Abdullah Oduro – Invocations of God #12 What Motivates Servitude

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So after Ibn Uqayyim speaks about love, true love and true debasement or complete debasement

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for Allah, after understanding knowing the blessings of Allah upon you which brings love

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and knowing your deficiencies which will bring debasement or lowering yourself in front

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of him.

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He goes on to talk about another particular issue and he says after Rahimullah faslun

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وإنما يستقيم الله هذا باستقامة قلبه وجوارحه.

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He says and verily this becomes upright, meaning that was previously mentioned of this love

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and debasement and all this Allah SWT, باستقامة قلبه with an upright heart, a heart

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that is firm and pure and upright to Allah SWT, وجوارحه and also his limbs.

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فاستقامة القلب بشيء ايني.

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He says so the uprightness of the heart is with two particular things.

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احدهما ان تكون محابة الله تعالى تتقدم وعنده وعلى جميع المحاب

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that the love of Allah SWT is preferred over all of it, all other beloved things.

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فا اذا تعالى الحب الله وحب غيره سبق حب الله تعالى حب مسيوى.

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So if the love of Allah SWT comes in contradiction or in contrast with something, some other

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type of love, the love of Allah is preferred فرتب على ذلك مكتلا.

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So from that, what results in that are the actions and this kind of coincides with the

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verse of Allah SWT, Chapter Al Imran verse number 31, where he told the Prophet SAW

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to say, قُلْ اِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّنَ اللَّهَ فَتَبِعُونَ يَحْبِبُكُمْ اللَّهُ

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وَيَكْفِلْ لَكُمْ دُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ وَفُرْرْهِمْ.

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He told the Prophet SAW to say, if you truly love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love

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you and forgive you for Allah's forgiving of all sins.

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And this is important because the love of Allah SWT will differ with certain things that we

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may love.

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And that takes conditioning.

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And that conditioning is what was mentioned earlier.

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You notice how Ibn Qayyim has the Tasalsul Fikri, it's a chain of thought, but the way

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he does it is so organic, SubhanAllah, he mentions one thing and this thing doesn't happen except

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with this thing.

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And this thing doesn't happen except with this thing.

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And there are two particular things.

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So that chain of thought is what gives you تقصيل علمي, what gives you firm foundational

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knowledge and particularly of this, of the heart and its connection with Allah SWT.

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So now he's talking about that you being humble, the humility, which he mentioned earlier,

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the humility or recognizing your deficiencies makes you humble.

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And recognizing the blessings of Allah increases your love of Him.

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But that will not happen except with a firm heart.

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And the firm heart and limbs, in the firm heart in particular, is loving Allah SWT

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that is preferred over every other love.

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So when you have that حُبُنْ كَامِل, that will not happen except with loving Allah

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SWT more than anything else and shown by your actions.

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And then he says, وَمَا أَسْهَلَ هَذَ بِدَعْوَ وَمَا أَصْعَبُهُ بِالْفَلْ

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He says how easy it is to say but difficult to do.

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I can sit here and say this, but how difficult is it to do when your face was something you

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love and it contradicts with what Allah SWT loves.

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That is the true test.

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And that's why some of the salaf would say that this is the ayah of Imtihan, the verse

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Imran 31, which is a standard in this or which is a milestone in this particular issue.

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What do you love more?

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Allah SWT, the Dean of Islam or what you have known to be good or what your heart inclines

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towards.

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And he says, وَعِنْدَ الْأَمْتِهَانَ يُكْرَ مُنْ مَرْءُ اَوْ يُهَانَ

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He said for verily at the time of the test is where the individual is given nobility or

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is despised or put in a lowly fashion.

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And ultimately that is up to you.

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That is the difference between us as human beings and all other forms of creation.

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Allah has given us the faculty of choice and based on those choices, that is where we will

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be given a noble position and noble lofty rank in front of Allah, not in front of mankind.

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A noble and lofty rank in front of Allah or something that lowers us in front of him in

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a displeasing fashion.

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And this is important firstly.

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So when Allah SWT is talking about استقامة القلب, the uprightness of the heart, it

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firstly is, the first of the two is loving Allah more than anything else which will show

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in our actions.

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May Allah SWT make us of those that love him more than anything else and allow that to

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shine and show in our actions.

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In the holy yudalika.

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As-salamu alaikum, it's-al-alameen-al-ka'atuh.