Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. And all praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And the end is for the righteous. And there is no aggression except against the wrongdoers.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that there is no partner for Him, and that He is the Protector of the first and the last. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant, His Messenger, His Chosen One, and His Companion. Peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family and all his companions.
We begin in the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the One who bestows mercy. We begin by praising Allah, and He is the Lord of the worlds. And sending peace and salutations upon our beloved Prophet Muhammad, and his followers, until Yawm al-Qiyamah.
The Reminder of Hope
The reminder of the lecture today is regarding hope. Hope in our daily lives. Through the ups and downs of life. Through the struggles of life. And Allah created two abodes. The abode of this worldly life, the dunya, which we are living in. And then the abode of the hereafter. And without doubt, any person who enters into the first abode, shall enter into the latter. Any person who is born and takes a breath in the dunya, will then leave this dunya, and will enter into the hereafter.
And the difference between the dunya and the akhira, is firstly that the dunya, it is temporary. It is short. And as for the akhira, it is as Allah calls it in the Qur'an, the place of eternity. The abode of eternal living. And secondly, the difference between the dunya and the akhira, that this dunya, it is the abode of actions. And striving. And it is the abode where every single person is tested. And as for the akhira, it is the abode of accountability. And the abode of reward and punishment.
So whoever did even the smallest amount of goodness in the dunya, will see its recompense in the hereafter. And whoever did the smallest amount of evil or oppression in this dunya, will face its consequences in the akhira. And there is a beautiful narration by Ameerul Mu'mineen Ali ibn Abi Talib, which is mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari. That he used to say, ارتحلت الدنيا مدبرة. The dunya has begun its journey, and it has given you its back. Meaning it is running away from you. It is distancing itself from you. وارتحلت الآخرة مقبلة. And the akhira has begun its journey, and it is racing towards you. وَلِكُلِّ مِّنْهُمَا بَنُونَ. And each one of these two abodes has its children, has its offspring. Meaning there are children of the dunya, and the children of the akhira.
He said, كُنُوا مِّنْ أَبْنَاعِ الْآخِرَةِ وَلَا تَكُونُوا مِّنْ أَبْنَاءِ الدُّنْيَا. Be from the children or the offspring of the akhira, and do not be from the children of the dunya. And then he said, and this is a shahid, this is the point. فَإِنَّ الْيَوْمْ عَمَلٌ بِلَا حِسَابٌ. He said, today, meaning in this dunya, there is an opportunity for us to do amal, to act, to do actions, perform actions. بِلَا حِسَابٌ. And there is no accountability in this dunya. There is no ultimate reward and punishment in this dunya. But then he said, وَالْغَدْ حِسَابٌ بِلَا عَمَلٌ. However, tomorrow, meaning the akhira, there will be accountability, there will be questioning, there will be reward and punishment. And then there are no more opportunities for a person to do actions.
And the believer in the akhira will hope to return back to the dunya so he or she can once more taste the sweetness of that moment of istighfar. Or that moment of dhikr. And also the kafir, the zalim, the mujrim will also hope to return back to the dunya. Why? لَعَلِّي أَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا. Perhaps I may do righteous actions. Perhaps I may do righteous actions and rectify myself. But as Ameer al-mu'mineen Ali ibn Abi Talib r.a said, اليوم عَمَلٌ بِلَا حِسَابٌ. That today, the dunya, this is the abode for righteous actions without accountability. And in the hereafter, الغَدْ, tomorrow, it is hisaab. It is only accountability and reward and punishment and there are no more actions.
The Abode of Eternity
And the akhira, as I mentioned, this is the abode of eternity. يَوْمُ الْخُلْدُ or دَارُ الْخُلْدُ. In the Qur'an, you'll have read almost in every surah, every other page of the Qur'an, when there is a mention of the akhira, you'll have read these three words, هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ or words similar to them. خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدَى And the meaning of هُمْ فِيهَا الْخَالِدُونَ is They will remain in it خَالِدُونَ for eternity. Now if you ponder over these ayat or these words, you will see that these words are never mentioned regarding the dunya. They are only mentioned regarding the akhira.
Whether it is Jannah which is being spoken about or the fire which is spoken about, it is the akhira regarding which Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la constantly tells us هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ That they will remain in it for eternity. And this also shows us that it is the akhira which is دَارُ الْخُلْدُ The place of eternity and the dunya is the opposite. In fact, between the dunya and the barzakh and the akhira. So the dunya is the life of this world which we are living. And the barzakh is also a temporary abode. And this is between the dunya and the akhira.
After a person's soul departs his body, until the trumpets are blown on Yawmul Qiyamah, it is the life of the barzakh. It is a barrier. The meaning of barzakh is a barrier. A barrier which a person will pass to move from the dunya eventually to the akhira. And then after the barzakh, there is the akhira.
To give you an example of how temporary and how short the dunya is, this dunya which we maximize so much, and we think we are going to live in this dunya forever, just to show you how insignificant and short the dunya is, from these three abodes, the dunya and the barzakh and the akhira, the dunya is the shortest, and then longer than it is the barzakh, and then longer than it is the akhira because it is eternal.
Imagine, for example, Abu Bakr, and he lived in this dunya for 63 odd years. He was two years younger than the Messenger, and he passed away two years after the death of the Prophet, because his khilafah was for two years. So the point is that when he passed away, he was also close to 63 years or so. So he lived in the dunya for 63 odd years. And then he passed away. And he passed away 1,440 odd years ago. And from that time until now, he has remained in his barzakh. And only Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la knows how long he remained in his barzakh until the hour is established. So imagine, only 63 years of his total existence was in the dunya. And then after those 63 years, right now, over 1,440 odd years in the barzakh. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la knows how many more years or decades or centuries or days it will be until Yawm al-Qiyamah is established. And then there will be the akhira.
And this is our existence. So as Muslims, our existence is not only these years and these days which we are living. This is a part of our existence. Our existence and our time is much longer. It is eventually eternity. But there are different phases and stages we go through in our existence.
And al-Imam al-Hasan al-Basri, rahimahullah, from a'immat al-tabi'een, he said the famous athar, يَبْنَ آدَمْ إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ أَيَّامٌ O child of Adam, you are merely days. Meaning your existence upon this dunya, it is merely days. فَإِذَا ذَهَبَ يَوْمُكَ ذَهَبَ بَعْضُكَ So each day which passes by, a small part of your existence also passes by.
Until a person enters into the barzakh and then eventually leaves the barzakh and enters into the akhira. And therefore, ayahul kiram, the obligation upon us if we want success for ourselves in this life, in the hereafter, is firstly taqwa Allah azza wa jal. Is that we are always aware and conscious of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In every action, in every decision, in every statement, that we remain aware and conscious of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then we prepare for the hereafter.
The Dunya as a Field
So we should treat this dunya as a mazraa. This dunya is like a field and we sow seeds in this field. And just like a farmer who sows the seeds today and will only be able to harvest the crops or the fruit of the vegetation days, weeks or months later, like this, the dunya and the akhira. So we sow the seeds today, we invest today in order to profit tomorrow, in order to harvest tomorrow.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in the Qur'an, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهِ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ He said, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهِ Have taqwa of Allah. وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ And let each person look towards what he or she is putting forth لِغَدٍ for tomorrow. And contemplate, ayyul kiram, the wording of this ayah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when He mentioned the akhira, He did not mention the akhira. He said, وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ Let each person look forward to that which they are preparing for tomorrow. And therefore, these blessed words, غَدٍ tomorrow, it gives us the feeling and shows us how close the akhira is for a person.
And always remember, ayyul kiram, that a person's akhira, it does not begin with the blowing of the trumpet. Rather, a person's akhira, it begins with the angel of death taking their soul. So as soon as a person has entered into the grave, that person's akhira has begun.
And this is why when the ulama speak about asa'a, the establishment of the hour, they say, that there are two hours. Asa'at al-kubra wa asa'at al-sughra. There is the major hour and there is the minor hour. So the major hour, we call it yawm al-qiyamah, yawm al-deen, when the trumpets are blown and everybody will seize and then everybody will be resurrected once more. And as for asa'at al-sughra, the minor hour, then this is a person's death. And also a person, his akhira or her akhira has begun with the minor hour.
And subhanAllah, from the hikmah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, is that he has placed clear signs and indicators for the major hour. And we call them asharatu sa'a, alamatu sa'a, the signs of the day of resurrection. And as you know, there are major signs and minor signs. And many of the minor signs have already occurred or are occurring and continue to occur. And as for the major signs, they will indicate how close the establishment of the hour is.
And this is why the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, in the hadith of Usaid radiAllahu anhu, the hadith in which he mentioned nine of the major signs of yawm al-qiyamah, he compared them to these signs being like the beads on a necklace. And as soon as the necklace is cut, the beads, they fall off one after the other very, very quickly. And he meant by this that the major signs of yawm al-qiyamah will come in succession very close to each other. Like the falling of beads from the necklaces, one after the other, one after the other, until yawm al-qiyamah occurs.
The point is that the major hour, yawm al-qiyamah, sa'at al-kubra, there are clear signs and indicators in which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is warning the people that the hour is approaching. As for a sa'at al-sughra, as for the minor hour which is closer to us, there are no indicators. There are no signs. And in many cases, the minor hour, it comes to a person baghtatan, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes it in the Qur'an. All of a sudden.
And khalifatul mu'mineen, Uthman ibn Affan r.a, he has a beautiful narration which is narrated by his freed slave Hani. And he's Hani Mawla Uthman. He's known as Hani, the freed slave of Uthman r.a. And Hani said that Uthman r.a. that he would stop at the side of the grave. And he would weep and weep until his beard becomes wet. And the people used to look at Uthman r.a. And they used to say, O Uthman, O Ameerul Mu'mineen, That Jannah is mentioned and you don't cry like this. And the fire is mentioned and you don't weep like this. But when the grave is mentioned, then you begin to weep and cry.
And Uthman r.a, he mentioned those profound words. He said, Awwala manazilul aakhirah. Innal qabra awwalu manazilul aakhirah. That the grave is the first step or the first phase or the first stage of your aakhirah. So whoever passes the test of the grave, then that which comes after the grave is much more easier and much more rewarding.
The Journey of Life
Ayool kiram, the dunya and the aakhirah which we spoke about. Our existence in this dunya, it is merely a journey. It is a safar, a journey which we are upon, a path which we are traversing. And the goal or the destination, it is the aakhirah. And whilst we are on this journey, of course, we need to take our provisions and we need to take from this dunya. But the ultimate destination, it is the aakhirah.
And the Messenger s.a.w., he would often give this example to the sahabah. In the hadith of Ibn Umar r.a, the Messenger s.a.w. said, كن في الدنيا كأنك غريب أو عابر السبيل Be in this dunya as if you are a stranger. Be in this dunya as if you are a visitor. As if you are not from this dunya. You're just stopping to visit and then you're moving on. أو عابر السبيل Or be a wayfarer, meaning a person on a journey. And this narration is in Al-Bukhari.
And in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, the Messenger s.a.w. gave his own example. He said, إنما مثلي ومثل الدنيا But my example to this dunya, he said, كمثل راكب is like a person who is travelling. He's travelling on his animal في يوم صائف On a very hot day. فنزل So he descended from his animal. ونام تحت الشجرة And then he slept for a short amount of time under the tree. ثم راح وتركها And then he took his rest. And then he got on his beast again. And he continued upon his journey.
So the Prophet s.a.w. He likened our whole life and his existence in this dunya to that short amount of time that a person may rest under the shade of the tree on a hot day to regain a little bit of energy and then continue upon the journey once more. And this is as we mentioned previously clearly seen in the life of Abu Bakr r.a. His existence, all of those years, only 63 years in the dunya. And then 1440 more years in the Barzakh. And Allah knows how many years to come. And then there is the Akhirah.
However, ayyuhul kiram, we should not expect that this journey which we are upon, that this journey will not have its ups and downs and its difficulties and struggles. So any journey which a person takes, of course, on the way, there are struggles and there are setbacks and there are bumps and there are losses and there are also gains.
So just as the dunya has its moments of difficulty and struggle, but also the dunya has its moments of happiness and pleasure. And although every person wants a journey which is pleasurable all the time, and as it is said, السعادة هدف الجميع that happiness is the objective which every single person aims for. Regardless of a person's religion or faith or family background, ethnicity, language, culture, male or female, old or young, the هدف which is مشترك بين الجميع the goal and the objective of every single person, of every single ideology, faith, religion is that they want سعادة. That they want happiness in this dunya.
However, the sunnah of Allah SWT, meaning the nature which Allah SWT created us upon, is that Jannah is in the Akhirah. دار النعيم, the abode of eternal happiness and constant pleasure and delight with no difficulty, no struggle, it is in the Akhirah. And it remains in the Akhirah. And the dunya is not our Jannah. The dunya is دار الابتلاء والامتحان. The dunya is the abode of being tested. The abode of struggle.
So the sunnah which Allah SWT has created us upon is that this dunya, it consists of days and moments. And the days and moments are either moments of happiness and pleasure and wealth and affluency. And they are moments of difficulty and struggle. And this is how we should view the dunya.
The brother and the sister who is going through any struggle right now should think that this is only one of the moments in the dunya. And very quickly, these moments, they change. And so, as the poet said, he said لا حزن يدوم ولا سرور That worry or difficulty will not remain. ولا سرور And neither will happiness and pleasure remain. ولا بؤس عليك ولا رخاء And it is not that you are in constant misery. ولا رخاء And neither is the dunya everyday of pleasure and happiness.
So the point is that the dunya, we should not think that the dunya is full of struggles and only struggles. Or the other extreme, that it is full of pleasure and only pleasure. Rather, the dunya, لحظات The dunya is nothing except moments. And there are moments of happiness and pleasure and ni'mah from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And there are moments of difficulty and struggle. And this is the sunnah of Allah, sunnat Allah. The nature which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created us upon.
And in all of this, a Muslim remains content. Content and pleased with the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The poet said, and I think it is al-imam al-shafi'i rahim Allah, Muhammad ibn ibn al-idrees al-shafi'i He said, إِذَا مَا كُنْتَ ذَا قَلْبٍ قُنُوعٍ فَأَنْتَ وَمَالِكُ الدُّنْيَا سَوَاءُ That if you are a person who possesses a heart which is content, then you and a king are both equal. Are both equal with a heart which is content.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an, He speaks about the dunya being days and moments. He said, وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ And these are mainly days which we alternate between the people. Why? وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا So Allah can see who has iman. وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ These are the days and the moments which we alternate between the people.
Today, you are suffering a loss. Tomorrow, you will be rejoicing with some form of happiness. Today, you lost somebody from this dunya. Tomorrow, you welcome somebody to the dunya. Today, a relationship is broken. Tomorrow, another relationship is made. Today, you lost some money in your business. Tomorrow, you will profit in your business. Today, people may be visiting you to give you condolences. Tomorrow, the same people may come and visit you to give you congratulations and greetings.
وَتِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ So these are mainly days and moments which we pass through, which we pass by. And Allah subhanah alternates these days and these moments between the people. And the hikmah behind all of this, He said subhanah, وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا So He can see and test your iman. And this is what we as Muslims have to understand. That throughout all of these moments, regardless of whether they are moments of difficulty and struggle or moments of pleasure and happiness, Allah subhanah is testing our iman.
Allah subhanah is testing our reaction, our behaviors. How do we react? How is our iman? What are our behaviors during times of ni'mah? During times of pleasure and blessings and favors from Allah subhanah, during times of ease. And also what are our behaviors and our reactions and how is our iman during times of difficulty and struggle.
And if we understand this concept, ayyul kiram, then this helps us remain in a complete balance. And as the Messenger ﷺ said, عَجَبًا لِأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ How great and amazing the affair of the believer is. إِنَّ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ His affair, his situation, his behavior is always goodness. Why? Because the believer is touched by either moments of difficulty or moments of happiness. In difficulty we show sabr and it is goodness. In blessings and happiness and affluence we show shukr and it is goodness.
So the life of a believer regardless of the environment and the situation around the believer is between sabr and shukr. Between being patient and between showing shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, rahimahullah, he said when he spoke about anwan al-sa'ada, the keys to happiness. He said that the keys to happiness are three, shukr, sabr, and istighfar. Gratitude and patience and seeking forgiveness. So in times of ni'm, we show shukr to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And in times of difficulty, we practice sabr, we maintain sabr. And when we fall short and we disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then we make al-istighfar. فإن هذه الثلاث عنوان السعادة, he said, rahimahullah, these three, they are the keys to happiness.
The Purpose of Life and Death
And also Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned in the Qur'an one of the reasons or the wisdom behind which he created the dunya. One of them, he said, أَلَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبَلُوا أَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُوا عَمَلًا He is the one who created death and life لِيَبَلُوا أَكُمْ in order to test you. أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُوا عَمَلًا That who amongst you is best in actions.
So life and death and everything which life and death consists of, everything which it contains, everything which happens around us, all of it لِيَبَلُوا أَكُمْ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is testing us. And he is testing us in our reactions and our iman and our behaviors. And do we remain upon sabr? Do we remain upon shukr? Do we remain upon iman? Is our yaqeen in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala strong and strengthened? And he said subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioning some of the difficulties and the struggles which he decrees with a hikmah for all of us in different ways. He said وَلَنَبَلُوا أَنَّكُمْ بِشَيءٍ مِّنِ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْسٍ مِّنِ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالْثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِي صَابِرِينَ Verily, وَلَنَبَلُوا أَنَّكُمْ Verily, we will test you with some form of loss, either in fear, or in hunger, or in loss of wealth, or loss of life, or loss of provisions. وَبَشِّرِي صَابِرِينَ However, the glad tidings are for the صابرين, the people of patience. And who are they? الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ Those people whom when they are afflicted with any type of difficulty or calamity or struggle, they say إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ إِنَّا لِلَّهِ We came from Allah وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ And to Him we will return.
He said سُبْحَانَهُ أُولَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ Those are the people upon whom there are salutations from their Lord وَرَحْمَةٌ وَإِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ And they are the ones who are guided. And these blessed words which Allah سُبْحَانَهُ teaches us in the Qur'an إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ These words سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ we repeat them and we hear them repeated whenever there is a death, a loss, whenever there is a diminishing of anything we say these words إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ But have we ever contemplated the meanings of these words إِنَّا لِلَّهِ meaning we belong to Allah meaning we came from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ that we will return to Allah meaning our ending is with Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ So when we say إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ we are reminding ourselves from where we came and what was our starting point from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ and where we will end and what is our return and that is back with Allah سُبْحَانَهُ.
And this is the reason why in so many hadith you find the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioning من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر whoever has Iman in Allah and the final day like in the hadith of Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليكرم ضيفه whoever has Iman in Allah and the final day let him honor his guest فليكرم جاره whoever has Iman in Allah and the final day let him honor his neighbor فليقل خيرا أو ليصمت whoever has Iman in Allah and the final day let him speak with goodness or remain silent.
And the Ulama amongst them Ibn Rajab if my memory serves me correct in Jamil Ulum Al-Hikam he mentions a fa'ida in this that why is it the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentions again and again من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر why is it whoever believes in Allah and the final day we know the pillars of Iman are six so why did the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم not say whoever has Iman in Allah and the angels whoever has Iman in Allah and the messengers whoever has Iman in Allah and the books or any other aspect of our Aqeedah why is it that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم repeats من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر because the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is reminding us of our مبدأ والمعاد our beginning point and our ending point we began with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala creating us and bringing us into this dunya and we will end with going back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala taking us out of this dunya as shahid the point is that we should not think that the dunya should be a place of only happiness and pleasure and blessing and we do not expect ever that there will be any form of difficulty or struggle neither do we think at the same time that the dunya is all struggle and difficulty no, there are many, many walhamdulillah moments of happiness and pleasure and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alternates between these moments and between these days.
So the first naseeha is whether you are going through a difficulty right now know and appreciate that this difficulty will not remain this struggle will not remain tomorrow there will be other moments of goodness and happiness and just as you are sad or crying today tomorrow you will be laughing and rejoicing and also if you are going through right now a state or situation, a moment of great blessings and great ni'mat, great affluency remember that this goodness and this blessing and this happiness, it will not remain because tomorrow there may be and there surely will be some form of difficulty or loss or struggle and therefore we remain between a shukr and a sabr.
The Nature of Tests
And speaking about the moments of struggle and difficulty in general there are two types of fitn two types of tests there are fitn aamah there are tests which afflict us and affect us as an ummah not me as an individual but us as an ummah because we are one single ummah and our lord subhana is one and our qiblah is one and our book is one and our messenger is one innamal mu'minuna ikhwa and the believers are nothing except brothers we are one single ummah and this ummah it is afflicted by fitn which affects us as an ummah and therefore we as an ummah we have to change how we are behaving and be constant upon our iman and it is not hidden from anybody today in 2024 what the ummah is going through palestine is not hidden from anybody neither is sham or any other muslim country and so this fitn we are being tested with it as an ummah and therefore as an ummah our reaction and our behavior has to change.
And then there are other fitn fitn khasa which are specific to me and you as individuals and there are many different types of challenges or struggles which Allah subhana puts in our ways and you should never think that just because you see a particular person and that person is going through or that person Allah bless with a lot of wealth that he or she is not facing a struggle in another aspect of their life or another person who is going through a struggle in one area of their life is not facing many other moments of ni'mah and blessings in other parts of their lives and these fitn these tests which Allah subhana afflicts us with as individuals me and you as an individual there are so many different types so our test could be with a loss of somebody who is beloved to us may Allah preserve them all or it could be in the loss of health illness and sickness or it could be in the loss of wealth i.e. poverty or financial struggling loss of a business or it could be in the breaking of a relationship it could be in divorce and separation it could be in the disobedience of a child or a son or a son leaving the house or the daughter leaving the house it could be being overwhelmed by something or it could be mental and emotional difficulties.
So there are many different types of struggles and tests which Allah subhana puts in our lives and all of this وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا so Allah can see who has iman and who remains upon this iman and therefore the obligation upon us all in all of these moments especially in the struggles and the difficulties is what الصبر والتوكل والرجاء is to be patient and to have reliance upon Allah subhana wa ta'ala and الرجاء to have hope and maintain hope in Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
And we should know that الرجاء hope it is ibadah it is an act of worship just as الصبر and توكل are great actions of ibadah also الرجاء having hope and maintaining hope is an act of worship hope in Allah subhana wa ta'ala and being pleased with the decree of Allah jalla sha'nahu all of this is ibadah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said with regards to توكل he said and have توكل upon Allah if you are truly believers he said فَتَوَكَّلُوا عَلَى اللَّهِ إِن كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ place your توكل your dependence and your reliance upon Allah if you are truly people of iman so Allah subhana is testing our iman like we said in the previous ayah وَلِيَعْلَمَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا so Allah can test your iman Allah is testing our iman in our moments of struggles whether we keep our توكل upon him and Allah subhana said إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَّعَ الصَّابِرِينَ really Allah is with the people of as-sabr so he is testing our sabr and our iman in these moments and also الرَّجَاء فَمَنْ كَنَ يَرْجُوْ لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا Allah subhana said and whoever has hope in the meeting with his Lord let him do righteous actions so Allah subhana is testing our iman testing our رَجَاء our hope in him testing our pleasure with his decree seeing how we behave whether we increase in our righteous actions through all of these moments.
This ayul kiram is the first part of this lecture in dealing with struggles and difficulties which is a sunnah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and navigating through these struggles and difficulties with رَجَاء with hope and in the next part of the lecture we will give some practical tips and pieces of advice which help us maintain our رَجَاء in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through the moments of difficulties.
هذا والله أعلم وبالله التوفيق وصلى الله على نبينا وسلم.
