We are an Ummah that the Exalted Allah teaches how to deal with Him before we deal with the perceptible. What distinguishes the Islamic doctrine and the fiducial state is that the slave turns to Allah in his life and in his conduct before he turns to the causes. As Siddiq (ABPWH) used to say: "I haven't seen anything but Allah before it".
This is how faith was established in the hearts of our righteous ancestors, and this is how they realize by their instinctive sound nature and their constructed faith that the One in whose Hands the control of everything exists, is One, there is no god but He.
This is how the faith of this Ummah was cultivated, and this is how the Qur'an directs this generation.
Today, In spite of the fact that we belong to Islam, we read the Qur'an, we get ready for the month of Ramadan, and we glorify Sha'ban, but the perceptible approaches our hearts before the truths of faith do.
The Exalted Allah said: "That it is He Who grants Laughter and Tears; that it is He Who grants Death and Life; ‏that He did create in pairs, male and female from a seed when lodged {in its place}; that He has promised a Second Creation {raising of the Dead}; that it is He Who gives wealth and satisfaction; that He is the Lord of Sirius {the Mighty Star}; and that it is He Who destroyed the {powerful} ancient Ad {people}, and Thamud, nor gave them a lease of perpetual life. And before them, the people of Noah, for that they were {all} most unjust and most insolent transgressors, and Al Mu'tafikati Ahwa {He destroyed the Overthrown Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah}. So that {ruins unknown} have covered them up. Then which of the gifts of your Lord, {O man} will you dispute about? (An Najm, 43-55).
It is a text whose meanings fills the space between the earth and heaven. It makes man feel that the Exalted Allah controls both of them, in addition to controlling man's states, and in His Hand is the change of societies, for He is the One Who "grants Laughter and Tears". Man's state of happiness and felicity is in the hand of Allah.
"It is He Who grants Death and Life". He makes the hearts dead by their aberration, and brings them to life by their faith. He makes the people dead for a prescribed term, then He brings them to life to be gathered on the Doomsday to pay their account.
It is "He Who did create in pairs, male and female", so that by means of this cosmic law, mankind may spread on the earth.
"From a seed when lodged {in its place}. How does this female or male sperm be so effective, by means of which the earth is populated?
Certainly, the Creator is Allah, but there are causes consisting of wisdom, for the Exalted Allah's wisdom conceals His Ability.
"That He has promised a Second Creation {raising of the Dead}", for He is the creator of every creation in life.
"That it is He Who gives wealth and satisfaction". He, Exalted He is, is the only provider of wealth or accumulated money for people. It is He Who provides them with wealth till they become wealthy, then He makes them satisfied, that is, wealth is accumulated to them by His permission.
"That He is the Lord of Sirius {the Mighty Star}", i.e., He is the Lord of stars that spread in the sky. The illusive idea people have concerning the influence of stars on man's destiny, and the exchanged relationship between the earth and the sky, as astronomers believe, is wrong, for stars are mere causes and the caused, and Allah encompasses them from behind.

Then the Exalted Allah mentioned the communities that rebelled against Him, so He chose the most tyrannical and most powerful of them to remove the illusion people have that these communities are great and can have influence on people, whereas they are some of the causes created by Allah.
Today, the following terms are currently used by the Muslims: the language of the great country, the great power, the greatest weapon, etc…, but it is the Exalted Allah who directs the hearts. He said:
"And that it is He Who destroyed the {powerful} ancient Ad {people} And the Thamud, nor gave them a lease of perpetual life", i.e., the past nations had great civilization and great power, and they dominated the world.
"And before them, the people of Noah, for that they were {all} most unjust and Al Mu'tafikah (the land of the most insolent transgressors". "Al Mu'tafikah" refers to the towns of Lut (PBUH) that were turned up-side-down. In Arabic, the word 'Afika' means 'turn something up-side down'.
'Ahwa' (destroyed), i.e., Gabriel held these towns upward, then he threw them on the earth so that their upper parts became the lower ones, for the control of cities is in the Hand of the Exalted Allah.
"So that {ruins unknown} have covered them up". i.e., flowing stones from the sky covered them.
Then He concluded saying: "Then which of the gifts of thy Lord, {O man} will you dispute about?", i.e., how can you doubt that anything can be out of the control of the Exalted Allah?
The ignorant state of man is expressed in the following words of the Exalted Allah:
"Say: Is it that you deny Him Who created the earth in two Days? And do you join equals with Him?", i.e., you make other influences share Allah in His control.

"He is the Lord of {all} the Worlds", i.e., no world can be exempted from His control.
"He set on the {earth}, mountains standing firm, high above it, and bestowed blessings on the earth, and measured therein all things to give them nourishment in due proportion, in four Days, in accordance with {the needs of} those who seek {sustenance}. Moreover He comprehended in His design the sky, and it had been (as) smoke: He said to it and to the earth: Come you together, willingly or unwillingly. They said: We do come {together}, in willing obedience" (Fussilat, 9-11).‏
Consequently, all the universe became disciplined by His command. In another verse, the Exalted Allah describes a rebellious man saying: "but he inclined to the earth" (Al A'raf, 176). He was lethargic and tarried in carrying out the command of Allah, but the earth, whose nature is laziness and lethargy complied with the order of Allah, like all the elements of the universe. It opposed its natural disposition, and became disciplined like the other obedience elements.
This is a lesson for man who makes other objects equals to Allah.
This is the doctrinal introduction that motivates us to deal with Allah properly before we deal with our hearts with the perceptible.
After this doctrinal introduction, let us be acquainted with some applied examples who understood well the task entrusted to them by Allah, and learnt how to deal with Him:
1-Noah (PBUH) called his people one thousand years but fifteen. He called them perpetually, day and night. What did he do after that? He resorted to dealing with the Exalted Allah, and directed his address and call to Him saying:
"(Noah) said: O my Lord! Help me; for that they accuse me of falsehood" (Al Mu'minun, 26).
2-Ibrahim (PBUH) put Hajar and her son Isma'il in a waste land.
Where are the customs? Where are the causes? Where are the material laws?
She was a woman and a child in a waste land, but Ibrahim dealt with Allah and turned to Him saying: "O our Lord I have made some of my offspring to dwell in a valley without cultivation", for if plants do not exist, Allah's provision will not be cut.
"by Your Sacred house; in order, O our Lord, that they may establish regular prayer; so fill the hearts to some among men with love towards them, and feed them with fruits, so that they may give thanks" (Ibrahim, 37).
You can see that today people come from remote and distant highways with hearts eager to see Al Ka'bah. They come to the valley that was once a waste land, and Mecca has become the Mother of Cities.
This is the outcome of dealing with Allah.
3-Joseph (PBUH) faced a great trial that young people usually cannot stand. He was the charming youth whose trial with the Aziz's wife (a minister) is related in the Holy Qur'an. She said to her companions: "There before you is the man about whom you did blame me I did seek to seduce him from his {true} self but he did firmly save himself guiltless and now, if he does not do my bidding, he shall certainly be cast into prison, and {what is more} be of the company of the vilest" (Yusuf, 32).

Joseph turned to deal with Allah while he was in the trial of the palace, and the trial of the temptation of the instinct:
"A man who is called by a charming lady of noble birth to commit illegal sexual intercourse with her, and he says, 'I am afraid of Allah' ", as the Prophet (PBUH) said.
With all the authority, beauty, high social status and supremacy of the Aziz's wife that Joseph faced, what did Joseph do when causes were cut from him?


He turned to deal with Allah, he said: "O my Lord! The prison is more to me liking than that to wish they invite me; unless you turn away their snare from me, I should {in my youthful folly} feel inclined towards them and join the ranks of the ignorant. So his Lord hearkened to him {in his prayer}, and turned away from him their snare: verily he hears and knows {all things}" (Yusuf, 33-34).
The one who deals with Allah will never be frustrated.
4- Zachariah (Zakariyya) (PBUH) was in need for a child when he became old. Where are the laws of customs? Where are the laws of the causes?
Zachariah stood in the prayer niche invoking his Lord in private discourse, while causes were cut and his wife was sterile.
The Exalted Allah said: "{This is} a recital of the mercy of the Lord to his servant Zakariya. Behold! he cried to his Lord in secret praying: O my Lord! Infirm indeed are my bones, and the hair of my head does glisten with grey; but never am I unblest, O my Lord, in my prayer to you" (Mariam, 2-4).
In Surat Imran, the Exalted Allah said: "While he was standing in prayer in the chamber, the angels called unto him: Allah does give you glad tidings of Yahya, witnessing the truth of a word from Allah, and {be besides} noble, chaste, and a prophet, of the {goodly} company of the righteous" (Al Imran, 39).
It is the dealing with Allah that never makes one frustrated.
5-Moses's (PBUH) dealing with Allah is related in the Qur'an:
"And when he arrived at the watering {place} in Madyan, He found there a group of men watering {their flocks}, and besides them he found two women who were keeping back {their flocks}. He said: What is the matter with you? They said: We can not water {Our flocks} until the shepherds take back {their flocks} and our father is a very old man. So he watered {their flocks} for them; then he turned back to the shade". He was a young man, full of activity. He needed a righteous wife and was powerful and honest. Did he deal with people as the youth of today do when they need a good wife to marry, or he turned to Allah in whose hand the rein of affairs are?
"So he watered {their flocks} for them; then he turned back to the shade, and said: O my Lord! truly am I in {desperate} need of any good that You do send me". "I need You; I am in need for Your generosity". Soon the result of Moses's dealing with Allah appeared: "Afterwards one of the {damsels} came {back} to him, walking bashfully. She said: My father invites you that he may reward you for having watered {our flocks} for us. So when he came to him and narrated the story, he said: Fear you not; {well} have you escaped from unjust people" (Al Qasas, 23-25).

6-The mother of Mary (Mariam), wife of Imran communicated with her Lord: "Behold a woman of Imran said: O my Lord I do dedicate unto you what is in my womb for Your special service". (Oh my Lord, I want my child to be free from anything other than You…. I want him a slave to You only, worshipping nobody but You, turning to nobody but You, and free from slavery to anybody but to You…) .
This is how dealing with Allah should be. This was monitoring of pregnancy that has changed today into monitoring by icography and the use of vitamins. But to the wife of Imran, this process was achieved by dealing with Allah because she desired the outcome of her pregnancy to be created a master.
Today, all the world say 'Lady Mariam' because she turned only to Allah.

Then the mother of Mary said: "So accept this of me: for You hear and know all things. When she was delivered, she said: O my Lord behold I am delivered of a female child". These were the customs at that time. Was the female a free creature? Did she have the qualifications that the wife of Imran desired?
If the baby were a male, it would have been considered free by all the people of that time, but it was a female. According to the logic of that time, how can the female be free from anything but Allah?
In this verse, the Exalted Allah decides the freedom of the female. Let all the world hear this truth: This is the freedom of the woman. Her freedom is not in being a prostitute, nor in having indecent appearance, or in giving up her moral manners. The freedom of the woman is in her being a slave to Allah alone.
Once the woman frees herself from habits, from the whims and from the self, she becomes free, as is stated by the Lord of the worlds.
Then the Exalted Allah said: "When she was delivered, she said: O my Lord behold I am delivered of a female child and Allah knew best what she brought forth", because everything that comes into being is achieved by the permission and knowledge of Allah. No baby is born but by the Exalted's knowledge and His will.
"And no female conceive, or lays down {her load}, but with His knowledge" (Fater, 11).

It is the Exalted Allah Who created her a female, and it is He Who answered her mother's invocation. It is He Who wanted to prove to the world that the female is like the male who can be free from other than Allah.
This is how to deal with Allah, and this is how the response comes true.
Then the wife of Imran said: "and nowise is the male like the female" according to the logic of her people.

"I have named her Mary", and 'Mary' means 'the servant of the Lord'.
"And I commend her and her offspring to Your protection from the evil one, the rejected" (Al Imran, 35-36).
She was Mariam, and what will explain to you who Mariam was! She was the one who gave birth to the Spirit Blown by Allah and His Word, Jesus Christ, the communicated with Allah, the One who will rule the world by the law of Muhammad (PBUH). He was a Messenger to his people. In the Last Time, he will be the Imam and ruler of the world ruling by the legislation of Muhammad (PBUH). He is the outcome of his mother who was, in turn, the result of dealing with Allah.

7-Job was inflicted by sickness, and physicians were unable to cure him. He turned to Allah, in whose hand the rein of the kingdom of heavens and earth is: "And {remember} Job, when He cried to his Lord, truly distress has seized me, but You are the Most Merciful of those that are Merciful. So we listened to him, and we removed the distress that was on him" (Al Anbiya', 83-84).
I wish the patients would use this prescription of Job, on condition that they use it wholeheartedly, not by their tongue, and on condition that they say it in the same spirit that Job said: "So we listened to him, and we removed the distress that was on him".
8-Our Master, Muhammad (PBUH) called his people to Allah, but when they turned away from his call, he turned to Allah and said: "Then the Messenger will say: O my Lord! Truly my people took this Quran for just foolish nonsense" (Al Furqan, 30).
Let us move from the doctrinal introduction into the result, the applied examples, out of which we seek the practical lesson:
What I have presented does not mean to invalidate the causes, but we have to set our hearts free from the captivity of the causes. Nowadays, the hearts of the Islamic Ummah have become captives to causes.

This is the lesson of setting the hearts free. This does not mean to inactivate building up civilization, nor inactivate any of the causes of renaissance, but we have changed today to worshippers of the material and to worshippers of the causes, while we still say morning and night "There is no god but Allah".
This lesson frees the hearts. Make use of the causes in compliance with the law of Allah, and in agreement with His wisdom. Set your heart free from its captivity, get the causes out of your heart and make them in your hand, and never turn your heart to the causes: "He is the living (One): there is no god but He; call upon Him, giving Him sincere devotion. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds" (Ghafer, 65).
He is the Ever Living, so why should you turn to the one who dies?
The Exalted Allah also said: "True, there is for you by day prolonged occupation with ordinary duties. But keep in remembrance the name of your Lord and devote yourself to Him wholeheartedly", i.e., be devoted wholly to Him with your heart and your soul.

"He is) Lord of the East and the West: there is no god but He; take Him therefore for {your} Disposer of Affairs" (Al Muzzammel, 7-9).
Consequently, the slave of the causes is changed into the slave of Allah. He deals with the causes outwardly, but inwardly, he is free from them and his heart is directed to Allah.
If you ask your Lord to realize a wish of yours, prostrate on the threshold of Allah before Him. Say to Him whatever you like, for in this posture of prostration, He is nearer to you than the jugular vein, and you will be nearest to Him in your prostration. Before your heart is influenced by the causes, prostrate to the Causer of the causes.
In this way, we shall learn how to deal with Allah.
Allahum…, guide us to You favorably, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my words and ask Allah's forgiveness.