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Welcome dear viewers to a new episode of I Believe in Allah
Yesterday, we began a conversation which led us to the path to the love of Allah. How do we love Allah?
The question is why is what drives us always fear of Allah?
Does the path of fear lead to love or is it love which leads to fear?
And is it fear of punishment or is it fear of the One you love, Exalted is He?
I present this to our dear, precious, ever-present guest, the inviter to Islam, al-Habib 'Ali al-Jifry.
We as humans will fear our Lord.
Meaning, I'll fear Him because I'm afraid of His punishment.
From childhood, my family and the religious school would make us fear punishment.
From Hell. From the Fire. From faces that are split, being skinned, a grave that is constricted and serpents.
So the view of God inside me was that I have to fear Him.
I wasn't taught that I should love Him as something instinctual and also because it does not befit me except to love Allah.
But the reality, in the recesses of the soul, is that when you experience this love and when you are with the one you love, you are scared he might get angry with you.
So this is that fear.
I am afraid of pain and punishment and I don't know how to taste the delights of love.
What do I do with myself and how do I train myself to love this Great Creator of the universe, who created me and bestowed upon me health, wealth, and hid my faults, and gifted me everything
All Praise be to Allah and peace and blessings be upon my Master, Muhammad son of Abdullah, and his family and companions and those who follow him.
Your question contained keys to the answers.
Firstly, this is the state of the people of excellence.
However, this is not something exclusive.
This is a door open to all.
What is Ihsan (excellence)? It is to worship Allah as if you can see Him, for though you cannot see Him, He sees you.
This is the station of excellence in interacting with Allah, the Exalted.
A part of it is present in the station of ('Iman) faith.
Rather, a part of it is present in the station of Islam, which is the beginning.
By merely bearing witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah - you have no Lord other than Him
and bearing witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, who guided you to Him and the path to knowing Him
Allah, out of love for you, sent to you the most beloved of His creation to Him, to guide you to Him
By merely perceiving this meaning, the address of love has begun!
However, there is a compounded problem.
The first part is that the Science [by which this is achieved] which is the Purification of the Souls, has become in some way remote in our lives.
Or only looked at superficially.
It has in some way become remote because a few considered it to be baseless and attacked it when it appeared with the name 'Tasawwuf.' They wanted to completely get rid off it.
This, despite the righteous predecessors from the beginning have had concern for it.
The [righteous predecessors] called it Ihsan, Tazkiya, Tasawwuf..
Call it whatever you want. However, this science which is the rectification of hearts, the spiritual experiencing of the connection with Allah, was emphasised by the Chosen one, peace and blessings be upon him and his family:
"Verily Allah does not look at your bodies nor your forms but He looks at your hearts and your actions"
It was stressed by the Beloved, peace and blessings be upon him and his family.
The discourse on love? The Qur'an is full of it.
Rather, if you contemplate.. when Allah wanted to mention a type of punishment, He addressed the ones who lag behind in giving victory to the Truth, in steadfastness, in seeking His Pleasure, and He said:
{Allah will bring forward a people whom He loves and who love Him}
And it is as though the severest type of warning, frightening, scare, is that Allah will distance you and bring people other than you whom He will love.
He will bring people other than you whom He will love.
{Allah will bring forward a people whom He loves and who love Him, humble to the believers, dignified and commanding in the face of the unbelievers}
The speech here is about the arenas of jihad, giving victory, steadfastness, seeking Allah.. He called attention to the worst that a lover can be punished with is that he is replaced.
[Host:] - It is as though Allah, the Exalted, loves and hates?
Love and its opposite when attributed to Allah, the Exalted, are understood to not be like that which we understand between us humans.
-Even though the word 'love' was linked to Allah and to humanity in this verse?
They differ. Firstly, when Allah, the Exalted, mentioned hatred in the Qur'an, He did not attach it to essences/persons. Rather, He linked it to behaviour.
{Allah was averse to their setting out} He did not say, "He hated them."
{Allah does not like evil words being voiced out loud}
And even when He referred to people, He did not mention specific persons. He mentioned the characteristic in the person.
{the oppressors}
So Allah did not turn with hatred toward the persons, because He is the one who created them, so how can He hate what He created?
However, He directed no love.. which is why it is rare to find in the Qur'an the word {hates}
And when it appeared - {Allah was averse to their setting out}, He linked it to conduct not persons.
However, you'll find the phrase {He does not love} in the Quran.
{He loves} and {He does not love}… to turn our views that the foundation in His connection to us, in His Lordship over us, is love.
The word 'Rabb' alone - what does it mean?
The Rabb is the one who nurtures.
This is why it said that so and so is the rabb of the house.
The Rabb is the one who takes care of.
'I am the rabb of my camels, and the Sacred House has a Rabb who will protect it,' said Abdul Muttalib to Abraha.
So the word 'Rabb' in its origin returns to what? To: care for, to bring up, to show concern. Do these terms imply love or hate? They point to love!
So this is the foundation in the connection to Him.
And if we return to the question you asked..
we said that the problem is that this concern for the science of purification - development of the heart, enjoining good and forbidding evil blended with reverential awe and awareness of Allah, having shame before Him - has been made remote.
This is a problem.
The second problem is that some people who mention the Quranic verses and Prophetic narrations of fright - which you gave an example of and which are real..
the serpent in the grave, the punishment of the grave and the Hellfire are all true
This is from our creed, our faith, our religion. Some of which are foundational beliefs while others are branches in creed.
However, the problem is not in their existence, and their existence is correct which is why they came in the Qur'an.
Their existence is in the form of a medicine for the disease of encroachment found in humans.
Most humans require fright to deter them.
For example, you find a diabetic yearning for a sweetmeat or cake.
Especially an elderly person or someone newly diagnosed with it will wait till his wife and children can't see him and then grab something sweet and eat it.
So if someone notices him being excessive, what does he tell him?
He says to him, "If you continue this, you'll lose your eyesight. There'll be kidney failure. This and that..."
What is this called? Frightening!
You warned and scared him of the outcome of what he is doing.
Why? Because the human nature responds to leaving that which it craves which is wrong - because it can desire what is wrong - by either fear or hope..
'If you leave it, you will attain such and such.. Your body will strengthen. Your eyesight will..."
Shame and love are similarly powerful.
There must be something to deter. There must be an inclination which stands up to the inclination of the ego.
The desire to rush to something necessitates an inclination greater than it.
If love does not stir it, then desire or hope will. 'You'll attain such and such.. Paradise.'
-[Host]: Isn't this forcing love? Love me or else you'll find..?
No. There is: 'Comply or else you'll find the Fire,' but not: 'love Me or else you'll find the Fire.'
Love cannot be imposed!
A human loves for any of three reasons, as philosophers say.
Either for beauty, for perfection, or for generosity.
The nature of the soul was created by Allah as such.
Either you love for beauty. Because souls - sound souls - are naturally disposed towards loving beauty.
And perhaps we can talk about what is understood by beauty in another episode.
Souls are naturally disposed towards loving beauty.. craving for beauty.
When you see a beautiful scene like greenery or the sky, you proclaim, "Allah!" Souls love that.
You see someone with a kind face, you say, "Transcendent is Allah!"
Souls are naturally disposed to love beauty. Just as they are naturally disposed to love perfection.
A human being is imperfect. So if he sees perfection, it dazzles him. He loves it.
Or you love one for their generosity.
Humans are naturally disposed to love those who are good to them.
So if we wish to talk about love of Allah, love of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, the place of this love is either inherent i.e. the original natural disposition is still alive such that how can I not love Him??
Someone asked one of the knowers of Allah, "How do I love Allah?"
He replied, "My boy, I don't have a reply for you because my reply is how can you not love Him?"
-We will return after the break.
-As a scholar and guide to my path of love for Allah, how do you advise I get rid of the rust upon my heart?
Firstly, I am not the scholar or guide to Allah you speak of, but I will relate what I heard from such people. May Allah make us, and you, from them.
The reality is that love exists in you.
The first mistake you can make is to search for love outside of you.
It is attributed to Imam 'Ali, may Allah ennoble his face, that he would say:
Your cure is from you, but you don't perceive And your disease is within you, but you don't see And you suppose that you are a small entity, And within you is enfolded the greatest world.
The matter is within you.
However, you need to search for it in you.
The tools for searching - which you were asking about - are what the divine scholars call 'contemplation,' as was revealed in the Qu'ran.
We need to contemplate a little.
Who brought me into being from non-existence?
Allah!
Who poured upon me blessings?
Allah!
Who concealed my faults? Who gave me respite?
How many times I disobeyed Him?
How many times I was embarrassed of people seeing me in an act of disobedience of Him, yet I was heedless of His gaze upon me.
The scholars relate the address between Allah and the slave on the Day of Judgment, when he stands alone before Allah.
None other than Allah will address him.
When Allah, the Exalted, will say to him: My slave, Do you remember such day and such moment..
the day you closed the doors and concealed yourself and you were ashamed to be seen by people, and you did what angers Me
Weren't you embarrassed before Me?
Why did you make Me the least important of those gazing at you?
Why did you make Me the least important of those gazing at you?
You didn't want so and so to see you but you were content for Me to see you do that!
Now this does not mean that I should go and proclaim to people what I was doing!
To have shame before others is part of the Religion.
If I am ashamed for people to see me sin, this is from conduct with Allah.
However, the moments when I was disobeying Him, or neglecting His Commands, He sees me and yet He covered me.
I go out, and people interact with me as a respected human being, or a good or righteous person.
They interact with me as though I have done nothing wrong. What is this?
This is a blessing called concealment of faults.
There is a blessing called respite.
What if He had hastened to punish me?
If you had an employee who erred once, then twice, then thrice, with short-comings and mess-ups, you'll decide to expel him.
There will necessarily be a reaction to his action.
However, the Lordly respite is tremendous! This Divine clemency He has with me!
When I contemplate on some of these meanings, when I exit the state of rapid chaos which we live in our time, entangled..
One wakes up and goes to bed distracted and preoccupied.
Allah called it heedlessness.
This is what we live today, from morning to evening; continuous events, haste, anxieties of life, clamour.
The clamour that we live in externally and internally has deprived us from the blessing of contemplation.
This is why Lordly help came to us in the form of the Qur'an.
{Will they not then ponder the Qur´an or are there locks upon their hearts?}
The blessing of Qur'an came to us so that we would read and sense that Allah, the Majestic in His Sublimity, is speaking to us!
He made easy for us the Qur'an through the tongue of our Master Muhammad and revealed it upon his heart.
So it came to us freshly.
We should open the door of contemplating the Qur'an.. Visual contemplation of the Qur'an is in reflecting on the pages of the vast cosmos we are in.
So reviving the contemplation of the Qur'an is what you were seeking.
Something else is resolve with one's self to perform obligations.
Obligations are a must!
The adhan was called, I must pray.
But there are people and I'm embarrassed of so and so and I'm a show off.. No! This is Prayer. I'm a Muslim.
The world will respect you whether they want to or not. You are with Allah.. what do you have to do with the world?!
The time for Prayer entered, I must pray whatever happens.
If busy, then the important thing is to pray before the prayer time ends.
Not that I pray Dhuhr when the time for Asr enters except if I'm a traveler.
Obligations! Along with performing obligations, resolve with one's self to leave major sins.
Then gradually resolving to leaving prohibited things.
This is control over the ego. However, this control requires strength.
Mentally, you are convinced. However, when it comes to implementation, you find yourself weak.
What is the strength that you are need of? It is the love that we talked about.
Drawing out meanings of this love is what pushes you.
You (can) seek help through fear and hope in God. However, love is the strongest push to leave or do an act.
This is why the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his family, taught us a supplication: O Allah make me from the people You love and who love You.
O Allah make faith beloved to us and adorn our hearts with it.
O Allah make Your love more beloved to us than our selves, families, wealth, everyone, and cold water during severe thirst.
Supplication and begging Allah! Reading about the people of love is important..
Read about the Prophets, the Companions, the Prophet's Family, the Followers, the Saints who were enraptured in their love of Allah, the Sublime.
What is it that they found? Because what is it that swerves the ego from tasting the love of Allah?
What swerves it from tasting the love of Allah is that it found something it desires and is deluded that its happiness lies in that.
If you recall, we mentioned in a previous episode about happiness and success, how the ego deludes one into a false sense of happiness.
There is happiness and then there is a delusion of happiness.
The ego is deluded into thinking that it will be happy in the moment of a delight which contravenes the Sacred Law..
Allah did not prohibit us from enjoyment, but it has to be lawful.
Deluded by momentary delight, the ego supposes obedience to be deprivation.
This is delusion to believe that when I obey, I'll be deprived of something others are enjoying.
This is a delusion. Why? Because there exists a greater delight in obedience.
However, I need to struggle with my ego to arrive at it.
Some steps that I take with in love with Allah, and I will taste it.
This is why some narrations say:
~Whoever saw the beauty of a woman, and lowered his gaze~
A prohibited sight diverted him. A woman in an attractive state. Or a man in an alluring way. A woman should lower her gaze as well.
~Whoever saw the beauty of a woman, and lowered his gaze~
The first look is unintentional. The second is against you.
~Whoever saw the beauty of a woman inadvertently and lowered his gaze, Allah will credit him with a worship whose sweetness he will experience in his heart~
Why? Because he was looking at something sweet. He was assuming that he was enjoying sweetness.
No, leave for the sake of Allah and out of love for Him something that does not please Him and you will find the fruit of that is that He will grant you to taste a greater delight.
And this is not merely to do with women and men.
Kings, presidents, and rulers who oppress people.. what causes them to be oppressive?
The delight of power!
We say to them, 'No! There is a greater delight in upholding justice.
The delight of restraining your ego from what it wants; seeking what He wants!
The trader who deceives, steals, engages in bribery, or usurps the rights of the weak and the poor..
What drives him to this? The delight of amassing wealth and enjoying it.
No, there is a greater delight!
Search for the delight. We aren't talking contrary to your interest.
Depart from the delusion of delight to Real delight..
about which one of the gnostics said, in a moment in which he felt ecstasy while calling upon Allah, the Exalted..
He said: Were the rulers to experience some of what we experience in the delight of calling upon Allah during the night, they would have fought us for it, even with their swords.
Another of the gnostics said: I swear, were it said to me that Paradise is outside your door while I was in a moment of calling upon Allah, I would not arise to go and look at it..
because I'm in the reality of paradise.
This isn't belittling Paradise.. Paradise is tremendous!
However, because he lived the real goal of paradise which is the pleasure of Allah, the delight of calling upon the Creator of paradise
I am with the Creator of paradise so why should I search for it?
It will come to me as long as I'm with Him!
Upon these meanings is life founded; conduct, interaction, character, contemplation, all the depths which we delved into during the past twenty episodes.
All the depths which our society delves into in our Arab land.
All of the current, blazing situation has a connection with what we are saying.
It is not being asleep to or beyond the current situation. No, it is an elevation of the current situation!
We cannot depart from the true solution, whether with regards to strife, contention, nation building or uplifting the people.
But if we make this situation an all-consuming occupation and concern, it deprives us from living these (higher) meanings.
These meanings were lived by the Companions even while fighting on the battlefield.
The tranquility that descended upon their hearts in the midst of the battle was such that they would drowse! Is that comprehensible?
Imagine the fighting, the struggling, the clattering of weapons, and today the sound of guns. Is it possible for him to sleep while standing?
{When He made the slumber fall upon you as a reassurance from Him}
And he wakes up and continues fighting.
If this light of tranquility is lost, then efforts for good or rectification or nation-building [do not bear fruit].
If the work is done without contemplation, tranquility, love, or knowing that one is interacting with Allah in what one is doing, then..
Haven't uprisings occurred here before?
They have! However, there was illegal consumption, crucifying, stealing..
Why? Because this meaning did not exist.
So we are in need of returning to it again.
-Thank you. Allah willing, we will see you tomorrow.