Be with Allahﷻ

Auto-generated transcript:Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen. Salatuhu wa Salamu Alaa Isharafil Anbiya wal Musareen Muhammadur Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi wa Alaa Alihi wa Sahbihi wa Sallam. Tasliman kathir an kathirahu. Fama baadu. For those of you who remember our sheikh in the second rakat of Salatul Isha, he recited the ayah Inna Allaha Ma'a Allatheena Taqaw Wa Allatheena Hum Muhsinu He said, verily Allah is with the people of Taqwa and the people who do Ihsan. I remind myself and you that we are facing a world which seems to be getting more and more difficult every day. And Muslims seem to be at the epicenter of this. They seem to be the target of anyone who is interested in taking pot shots at them. And naturally we try to find solutions and we have strategies and we say take the advice of this one or that one or the other one and so on and so forth. But I ask you and myself how many of us remember that the help lies with Allah. Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala told us who He will help. Inna Allaha Ma'a Allatheena Taqaw Wa Allatheena Hum Muhsinu Verily Allah is with those who have Taqwa and those who have do Ihsan. Both these words are related to action. Taqwa is to have Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's pleasure and His approval as the sole criterion for every decision and every action. A person who is concerned about Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala's pleasure in every decision, every action. So we need to look at ourselves in our lives. And if I say I am a person of Taqwa, then I must see how do I behave? How do I treat others? What is my income? What do I eat? Where do I spend? Right? This is not a mystery. There are metrics for every one of these. These are real hard core data. It's not a matter of opinion. I think I am a Muttakhi. I think so and so is a Muttakhi, you know. Nothing to think. You can see it, you can measure it. And Ihsan is to go beyond the Taqwa. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, the Rasul of Allah peace be upon him, described Ihsan. In the famous Hadith of Jibreel, Jibreel asked him, What is Ihsan? What is Ihsan Ya Rasulullah? And Rasulullah said, An ta'bud Allah ka anna ka tara Fa illan ta kun tara fa inna hu ya rak He said Ihsan is to worship Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala as if you can see him. To have such an amazing sense of the presence of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in our lives that we worship Allah as if we can see him. And though we don't see him, we know that he is seeing us. And of course as you and I know, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam always gave answers where he used the Salah as an example to illustrate everything else in life. So to worship Allah as if you can see him. To do business as if Allah is sitting there in front of you. To talk to people as if Allah is standing right there and you are doing it in His presence. To drive your car, to park your car, you put your shoes in when you come into the Masjid. To how you use the bathroom, the toilet, everything as if Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is right there. And though we don't see him, we know that he sees us. Question is are we there? You might say well nobody is there, sure. Are we making an effort? Are we trying even? Because the acceptance of Dua is based on this. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said, Istainu sabri wa salaah. Salah bil mani, Salah as in the worship as well as Salah as in the meaning of Dua. Istainu sabri wa salaah. Sabar is to not just have patience as you just sit there and wait for things to happen, no. Sabar is to do your best. Make every effort to succeed and then turn to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and make Dua. And ask Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. The finest example, the finest tafsir of this ayah is Istainu sabri wa salaah. Ya yaw lidhina amanu istainu sabri wa salaah. The finest tafsir of this is in the life of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam before the battle of Badr where he is standing and he is begging his Rabb Jalla Jalaluhu. And he is not doing that sitting in Masjid al-Nabiway Sharif.