Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #125 Uprightness Servanthood to Allah Reliance Upon Allah Sincerity & Hypocrisy Attainin
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You're listening to the daily guidance for seekers
with Sheikh Rasra Benny.
In
our Roha sessions,
in which we're looking at guidance
for
those seeking the path of turning to Allah
the path of the prophet
we
have reached
an important discussion by on
what is
the
what is true spirituality?
And what is
the
what are the key components
of
the true
spiritual path.
And
Imam Al Ghazali
defined for us
in
what is true spirituality.
Telling us
that
what
is
what
is
what is?
Sorry?
Yeah. Yeah.
That spirituality,
true spirituality
is
uprightness.
Right? It's to be upright
with Allah and to be upright
in one's conduct
in
life.
And to be
in the state of
of serenity
with respect
to creation.
Right?
So
he defined for us what is
what is uprightness.
Right? That one sacrifice
the interests,
the inclinations
of one's
lower self
for the sake of one's true
interest,
which is
one's
state with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is
an expression of what the prophet
said, none of you believes
None of you believes until
their inclinations
follow what I have come with. Meaning,
that one sacrifices
all inclinations
that do not correspond
with
the pleasure of Allah, mighty
and majestic.
And
then he's
and how is one at rest with people?
Sukoon
Mal Khalk.
Right? To be at rest with people,
he's it is by good character.
Right?
So what is good character? Imam al Ghazali
defines it.
Good character with people.
And
here, this is advice.
So the nature of advice, it's practical.
It's not theoretical. He's not here to teach
what is good what is character and what
is good character. This is direct. How can
he have good character? He says,
good character
with people
that you not make people
that you not force people to be as
you
as you
wish
they they be.
But rather, you make yourself accord
to their wishes.
As long as they don't go against
the,
the sacred law.
This is in one's general dealings. Right? Because
one
there there are
broadly, there are 3 situations,
3 cases in human relationships.
In general,
each
human being
has no rights over another,
except where those rights are affirmed.
Right? You have no authority over another except
where the authority
is affirmed
or accepted.
Right.
So there
how can you demand something
that
you don't have a right to demand,
and even at the level of rights.
So in general relationships
that you don't make people do what you
want.
Right?
Rather,
you make yourself do what they want. You
go above and beyond. You're giving in the
relationships.
So
you wanted to go
to a particular
place to eat,
but your friend, your spouse, whoever
wanted to go somewhere else. So you don't
force, say no,
I want such and such. Why? Because this
is a sign of lack of ego.
How however,
if the other two cases
in human relationships,
you could be in a position of authority.
Right? Of authority.
Whether as a parent,
as a teacher,
in a work situation,
in a community
position.
And in a position of authority,
one is easy going,
but one only demands
out
of but only demands out of sincere concern.
Right? So it doesn't apply if if if
a student comes and asks the teacher, what
should I study? Say whatever you feel like.
That's not good character, that's not being melt
here. But there, that one only demands from
people in accordance with
what is entailed by sincere concern for their
good.
And
if one is in a situation where
1
so one is under the authority of someone,
right,
then there
the response is respect
and deference.
And Imam Al Ghazali in other works such
as the beginning of guidance, just describes Adam
with the different categories of people.
As long as they don't go against the
Sharia, either doing the prohibited or the blame
worthy. They're doing the
prohibited,
you don't engage in it, and you command
the good and forbid the wrong.
If they do the disliked
or the blameworthy,
where appropriate,
you give them good counsel.
So this is good character, that you'd be
easygoing with people. You're not be demanding of
them but rather you demand what is better
from yourself.
And, of course, you can't demand that someone
else demand what is better from them because
that's just from you being demanding.
You can't tell someone,
be polite. Well, you should be polite to
me.
Right? You could demand
and they say in general,
you have a right
to seek your right.
But you have no right to demand excellence
with with from others.
It is recommended for you to forego
your
even your right
as long as it does not entail harm
for you
or allows another to to be harming.
Right. So you bought
a cup of coffee. Someone came and they're
sitting and drinking it.
You wanted a coffee, but you forego it.
Why? Because they they probably made a mistake.
They buy coffee every day. They hadn't, that's
your cup of coffee. But you forego your
right. As long as they're not a wrongdoer.
Someone always steals your stuff.
Someone all that's
so you have a right to seek your
right from others, but you have no right
to demand excellence from others.
It is recommended
to forego your right
as long as
it does not entail harm for
you or harm
for the other.
Which is why it the difference between
foregoing your right and allowing yourself to be
harmed.
Does Olamah explain
that allowing another to harm you
is
is you acquiescing to the wrong and we
don't acquiesce to the wrong.
And you're responsible for your for yourself.
And you're
also assist indirectly assisting
the wrongdoer
in doing their wrong.
Then he said,
Then you asked me about slavehood.
What does it mean to be true
in a state
of servitude to Allah
And he said,
true slavehood to Allah is 3
things.
The first is to guard the command of
the sacred law
is to guard the command of the sacred
law.
The command, of course, meaning
there's a basic servant who does what they're
commanded
and there's a true servant who does both
what they're commanded
and what they're encouraged.
Because you have commands of obligation
and commands of recommendation.
Right? So the 2 true servant,
a person of Rubudiya
is someone who sees their identity
as being,
I am a servant of Allah.
What is their purpose in life?
To serve Allah.
What is their aspiration in life?
To serve
with excellence.
To serve fully.
So that is
the first is to say to to guard
the command of Allah
in their in their life.
And that requires
acting,
acquiring knowledge and acting on it.
The second is to be content
with the divine decree and destiny.
And what Allah has a portion.
That to know that everything is from Allah.
And that
in every in everything, good or bad,
pleasing or displeasing is an opportunity
to seek Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So you're content.
Right? As Sheikh Mohammed Saeed al Kurdi said
in one of his poems,
Whether you bring me close or keep me
distant,
it is the same to me because my
right guidance
is is in what you have a portion.
Wherever Allah places you, whatever Allah sends
you, you are content with that.
And then you seek,
you are pleased because wherever Allah places you,
you have an opportunity to seek
the pleasure of
Allah. So every moment with Allah
is a moment of perfect opportunity.
The question is, how do you seek Allah
where he has placed you? Where he has
placed you is ultimately irrelevant.
For a true servant, it doesn't matter. Because
I'm committed to serve and I'm committed to
seek.
Wherever I am,
I will seek.
Right?
That's why one of I believe it's Abu
Bakr Shibli. He defined what is
patience. It's
That
true
steadfast patience
is that you that you face even
destruction
with a cheerful face.
Why? It's from Allah.
What are you gonna do about it? Seek
Allah.
Right?
Which is why every moment
is perfection itself.
It it is perfection and beauty itself.
Right?
As
If those who grant
closeness, meaning Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the beloved,
are pleased with me,
then every state
It's perfection
itself or beauty itself.
And then it continues.
Take me to their neighborhood
and cast me anywhere.
I don't care.
Whether they're whether they're
nice to me or whether they torment me.
The servant is a servant
in all states.
The
third. The third The third quality of
true
slavehood to Allah, true servitude to Allah
is to leave
what is pleasing
to your ego, to your lower self,
seeking
in seeking the pleasure of Allah.
You leave what is pleasing to yourself,
to what is pleasing
to Allah
So these are three qualities
of
true
It is you alone
that we submit to. What does that entail?
You hold fast to the command of Allah.
Neither
you neither neglect
the command of Allah
nor allow yourself
to fall into a situation
would that would make you fall into neglect
of the command of Allah.
And this happens in our day to day
life.
You know, you you're
heading heading back from work, but it's 5
minutes before Maghrib, and it's winter.
You'll get stuck on the 401 or with
whatever highway is close to you.
And then how are you going to hold
fast to the command of Allah of praying
on time? Number 1. Number 2,
in terms of the command or recommendation, to
pray Maghrib without delay. They say so you
arrange things accordingly.
You either wait, pray Maghrib and leave or
you've planned already. Then you leave early so
you can pray
either
when you reach
home
or you've already planned where you're going to
stop for Maghrib because it's not a surprise
that during rush hour, there'll be traffic.
It's not a surprise.
Right? So you this is muha father. Right?
Guarding. You ensure that it happens,
but also
you make sure that it doesn't happen
that it doesn't happen.
The second, that you're content with with
divine decree to know that anything that hit
you was never going to miss and anything
that missed you was never going to hit.
It's all from Allah.
And you're content with it. Why? Because it's
an opportunity to turn to Allah. 3rd, that
you leave what is pleasing to you,
to what is pleasing
to Allah because and it returns to who
are you? Right?
Who are you? And as the Ullama tell
us
you are not yourself.
Right? You are not your nafs.
Right?
Right? The the the the sense of self,
I,
me, myself, and I,
this I
you know, they say
or
The self
yeah. The selfish self,
the lower self, the ego
is the gathering place of blame worthy quality.
That's not who you are. You are a
heart.
You are a heart. You are a soul.
You're an intellect.
Then Imam Al Ghazali says,
you asked me about
about reliance upon Allah.
And Imam Al Ghazali
has much to say about the reliance upon
Allah
and
what it is
and how it's attained
and its relationship with divine oneness.
Because
Tawakkul, reliance upon Allah
is the necessary fruit
of
sound,
divine sense of divine oneness.
If
you feel a lack of trust in Allah,
it's because
the reality of
of divine oneness
is weak
in your heart.
So
and we covered
Imam Ghazali's
we did a seminar recently and it's one
of the
the playlists
on the seekers hub,
YouTube page on divine oneness and trust on
Allah.
So what is from Imam Ghazali's IHIA?
What is reliance on Allah? He says,
and trust in Allah is that
you make
that you strive to perfect.
Strive to perfect
your
your your belief and certitude in Allah
in general. In
all that he has promised because it is
true.
To know with certitude that all that was
destined for you
will
reach you
without doubt.
Even if everyone
on earth strives to turn it away from
you.
And anything that was not
decreed for you
won't reach you.
Even if all creation helps you.
So then why why trust the feeble?
Trust
the most able, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And this is, of course, pointing
to the to the hadith of ibn Abbas.
Right, related
by Imam Atirmidi and Imam Ahmed and many
others.
That Ibn Abbas
was riding be behind the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam when just
a young
man,
young boy.
And the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi
wa
sallam
said
to him, oh young boy or young
man, I will teach you some words.
In in one of the narrations, so
memorize
them. And this is an amazing hadith. It's
hadith 19 of the
and a number of scholars have written treatises
just explaining this hadith. Amongst them, Ibn Rajab
Al Hambali,
who despite writing an extensive commentary on this
in his commentary on the on the 4
d Navawi,
you know, the compendium of knowledge and wisdom.
He also compiled
a commentary just on this hadith.
The hadith of Ibn Abbas called Nurul Mishkat,
I believe, or
Nurul Ikhtabas.
Right?
And mid sized commentary
on this one hadith
full of
deep meanings of
nurturing faith and and
so the
prophet said to Ibn Abbas,
Guard Allah and Allah will guard
Guard guard Allah meaning continue to guard Allah.
You'll find him before you. You will realize
the reality.
Realities of divine oneness. What does it mean
to guard Allah?
These three
things. Guard the command of Allah,
guard your contentment with the with the decree
of Allah,
guard
your
concern.
You guard your inclinations
such that you
choose only what is
pleasing to Allah.
Leaving what
you inclined to if it's displeasing to Allah.
These three qualities, Imam Ghazali mentioned.
If you continue to do that, you will
find him
before you to jahak.
Right? You'll be face to face
with Allah
with
spiritually,
not physically, of course.
If you ask, ask Allah.
And if you rely,
rely only on
Allah. And know well that if all people
gathered
to benefit you regarding anything,
they could not benefit you except with something
that Allah decreed for you.
And if they gathered to harm you,
they could
If they gather to harm you,
They could not harm
you.
They could not harm you except with something
that Allah decreed against you.
The pens have been lifted.
Wajafat is
and
the pages have dried.
What is decree
is written,
and it won't change.
Right?
And
this
this nurtures,
right,
true strength of faith reflecting on on on
on this meaning.
Right.
Such that one doesn't fear other than Allah.
One does not
rely
on other than Allah
Okay. That's why one of the early Muslims
said,
a prostration
to your lord
saves you from a 1,000 prostrations
to other than your lord.
And one prostration to your lord saves you
from a 1,000 prostrations to other than Allah.
Now it's not literal prostrations meaning because every
time you rely on someone, you're prostrating to
them. Anytime you depend on someone, you're prostrating
to them. Anytime you're dependent on someone, it's
as if you're prostrating to them and so
on. Till
when will you be enslaved
to creation
and when will you
be freed
through being a slave
to
Allah. Which is why one of the poets
captured this so beautifully. He said,
If they accepted me
as a pure
and utter slave, I would not be content
to be freed.
And if Allah accepts me
purely as a slave,
I would not want any other freedom.
Right? Because that is
freedom itself.
But as the prophet
tells us when,
you need a man
when he he told a man one of
the Sahaba left his camel untied. So the
prophet said,
you know, tie the camel.
Right?
And then to trust in Allah
Right?
He said,
that tie the camel then trust in Allah
Okay?
So reliance trust in Allah reliance upon Allah.
What is it?
Sheikh Mahideen Qur Radari, one of the distinguished
chef Juris of our time, he has a
good definition of
That in Islam
is to tie one's heart.
Right. It's to tie one's heart
to the knower of the unseen.
Right. It's a it's a tie one's heart
to Allah
Right.
Right?
While acting
for
the the good of this life
and the next.
With everything
that one can.
Right? With everything
that one can.
So this is Imam yeah. Imam Ghazali that
that what is the key to trust in
Allah? To strengthen your faith in Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. And
and and turn to Allah
in all that you do. Then he says,
you asked me about sincerity.
And, of course, he was asking for advice
about sincerity, not so much
a theoretical investigation about sincerity.
So
Of course, he the the questioner was a
student of knowledge. He knows that sincerity is
to perform an action purely for the sake
of Allah. Right? But he's saying that what
is
meaning
true sincerity.
It's not just that you have sincerity in
worship,
in acts of obedience, which is where sincerity
is inherently obligatory,
but
true sincerity
is that all of your actions,
not just
your prayer and devotion,
but your
entire life and all you do within it
be for the sake of Allah
And for your heart not to be content
with the praise of people because you're not
seeking their praise.
And you don't care if they speak ill
of you. Why?
Because that's not what you are seeking
in life.
So he asked about sincerity,
but things are also known by their opposites.
What
what what
negates sincerity
is
showing off.
So he he says,
Then why do people show off? Why do
people do things for other than Allah?
It's a beautiful
and he says that
there is one key cause.
Know well that showing off
arises from
holding creation in high esteem.
Right?
And it's
cure.
And
and its cure is that you behold
creation
as being completely
under the sway
of the divine power.
They're completely,
you know, they're completely lifeless
in con in the control of the divine
power.
And you
consider them as if
they were inanimate objects.
Not you know, like you're just a stone.
No.
Right. Then you treat them as if they're
stones. In that they cannot,
in any
way bring you comfort.
They cannot bring you ease
nor hardship.
So that you are saved
from
having to show off to
them.
Anytime that you imagine that they have
power,
that they have
will
such that they can benefit
they can
benefit you or they can choose to benefit
you in any way,
then you won't be distant from
showing off. What is the cure
for
showing off?
Right? As
in the famous lines attributed
to Purify yourself with the
with the water of the unseen, with the
water of Tawhid.
Right?
Right?
This is sincerity. Sincerity
is
living Tawhid.
That you have consciousness
of Allah
and that consciousness
is lived
in the choices you make
through which your actions arise.
K.
Because otherwise,
you know, the prophet
defined
riya showing off as being shirkun kafi,
being
hidden
association of partners with Allah.
Which is why Wali Wali Raslan Dimashki in
his famous rizalat tawhid opened it with great
with great rhetorical impact. He said,
You are entirely
hidden.
Association of partners with Allah. You are
the your entirety is
shirk is hidden shirk. Why?
Because you're always you're doing things for yourself
and that's doing things for other than Allah.
You're doing things for others,
and there's only
ultimately three possibilities. Why you could be doing
things?
You could be doing
assuming
that you have you have a motive in
what you act.
Right? You could be doing it for yourself.
You could be doing it
for someone else, or you could be doing
it for Allah.
Doing it for yourself is a type of
subtle showing of subtle
acting for other than Allah.
Doing it for other people is showing off.
That too is for for other than Allah.
And Allah only accepts
that which is purely for his sake alone,
which is why
completes it by saying
and true
conscious
true awareness of tawheed, of divine oneness will
not be clear to
you.
Until you leave
by Allah,
right, by your connection with Allah, by your
reliance upon Allah,
from your
lower from yourself, meaning your lower urges, your
wayward
whims. You do things for yourself, you do
things for people.
Such that you are
by him and not by yourself.
And then Imam Al Ghazali continues
that
and we'll just read the next part just
very briefly. He says,
my, you know, my dear
child,
The rest of what you have asked me
about, some of it
is written in my books so seek it
there.
And writing about some of them is impermissible.
Why?
Because these are spiritual meanings.
Right? They they you can't just express them.
They are to be
experienced.
Imam Ghazali's advice is
act yourself
with what you know.
So that
what you do not know
becomes
manifested
to you.
And then he quotes,
a hadith
that that whoever acts
upon what they know,
Allah grants them knowledge of what they knew
not.
And this is related by Abu Nuaim
with his chain of transmission
from Sayna Anas.
And then he gives a
a we we're reaching the closing of this
treatise, which we're going to look at next
week.
And then he closes with 8 councils. So
next week we'll be completing
this
beautiful treatise of Yiramul Ghazali's,
Yuhul Waled. His
advice
to a a dear student of his
Muhammad.
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