Yasir Qadhi – Wisdoms of the Quran #26 The Reward For Being On The Straight Path
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The speaker discusses the concept of persistence and how it is essential for individuals to stay firm and persist in their worship. They stress the importance of staying firm and persistent in acts of worship, as it is the goal of the time. The speaker also provides a reminder that individuals should be mindful of their actions and not just focus on one thing.
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Today was our
final actual maxim or wisdom or gem. We
have one conclusion left.
And for the
last Qur'anic wisdom,
I chose Surah Hud, Fastaqim
kamaumirtah.
For the very last message, I want you
to take a message
that will persist with us after Ramadan,
and that message is about persistence.
Fastaqim
kamaumirta.
Stay firm
and keep on going as you have been
commanded to do. Fastakim,
the Islamic concept of Istaqamah,
which is encapsulated
in Surat Al Fatiha every single day, at
least 17 times when we say,
That's the same concept of fastakim,
istikama.
Keep
on persevering,
keep on persisting,
keep on walking down the path, don't give
up. And this concept of persistency,
this concept of istikama,
it is a constant theme. I quoted you
Surahood,
but I could have quoted you any half
a dozen of verses.
For example, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
We are telling you, You Rasulullah,
you and Nuh, and Ibrahim,
and Musa, and Isa, the same commandment.
That what?
Have the same firmness in the deen. And
Allah
commands the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
that fadru, call to Allah
The same phrase occurs,
call to Allah and be firm in what
you have been commanded to do. Do not
waver left or right. And when Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala appointed Musa to go to Fir'aun,
Musa prayed to Allah, Oh Allah, help me,
give me my brother,
give me my brother Harun, so that we
can go together. Allah says,
I have given you your dua. Then what?
The both of you do not give up.
Be firm, be consistent,
persevere.
Allah tells the prophets, istakim,
istakimah.
Allah tells Ibrahim Musa, isa Anur, and our
prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
do not waver back and forth. And that
is why
when Iblis was thrown out of Jannah, what
did he threaten Allah? He threatened Allah that,
oh Allah, because you have done this to
me, he blamed Allah, oh Allah, because you
have done this to me,
I am gonna tempt them away from the
Istikamah.
The job of Iblis
is to waver our persistence.
The job of Iblis
to destroy our Istikhama.
We are told to remain firm. We are
told to keep on going down the path.
We are told to go to the Surat
al Mustaqim,
and Iblis knows that if we stay on
that sirat, he shall fail. So what is
his one threat to Allah? The one threat
to Allah,
Iblis said, I'm gonna attack them from every
single angle to try to get them where?
Away from the siraat. That's my goal. I
want them to not have Istikamah.
So what is Istikamah?
What is this concept that Allah tells all
of the prophets, that Allah told Ibrahim
and Musa and Isa, that Allah tells Harun
and Musa, Istikima.
What is this istakama?
Ibn Qayyim says istakama
is the persistence of the heart in worshiping
Allah. Because when the heart is persistent, the
body will follow. That is
is not a one off religiosity,
and that's the danger of some of us
during this month of Ramadan,
because a one off religiosity
is not istikamah.
Istikamah
quite literally
translates as persevering,
persistence.
That's what istikamah is. So when Ramadan is
coming to an end, we have to be
especially
careful that we don't just float up with
the wave of iman and then come crashing
down. That is not what Allah has commanded.
Allah has commanded
constantly, he has commanded
The constant theme of the Quran.
So as Ramadan is coming to an end,
o Muslim, the religiosity
we have been infused with, the spirituality
that has made us, alhamdulillah,
so strong during this month. We have to
share, and we have to save, and we
have to make sure that we hold on
to the maximum
percentage that we have. When Allah blesses us
with a monetary investment, what do we do?
With a monetary gift, what do we do?
We take as much as we can, the
wise one, and throws it in an investment.
We put it into something that we can
benefit from. This is the purpose of Ramadan.
Ramadan is a bonus of iman. We have
gotten a massive chunk of iman. Now that
iman, the goal then, the wise person is
that we save that iman.
We apportion that iman, and we put it
into our bank of istakamah,
we put it into our heart of istakamah,
so that it propels us until the next
Ramadan, and then the same thing happens again
and again and again. O Muslim, istaqim,
persevere,
persist. Remember what our Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
said.
The most blessed of all deeds to Allah
and the deeds that Allah loves the most
are the ones that are persistent
even if they are small. Persistence
is what pays off. Persistence is what Allah
loves. Persistence is how religiosity
is dictated. So when Ramadan comes to an
end, then make sure your life style and
your schedule post Ramadan
is better than it was pre Ramadan.
Make sure you are now
persevering and persisting
in acts of worship, and in better akhlaq
that you didn't have before Ramadan. When you
do so, then you will live up to
the concept of istikamah.
And what will happen to the one who
has istikamah?
What will be the blessing of the one
who has remained firm upon istikamah?
Allah tells us in the Quran,
Those who live their lives with this tikamah,
they shall get the VIP treatment.
The angels will come down in flocks upon
flocks. The angels will come down. Our Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, These are the angels
of death. They're coming down to welcome the
soul of the righteous.
So, Inna ladhinakalu
rubunallahu
thum mastakamoo
Notice to the very end, they said Allah
is our Lord, and then they were firm
in that. When the angel of death comes,
he shall have with him an entourage of
VIP angels, and all of them are going
to say, be calm, relax, we're here, we're
gonna take care of you. We took care
of you in this world, we'll take care
of you in the akhira.
O Muslim, as we come to an end,
remember the Quranic maxim of istikamah.
What is beneficial
is not a one off religiosity.
That's not what Allah is looking for. What
is beneficial is persistence,
is perseverance,
is continuity.
So now that Ramadan has come to an
end, then continue in the worship of Allah
and persevere and persist so that, insha Allahu
ta'ala, when it is our time to go,
we too will be welcomed by the very
angels that Allah says, and we wish to
hear as well, latakafu
walataazanu
because we had istikama.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us of
those who have istikama, and may Allah guide
us to salatulmustakeem.
And we have but one lesson left, and
that will be our conclusion.