The statesman said, "O young man, indeed, Allah is the Protector of the believers and that He protects the righteous; subsumed by this is the fact that He safeguards what is good for them in both this life and the Hereafter, and that He will not abandon them to another. Whoever establishes the rights of Allah, Allah will undertake to upkeep everything that will be of benefit to him in this life and the next. Whoever wants Allah to preserve him and tend to all of his affairs, let him first tend to the rights of Allah upon him. Whoever does not wish to be afflicted by anything he dislikes, let him not undertake that which Allah dislikes. Allah concern with His servant and His safeguarding him is commensurate to the servant’s concern with the rights of Allah, establishing them, tending to His limits and safeguarding them. Whoever’s goal is Allah’s good-pleasure, seeking to draw close to Him, knowing Him, loving Him, and serving Him, will find that Allah will treat him accordantly. Allah says,
"Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve - their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein." - [QS.2:257]And Allah also says,
"That is because Allah is the protector of those who have believed and because the disbelievers have no protector." - [QS.47:11]One of the Salaf would go to gathering after gathering saying,
‘Whoever wants Allah to preserve his well-being, let him have taqwa of Allah.’Moreover, Allah is the kindest of the kind. He rewards a good deed tenfold and more. From Abu Hurayrah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, the Prophet said that Allah said,
“When My servant draws close to Me by the span of a palm, I draw close to him by the cubit and when he draws close to Me by the cubit, I draw close to him by the space (covered) by two armspans, and when he comes to me walking, I go in a hurry towards him." - [Sahih Muslim]Whatever a person is given is from his self, and nothing afflicts him that he dislikes except that it is as a result of his falling short in fulfilling the rights of his Rabb. ‘Ali, radiyallahu 'anhu, said,
"The servant must place his hope in his Rabb and his Rabb alone, and he has nothing to fear save his sins."The young wayfarer asked, "What is the meaning of 'Safeguard Allah and you will find Him in front of you?'? The statesman said, "The meaning is that whoever safeguards the limits of Allah and carefully tends to His rights will find Allah with him in all affairs, encompassing him, aiding him, preserving him, supporting him, setting his foot firm and granting him divine accord. He is ", standing over every self seeing everything that it does,”' and He, Most High, “is with those who have taqwa of Him and with those who do good. ”
Allah is close to those who obey Him and have taqwa of Him, who safeguard His limits and carefully tend to His rights. Whoever safeguards Allah and carefully tends to His rights, he will find Him in front of him and before him in every circumstance. He will take comfort with Him and suffice with Him in lieu of His creation."
The young wayfarer asked, "What is the meaning 'know Allah in times of ease and He will know you in times of hardship'?" The statesman said, "The meaning is that the servant, when he has taqwa of Allah, preserves His limits, and carefully tends to His rights in times of ease and well-being has come to know Allah. This gives rise to a gnosis between himself and Allah and, as a result, his Rabb will know him in times of hardship: He will know the deeds he worked during times of ease and by virtue of that knowledge will relieve him of hardship.
This too, is a specific gnosis which leads to the closeness of Allah, Mighty and Magnificent, His loving His servant and His responding to his supplication. What is not meant is a general gnosis for nothing of His creation is hidden from Allah. Allah says,
"Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones. Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He was most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were fetuses in the wombs of your mothers. So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him." - [QS.53:32]On the authority of Abu Hurayrah, radhiyallahu 'anhu,, who said that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
"Allah Azza wa Jalla said, "Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him." - [Sahih al-Bukhari]Knowing Allah in times of ease, leads to Allah’s knowing His servant in times of hardship. It is also known that there is no hardship that the believer will face in this world worse than death; this hardship is actually lighter than what follows if the destination of the servant is not good, or it is the worst he will face if his destination is good. As such, it becomes obligatory for the servant to prepare for death before it sets on him by performing righteous deeds and hastening to do so. A person does not know in which day or night he will be beset by this hardship.
Remembering righteous deeds at the time of death vivifies one’s good opinion of his Rabb, helps alleviate the throes of death and strengthen one’s hope. It would be praiseworthy for a person to die after having completed an action of worship such as pilgrimage, or jihad or fasting.
Whoever, during his life, obeys Allah and safeguards His limits, Allah will take care of him on his deathbed and allow him to die on faith. He will make him firm with the firm word in his grave when questioned by the two angels and repress the punishment of the grave from him, and He will give solace to his loneliness at that time of isolation and in that darkness. One of the Salaf said,
‘If Allah is with you when you enter the grave, you will not be harmed nor will you be lonely.’Whoever, in this world, has Allah as his companion in times of retreat and being alone, he can truly hope that Allah will be his companion in the darkness of the grave’s niche when he leaves this world.
Allah says,
"Indeed, those who have said, "Our Rabb is Allah " and then remained on a right course - the angels will descend upon them, [saying], "Do not fear and do not grieve but receive good tidings of Paradise, which you were promised." - [QS.41:30]As regards one who does not know Allah in times of ease, he will have no one to know him in times of adversity, not in this life or in the Hereafter! Seeing the condition of such a person in this world testifies to this fact and their condition in the Hereafter will be even worse for they will have no protector or helper."
The young wayfarer asked, "What is the meaning of 'When you ask, ask Allah'?" The statesman said. "Allah commanded that He Alone be asked and prohibited asking another. Allah says,
"And do not wish for that by which Allah has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned. And ask Allah of his bounty. Indeed Allah is ever, of all things, Knowing." - [QS.4:32]From Abu Hurayrah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, that the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
“Your supplications will be answered as long as you are not impatient by saying, ‘I have supplicated to my Lord but He has not answered.’” - [Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim]Asking Allah rather than His creation, is what is required, both from a rational and legal standpoint. Asking is a form of sacrificing one’s honour and humbling oneself to the petitioned, and that is only viable for Allah. Humbling is only for Allah through worship and request and is a sign of true love.
Yusuf ibn al-Husayn was asked, “What is with the lovers that they take such delight in humbling themselves in love?’ He replied, "For love, a person’s humility is nobility, submissiveness to the beloved is dignity."
This act of humbling and this love is only valid for Allah Alone, they are the components of true worship which is particular to the True Illah.
Imam Ahmad, rahimahullah, would say in his supplication, ‘O Allah! Just as you have prevented my face from prostrating to other than You, prevent it also from asking other than You!’
Asking Allah expresses servitude of a profound nature, because in doing so, one displays his need of Him and acknowledges His ability of answering that need. To ask a created object is oppressive, because that object is unable to procure good for itself, or repress harm from itself, let alone do so for another! To ask of it, is to put something that is unable in the place of One who is able.
This meaning is testified to by the hadith from Abu Dharr, radhiyallahu 'anhu, that the Prophet (ﷺ) as saying that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said,
"...O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of the Jinns too in unison become the most wicked (all beating) like the heart of a single person, it would cause no loss to My Power. O My servants, even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and that of jinns also all stand in one plain ground and you ask Me and I confer upon every person what he asks for, it would not in any way, cause any loss to Me (even less) than that which is caused to the ocean by dipping the needle in it..." [Sahih Muslim]So how can one who is needy and incapable be asked yet the One who is rich and able be left?! This is truly astonishing!
Allah loves to be asked and is angry at someone who does not ask Him. He wants His servants to desire Him, to ask Him, to invoke Him and show their need of Him. He loves those who are earnest and persistent in supplication. Creation, generally, hates being asked because it is needy and incapable.
Ibn al-Sammak said,
"Ask not one who will run away from you rather than listen to your request, instead ask One who has ordered you to ask Him.’Yahya ibn Mu'adh would say,
"O You who are angry at whoever does not ask of You, do not hold back from someone who does ask You!"From Abu Hurayrah, the Prophet (ﷺ) said,
[Part 1]"Our Rabb, Tabaraka wa Ta'ala, comes every night down on the nearest Heaven to us when the last third of the night remains, saying, "Is there anyone to invoke Me, so that I may respond to invocation? Is there anyone to ask Me, so that I may grant him his request? Is there anyone seeking My forgiveness, so that I may forgive him?" - [Sahih al-Bukhari]The young wayfarer asked, "What is the meaning of 'When you seek aid, turn to Allah'?" The statesman said, "After ordering us to safeguard Allah and to know Him in times of ease - this being the very essence of worship, the Prophet (ﷺ) directed us to ask Allah Alone and to invoke Him. He (ﷺ) said,
"Supplication (du'a') is itself the worship." (He (ﷺ) then recited:) "And your Lord said, 'Call on Me, I will answer you'." - [Jami' at-Tirmidhi; Sahih by Shaikh Al-Albani]After all this, he directed us to seek the aid of Allah Alone, this is derived from,
"It is You we worship and You we ask for help." - [QS.1:5]This verse lays out a comprehensive principle and it is said that the essential message of all revealed scripture revolves around it. There are two benefits in seeking the aid of Allah Alone. First, the servant does not have the strength to perform actions of obedience without Allah’s help. Second, there is none who can aid him in the betterment of his worldly and religious life except for Allah, Mighty and Magnificent. Whoever Allah helps is truly aided and whoever Allah forsakes is truly forsaken.
The Prophet (ﷺ) ordered Mu'adh, at the end of every prayer, to never leave saying,
“O Allah! Aid me in remembering You, being grateful to You and making good my worship of You.” - [Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud, An-Nasa'i; Sahih by Ibn Hajr and Shaikh al-Albani]Then the statesman said, "O young man, Islam stresses on good behavior. Every aspect of our life, must be ruled by our Deen. To put it differently, there is a relationship between one's belief in "Lailaaha Illallaah" and every action that he makes in this life. If one has the correct and true concept of "Lailaaha Illallaah", this belief will have a complete effect on him. It will change him into a person that reflects the belief in the shahaadah. In fact, that is the goal that one must aspire to. And Allah know best."
"Certainly will the believers have succeeded. They who are during their prayer humbly submissive. And they who turn away from ill speech. And they who are observant of zakah. And they who guard their private parts, except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed. But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors - and they who are to their trusts and their promises attentive. And they who carefully maintain their prayers - Those are the inheritors, who will inherit al-Firdaus. They will abide therein eternally." - [QS.23:1-11]
References :
- Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali, The Legacy of the Prophet, Daar us-Sunnah
- Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo, Commentary On The Forty Hadith Of Al Nawawi Volume 1, Al-Basheer Publications
