The Way of the Seeker

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

We can seek from Allah knowing that He is Al-Ghani (the Rich) or Al-Mughni (the Enricher), or from Al-Kareem (the Generous) or Ar-Razaaq (the Provider of Sustenance). Hence because we know that Allah possesses all of these attributes of giving and more we know that only Allah has the power to give anything to His servants as He wills. In other words whilst the Divine Decree is enabled through people or opportunities on this earth, if Allah willed, no one or nothing could prevent what He had decreed for His servant because all power is with Him alone. To believe otherwise would be to believe that  human power was greater than that of the Creator Who endowed human beings with power and freewill, which of course is illogical.

But what we also need to know in seeking from Allah is that there is a secondary consideration when seeking from the beautiful names of Allah which is to also and simultaneously consider that Allah is Ar-Rahman (Most-Compassionate) and Ar-Rahim (Most-Merciful). In other words for the one seeking from Ar-Razzaq would be seeking from Allah in the knowledge that Allah was the Provider and with the understanding that only Allah could provide for Him. To know this would be to have attained one level of understanding, however, there is another level of consideration to hold in one’s mind at the same time which is to know that Allah is also Ar-Rahim. In other words, whilst we’re seeking from Allah the Provider we have to also know that it is only out of the mercy of Allah that He provides to His servants. His ability to provide is not an automatic guarantee of His provision for us in specific matters.

In other words, there is a difference between seeking from Allah the Provider and between knowing He is the Provider but also the Most-Merciful. In the latter understanding one realises that whilst Allah could give if He chose to give, He only gives out of His mercy. Now, not everyone realises this such that whilst one might gain from Allah through seeking Allah as the Provider, such a person would not be aware that in reality it was out of the mercy of Allah that His provisions to that person were granted.

The below illustrates the point that Allah gives out of His mercy and not only because He possesses the attribute of Provider, which is that Allah always knows more reasons for Him to not grant us the provisions  we seek than to grant us the provisions we seek because:

Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim
Allah gives us wealth,
But we hoard it,
He gives us health,
But we destroy it,
He gives us time,
But we waste it,
He gives us knowledge,
But we misuse it,
He gives us power,
But we abuse it
He gives us security,
But we overthrow it,
He gives us sincerity,
But we disregard it,
He gives us honesty,
But we choose instead of it,
He gives us the Truth,
But we forget it,
He gives us light,
But we extinguish it,
He gives us food,
But we are ungrateful for it,
He gives us beauty,
But we flaunt it,
He gives us the right way,
But we choose wrong over it,
He gives us love,
But we choose argument instead of it,
He sends us Prophets,
But foolishly we choose our own way,
He gives, and we take,
And then we ask:
Why does Allah not give?
Allah gives and we take,
And yet who but Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim,
Could continue to give,
Even though He knows more reasons to not give,
Who but Allah could do this?

Narrated Abdullah ibn Mas’ud, “The Messenger of Allah (sall’allahu alayhi wasallam) taught us: “O Allah, join our hearts, mend our social relationship, guide us to the path of peace, bring us from darkness to light, save us from obscenities, outward or inward, and bless our ears, our eyes, our hearts, our wives, our children, and relent toward us; Thou art the Relenting, the Merciful. And make us grateful for Thy blessing and make us praise it while accepting it and give it to us in full.” (Sunan Dawud)

Conclusion
What we can learn from this insha’Allah is that if given that Allah gives us all of these blessings, and many more which we’re simply unable to innumerate, and given how we generally misuse them, it stands to reason that Allah knows many more reasons to not grant us what we seek than to grant our requests. And yet He does, but only out of His mercy by which He teaches us a very important lesson which is for us to be merciful to others. If it is that despite all of our constant failings Allah continues to be merciful to us, that He does not apply His justice to us but rather applies His mercy, then this is a sign for us to understand the importance of mercy over justice, of being merciful to others. Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim are the highest of the names of Allah, attributes which manifest themselves throughout the universe benefiting both the obedient and disobedient slaves of Allah. In reality were Allah to apply His justice to His creation and hold them to account for right and wrong then it is unlikely that a single soul be left alive on earth.

“If Allah were to punish men for their wrong-doing, He would not leave, on the (earth), a single living creature: but He gives them respite for a stated Term: When their Term expires, they would not be able to delay (the punishment) for a single hour, just as they would not be able to anticipate it (for a single hour)” (Qur’an, Al-Nahl, 16:61)

Thus, the meaning of this revelation, of Divine Law and the Prophetic example is mercy which is a sign that whatever we acquire, whatever knowledge we possess, whatever blessings we have received, whatever high aspirations we hold, are all out of the mercy of Allah and not because of ourselves. Thus it is that we seek only out of the mercy of Allah and show constant gratitude for what He grants us no matter how small in our eyes. Also, we must remember that Allah knows all our good and bad attributes, our sincerity, honesty, truthfulness, integrity. He knows us better than our own selves. He knows all of our failings and if He were to judge us on the basis of those failings then it is unlikely that we would ever receive anything from Allah. And yet because of His mercy He provides.

In applying this understanding to our initial point, of seeking from Ar-Razaaq (the Provider), what we should realise is that whilst it is in the power of Allah to give what He pleases to whom He wills, what He gives is always ultimately out of His mercy because we could never claim to deserve anything based either on our abilities or even good deeds as the Messenger of Allah (sall’allahu alayhi wasallam) said:

“The deeds of anyone of you will not save you (from the  Fire).” They said, “Even you, O Allah’s Apostle?” He said, “No, even I unless and until Allah bestows His Mercy on me. Therefore, do good deeds properly, sincerely and moderately, and worship Allah in the forenoon and in the afternoon and during a part of the night, and always adopt a middle, moderate, regular course whereby you will reach your target (Paradise).” (Al-Bukhari)

Rather than relying on ourselves what we can always build our hopes on and what we can constantly and consistently rely on is the mercy Allah, that, Allah will always be merciful with us and grant us the best in this life and the next. But in order to achieve the best in this life and the next requires that we entirely submit to His will, remembering whatever He gives us is always entirely out of His mercy for which we must be constantly grateful. We must work for His mercy through spreading mercy constantly amongst His servants, remembering the words of the Messenger of Allah (sall’allahu alayhi wasallam) when he said, “Those that are merciful to others will find the One in the heavens merciful to them”. There will come a day when we will need His mercy more than anything else, that will be a day when we will not be judged according to our deeds, nor our achievements, nor according to our wealth or worldly status, but according to the sincerity of our hearts. Sincerity is the way of the seeker, the one who realises the wisdom of Imam Shafi’i who said:

“All humans are dead except those who have knowledge,
all those that have knowledge are asleep,
except those who do good deeds,
those who do good deeds are deceived,
except those who are sincere,
those who are sincere are in a constant state of worry!”
(Imam Shafi’i)

“Has not the Time arrived for the believers that their hearts in all humility should engage in the remembrance of Allah and of the Truth which has been revealed (to them), and that they should not become like those to whom was given revelation aforetime, but long ages passed over them and their hearts grew hard?” (Surah al-Hadid, 57:16)

“Change a people’s condition”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

The Messenger of Allah (sall’Allahu alayhi wasallam) said, ‘the believer is a stranger in the world’. Hence to believe is to feel comfortable with estrangement. For many a noble intention to do good has succumb to the uncompromising world by compromising one’s beliefs for it. Ours is not to change the world, there is no satisfaction or success in that, it is only to change ourselves and submit to His will. He then guides the best of those who submit to change that which His power changes. So it is, that whilst you’re campaigning for change in the world, if you find yourself fighting to oppose the change within you, then realise – you’re fighting the wrong fight. In humility and submission do we find Allah, Who is the Creator of all things, including change.

“Allah does not change a people’s condition unless they change what is in their hearts. But when (once) Allah will’s a people’s punishment, there can be no turning it back, nor will they find, besides Him, any to protect”. (Ar-Rad 13:11)

The Heart’s Response to Tribulations

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Introduction
This is an article I wrote back in March 2008 in order to discuss the issues of how to percieve and respond to difficulties and tests in our lives. Tests are a natural part of our existence here on earth and are a means by which our character’s are tested and perfected. Now, we ought to also understand that it is the heart which is the recepticle of all good and bad attributes. In other words everything good that occurs to us and its resultant emotion is found in the heart such as happiness, joy, gratitude and so on. Likewise we also find in the heart negative traits such as ingratitude, ignorance, anger, miserliness and so on. So it is imperative that for the one that is serious about leanring about such matters, and about desiring self-perfection, needs to know about how the heart is impacted as a result of tribulations. We cannot alter our tribulations but we can better understand how the heart is impacted by them such that we will be in a better position to understand ourselves and hence deal with our situation.

The Story of Al-Harith and Buhaysa

ِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Introduction
This is a story Shaykh Hamza Yusuf narrates about the war of Dhahis, a story of conflict and strife, of what can happen when people become entrenched in their love of this world, but it is also a story of honour, generosity and dignity and what can be achieved through chivalry, and through possessing the highest spiritual and moral aspirations. We’ll let Shaykh Hamza continue from here with this beautiful story:[1]

Who was the most favourite poet of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab?, asks Shaykh Hamza. It was Zuhair ibn abi Salma, the father of Ka’b ibn Zuhair who wrote the Burdah. Now, there is something the Arabs call Ayaam al-Arab, the days of the Arabs, which upon revelation Allah changed to Ayaam’illah, or the days of Allah. The days of the Arabs were momentous events that happened to the Arabs which they would capture in their poetry, one such event was a war called Harb ud-Dhahis, the war of a horse called Dhahis. Dhahis was owned by Zuhair ibn abi Qays al-Absi who had a friend from the Dhibyan tribe called Hudayfah bin Malik who had a horse called Ghabra. Now, Hudaytha was very jealous Dhahis, the horse of Zuhair, so he suggested that they have a race between the two horses, to which Zuhair agreed. The race, it was agreed, would be a one-hundred arrow race which meant that each of them would shoot a hundred arrows one after the other, the first one to complete a hundred arrows could begin the race.

You are closer to me than myself – Rumi

My love, you are closer to me than myself,
you shine through my eyes.
Your light is brighter than the Moon.
Step into the garden
so all the flowers, even the tall poplar
can kneel before your beauty.
Let your voice silence the lily
famous for its hundred tongues.
When you want to be kind you are
softer than the soul but when you withdraw
you can be so cold and harsh.

Dear one, you can be wild and rebellious but
when you meet him face to face
his charm will make you docile like the earth.
Throw away your shield and bare your chest
there is no stronger protection than him.

That’s why when the dervish withdraws
from the world he covers all the cracks in the wall,
so the outside light cannot come though.
He knows that only the inner light
illuminates his world.

-Rumi-