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Cultivating The Love Of Allah

A heart filled with the love of Allah is a heart that finds peace and tranquility. Allah says: “Indeed, by the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find contentment.” [Surah al-Ra`d: 28]

Allah promises those who believe and work righteousness that he will give them a life of goodness. He says: “Whoever works righteousness, man or woman, and has faith, verily to him we will give him a life that is good and pure.” [Surah al-Nahl: 97]

This life which is good and pure is by way of the radiance of one’s spirit, the coolness of one’s eyes, and the happiness of one’s heart towards Allah. Religion faith provides solace to the soul’s pain. It is the physician that cures our tears and our emotional wounds.

From our love for Allah stems our love for His Messengers, His Prophets, and His angels, Our love for Allah makes us love His righteous servants among our fellows. We want to be with those who love Him, associate with them, and adopt their good ways and manners.

From our love for Allah stems a desire to exhibit goodness to all of Creation. This desire manifests itself in our good words, our good deeds, our supplications, and our help. This in itself is a reason for happiness and contentment. Those who go forth to help others and fulfill their needs are the people with the most happiness and fulfillment in their lives.

The love for Allah comes by way of keeping His Book as a dear companion by reading it, contemplating its meanings, and acting upon its teachings. Such companionship of the Qur’an means that the reader is always with it. Whenever he completes one chapter, he moves on to another. He never finishes reading the Qur’an except with the intention of starting again.

A person’s love for Allah is expressed through his love for prayer since this is the way the soul can travel to its Lord. It brings rest to the spirit. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Bilal: “Call the prayer, so that we may find rest in it.” [Sunan Abi Dawud (4985)]

Prayer safeguards us from sin and wrongdoing. Allah says: “Establish prayer, for prayer restrains from shameful and false deeds.” [Surah al-`Ankabut: 45]

We show our love to Allah by constantly seeking His forgiveness and by constantly striving to draw nearer to Him. A Muslim never despairs of Allah’s mercy and he never sees his sins to be greater than Allah’s forgiveness. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.

Allah says: “No one despairs of Allah’s mercy except those who have no faith.” [Surah Yusuf: 87]

Allah says: “And who despairs of the mercy of Allah except those who are astray?” [Surah al-Hijr: 56]

Our penitence includes our repeatedly seeking Allah’s forgiveness with the prescribed wording for doing so while keeping the meaning of what we are saying clear in our minds. We must recognize and acknowledge our shortcomings before Allah. We should feel acutely how much we need Him and how much we must rely on Him at every moment of our lives.

We show our love for Allah by being aware of the numerous blessings He has bestowed upon us, despite all our sins and shortcomings.

A worshipper of Allah should never forget supplication. It is a door that is always open and never closed. Allah says: “Call upon Me. I will answer you.” [Surah Ghafir: 60]

Allah says: “If My servants asks you about Me, for indeed I am near. I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.” [Surah al-Baqarah: 186]

We must beseech our Lord in humility at every possible occasion and express our need of Him. Our hearts should be tied to Allah. We should wake up and pray to Him during the last third of the night, which is a special and most precious time for our worship. We should beseech Allah during the last hour of the afternoon on Friday and between the two calls of every prayer.

We should be careful that all of our sustenance is lawful and good. We should uphold our ties of kinship and honor our parents. We should respect the honor and wealth of our fellow human beings and never transgress against them.

We should receive in our hearts the glad assurance of the good that is bestowed by the One who when He wills something, just says “Be!” and it is.

Those Who Will Enter Paradise Without Being Called To Account

The first group of this ummah who will enter Paradise will be those who were pre-eminent in their Imaan, taqwaa, righteous deeds and adherence to the true religion. They will enter Paradise in one rank: the first of them will not enter until the last of them enters, and they will be as beautiful as the full moon.

Al-Bukhaari reports from Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
“The first group to enter Paradise will be as beautiful as the full moon. They will not spit, blow their noses or excrete. Their vessels will be fo gold, their combs of gold and silver, their incense o aloe, and their sweat of musk. Each of them will have two wives, the marrow of whose leg-bones will be visible through their flesh because of their extreme beauty. There will be no differences or hatred among them (the people of Paradise); their hearts will be as one, and they will glorify Allah (swt) morning and evening”. (Kitaab Bid’ al-Khalq, Baab Ma Jaa’ fi Sifaat al-Jannah, Fath al-Baari, 6/318; Muslim, at-Tirmidhi)

al-Bukhaari reports from Sahl ibn Sa’d (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Seventy thousand – or seven hundred thousand – of my ummah will enter Paradise; the first of them will not enter until the last of them does so, and their faces will look like the full moon”. (Fath al-Baari, 6/319)

It is true that with each one of these seventy, Allah (swt) will give His Prophet seventy thousand. Ahmad reports with a saheeh isnaad from Abu Bakr (ra) that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

“I have been given seventy thousand of my ummah, who will enter Paradise without being called to account. Their faces will be like the full moon, and their hearts will be as one. I asked my Rabb, may He be glorified, for more, and He gave me, along with each of them, seventy thousand more”. (Saheeh al-Jaami’, 1/350, no. 1068)

Ahmad, at-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Hibbaan report with a saheeh isnaad from Abu Umaamah that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “My Rabb promised me that seventy thousand of my ummah would enter Paradise without being called to account and without being punished, and with each one will be seventy thousand, and three handfuls of people picked up by my Rabb [ i.e. it will be a great number]”. (Saheeh al-Jaami’ 6/108, no. 2988).

The Prophet (saw) described the characteristics of these seventy thousand.

al-Bukhaari reports from Ibn ‘Abbaas that the Prophet (saw) said, “I was shown the nations, and I saw a Prophet pass by with a group of his people, and another with a band of his people, another with only ten, another with five, and another on his own (with no followers). Then I looked and saw a large crowd of people. I asked, “O Jibreel, are these my ummah?” He said, “No, but look at the horizon.” So I looked and saw a huge multitude of people. Jibreel said, “These are your ummah, and those seventy thousand in front will not be called to account or punished.” I asked, “Why?” He said, “They did not treat themselves with branding (cauterization) or with ruqyaa (charms) and they did not see evil omens in things ( i.e they were not superstitious): they put their trust only in their Rabb””. ‘Ukaasha ibn Mihsan stood up and said, “Pray to Allah (swt) to make me one of them”. The Prophet (saw) said, “O Allah (swt) make him one of them”. Then another man stood up and said, “Ask Allah (swt) to make me one of them”. The Prophet (saw) said, ‘Ukaasha has preceded you”. (Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Kitaab ar-Riqaaq, Baab Yadhkul al-Jannah Sab’un Alfan bi Ghayri Hisaab, Fath al-Baari, 11/405)

These may be the ones whom Allah (swt) has called al-Muqarraboon (those nearest to Allah swt):

“And those foremost [in faith] will be foremost [in the Hereafter]. These will be those nearest to Allah [al-Muqarraboon], in the Gardens of Bliss”. (56:10-12)

More of them will come from the early generations than from the later generations:

“A multitude of those [foremost] will be from the first generations [who embraced Islaam], and a few of those [foremost] will be from the later generations”. (56:13-14)

What Are The Different Duties The Angels Undertake?

• They are the keepers of Paradise: “And those who kept their duty to their Lord will be led to Paradise in groups, till, when they reach it, its gates will be opened and its keepers will say: Salaamun ‘Alaikum (peace be upon you!). You have done well, so enter here, to abide therein.” (Qur’an, 39:73)

• They are the keepers of Hell, who are “stern and severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do (precisely) what they are commanded.” (Qur’an, 66:6)

• There are angels that carry the Throne, glorify the praises of their Lord, and ask forgiveness for the believers who repent sincerely. (Qur’an, 40:7)

• An angel is responsible for blowing the Trumpet to signal The Hour (Israfeel).

• Angels drive the clouds and descend with each drop of rain (Mikael and his helpers).

• Angels take a person’s soul at the time of Death (there is no authentic narration to state that the name of the angel of Death is Azra’eel).

• Angels test a person in the grave (Munkar and Nakeer).

• Angels are engaged in various acts of worship tirelessly: some are bowing, some are prostrating, some are standing in rows, some are circumambulating the House of Allah over the seventh heaven (Al-Bayt Al-Ma‘moor), which is the counterpart of the Ka’ba in the Heavens.

• Angels keep record of a person’s deeds, the “honorable scribes” (Kiraman Katibeen) who know all that we say and do. (Qur’an, 6:61; 43:80; 50:17-18)

• Angels protect a person throughout his life. “For each (person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the command of Allah.” (Qur’an, 13:10-11)

• An angel is responsible for the fetus in the womb, who “breathes the spirit into (the fetus), and is charged with four commands: to write down his provision, his life-span, his actions, and whether he will be wretched or happy.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

• There are angels who travel throughout the world, seeking out and gathering around assemblies of Dhikr (remembrance of Allah).

• Angels witness the recitation of the Qur’an at Fajr (Dawn): “Indeed, the recitation of Fajr is witnessed.” (Qur’an, 17:78)

• Angels are in charge of the stability of mountains, as mentioned in the authentic narration where the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was addressed by the angel of mountains at Taif when he went there to call the people to Islam.

The Modern Muslim State Of Madina

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (peace be upon him) stayed in Makkah calling the people of his hometown to the message of Allah for 13 years and the number of people who embraced Islam did not exceed 70. The Prophet (peace be upon him) suffered a lot at the hands of his people who rejected the new religion, in spite of its noble and uplifting values. During that initial phase of Islam, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was fully occupied with instilling the idea of monotheism or the Oneness of God in his people’s minds.
When the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated to Madina where he (peace be upon him) spent 10 years of his life, that are truly considered the most profitable and fruitful ones in the history of Islam. As soon as he settled in Madina, the Prophet (peace be upon him) started to work for establishing the Muslim state. If we deeply study the foundations upon which Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) established this state, we will discover that it was a modern state in the full sense of the word:

• When the Prophet (peace be upon him) arrived in Madina, he started building a mosque first to serve as the parliament for the nascent Muslim state. In other words, it was not only a place of worship but a place for discussing and reviewing all the matters related to the general good of Muslims and Islam.

• The second step taken by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was to effect a reconciliation between Aws and Khazraj, the two most powerful tribes of Madina. This is what is called nowadays in political circles as establishing social peace and political stability.

• The third step was to sign non-aggression treaties with the Jews which in the present terminology is called establishing and fostering good neighborliness. But, unfortunately, the Jews, as usual, violated the treaty which made Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) expel them from Madina to keep their mischief away from the new-born Muslim state and this is what is called today political shrewdness.

• The Prophet (peace be upon him) established the principle of Shoura (Consultation). He (peace be upon him) used to consult his Companions to seek their views on all matters of importance, giving everybody the chance to present his or her point of view. He never hesitated to accept and act on any reasonable point of view, in spite of the fact that it might be contrary to his own view. This is what we call today the democratic spirit and public opinion polls.

• The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) was deeply concerned about equality. He emphasized on many occasions that all Muslims regardless of their color, race, wealth and social status are equal and this accomplished what we call today as human rights.

• The Prophet (peace be upon him) always emphasized the positive role of women in building the Muslim society and always stressed that her role is as important as that of man, and this is what we have come to call today women’s rights or women’s empowerment.