will descend fast. The punishment is sure to come in any form. One needs to have a healthy taste to sense this. If one is sick and loses taste, he will not be able to sense the flavors of food. By no means, it implies that the flavors will not have any effect on him, but he remains unaware. The reward and punishment are descended instantly, and it only needs strong taste to sense. The people of obedience feel the happiness of getting rewarded as close to being in Jannah. The joy and delight that they feel inside them on doing good deeds is how one instantly feel while viewing a breathtaking picturesque landscape with rivers flowing. This is close to how you feel in Jannah. Alas! The ferocious bite of venomous snake of the worldly desires has ruined our sense of taste. However, if we also develop the insight inside us, we too can taste this happiness. Analogous to happy feeling while doing good deeds, the distress one feels on committing a sin is incomparable to agitation caused by even thousand swords befalling the head. When the gloom of sin enters the heart of a man, the darkness spreads inside him and the health starts to wither.

A pious man lived in a town in India who used to cut grass, bundle them, and sell. People used to stand in queue to buy his bundle of grass. They experienced a special blessing in their livestock that were fed with his grass. He never overpriced but whatever meagre amount he earned, he saved a part of it for months and he used to prepare a feast with that money for few pious elders including Hazrat Mahmood Hasan Gangohi (Raheemahullah) who lived in his town. These pious elders keep waiting for his banquet as the noor they felt inside them after having his meal extends for days. This is but the matter of perceptivity. When forbidden food enters one’s body, he will instantly realize the darkness in him, but he must have the insight. When one’s garment is completely stained, one or two more spots of stain won’t bother him. These spots will prick the one who wears a pristine white dress. So will the sins prick a man who has clean heart or else a rusted heart won’t feel any extra rust. Both good and bad deeds have an instant reaction.

Suspicion is a Sin

A person sought cure for suspicious tendency. Suspicion is a worst disease that makes one suspect every single individual and suspicion without any proper reason is a sin. A suspicious person creates a map of suspicion in his mind from thoughts far from reality. Whenever suspicious thought comes in your mind, sit quietly in a place, and ponder over Allah’s words that suspicion is a sin and sin fetch punishment. Turn to Allah SWT in repentance as you know that you cannot bear the punishment and make duaa to save you from His punishment and to purify your heart from suspicion. Also make sure to make duaa to Allah SWT for the person whom you suspect to grant him blessings in both the worlds day and night. If you still sense suspicious feeling towards him, then continue making duaa for the second and third day and if it still doesn’t disappear, meet the man in person and seek his forgiveness for suspecting him and request him to make duaa for you to be saved from this feeling. This is the cure for suspicion. Keep your heart clean from suspicion. The one who has the darkness of suspicion in his heart won’t receive the light of good deeds. Suspicion is the name of backbiting of the heart. When backbiting is linked with the tongue, suspicion is associated with the heart. It is a sin, a major sin, and the darkness of the heart.

Seek Allah’s Grace

When a person has Allah’s pleasure and acceptance, without his labor and knowledge, he would be benefiting people. People would be benefitting from him without him being aware. When one gets to know the passing away of such a pious person or an elder whom he has never met in his life in person or sought his help in any form directly will still feel sorrow as he would feel the loss of some blessings and help that he has been receiving so far from that person. A person can still benefit others without labor but with his personality. One cannot solve all problems and issues merely with intelligence and so ask for Allah’s favors. Your job will be done with Allah’s beneficence. Feeling proud of one’s intellect and boasting of one’s plan of action is stupidity and ignorance. Plan well but say that only if Allah favors, it will happen. You are dependent on Allah SWT and not on your intelligence and planning. There are two ways of expressing this, 1) Saying ‘in shaa Allah’ when you plan to do anything as nothing will happen without Allah’s will and 2) Saying ‘maa shaa Allah’ when job is done because it happened as what Allah SWT willed, and it was not because of your intelligence or planning.

Be Humble

The words “in shaa Allah” and “maa shaa Allah” are the indication of your belief that you are not proud of your intelligence, and you are not dependent on your plans but dependent on Allah SWT alone. Only if He SWT grace, your job will be done, and your problems will be solved. The disbelievers do not understand this and they wonder why we say “maa shaa Allah”. Thus, there is no concept of saying “in shaa Allah” and “maa shaa Allah” in western education as they have complete trust in their intellect, materialistic means, and plan of action. A Muslim also uses his intelligence and sketches plan but still he says that nothing will happen with these but only with the grace and favor of Allah SWT. A Muslim doctor diagnoses disease and prescribes the medicine aptly but still says that the cure is only from Ash-Shaafi, the healer. A Muslim has all the materials needed for his task, plans perfectly but says if Allah SWT wills, it will be done. Outwardly when he could see that the materialistic means helped him to accomplish his goal, his mind will be focused on Allah SWT saying “maa shaa Allah”. I swear on Allah SWT that feeling proud of one’s intelligence is ignorance. Allah only likes that His slave presents him a humble heart. This should be the attitude, ‘I am nothing and nothing is mine’.

Do Not Deviate by Disrespecting Our Pious Elders

The greatness of Salaf-us-Saaleen lies in the fact that they established the base for acting on the religious knowledge. So, to the utmost level, one should not object them or give rise to the flame of criticism against them as this might lead the person to go astray. Salafus saaliheen are pious elders of this deen. The foundation of deen lies on them. Any kind of person who objects them or criticizes them gets caught in the swamp of deviation. He falls into the pit of deviation. Anyone, who is the flagbearer of any evil will be disrespectful. He will disrespect Sahabahs (RA), Awliya (friends) of Allah and fuqaaha (Scholars). He will disrespect the pious elders of this deen. He will write or talk about them as if they are his friends belonging to his generation. This scandal and contempt will take a man to the far extent of deviation. Our deen is on good manners.

“wa mai yu'azzim sha'aaa'iral laahi fa innahaa min taqwal quloob (al-Ḥajj 22:32)”

Translation: If one observes the sanctity of the symbols of Allah, then such things emanate from the piety of the hearts.

Showing respect, honor and regard for symbols that have specific link to Allah is a sign of piety of one’s heart. It is an indication that there is purity and cleanliness in his heart.

Focus on Seeking Allah’s Pleasure

It is said that there is no blessing in the outcome of Amaliyaat (prescribed deeds) and it doesn’t have any effect on the hearts. The real effect comes from the Sahib-e-Haqq, the look of whose face captivates a person. The effect is more when there is no karaamat (miracle) involved because Karaamat makes a person think if something else would happen. The real effect manifests when a man starts leading a sunnah life (in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet (SAW)), gets charisma in his life and this is the bliss of Islaah (reformation). This is the way of Islaah. Someone enquired to a pious elder about the state of a person who earns haram and eats haram. He replied that he feels highly burdened with vain questions and told him that he has asked about someone else’s state when he should be accounting his own acts. People keep asking about consequences of others’ acts when they should worry about themselves. They whine that so and so maulana is doing this, so and so bearded guy is doing that and so on. They don’t look at their own state, but their eyes are fixed on others. A person of this kind thinks himself to be pure when he openly involves in major sins. Such people are not just immersed in major sins but are obstinate in sins and are proud of their sins. With all this, they keep criticizing others. When people rebuke or reproach you when acting on Haqq, you should not pay any attention to them. This reproach will pave way to your refinement through which Allah SWT will grant you steadfastness. So, ignore them and do not bother about rebuke, ridicule, or taunt of people. Just look forward to Allah’s pleasure.

A person complained that he couldn’t keep up his salah in its fullest measure. He was replied that who can justify his salah in its fullest measure! He was told that when he knows that he couldn’t justify his salah, we are here stuck in the thought that we are praying salah in the best manner when it is worse. We just prostrate before Allah SWT hoping that the Merciful Allah will accept it. We just hope for Allah’s acceptance of salah when our salah is not satisfactory. Keep praying and keep going but we can never pay the due of salah. It is the benevolence of Allah SWT that He SWT still accepts it and brings us back to pray salah. We get the divine help and there is a hope that He SWT will also accept our salah. Just carry on.

Beware of Impious People and Your Own Self

It is experienced quite strangely that if impious people copy someone else’s text and writes it which might not be impious per se, it can still leave a bad effect on hearts. Impious people leave their irreligious effect on all things. Sometimes, a person picks any book and starts reading it without examining about the author. The companionship of the irreligious people, their talks and writings will all have an effect. Similarly, the companionship, talks and writings of pious people will also have effect. It is said that Shaitaan doesn’t have different tools such as lust, rage etc. The human has lust and rage. Shaitan takes advantage of these tools of human to lead him astray as he doesn’t have any new tools. So, never think yourself to be free. It is difficult to run away from your own self. When your own being is your enemy, how can you be at peace? Ending one’s own self is to destroy his contemptible qualities, ending his existence. Our beloved Prophet SAW said, “Mootu qabla wa anta mootu”- “Die before you die”. Destroy all your contemptible qualities and bad habits. Crush them. May Allah SWT grant us the correct understanding of His SWT deen and make us steadfast on His SWT deen.

-Maulana Abdus Sattar (hafizahullah)

Tarbiati Majlis 27/03/2022
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