Zia Sheikh – Ramadan Khatira Day 10

In the name of God, the Most Gracious,

the Most Merciful.

In the

name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most

Merciful.

So we finished Surah Tawbah and Surah Yunus

yesterday and we started Surah Hud.

I'm just going to go through some verses

in Surah Yunus which talk about the mentality

of a human being and the mindset that

he has or she has during the difficulties

that one goes through.

And this is not talking about the regular

believers.

The regular believers, they are constantly in the

worship of Allah SWT.

As I mentioned yesterday at Isha that Al

-imanu nisfan nisfun sabrun wa nisfun shukr Iman

is two parts, sabr and shukr.

Half of it is sabr, half of it

is shukr.

And this is the situation that a practicing

believer is always in.

He is in one of those two conditions.

However, there is the person who is weak

in his faith and this is what these

verses are going to be talking about.

Allah SWT says وَإِذَا أَذَقْنَا النَّاسَ رَحْمَةً مِّن

بَعْدِ ضَرَّاءَ مَسَّتْهُمْ إِذَا لَهُمْ مَكْرٌ فِي آيَاتِنَا

قُلِ اللَّهُ أَسْرَعُ مَكْرًا إِنَّ الرُّسُولَنَا يَكْتُبُونَ مَا

تَمْكُرُونَ When we make the person taste mercy

after difficulty that he had to endure or

difficulty that touched him, Suddenly, إِذَا لَهُمْ مَكْرٌ

فِي آيَاتِنَا they start making plots about our

signs.

The Prophet is being told, tell them that

Allah SWT is more swift in making plans.

Indeed, our messengers are writing whatever it is

that you are plotting.

So basically, the angels on the right and

left side, they are writing whatever we are

doing.

So Allah SWT is telling the people that

this is happening to you right now.

So what it is?

Rahmah after difficulty.

If a person is finding ease after facing

difficulty, then he starts disobeying Allah SWT.

This is what this verse is about.

The next verse talks about this in a

little bit more detail.

He is the one who makes you walk

in the land and in the ocean.

Allah SWT is allowing you to travel, to

transport yourself in the land and in the

ocean and nowadays even in the air.

Very powerful description of what happens to a

person.

حَتَّى إِذَا كُنْتُمْ فِي الْفُرْقِ When you are

going along inside ships and you are going

along with calm winds.

بِرِحٍ طَيِّبَ وَفَرِحُ بِهَا Everybody is happy.

The sky is blue.

The waves are calm.

And it is smooth sailing.

Everything is wonderful.

And then what happens?

People are happy with the situation.

Suddenly a storm comes.

جَاءَتْ هَا رِحٌ عَاصِفٌ A storm wind comes.

وَجَاءَهُمُ الْمَوْجُ مِنْ كُلِّ مَكَانٍ Waves start hitting

them from every direction.

وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ أُحِيطَ بِهِمْ And they think that

they are encompassed by waves from all sides.

They are being covered or they are being

gathered or they are being enveloped by waves

from every direction.

In that situation, what do they start doing?

دَعَوُوا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينِ They start making

dua to Allah SWT.

Proclaiming that they will only worship Him.

So this is again the situation that we

all face.

We are going along in the ship of

our lives.

And then suddenly everything seems to be going

smoothly.

And suddenly turmoil hits.

Somebody passes away.

Somebody becomes sick.

Somebody loses a job.

A natural tragedy, disaster hits.

Earthquake, hurricane, tornado.

So that life that we had, very idyllic,

very peaceful, suddenly changes.

So now when a person is faced with

that type of a situation, then he very

very sincerely turns to Allah SWT.

And he tells him, Oh Allah, take me

out of this problem.

Cure me of my sickness.

Cure my son, my wife, my father, my

mother of their sickness.

Let me get a job once more.

And I will devote my life to you,

if you do that for me.

لَئِنْ أَنْ جَيْتَنَا مِنْ هَٰذِهِ لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنْ أَشَاكِرِينَ

They make dua to Allah SWT that, Oh

Allah, if you save us from this, then

indeed we will be eternally grateful.

But what happens?

The human tendency is that when a person

goes through this turmoil, and he faces ease

after that adversity, he tends to forget his

promises to Allah SWT.

This is a very very natural thing.

And even a practicing believer, when he is

coming to the masjid, he is still practicing,

but that practice is not to that level

of devotion that he had during that time

of difficulty.

The tears that he was shedding while he

was making dua, the length of his sajda,

the sincerity of his prayers, and his concentration

and devotion in the salat, is completely different

at the time when he is facing the

difficulty, than it is when he is going

through an easy time.

So Allah SWT says in the next verse,

When Allah SWT does save them from this

ship, and everything becomes calm again, and they

reach the land again, suddenly they start transgressing

on the earth.

They start disobeying Allah SWT.

They forgot their promises that they made to

Allah SWT, their pledges that they made, while

they were going through that very difficult storm,

or that turmoil in their life.

Allah SWT tells the people, Strangely enough, usually

Allah SWT uses the word, but here, it's

as if Allah is addressing only, this attitude

should be not the people, the attitude of

believers.

It's people who don't have iman, that have

this kind of attitude.

Allah says, O people, This transgression of yours,

this is working against yourselves.

This is simply the benefit of this worldly

life.

Then, ultimately you are going to come back

to us anyway.

You are going to leave this world, you

are going to come back, and all this

transgression, all this disobedience, all of this idol

worship, all of this kufr and shirk, and

everything that you did against me, obviously you

are going to be taken to account for

it.

So, Allah SWT through this example is telling

us, that as believers, we have to be

constant in our approach to Allah SWT.

Consistent worship.

Continuous worship.

And worship in the form of sabr and

shukr at all times.

This is what we are supposed to be

focusing on.

Not just when we are going through difficulty,

not just when we are going through hardship,

but at every time, all the time, making

that relationship with Allah SWT, keeping that relationship

constant, and not disobeying Him.

Whether we are in a good situation or

a bad situation, only focusing on pleasing Allah

SWT.

I pray that Allah SWT gives us tawfiq

to understand and practice what has been said

and heard.

Al Fatiha.