نحمده و نصلي على رسوله الكريم
This auspicious month is filled with great rewards bestowed upon the ummah by Allah Ta’ala. We receive great blessings and are readily forgiven. The mercy of Allah Ta’ala is continuously showered upon us. A person receives so many blessings that his mind cannot even grasp it.
Human beings are a weak creation. We have been created weak. Every faculty of ours, including our understanding, is weak. We only understand that which is in accordance to our capabilities. How can we understand that which is beyond our capacity?
Two hundred Rupees
A very poor person from a village saw the Jama Musjid in Delhi. He inspected the Musjid thoroughly from inside and outside and concluded: “This indeed is a very big Musjid. They must have spent a great sum on building it, approximately 200 Rupees!”
For that poor villager, 200 Rupees was a lot of money!
“O Allah! Bring me back quickly”
That is why, under the explanation of the hadeeth shareef, “A person’s du’aa gets accepted,” it is mentioned that sometimes a person makes a du’aa and whatever he asks for is granted immediately. This person becomes amazed and says, “Surely my du’aa has been accepted.”
Sometimes it gets accepted so quickly that a person wonders why he made such a du’aa.
Once I was travelling to Madinah Tayyibah from Makkah Mukarramah by taxi. I sat in the taxi, looked at the Haram Shareef and made this du’aa: “O Allah, bring me back quickly.”
We had barely travelled a short distance when the driver stopped at a garage to fill petrol and asked the passengers to pay the fare. There was a Turkish person who had not paid his fare but insisted that his fare had been paid. He showed a form or a receipt to the driver to verify his claim. However, that payment did not apply to the private taxi. The driver spoke in Arabic and the individual in Turkish. The driver could not understand him nor could he understand the driver. The argument prolonged and both were getting angry at one another. Eventually the driver threw his luggage out of the taxi and drove off.
Now, we were one passenger less. So we returned to Makkah Mukarramah to pick up another passenger. I thought to myself that how quickly my du’aa got accepted. I had returned to Makkah Mukarramah!
After completing my stay at Madinah Tayyibah I proceeded to Jeddah. In Jeddah, while boarding the flight, again I made a du’aa,
“O Allah, bring me back quickly.”
As the plane started moving and preparing to take off, the crew seemed very worried and concerned, pacing from one end to another. Eventually an announcement was made that there was some technical fault with the plane and we were returning to Jeddah. Again, I recalled the du’aa that I made and I thought to myself that I had not meant it in this way!
Ways of acceptance
It is mentioned in a hadeeth shareef that on certain occasions Allah Ta’ala orders the angels to grant us exactly what we had asked for, irrespective whether the supplication is correct or not. The request is fulfilled in the same manner that it was asked for. That is why we must exercise great caution in our speech.
Sometimes it occurs such that the supplication is not granted. Instead, something better and of a superior quality is obtained which we never even dreamt of. This is also the result of the du’aa.
Sometimes, it transpires that neither the du’aa made for is granted, nor is a similar or better thing attained. Instead, a calamity which was to have befallen on oneself due to some wrong action committed, is obliterated (cancelled). This is also in fact the result of the du’aa being accepted.
Sometimes it also transpires that in this world there are no apparent signs of one’s du’aa being accepted. However, in the hereafter it will be revealed to us that a certain du’aa made in this world, which was apparently not accepted, had been accepted and this is the reward for it. We will receive such great rewards that our minds cannot even perceive them. That is the time you will exclaim, “It would have been better had none of my du’aas been accepted in the world, so that I could be fully rewarded here. The rewards here are so much greater.”
This world is going to terminate. The thoughts of the human mind will also come to an end, so will the desires of the heart. Whatever one asks for in this temporary world, it is as if one is asking for such things that will eventually terminate. A person’s reasoning does not perceive those things that last forever. Allah Ta’ala bestows rewards upon an individual in accordance to His great magnanimity.
The similitude is not the same as a person asking someone for two Rupees and he is given those two Rupees only. Allah Ta’ala, according to His status, gives from His unlimited treasures. A human being cannot comprehend the vast and unlimited treasures of Allah Ta’ala.
Month of blessings
This is the month of Ramadhaan, a month of great blessings. Enormous and vast favours are showered upon the ummah. The angels descend onto the earth. In this month the great night of Qadr is experienced. If the habit of daily recitation of the Qur’aan is inculcated in the month of Ramadhaan then, insha-Allah, the blessings of this habit will remain with us throughout the whole year.
There are so many people who are habituated to drinking alcohol but, only due to the respect of the holy month of Ramadhaan, they abstain from drinking alcohol. Due to the blessings of Ramadhaan, Allah Ta’ala enables them to stop this habit forever.
There are so many people who do not perform namaaz but, due to the blessings of Ramadhaan, they become punctual upon their namaaz. Allah Ta’ala grants us the taufeeq to abstain from all evil habits, due to the blessings of this month.
In this month, Allah Ta’ala has revealed the Qur’aan, which is also from His unlimited treasures. We should endeavour to make the following du’aa, “Whichever sins I know of and whichever sins I do not know of, all are in Your knowledge, O Allah. Protect me from all of them.”
Allah Ta’ala will grant us the ability to refrain from them and our du’aas will be accepted. If however, we could not refrain from those sins the reward of the du’aas will not be lost. We will definitely benefit from them.
An inattentive heart
But brothers, there are some conditions for the acceptance of du’aa, just as namaaz is an ibaadat and it has certain pre-conditions for its acceptance.
What are these conditions? The place must be paak (pure and clean). The clothes must be paak. The body must be paak and one must face the qiblah. These are all the pre-conditions for the acceptance of namaaz. If a person leaves out any of these conditions and performs his namaaz, then will his namaaz be correct? The answer is “no” and if a person leaves out a condition contemptuously, considering it to be trivial matter, then do not be surprised if a Mufti Sahib issues a severe fatwa against him, rendering him out of the fold of Islam! This is a dangerous state of affairs. That is why there are certain pre-conditions for the acceptance of du’aa as well.
It is stated in the hadeeth shareef:
“Allah Ta’ala does not accept the du’aa of a person whose heart is unmindful.”
We are supplicating with our tongues, but the mind is somewhere else. Our attention is not focussed on the du’aa we are making. Du’aa has to be made with full conviction and concentration.
The trader in Mina
A buzurg (pious person) narrates that he saw a person in Makkah Mukarramah who, for the entire day, held himself to the cover of the Baitullaah. He was lifting his hands and making du’aa, but not for a single moment was his heart’s attention focused towards Allah Ta’ala. On the other hand, he saw a person in Mina conducting business. He earned great profits, but not for a single moment was the attention of his heart focused away from Allah Ta’ala. This aayat is mentioned in the Qur’aan Shareef,
رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ
“There are men whose trade does not distract them from the remembrance of Allah Ta’ala.” (an-Noor:37)
This is the reason why a person making du’aa, does not have any of his du’aas accepted because the heart and mind are not present. We know that a person, who is mentally retarded, is perpetually talking of many things at the same time. He swears and praises you in one breath, but nobody pays any attention to him because he is not saying it from the heart.
لأن المجنون لا عمد له – “An insane person does not have any intentions.”
That is why a du’aa which is made inattentively, not focusing with the heart, is not accepted.
دل سے جو بات نکلتی ہے اثر رکھتی ہے
پر نہیں طاقت پرواز مگر رکھتی ہے
“Words spoken from the heart have an effect
They do not have the wings to ascend, but they do.”
Dusty, dishevelled and dejected
For the acceptance of du’aa, it is also necessary to eat halaal food. It is stated in the hadeeth-e-paak that a person on a journey, is covered in dust, his hair is dishevelled and he lifts his hands and makes du’aa: “O Allah! O Allah!” But his food is haraam, his drink is haraam, his clothes are haraam, and he earns haraam. Then how can his du’aa be accepted in that state?
Consuming haraam creates very evil effects. The only abode for that piece of flesh, which is nourished from haraam earnings, is the fire of hell.
Generally, funds donated to the Madaaris are of various origins, a greater portion of which is derived from haraam earnings. Thus, good and beneficial results are not attained. There are no signs of righteousness and blessings in such knowledge. It is not even practised upon and the degree of sincerity is even more remote. That wealth which a person cannot use on himself or on his wife and children, and which he cannot give to his parents, such wealth is given to the Madaaris.
Very interesting
Once, in Deoband, a person sent a money order accompanied with the following note: “I am bay’at to a certain person. I had money deposited in a bank and this has accrued interest. I am sending it to you. Please utilise it on the students learning Hadeeth.”
I returned it to him with a very stern reprimand, “Is this the value you have for hadeeth shareef in your heart? You are sending money that is cursed, to be spent on the students learning hadeeth. Do you not have any halaal money from your earnings for them? Convey my salaams to your Shaikh and inform him that I have returned the money together with some advice. Thereafter, whatever suggestion he gives for my reformation or yours, please inform me of it.”
Till today, I have not received any reply from him.
I really cannot comprehend how we utilise our intelligence. The postman who used to deliver my post commented: “Hadhratjee! Why did you return it?” I told him that since it was unlawful money, it was not worthy of acceptance.
“Maybe it could be of use to someone else. I could have used it.” This is the appalling situation prevalent nowadays.
Therefore, to eat of halaal earnings is a great blessing. Even if we receive a little sustenance but it is of halaal origin, it creates great inner strength. What was the condition of the Sahaabah-e-Kiraam (radhiyallahu anhum)? Many a days would pass in the state of hunger. Yet, they possessed a great deal of strength. They rode on horseback, ran on foot, engaged their enemies in battle and defended themselves with swords and arrows. Yet, what was the condition of their food? It was very simple.
Where did this strength emanate from? This was the strength derived from halaal sustenance. Allah Ta’ala took work from them and provided them with halaal food. Hence, they served Deen, protected Deen and spread Deen throughout the four corners of the world. In the path of Allah Ta’ala, they never thought their lives to be their own lives, they never thought their wealth to be their own wealth. They strove relentlessly in their quest for shahaadat (martyrdom).
Battlefield
A question was posed to me that, when we page through the annals of history and study the battles fought by the Muslims, the Muslims were fewer in number and poorly armed. The enemies were even stronger in their physique. In comparison to their enemies, the Muslims had virtually nothing but, when they went into battle, the Muslims kept advancing whilst the enemies kept on retreating. They even left the battlefield and ran away. What was the reason for this?
“Oh!” I proclaimed in astonishment. “Even now, you have yet not understood the reason for this?”
It is a fact that the Muslims never fought with the intention that they will kill the enemy, gain victory and capture all their goods and wealth. Instead, they fought with the intention that their lives should be used for the benefit of deen and they become shaheed. Their aim and objective was to advance and go into the enemy battle camp, only to attain shahaadat (martyrdom). Their only hope and zeal was to thrust themselves into the cauldron of the battlefield and attain shahaadat.
On the contrary, their opponent’s only desire was to save themselves from being killed and the way to achieve this was by running away from the battlefield. The Muslim’s direction and motive is the former, and the enemy’s concept is the latter. If the enemies also had the same reasoning, they would not run away from the battlefield. The purpose of running away was to save their lives.
Dynamites come in small packages
This passion that is created in the Muslims to sacrifice their lives for the sake of Allah, for the deen of Allah Ta’ala, how is it created? It is created because they have full conviction and confidence in the promises of Allah Ta’ala. And, of course, they eat halaal food. Halaal provisions may be less in quantity but the effects and results are greater.
Today, we find that small tablets have become widely used. In appearance they are very small, but their effects are great. The nature of the bombs that are being used nowadays seem to be small in appearance but the damage they cause is very great. The entire destruction is concentrated in that small package.
Those Muslims who eat halaal food, their du’aas are readily accepted. If through proper investigation, you are sure that certain goods (items) are haraam, then never dare go near them or even touch them. However, without having the proper proof, to conclude that food or goods are haraam, is incorrect. To entertain a low opinion of others is also wrong. Yes! If you have investigated that this food is haraam and your heart also attests to it, then you should abstain from it completely.
It is something to ponder upon that a person who stays away from haraam solely to comply with the commands of Allah, will Allah Ta’ala keep him hungry? On the other hand, that person who eats haraam, breaking Allah’s commands, i.e. commits sins, will he only receive sustenance? To consider that Allah Ta’ala feeds the one and keeps the other hungry is foolish. Allah Ta’ala provides sustenance to everybody. A person will acquire his sustenance from the source that he seeks it from.
Your cane, my gain
Once, in my area, I visited a nearby farm. The farmer accompanied me as we walked through the open fields. He turned to me and grievingly said, “Molvi Sahib! In our livelihood, only haraam is destined. What should we do?”
“What curse is there on you, that only haraam has been destined for you?” I asked.
“Molvi Sahib. This is my farm and that is my neighbour’s farm,” he explained. “This farm has the same sugar cane as that one. When I need sugar cane, I will take it from his farm, without his permission, and when he (the neighbour) needs sugar cane, he will take it from my farm without my permission. Both sugar canes are the same. These are chana (gram) farms as well. Whichever night he wishes to roast chana (gram) at home, he will take it from my farm and I will take from his farm when I desire to eat it. Both have the same chana. What should we do?”
Since he has addicted and habituated himself to eating from haraam sources, what excuse can he present to justify his actions? If someone does not have halaal food and is dying of hunger, he can eat the flesh of a dead animal. In a desperate situation, it will be permissible. But here, the situation is totally different. Whatever he does, he does through his own accord. He spares his own wealth and eats from the wealth of others. When a person loses his senses, its basis is mainly due to the consumption of a surfeit of haraam food. This is the ill effect of it.
May Allah grant everyone halaal sustenance and save us all from consuming haraam food. May He also make us abide to all the conditions attached to the acceptance of du’aa and grant us sincerity as well. May He grant us the taufeeq to make that du’aa which originates from the heart. May Allah Ta’ala accept our du’aas. Aameen.