Thanks to Allah who no other god deserves to be worshipped truly but Him, and I testify that there is no god but Allah, the Great God to whom all foreheads prostrate in worship. I also testify that Muhammad is Allah,s servant and messenger who called to Allah but the disbelievers were collectively against him.
Allahum make Your peace be upon our master and his chaste family and pious Companions; the one who is the master of the first and the master of the last, the one who is sent as mercy for all people.
Servants of Allah, I recommend you to be truly pious towards Allah. Make sure to be the humble servants who are aware that their Lord is certainly in constant surveillance of them. Do good deeds accepted by Allah to have them as provision for your life in the second world.
"O ye who believe fear Allah, and (always) say a word directed to the Right. That He may make your conduct whole and sound and forgive you your sins: he that obeys Allah and His Messenger, has already attained the highest Achievement." (Al Ahzab, vs.70-71)
Servitude towards the Exalted Allah only is the great door for help and support. It is the source of power and great might for the believer. It is He, the Exalted, who guides us to this. Hasn,t He taught us every day to say at prayer: "Thee do we worship, and Thine aid we seek"? (Al Fatiha, v. 5)
The Exalted Allah makes us understand that the key of support is servitude to Him.
In the Holy Qur,an: "When the first of the warnings came to pass, we sent against you our servants given to terrible warfare", (Isra,, v.5) the Exalted Allah makes us understand that the key of force and power which has influence on things is attained by servitude to Allah as is described in the above mentioned verse.
Thus, whoever is verified by pure servitude to Allah only, he will get Allah,s support. Moreover, he will be strong at difficult times because he will have been trained and taught to prostrate in worship to nobody but Allah.
A verse from the Holy Qur,an in Az Zumar Surah attracted my attention (may Allah make us from zumrat {the group} of the pious). In this verse, I noticed the repetition of the word ,servitude,, and its connotative meanings for eight times to show that the Exalted Allah wants to point out to the importance of servitude, and what various good effects it produces. The Holy Qur,an never repeats a word or meaning vainly. Repetition in the Holy Qur,an is used to draw the reader,s attention to something of significance. Thus the repetition of this meaning in this text is a treasure. Give attention to this treasure and benefit from it. The Exalted Allah said:
"Say: O ye My servants who believe fear your Lord. Good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world and spacious is Allah,s earth. Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure.‏ Say: Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion; and I am commanded to be the first of those who bow to Allah in Islam. Say: I would, if I disobeyed my Lord, Indeed have fear of the Penalty of a Mighty Day. Say: It is Allah I serve, with my sincere (and exclusive) devotion: Serve ye what ye will beside Him. Say: Truly, those in loss are those who lose their own souls and their People on the Day of Judgment: ah that is indeed the (real and) evident Loss. They shall have Layers of Fire above them, and Layers (of Fire) below them. With this doth God warn off His Servants. O My Servants then fear ye Me. Those who eschew Evil, and fall not into its worship, and turn to Allah (in repentance), for them is Good News to My Servants. Give them good tidings. Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best (meaning) in it: those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones endued with understanding ."(Azzumur, vs. 10-18)
We notice the repetition of the meaning of servitude and its connotations. Let us avail ourselves of this treasure. The Exalted Allah said:
"O ye My servants who believe fear your Lord. "Usually, texts are explained only in context. The frequent mention of this phrase can be well explained by Allah,s speech "fear your Lord". That is, "My servants who believed in the one God, ,fear your Lord, in worshipping no other god but Him, ,fear your Lord, by being aware of your servitude only to Him, and be cautious of having any other kind of servitude but to Him. "Good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world". Doing good can be achieved only by ,Ibadah (worship, Islam) which is revealed in the physical movements of the rituals; ,Obudiyyah (Iman, faith, servitude) denoted by faith deeply rooted in the heart; and ,Obudah (Ihsan, the state of benevolence) which is spiritual sincerity.
The wisdom of creating man is to make him worship Allah in body, heart and soul. This is the connotative meaning of the following verse:
"I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me." (Adhariyat, v.56)
When man realizes the above mentioned states, then he is really verified by ,Obadah by having his movements disciplined by Allah,s orders; by ,Obudiyyah when his heart yields to the One Master, the Exalted; and by ,Obudah when his soul is not attracted to anything but to the Divine Presence.
What greater good can be better than freedom? People suffer from the crisis of their servitude to things. All the confusion we witness today is the result of man,s servitude to other than Allah. Piteous is man because he has become a slave and captive to material objects. What greater good can be better than freedom?
Man,s freedom cannot be achieved unless his heart is set free from the sovereignty of other than Allah. Once man achieves this, he becomes really the owner of freedom, and only then he can be verified by his humanity. He will not be distracted by sideways. He will keep on to his holy aim without being influenced by anything evil. He will be an example of brightness, light and illumination. In him, one can see a representative of Omar (G.b.p.w.h.) who did not fear anybody,s blame in the cause of Allah. His frankness in saying the truth made him friendless, because Omar did not want anybody but the God of Omar.
The steadfastness of Al Seddiq (The truth), when he stood fast and fixed to keep the performing of Al Zakat (charity) is another example of illumination. For if it were not him, charity would have been cancelled from the religion of this Ummah.
Othman who never stopped depending on his Lord when he was reading the Holy Qur,an waiting for the meeting of his beloved, Al Mustafa, Al Adnan, while his blood was flowing on the Holy Book, is an example of the dependence on Allah, the Exalted.
Haydar, Amir Al Mu,minin (the Prince of believers) while he was worshipping Allah in Al Mihrab (the prayer niche) saying to the worldly life: "I divorced you thrice" is an example of determination and devotion to Allah .
Omar Ibn Abd Al Aziz is another good bright example. Although he was the caliphate of the Muslims, he did not have enough money to buy a new dress for his son on the occasion of Al Id (feast).
These are examples of the great men who freed themselves from the slavery of objects. Consequently, they deserve to be rewarded.
The reward of goodness is not to own wealth. It is rather the good status which man cannot get in this world unless he is freed from the worldly objects, and this, in turn, cannot be achieved unless he attains servitude to Allah only.
Then Allah, the Exalted, said: "and spacious is Allah,s earth". I wonder how man can pretend to be free while he justifies his disobedience with the excuses of his inability to change his place of living, or his being obliged to react to and be influenced by his environment.
The Exalted Allah supports the necessity of man,s servitude to Him in the idea that man can go anywhere where he can be free from being enslaved to circumstances. The Exalted Allah said that the earth belongs to Him, so if man pretends to be enslaved to circumstances and that he has no other alternative, and that he is unable to be steadfast on truth because of certain circumstances, he will have the answer that will refute his assumption. It is ,Allah,s earth is spacious,.
The Exalted Allah reinforces the necessity of man,s servitude to Him anywhere saying that man cannot pretend to be coercively enslaved to circumstances and that he is unable to be fixed in faith because of them. Man is inexcusable because he has another option. He can change his place of living, "and spacious is Allah,s earth".
Our master Ja,far immigrated to Ethiopia, and the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) immigrated from Mecca to Medina.
Yes…! They were free, and the free man is usually not enslaved by anybody. They were not hampered by their relationship to kinship or clan, nor country and town. They were related to their servitude only to Allah, the Exalted.
When man is in the state of perfect humanity, he can be productive wherever he is, because he is Allah,s servant, on Allah,s earth.
The Exalted Allah said: "Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure".‏ Allah,s compensation to the patient is a means that reinforces the idea of servitude to Him.
The Exalted Allah calls you to be patient in your native country, but when you are unable to do that, then Allah,s earth is spacious to go to. Most importantly is to keep your servitude to Allah. When you are patient and steadfast, when you are true and sincere in all circumstances and distresses, then you will not have to immigrate, (there is no migration after conquest, but Jihad (fighting for the cause of Allah) and good intention). So do be patient to be fixed in your faith and in your servitude to Allah in all circumstances, and do not make excuses, for the true man does not present any excuse.
Then the Exalted Allah said: "Say: Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah." This type of servitude to Allah is not invented, but I am ordered to follow it. My Lord ordered me to be a servant only to Him, so I am not inventing something from my own. When I choose the method of servitude, I will choose it because I am ordered to do that.
"Say: Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion". I.e., "I don,t want to exchange my doctrine for a whim, a social status or worldly life, but I want only Him. I don,t care if people are satisfied or dissatisfied with me, I don,t seek any worldly gain that is against my religion, because I am ordered to worship Allah sincerely. Sincerity makes me disregard any consideration of people or their points of view about me.
"and I am commanded to be the first of those who bow to Allah in Islam", i.e., I am commanded to surrender to my Lord,s will.
"Say: I would, if I disobeyed my Lord, Indeed have fear of the Penalty of a Mighty Day." How wonderful this expression is! The Exalted Allah did not say "I fear Allah", nor did He say "I fear the revenger", but He said: "Say: I would, if I disobeyed my Lord, Indeed have fear of the Penalty of a Mighty Day", for in the Hereafter, there will be Allah,s soldiers who will be angry for Allah and punish the wrong doers.
If you want to be acquainted with these soldiers, read Allah,s speech:
"When they are cast therein, they will hear the (terrible) drawing in of its breath even as it blazes forth, almost bursting with fury." (Al Mulk, vs. 7-8)
Hell is one of Allah,s soldiers that is angered by the disobedience of the wrong doers. It does not accept any bribery from anybody, nor does it disobey Allah,s order. It only gets angry at the disobedient.
Thus, the Exalted Allah makes the wrong doers feel fear of being punished by His soldiers who comply with His Lawful Will. If the Exalted Allah said ,fear Allah,, then the quality of awe will be manifest, but He speaks about Rab (God) and slave, and ,Rab, is derived from the word ,Rabba, (rear), so He makes His soldiers assume the role of making the wrong doers feel fear of them.
When Allah,s speech was revealed in the following verse: "but if ye back up each other against him", namely, the two ladies, Hafsa and A,isha, " truly Allah is his Protector", they said: "Allah will forgive us". When Allah, the Exalted said: "and Gabriel", they said: "Gabriel will be shy of us because we are the wives of the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.)". But when He said: " and (every) righteous one among those who believe", (At Tahrim, v. 4) they trembled with fear because that meant their punishment by Abi Bakr and Omar (G.b.p.w.th.), so they felt fear of them.
Usually the creature may fear another creature. Then how would be the case if the other creature that man fears is one of the private soldiers of Allah,s?
The Exalted Allah described that horrible Day saying:
"One Day We will ask Hell, Art thou filled to the full?" I.e., I have fed you and fed you, and fed you. Aren,t you satiated?, and " It will say, Are there any more to come)" ? Qaaf, v. 30) because it will be in great rage. It will not be satiated until it hears Allah,s order to stop asking for more food.
The Exalted Allah repeated the idea of serving Him with sincere devotion twice in the above mentioned verse: "Say: Verily, I am commanded to serve Allah with sincere devotion", and:
"Say: It is Allah I serve, with my sincere (and exclusive) devotion". (Azzumur, vs. 1114)
The emphasis the Exalted Allah laid on the idea of the above mentioned verse is to point out to the benefit one gets when one hears, reads and applies it. Thus the believer is ordered to follow the method of servitude and become its aspect. Consequently, he will not be able to worship other than Allah.
In the first place, he waits for Allah,s order to become the servant of Allah, the Exalted, then he becomes the servant who is unable to belong to nobody but to Allah.
This is the method of the Holy Qur,an that promotes the servants of Allah who become qualified with every moral and good manner of this Holy Book.
Then the Exalted Allah said: "Serve ye what ye will beside Him", Previous to this verse, He said:
"spacious is Allah,s earth. Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure."
The servant of Allah has reached a state when he does not care about anything but Allah.
At first, he might be affected by personal circumstances or environment, but after he adopts the method of servitude, he is no more influenced by them. He will say to the others:
"Serve ye what ye will beside Him", but I am the servant of Allah only. I am neither influenced by anybody, nor do I care about anybody but Him.
I don,t mind if I am killed a Muslim
In which way my death for the cause of Allah may be
Thus he attains the status of the servant who does not care about anybody but his Lord.
Then the Exalted Allah said:
Say: Truly, those in loss are those who lose their own souls and their People on the Day of Judgment: ah that is indeed the (real and) evident Loss. They shall have Layers of Fire above them, and Layers (of Fire) below them." The follower of the method of servitude finds that he has won and profited a lot in comparison with the disbelievers who are the losers.
The worshippers of money, of women, of high positions, and of whims are, by God, the losers, except for the servants of Allah who are never lost.
Be the servant of Allah and then don,t care about anything else, because your Lord,s support will suffice.
"Is not Allah enough for His servant?" (Azzumur, v. 36) Yes, it is.
Then the Exalted Allah said:
"With this doth God warn off His Servants." The Exalted Allah warns his servants of the torture so that apprehension becomes a constant feeling in their hearts. For the more apprehension one feels, the more knowledge he is endowed with:
"Those truly fear Allah, among His servants, who have knowledge." ( Fater. V. 28)
"O My Servants then fear ye Me."
And in the previous verse:
"Say: O ye My servants who believe fear your Lord."
There is a difference between the two ways of address. In the first case, the Exalted Allah directly addresses his servants. They are before him listening to him, whereas, in the second, His address is indirect. Somebody else (the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) is going to transmit the message.
In the first case, they listen to their Lord addressing them directly, "O My Servants then fear ye Me",
and in the second, they listen to the Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) conveying their God,s message "Say: O ye My servants who believe fear your Lord".
Servitude is the door of proximity. When one becomes the servant of Allah, he need not have any intermediary. It suffices for him to be supported by his Lord.
What makes me more honored and glorified
And I was about to step into Al Thurayya (the farthest star) with my foot,
Is my being included in Your saying "My servants"
The speaker here hears the address when he is in the state of closeness: "O My Servants then fear ye Me".
Then the Exalted Allah said:
"Those who eschew Evil, and fall not into its worship, and turn to Allah (in repentance), for them is Good News to My Servants."
Herein the stage in which the exalted Allah gives good tidings to His servants who avoid other idols.
Tahgut (idol) is a word derived from Tughyan (tyranny), which means exceeding the limits. Since Taghut (the idol) is not worthy of worship because if it is worshipped, it is changed from the state of the worshipper into the state of being worshipped and becomes a false god. In such a state, it exceeds the limits and consequently, it is called Taghutan (tyrant).
When man directs his heart to other than Allah, he makes the object, he is greatly interested in, his Tahgut (his idol). Thus by his behavior he exceeds the limits and makes his idol higher than it should be.
"Good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world." Here the Exalted Allah said: "for them is Good News", and al Bushra (good news) is far much better than Hasanah (reward) because good news opens for man all the doors of welfare.
In the first place, the Exalted Allah refers to a good status waiting for you, and in the second He gives you good tidings, and when you receive such good news, you never feel distressed.
If someone of high status gives you such good news you feel greatly pleased. How if that One is the owner of all the worlds…!
Then the Exalted Allah commanded his most beloved, our master Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) to make the believer receive the good tidings from him too. Thus the believer receives the good news twice, the first is from Allah, the Exalted, and the second is from His beloved, our master Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). The Exalted Allah said: "Say: good is the reward". Allah, the Exalted, is not satisfied with only sending the good news to the followers of the method of servitude, but He also sends another good news by means of the master of the creatures described by Him as the servant of Allah, and that He (p.b.u.h.) is His own servant.
How pleasant is that good news sent by our Lord, and given to His beloved, His servant, His messenger and the master of His creatures.
What better good does man demand to decide to adopt the method of servitude?
The purpose of the above mentioned text is to make man make a certain decision and say: "I have decided to adopt the method of servitude". Once you decide to do that, there should be a clear evidence that would prove your sincerity in adopting such a method.
What is the quality of the sincere believers as described in the following verse so that we apply it in our behavior? Describing them, the Exalted Allah said:
"Those who listen to the Word, and follow the best (meaning) in it," and the best speech is Allah,s Book, i.e., to be the disciple of the Holy Qur,an, because the first disciple of the Holy Qur,an is our master, Muhammad (p.b.u.h.).
If you want to follow the best speech, you have to follow the instructions of the Holy Qur,an in order to be its disciple.
"Those who listen to the Word", i.e., the too much speech, "and follow the best (meaning) in it."
The Exalted Allah guides us to the best of this speech:
"Allah has revealed (from time to time) the most beautiful Message in the form of a Book, consistent with itself, (yet) repeating (its teaching in various aspects): the skins of those who fear their Lord tremble thereat; then their skins and their hearts do soften to the celebration of Allah,s praises." (Az Zumur, v. 23)
When you become the disciple of the Holy Qur,an, i.e., recite and learn it from your beloved, our master Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), the clear evidence, the one who guides you to the Holy Qur,an, Allah the Exalted takes you by the hand to make you verified by the Holy Qur,an in your good understanding, in your inner thoughts, and in your manner and behavior.
The trials that are inflicted upon this Ummah cannot be eliminated except by the Holy Qur,an. Our master Gabriel said to the Messenger of Allah(p.b.u.h.) : "There will be afflictions".
Our prophet (p.b.u.h.) asked: "How can we get out of them, oh Gabriel?"
Gabriel said: "By the Book of Allah."
We cannot get out of the distress we are living in nowadays unless we meditate upon the Holy Qur,an, and make it the method we adopt in our lives. We have to meditate upon it and make it the source from which we derive our instructions and guidance. We have to make our master, Muhammad (p.b.u.h.) the example that we should follow, the example that was described by the lady A,isha as: "His character was the Holy Qur,an."
Allahum… qualify us by the Holy Qur,an. Make it the spring of our hearts. Make us the disciples of the Holy Qur,an, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my speech and ask Allah,s forgiveness.