Remember Allah: The Key to Success (Temple MSA - 4/29/11 | Masjid Quba - 5/13/11)

Listen here: Temple MSA (4/29/11)

Listen here: Masjid Quba (5/13/11) (Audio not as "clear")

اذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ

So remember Me-I will remember you. (2:152)

الَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ إِلَّا اللَّمَمَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْضِ وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ فَلَا تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَى

53:32 (Asad) As for those who avoid the [truly] grave sins and shameful deeds - even though they may some times stumble [24] behold, thy Sustainer is abounding in forgiveness. He is fully aware of you [25]when He brings you into being out of dust, [26] and when you are still hidden in your mothers’ wombs: do not, then, consider your selves pure - [for] He knows best as to who is conscious of Him.

Part I

Assalaamu ‘Alaikum brothers and sisters. I am grateful that Allah (swt) has brought us here today to celebrate His praises and glorify Him. Alhamdulillah, we are able to witness another day of Jumu’ah and another salatul Jumu’ah. Allah (swt), in His infinite wisdom and mercy saw it fit for us to be here another day and another event and to get another opportunity to worship Him. Insha-Allah, we are here not out of fear of Allah’s punishment for not attending, but out of love of Allah and His mercy. Insha-Allah we are here because we are of those who believe with an inner certainty (Al-Muqineen), that Allah is true, His Mercy is true, His forgiveness is true, His justice is true, His promises are true, His rewards are true and His punishment is true. We do it not out of the fear of the punishment, but out of the love that He is Allah who is deserving of all service and worthy of all praise. 

I pray that Allah blesses us, forgives us our sins and grants us entry into His paradise, and counts our presence here today on our scale of good deeds, in the hope that it might be the one of the things that allows us to stand in Allah’s shade on the day of Judgement, when His (swt) shade will be the only shade.

Brothers and sisters, today I want to speak about how the remembrance of Allah is our path to success. I know this is something we have all heard and we all know. I know that we all believe this and many of us act on it. Insha-Allah, this is a reminder for me and for others, that truly in the remembrance of Allah, do hearts find rest (inna bidhikrillah tatmainul qulub).

As I said before, Allah (swt) says, “Remember me and I will remember you.” What does this mean to each one of us here? How does this help us during our daily lives, irrespective of what we are doing and how we are doing it? What does this mean for the average Muslim on the ground, day-in and day-out? I want to speak specifically to four groups of people here today:

• Students and teachers who are wrapping up their school year (MSA - Students who are finishing the semester)
• People familiar to the masjid and community (MSA - Executive board members who are leaving their positions)
• New community members / people who are searching for a place to call home (MSA - New board members assuming the duties)
• Students who are graduating (MSA - Graduates)

Students who are wrapping up exams:

Please remember that you are here because of a number of things: choices you have made (good and bad), life events, circumstances, etc. Most importantly, you are where you are because of Allah’s divine decree. If you are pleased with where you are, alhamdulillah. Just remember to thank Allah. If you are concerned and worried about what will happen during the end of school year, then, in addition to rushing through preparations, remember Allah and turn to Him.

The ones who are pleased:

If you are pleased with where you are, remember Allah by being grateful to Him. Thank Him. Yes, you put forward the effort, but remember that you could not do it without Him. (La hawla wa la quwwat illah billah). This is something we have to remember.

• Remember that Shaytaan wants us to be ungrateful to Allah. He wants us to think that it was all about us and forget that Allah is the one who guided us here:
• Shaytan expects that we are ungrateful (our weakness to exploit) - He said: "Because you have thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on your straight way: Then will I assault them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left: Nor will you find, in most of them, gratitude (for your mercies)." (Al-Araf, 17)

Why ingratitude is bad:

• Favors - And remember! Your Lord caused to be declared (publicly): "If you are grateful, I will add more (favors) unto you; But if you show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed." (Abraham, 7)

The ones who are concerned:

If you are concerned with where you are, remember that Allah is the one who hears the supplication of His servants. 

• Call on your Lord humbly and secretly. He does not love those who overstep the limits. Do not corrupt the earth after it has been put right. Call on Him fearfully and eagerly. Allah's mercy is close to the good-doers. (Surat al-A'raf: 55-56)
• If My servants ask you about Me, I am near. I answer the call of the caller when he calls on Me. They should therefore respond to Me and believe in Me so that hopefully they will be rightly guided. (Surat al-Baqara: 186)
• So, if you are worried about that chemistry exam, that physics final, that swimming final or even that 10-page paper on the Big-Bang theory or on Evolution, turn to your Lord. Remember Him and He (swt) will remember you.
• Modify your actions - change your condition
• We have a part to play in the choices we make. If things are not going how you want them to go, stop and look back and what you have done or did not do. Take the necessary steps to change those things. Remember, Allah (swt) said: 
• Ar-Rad - 13:11) إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ
• “Truly Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves.”
• If your heart is inclined to change and inclined to Allah, this will be your remembrance of Him. Remmeber Allah and He will remember you.

People familiar with the community

Remember that whatever challenges and successes you faced, were your test from Allah (AWJ). 

Good and bad were tests

• Remember that Allah has said, by way of translation
• “Do they think that they will believe and they will not be tested?” 
• (3:14)In another verse, by way of translation, Allah says, “ALLURING unto man is the enjoyment of worldly desires through women, and children, and heaped-up treasures of gold and silver, and horses of high mark, and cattle, and lands. All this may be enjoyed in the life of this world - but the most beauteous of all goals is with God..
• "Be sure We shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere" (Qur'an 2:155). 
• Who are they?... then Allah explains in the following verse, "Who say, when afflicted with calamity: 'To God we belong, and to Him is our return'" (Qur'an 2:155-156).
• The bad we get is a test and the good we get is a test.
• How do we remember Allah? We do so by being among the
•  وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ (the ones who patiently persevere)
• This is what you have done this year, and this is what Allah has rewarded you with. The good that you have accomplished is because you remembered Allah during the adversity.
• This past year, we have had some challenges, not just here at Temple, but nationally. Nationally, Muslims are under attack from a select minority, and this is clear. Our remembrance of Allah is in our remaining steadfast and patient and turning to Allah in adversity. How do we remember Him, we simply say - AND BELIEVE - “Verily from Allah we came, and to Him is our return” (Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun)

Avoid Pride

• One of the things that shaytaan uses against us, is our pride. 
• And [God does not love] those who spend their possessions on others [only] to be seen and praised by men, the while they believe neither in God nor in the Last Day; and he who has Satan for a soul-mate, how evil a soul-mate has he! (4:38)
• Those who do things to be seen of by others, or begin to believe that THEY are the ones who make things happen. This is not the characteristic of a believer. 
• Your successes were a mercy from Allah. Your successes were a test from Allah. Be mindful of that.

New members to the community / Those seeking a place to call home

You too WILL BE tested. You will be tested in many ways. Shaytaan is vigilant. He will look for opportunities to distract you and pull you away from your real goals. He will bog down your mind, soul and meetings with things such as:

• She is not covering as you think she should be covering
• Sisters don’t make me feel welcomed
• Brothers aren’t showing enough brotherhood
• Did you see his FB page?

Mind you, I am not saying that there are not issues with some of these things. We know what they majority of scholars have said on khimar, praying in congregation and on our adab. We know these things. We also know our duty. Our duty is to remind, not to enforce in the ways we try to enforce. We are told to invite to Islam with wisdom and beautiful speech. We are told to hold fast to Allah’s rope and not be divided among ourselves. My argument is that we need a different approach to dealing with some of the things that plague us. Our beat over the head with haraam and halaal language does not work, and has not worked, except to alienate Muslims. If we know that someone is struggling, and if we truly want for our brothers and sisters what we want for ourselves, will be push them away so that they do not want to be around Muslims, or will we make them feel like they are still part of the brotherhood, even though they may not see things exactly how we see them at the moment? Remember, NONE of us is promised Islam today or tomorrow. There is a hadith that says “A man will go to sleep a believer and wake up kafir (and vice versa).” Yes, there are things that we may do (Allah forbid) that may bring us closer to rejecting Allah and His Messenger. Our Islam is not directly in our hands. Our submission is with Allah and by our desire to remember Him. Our success and our ease of practicing Islam, whether it be the ease of donning a khimar, praying in congregation or having good adab, is in our desire and willingness to remember Allah as He should be remembered and worshipped. My advice, do not get bogged down with these things. Our job as the MSA board is to engage in our Islam in a way that makes it accessible to Muslims and non-Muslims. We are the custodians of the message and image of Islam on campus. This is not a small job. How are we going to do that? 

We have to avoid Shaytan’s traps:

• Sows dissension among us
• And say to My servants (that) they should (only) speak that which is the best; (Because) Shaitan verily sows dissensions among them. Surely, Shaitan is an open enemy to man." [Surah Al-Isra' (17) : Ayah 53]
• Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He neither oppresses him nor humiliates him nor looks down upon him. Piety is here - and he pointed to his chest three times. It is evil enough for a Muslim to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. All things of a Muslim are inviolable for another Muslim: his blood, his property and his honour." [Muslim]
• We remember Allah by remembering that He (swt) said that shaytaan is an enemy and that we should treat him (Ar-rajeem) as such. We remember Allah by repelling the evil inclinations of our thoughts and our nafs. We remember Allah by preventing shaytaan from sowing dissension among us, over things that we were not charged with enforcing or maintaining. It is not on us to enforce or legislate someone’s level of Iman or Islam. That is on them. Our job is to facilitate their adherence to Islam and to hold to the sunnah of the Prophet, with its flexibilities and mercies.

Those who have learned, benefitted and have moved or are moving on:

Alhamdulillah, you have completed one stage of your journey. Mabruk. May Allah continue to bless guide and protect you. You remember Allah by showing your gratitude and your loyalty to the principles that you yourself have benefit from.

• Iftars in Ramadhan - Come back and sponsor a Ramadhan iftar
• Deliver khutbah - Come back and deliver a khutbah. Sisters, you can write a khutbah and ask your husband, brother or uncle to come and deliver it. There is nothing wrong with a sister writing a khutbah.
• Look out for Quba/MSA events and lend a hand - with your labor or your finances. 
• Do not squander this mercy from Allah. Do not squander the education you have received or the resources you will be blessed with.
• Behold, the squanderers are, indeed, of the ilk of the Satans - inasmuch as Satan has indeed proved most ungrateful to his Sustainer (17:27)

Brothers and sisters, I have tried to spend some time here to help us understand and remember that our success in this life begins first and foremost with the remembrance of Allah. Everything else comes after that. Everything else flows in line with that. Everything else becomes easier after that.

Part II

Action Plan:

Remember, that at the core of remembering Allah, is the heart. Allah looks at our hearts.

• 
  

  The heart is thus the port where all actions stem, whether good or evil. If the heart is good then the actions will be good and if the heart is corrupt then the actions will be bad. The heart is the place where Allah scans, as the Messenger of Allah - SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam - says, “Allah does not look at your bodies nor your faces but he scans your heart and actions.” - Sahih al-Muslim [4/6221]
• From Anas, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say: "Allah the Almighty has said: 'O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.'" (Reported by Al-Tirmidhi)
• Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu 'anhu, reported that the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said: "Do not be envious of one another; do not artificially inflate prices against one another; do not hate one another; do not shun one another; and do not undercut one another in business transactions; and be as fellow-brothers and servants of Allah.
• It was related on the authority of Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu 'anhu, that the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said: "Whosoever relieves from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah will relieve from him some grief pertaining to the Hereafter. Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the Hereafter. Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the Hereafter. Allah will aid a servant (of His) so long as the servant aids his brother. Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them, and Allah makes mention of them amongst those who are in His presence. Whosoever is slowed down by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage." [Muslim]

Anytime Shaytan whispers to you, remember what Allah has told you

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ادْخُلُواْ فِي السِّلْمِ كَآفَّةً وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِين