The more the Ummah is engrossed in materialism, the more it needs reminding of its principles through which it is related to the unseen.
What is the difference between us and the first generation?
They read the Qur'an which was not embellished at that time. It was not collected in one book, and people did not find it easily ready at hand in every mosque and house, while we read the embellished Qur'an between the two coverings, and thousands of printing offices compete in printing its blessed letters.

The first generation recited the Qur'an and found difficulty in reading it, while we find ease and facility in its reading, but why were they moons, and we are not? And why does the light decrease nowadays in this Ummah though they recite the Qur'an?
It is the crisis of materialism referred to in the following statement by the Exalted Allah: "They know but the outer {Things} in the life of this world" (Ar Rum, 7), and, "That is as far as knowledge will reach them" (An Najm, 30).
What distinguishes this Ummah is that it is related to Allah, and derives its power from Allah. It is an Ummah that lives the state of communication and closeness to Allah which is a state of cordiality and company in the Presence of its Lord, whereas the people of the material are cut from getting Allah's help and support.
What specifically distinguishes this Ummah from the people of materialism is that the Muslims' souls are connected with the lights of Allah. They feel closeness to Allah and cordiality due to their communication with Him. They rejoice in having private discourse with their Lord. But the people of materialism are busy in the pleasures of carnal and self-desires. Consequently, they are cut from the Perfectness of the Holy Presence.
In this blessed hour of Friday in which the slaves of Allah seek the satisfaction of their Lord; in which the doors of heaven are open; in which the certificates of the accepted are distributed; in which the disobedient are changed into repentant, and the wrongdoers become sincere devotees; in this blessed hour, let us reconsider one of our great values by which our identity is distinguished. It is the value of dependence on Allah that has nearly become missing at a time materialism has snapped the hearts.
Man cannot live the state of dependence on Allah (complete and total dependence on Him), unless he recognizes the Greatness of the One on Whom he depends, and recognizes that He is Allah, the Sovereign, the Unique in His Majesty and Absolute Power. This recognition leads to dependence upon Him. But as long as man's heart does not know who is Allah, as long as he recognizes only objects, causes and people, and as long as he is heedless of the One in Whose Hands objects, causes and people are, he will definitely depend on the tool and the means. Consequently, he will forget about the Hand that moves the tool and the means.
The Exalted Allah said: "and put thy trust Allah, and enough is Allah" (An Nisa', 81). When you really know who is Allah, your knowledge of His Greatness will make you depend on Him. On the other hand, your heedlessness and your unrecognizing the Majesty of His sovereignty will make you depend on other than Him. A man said to Abi Turab An Nakhshabi (MBUH): "Do you have any demand that I may realize it for you?" Abu Turab answered: "If I had any need for you and the like of you I would not have had any need for Allah".
But how can man attain this meaning that most Muslims have lost?
Usually, in such cases, we should not invent something out of our minds, we had better refer to Allah's Book to derive the answer from it.
Some of the causes of dependence on Allah and its preludes are:
1-Remembering Allah and reciting the Qur'an. This is referred to in the Exalted Allah's statement: "For, Believers are those who, when Allah is mentioned, feel a tremor in their hearts, and when they hear His Signs rehearsed, they find their faith strengthened, and put {all} their trust in their Lord" (Al Anfal, 2).
The Exalted Allah arranges these meanings to draw our attention to their preludes and their results. He, Exalted He is, mentions first the heart's feeling of tremor at His mentioning, that is, when the heart reacts with mentioning Allah. The one who mentions Allah does not usually react directly with this mentioning, but as religious scholars said: "Do not abandon invocation because you do not feel the Presence of Allah therein. For your forgetfulness of the invocation of Him is worse than your forgetfulness of Him. Perhaps He will take you from an invocation with forgetfulness to one with vigilance, and from one with vigilance to the one with the presence of Allah, and from one with the Presence of Allah to one wherein everything but the invoked is absent".
Consequently, continuous remembering of Allah with the tongue makes man be promoted to the state of heart remembering in which there is tremor in the heart.
Once the heart has this quality, it reacts with the Qur'an: "and when they hear His Signs rehearsed, they find their faith strengthened", but if one does not belong to this group, his heart will not react with the Qur'an and his reciting of the Qur'an will remain as practical ritualistic movement that has no influence on his heart and on his behavior. Mentioning Allah is usually followed by reaction of the heart to the words of Allah, after which glorification of Allah shines in the heart. As a result, the believer becomes dependent on nobody but Allah.
2-The believer should accompany a good example who depends on Allah; the one who reminds him of depending on Allah. This is indicated in the Exalted Allah's statement when He addressed His beloved, Al Mustafa (PBUH), the greatest example, and the most honored Imam: "Say". For He, Exalted He is, ordered the Prophet (PBUH) to say to his Ummah": "Sufficient is Allah for me", i.e., 'It is me who is satisfied with Allah and do without the others by His aid'.
."In Him do those who depend on Allah put their trust" (Az Zumur,38). In this statement, the Exalted Allah mentions two matters: the first is the believer's satisfaction with Allah and his dependence on Him; and the second is that he belongs to the group of those who depend on Allah, a group that always exists in every time. In all ages, the dependents on Allah, as well as the dependents on other than Allah exist. The dependents on Allah are the winners by the aid of Allah, but the dependents on other than Allah are losers and failings.
The Exalted Allah said: "Moses said: O my people if you do {really} believe in Allah, then in him put your trust if you submit {your will to him}. They said: in Allah do we put our trust" (Yunus, 84-85). This is the effect and state of the one who depends on Allah. He distributes dependence on Allah all around him. But rhetorical and high-flown eloquent statements, void of any spiritual state, do not motivate people to have dependence on Allah.
3-Patience:
Patience is one of our fundamentals that we recommend one another to practice. The Exalted Allah said: "By {the Token of} time {through the Ages}. Verily Man is in loss. Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and {join together} in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy" (Al 'Asr, 1-3).‏
In order that man be steadfastness in speech, deeds and states in the path of truth, patience is indispensible for him because temptations are too many, and the causes that make him deviate from the right path are plenty. The believer who does not have this element, namely the value of patience in sorrow and joy, will follow these distractions and temptations.
The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) pledged allegiance to their Imam, leader, the delight of their eyes, our Master Muhammad (PBUH) to be obedient to him in the liked and the disliked, in difficulty and ease.
The Exalted Allah said: "{They are} those who persevere in patience, and put their trust on their Lord" (An Nahl, 42). The Exalted Allah makes dependence on Him based on patience. Consequently, the one who has no patience will not be dependent on Allah. The impatient will never attain the state of dependence.
4-Belief in the unseen:
The materialistic cannot attain dependence. Hence, the Exalted Allah said: "But on Allah put your trust if you have Faith "‏ (Al Ma'idah, 23), i.e., if you are not believers you will not be dependent on Allah, and you will never get the value of dependence. The Exalted Allah said: "Allah! There is no god but He; and on Allah, therefore, let the Believers put their trust" (At Taghabon,13).
5-Piety:
The people of dissipation, who are sinful of legal violation, and those who deviate from the path of rightness indicated by the Prophet (PBUH) and his instructions, will not taste the meaning of dependence.
Read the following words of the Exalted Allah: "So fear Allah. And on Allah let Believers put {all} their trust" (Al Ma'idah, 11). The Exalted Allah makes dependence on Him based on piety. The nonexistence of piety makes dependence nonexistent. If man does not belong to the people of piety, he will not be dependent on Allah however much he tries to make himself believe that he is so.
6-Worship:
The one who does pray or fast, perform Zakat or pilgrimage, the fundamentals of worship, will never attain dependence on Allah, for when man fails in performing these rituals he will become materialistic. The Exalted Allah said: "Then worship him, and put your trust in him" (Hud, 123). When worship is nonexistent, dependence becomes nonexistent too.
7-Dissociation from of the people in authority who are materialistic and fight Allah and His Messenger:
The flatterer or the hypocrite will never taste the meaning of dependence, for glorification of Allah and glorification of other than Allah can never be joined in the heart. Nor can seeking Allah and seeking other than Allah be joined. Indicating this truth, the Exalted Allah said:
"There is for you an excellent example {to follow} in Abraham and those with him, when they said to their people: We are clear of you and of whatever you worship besides Allah" (Al Mumtahinah, 4). Consequently, Abraham, a single person, dissociated himself from his folk, the community of great number, and with them there was the king who have authority. Abraham and those with him were few, and although he was one person, he is considered as Ummah: "Abraham was indeed an Ummah" (An Nahl, 120). "Those with him", i.e., those who derive steadfastness from his state.
"When they said to their people: We are clear of you and of whatever you worship besides Allah; we have rejected you, and there has arisen, between us and you, enmity and hatred forever, unless you believe in Allah and Him alone", i.e., if you depend on the fundamentals and the guidance sent by the Exalted Allah to humanity, then we and you belong to the same group. But if you depend on materialism that disregard Allah and His guidance, and if you turn away from them, then there will be no agreement between us and you until you believe in Allah alone.
"But not when Abraham said to his father: I will pray for forgiveness for you, though I have no power {to get} aught on your behalf from Allah" (Al Mumtahinah, 4). Abraham vowed to ask forgiveness for his father, and he did, but he could not guarantee Allah's forgiveness for his father. He just obeyed the order of Allah, for forgiveness of sins is the specialty of the Exalted Allah: "who can forgive sins except Allah?" (Al Imran, 135).
Then the Exalted Allah said: "Our Lord! In You do we put our trust" (Al Mumtahinah, 4). The Exalted Allah makes dependence based on dissociation from His enemies. Accordingly, we see how the one who depends on Allah challenges the others in many places in the Holy Qur'an. One of the examples is when the Exalted Allah said to our Master, Muhammad (PBUH): "Relate to them", i.e., remind them by relating the situations in which the dependents on Allah challenged the slaves of other than Allah.
"Relate to them the story of Noah. Behold he said to his people: O my people, if it be hard on your {mind} that I should stay {with you} and commemorate the sings of Allah, yet I put my trust in Allah. Get you then an agreement about your plan and among your partners, so your plan be not to you dark and dubious. Then pass your sentence on me, and give me no respite" (Yunus, 71), i.e., gather whatever material force you can get, but as for me, I shall ask Allah alone to support me.
That was the answer of the Muslims to the unbelievers in Uhud Campaign, when they said to them: "Allah is our Protector, but you have no protector".
Let us read the attitude of Noah (PBUH) as related in the Holy Qur'an: "They said: Oh Hud, you have brought us no clear {sign}, and we are not the ones to desert our gods on your word nor shall we believe in you. We say nothing but that {perhaps} some of our gods may have seized you with imbecility. He said: I call Allah to witness, and do you bear witness, that I am free from the sin of ascribing, to him other gods as partners so scheme {your worst} against me, all of you, and give me no respite" i.e., muster all the power and conspiracy you have and direct them to me to harm me if you can, "I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord there is not a moving creature, but he has grasp of its fore lock. Verily, it is my Lord that is on a straight path" (Hud, 53-56). Both of us are in Allah's hand. If He wants to punish me by your hand, I surrender to his judgment, but if He desires to make me win victory over you, nothing can prevent His decree, nor can anything defeat Him.
I am astonished at our ancestors' state when I read their biography. One of those who depended on Allah entered the desert without taking any sustenance with him. It was said to him: "What if you die?" (as he had no food with him). He said steadily and with certainty: "The killer has to pay the ransom. He has created me and surely has guaranteed my sustenance".
Consequently, the people of knowledge decide that those who talk about the means of sustenance are three types:
a-The materialists: They believe that man's work is the cause of supporting him with sustenance. They belong to Al Qadariyyah group (the Determinists), who say that man creates his own deeds. (Determinism is a philosophical assumption that all behavior and observable events have causes and are predetermined).
b-When the people of the outside behavior read the following statement of the Exalted Allah, they understand its apparent meaning only: "And for those who fear Allah, He {ever} prepares a way out, And He provides for him from {sources} he never could imagine" (At Talaq, 3). They have the illusion that piety is the cause of getting sustenance.
c-But the people of knowledge said: "The cause of providing sustenance is creation. As the Exalted Allah creates man, He guarantees his sustenance. A religious scholar asked a Gnostic about one of the people whom they were talking about. The scholar asked: "Where does his sustenance come from? The Gnostic answered: "I never have doubt about his Creator, so how can I doubt his sustenance".
How distanced we are from these meanings!

There is ambiguity between the Exalted Allah's order to us to seek sustenance and sustenance itself. Seeking sustenance is a legal order through which we perform a religious ritual. The movement of our body in seeking sustenance is obedience to the Exalted Allah's order, for it is He, Exalted He is, Who orders us to do so. But the plight and dilemma appear when we wrongly believe that our movement is the cause of supplying us with sustenance, for the Provider is only Allah.
There is a difference between applying the means because you are ordered to do so by the Exalted Allah, and your illusion that the means provide you with sustenance, give you anything, or raise or lower you. Mercy be upon the one who said:
I see myself a machine and He is my mover;
I am a pen and the Ability is the fingers.
8-The believer's Certainty of his principle:
The Exalted Allah said: "So put your trust in Allah; for you are on {the Path of} manifest Truth" (An Naml, 79).
If there is doubt in your heart about the principle that you follow, you will never attain this dependence.
9-The feeling of security at the legal decision of the Exalted Allah:
In every ordained law by the Exalted Allah, or every guidance He directs us to, there is wisdom, whether we understand it or not, for our trust in the Legislator makes us feel complete confidence in His legislation.
In teaching us, the Exalted Allah said: "No reason have we why we should not put our trust on Allah. Indeed He has guided us to the Ways we {follow}" (Ibrahim, 12), i.e., He guides us to His Law; and 'Ways' refers to the means we use in applying His order. The Exalted Allah also said: "Whatever it be wherein you differ, the decision thereof is with Allah; Such is Allah my Lord. In Him I trust, and to Him I turn" (Ash Shura, 10).
In conclusion, I'd like to mention four results of dependence:
1-When your heart becomes a realizer of the state of dependence on Allah, the devil will not be able to dominate your hearts. The Exalted Allah said: "No authority has he over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord" (An Nahl, 99). Devilish authority will not exist in the heart of the dependent.
Hatem Al Asam said: "I have four wives and nine children, but the Devil has not been able to insinuate evil into my mind concerning their sustenance.
2-Sufficiency:
The Exalted Allah said: "And if any one puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is {Allah} for him" (At Talaq, 3). You will not need anybody but Allah, because sufficiency will be realized, by His aid, in your life.
3-Unity of the Row and Absence of Discord and Dispute:
The Exalted Allah said: "Remember two of your parties meditated cowardice" i.e., by disagreement and contest, "but Allah was their protector," because the Exalted Allah sponsored their affair as they were from the people of dependence on Allah. By the secret of dependence on Allah, discord disappears. Consequently, the Exalted Allah revealed the secret of what had happened when He related this incident. He said: "and in Allah should the faithful {ever} put their trust" (Al Imran, 122), i.e., so that discord and dispute might be expelled from them.
4-The bliss that awaits the people of dependence on Allah:
The climax of bliss is seeing the Exalted Allah's Countenance, and its lowest degree is a Garden whose width is like that of the earth and heavens. The Exalted Allah said: "Whatever you are given {here} is {but} a convenience of this Life; but that which is with Allah is better and more lasting: {it is} for those who believe and put their trust in their Lord" (Ash Shura, 36).
Oh Allah, make us from the dependents on You. Remove away the domination of the others from our hearts by Your favor and your bounty, you are the One, the Subduer, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my words and ask Allah's forgiveness.