The concept of Taqwa and some of its aspects (Part 2)

A-úthú billáhi minash shaytánir rajím. Bismilláhir Rahmánir Rahím!

[Arabic du’á]

In the previous Khutbah I talked to you about some aspects of Taqwa. I said that Taqwa emanates from remembering Alláh and being conscious of Him. We are in the constant struggle between remembering Alláh and forgetting Him. While remembrance ensures righteousness, forgetfulness opens the door for sin.

“O you who believe, have the consciousness of Alláh and let every soul look to what it has put forward for tomorrow and fear Alláh. Surely Alláh is well aware of all that you do. And be not as those who forgot Alláh, so He made them forget themselves. Surely they are wrongdoers.” Súra 59/v18

When people forget Alláh, they are in a dangerous position. But if we act the right way and persevere in our efforts to remember and strive to develop our Taqwa by observing the compulsory acts of worship and then go beyond that to the voluntary acts, we may earn the love of Alláh. Being loved by Alláh is a magnificent and great blessing that defies words.

If we seek the love of Alláh then we have to attain and achieve that love through establishing the things, which are pleasing to Him and the things that He prescribed and made compulsory for us.

Alláh said in the Qur’án,

“If you do love Alláh, then follow me (the Prophet) and Alláh will love you.” Súra 3/v31

In this verse, the prophet is telling all believers and us that following him, his Sunnah and his guidance which defined clearly what is compulsory and what is recommended, would lead us to Allah’s love. “Follow me and Alláh will love you”. When that becomes a reality, then we will achieve happiness in this life and the Hereafter, InshAlláh.

Materialist society offers a variety of different ways and prescriptions to achieve happiness. However, in reality, we should be aware that the happiness achieved by material means is limited and short-lived. – holidays, for instance, begin and end.

A fancy car runs for so many years and it breaks down. A house may be nice at one time, then it may deteriorate and become less attractive or inadequate.

The material things, which are associated with happiness in this life, are passing things. None of these things are guaranteed to last forever. As the scholars say, these things will either pass you or you will pass them and leave them behind.

Once you have them then you seek other material things because in fact this happiness is only a fulfilment of a physical desire or an emotional need whether real or imaginary and when you fulfil a physical desire, there are other desires to replace it soon afterwards.

And even that physical desire when you fulfil it, it is likely to increase itself in the same area. As the Prophet said:

“If a man were given a valley of gold, he will desire another one.” In the West people say, “the grass is always greener on the other side”. There is no end to an appetite for material things.

We can never achieve true and everlasting happiness through fulfilment of material desires. True Happiness only comes from within, when you are at peace with yourself, when your soul is contented and your heart is full of Taqwa. As Alláh says:

“It is only with the remembrance of Alláh that the hearts find satisfaction (rest) ” Ch13/v28

When a person turns to Alláh and puts his trust in Him, then his or her heart will be in the state of peace and tranquillity. They will not be driven constantly by greed and wanting more.

Whenever problems arise they are not in a state of panic, confusion, fear and doubt because their hearts are at rest, contented, full with peace and tranquillity.

They understand the unpredictable changes of life, the ups and the downs, they understand that it is part of the test. They have confidence in the words of their Lord, which says:

“With every difficulty comes ease” Ch94/v6

Whatever difficulties or troubles are encountered by men, Alláh always provides a solution, a way out, a relief, a way to lead to ease and happiness, if we only follow His path and show faith and have Taqwa. What happens is that both sides of the coin are tests, in the good times, when ease is there, it is a test. Do we get carried away and become so happy with our success that we forget Alláh? Or do we thank Alláh remembering that it is really a blessing from Him? Even though we strove, we tried, but ultimately achieving that was a blessing from Alláh.

We can strive, we can plan, make decisions, we can move, but we cannot guarantee the results of any of our acts. If we get successful, then this is a blessing from Alláh for which we should be thankful and grateful.

In a time of difficulty, we realise that whatever harm befalls us, whatever pain we feel, it is a purification for our sins, so it is about being patient. We patiently bear it knowing that it is not going to last forever. Calamities, difficulties and hard times do not come to a person and just remain. They will be raised after some time. If we are patient then Alláh rewards us for our patience and perseverance.

Taqwa is not such that you reach a certain level and you are there 100% all the time. Taqwa goes up and down, it increases and decreases. You increase Taqwa by your righteous deeds, and decrease it with your sins and evil deeds. This is the simple and only formula to increase Taqwa, Increase your righteous deeds.

To do a righteous deed is to consciously seek what is pleasing to Alláh. We should constantly be seeking the pleasure of Alláh. With the remembrance of Alláh comes true happiness, the happiness that can remain with us, happiness in the sense of contentment, which can remain with us through times of ease as well as times of difficulty.

But what comes with the forgetfulness of Alláh is a state of misery. It is a state where we are mostly concerned with material things, trying to fulfil our endless quest for them, trying to achieve happiness through them and being incapable of doing so. Alláh says in the Qur’án:

“Whoever turns away from my remembrance will find himself, or herself, in a miserable life”. 20/124

And the Prophet emphasised that by saying, “The slave or worshipper of the Dirham and Deenaar (the worshipper of money), will always be miserable.”

One who makes money the entire purpose of life will never be satisfied. The more they have they more they want.

There is nothing wrong with being rich, or having a lot of money as long the person observes his religious duties and keeps in mind that whatever he or she owns is a blessing from Alláh. We must always therefore strive to establish the fundamentals. We cannot build closeness to Alláh without the fundamentals. If the fundamentals are not in order, then no matter what additional things we do, they will not bring us closer to Alláh. We cannot give precedence to secondary acts over the fundamental acts.

For example, if you go to a masjid and find out that the compulsory prayer has begun then this is not the time to do the Sunnah. The Prophet had said that whenever the compulsory prayer has been called for – no other prayer is acceptable except that prescribed prayer.

There is a principle drawn from that in Islamic law, that you do not give precedence to Sunnah over Fard, voluntary over the compulsory. We always have to build our base first and foremost, by concentrating on the compulsory. This is where our greatest emphasis should be. And the Sunnah is in addition, to help us. When we do Sunnah before the Fard, we are acutely preparing ourselves to deal with the Fard. This is why it is important to observe the Sunnah, because if you jump straight into the Fard coming out of a work situation, your mind is not yet prepared for the [compulsory] Fard prayer. You need to settle down in stages. Usually you are carrying all of your environment, all of your experiences there with you. When you do Sunnah first, you start bringing yourself into a correct frame of mind. This is correct worship. This is why we are instructed whenever we go to the masjid we should pray two rak’ahs before sitting down. By praying before sitting down, you put yourself in that proper frame of mind, help prepare yourself for the compulsory prayer.

The two are there, side by side, but our primary emphasis should be on the compulsory. With all the various acts, which we are trying to build on top of that, by engaging in the voluntary, inshaAlláh we will achieve that status, that high status that Alláh has identified as being a “friend of Alláh”. This is something worthy for each and every one of us to seek.

[Closing du’áh in Arabic]

Ameen! Aqeemus Salaah!

 

* Edited from a lecture by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips