The True Religion

By Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips

THE RELIGION OF ISLAM
The first thing that one should know and clearly understand about Islam is what the word "Islam" itself means. The religion of Islam is not named after a person as in the case of Christianity which was named after Jesus Christ, Buddhism after Gotama Buddha, Confucianism after Confucius, and Marxism after Karl Marx. Nor was it named after a tribe like Judaism after the tribe of Judah and Hinduism after the Hindus. Islam is the true religion of "Allah" and as such, its name represents the central principle of Allah's "God's" religion; the total submission to the will of Allah "God". The Arabic word "Islam" means the submission or surrender of one's will to the only true god worthy of worship "Allah" and anyone who does so is termed a "Muslim", The word also implies "peace" which is the natural consequence of total submission to the will of Allah. Hence, it was not a new religion brought by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Arabia in the seventh century, but only the true religion of Allah re-expressed in its final form.
Islam is the religion which was given to Adam, the first man and the first prophet of Allah, and it was the religion of all the prophets sent by Allah to mankind. The name of God's religion lslam was not decided upon by later generations of man. It was chosen by Allah Himself and clearly mentioned in His final revelation to man. In the final book of divine revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah states the following:
"This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion". (Soorah Al-Maa'idah 5:3)
"If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah (God) never will It be accepted of Him" (Soorah Aal'imraan 3:85)
"Abraham was not a Jew nor Christian; but an upright Muslim." (Soorah Aal'imraan 3:67)
Nowhere in the Bible will you find Allah saying to Prophet Moses' people or their descendants that their religion is Judaism, nor to the followers of Christ that their religion is Christianity. In fact, Christ was not even his name, nor was it Jesus! The name "Christ" comes from the Greek word Christos which means the annointed. That is, Christ is a Greek translation of the Hebrew title "Messiah". The name "Jesus" on the other hand, is a latinized version of the Hebrew name Esau.
For simplicity's sake, I will however continue to refer to Prophet Esau (PBUH) as Jesus. As for his religion, it was what he called his followers to. Like the prophets before him, he called the people to surrender their will to the will of Allah; (which is Islam) and he warned them to stay away from the false gods of human imagination.
According to the New Testament, he taught his followers to pray as follows: "Yours will be done on earth as it is in Heaven".
THE MESSAGE OF ISLAM
Since the total submission of one's will to Allah represents the essence of worship, the basic message of Allah's divine religion, Islam is the worship of Allah alone and the avoidance of worship directed to any person, place or thing other than Allah.Since everything other than Allah, the Creator of all things, is Allah's creation; it may be said that Islam, in essence calls man away from the worship of creation and invites him to worship only its Creator. He is the only one deserving man's worship as it is only by His will that prayers are answered. If man prays to a tree and his prayers are answered, it was not the tree which answered his prayers but Allah who allowed the circumstances prayed for to take place. One might say, "That is obvious," however, to tree-worshippers it might not be. Similarly, prayers to Jesus, Buddha, or Krishna, to Saint Christopher, or Saint Jude or even to Muhammad, are not answered by them but are answered by Allah. Jesus did nottell his followers to worship him but to worship Allah. As the Qur'aan states:
"And behold Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary Did you say to men, Worship me and my mother as gods besides Allah He will say-"Glory to you I could never say what I had no right (to say')" (Soorah Al-Maa'idah- 5:116)
Nor did he worship himself when he worshipped but rather he worshipped Allah. This basic principle is enshrined in the opening chapter of the Qur'aan, known as Soorah Al-Faatihah, verse 4:
"You alone do we worship and from you alone do we seek help".Elsewhere, in the final book of revelation, the Qur'aan, Allah also said:
"And your Lord says:"Call on Me and I will answer your(prayer)."(Soorsh Mu'min 40:60)
it is worth noting that the basic message of Islam is that Allah and His creation are distinctly different entities. Neither is Allah His creation or a part of it, nor is His creation Him or a part of Him.
This might seem obvious, but, man's worship of creation instead of the Creator is to a large degree based on ignorance of this concept. It is the belief that the essence of Allah is everywhere in His creation or that His divine being is or was present in some aspects of His creation, which has provided justification for the worship of creation though such worship maybecalled the worship of Allah through his creation. How ever, the message of Islam as brought by the prophets of Allah is to worship only Allah and to avoid the worship of his creation either directly or indirectly. In the Our'aan Allah clearlystates:
"For We assuredly sent amongst every people a prophet,(with the command) worship meand avoid false gods " (Soorsh Al-Nahl 16:36)
When the idol worshipper is questioned as to why he or she bows down to idols created by men, the invariable reply is that they are not actually worshipping the stone image, but Allah who is present within it. They claim that the stone idol is only a focal point for Allah's essence and is not in itself Allah! One who has accepted the concept of the presence of God's being within His creation in any way will be obliged to accept this argument of idolatry. Whereas, one who understands the basic message of Islam and its implications would never concede to idolatry no matter how it is rationalized. Those who have claimed divinity for themselves down through the ages have often based their claims on the mistaken belief that Allah is present in man. They merely had to assert that although Allah according to their false beliefs, is in all of us, He is more present in them than in the rest of us. Hence, they claim, we should submit our will to them and worship them as they are either God in person or God concentrated within the person.
Similarly, those who have asserted the godhood of others after their passing have found fertile ground among those who accept the false belief of God's presence in man. One who has grasped the basic message of Islam and its implications could never agree to worship another human being under any circumstances. God's religion in essence is a clear call to the worship of the Creator and the rejection of creation-worship in any form. This is the meaning of the motto of Islam:
"Laa Elaaha lllallaah" (There is no god but Allah)
Its repetition automatically brings one within the fold of Islam and sincere belief in it guarantees one Paradise.
Thus, the final Prophet of Islam is reported to have said, "Any one who says: There is no god but Allah and dies holding that (belief) will enter paradise".(Reported by Abu Dharr and collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).
It consists in the submission to Allah as one God, yielding to Him by obeying His commandments, and the denial of polytheism and polytheists.
THE MESSAGE OF FALSE RELIGION
There are so many sects, cults, religions, philosophies, and movements in the world, all of which claim to be the right way or the only true path to Allah. How can one determine which one is correct or if, in fact, all are correct? The method by which the answer can be found is to clear away the superficial differences in the teachings of the various claimants to the ultimate truth, and identify the central object of worship to which they call, directly or indirectly. False religions all have in common one basic concept with regards to Allah. They either claim that all men are gods or that specific men were Allah or that nature is Allah or that Allah is a figment of man's imagination.
Thus, it may be stated that the basic message of false religion is that Allah may be worshipped in the form of His creation. False religion invites man to the worship of creation by calling the creation or some aspect of it God. For example, prophet Jesus invited his followers to worship Allah but those who claim to be his followers today call people to worship Jesus, claiming that he was Allah!
Buddha was a reformer who introduced a number of humanistic principles to the religion of India. He did not claim to be God nor did he suggest to his followers that he be an object of worship. Yet, today most Buddhists who are to be found outside of India have taken him to be God and prostrate to idols made in their perception of his likeness.
By using the principle of identifying the object of worship, false religion becomes very obvious and the contrived nature of their origin clear. As God said in the Our'aan:
That which you worship besides Him are only names you and your forefathers have invented for which Allah has sent down no authority: The command belongs only to Allah:
He has commanded that you only worship Him; that is the right religion, but most men do not understand ". (Soorah Yoosuf 12:40)
It may be argued that all religions teach good things so why should it matter which one we follow. The reply is that all false religions teach the greatest evil, the worship of creation. Creation-worship is the greatest sin that man can commit because it contradicts the very purpose of his creation. Man was created to worship Allah alone as Allah has explicitly stated in the Our'aan:
"I have only created Jlnns and men, that they may worship me"(Soorah Zaareeyaat 51:56)
Consequently, the worship of creation, which is the essence of idolatry, is the only unforgivable sin. One who dies in this state of idolatry has sealed his fate in the next life. This is not an opinion, but a revealed fact stated by Allah in his final revelation to man:
"Verily Allah will not forgive the joining of partners with Him, but He may forgive (sins) less than that for whom so ever He wishes"(Soorah An- Nisaa 4:48 and 116)
THE UNIVERSALITY OF ISLAM
Since the consequences of false religion are so grave, the true religion of Allah must be universally understandable and attainable, not confined to any people, place or time. There can not be conditions like baptism, belief in a man, as a saviour etc., for a believer to enter paradise. Within the central principle of Islam and in its definition, (the surrender of one's will to God) lies the roots of lslam's universality. Whenever man comes to the realization that Allah is one and distinct from His creation, and submits himself to Allah, he becomes a Muslim in body and spirit and is eligible for paradise. Thus, anyone at anytime in the most remote region of the world can become a Muslim, a follower of God's religion, Islam, by merely rejecting the worship of creation and by turning to Allah (God) alone-It should be noted however, that the recognition of and submission to Allah requires that one chooses between right and wrong and such a choice implies accountability. Man will be held responsible for his choices, and, as such, he should try his utmost to do good and avoid evil. The ultimate good being the worship of Allah alone and the ultimate evil being the worship of His creation along with or instead of Allah. This fact is expressed in the final revelation as follows:
"Verily those who believe, those who follow the Jewish (Scriptures), the Christians and the Sabians any who believe In Allah and the last day, and work righteousness *hall have their reward with their Lord;They will not be overcome by fear nor grief (Soorah Al-Baqarah 2:62).
If only they had stood by the law, the Gospel, and all the revelation that was sent to them from their Lord, they would have enjoyed happiness from every side. There Is from among them a party on the right course; but many of them follow a course that Is evil.". (Soorah Al-.Maa'idah 5:66)
RECOGNITION OF ALLAH
The question which arises here is, "How can all people be expected to believe in Allah given their varying- backgrounds, societies and cultures? For people to be responsible for worshipping Allah they all have to have access to knowledge of Allah. The final revelation teaches that all mankind have the recognition of Allah imprinted on their souls, a part of their very nature with which they are created.
In Soorah Al-A'raaf, Verses 172-173; Allah explained that when He created Adam, He caused all of Adam's descendants to come into existence and took a pledge from them saying, Am I not your Lord? To which they all replied, " Yes, we testify to It:'
Allah then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He is their creator and only true God worthy of worship. He said, "That was In case you (mankind) should say on the day of Resurrection, "Verily we were unaware of all this." That is to say, we had no idea that You Allah, were our God. No one told us that we were only supposed to worship You alone. Allah went on to explain That it was also In case you should say, "Certainly It was our ancestors who made partners (With Allah) and we are only their descendants; will You then destroy us for what those liars did?" Thus, every child is born with a natural belief in Allah and an inborn inclination to worship Him alone called in Arabic the "Fitrah".
If the child were left alone, he would worship Allah in his own way, but all children are affected by those things around them, seen or unseen.
The Prophet (PBUH) reported that Allah said, "I created my servants in the right religion but devils made them go astray". The Prophet (PBUH) also said, "Each child is born in a state of "Fitrah", then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian, the way an animal gives birth to a normal offspring. Have you noticed any that were born mutilated?" (Collected by Al-Bukhaaree and Muslim).So, just as the child submits to the physical laws which Allah has put in nature, his soul also submits naturally to the fact that Allah is his Lord and Creator. But, his parents try to make him follow their own way and the child is not strong enough in the early stages of his life to resist or oppose the will of his parents. The religion which the child follows at this stage is one of custom and upbringing and Allah does not hold him to account or punish him for this religion.
Throughout people's lives from childhood until the time they die, signs are shown to them in all regions of the earth and in their own souls, until it becomes clear that there is only one true God (Allah). If the people are honest with themselves, reject their false gods and seek Allah, the way will be made easy for them but if they continually reject Allah's signs and continue to worship creation, the more difficult it will be for them to escape. For example, in the South Eastern region of the Amazon jungle in Brazil, South America, a primitive tribe erected a new hut to house their main idol Skwatch, representing the supreme God of all creation. The homage to the God, and while he was in prostration to what he had been taught was his Creator and Sustainer, a mangy old flea-ridden dog walked into the hut, The young man looked up in time to see the dog lift its hind leg and pass urine on the idol. Outraged, the youth chased the dog out of the temple, but when his rage died down he realized that the idol could not be the Lordof the universe. Allah must be elsewhere. he now had a choice to act on his knowledge and seek Allah, or to dishonestly go along with the false beliefs of his tribe. As strange as it may seem, that was a sign from Allah for that young man. It contained within it divine guidance that what he was worshipping was false.
Prophets were sent, as was earlier mentioned, to every nation and tribe to support man's natural belief in Allah and man's inborn inclination to worship Him as well as to reinforce the divine truth in the daily signs revealed by Allah. Although, in most cases, much of the prophets' teachings became distorted, portions remained which point out right and wrong. For example, the ten commandments of the Torah, their confirmation in the Gospels and the existence of laws against murder, stealing and adultery in most societies. Consequently, every soul will be held to account for its belief in Allah and its acceptance of the religion of Islam; the total submission to the will of Allah.
We pray to Allah, the exalted, to keep us on the right path to which He has guided us, and to bestow on us a blessing from Him, He is indeed the Most Merciful. Praise and gratitude be to Allah,the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be on prophet Muhammed, his Family, his companions, and those who rightly follow them.

Striving to become a ‘friend of Allah’

By Dr Abu Ameenah Bilal Phillips

The intent behind the following topic is to elaborate on some of the fundamental conditions that are necessary for the Muslim Ummah to achieve what Allah has made them responsible to achieve in this life. Among these fundamental principles is the principle of taqwaa. This is a term with which many people are familiar with. Taqwaa is usually translated as the fear of Allah, of having this quality. It comes from an Arabic verb, waqaa’a / yaqee, which means “to protect oneself”. A shield is a wiqaayah, coming from the same verb, something to protect yourself with. Taqwaa also becomes the basis by which people are considered superior to others in Islam. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa in the Qur’an has informed us that he has favoured some people over others. Sustenance is an example. In 16:81, Allah says, “Allah has favoured some of you over others in sustenance.” This is reality. That is, in this life people are not all equal. Allah has favoured some over others in a variety of different capacities. However these favours are part of the tests of this life.They are not favours on the basis of which we should feel proud or we should feel superior because feelings of pride and superiority are cursed. They are something hated in Islam. As the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘'alaihi wa sallam) has said, “Whoever has a mustard seed worth of pride in his heart will never enter Paradise.” Pride is something which is particularly despised in Islam. This is so to such an extent that if we were to identify, within the lslamic context, an original sin, that original sin would be pride. Pride, of course, was the sin of Satan when he was commanded by Allah to bow before Adam, along with the other angels, he refused to bow, and when Allah asked him, not because Allah did not know, but when Allah asked him why he refused to bow to bring what was inside of him, Satan replied that “You made me from fire and made him from clay. I am better than him, because you made me from fire and you made him from clay.” Of course, when we look at issues of racism and nationalism, we see similar feelings. People feel they are better than others because they belong to a particular race, or because they belong to a particular nationality. These feelings obviously have no place in Islam at all, feelings which are fundamentally opposed to the teachings of Islam with regards to Allah creating mankind from a single soul, dividing them into various tribes and nations, as Allah explained, in order that human beings may know each other. In that verse, Allah goes on to identify what in fact is the basis under which certain people are considered superior to others, objectively, in the sight of Allah. He said that the most noble of persons in the sight of Allah are those who have greater taqwaa. Allah has therefore defined that as being the factor which elevates people over others. As such, Allah advises us that we should not wish for those things in which He has favoured some over others. Taqwaa is not something which Allah favours some over others in the sense that he gives so and so taqwaa and He does not give so and so taqwaa. Taqwaa is earned. He gives so and so much money and he gives so and so less money, but taqwaa is something which we earn by an act of faith. In the material world what Allah has favours us with is grants which He gives, trusts which He puts in our hands and as such He has said, “Do not wish for what Allah has favoured some of you over others.” [4:32] That is, we should not wish for those things in which Allah has favoured some of us over others, because Allah, knowing the capacities of people, has given them certain tests which are suitable for them. We may desire these things but if we had them they may be beyond our capacity so Allah advises us not to wish for them. Of course, they may look as though they would be nice and good, however we cannot predict what the end result will be for us. Allah has destined for us to have what we have because that is what is suitable. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has reinforced this in the hadith found in Bukhari and Muslim, in which he said “Look at those below you and not those above you. It is better for you so that you do not deny Allah’s blessings upon you.” Look at those below you. This means, in the material world, Allah favours some over others materially. Don’t look at those who have been favoured over you, because it will only create in your heart discontent and jealousy, which can destroy your own deeds. Good deeds that you intend to do can be destroyed by these feelings, so we are advised not to look to those above us who have been favoured over us. Instead we look to those below us, because no matter what circumstance we find ourselves in, there are always some people who are below us economically, in greater difficulty and hardship. By doing so, we will realise that, yes, we are not so badly off after all. Allah has favoured us in this way and that way and the other way, and in thinking so we will protect ourselves from Allah’s displeasure.The Prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) had said on the final pilgrimage, as well as on other occasions when he spoke about the halal being clear and the haram being clear, pointing to his heart, that taqwaa is in the heart, fundamentally. Meaning that it is not something which one can measure. I cannot measure your level of taqwaa, you cannot measure my level of taqwaa. We may judge in general by the outer actions of people saying that well so and so does not seem to have very much taqwaa because they are doing a lot of things which are displeasing to Allah and so and so seems to have more taqwaa because he or she seems to be doing a lot of things which are pleasing to Allah. However these are superficial judgments, we really don’t know what is going on inside of a person. There was a particular incident which is recorded in Saheeh Muslim, during the battle of Khaibar, ‘Umar was quoting the people as saying so and so is a martyr. People who had been killed were lying on the battlefield. ‘Umar was walking with the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) and saying as people were saying that this one is a martyr, that one is a martyr. He came across a person and said so and so is a martyr. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said “By no means, I have seen him in hell in a cloak which he took from the spoils dishonestly.” He then told ‘Umar ibn al Khattab, “Go ‘Umar announce to the people three times that only the true believers will enter Paradise.” This hadith serves to clarify the point of who truly believes and who doesn’t. Normally we would assume that the person who gives his life for the sake of Allah, that this is an ultimate act of taqwaa, giving one’s own life for the sake of Allah in jihaad. However this individual was fighting not for the sake of Allah, in fact he was fighting for the spoils of war and as such, when he had an opportunity to steal, to take more than his share from the spoils, he stole. His act, though on the outside, led everyone, including ‘Umar ibn al Khattab, to judge the man to be a martyr possessing among the highest of levels of taqwaa, the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘'alaihi wa sallam) said that he saw him in hell. This is to let us know that taqwaa is not something that we can ultimately judge from outside, it is something which is an internal factor. When we look at the various practices and teachings of Islam with regards to acts of worship, we find most of them, if not all, guiding people towards this state of taqwaa. For example, with regards to fasting, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa is saying, “O you who believe, fasting has been prescribed for you as it was for those before you in order that you may be of those who have taqwaa.”This concept of taqwaa, wherein one seeks to protect oneself from the wrath of Allah by doing the things which are pleasing to Him, one can only do so if one is conscious of Allah. This is why the term taqwaa is also expressed in English as God-consciousness. And when we look with regards to salaah, we find Allah saying, “Establish the prayer for my remembrance.” So salaah, and virtually all aspects of ‘ibadaah, serve to keep us in a state of consciousness of Allah in that when a person is conscious of Him, aware that He is watching, then that person would not seek to do the things which would not be pleasing to Allah. It is when we forget Allah that Satan finds the opening, he is able to approach us, suggest evil and we fall into evil. In the end, we are in that state of constant struggle between the remembrance of Allah and the forgetfulness of Allah. Remembrance of Allah ensures righteousness, forgetfulness of Allah opens the door for sin. Taqwaa is therefore a concept having to do with the remembrance of Allah, fearing Allah, protecting ourselves from the wrath of Allah. All of this is related to taqwaa and all of it represents the goal or the basic principle, which Islam seeks to develop in us and which, ultimately, is the foundation of righteousness. When a person develops these principles, or works towards them, their achievement earns one the status of being a friend of Allah. Those are the friends of Allah. In common belief a friend of Allah is walee, or waliyullah, this is the term used by Allah in the Qur’an and the Prophet in his Sunnah. This term is, however, also translated in common parlance as saint. But in fact from the Islamic point of view, we have no saints. And the qualities or the things which distinguish the so-called saint in the common people’s eyes is that such an individual performs miracles. However from the Islamic perspective the friend of Allah is one who has developed taqwaa. As Allah said in Soorah Yunus, 10:63, “Behold certainly no fear and no grief shall overcome the awliyaa’ of Allah, the friends of Allah, those who believe and have taqwaa.” These are the friends of Allah.The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has explained this in more detail. As is always the case when we go to the Qur’an, we have to look to see what the Sunnah has to say on the various issues that are addressed in the Qur’an. For it is really in the Sunnah that we find the details identified for us. And there we find a particular hadith reported in both al-Bukhari and Muslim, in which the Prophet sallallaahu `alayhi wa sallam quotes something to us from Allah. This hadith is reported from Abu Hurairah and he quotes the Prophet Muhammad as saying, “Verily Allah Almighty said, “Whoever seeks to harm a friend of mine, I have declared a war upon him.” This is the status of the walee of Allah, the friend of Allah, that whoever seeks to harm that individual, Allah has declared war against that person. This is obviously a state which we all should seek, this is ultimate protection. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa goes on to explain through the words of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘'alaihi wa sallam) in this hadith qudsi, “My servant does not come closer to Me by anything more beloved to Me than the things which I have made compulsory for him.” That is, to come closer to Allah, to achieve the state of friendship, of being a friend of Allah, the route to it is through the basic compulsory things which Allah has set. Anyone who has not established this can never be a friend of Allah. In other words, there are no shortcuts to taqwaa. There are people who offer shortcuts. You do this, if you say that, and you will be there. But Allah explains that the only route is through the compulsory things. He goes on to say that the slave, after doing the compulsory things, continues to come closer to Allah by doing voluntary acts of worship until Allah loves him. Each and every one of the compulsory acts of worship has a voluntary aspect to it. The compulsory is supposed to engender in us and should develop in us a desire to do the voluntary, because when a person is completing voluntary aspects of worship then their acts of worship are transformed from mere ritual into a way of life. They become part and parcel of a person’s lifestyle. Salaah is compulsory five times daily, but then we have what we call sunnah prayers before and after and also a variety of others. For example, the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) had said concerning salaatul istikhaarah that whenever we have an issue to deal with and have to make a decision, we should make two rak’aat and make this du’aa. Voluntary salaah for us do include witr and tahajjud at night. All of these different voluntary acts, when made a part of our life, built out of the compulsory, allow salaah to take on a living quality. It is shifted from the level of ritual to the level of lifestyle. Similarly with fasting, one fasts the month of Ramadan because it is compulsory. The goal is not just that we fast Ramadan every year, but that fasting becomes a way of life for us. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) encouraged us to fast six days in Shawwal. Combine that with Ramadan and you get the reward of fasting the whole year. This still leaves us with the middle three days of every lunar month, the 13th, 14th, 15th; then he used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, as he said, “Mondays and Thursdays the gates of Paradise are open.” These are some of the voluntary fasts that we are encouraged to complete. What we are trying to develop therefore, is a consistent attitude towards fasting, where fasting is something that we are doing on a regular basis. Fasting is developing self-restraint, personal control over desires, whether for food, or for sexual relations, or control over our tongues. All of this, this control is not something that we need only one month in a year, it is something that we need throughout the year. This does not become a reality until fasting becomes a way of life for us.Similarly zakaah is compulsory on a yearly basis, once a year. However, again, zakaah is there to develop in us an attitude towards sadaqa, develop in us generosity, where it is something which is automatic. Whenever we have an opportunity to share with others, to help others, we reach out. This is a way of life, these are the aspects of taqwaa. We develop this through the implementation of the fundamental principles of Islam and then build on top of them the voluntary acts of worship. Allah then went on in the hadith quoted by the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) to say that when a person acts this way then Allah will answer any prayer that he asks, and if such a person seeks Allah’s protection, Allah will protect him. If we seek the love of Allah – and Allah loves those who are His friends, as well as those who in general do good, but there is a special love for those who are His friends – then we have to attain and achieve that love through establishing the things which are compulsory for us. That’s the bottom line. And Allah says in the Qur’an, clarifying this point, “If you love Allah, then follow me (the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam), and Allah will love you.” Following him is by doing the things which are compulsory, then building on top of it the recommended acts so that they become a way of life. Now once that becomes a reality, then in fact we will achieve happiness in this life. This is the bottom line to happiness, something that everybody struggles for. Materialist society offers a variety of different paths to achieve happiness. However, in reality, we should be aware that the happiness achieved by material pastimes is limited – holidays, for instance, begin and end. The car runs for so many years and it breaks down. A house may be nice at one time, then it may become less attractive or inadequate.The things which are associated with happiness in this life, material things, are passing things. Once you have them then you seek other material things because in fact this happiness is only a fulfilment of a physical desire. And when you fulfil a physical desire, there are other desires to replace it soon afterwards. And even that physical desire, when you fulfil it, it is likely to increase itself in the same area. As the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has said, “If a man were given a valley of gold, he will desire another one.” In the West they say, the grass is always greener on the other side, this is our desire. There is no end. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has said, “our desire does not end until we are in the grave.” We can never achieve happiness through fulfilment of material desires. Happiness only comes with taqwaa. As Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa says,“It is only with the remembrance of Allah that the hearts find rest.” When a person achieves taqwaa, then his or her heart comes to rest, meaning that they are not driven constantly to want more. Whenever problems arise they are not in a state of confusion and fear and doubt because their hearts are at rest. They understand the ups and the downs of life, they understand that it is part of the test, that ultimately the whole of their life is reward, blessings. As the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) has said, the whole life of a believer is good, and this is only the case of a true believer, if a good comes to him, he thanks Allah and Allah rewards him for that good, he doesn’t forget Allah with it. And if harm comes to him, a calamity strikes, he is patient and Allah again rewards him for it. The Prophet mentions the whole of life, because life is between these two, isn’t it? Calamity and success. Difficulty and ease. As Allah says in the Qur’an, “With every difficulty comes ease.” What happens is that both sides of the coin are tests, in the good times, when ease is there, it’s a test. Do we become so happy with our success that we forget Allah and our responsibility, or do we thank Allah remembering that it is really from Allah, even though yes, we strove, we tried, but ultimately achieving that was from Allah, because we cannot guarantee the results of any of our acts. We can strive, we can decide, make decisions, we can move, but whether we are successful in our efforts or not this is according to the destiny of Allah, what Allah grants us. If we get something, this is a blessing of Allah so remember that it is a blessing, thank Allah and whatever good is in there we try to share with others. In a time of difficulty, we realise yes, it is a result of some evil that we have done and whatever harm befalls us, whatever pain we feel, it is a purification for our sins, so it is about being patient. We patiently bear it knowing that it is not going to last forever, calamity, difficulty do not come to a person and just remain, but it is erased after some time, so if we are patient then Allah rewards us even in the time of calamity. But as the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, patience is exercised at the time of calamity, not afterwards. On one occasion when he said that statement, he had passed by a woman who was crying, tears, screaming, wailing. He asked the woman what the problem was and advised her to control herself. She didn’t know who he was so she turned to him and said what do you know what has befallen me, it has not befallen you, you don’t know. Maybe, in other words, if this happened to you, maybe you would be screaming just like me, maybe even worse. So the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) went on. This obviously was someone he could not communicate with at that moment. Then other people told her, that was the Prophet of Allah. So she ran to him and said, “Sorry, sorry! I shouldn’t do this, I shouldn’t have said this...” Patience is at the time of calamity. That is when patience is required. Keeping this in mind, we need to approach our worship with renewed vigour. After we have been Muslims for a while or after we have returned to Islam, sometimes it is very easy to fall back into a routine. When obligations are done routinely, again though we might be fulfilling the ritual, the real reward is lost because it is only when we do that ritual with full fervour, really from our heart, sincerely, that we are getting reward. Otherwise, just the physical movements of salaah, fajr, dhuhr and ‘asr, these remove the obligation of prayer but do not earn for us reward. Without sincerity in our worship we don’t grow, and we should constantly be seeking growth, because none of us has prayed the perfect prayer. This means that there is room for improvement, constantly. We know that there is so much more we can do, so we should strive to look back in our prayer and ask ourselves to what degree are we in fact praying as we should. The Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said, “Pray as you saw me praying,” but he is not only talking about the physical movement, which is a part of it, he is also talking about the spiritual aspect of that prayer. He is encouraging us to try to seek fundamentally that complete prayer. This is what we have to work for. And whenever we lose that desire to work for it, then we know that we are in trouble, we have slipped backwards, we have to constantly check ourselves and step up again. The same is true with fasting, the first time we fasted in Ramadan. Whether it is for those of us who have converted to Islam or those of us who reverted by becoming aware of their Islam again, we know that the first fast, based on a conscious choice, had a certain greatness and power that each subsequent fast seems to have lost. In fact we should be going from strength to strength. We should be striving to maintain that level. It is maintainable, not as a constant, there will always be ups and downs, that is how our faith is, our taqwaa. Taqwaa is not such that you reach a certain level and you are there 100% all the time. Taqwaa is going up and going down, it increases and decreases. We have to work for that increase, to keep it increasing. Fundamentally, what increases taqwaa are righteous deeds, and what decreases it are evil deeds. That is the bottom line, there are no secrets in Islam on how to increase taqwaa. There is no secret formula. It is very clear and well-known that righteous deeds increase taqwaa. To do a righteous deed is to consciously seek that which is pleasing to Allah. We should constantly be seeking the pleasure of Allah. Naturally that means increasing our awareness of Allah. When we fall into evil, when we are weakening our faith, the wrongful act itself weakens our faith, because what is connected with it is forgetfulness of Allah and what comes with that forgetfulness ultimately is misery, a state of misery. As we have said, with the remembrance of Allah comes true happiness, the happiness that can remain with us, happiness in the sense of contentment which can remain with us through times of ease as well as times of difficulty. What comes with forgetfulness of Allah is a state of misery, it is a state where we are mostly concerned with material things, trying to fulfil our endless quest for them, trying to achieve happiness through them and being incapable of doing so.This is why Allah says in the Qur’an,“Whoever turns away from my remembrance will find himself, or herself, in a miserable life.” And the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) emphasised that by saying, “The slave or worshipper of the Dirham and Deenaar (in our context, the Dollar; the worshipper of money), will always be miserable.” One who makes money the entire purpose of life will never be satisfied, he said the more they have they more they want. Also, when they attain so much they cannot use it because they are worried about people trying to steal it. Therefore, there is just a constant state of turmoil that a person gets caught up in. That’s the state of those who have forgotten Allah. We must always therefore strive to establish the fundamentals. We cannot build closeness to Allah without the fundamentals. If the fundamentals are not in order, then no matter what additional things we do, they will not bring us closer to Allah. We cannot give precedence to secondary acts over the fundamental acts as in the case, for example, of salaat al fajr. We have the practice among some people that if they come to the masjid and the jam’aah has begun, they will still seek to do the two rakah sunnah before joining the jama’ah, believing that this sunnah is a sunnah mua’kkadah – an emphasised sunnah that the prophet Muhammad (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) never left. It is true, he never left these sunnah, even when he was travelling, when he would drop all of the sunnah, he would always pray the two rakkah before fajr, emphasising that it is very strongly recommended. However if the compulsory prayer has begun then this is not the time to do those sunnah. The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) had said whenever the compulsory prayer has been called for no other prayer is acceptable except that prescribed prayer. There is a principle drawn from that in Islamic law, that you do not give precedence to sunnah over fard, voluntary over the compulsory. We always have to build our base first and foremost, by concentrating on the compulsory. This is where our greatest emphasis should be. And the sunnah is in addition, to help us. If we look at sunnah practices they are there to help us with the compulsory. They help to fill the void created by laxity or deficiencies in our compulsory and at the same time give us more fervour and prepare us in the best manner for the compulsory.When we do sunnah before the fard, what are we doing is preparing ourselves to deal with the fard. This is why it is important to keep that sunnah there to help us, because if you jump straight into the fard coming out of a work situation, usually you are carrying all of your environment, all of your experiences there with you. Whereas if you do sunnah first, you have to start bringing yourself into a correct frame of mind. This is worship. This is why we are instructed whenever we go to the masjid we should pray two rak’ahs before sitting down. When you sit down, your friend next to you, you start talking about this and that and the other – you forget you are in the masjid. By praying before sitting down, you put yourself in that proper frame of mind, help prepare yourself for the compulsory. The two are there, side by side, but our primary emphasis should be on the compulsory. With all the various acts which we are trying to build on top of that, by engaging in the voluntary, inshaa’ Allah we will achieve that status, that high status that Allah has identified as being a “friend of Allah”. This is something worthy for each and everyone of us to seek. - (GT, 16 Nov 07)