Mirza Yawar Baig – Hardship And Relief
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the origins of Islam and the difficulties of life, including struggles with childbirth and the challenges of finding one's own worth. It emphasizes the importance of knowing one's own worth and finding one's own success, as well as the need for people to have faith in Islam to understand the reality of their lives. The segment ends with a promise of helping people in their own ways and a promise of helping people in their own ways.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen
wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal
mursaleen Muhammadur Rasulullahi sallallahu alaihi wa ala alihi
wa sahbihi wa sallam tasliman kathiran kathiran Fama
ba'du.
My brothers and sisters, we are living in
a world where we are passing through difficult
times.
For some of us, may Allah have mercy,
that difficulty is personal, it's happening to them.
Others are watching these things happening to those
they love.
And therefore, it's very important to understand the
nature of hardship and relief.
To understand the source of both, we must
understand that that source is Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
So who is Allah?
And what does He want for us?
Nobody can introduce Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
better than He introduced Himself.
And He said, wa
la yuhaytuna bishayin min ilmihi illa bima sha'
wasi'a kursi'u s-samawati wa l
-ard wa la ya'uduhu hifzuhuma wa huwa
al-Aliyyu l-Azim Allahu akbar Allahu akbar
la ilaha illa Allah wa Allahu akbar Allahu
akbar wa lillahi l-hamd huwa Allahul lazee
la ilaha illa Hu alimu l-ghaybi wa
l-shahadati huwa ar-Rahman ar-Rahim huwa
Allahul lazee la ilaha illa Hu al malikul
quddusu salamu l-mu'minu l-muhayminu l-azizu
l-jabbaru l-mutakabbir subhana Allahi amma yushrikun
huwa Allahul khaliqu l-bani wa l-musabbiru
lahul asma'u l-husna yusabbihu lahu ma
fi s-samawati wa l-ard wa huwa
l-Azizu l-Hakim Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim qul
huwa Allahu ahad Allahu samad lam yalidu wa
lam yuladu wa lam yakun lahu kufuan ahad
Allah said which means Allah, there is no
God worthy of worship except Him the ever
-living, all-sustaining neither drowsiness nor sleep overtake
Him to Him belong whatever is in the
heavens and the earth whoever could possibly intercede
with Him without His permission He fully knows
what is ahead of them and what is
behind them but no one can grasp any
of His knowledge except that which He wills
to reveal His seat, kursi, encompasses the heavens
and the earth and the preservation of both
does not tire Him for He is the
Most High, the Greatest The second set of
ayat, Suratul Hashr, last three ayat He is
Allah, there is no God worthy of worship
except Him knower of the seen and the
unseen knower of the perceptible and the unperceivable
He is the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful He
is Allah, there is no God except Him
The King, the Most Holy, the All-Perfect
the Source of Serenity, the Watcher of All
The Almighty, the Supreme in Might, the Majestic
Glorified is Allah far above what they associate
with Him in worship He is Allah, the
Creator, the Inventor, the Shaper He alone has
the most beautiful names whatever is in the
heavens and the earth constantly glorify Him and
He is the Almighty, the All-Wise And
the last set, Suratul Ikhlas Say, O Prophet
Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam He is Allah, One
and Indivisible Allah, the Sustainer, who everyone and
everything needs and He does not need anything
from them He has never had offspring nor
was He born and there is none comparable
to Him This is Allah, this is the
one we worship and this is the one
from whom we get everything that which is
difficult and that which is easy About what
He wants for us He said in the
ayat related to fasting يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ بِكُمُ الْيُسْرَ
وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ الْعُسْرَ Allah intends for ease
for you Allah wants for you ease, not
hardship So why then are there trials and
hardships in life?
To understand this we must understand that in
life appearance is deceptive Many times behind the
apparently negative great positivity is hidden We know
that one of the most severe if not
the most severe pain that any human being
can suffer is the pain of childbirth Why
then do women have children?
Not only have them but warn them and
pray to have them and go to all
sorts of lengths for children because when the
mother holds the baby in her arms she
forgets the pain The Quran tells us story
after story of the anbiya, the prophets and
messengers who faced not just hardships but each
one apparently total and terminal yet were victorious
in the end Now it's only when you
know the whole story that you can see
the pattern and the sequence where the hardship
and the danger were signs that Allah was
in control and that whatever was happening was
according to his plan Allah told us the
story of Yusuf in the well and slavery
and in jail One more difficult and worse
than the other He told us the story
of Ibrahim tied up, thrust up in the
cup of the trebuchet the catapult about to
be thrown into the fire and then actually
thrown into the fire He told us the
story, we know the story of Rasulallah the
Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him
in Taif, what happened to him?
We know the story of Musa between the
sea and Pharaoh's army and other stories and
we know how each of these stories ended
The Quran tells us stories not for entertainment
or history lessons but as a means of
interpreting or helping us to interpret the events
of our own lives So let us see
today's scenes of apparent difficulties and disasters in
this light This is the benefit of Islam
We are influenced by the apparent and the
immediate and don't remember that it's part of
a sequence which for the believer results in
Jannah It's like the electrician cleaning the copper
wire by rubbing it and scraping it and
so on all hardship so that current will
flow smoothly and properly through it It is
the pain for example of weight lifting or
hard aerobic exercise but without that a good
looking and well functioning body is not possible
The lesson is that no matter what the
difficulty no matter what the apparent loss if
it takes me to Jannah then it's worth
it without doubt because loss in this life
is inevitable but Jannah must be earned it's
not inevitable If I give up something then
I would have lost anyway to get something
that is mine forever and to get Jannah
which is mine forever then that is a
bargain and I welcome it Allah SWT told
us that no calamity happens without His will
and permission and who is He?
He is Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim He is
the most beneficent, the most merciful and He
is completely in control and He is sending
it and then He said that through it,
through the difficulty Allah SWT supports and protects
the hearts and minds of those afflicted so
that they can see the reality behind it
and they don't lose hope they remain firm
on the faith while others look at them
in astonishment this is the real help of
Allah SWT which comes to those who have
faith in Allah the real help of Allah
who is always with us which comes to
those who have faith in Him Allah said
ma asaba min musibatin illa bi-idhnillah wa
man yu'min billahi yahdi qalbah wallahu bi kulli
shay'in alim Allah said no calamity befalls
anyone except by the will of Allah and
whoever has faith in Allah he will be
rightly guided and Allah rightly guides their hearts
through the adversity and Allah SWT has perfect
knowledge of all things we find that difficulties
sometimes come to people who are on the
right path people who take decisions keeping in
mind the pleasure of Allah yet they seem
to face difficulties and calamities while people who
are disobedient and rebellious or downright evil seem
to get away with all that they do
now this can cause confusion in the minds
of those who do not have the knowledge
of Islam to understand the reality of what
is going on I remind myself I knew
that Islam is a religion based on knowledge
on perfect knowledge revealed from Allah it's not
the knowledge of wise people it's not the
knowledge of our own imagination it's not the
knowledge of anything it is the knowledge directly
from Allah SWT which is perfect knowledge it
is a religion that is based on the
revelation from Allah the kitab of Allah and
the sunnah the guiding light the field book
the way of his messenger Muhammad sallallahu alaihi
wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam on
one occasion Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam drew
a square in the sand he then drew
a straight line through it going up to
the top of the square and through the
top line emerging out of it at the
top end then he drew other smaller lines
coming in from the edge of the square
and pointing inwards towards the straight line then
he asked his companions do you know what
this means they replied Allah SWT and his
messenger know best he said this line going
through the middle of the box represents the
human being the other lines aiming towards it
are the trials and tribulations of life that
come at him from all directions if a
person manages to avoid one of these trials
he will run into one of the others
the surrounding square which is the whole square
is the life span that encompasses the person
the extension of the line outside the box
represents his hopes the person remains busy with
those hopes but the term of life comes
to an end before they are fulfilled I
remind myself I knew that life is a
collection of incidents some of these are trials
Allah SWT promised to test us and told
us what to do when we go through
the trials he said Allah
said in Suratul Baqara do you think you
will be admitted into Jannah without being tested
like those before you they were afflicted with
suffering and adversity and were so violently shaken
that even the messenger and the believers with
him cried out and said when will the
help of Allah come indeed Allah's help is
always near trials are the means of getting
into Jannah we ask Allah SWT to give
us Jannah without trials Allah SWT told us
that Jannah is not something that is so
easy to attain and that all that we
need to do is to simply profess faith
Allah told us that people of faith have
always been tested and so shall we be
tested we forget this when we decide to
turn over a new leaf and start to
obey Allah SWT we expect the angels to
walk with us in the street and we
expect to shake hands with them the reality
however is different the reality is the same
as when we want to go into a
higher class in school or one entry into
a great university or a promotion at work
when we announce that we are ready for
the promotion by applying for the job we
are invited to a test if we pass
the test we get promoted but we must
pass the test the same situation happens in
life when we announce to Allah SWT that
we are ready to obey him and change
our lives and to make his pleasure the
sole criterion for our decisions naturally the first
thing that happens is that we are tested
to see how truthful we are the only
difference is that when Allah SWT tests he
also supports us in the test Allah SWT
even helps us to remain steadfast the first
lesson therefore is to understand that tests are
an indication that we are upwardly mobile and
that our levels are being raised and we
are getting closer to Allah SWT Allah SWT
reminded us and said وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ
إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا
كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُوا عَن كَثِيرٍ Allah SWT said
which means whatever affliction befalls you is because
of what your own hands have committed and
he pardons much which means that we don't
get a difficulty for every sin that we
commit the second thing to understand is that
Allah SWT promised to test us and he
said وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيٍّ مِّنَ الْقَوْفِ وَالجُوعِ وَنَقُصٍ مِّنَ
الْأَمْوَالِ وَالأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ أَلَّذِنَ إِذَا
صَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ
الْمُهْتَدُونَ Allah SWT said which means we will
certainly test you with a touch of fear
and famine and loss of property and life
and crops and children and so on give
good news to those who patiently endure who
when faced with disaster they say surely to
Allah we belong and to Him we will
all return they are the ones who will
receive Allah SWT's blessings and mercy and it
is they who are rightly guided let's ask
ourselves what is the value of receiving salawat,
the blessings and mercy of Allah directly from
Allah is that worth whatever difficulty we have
to endure this thought will help us to
put things in perspective a small particle of
dust for example in the eye is enough
to bring us to tears but the reality
is that it's only a small particle of
dust perspective is important to understand what happens
to us while Allah SWT promised the believers
that He would test them in His mercy
He also taught them how to deal with
difficulties and how to ask for His help
when we are tested and He promised to
help us in a way which is incredible
Allah SWT said Allah said oh believers
seek help in patience in sabr and in
prayer in salah and dua Allah is truly
with the people, the believers who are patient
sabr is to make the maximum effort and
then to stand before Allah SWT and beg
for His help it's not just sitting there
and waiting for things to happen it is
to do everything possible first and then beg
Allah for His help salah is comes after
sabr for this reason and salah therefore is
worth spending time to improve and to strengthen
the other very important thing to remember is
that Allah SWT said that He is with
those who believe, who have sabr He is
with those.
He did not say Allah will help them.
Allah said verily Allah is with those who
have sabr.
Now there is a promise of help and
there is a promise of the one who
helps being with the one who needs the
help and between the two there is a
world of difference it's like the difference between
the king saying I will help you and
saying I am with you when the king
helps or promises to help the help is
confined and restricted to whatever he gives and
to the problem but when he says I
am with you then the help encompasses all
that the king owns, the king with all
his authority and wealth and power is with
us which is more valuable that is what
happens when we have sabr and stand before
Allah SWT and ask him without committing shirk
question is do we have this realisation and
experience and understanding of what we are doing.
This is what we must develop.
Worship without about which we feel nothing is
mechanical.
It's like a tick in the box but
has no other effect we must worship knowing
that the one we worship is real and
is seeing and hearing us and knows what's
in our hearts he is the most merciful,
the most powerful and knows what is good
for us way better than we ever could
and he will do that for us.
We must show that trust in our speech
and actions and salah is the most important
place to do it.
Allah SWT then showed us what we need
to do to access his treasures which is
to develop taqwa when we develop taqwa and
are focused on pleasing Allah alone to the
best of our ability he promised to help
us out of our difficulties and to provide
us from sources we cannot imagine.
The secret of getting out of difficulties is
very clear develop taqwa.
Make tawba make istighfar, follow the sunnah forget
all your advices and listen to Rasulullah SAW
then the doors of Allah SWT's treasures will
open for you Taqwa plus sunnah equals why
plus how equals success Allah said Allah
said that whoever fears Allah whoever fears to
displease the one who loves the most and
keeps his duty to him, he will make
a way for him to get out of
every difficulty and he will provide him from
sources he could never imagine and whoever puts
his trust in Allah, he will be sufficient,
Allah will become sufficient for him Allah SWT
said he told us the way that we
can have Allah on our sides Allah said
Allah said truly Allah is with those who
have taqwa who fear to displease Him and
those who are mursinoon, who do ihsan who
have excellence in worship and all kinds of
good deeds.
The way to have Allah SWT on our
side is to develop taqwa, to develop the
fear of displeasing Allah SWT and to use
the pleasure of Allah SWT as a sole
criterion in all decision making.
The natural outcome of this focus is the
development of al-ihsan excellence in worship and
all good deeds How do we please Allah?
By obeying Him in the best possible manner.
When we do this, the help of Allah
SWT comes in unexpected ways from unexpected sources
and at unexpected times when the one who
is in total control is with you, hearing
and seeing and you are engaged in doing
his work, then what do you have to
fear?
What can anyone or anything do without the
permission of Allah SWT?
Nothing That is the most reassuring thing that
we can hope to know that Allah SWT
is with us The key to the help
of Allah is to obey Him in the
way of Rasulullah That is the way to
get relief from all hardships We have the
key code but remember to open the door
the full code must be punched in, in
the right sequence that code is Islam wa
sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa
sahbihi ajma'in bi hurmati l-Habib, bi
hurmati l-Fatiha