By Adawiyya Setiawanggsa

This lowly life schemes and scams us into thinking that we have a long way to go when in reality, our lives are not guaranteed and we can die anytime. Our life on Earth is only a small fragment of our entire existence. We have to realise that Dunya is the same place to gain divine pleasure AND worldly affairs, so we have to endeavour towards both of them. 

How do we do so?

We have to remember Allah ﷻ at all times. We need to intend all that we do in Dunya for Allah ﷻ.

WE ARE GIVEN 60 YEARS TO LIVE BECAUSE CHANGE COMES SLOWLY. SO BE PATIENT, PERSISTENT, AND HOPEFUL.

Don’t be worried about people being unhappy with us. Instead, be worried about Allah ﷻ being unhappy with us.

Allah ﷻ is more pleased with our taubah than someone who mistakenly says Allah ﷻ is his slave. That person said that he is Allah’s ﷻ Rabb when he was in a moment of extreme joy and yet, Allah ﷻ did not take that as blasphemy. Allah ﷻ was still happy and pleased with his taubah. So what more our taubah? 

Rasulullah ﷺ said:

“Allah hates every harsh man who eats excessively, shouts in the bazaar, sleeps at night like a corpse, passes the day like a donkey, and is well aware of worldly matters but totally ignorant about matters of the Hereafter.”

Ibn Hibban

Let’s analyse this statement by Rasulullah ﷺ: 

To “eat excessively like a buffet” is frowned upon as we ought to prevent wastage of food. It is against the nature of how we are made. We are made to eat 1/3 food, 1/3 water and 1/3 air. Ramadhan is not the time to be a businessman (e.g., trading at a bazaar) because we are expected to go for taraweeh prayers and qiyam to reap the expanded rewards in Ramadhan—we need it! 

By “Sleeping at night like a corpse”, one can’t even be woken up for fajr, and when one “passes the day like a donkey” they might follow the currents aimlessly, not having their own individual purpose, not eating and seeing without giving credit to Allah ﷻ. 

To be “totally ignorant in the matters of the Hereafter” is to be caught up in the current of secular influences, distractions and ignorance of the general society today. Knowledgeable individuals are now isolated because said current is too strong.

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One category of our enemies are our companions. 

We need to find good companions. They are those who push us when necessary, but also compliment us when necessary. At the same time, To be careful of company does NOT mean to sever our existing ties, but to be their companions for the sake of Allah ﷻ.  We are not to become segregationists. We can only be harsh to ourselves, never to others. So let us call people to Allah ﷻ as one of the many responsibilities that we have is to carry out dawah and to call others to Allah ﷻ.

When we want to invite our close companions to goodness, it is ideal to have a private session with the individual rather than as a group as the influence and inclination towards not wanting change may be too strong in a group setting. Hence, a one-on-one peer influence is the best when you intend to bring them towards goodness like seeking knowledge and going to class, etc.

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Truthfulness

By tongue, we can say ‘I love you, Allah ﷻ’ or ‘Thank you, Allah ﷻ’. But how about through our actions, solat and ibadah?

Know that solat is an honour. When we proclaim Allah ﷻ is the greatest, we should put aside our emails and prioritise Allah ﷻ, especially when some of us work from home. So we ought to do our ibadah, carry out our amanah and take care of our bodies in accordance with Allah’s ﷻ guidelines.

Learn to have shukr by the heart for the heart beats love. Say “Thank you Allah, thank you Allah”. We can see, hear, breathe and our heart is beating—so many things, all carried out synchronously, all multitasking. We keep receiving from Allah ﷻ so what more do we want from Allah ﷻ? Shukr. At least once in our day, say, ‘Thank you. I love you, Allah’.

Ask yourself, “Has Allah ever treated me as a slave? Even though I am rightfully a slave?’ So, when will we start treating Allah ﷻ as a Master, as He rightfully is? Remind ourselves that love must be fed. It is not just lip service to say, ‘I love you, Allah’.

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With regards to preaching (especially online): 

1. Don’t preach until you have overcome your own nafs.�
2. Don’t be a teacher until you overcome your own nafs.�
3. When a duty in the Islamic Dawah field is given to us, don’t back away. Do it well! Do it with ehsan (excellence) for these are the works of Allah ﷻ. Don’t be tired, don’t be stressed out. Intend to do it for Allah ﷻ for He appreciates it!�

Even for normal work, we intend to find halal rizq. Intend it for Allah ﷻ so that work becomes an ibadah by itself.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said,

“When a group of people assemble for the remembrance of Allah, the angels surround them (with their wings), (Allah’s) mercy envelops them, Sakinah, or tranquillity descends upon them and Allah makes a mention of them before those who are near Him.”�

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