How To Build Unshakeable Faith

To begin my brothers and sisters we have captured for us in the Quran that even Ibrahim alayhi salam himself was concerned about the state and the strength and the stability of his faith.

Allah azza wa jal says to us that Ibrahim alayhi salam said in dua invoked Allah saying and I'll be Eddie Nikkei for to heal Mota. Oh my Lord, show me not convinced me show me a higher level I'm looking for how you bring life to the dead. How's the resurrection takes place?

Carla lnM told me he said to him, don't you believe? Are you not certain? Paula Bella Kinley atoma in Applebee's and of course, I'm certain Oh Allah, but so that I'm asking of this so that my faith my certainty can be further strengthened, further reassured, further elevated. Have you ever thought why that's etched in dust for the etched for us in the Quran until the end of time?

It's because this is the mindset of the believer. This is the mindset of a Muslim, they are preoccupied in their thoughts daily, with how strong is my faith? Can my faith be stronger? You know, he said, I am certain and he certainly was truthful in saying he was certain. But he was also scared, concerned, ambitious about greater heights to his faith, heights perhaps that would render him immune to the whispers of shaitan. Because every single one of us could be subjected to our faith faltering at the hands of satanic whispers.

Or may Allah forbid our faith being fractured and broken at under the hammers of hardship,

at the hands of life, as we say.

Because some people only after those hammers come crashing down, do they realize that I was not as far from the edge as I thought I was. I thought I was more comfortable in my faith than I actually am. And Allah azza wa jal said this in the Quran Wamena Nassima. Yeah, Buddha, Allah Allah have among humanity are those who are devoted to God on edge. They're on the verge. They may not recognize they're on the edge, but they are on the edge. For in Asaba hoo, ha, you're on. It's my nav. If something good comes their way, they're reassured by that. When I saw a vet who Pfitzner tune in caliber allergy he hustler duniya. Well, era, and if some hardship comes his way, he turns

about face, he walks out on his face and misses out on this world and the next May Allah forbid. So this idea here about those whose faith uncertainty is actually toeing the line of, of a downward plummets.

That's one classification of people. This idea reminds us that people ultimately are two classes, there's going to be a class that is reassured by their faith regardless of variables regardless of life situations, regardless of circumstances, they're reassured by their faith.

May we be of those people.

And there's another class class of people, those on the edge, those whose faith is dependent on being reassured, I will only have faith if I'm in a state of comfort and security and reassurance. And between those two classes of people is a world of a difference. Let me say that a little differently. A person will either be actively pursuing strengthening their faith and bringing it to higher grounds like Ibrahim alayhis salam was actively doing,

or a person who will be haunted in their life and potentially their afterlife, because they put their guard down with their faith. They let their themselves be subject to their faith sinking to a point in which they get stuck, in which they are sabotaged, in which they are in the swamps of doubt.

You know, true unwavering faith Yaqeen certainty conviction Yaqeen This is the greatest treasure on earth that you want to pursue. And you know, like all treasures, it is rare. It's hard to find, if you will, the early Muslims used to say man's that Allah who eat oil out of the Shea and Apalla phenomenally clean, Allah never sent down to this earth, anything that is more rare than certainty,

but by his grace subhanho wa Taala from

His mercy and His generosity and his fairness is gentleness with us. Unlike the gold and the silver and the diamonds and the limited resources of this world, those treasures you attain is available to everybody. It's not the limited supply, but it is limited because few are those who work for it. Few are those who live pursuing it, fewer those who appreciate it as it deserves to be appreciated.

And if we are to add one more layer to this, our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam actually told us that those few will be even fewer as we neared the Day of Judgment, he said, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Salah who actually had the Luma physique of the will Yaqeen

wife, I said, who are here we have Phil Bulkeley will ml.

It is reported that he said, the strength in the earlier phases of my OMA will be because of their zoo, zoo, this sort of to not be clingy to this world to not be obsessed with the material world to be disinterested in this dunya Zoo.

And you have pain and certainty. And these are obviously related. It is because of your certainty, you're able to ease off you're not dependent on this world, right? He said and the weakness that will occur doesn't have to be everyone. But the weakness that will become prevalent in the later phases of my OMA will be because of bull stinginess and mn false hopes, and those who are also related. You have this like wishful thinking about life, potentially being able to satisfy us paradise on earth, we may not say it, but we may actually operate on that basis, it can be attained, right happiness.

Because of those faulty wishes, you will have stinginess, you don't exert the time you don't exert the effort. You don't exert the money. You don't devote yourself to get that you clean.

And so it is that wishful thinking, which is the absence of certainty that causes them to withhold, and likewise the presence of certainty that allows them to sacrifice. And so this is a little bit of an uncomfortable diagnosis and uncomfortable truth. Whenever there is falter or lag or weakness in a religious commitment. It's not always because someone happens to not know the honest bare truth is, this reflects more often than not a weakness in your theme. Because if you believe more you do more, if you're more sure you operate apart about what you're short on. And that's why Sofia nfld Rahim Allah used to say to the people if certainty takes its proper seats in the hearts the hearts take

off, they fly towards gender they fly they have a fervent away from the fire.

And you know in diverse that we discussed weeks prior about salah and Islam actually making life easier, life's hard without Islam. What else did we say? We said that Allah azza wa jal told us Salah as a burden, right? We commitment, Salah is a burden, except for who and Lavina Winona and now whom Allah kurabe Him those who are certain. So that Quranic principle should always reverberate in our minds whenever we find weakness in our commitments, that there's a correlation always between commitment and conviction between sort of our sacrifice and our easing off of the comforts of this world and our certainty in the Promise of Allah and the next world the hereafter.

Without certainty, you'll never pull it off. I'll never pull it off. You know, in essence, basura himolla is a beautiful statement. He says.

Paradise was never sought, except through your pain. It's only because you're certain that there's a paradise and the Hellfire was never fled from except because of Yaqeen certainty. He said, women knew ESL Farah elaborately again, you don't even make the right intentions for any of your obligations to do them and do them for the right reason. Except because you have your pain.

He said, Well, subida I'll help you elaborately again and no one is able to endure the truth meaning to stay principle, even when it's inconvenient, except because of your pain. You're not gonna be will have any of this. And then this fifth most beautiful statement, he says, well in philosophy at law, you don't get here. And you know, it's such a favor from Allah, that he spares us of trials. That's another benefit of your team is that it helps you in trials, but he's saying, I've realized in life, that it's such a blessing that Allah not test you. He said, Because I have seen everyone. They measure up they're pretty much the same. Everyone's the same in times of ease, he says, but

then the trials came down, and everyone separated, meaning when the trial

Come, those who survive them are only those who have your thing. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he echoed the sentiment, if not more of the Allahu Anhu has said that in nearly every gathering the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would not rise from it without making a certain dua a part of that is what Wamena Lea Peony meant to help you know be here Elena Masai but duniya O Allah grant us enough of a share of your cane of certainty that would effectively lighting for us. The calamities the brunt the impact the pain of what this world brings.

You know, when you're certain, it's not the end of the world to upset somebody. Right? It's not a huge irresolvable problem.

When there is some loss, you are not confined to, to material explanations. So why this had to happen. You have a bigger perspective, you're liberated from that mindset. You're not stuck also in conflict because you're not blaming others too much for things that ultimately Allah also permitted. subhanho wa Taala or else even those others would not have been enabled to do it. You don't measure things on the outside anymore. Like those who don't have faith Allah zodat says about them in the Quran. Yeah, Allah Munna, Avahi Ramana. hayati dunya. All they know is the outer nature, the apparent the exterior shell of this world. But the people have certainty may we be of them.

They see this transient world as an opportunity for the hereafter. The pain here as a reason for pleasure there, I will be elevated for my patients. I'll be cleansed by these ordeals. And through that they're able to be content. And finally, before I sit down, brothers and sisters, the most fundamental,

most important reason why you're paying needs to be a continuous, lifelong pursuit. I have to have unshakable faith. I have to continue building and have this unbreakable faith is because not a single good deed is excepted from a person who doesn't have your cane.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said to us in your authentic hadith, a shadow a la ilaha illallah wa shadow and Muhammad Rasulullah the Kadima that you know, no God but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger. He said la Yelapa Allah hubby him I've been doing a Euro shack and fee Hema in the halal Jana. Nobody will meet Allah with those two statements. La ilaha illa Allah Muhammad Rasool Allah without doubting them, except that they will enter paradise without doubting them.

And to this point, beloved Mossad Rahim Allah great, great early scholar, he used to say to his students, yeah, a bad Alright man, oh servants of the Most Gracious, know that you are working these short days,

for truly long days, meaning in the Hereafter, and in this perishing world, for a permanent world, and in this realm of grief

and exhaustion for a realm of bliss and immortality everlasting life, but he used to tell them, whoever will not act with certainty in that, let them not trouble themselves. It will not show up on the other side, unless you're certain and the other side.

And in fact that without the Allahu and he used to say the great companion, that Allah who will not just reward you for your your pain, he will reward you proportionately to your team. In other words, you may perform less acts on the exterior sense physical acts, but because you have greater certainty in your heart, your rewards will be multiplied more than another person. So that is the truth factor. That is the most consequential the most important of your investments in your faith is in the very bedrock of it. May Allah make us all people have conviction and certainty Allahumma Amin have called the holy heart that will start from the heart of the money welcome.

Al hamdu Lillahi wa Salatu was Salam ala Milena be about that should have Allah ilaha illallah wa Hola, Sherry Keller, or shadow under Mohammed and Abdullah who want to be you who are also. So brothers and sisters, if we are concerned about our certainty, like Ibrahim Ali Salam was from there, where do you go? I want to give you three very straightforward, very practical methods to climbing that staircase of certainty and building it further taking it to safer heights. The first of them is to study Islam. So you get a chance to experience the truth of this faith firsthand. Not secondhand. You experience the moral the end

intellectual greatness you experience the sweetness of faith yourself.

You know when Allah azza wa jal was telling you hold on in the Quran, he said for telecoil Allah Allah He in Necker Island happy Mubin put your trust in Allah why? The verse continues to say because you are upon the clear truth. Is it clear to you that it's truth?

You know, I believe firmly brothers and sisters that we need to know more about Islam and what makes Islam exceptional in this day and age than any age prior right or wrong.

But the early Muslims even knew this in a sort of a Muslim Islamic dominant atmosphere.

Cognitive not done Rahima home law he used to tell people to I lemon EMA and I came to Lemonly. Athena came to a lemon Khurana for India to Allah mu. You need to learn how to have certainty, study it, explore it, prove it to yourself. The same way you study Quran because even I study it Meaning nobody is above learning and relearning this subject because it does wither away it does get eroded.

And you know, June the companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he says that we were taught Iman before we were taught for and and that is why the Quran increased us in Eman in faith. But you need to know faith first. Like why is this book important? Why is it special? Why do I believe it's from Allah then study it now. That will be a transformative experience. And even the Miss Rudra the Allahu Allah another companion of the Prophet SAW said, Let me said something very similar. He said that in later on, people are going to flip the formula, people are going to mess up and they're going to start memorizing the Quran and not being able to act upon it. They will find

memorization easy and acting hard. Why?

Because there is not enough. Focus on the faith, the foundation, the bedrock.

And we know in the authentic hadith of the questioning in the grave, may Allah is it for all of us. That the angel sit the man up and they asked Him Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is this man Mohammed? ML Mukhin. The hadith says the believer that is certain he answers correctly and he's told the rest in comfort for you we're upon certainty we confirm we vouch for you, we verify that you are a person of certainty, then the ask the other person that is a monad fit a hypocrite. The other wording says at the Model tab the doubter absence of certainty, inadequate certainty. And then he will say, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. And he will be told mad Alright, well, I

too late you don't know. And you didn't go find someone who knows. You just took it easy. You think that will be accepted of you. So this is the first one.

The second one studying Islam. The second one is to avoid the disobedience of Allah subhanho wa taala. You need to know that every act of disobeying Allah causes spiritual damage to your heart. And since the heart is the Oregon right or the locus, the place through which you experience your faith, like how do you experience Allah azza wa jal like not theoretical knowledge. On an experiential level, this is through the heart. It's not an exercise of sort of the brain. And so the more you damage this heart, the more you render yourself incapable of recognizing how great he is to Allah.

The wounds that you cause to your heart with sinful behavior with disobedience, bleed and leak out of your heart, the glorification of Allah. And that is why you find very clearly in the Quran, that when Allah is inviting you back to certainty, he invites you back through what mending those wounds through repentance, and reinstating that glorification through praise. He says, For severe in Nevada law have to hold on the Promise of Allah is true, then he says what was stuck fairly easily, then they can seek forgiveness for the sin, because that's what will cause you to waver in Allah's promise being true, what's behind the robic and glorify the praise of your Lord reinstate what was

lost because of that violation. This is the second and that is why

I'm gonna go ahead as I had said, I met a righteous worshiper on the road once and I stopped him and said to him, give me one word of wisdom.

He said if you want certainty, you need to build between yourself and the temptations that could lead to haram. You need to build for yourself an iron wall, self discipline seriousness, otherwise, you cannot hope to have certainty.

The third and final one my brothers and sisters we are out of time is you require a environment that is conducive that is helpful to generating certainty. The same way you cannot subject yourself to people that behave sinfully because you will approve of it and then adopt it yourself. Second hand, you also must protect yourself from those who are infected with doubt.

Do not socialize unnecessarily. That requires some honesty, unnecessarily with those who don't believe in Allah don't believe in His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam don't believe in the last day or else for certain, the stains will will run deep.

Where you get this from Allah azza wa jal saying phosphate in another verse phosphor in Nevada Allah Huck, be patient persevere The Promise of Allah is true. While I started Fenichel Levine, Allah you know, and be careful not to be dislodged not to fall off your face by those who don't have certainty. May Allah azza wa jal grant a certainty that never breaks convictions that are unshakable and grant this life so long as life is good for us and forgive us whatever can cause a barrier and a veil between us and Him. Allahumma Amin, may Allah grant us and our loved ones Yaqeen that will lighten for us the burdens and calamities of this world and allow our last words from this life to

be La Ilaha illa Allah the statement of certainty Allahumma Filon Ohana