THE ROAD TO PIET

Salaam alaikum warahmatullah I hope we're doing well.

We're going to speak about Taqwa is this morning. All praise is due to Allah. To His Supreme Dominance all the faces are humbled, to His Sublime Status all the foreheads are submitted, and for fear of Him all the eyes are filled with tears. I bear witness that there is no deity save Allah, having no associates. I also bear witness that our Master Muhammad is the Servant of Allah and His Messenger. He is the Imam of the pious. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his pure blessed family and companions, and all those who follow them in righteousness till the Day of Judgment. As to what follows, I urge you, O servants of Allah, and myself to be aware that you are asked to obey Him, the Most Exalted, in line with His orders:

“and fear Allah and know that you will meet Him. And give good tidings to the believers.” (Al-Baqara: 223).

Dear Muslims, Please know that ,the fear of Allah, the Almighty, is a great principle of Islam to which a lofty status has been attributed.

Allah, the Most Exalted, orders us to fear him as evidenced in this Aya,

“and be afraid of [only] Me.” (Al-Baqara: 40).

Obedience to Allah is the fruit of piety. It was narrated that Urwa ibn Az-Zubai said in this regard, “Piety is to fear Allah.”

Amongst the great merits of being conscious of Allah is that it is conducive to guide Muslims to perfect their actions and be devoted to good deeds. It was narrated that a man once asked the Prophet pbuh, “O Allah's Messenger pbuh! What is Ihsan ?

He pubh said, "Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not achieve this state of devotion, then (take it for granted that) Allah sees you.” On the same matter, one of the righteous ancestors said, “When Allah, the Most Gracious, wants good for His servant, He guides his heart to righteousness so that he fears Him in the unseen.”

Allah, the Exalted is He, praises those who are mindful of Him even when they are unseen. He says, “who fear their Lord in the unseen, while they are of the Hour, apprehensive.” (Al-

Anbiyaa: 49).

That is: those who fear Allah in their hearts and when they are alone with themselves, they are worried about the Day of Judgment and, hence, they prepare for it by being as much obedient to Allah as could be Glad tidings, then, to those who achieve such a state of devotion for they will, by Allah’s favour, attain His forgiveness and rewards. The Most Sublime says, “indeed, those who fear their Lord in the unseen will have forgiveness and great reward.” (Al-Mulk: 12).

Amongst the great rewards that they will reap is that Allah, the Most High, will protect them under His shade on the Day of Resurrection. In the following Hadith, the Messenger of Allah pbuh mentions seven types of people those who will gain such gracious status and find refuge with Allah. Those who combine the qualities of fear of Allah, consciousness of Him and being devoted to His obedience.

He pbuh said, “Seven (people) will be shaded by Allah by His Shade on the Day of Resurrection when there will be no shade except His Shade. (They will be), ….a young man who has been brought up in the worship of Allah, a man whose heart is attached to mosques (offers his compulsory congregational prayers in the mosque), a man who gives in charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given, a man who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears, and (finally)a man who is called by a charming lady of noble birth to commit illegal sexual intercourse with her, and he says, ‘I am afraid of Allah’.” All of these people possess the qualities that Allah, the Almighty, praised in this Aya, “but as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination. Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.” (An-Naziaat: 40-41). Thus, those who obey Allah and are mindful of the things that He has banned, will, by His grace, win Paradise as their perpetual dwelling as per Allah’s promise to them. The Almighty says, “and Paradise will be brought near to the righteous, not far. [It will be said], ‘This is what you were promised - for every returner [to Allah] and keeper [of His covenant]. Who feared the Most Merciful unseen and came with a heart returning [in repentance]. Enter it in peace. This is the Day of Eternity.’ They will have whatever they wish therein, and with Us is more.” (Qaf 31-35). Indeed, obedience to Allah and fearing Him are one’s path for cherishing the eternal blessings of Paradise. About them, the Almighty says, “and they will approach one another, inquiring of each other. They will say, ‘Indeed, we were previously among our people fearful [of displeasing Allah].

So Allah conferred favour upon us and protected us from the punishment of the Scorching Fire’.” (At-Toor: 25-27). That is: we feared Allah in this world, were conscious of His punishment and devoted to His obedience. Thus, Allah, the Almighty, bestowed upon us His favour and protected us from the punishment we have feared of. Therefore, whoever is mindful of Allah in this world, he will get refuge with Him at the Day of Judgment. When the Prophet pbuh talked to people about Allah, the Most Exalted, he said, “Allah says, ‘by My Might, I shall not bring two fears together upon a servant, nor shall I bring together two securities upon him. If he fears me in this world, he shall have no fear in the next; and if he feels secure from me in this world, then he shall have no security in the next’.”

Being conscious of Allah is conducive to boost our self-observation in our private and public matters, at work and in our dealings and relationships with one another. Allah, the Almighty, emphasised in many places in the Quran the need for His servants to be mindful of their actions always. This way, they will be aware of all their inner desires and whims and thereby control them. Allah says, “and know that Allah knows what is within yourselves, so beware of Him.” (Al-Baqara: 235). He also says, “indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.” (An-Nisaa: 1). Those who observe themselves will also reflect on and understand Allah’s saying, “and He is with you wherever you are and He is all seer over our actions .” (Al-Hadid: 4). This means that Allah is watching over you always and seeing what you do. He equally knows all that His servants do. He hears what they say and sees where they are. He is well acquainted about their secrets and private conversations. Thus, being heedful of Allah will, definitely, urge us to seek perfection in all our affairs. As such, we will only say and do all that earns us Allah’s satisfaction and benefits us in this world and the next. This is because we will be wide aware that Allah, the Most Exalted “knows that which deceives the eyes and what the breasts conceal.” (Ghafir: 19).

One of the righteous people said in this regard, “Make a pact with yourself in three (areas): when you do something, remember that Allah sees you, and when you speak, remember that Allah hears you, and when you are silent, remember Allah’s knowledge of your inner (thoughts, feelings and  being).” Ultimately, when one observes his Lord, hoping for His mercy and fearing from His punishment, he will, by Allah’s favour, attain the great rewards that He promises in this Aya, “but for he who has feared the position of his Lord are two gardens.” (Ar-Rahman: 46).

Let us, therefore, reflect and decide whether or not we are amongst those who fear Allah and are mindful of Him in words and deeds. Let us also think and decide if we are nurturing such values in the minds of our children or not.

We shall end and we ask Allah to make us from the people of taqwa. We may have to get time and touch on other parts of Taqwa. Wassalaam alaikum warahmatullah