Mohammad Awan

عَنْ أُسَامَةَ بْنِ زَيْدٍ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَشْكَرُ النَّاسِ لِلَّهِ أَشْكَرُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ

المعجم الكبير للطبراني

Usamah ibn Zaid reported: The Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه و سلم said, “The most grateful people to Allah are those who are most grateful to people.”

al-Mu’jam al-Kabīr

قال بعض العارفين: لو علم الشيطان أن طريقاً توصل إلى الله أفضل من الشكر لوقف فيها ألا تراه قال: { ثم لآتينهم من بين أيديهم ومن خلفهم وعن أيمانهم وعن شمائلهم ولا تجد أكثرهم شاكرين } [الأعراف:17] ولم يقل لا تجد أكثرهم صابرين أو نحوه

It has been said:

If shaytan knew a path that leads to Allah better than being grateful he would attempt to prevent people from taking that. Look to what he said: Then I will come to them from before them and from behind them and on their right and on their left, and You will not find most of them grateful [to You].”

Surah al-A’raf.

And he (shaytan) did not say; that you will not find most of them patient or something like that.

‎‏”إنما نطعمكم لوجه الله لا نريد منكم جزاءً ولا شكوراً”

‎‏قال ابن تيمية:

‎‏من طلب من الفقراء الدعاء أو الثناء خرج من هذه الآية .

‎‏الفتاوى ١١١/١١

saying, ‘We feed you for the sake of God alone: We seek neither recompense nor thanks from you.

Surah al-Insan ayah: 9

Ibn Taymiyyah رحمة الله عليه said:

Whoever requests from the poor to make dua for them or (seeks some sort of) praise is not included in this (ayah.)

عن عقبة بن عامر – رضي الله عنه – أن النبي – صلى الله عليه

وسلم – قال:

إذا رأيتَ اللهَ يُعطِي العبدَ من الدنيا على معاصيه مايحب

فإنما هو استدراجٌ

ثم تلا رسول الله صل الله عليه وسلم قوله تعالى

{فَلَمَّا نَسُواْ مَا ذُكِّرُواْ بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّى إِذَا فَرِحُواْ بِمَا أُوتُواْ أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَ ))[الأنعام: 44،

رواه الإمام احمد وصححه الألباني فى الصحيحة

The Messenger of Allāh [ﷺ] said:

‎⠀

‎”If you notice that Allāh continues to bless an individual with that which he loves of this world, while that person persists to indulge in sin, know that this is leading to his destruction.”

Then he صلى الله عليه و سلم recited the ayah:

Thereafter, when they forgot the advice they were given. We opened for them doors of everything, so that when they became proud of what they were given , We seized them suddenly and they were left in despair.

Surah al-An’am: 44

Narrated by Imam Ahmad

حب الدنيا هو الذي عمر النار بأهلها، و الزاهد في الدنيا هو الذي الجنة بأهلها، و السكر بحب الدنيا أعظم من السكر بالخمر، فصاحبه يفيق إلا بظلمة اللحد

كتبه الشيخ أحمد فريد في كتابه تزكية النفوس

و قال يحيى بن معاذ الدنيا خمر الشيطان، من سكر منها لا يفيق إلا في عسكر الموتى نادماً بين الخاسرين.

صفة الصفوة

Infatuation of the dunya is one of the main reasons the inhabitants of Hell will populate it. While the one who abstains from that will be from those who populate Paradise. The intoxication of the love of Dunya is far greater than the intoxication of alcohol, because the one drunk off the love of this dunya will only come to his senses in the darkness of the grave.

Yahya bin mu’adh رحمة الله عليه said:

The life of this world is the wine of Shaytan and whoever is intoxicated by it only wakes up once he is amongst the dead full of regret for being amongst the losers.

قال ابن القيم :” وإذا أردت أن تعلم ما عندك وعند غيرك من محبة الله فانظر محبة القرآن من قلبك والتذاذك سماعه أعظم من التذاذ أصحاب الملاهي والغناء المطرب بسماعهم فإنه من المعلوم أن من أحب حبيبا كان كلامه وحديثه أحب شيئا إليه” الجواب الكافي٢٣٦/١

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمة الله عليه said:

If you want to ascertain where you and others are with regards to loving Allah, then look to how much your heart loves the Quran. And how much you enjoy listening to it more than those who enjoy listening to singers and songs. For definitely when you love someone, his words and speech become the dearest thing to you.

The prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said:

قال صلى الله عليه وسلم: (خاب عبد وخسر لم يجعل الله تعالى في قلبه رحمة للبشر). [رواه الدولابي وابن عساكر، الصحيحة 456].

The prophet صلى الله عليه و سلم said:

The one in whose heart Allah has not placed mercy for mankind is deprived and at loss

Collected by Ibn Asaakir and others.

The more I grow older the more I realise the stark reality; that an integral part of life is pain.

This is why sabr and faith are so crucial to survive mentally and spiritually.

Pain does not necessitate sadness, in fact this only occurs when you put faith into the narrative; ‘life should only be about happiness.’

A believer is well aware that this life is a test and in fact pain reminds him constantly that this life is just that; a test, and that it is indeed limited in its very core.

One should know that everything that has an end will always be accompanied by an eventual call of pain. This why you don’t put your love into the dunya, it will only hurt you.

But Allah is ever living and eternal and so is His paradise, were we will meet Rasool صلى الله عليه و سلم

قال علي رضي الله عنه

إن أخاك الحق من كان معك

ومن يضر نفسه لينفعك

ومن إذا ريب زمان صدعك

شتت فيه شمله ليجمعك

إحياء علوم الدين

Ali رضي الله عنه said poetically:

Verily, your true brother is who is beside you,

Who will put himself into harm to benefit you,

And who, when the troubles of the time break you,

Will shatter himself to pieces in order to gather you.

قال ابن القيم رحمة الله عليه

أعظم الأشياء ضررا على العبد بطالته وفراغه فإن النفس لا تقعد فارغة بل إن لم يشغلها بما ينفعها شغلته بما يضره ولا بد

طريق الهجرتين – ابن قيم الجوزية

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمة الله عليه said:

One of the most harmful things to a slave is being in a state of idleness and (wasting) his spare time. For the soul does not remain stagnant. If you do not occupy it with that which is beneficial, it will become occupied with that which is harmful, and there is no alternative.