Ibraheem Menk – Igniting the Flame – Cultivating Love for Allah

Back in the day when we explained to people that Allah Abu as said

something, or rasulallahu alayhi wa sallam had said something, then

we didn't need to explain why. It was simply Samir wa attainah. We

have heard and we have obeyed,

and that was due to the Iman within the hearts of people. They

understood that because Allah said this, I will do it, because

Rasulullah sallam said this, I will do it, and because Allah

prohibited me from this, I will not do it. But today,

increasingly, we find ourselves in a situation where people are

questioning why they want to know the reasons behind what they are

doing and the reason why they have been prohibited from doing

something, and the reality of it is Allah Rabbul, izzatti, while

Jalal has explained to us in certain circumstances why we are

meant to do certain things, but at other times and other injunctions,

we find that there is no explanation. There is simply a

command or a prohibition. And that is where our iman should come into

play. That is where our belief in allahab is being tested. When a

person breaks wind, then they are meant to wash every other organ,

or many other organs, besides the part where the wind came out from.

This doesn't make sense to an ordinary human being, but because

Allah Abu as told me to do it, then I will do it. And that is

Iman. That is faith, that is belief in Allah Rabbul, izzatti,

while Jalal, when Allah subhanahu wa taala says something, we say

it, we do it simply because it comes from Allah. We acknowledge

that this is a command from my maker, the one who brought me into

existence, the one by whom I exist today, the one to whom I shall

return so because he told me to do this, I will do it. Because He

prohibited me from doing this. I will not do it. And that is Iman.

But the other reason that we find is the growth of the love and the

two are actually intertwined. They are collected, the growth of the

love of the dunya in our hearts. So we've begun to love the dunya,

and we love it such, and we are connected to it such that the

thought of death and leaving it terrifies us. It terrifies us.

I've got to leave my family. I've got to leave my business. I'm not

ready, if I am to ask myself, let alone all of you, am I ready

today, right now, right here to say I'm ready to let go and I'm

ready to go to Allah Abu as atival jaral, I have to be honest with

myself, I have to sit and ask myself whether I am actually

ready. And the believer is in a constant state of preparedness to

meet Allah Abu Asmaa, because we know that at any moment we can

meet Allah subhanahu wa Yes, death is a terrifying thing for most

human beings. Yes, it is something that we are scared of, because it

is the fear of the unknown, and that is a normal fear, a natural

fear. In fact, as Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is

leaving this world, he says in nali Moti la saqat, indeed, death

has its pangs. So he himself experienced the pangs of death.

This was none other than Khairul khalpi ajmarin, the best creation

on ever to exist on Earth. Allahu Akbar. This was Rasulullah

sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So it is natural to fear death, but the

fear of leaving the dunya is the problem. The fear of leaving your

family, the fear of leaving your business, the fear of leaving your

wealth behind. That attachment is the problem when we become so

attached that the very thought of leaving the dunya is terrifying.

But a believer focuses on something else. A believer focuses

on the fact that my death is the My birth into the akhira. My death

is my birth into the akhira. I'm going to a Better Life, A Better

existence. So beyond that natural fear of death comes a feeling of

elation, a.

Happiness. Why? Because I'm going to meet Allah Abu as which Lord is

this? This is the Lord who is most forgiving, Most Merciful. This is

the Lord who is who wants to forgive me, and he has told me

that he wants to forgive me. Man Aha, Balika, Allah ahaba, Allahu,

the one who loves to meet Allah. Allah loves to meet him. And

that's what we should be doing, growing the love of the dunya in

our hearts, and lessening the love of this world in our hearts. And

that, Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam, is Zuid, that is

asceticism. That is what you call divorcing yourself from the dunya.

It is not dressing in rags and driving the worst of, you know,

modes of transport and having the worst of homes. No, that is not

zohod. You can have a man in a palace who's not attached to that

palace, and he is closer to Allah Abu as and you can have a man on

the street walking with nothing, no shoes to cover his feet, and he

is so attached to this dunya that it's become a point of punishment

for him, because he's deprived of it. He loves it so much that he's

depressed due to it. So Allah Abu Asmaa, he tells us, belt thirun al

Hayata dunya, well, Abu

give preference to the life of this world, and the akhira is

better and longer lasting. The akhira is better and longer

lasting. So someone may ask, but hold on, how do I practically

inculcate the love of Allah Abu Asmaa heart? And naturally, when

you begin to fill your heart with the love of Allah subhanahu wa,

you will find a decrease in the love of the dunya, because the

two, they don't exist simultaneously in one heart. When

I say they don't exist simultaneously. What I mean is

that the two once you have so much of the love of Allah Jalal, you

will reach a point where it doesn't matter what you lose of

this dunya, it doesn't matter what you lose of this dunya, it saddens

you for a short while, because you know it is temporary, and you know

you are going to Allah Rabbul, izzatti wa Jalal, learn the names

of Allah subhanahu wa, the attributes of Allah Abu as

when you understand whom Allah subhanahu wa is, Then naturally

your journey towards Allah subhanahu wa becomes easier. It

becomes fruitful. It becomes such that you will enjoy it because you

are looking forward to the destination. What we tend to do is

to focus upon the journey. And we talk about how we should establish

our salah, and we should give our Zakat, and we should fast in the

month of Ramadan, and that is all good and well, that is the

journey. But when you focus on where you are going and whom you

are going to, then it becomes amazing. You know, if I were to

stand here and tell you that there is a destination in the Maldives,

and the island is beautiful. This crystalline blue waters. What

happens? Automatically, your heart begins to pump. You think, hey,

wow, that's an amazing destination. And maybe as you are

on that journey, you get into the plane, for example, and you are on

the journey. What is it that excites you? Is it the journey

itself? No, it's the destination you're waiting to get to that

place. You can't wait to see that island. Allah has the highest of

examples. Walila, Allah and we are on a journey. We are headed where

to Allah, Rabbul, izzatti, wala Jalal. So when we learn about the

being whom we are going to how merciful he is, how great he is,

his magnanimity, then we look forward to meeting Allah Abu as

atiwa Jalad. And naturally the dunya falls away. We are living in

this dunya. We can't ignore the fact that we get up every day and

we have to earn a living. Everybody needs money. Everybody

needs to earn something in order to survive, but never lose focus

of your destination, and that will really help you when we see the

example of Karun in the Quran Allah Abu as atival Jalal is

basically telling us that he allowed the dun.

Niya into his heart to the extent where it affected his mentality,

and he believed in nama UTI to hualahim in Indi I was given this

due to the knowledge that I have. He didn't attribute it to Allah,

Subhanahu wa that was the problem. What was Allah's injunction to us?

Waving televima

Dunya was an

Allah

and seek with that which Allah has given you of the dunya. Seek. What

did he say? Seek the dunya? No, he said, Seek the akhira. Seek the

akhira with the dunya that you have, seek the everlasting, and

that is a truly wealthy person. But Allah didn't end there. Wala

10 se nasiba, kaminat Dunya, and don't forget your portion of the

dunya. When it comes to the dunya, he describes it as a portion. Why

eat of it, drink of it, enjoy of it. Halal. Allah has made halal

for you. Enjoy of it. No problem with the right intention, even

that Halal of the dunya becomes rewarding in the akhira. So enjoy

of it. Wala tan Sana si ba kamena, dunya wa aksan, Allahu, ilaik, and

be good to others in the way that Allah has been good to you. Ihsan

is the highest form of ibadah. To be good to Allah, Rabbul, izzatti

wa Jalal, excellent in your Ibadah and to be good to your fellow

human beings. Don't forget that Allah gave you in order for you to

build the everlasting so be good to them. Help them. Donate. Give

something of that which Allah has given you. Nobody wants to give.

If we believed only in this world, there would be motive, no

motivator, for us to give at all, there would be no motivator. Why?

Because I'm simply taking out that which is valuable and it's gone.

But Allah gave us the ultimate motivator, and that is, you will

receive it with me, you will. I will be pleased with you. That's

what Allah Abu is, that you will Jalal is promising. Wan fasadah,

Phil Abu, and don't seek corruption on earth. Don't go

looking looking out to cause corruption and spread fitna and

facade. Why does this come at the end? Because naturally, when you

seek out Allah Abu as

you purify your heart, and this injunction becomes easy for you to

follow. This commandment becomes easy for you to follow, because I

am a believer in Allah where I have wronged someone, I will seek

forgiveness where I have wronged myself by sinning between me and

Allah Rabbul izzatti Will jala, I will seek forgiveness from Allah

subhanahu wa taala and move ahead. May Allah subhanahu wa give us the

ability to remove the love of the dunya from our hearts and to love

the akhirah and to love our destination, and to love Allah

subhanahu wa.