Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. As-salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. To all the brothers and sisters who are tuning in at home, we're starting a filming of the new series we're going to be running called Ahabil As-Sabih, which is translated as The Traveller on the Road.
And this is really taken from the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ where he advised us to be travellers in this dunya, just being conscious of the fact that we're just moving through this period of time for a very, very short period of time before we make it onto our final destination, which is, of course, the akhirah. And I want to get a number of people in this car. I'm starting with Ustadh AbdurRahman Hassan, as you can see, to the right-hand side of me.
And I want to discuss a number of different topics related to Islam. It should be an informal chat. None of it is going to be prepared in advance.
Just a discussion between two brothers talking about the Deen of Allah that maybe other people who are watching can benefit from. So Ustadh AbdurRahman Hassan, you are my first guest, as you normally are. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
How are you doing today? Wa alaykum as-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Alhamdulillah, JazakAllah khayran for allowing me to be in your car. JazakAllah khayran.
JazakAllah khayran. I think it's the first time you've actually been in my car. So I'm blessed to be in your presence.
I'm blessed. I'm honoured. So today I want to talk about the concept of Al-Istiqama, which is basically, translates in English as steadfastness, but I don't think that the English translation really helps a lot of people either.
So I really want to start by talking about this word. What does it mean? How do we understand it as Muslims? JazakAllah khayran, again and again for allowing me to be in your car and to be a participant in this show, inshallah ta'ala, this series, Aabil Sabir. In regards to Al-Istiqama, steadfastness, Abu Bakr r.a, when it came to the ayah, those who said Allah is my Lord, and then they were steadfast, Abu Bakr commented on that verse.
He said they are those who did not associate partners with Allah subhana wa ta'ala. He's not the only one who said that, by the way, Anas ibn Malik said that, Mujahid ibn Jabrin also said that, Al-Aswad ibn Hilal, he said that, Zayd ibn Aslam and others great scholars of Tafsir, they said that, Ibn Abdullah ibn Abbas, a riwaya of him, he said that as well, which is that they do not associate partners with Allah subhana wa ta'ala. So the first thing a person can be and should be steadfast upon is the reason why he was brought into this world.
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ He was brought into this world to worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Everything else is secondary. The primary reason why we're here is to worship Allah alone subhana wa ta'ala.
So and it's the promise that we made with Allah subhana wa ta'ala. As Allah mentioned in the ayah, وَإِذْ أَخَمَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَا شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُوا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا بُنَّ عَنَّ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّ بِهِ ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْنِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُمْطِنُونَ that Allah subhana wa ta'ala, He took care of the creation and He placed them, Allah placed them in front of Him. And then He said to them, Am I not your Lord? And every single one of us, we said Allah, Yes, you are our Lord.
So we all bear witness that there is not worthy of worship except Allah subhana wa ta'ala already. So Abu Bakr radiyallahu ta'ala, he is saying istiqama it actually means to be steadfast upon that covenant, that promise that you made, which is what we call the fitrah. The Prophet told us in a hadith, Siranihi O You Majjisani, There Is Not A Person Except That He Is Born Upon The Fitrah.
His Parents Come And They Change That Fitrah, They Tamper With It. They Either Make Him A Christian Or A Jew. The Hadith Did Not Say They Make Him A Muslim.
Because That'S The Original Disposition. Because That'S The Natural Disposition. That Is What Everybody Else Is.
So That'S The Fitrah. So Then Istiqamah Is To Be Consistent Upon That And Not To Change It And To Tamper With It And To Be Upon That. And That'S Why We Also Call New Muslims, We Call Them Rebirths.
Rebirths Of Those Who Are Coming Back To The Original Disposition And The Promise That They Made Allah. Also Umar R.A, He Said Istiqamah Is They Don'T Go Ya'Ni, Looking Left And Right Like The Fox Does. The Fox Doesn'T Generally, Ya'Ni, Move Looking Straight And Walk Or Move.
What He Does Is That He Looks Right And Left. These People Are Steadfast. So They Just Looking At The Front.
They Looking At, Ya'Ni, In Front Of Them And They Go Straight And They'Re Not Looking Right Or Left Because Right Or Left Represents Deviation. Okay. Based On The Ayah The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam Explained That Verse And He Done A Tafseer On It.
The Prophet He Took A Trick, Hadith Abdullah Ibn Masroor, The Prophet Took A Trick And He Paved A Path On The Earth. And The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Said This Is Allah'S Path. And Then He Done A Path On The Left And On The Right.
And The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Said Each And Every One Of Those Paths. There'S A Shaitaan Calling The People To It. And Then The Prophet Recited The Ayah So This Shows Us The People Who Are Steadfast Are What? Are Consistently Looking Forward And They Don'T Look Right Or Left.
Other Than That One Straight Path. Also Abdullah Ibn Masroor, He Said When He Came To Istiqama, He Said They Are Steadfast Upon Doing The Obligatory Acts. The Things That Are Mandatory Upon Them.
They Are Steadfast Upon That. So They Don'T Go For Voluntary Things And Superrogatory Matters When There'S Obligatory Acts Which Are Outstanding, Which It Brings Us To A Very Important Point, Which Is Many People You Tend To See Are Doing Less Important Things When There Are Greater Things That They Should Be Doing. Either They Are Doing Things Which Are Mubah, When There Are Wajib And Sunnah That They Should Be Engaged In.
They Are Doing Things Which Are Mubah. What People Are Doing Sometimes The Sunnah When There'S A Wajib Outstanding. It'S Like Somebody Who'S Praying Qiyam Al-Layl When He Is Missing Fajr, For Example.
And We Just Came Just A Few Months Ago Outside Of Ramadan Where Many People Prayed Salat Al-Falaweh And Then Suddenly Didn'T. Also Abu Al-Aliyah, Who Is The Student Of Abdullah Ibn Abbas And Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud, He Said ثُمَّ أَخْلَصُوا لَهُ الدِّينِ فِي الْعَمَلِ يَعْنِى إِسْتِقَامَةِ يَعْنِى هُمُ الَّذِينَ أَخْلَصُوا They Are The Ones Who Come With Sincerity. فِي الدِّينِ وَالْعَمَلِ In The Religion And In Every Action They Do, They Are Sincere.
يَعْنِى إِخْلَاصُنَا لِلَّهِ صُفِّ الْقَلْبَ مِنْ إِرَادَتِهِ سِوَاهُ فَحْذَرْ يَا فَضِلُ They Do Everything For Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala Said. So There Are Many Definitions Of What Istiqama Means. But That Is Important To Understand What The Reality Of Something Is Because If You Don'T Know Something It'S Not Easy For You To Come With It.
So Could It Be Said That In Some Weeks We Spoke About Staying Away From Shirk, We Spoke About Performing The Obligatory Matters And We Spoke About Having A Class For Allah Both Generally And Also In The Actions That You Do. Can It Be Then Said That Istiqama Can Be Kind Of Summarized As Being Steadfast Upon The... I Don'T Want To Use The Word Steadfast Many People Might Understand It But Basically Being Upon The Religion Of Islam, You Know, Being Upon That Straight Path Which Not Looking By Not Looking At Just Being Upon That Religion Of Islam. I Know.
It'S True. That'S Correct. But Also We Have To Understand Who Gives Istiqama? Like Who? Is It Your Own Effort, Your Own Hard Work And That'S It, You Can Get It From That Or Is It A Minnatul Ilahiya? Is That Gift Allah Gives Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala? Of Course, It Is.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam Was Authentically Transmitted From Him Alayhi Salatu Wasallam, Hadith Aisha. She Said That The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihe Wasallam He Used To Start His Prayer, His Qiyamul Lahl, He Would Open It Up By Saying Allahumma Rabbi Jibreel Wa Mikaeel Wa Israfeel Fatir Al-Samawati Wa Al-Arabi, Alim Al-Ghaib Wa Al-Shahada, Anta Tahkumu Baina Ibadika Fee Ma Kanu Fee Yakhtarifoon, Ihdimi Limakhtulifa Feehi Minal Hakimi Ihdimi, Innaka Tahdi Man Tashawina Siratun Zamanih. The Fact That The Prophet Would Say Allahumma Fatir Al-Samawati Wa Al-Arabi, The Creator, The Sustainer, The Provider For The Samawat Al-Arabi, The One Who Knows The Unseen.
And Knows Everything That Is Apparent, Alim Al-Ghaib Wa Al-Shahada You Are The One Who'S Going To Judge Between This Creation, Anta Tahkumu Baina Ibadika Fee Ma Kanu Fee Yakhtarifoon, The Differences That The People Have And The Things That They Differ Upon, You Are The One That'S Going To Judge Between Them, Yawm Al-Qiyamah. Then The Prophet Said Ihdimi Limakhtulifa, Showing You To Be Steadfast Is A Minnat Al-Ilahiya, It'S A Godly Gift. It'S A Gift Allah Gives To The Tabaraka Ta'ala Who Be Wise.
But When The Prophet Wanted To Give Guidance, Okay, And Istiqamah, So It Was Under Guidance To His Uncle Abu Talib, Allah Ta'ala He Told Him You Can'T Guide Who You Wish, Muhammad. We Are The Ones Who Guide, We Are The Ones Who Give Guidance To Who We Wish. So It Is Allah Ta'ala Who Gives Guidance To The People And Makes Them Steadfast.
And Of Course We Ask For It In Surah Al-Fatihah, Every Salah We Pray In Every Raka'ah, What Do We Say? What Amaze Me About This Surah, Surah Al-Fatihah, Is That The Person When He Says O Allah Guide Us To The Straight Path, Make Us Steadfast. What Is Amazing Is If You Go To The Hadith Abu Hurairah, It'S Sahih, That The Hadith I Divided The Prayer Between Me And My Creation Into Two Half. If You Go To The Hadith, When The Person Says That Part Because Remember It'S A Discussion And A Dialogue Between Allah And The Creation, That Part Allah Ta'ala Says To The Creation Or The Slave, Allah Ta'ala He Says When The Person Says Allah Ta'ala He Says That Is For My Slave And My Slave Will Be Given What He Asks For So I Always Thought About It To Question Myself.
How Is That? How Does That Make Sense? Because We Know A Lot Of People Who Pray And They Say With That Being Said Allah Doesn'T Guide Them, They Are From His Guidance. Allah Didn'T Guide Them Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala To The Sunnah For Example, And They Are From Innovation. So How Do We Reconcile That With The Hadith, With The Reality That We See In Front Of Us? If You Read Before That Surah Al-Fatihah At The Beginning, There Are Things That You Have To Have In Order For That Guidance To Be Given To You.
The First Thing Is You Have To Come With The Concept Of Ar-Rajaa Hope, You Have To Have Ar-Rajaa, Yani Hope, What'S The Evidence For That? It Comes From Ar-Rahman And Ar-Rahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen, Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem Means Hope Because Ar-Rahmani Ar-Raheem Are What? They Are Two Names Of Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala, Both Of Which Come From The Root Word Of Ar-Rahma, Right? So The Person Has Hope Of Allah'S Mercy Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala Allah'S Mercy Encompasses Everything. So That'S The First Thing.
So That Person Has To Come With Ar-Rajaa, And Then There'S Also Khawf, Fear Which Is What? Which Is Malik Yawm Al-Deen, The King Of The Day Of Judgment. That'S Scary. The Day Of Judgment Is Something That Scares A Muslim When He Thinks About It And What Is Going To Happen That Day And How It'S Going To Be The Fact That The Quran Talks About That What'S Going To Be Scaled That Day Is Going To Be Mustard Seed Of People'S Deeds.
It'S Scary. So It'S Very Scary. So Then Khawf Comes, Fear Comes.
Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala He Tells Us About It. So It'S Scary. So The Fear Comes Which Is The Second And Then The Third Which Is Love.
Where'S The Love? Because You'Re Praising Him Out Of Love That You Have For Him Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala. The Third One, The Fourth One Is The Fourth Quality, The Fourth Before Ihdeen As-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem Is Ibadah, So The Person Is Coming With Ibadah For Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala Alone And He'S Not Associating Partners With Him And The Fifth And The Final One Is Before Is Al-Isti'Ana, Seeking A Help And Aid From Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala Because We Can'T Do Anything Unless Allah Helps Us, Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala. So When The Person Comes With Those Five And Then He Says Ihdeen As-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem, Allah Guiding Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala But The Five Prerequisites, He Needs To Come With Those Five And Then He Gets Help.
Okay. So That'S What We Are Asking Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala Every Single Time We Pray Every Raka'ah That We Are In, That'S What We Ask Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala. Also Another Thing, You Know, Istiqam, You See This Car, There'S A... Every Part Of This Car Is Not The Same.
Okay. There'S A Most Important Part Of The Car, It'S The Engine, Right? Yeah. That'S The Most Important Part Of The Car And It'S What People Look At When They Want To Buy A Car.
They Ask What'S Your Mileage? They Want To Know How Much You Use The Engine. Tires Can Be Repaired, Repaired. Stereo, No Problem.
It'S The Engine, People Want To Know How Much You Use This Engine. If The Engine Is Bad, The Whole Car Is Bad. Basically.
Istiqam, Where Does It Come From? What Part Of Your Body Really Brings About Istiqam? It'S The Heart. And That'S Where The Person Should Really Focus On. But In Darikah, The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Said Every Single Morning That The Person Wakes Up, Every Morning Or There'S Another Hadith I Want To Focus On.
The Hadith Of The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Mentioned, Sorry, He Mentioned The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Said لا يستقيم إيمان عبد حتى يستقيم قلبه The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Said A Person'S Eman Will Not Be Steadfast حتى يستقيم قلبه Until His Heart Is Steadfast. It Won'T Be Used About Istiqam Here. And Of Course, The Hadith That You Just Mentioned, The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, He Said إِنَّ الْحَلَالَ بَيِّنٌ وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ وَبَيْنَهُمَا أُمُّرٌ مُشْتَبِهَانٌ لا يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ فَمَنِ اتَّقَى الشُّبَهَاتِ فَقَدْ اسْتَبْرَأَ لِدِينِهِ وَعِرْضِهِ وَمَنْ وَقَعَ فِي الشُّبُهَاتِ وَقَعَ فِي الْحَرَامِ يُرعى حَوْلَ الْحِمَى يُونشِكُ اَنْ يَرْتَعَ فِيهُ أَلَا وَإِنَّ لِكُنِّ مَلِكٍ حِمَى أَلا وَإِنَّ حِمَى اللَّهِ مَحَارِمُهُ أَلَا وَإِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مِضْغَةٌ إِذَا صَلَحَتْ صَلَحَ الجَسَدُ كُلُوا وَإِذَا فَسَدَتْ فَسَدَ الْجَسَدُ كُلُّ أَلَا وَإِنَّ قَدْ So yes, in the hadith, the prophet tells us there is an organ inside the human body.
If that organ becomes corrupt, the whole entire body becomes corrupt. And if that organ is upright, then the whole entire body is also upright. So the heart is the point that the person needs to focus on.
And that's why the prophet ﷺ in the hadith, he took his hand ﷺ and placed on his chest. And what did he say? He said, He said the taqwa three times. It comes from the heart.
It comes from the heart. And it comes from the heart. And we know the people of taqwa are the people who are going to inherit Jannah.
تلك الجنة التي نورث من عبادنا من كانت تقية Jannah is going to be inherited to those people. And so Allah says وَإِن مِنكُمْ إِلَّا وَأَرِيدُهَا كَانَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَّقَضِيًّا ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي الَّذِينَ التَّقَوْا وَنَظَرُوا الظَّالِمِينَ فِي أَجْتِيَّ يعني أهل التقوى Allah is going to save them when they go on the Sirat that path, right? They're not going to fall into the hellfire. They're going to make it through the people of taqwa.
So the أصل الاستقامة is the قلب and the person needs to protect his heart. And if he does, the whole body will become established. ولذلك أبو هريرة used to say القلب ملك الأعضاء that the heart is the king of the limbs and he used to say وَالأَعْضَاءُ جُنُودُهُ وَرَعَيَةٌ and the limbs are soldiers, okay? فَإِن طَابَ الْمَلِكِ طَابَةِ الْجُنُودُ وَالرَّعَيَةِ if the king is upright and he's good, then the whole time soldiers will follow him, right? The general knows what he's doing.
The army is the general, right? So let's take it on a tangent because part of the series we're driving on the road whenever you drive on the road, you might take a detour, you might hit a dead end, you might go to different parts. So you just mentioned the heart now. You mentioned the importance of protecting the heart.
One might ask how is... what affects the heart first of all? Okay, we know that we want to protect this. How does it get affected? Is it just our deeds? Or is it things that we see? What affects the heart? The heart suffers from mainly two illnesses. It's called مَرَضُ الشَهْوَ مَرَضَ الشُّبْحَة These are the two illnesses that the heart suffers from.
It's desires and doubts. The highest one is doubts. And that's كُفْر which is the highest and then بِدْعَة which is the second.
كُفْر means disbelief. And a lot of people, a lot of people who are online watching debates and atheists and this and that, the doubts come to them from that. So then the heart starts suffering from doubts.
And then كُفْر starts to become and the person falls into كُفْر. And then you have بِدْعَة innovation where the person starts reading the books of the innovators, sitting with the innovators, sitting with people mocking the Sunnah and mocking the people of the Sunnah and the person starts to have doubts regarding matters of the Sunnah and innovation creeps in which is doubts. شُبْحَة And then there's the second thing that the heart suffers from is شَهْوَة شَهْوَة is desires.
And those are major and minor sins. Because if a person is doing major sins, person is doing major sins, he's falling into desires. عَرَفْت And if the person is consistent upon minor sins, he's consistent upon minor sins, he's doing minor sins, that is also شَهْوَة that he falls into.
And then Allah Ta'ala told us in the Qur'an, Allah Ta'ala, He told us in the Qur'an, He said, أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّقَدَهُ أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ اتَّقَدَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَةٌ Have you not seen the one who has taken his desires as his what? As his Lord. يعني he worships his desires. As the Prophet said in another hadith, تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الدِّينَارَ تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الدِّرْهَم تَعِسَ عَبْدُ الْخَمْزَةَ يعني يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَلِدَ أَخِرَةٍ هُمْ غَفِرُونَ The person gives in to the glamors and the glitters of this dunya and their desires fall into that from the شَهْوَةُ النِّسَاء The desires of women.
The Prophet said, اتَّقُوا الدُّنْيَا وَاتَّقُوا النِّسَاء فَإِنَّ أُوَّلَ فِتْنَةِ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ كَانَتْ فِي النِّسَاء Fear the dunya, fear the women for verily the first fitna of Bani Israel was what? Was the women. So the شَهْوَة If your heart, this comes into your heart and it hits your heart you have to clean your heart. You have to what? And what Allah تبارك وتعالى wants and the heart that He loves is a heart which is pure.
That's why Allah تبارك وتعالى He mentions the people who are going to be blessed and noble are what? Those who have come up to Allah تبارك وتعالى لقلب سليم A qalb which is clean and what is it clean from? يعني من الشبهة والشهوة And is it fair to say that there are avenues to the heart? For example, what you see it impacts your heart and what you say it impacts your heart and what you hear it impacts your heart. The Prophet ﷺ The two eyes they can be zina The zina of the eyes is what? It's looking. So yes of course what you see goes directly to your heart.
The Prophet ﷺ he told us that the Shaytan will use the people's listening. Allah تبارك وتعالى He tells us وَاسْتَفْسِسْ مَنْ اِسْتَطَعْتَ مِنْهُمْ بِصَوْتِكَ وَأَجْلِبْ عَلَيْهِمْ بِخَيْلِكَ وَرَجْلِكَ وَاشَارِكُمْ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالأَوْلَادِ وَمَا يَعِذُهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ وَإِلَّا هُوَ رُورًا And the scholars they mentioned from this verse the voice of Shaytan is what? Music. So that's where he mentions Shaytan talks to the music, listening to music of course, is رُكْيَةُ الشَّيْطَان as the Qur'an called it.
These things of course they have an effect on your heart. الحمد لله These things, Allah مبارك, they don't really need evidence or proofs to be given. The people who listen to will tell you yes, you're right.
I got corrupted when I started listening to music. You know, I was speaking to a brother recently who recently he's developed I would say an addiction I think that was his own words to Netflix. So this entertainment and this is what many kids are being brought and raised up on now, this entertainment thing.
And I used to think I used to think that the biggest evil from this is wasting time. That you basically spend an hour two hours of your day just watching this and you're just wasting your time. And then I realized later on in life that actually this is a huge problem but it's not the only problem.
It's the fact that as you're watching it, you're impacting your heart. That when the Salah comes, it's actually harder for you now to get up and pray. It's harder for you to just open the Qur'an.
And this is something even outside of Islam they talk about the dopamine effect. So even like now doing something like reading a book or reading the Qur'an even, it suddenly isn't as entertaining for you because your dopamine levels have become so high that we're so used to consuming content online that now when you open the Mus'haf after three minutes, four minutes, you're like I need to do something else. Whereas that was never the case before.
Before this entertainment if you actually protected your heart, protected your eyes and kept away from this entertainment you'd find leather in reading the Qur'an. This would be your entertainment. You'd enjoy it.
You'd be able to do it for hours and hours upon end. That's true. Because the ayah... اِعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهُونَ اِعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهُونَ But the point that concerns me is فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُ The matter became lengthened for them.
They got distance from the Qur'an for so long. So their hearts became tainted. They started to rot.
It affected their hearts. That's how it became. If you look at the Prophet ﷺ He said to the man He said يا رسول الله أَسْأَلُكَ مُرَافَقَتَكَ مُرَافَقَتَكَ فِي الْجَنَّةِ He said, O Messenger of Allah, I want to be with you in Jannah.
The Prophet ﷺ he said فَاعِلْنِي عَلَى كَتْرَةِ السُّجُودِ Help me and aid me and support me by coming with so much sujood. In other words, be consistent in what you're doing. Yeah, these shows that people watch online Back to back, people are watching series after series episode after episode.
And you know what's something greater that they're missing out, they don't realize that the enjoyment that they're getting from that they could find it in Islam. Like Shaykh al-Sabih ibn Taymiyyah I believe he said that there are two Jannahs. Right? There's a Jannah in the Dunya and there's a Jannah in the Akhirah.
And the one who doesn't experience a Jannah in the Dunya he won't experience a Jannah in the Akhirah. Meaning as I understood it and correct me if I'm wrong that when you have Islam and you're worshipping Allah correctly you're worshipping Him alone there's a sweetness that's attached to that. So you actually experience happiness in this world before you get the ultimate happiness in the next.
This can be found within Islam but unfortunately people look for it elsewhere. You see what it is, you know if you're used to drinking fizzy drink and you cut off from it for a long long time and then you come back to it again that same drink you love it's like, was I actually drinking this? Your taste buds come back things go back to normal that's what it is. But that time you're drinking it you're addicted to it.
You're like, I can't stop this how am I going to ever stop this? And that's what happens when the Dhikr of Allah Ta'ala at the beginning you're going to be like no but I'm trying to read the Qur'an I don't find the joy because your taste buds are gone. Your taste buds are gone. But if you stay upon it, stay upon it, stay upon it get past that initial difficult period where you think that then the sweetness comes.
Allah gives it to you after the initial hardship. Because the heart, you've really basically corrupted your heart so much to the extent you're like trying to drink honey from a dirty cup. You can't taste it.
The honey is sweet. It's your cup. It's my clean cup.
Okay, I took it on a tangent a bit from Istiqamah. What were you saying for a moment? Another point I wanted to mention which is so many people are going to be like, you know what? Which is a concept of Istiqamah. You know what? This is between me and Allah.
They will say for example, Allah is the one who can judge me subhanahu wa ta'ala. I worship Allah in my way. I do things in your way.
And Allah is going to be my judge yawm al qiyamah. In other words, what they try to say is my Istiqamah is not necessarily your Istiqamah. Oh, okay.
But Allah refuted it in the Qur'an. Allah Ta'ala He said فَاسْتَقِمْ كَمَا أُمِرْتَ وَمَنْ تَابَ مَعَكَ وَلَا تَطْعُوا Be steadfast in the way you are commanded to be steadfast. So what we learn is steadfastness is not what you and I call steadfastness or what we want to call it.
It's what Allah would tell us subhanahu wa ta'ala what steadfastness is. And from that ayah subhanAllah, Allah has already told us that steadfastness is to actually not go overboard as well. Overboard in worship you mean? Yeah, yeah.
Some people they overdo things. When they start practicing, they overdo it sometimes. They say I'm not going to get married and this is going to get me closer to Allah.
I'm not going to get married. I'm going to boycott. I'm going to fast every single day without breaking the fast.
Exactly. I'm not going to, you know, study academic sciences, for example. I'm kind of from uni.
Some people kind of, they do extra things which later they regret later and they say I was wrong then and they stop practicing then, which is good to tell them at the beginning. No, don't do this. Steadfastness is with moderation.
The prophet said, The prophet said, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, this religion is easy. There's nobody who makes this religion hard. You see this with some new Muslims.
They suddenly go back to... Yeah, it's true. Because that zeal and that passion is taken to an extreme. Does that make sense? It's pushed to something extreme.
And that later the person, subhanAllah, they just walk away from practicing the deen. They're like, I gave everything to it. I couldn't do it anymore.
I couldn't. Because it's true what they did to themselves is they went too extreme in what they were doing. So what you need is, do things with diligence and do it bit by bit.
And if someone's wondering, what is moderation then? Moderation is the sunnah. It gives you that moderation for you. You can't go wrong to be following what the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, said.
I go back to the ayah. Don't go overboard. Don't do tughyan.
In the beginning, the ayah said, and he said, Don't be steadfast and don't go overboard. Don't go overboard with what you do. Whether it be going overboard in aqidah, by making takfir of everybody and you only think you're the Muslim.
Making tabdiyah of everybody, thinking you're the only person on the sunnah. You start innovating things in the religion and trying to get closer to Allah. By it, it's extreme.
It's tughyan. It's not the istiqama Allah sanctions, subhanAllah ta'ala. And steadfastness of Allah ta'ala is referring to in the ayah, ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا أَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوَعَدُونَ نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَآءُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي أَنفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِي نَامَةِ الدَّعُودِ مُزُولًا مِّنْ غَفُورُ وَطَحِيمٍ So you're following me around today.
So I have to make this stop. We're going to carry on inshaAllah. I have to make this stop.
We'll come back inshaAllah. JazakAllah khair. We're back on the road.
I actually forgot what we were talking about before. So I'm going to let you remind me inshaAllah what was it I actually forgot. So what we were talking about was يعني what are the موانع the things that can prevent you from استقامة.
That's right. We mentioned, you know, shuhuat and shubuhat, desires and also doubts. And also another point that imitating the non-Muslims.
Because when we say, إِهْدِيْنَا الصَّلَاةَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ وَاللَّهَ قَيْرَسَهُ الشَّيْءِ There are two paths for us. We see refuge in Allah from, right? The path of the Christians and the Jews, right? غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَالْضَالِينَ مَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ is who? The Jews. وَالْضَالِينَ is the Christians now.
SubhanAllah, what's amazing is the two things that they have, each one has, but the Muslims combine the two. Okay, I know where you're going. Just explain it for the people.
What do you mean by that? So the Jews, they have knowledge, but they don't act upon the knowledge that they have. Yeah. And the Christians, they have actions with no knowledge.
And the Muslim combines between beneficial knowledge and righteous actions. It's the middle path again. And that again, the middle path.
That is the استقامة. Because Allah says in the ayah, وَالَّذِي أَرَسَلَ رَسُولَهُ بِالْهُدَىٰ الْهُدَىٰ إِذَا الْعِلْمُ النَّافِعُ وَالدِينِ الْحَقِّ إِذَا الْعَمَلُ صَالِحٌ as the Mufassireen, like Mujarrir, Qabir and others mentioned. Yani Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ with those two, beneficial knowledge and righteous actions.
That's something we want Allah to give us, subhanahu wa ta'ala, beneficial knowledge and righteous actions. It's actually every morning we wake up, we're trying to gain more beneficial knowledge and more righteous actions we're trying to come with. That's our mission in life, right? Yeah.
And that's why Allah brought us into the world, by the way. The knowledge what represents it is قَوْلُهُ تَعَالَىٰ the statement of Allah where He says اللَّهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَ سَبْعَ سَمَوَاتٍ وَمِنَ الْأَرْضِ مِتْرَهُنَّ يَتَنَزَّلُ الْأَمْرُ بَيْنَهُنَّ لِتَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٍ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ أَلْمًا So Allah is saying I created seven heavens and everything in it, and the seven earths and everything in it, Allah said I created all of that. لِتَعْلَمُوا So you have knowledge.
So Allah is telling us He created us to have knowledge. And the action, the ayah that shows that we were created to do actions وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَىٰ لِيَعْبُدُونَ Ibadah is an act of worship. And the two go hand in hand because you can't have any actions without knowledge.
You can't. You can't, exactly, exactly. وَلِذَلَكَ سُفِيَانَ الطَّوْرِ I think it was him.
Or Sufyan Ibn Uyaynah, one of the two. He used to say, Anyone from amongst this ummah, he used to say, Who acts with no knowledge فَفِيهِ شَبَهُ مِنَ الْنَصَارَةِ He specifically says Our Ibad, our worshippers, who worship Allah with no knowledge have in themselves a resemblance of the Christians. And the scholars who don't act upon their knowledge now have a resemblance of the Jews.
You know, it's one of these things. There are many things in Islam like this. I always reflect upon this.
There are many things in Islam that are very circular. What do I mean by that? I mean, for example, the concept of seeking knowledge and refraining from sins. The more you refrain from sins, the easier it is to seek knowledge and the more knowledge you attain.
And then the more knowledge you attain, the easier it is to refrain from sins because you suddenly know what is halal and what is halal. And seeking knowledge and beneficial actions is another cycle like this. The more knowledge you gain, of course, the more actions you can do because you learn about new actions.
And as you do more and more actions, you start to seek more knowledge because suddenly you engage in action. You think, what's the rule on that? And what do I do here? And what do I do here? And so it's like a cycle. It's a really... You just have to get yourself on the cycle.
The hardest thing is just getting on the cycle. It's like a hamster wheel. As soon as you're on there, you keep going round and round and round.
As long as you don't give up, you're going to make progress. That's true. That's really true.
Why Allah said, In the ayah, The ones who fear Allah, the most are the scholars. I mean, they're not the same. The one who knows, and the one who doesn't know.
And what's amazing is, before Allah says, are they the same, the one who knows and the one who doesn't know? Before that, Allah says, the one who stood up at night and prayed. Yeah. That's what the knowledgeable person does, right? Again, because that's in knowledge and action.
Knowledge will lead to action. I know. And He'll make the person stand fast.
And He'll make the person come with what is pleasing to Allah. Yeah. And it's amazing because Allah, promised for the people of Istiqam, and Allah make us from them.
Two things. Allah says, The angels were what? They won't descend on them. And the angels will say to them, So they say two things to them.
What's the difference between the two? The difference is, don't be scared of, what you see right now. You're seeing a creation you've never seen before. You're heading in a direction, you're scared of what is going to happen to you.
So don't be scared of that. The future, the present and the future is talking about. Don't be worried about your children you left behind.
And your family members. Don't worry, we're going to take care of them. Why are we going to take care of them? It's because, you are a righteous person.
What's it to do with that? Allah says in the Quran, when He spoke about the, the man who, they came to build a, they came to ask for a particular family, to take them as a guest, right? And, Musa and Khadir, the, the family refused to take them as a guest. Khadir and Musa, especially Khadir, was sent a revelation, and was told to go to that particular house, and build their wall for them, because there was treasures under it, and they were orphans, and their parents have passed away. Khadir was sent there, to basically cover it, so nobody steals their wealth.
And Allah is telling us, why He made Khadir do that. He said, وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَ أَشْهُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنْزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً لِلْمُرْبِّ Allahu Akbar. Allah said, their parents were what? They were righteous people.
So Allah said, a prophet. Father. Right, their father? Yeah, their father.
وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا Their two, two boys, but their father. Yeah, yeah. And that's a dunya benefit, right? Gold, treasure, wealth.
It shows that even being steadfast upon Islam, it's not just about the Akhira as well. Of course, that's what we're doing it for. Said Ibn Husayn even used to say that.
He used to say to his children, اِنِّي أُصَلِّي وَأَصْعُمْ I'm going to pray and I'm going to fast. So Allah can protect you guys through my prayer and my fasting. Allahu Akbar.
And Allah says, وَعَقِبَاتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْي وَمِنْ خَلْفِي يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِّنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ Allah sends angels. Angels, they take turns. And they protect them from what? From everything.
They protect them. Because these people, they came with what? اِحْفَظِ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْكِ اِحْفَظِ اللَّهَ تَجِدْهُ تُجَّاهَكِ اِذَا اسْتَعَلْتَ فَاسْأَلِ اللَّهِ وَإِذَا اسْتَعَلْتَ فَاسْتَعَلْتِ اللَّهِ حَدِثَ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بَعَبَّسِهِ فِي جَمَعِ تِرْمُ They safeguarded the boundaries of Allah Ta'ala. يعني حافظوا على الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوَسْطَةِ وَقُولُوا لِلَّهِ قَانِتِينَ So they came with حفظ of the prayer.
So what did they do? حفظ حافظوا على الصَّلَوَاتِ وَالصَّلَاةِ الْوَسْطَةِ Protect the middle player. يعني العصر The reason why Allah mentions عصر specifically is because عصر is in the middle of the day when people are trying to make money. It's true, yeah.
So who are you going to choose? Allah or your money and your business? And by choosing Allah, you're ultimately choosing your money because He is Al-Razak and He's going to give you more. It's true, it's true. And also اللَّهَ تَبَارُكُتَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ Those who safeguard their private parts.
And when you do all of this, the Prophet ﷺ, he said to the Sahabas one day, استحيوا من الله حق الحياة Be shy of Allah the way you deserve to be shy of. And the Sahabas, they said, يا رسول الله إنا نستحي من الله والحمد لله We are shy of Allah and praises to Him. And then the Prophet ﷺ, he said, من استحي من الله حق الحياة Anyone who is shy of Allah the way it should be.
فَلْيَحْفَظِ الرَّأْسَ وَمَا وَحَوَى Protect فَلْيَحْفَظِ The word حِفْظ The head and everything that's on it. The eyes and ears and the mouth and everything. وَالْبَطْلَ وَمَا وَعَى And the stomach and what's in it.
نُؤِي حَرَام وَلْيَذْكُرِ الْمَوْتَ وَالْبِلَى Let him remember death. And the day is going to go back to Allah Ta'ala. Does that make sense? Yes.
So you come with an إحفظ الله As I mentioned, you do those حِفْظ of that. And Allah is going to do حِفْظ of you and take care of you. And not only you, but your children and your children's children and your children's children.
Allah protects them subhanahu wa ta'ala because of that. You see a whole entire family is preserved and protected from so many evils in this world. It's just being taken care of.
Because they surrendered to Allah Ta'ala. So Allah doesn't forsake the righteous people. إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيُّ عَجِرَ مَنَ حَسَنَ عَمَلًا The one who does righteous deeds and possess the efforts.
Allah won't subhanahu wa ta'ala do not forsake him subhanahu wa ta'ala. So that's what it means. أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحَزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ تُوَعَدْهُمْ The people who are not the people of istiqamah, who are on the other side, who forsake the boundaries and the rules and the regulations set by Allah Ta'ala, who are heedless about it, refuse to be steadfast.
Allah Ta'ala speaks about them in the Quran as well. وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذٍ مُجْرِمُونَ (When you see, Allah says, وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذٍ مُجْرِمُونَ). نَاكِسُوا رُؤُسِهِمْ (When you see the criminals with their heads bowed down). وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذٍ مُجْرِمُونَ means بَاسِطُوا أَيْدِيهِمْ (they will stretch out their hands) أَخْرِجُوا أَنفُسَكُمُ (bring out your souls) الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُومِ (Today you will be rewarded with the punishment of the fire) بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَكُنْتُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِمْ تَسْتَخْمِرُونَ (because of what you used to say about Allah without knowledge and used to reject His signs). This describes when the angel of death comes to these individuals. What does the angel of death say to them? أَخْرِجُوا أَنفُسَكُمُ (Bring out your souls) الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُومِ (Today you will taste the harshness and pain) بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَكُنْتُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِمْ تَسْتَخْمِرُونَ (because of what you used to say about Allah without knowledge and reject His signs).
This highlights the difference between two groups of people: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهَ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا (Indeed, those who say, "Our Lord is Allah" and then remain steadfast). And then, it comes down to استقامة (steadfastness). وَلِذَلِكَ أَحَقُّ الْأَعْمَالِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَدْوَنُهَا (The most beloved actions to Allah are those that are consistent, even if they are small).
Many people have the misconception that if they are going to commit to something, they should go all in with a big action. But I reject that concept. Instead, I say: start small, but be consistent with it for the rest of your life. And from my understanding, many of the salaf (early generations of Muslims) used to do an action once, and that was it for them. We ask Allah to make us steadfast, because that’s the scary part: we don't know where we’re going. We don’t know the path we’ll take.
Remember, I don’t know if the audio will pick it up, but for people in the West and the UK, hearing the adhan (call to prayer) automatically raises your iman (faith). Just hearing it is a benefit.
We have about 2 or 3 more minutes before we reach the masjid (mosque), so we’ll have to close soon. What else would you like to add? If we need to continue, we can do another episode, but for now, we’ve only got a few more minutes left.
Ustad (teacher), is there anything else you’d like to add on this topic?
Let’s always beg Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala (Glorified and Exalted be He) to keep our hearts steadfast, and ask Him to keep us firm upon this religion and the sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). We should always beg Allah for steadfastness, because we don’t know. We shouldn't be content or rely on ourselves. That’s the last thing we should do. We must rely on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and believe and trust Him. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to say: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ تُوبُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ فَإِنِّي أَتُوبُوا فِي الْيَوْمِ مِئَةَ مَرَّةٍ (O people, repent to Allah, for I ask for forgiveness from Him one hundred times a day).
Also, the hadith (narration) of يَا مُقَلِّبَ الْقُلُوبِ يَثَبِّتْ قَلْبِي عَلَى الدِّينِ (O Turner of the hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion), because the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to say this.
Consider how it was for Ibrahim (عليه السلام) (Abraham), who said: رَبِّ جُنُوبَنِي وَبَنِيَّ أَنْ نَعْبُدَ الْأَصْنَامَ (O Allah, protect me and my children from worshiping idols). Even though Ibrahim (عليه السلام) destroyed the idols, he still asked Allah for protection from idol worship. Allah mentions in the Quran: فَجَعَلَهُمْ جُذَاذًا إِلَّا كَبِيرًا لَهُمْ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَفْعِلُونَ (He made them fragments, except for the biggest one among them so that they might return to it).
If Ibrahim (عليه السلام), despite his actions, was asking Allah to protect him from idol worship, we shouldn’t depend on our own efforts, hard work, or strength. Everything is in Allah’s hands, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's why we say: إِهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ (Guide us to the straight path).
JazakAllah khayr (May Allah reward you) Ustad. I really hope you enjoyed this first episode. We’ve reached the masjid now, so we’re going to go inside to pray. If there's anything more to add to this topic, we might continue in another episode. But for now, inshaAllah (if Allah wills), we’ll see how it goes.
InshaAllah. BarakAllahu feek (May Allah bless you).
Wa alaikum assalam,
So, we’re back in the car, and as you can see, we’re in a different thobe. So it’s clearly a different day. This is actually a week later—approximately a week later—since we were recording the first video. I know we mentioned a lot of points about Istiqama, but this topic is so wide and comprehensive that we felt like we didn’t do it justice. We want to continue talking about where we left off.
I haven’t written anything down, so I’m going off memory now, but just some of the things that I remember we spoke about: We spoke about the definition of Istiqama. We spoke about how it involves staying away from shirk (polytheism). We spoke about how it’s about having ikhlas (sincerity) and nahi (prohibition). We also spoke about performing the obligatory deeds, and we kind of summarized it as basically saying it’s about being an upright Muslim. It’s basically practicing Islam the way it should be done.
We also spoke about the importance of the heart. If you remember, we spoke about the entertainment industry and how that increases your level of dopamine, and therefore you can’t perform acts of worship the way you’d like to. We mentioned a number of other things as well. And of course, the viewers have just been watching the same video—it’s all part of one video.
But do you remember anything else that you want to particularly highlight from the last discussion, or do you just want to go into the remaining points we’d like to talk about regarding Istiqama?
So yeah, let’s just go into it, Inshallah Ta'ala. I’ll finish up by now. Watch those parts and see.
Let me first start by saying:
Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafin anbiya wa al-mursaleen, Sayyidina wa nabiyina Muhammad, wa ala alihi wa ashabihi wa tabi'ina lahu bihsani ila yawmi al-deen. Amma ba'ad.
A point I kind of touched on but didn’t go into deeply, which I want to add on to, is that Istiqama cannot be achieved unless there are three things. You can’t come with Istiqama unless you come with three things:
- An yapuna al-istiqama lillah (It has to be for Allah).
Okay, that makes sense, right? Which brings us to the ayah:
"Wa ma umiru illa liya'budu Allah mukhlisina lahu ad-deena hunafa wa yuqimu as-salata wa yuqtulu az-zakata wa dharika deenu muqaddima."
Allah says: “I haven’t commanded them except to worship Allah, being sincere to Him in religion.”
This is the essence of what we spoke about earlier regarding the reality of Istiqama. Istiqama means La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah). Istiqama means that the servant is steadfast upon the testimony of La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah).
So it’s sincerity in every act of obedience. If you don’t do it with sincerity, and if it’s not done in accordance with the Sunnah (traditions of the Prophet ﷺ), then of course, it’s not accepted, right? It’s not going to be accepted from you. This is an act of worship, and it has to be done for Allah’s sake.
Wa didarik (and thus), any act that a person does, if they don’t do it for Allah’s sake, it will be rejected. And in accordance with the Sunnah, there are two pillars that every action needs to stand upon. Without these pillars, it will be rejected.
Let me mention the evidence for both:
- If you don’t do this action for Allah and you do it for Allah and someone else or something else, you need to remember it will be rejected. The Prophet ﷺ told us that Allah said, "Allah is rich, He doesn’t need anyone. We are the poor ones, we are the ones in need of Allah."
This Hadith Qudsi (a narration in which Allah speaks directly, but the words are from the Prophet ﷺ) mentions that Allah says: “I am rich. I don’t need this association that you’re bringing with me.” The Hadith goes on to say: “Anyone who associates partners with Me in something or someone else, I abandon him and that which he associates.”
- When it comes to following the Prophet ﷺ, anyone who comes with an action that is not in line with what the Prophet ﷺ taught will have their action rejected. It will be dismissed.
So, the first pillar for someone who wants to come with Istiqama is that it must be for Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala (Glory be to Him).
The second one is that Istiqama has to be with Allah. What does that mean? It means you need Allah's help to do it. You can’t do Istiqama unless Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala (Glory be to Him) aids and supports you.
What did we just say? Istiqama is an act of worship, right? So, who do you need to rely on? Worship Allah and rely on Him.
Also, the famous hadith: Strive to that which benefits you, and seek help from whom? Allah. And don’t give up.
So, strive to that which benefits you, rely on Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, and know He is the one who can make it happen. And don’t give up.
By the way, those three—strive to that which benefits you, rely on Allah, and don’t give up—are, SubhanAllah, the backbone for any personal development, for a progressing life. All these famous non-Muslims that people listen to—like Brian Tracy, Tony Robbins—people are always listening to motivational speakers, and they get things from them.
Anything a person needs to do, if it revolves around these three—SubhanAllah—strive to that which benefits you in this world and in the Hereafter, seek help from Allah*, and don’t give up. That’s it. That’s the key to success, right?
And the two things that you mentioned when you talked about Istiqama, standing upon these two things: that you don’t associate any partners with Allah (i.e., Tawhid), the action that you’re doing is for Allah alone, and the second is that you seek help from Allah.
Summarizing that, it’s true.
The third thing I wanted to mention—I’ve already mentioned two so far: The first one was that it has to be for Allah, and by Allah. So, the first one was for Allah, the second was with Allah—Subhanahu wa ta'ala (Glory be to Him).
Okay, and the third one is: Istiqama has to be in the way Allah commanded and instructed it. This is something we kind of touched on before. Istiqama: Allah is the one who instructs us how to be steadfast. Be steadfast as you were commanded and instructed. You can’t just say, "I want to be steadfast in my own little way," you know, what I think is Istiqama. Not necessarily. That’s not Istiqama. That steadfastness is not what someone desires or thinks; it’s what Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sanctioned during the time of His Messenger ** ﷺ** (peace be upon him).
So those three are important. For me, a lot of people, when they think about Istiqama (steadfastness), they’re thinking about being able to perform good deeds consistently. They think about, you know, longevity in acts of worship.
What do you think about the concept of habits? This is something that I’ve been reflecting upon. You might agree, disagree—I’d like to welcome your thoughts as well.
The concept of building habits for me, the way Allah has created us, I believe personally, is a huge mercy from Allah. That He created human beings to be habitual. What do I mean by that? I mean, like, you know when you’re a kid, for example, and you have to brush your teeth, and you’re like, “I don’t want to brush my teeth.” Oh no, you’re running away from it, you don’t want to brush your teeth. As you do it more and more in life, it doesn’t become difficult; it just becomes easier. It just becomes a habit, part of who you are.
I always liked brushing my teeth, but when I was a kid, I used to run away from it! So this can also be applied. And also, we have to be wary of doing this in acts of worship, because we don’t want it to just become an idea—just a habit. Obviously, we want to always remember this is an act of worship, keeping that intention at the forefront of our minds.
But there is a certain element that when you first come into the deen (religion), for example, you’re trying to wake up for Fajr (the pre-dawn prayer). You’re waking up for Fajr—it’s difficult. It’s not easy for you. As you do it more and more, it becomes easier and easier for you.
Now, Allah didn’t have to create us like that. It could have been the case that the way you’re doing it 10 years later, it’s the same difficulty in all of your acts of worship as you found 10 years ago. But I think it’s a huge mercy from Allah that we can actually get used to these things, to a certain extent. Like, it becomes easier on us.
What do you think of that concept?
You see, the concept of continuation and consistency of something, generally speaking, brings results—even if it’s done in a small quantity. Even if it’s done in a small quantity. A lot of times, this is what happens. I think we touched on it before as well. If we want to do something, we have to do it so big, and it has to be clear, or else I’m not going to do it.
Yeah, a lot of people fall into this big time. But that’s not what matters. What matters is that it’s continuous, even if it’s small. Because you get far as well when the Prophet ﷺ said: “The most beloved actions to Allah are those that are done with consistency, even if they are very little.”
A poet once said: “Go and seek, go and look for, don’t ever give up on what you’re trying to attain.”
The biggest harm for someone who’s trying to seek something is when they give up. It’s when they stop. It’s when they say, “I haven’t reached my goal, so I’m just going to stop.”
Yeah, do you not see the water? Do you not see that the repetition of the water actually penetrates through a rock?
Have you ever seen it?
Shahid (witness)?
I’ve personally not seen it, but I’ve heard that line in poetry before.
I’ve seen it. Honestly, I’ve seen it. I was shocked, Wallahi (By Allah)! I actually saw it. I saw a stone… where? Make a hole inside!
In the UK, I saw a stone where water kept dropping. You know, I used to go a lot to the countryside when I was in the UK. I’d take some books with me sometimes, and I’d drive outside London, go as far as possible. Sometimes, I would just drive, not know where I’m heading, and then I’d just come to a place where it’s just a big mountain. Honestly speaking, just countryside—I don’t know who those people are. And I’d just stand there, and SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah), it’s just amazing—the beauty of Allah Ta'ala (the Exalted).
So I saw things like that. I saw water just kept dropping on a stone, on a rock, to the point where it penetrated. It actually penetrated. It made it black and made a hole inside. And it’s happening so often. It keeps dropping. It’s a very light and soft substance—water—that can actually penetrate through rock.
Even let’s not go far. If somebody cries all the time, the mark will start showing on their face.
But that’s not once or twice. It’s like when you cry too much, this is what happens to you.
Yeah.
Anything you're doing, in order to see results, it has to be. It has to be. And the other harm of this concept, that either go hard or go home, this kind of concept, normally results in you not even getting on the horse, so to say—not even starting. And this is often the case. It goes back to burden habits. If you really start something, you don't need to think, "I have to do this for 10 years, 15 years, 20 years." If you do it for 2 or 3 weeks, it becomes so easy for you.
So Allah says in this ayat (verse): "Those who strive in Our path..." Those who are striving in Our way, We guide them to Our many paths. And there's actually a question I have for you regarding this ayat. What do the muhassineen (those who do good) say about this ayat? Because we previously took that the path is one, and Allah here is saying to all of us, which is the plural form. So how can we now say the plurality is not the path, but the people? Every single person is coming up to this path. The people are many, but the path is one. Those who strive for Our path are referring to their striving. Here is the plural form: "Those who have strived in Our sake, We will guide them to that path." Their path. Each person is going to be guided to the path. So the plurality refers to the people, not the path. The path is just one.
There's a lot of emphasis here as well, right? Because if Allah wants here, We will guide them, but Allah begins with a Lām and a Nūn with a Shaddah (which is an emphasis marker in Arabic). Yes, so we definitely guide them. The Nūn is Nūn of Tawheed (monotheism) and the Lām is the Lām of Tawheed as well. So, emphasis. More emphasis. It’s almost like saying, our job is to start making the effort. Once we start making the effort, things become easier.
So, it goes back to the concept of Istiqāmah (steadfastness). When someone thinks, "I have to be steadfast upon this Deen (religion) for as long as I live, and praying, waking up for Fajr (dawn prayer) is hard for me," some people at home might be watching this thinking, "I can't ever imagine myself praying five times a day consistently, waking up for Fajr, and never missing it." The reality is: Just get on the horse, give it a go. Try.
Come back to the verse again, the point that you mentioned. This verse can offer a lot of benefit, and وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِيهَا (And those who strive in it). So, what is required from the person is the first start of the effort. Something has to happen from your side first. And that's common in the Qur'an. Allah says, إِن تَنْصُرُوا اللَّهَ يَنْصُرُكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتْ عَبَدَيَانَكُمْ (If you help Allah, He will help you and strengthen your feet). You tend to say, "You do, I'll do this, right?" إِحْفَظِ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْكَ (Guard Allah, and He will guard you). The slave is قَعِدَ الجَزَاءُ بِالجِنسِ العَمَلِ (The reward is in proportion to the type of action). Once you show the dedication, the determination, the hard work, the enthusiasm, that you're consistent, that you're dedicated, that you're diligent, and you're willing to do this, Allah Ta'ala will guide you to that which is beneficial for you, in this world and the Hereafter.
And it brings us to that concept of صَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا (Strive to be on the right path and get as close as possible). Remember, it's not about reaching the goal, it's about dying on the path. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said in the hadith (narration), صَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "Try to be steadfast on the right path, and get it as close as possible." The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, فَإِنَّ وَلَيَّ اَدْخُلَ أَحَدُكُمْ جَنَّةَ بِعَمَلِهِ (No one enters Jannah due to his own actions). And the Sahabah (companions) said, قَالُوا وَلَا أَنتَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ (Even you, O Messenger of Allah?). And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, حَتَّى (Even me, even me, even me). They said, "O Messenger of Allah, are you not going to enter Jannah because of your actions?" He replied, "No." Why? Because he said, إِلَّا يَتَغَمَّدَ لِيَ اللَّهُ بِالرَّحْمَةِ مِنْهُ وَفَوَّلَهُ (Unless Allah Ta'ala's mercy and virtue come in and help me). Allah doesn't show me. No. Your hard work is just a means. قُدُخُلُوا جَنَّةً بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (Enter Paradise because of what you used to do). This means that your actions only count as a reason, but they don’t guarantee the result.
So, وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا (And those who strive in Our way). When we strive for Allah Ta'ala and we put forth our effort, Allah has promised us here, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala (Glorified and Exalted is He), that He will guide us. And the more we strive, the easier it becomes. The more we strive, the cleaner our hearts become, which means that it’s easy to do the next good deeds. Good deeds breed good deeds.
And so, if my message to anybody at home who might be struggling with something right now, thinking something is difficult, or thinking this is such a far goal, or "I’ll never get there," is: Start on the path, and Allah will make the rest easy for you, Insha'Allah (if Allah wills). It’s true.
Now, the certain word I mentioned, which is استقيموا (Be steadfast). The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, استقيموا ولا تخسروا (Be steadfast, and you will not lose). Be steadfast. You’re not going to be able to encompass everything. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, وَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ أَفْضَلَ أَعْمَالِكُمُ الصَّلَاةُ (And know that the best of your deeds is prayer). In that same hadith, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم spoke about steadfastness, which means, in English, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Be steadfast, you’re not going to be able to encompass everything or get everything from it, all of its corners. You’re not."
وَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ أَفْضَلَ أَعْمَالِكُمُ الصَّلَاةُ (And know that the best of your deeds is prayer). The best action a person can do is prayer. Which again, you see how all this is connected. Remember, we said استقامة (steadfastness) means لا إله إلا الله (There is no god but Allah). So, coming with لا إله إلا الله is استقامة (steadfastness). And then again, استقامة (steadfastness) means praying the salah (prayer). First of all, praying the salah at its right time. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, الْعَهْدُ الَّذِي بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَهُمُ الصَّلَاةُ فَمَنْ تَرَكَهَا فَقَدْ كَفَرُ (The covenant between us and them is prayer; whoever leaves it has disbelieved).
It’s dangerous. It’s a matter of إيمان (faith) and Kufr (disbelief). Salah determines your steadfastness. Why?
Because it's so regular, it comes back, it comes. The prayer comes back. It's true, yeah, it's very true. That's how it works.
This brings us to the issue of habitual and routine practices. Islam is teaching us that Salah comes in; you stop what you're doing, go, and pray, then come back. Allah tells us in the Quran:
فَإِن تَابُوا وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتَوُوا الزَّكَاةَ فَإِخْوَادُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَنُفَصِّلُوا الْآيَاتِ إِلَىٰ آخِرِ الْآيَةِ (Translation: "And if they repent, establish the prayer, and give the zakat, then they are your brothers in the religion. And We detail the verses for a people who know." [Quran, 9:11])
Allah Ta'ala in this verse is telling us: فَإِن تَابُوا If they repent, وَأَقَامُوا الصَّلَاةَ and they establish their prayer, وَآتَوُوا الزَّكَاةَ and they give the zakat, فَإِخْوَادُكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ they are your brothers in faith. So for them to be our brothers in faith, there are two conditions:
- They must pray.
- They must give zakat.
If they don’t do that, إِذَا فُقِدَ الْمَشْرُوطُ فُقِدَ الشَّرْطُ (Translation: "If the condition is missing, then the condition is lost"). If the condition is missing, then Iman (faith) here will be missing, right?
As for zakat, there is hadith and external evidence that proves if a person doesn't pay zakat, they are still a Muslim. As for Salah, the evidence has proven even more that if you leave the prayer, you are a disbeliever. That's very powerful.
So, you're not steadfast if you're missing prayers. If you're praying it late... have you ever thought about the Prophet ﷺ? Even when he was dying and on his deathbed, the last thing he said was: "As-Salāh, As-Salāh, wa ma malakat aymanukum" (Translation: "The prayer, the prayer, and that which your right hands possess") – Perform the prayer and be attentive to your servants.
Something that a lot of people take lightly... you'll find, for example, in my cultural background (Pakistani community), a lot of people won't pray. And you might speak to someone and say, "Yeah, I don't pray my Salah," and they'll be like, "Okay, no problem." But if they say, "I don't fast," for example, like, "You don't fast in Ramadan? How do you not fast in Ramadan?" Which of course is good, it's good to react like that. But with the prayers, it's not the same reaction, when actually the prayers are what make you a Muslim.
We are at a time, SubhanAllah, where leaving the Salah is actually considered a major sin. Finding someone who actually prays all five times a day is becoming rare. The matter of Salah is so serious. Abdullah ibn Shaqiq mentions that the Sahabah never considered any action to be an act of disbelief (kufr), except for leaving the Salah.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "The person who leaves the Salah will be resurrected on the Day of Judgment without any light, no covering, and no intercession. He will be with Qarun, Haman, Fir'aun, and Ubayd ibn Khalif." These are people of disbelief (kufr), and he will be resurrected with them.
So, it's a very serious matter when it comes to the concept of Salah and praying Salah. A brother should not marry a sister who doesn’t pray, as she is not a Muslim. How are you going to marry her?
A sister should not marry a brother who doesn't pray. He's not a Muslim. Don't say, "I'm going to teach him when we get married." What you're doing at that moment is you're in a relationship which is haram. You're not married to a Muslim. If you're not married to a Muslim, you are having an intimate relationship with someone who is not a Muslim. A lot of people will find this difficult to accept, but that's not necessarily because it's something outrageous or crazy. It was there at the time of the Salaf. It's just that with many generations, years, and centuries that have passed, we've made it seem extreme. We've made it seem like it's an extreme opinion, but it's not. It's in the books of the Salaf. Of course, there's ikhtilaf (difference of opinion), and a discussion amongst the scholars about things like this, but this opinion is a valid one. I've been told by many scholars, "I agree with you." This is the reality. We're at a time when "صَارَ الْمَعْرُوفُ مَنكرًا وَالْمَنكرُ مَعْرُوفًا" (Translation: "The good has become bad, and the bad has become good"). The scales have gone upside down. The good is now bad, and the bad is now acceptable. Things have changed, and it's not that the Sharia has changed, but it's because people have deviated and gone far from the path of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala).
A point I want to make is that in our last episode, we didn’t really drive this point home, and we didn’t really go into it. I really want to emphasize it now. There are two things that deeply harm istighfar (seeking forgiveness). These two things are:
- The concept of شهوة (desires).
- Not having control over your desires.
As a person, you have to get control over your desires. No one is going to tell you to not have desires because that's not realistic, but it's about controlling them. You need to keep them under control, under a microscope. You have to constantly check on them. How are they? What are they doing? You keep them on a leash. Your desires shouldn't just do whatever they want. The nafs (self) calls you to that which is bad, and you need to have it under control so that it doesn’t just follow its whims.
If you look at the world today, the battle and fight are actually on this concept of desires. There are people who say, "Leave me to do what I want." Everything that is happening today is tied to desires. LGBTQ movements, feminism, men abusing their wives, egotism—all of this is tied to desires. It’s شهوة (desires). What else is it? It’s شهوة
It's what's causing all of this harm to a lot of people. They just can't control their desires. Whatever their nafs tells them, that's what they want to do. Yeah, and the world is built around that. It's built, particularly in Western countries, but not just them—the internet is everywhere now, and the internet as well is built to just feed your desires. McDonald's here, food there, it's all about desires, desires, desires, to know it. If you look at social media today, people do whatever they want. It's like, why do you care if they do what they want? It's their life.
Even this concept of "YOLO" (You Only Live Once), yeah? "You're only going to live once." What does it mean? "I'm only going to live once." Does that mean I can do whatever I want and just open my desires? What distinguishes us from the animals? It's true, what distinguishes humans from animals? It's the animals who, when they feel their desire, they do whatever they want. That's why human beings are different. The ‘aql (mind) and shahwa (desires) have both been given to them. Ibn al-Qayyim says, "If shahwa overpowers the ‘aql, the human starts to resemble the animal." It becomes like the animal. Just like Allah said in the verse, “They are like cattle; rather, they are more misguided than cattle” (Qur'an, 7:179). Why? Because the animal doesn’t know if what it's doing is right or wrong. This is all it’s been given—shahwa, desires. The lion sees food over there, and it wants to eat. It wants to eat it, it wants to fulfill its desires with it. That’s the mindset of the haywan (animal).
You are made, when the scholars speak about the concept of mukallaf (accountable), what does mukallaf mean? It means to have the ‘aql (intellect) and balagh (maturity), to be sane. Allowing someone to just follow their desires without restrictions and saying, "Do what you want," what does that bring out of the person? It makes the person like the animal. And subhanAllah, Shaykh, if you look at this liberal, progressive Muslim mindset, that’s how it’s taking place, which is pushing Muslims towards that direction. "If he wants to, if the sister wants to do this, let her do it. If the brother wants to do it, let him do it. If the father wants to do it, let him do it. If the mother wants to do it, let everybody do what they want." Freedom, give people their choice.
You’re not going to like this, forgive me in advance. It’s funny when people say that, and they go ahead and do it anyway. But part of this series, I do want it to be a little bit more relaxed, a little bit more personal. So I want to bring in a story that actually you kind of taught me a lesson already, and I benefited from you. That was like, I don’t know, maybe a couple of weeks ago, we had some recording to do, and I got to the recording destination, and you were already there. You said, “You slept over there, you stayed the night there.” I said, "Where did you sleep? There are no beds here." You said, "What do you mean by that?" Go into that a little bit more, because that really connects to the concept of controlling desires. You know, tell us what you mean. The nafs wants to do whatever it wants to do. The nafs is free to do what it feels like. It’s privileged, it’s entitled to do what it wants. So what you need to do is punish it, control it. Your nafs shouldn't have control over you; you should have control over it. Once that happens, you control your nafs, you’re not only going to be praiseworthy in the world you live in today, but everybody will respect and admire you for it. And in the eyes of Allah, you will be a person who is among the righteous people.
Look at the Salaf (early generations). When they would wake up for qiyam al-layl (night prayer), what did Allah mention? The man wakes up from his bed, leaving his wife, leaving the comfort, going to perform wudu (ablution). All of this is a trial for the nafs. The nafs doesn't like this. The nafs likes a cozy bed, it doesn’t want to wake up. It doesn't want to leave the mattress, it doesn’t want to leave your wife, cuddling her, being in that proximity with her, you know, being in that nice comfort. But the nafs doesn’t want that. But the mind and the iman (faith) are kicking in. This person is pushing themselves, saying, "No, nafs, I control you. Listen, we're going to do this."
It was transmitted from them that they used to take a stick, place it next to themselves, and pray until their legs could no longer hold them. Then, they would take the stick and hit their legs, saying, "Do you want Jannah? Is that what you want?" Abu Bakr and Umar wanted Jannah as well, and they put a lot of hard work into it. Does that make sense?
Yeah, that’s a benefit. I’m sorry for sharing that, but that’s a benefit I took from you. I still don’t know where you slept!
You know, Maimun bin Mehran was a katib (scribe) for Umar bin Abdulaziz. He used to write for him, and one day, he became blind. He became older and went to his son, saying, "I want you to take me to Hassan al-Basri." And Hassan al-Basri was something else—he was very well-known for his eloquence. He’s the one who said, “If they are stricken with hardships and their hearts are hardened, they will never know the pain of sin. But know that the humiliation of disobedience does not leave their faces.” Eloquent speech like that. When he spoke, people felt it. They said about Hassan al-Basri, "It’s as if he went to the Akhirah (the Hereafter), saw what was there, and came back to tell the people about it."
Maimun ibn al-Mahran, who was a katib for Umar ibn Abdulaziz, said, "The only people who were close to him were the righteous." Maimun ibn al-Mahran said, "Take me to Hassan al-Basri." So they grabbed him by the hand and took him. Ibn Sa’d mentions this in his Tafakkar (reflection). They knocked on the door of Hassan al-Basri. The servant of Hassan al-Basri asked, "Who?" Maimun ibn al-Mahran said, "It’s me, Maimun ibn al-Mahran." The servant replied, "You evil sheikh, what made you live at this evil time?" Maimun started to cry, and he wept. They brought Hassan al-Basri out. Hassan al-Basri opened the door and said, "Come in." Maimun entered, and Hassan al-Basri asked him, "What brought you here, Maimun?" He replied, "I found my heart is hard." Again, it shows us, SubhanAllah, do we do that? When we find our hearts hardening, do we go to the ulama (scholars)? Do we go to the people of knowledge and say, "My heart is not like it used to be, my iman is reduced"? Do we do that?
No, we only go to the doctors if we've got teeth or if we're feeling a bit sick. But when iman goes down, we don't go to the scholars and the people of knowledge. Maimun ibn al-Mahran, when he said that to Hassan al-Basri, Hassan al-Basri said to him (now he's waiting for Hassan to talk—it’s the moment, he’s sitting right in front of Hassan al-Basri, the great Imam, Hassan al-Basri, rahimahullah). He said, which brings me back to the point that you were asking me about before. He said, Allah said in His verse:
"If we let them enjoy themselves for a short period of time ثُمَّ جَاءَهُمْ (Then it comes to them) مَا كَانُوا يُعَدُونَ (that which they were promised), مَا أَغْنَعْ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يُبْتَعُونَ (that which they used to enjoy will not benefit them or help them)."
The bed that you sleep on, the way you enjoy yourself will not help you that day when you go to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It doesn’t really matter where I sleep, where I eat, or how I eat—it doesn't really matter.
When he read those verses on Maimun ibn al-Mahran, he cried so much that he fainted. When he woke up, his son grabbed him by the hand. Hassan al-Basri said, "You can go now." Three verses only read. He grabbed Maimun ibn al-Mahran's son, grabbed his father by the hand, and he said, "Dad, let’s go now." Hassan said, "You can leave now."
Maimun ibn al-Mahran got up and was leaving. The son said to his father, Maimun ibn al-Mahran, "Dad, was that Hassan al-Basri?" He said, "Yes." He said, "I thought he was going to say something because Hassan al-Basri—everyone is talking about him. Is this Hassan al-Basri?" He said to my son, "Wallahi (I swear by Allah), he said words, if your heart was alive, they would have penetrated it."
What he just read—the speech of Allah—he read it, and it penetrated it. So for me, you know, whenever I came and read this and I came across this, many other statements... You know, Umar ibn Abdulaziz, he said:
"وَكَيْفَ تَنَامُوا الْعَيْنُ وَهِي قَرِيرَتُهُ وَلَمْ تَجْلِي فِي أَيِّنٍ مِنْ حَلَيْهِ" (And how can someone's eyes go to sleep while they are uncertain of where they are going? To Paradise or not?)
How can you really sleep, not knowing where you’re going? From that story you just said, this was someone who was complaining of having a hard heart. And when he had that ayah (verse) about Allah, he—Imam Hassan al-Basri himself—fainted, right? And he fainted.
Now we don’t faint or flinch, even after hearing three verses. We hear the whole Taraweeh (the special nightly prayers in Ramadan), and everything, but we don’t cry or flinch, and we say, "Our heart is good." Don't judge me, brother; it’s true—Allah, you’re right.
Okay, I’ve reached my destination. I’m coming up to it now, Insha'Allah. So we’re going to have to stop here, but we’re going to have another half an hour today, Insha'Allah. Maybe we can finish Istiqamah.
Okay, so we're back in the car, and I think we can probably finish our discussion on istiqamah on this journey, Insha'Allah. What additional points did you have to add?
There are a lot of things to say about istiqamah, but there’s a powerful statement that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said. I heard him say, "The greatest form of tawhid (steadfastness) is to be steadfast upon it, to be upright and steadfast."
Because, Shaykh, honestly, what is it that everybody is looking for? Our youngsters, our youth on the streets—we speak to them and ask, "What are you doing on the streets?" Honor, fame, reputation. Why are people becoming politicians? To be known, leaders. Why are people trying to get money? Recognition. For people to know. A lot of it goes back to that concept of recognition and knowledge, right?
Even in the 9 to 5 world, I remember when I used to work in a corporate company. I’d speak to people, and they’d say, "You know, what do you want out of this?" "I mean, it’s just a paycheck." I didn’t care about the company; it was just a paycheck. I didn’t care about the work. It’s that, "I want to make it to this position, then I’m happy. I want to make it to finance, then I know I’ve made it."
And that’s why you’re hearing online: "Shout out." What's a shout out? "Call me out!" Ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. They say that: "Give me a shout out, give me a shout out." It's because of recognition. Someone recognizes you. People determine you based on who follows you and who doesn’t follow you. People are upset if you don’t follow them online, and they’re not recognized.
Allah Ta'ala (God) said in the Quran, it brings us back to that, what we mentioned in the beginning:
"فَأُمَّا اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبَشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُوَعَدُونَ نَحْنُ أُولِيَاءُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ" (And when they remain steadfast, the angels descend upon them, saying: 'Do not fear or grieve, but receive the glad tidings of Paradise, which you were promised. We are your protectors in this world and the Hereafter.')
Meaning, you are going to receive in this world happiness, joy while you're alive, the minute you're departing from this world, and the angels are taking your soul. "فَلَا خُوفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا خُنزَنُوا" (No fear upon them, nor will they grieve). "أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا جَزَاءٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ" (They are the companions of Paradise, abiding eternally therein as a reward for what they used to do.)
No sadness, no pain, no sorrow. So, my advice to my brothers and sisters out there who want to, Insha'Allah Ta'ala, receive the best of this world.
فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِّنِّي هُدَىٰ فَمَنْ تَبِعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَضِلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَى وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى قَالَ رَبِّي مَا حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنتُ بَصِيرًا قَالَ كَذَٰلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَٰلِكَ الْيَوْمَةَ تُنْسَى
Translation:
"But if guidance comes to you from Me, then whoever follows My guidance will not go astray nor will they be miserable. And whoever turns away from My remembrance, indeed, for him is a life of hardship, and We will resurrect him on the Day of Judgment blind. He will say, 'My Lord, why have You resurrected me blind while I was once able to see?' [Allah] will say, 'Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you today be forgotten.'" (Qur'an 20:123-126)
Those who turn away from the remembrance of Allah—they don't want to be upright; they do not want to be steadfast. On the Day of Judgment, what will be said to them is that they will become blind, dumb, and deaf. On the Day of Judgment, they will say, قَالَ رَبِّي مَا حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنتُ بَصِيرًا ("My Lord, why have You resurrected me blind while I was once able to see?").
They will live a hayat (life), bunk (difficult), a hard life in this world. And on the Day of Judgment, they will become blind. Why? Why blind? Because their hearts became blind in this world. They saw the truth but didn’t follow it. They heard the truth but didn’t follow it. As Allah says, وَلْمُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتِهِمْ وَصَارَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةً وَنَذَرُونَ فِي قُلَالِهِمْ ("And [Allah] turns away their hearts and their eyes, just as they did not believe in it the first time, and [Allah] leaves them in their transgression, wandering blindly." - Qur'an 6:110).
When the truth first came to them, they refused to follow it. They ignored it. Allah says, فَلَمَّا زَاغُوا أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ ("So when they turned away, Allah turned their hearts away." - Qur'an 61:5).
So, being steadfast and upright in this world brings you happiness first in this world, and in the hereafter, it brings you the ultimate happiness. You will be with the أَهْلُ الْإِسْتِقَامَةِ (the people of steadfastness). You will be in their companionship. جَعَلَ اللَّهُ إِيَّاكُمْ ("May Allah make us from those people").
What do you have to say now?
Yeah, no, not for long, to be honest with you. I think, you know, we've covered the topic a lot. It is a comprehensive topic. Not all of these episodes will be this long. Some of them might be shorter, some of them might even be longer. The purpose of it is to just have a relaxed conversation without any limits. Let’s just see how we go. That’s it. You’re good with استقامة (steadfastness), I think? أَهْلُ الْإِسْتِقَامَةِ (The people of steadfastness)?
So, next time then, I’m going to put you a bit on the spot. Do you have a topic? Or do you want to talk about it afterwards? Do you have a topic that comes to your mind? Do you have a few topics that you think are good for these kinds of car journeys?
Because obviously it's the first time people are seeing it, so we just want to keep them engaged and let them know what's coming next, InshaAllah. It'll be nice because the topic is called عَبْلِ السَّبِيلِ (the wayfarer). Yeah, it'll be nice to talk about the hadith: كُنْ فِي الدُّنْيَا كَأَنَّكَ غَرِيبٌ ("Be in this world as though you are a stranger or a wayfarer") or عَبْلِ السَّبِيلِ (the wayfarer). This hadith of Allah SWT is about the reality of this dunya (world) and how the dunya is. It'll be nice to talk about it, and how Abdullah ibn Umar understood that hadith: إِذَا أَمْسَيْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرِ الصَّبَاحِ وَإِذَا أَصْبَحْتَ فَلَا تَنْتَظِرِ الْمَسَاءِ وَقُدْ مِنْ سِحَاتِكَ لِمَرَضِكَ وَمِنْ حَيَاتِكَ لِمَوْتِكَ ("When the evening comes, do not wait for the morning, and when the morning comes, do not wait for the evening. And take advantage of your health before your sickness and your life before your death.").
How Abdullah ibn Umar understood from that hadith: When the Prophet SAW said to him, “Be in this world like a stranger or a person who is a traveler,” he took from that right away that this dunya (world) is temporary. If evening comes, don’t wait for the morning, and if the morning comes, don’t wait for the evening. And benefit from your health while you have it, before illness strikes you, and benefit from your life before death comes to you.
So that hadith in more detail, more explanation, talking about the reality of this world, and how Allah talks about it in the Qur'an, and the hadiths bringing it, and how the Prophet SAW lived in this world and how he looked at it.
Yeah, that definitely is coming either next or it's going to be in the series, InshaAllah.
Ustadh, Jazakum Khair for accompanying me on these journeys. I've benefited a lot, MashaAllah. Jazakum Khair.
