More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Our weight was only meant to be carried by God. We are told in the Qur’an: "…whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks. And God hears and knows all things." (Qur’an, 2: 256)
There is a crucial lesson in this verse: that there is only one hand-hold that never breaks. There is only one place where we can lay our dependencies. There is only one relationship that should define our self-worth and only one source from which to seek our ultimate happiness, fulfillment, and security. That place is God.
Allah put a yearning in us that can only be fulfilled by what is eternal and perfect.
"Verily never will God change the condition of a people until they change what is within themselves." (Qur’an, 13:11)
To attain that state, don’t let your source of fulfillment be anything other than your relationship with God. Don’t let your definition of success, failure, or self-worth be anything other than your position with Him (Qur’an, 49:13). And if you do this, you become unbreakable, because your hand-hold is unbreakable. You become unconquerable, because your supporter can never be conquered. And you will never become empty, because your source of fulfillment is unending and never diminishes.
If we study the difficult times in our lives, we will see that they were also filled with much good. The question is—which do we chose to focus on? I think the trap we fall into is rooted in this false belief that this life can be perfect—perfectly good or perfectly bad. However that’s not the nature of dunya (this life). That’s the nature of the hereafter. The hereafter is saved for the perfection of things. Jannah (paradise) is perfectly and completely good. There is no bad in it. And Jahannam (hell—may Allah protect us) is perfectly and completely bad. There is no good in it.
Sometimes Allah takes in order to give. But, it’s crucial to understand that His giving is not always in the form we think we want. He knows best what is best. Allah says: "… But it is possible that you dislike a thing which is good for you, and that you love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knows, and you know not." (Qur’an, 2:216)
But if something is going to be returned in one form or another, why is it taken at all? Subhan’Allah. It is in the process of ‘losing’ that we are given. Allah gives us gifts, but then we often become dependent on those gifts, instead of Him. When He gives us money, we depend on the money—not Him. When He gives us people, we depend on people—not Him. When He gives us status or power, we depend on, and become distracted by these things. When Allah gives us health, we become deceived. We think we will never die.
Through the loss, our hearts turn entirely to face Him.
"(Those) who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You have not created all of this without a purpose. Exalted is You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire." (Qur’an, 3:190-191)
The prayers are spread throughout the day. If one keeps to their prayers at their specified times, there is no opportunity to get attached. As soon as we begin to become engrossed in whatever dunya matter we’re involved in (the job we’re doing, the show we’re watching, the test we’re studying for, the person we can’t get off our mind), we are forced to detach from it and turn our focus to the only true object of attachment.
"Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you."
La hawla wa la quwat illa billah: "There is no change and no strength, except by God."
"Strange is the case of a believer, there is good for him in everything—and this is only for the believer. If a blessing reaches him, he is grateful to God, which is good for him, and if an adversity reaches him, he is patient which is good for him." [Muslim]
Run towards the creation, you lose God and the creation. Run towards God, you gain God *and* the creation.
hadith Qudsi: "If Allah has loved a servant [of His], He calls Gabriel (on whom be peace) and says: ‘I love So-and-so, therefore love him.’" He (the Prophet pbuh) said: "So Gabriel loves him. Then he (Gabriel) calls out in heaven, saying: ‘Allah loves So-and-so, therefore love him.’ And the inhabitants of heaven love him." He (the Prophet pbuh) said: "Then acceptance is established for him on earth." (Muslim Bukhari, Malik, & Tirmidhi)
"May you be shown your Home in Jennah so that any hardship is made easy on you." I read it and it hit. It really hit.
"Nothing is difficult if you seek it through your Lord, and nothing is easy if you seek it through yourself."
On that Day, the people of paradise will ask those who have entered Hell-fire, why they have entered it. And the Qur’an tells us exactly what their first response will be: "What led you into Hell Fire? They will say: ‘We were not of those who prayed.’" (Qur’an, 74:42-43)
Whether that person was once on the straight path and fell, or whether that person was never on that path at all, one thing is likely. That person had to first abandon, minimize, put aside, or ignore their salah (prayer) before they were able to fall.
There can be no faith without tawakkul; and if there is true faith, tawakkul must always follow. Allah says in the Qur’an: "The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith; and upon their Lord they rely (have tawakkul)". (Qur’an, 8:2)
Tawwakul is not an act of the limbs—it is an act of the heart. And so while the limbs are striving hard, the heart is completely reliant on Allah. This means whatever the outcome of the limbs’ striving, the heart will be completely satisfied, knowing that it is the flawless decision of Allah.
"Oh mankind, indeed you are ever toiling towards your lord, painfully toiling…But you shall meet Him" (Qur’an, 84:6)
When the companion of the Prophet entered a town to bring them the message of Islam, he put it very beautifully. He said, "I have come to free you from the servitude of the slave and bring you to the servitude of the Lord of the slave."
