Dear
readers,
Certainly,
the most important aim for us is to die with “faith” in our hearts, even if a modicum of it, so that we do not
suffer the eternal torment special to the unbelievers. But that which is
essentially desired is a “complete faith”.
A proper and complete faith freed from hesitations is the key to salvation and
happiness in both this mortal world, also in the moment of death and in the
afterworld which will last for all eternity. Mature individuals who possess a
complete faith live in peace and happiness by welcoming the troubles of this
world with patience and resignation, and they also reach the eternal bliss
without feeling the troubles of the hereafter. A hadith states:
“Allah (swt) will make any of His
servants it likes feel the length of the judgment day as short as an obligatory
salat.” [Bayhaqi]
May
Allah (swt) destine all of us to migrate to the hereafter with a complete
faith.
# Intercession is subject to the consent of Allah
On
the Mahshar day, our Master the Prophet and some special people who have high
degrees in the sight of Allah (swt) will intercede for those people who,
although they have faith, submitted to their egos and passed to the afterworld
with the dirt of their sins having failed to repent. Intercession is real. But
it is subject to the consent of Allah. Without His consent, no one will be able
to intercede. Allah’s will and consent also determine whether a request for
intercession will be accepted. See the following Quranic verses:
“Who is thee can intercede in His
presence except as He permitteth?” [Baqarah, 255]
“No intercessor (can plead with
Him) except after His leave (hath
been obtained).”
[Yunus, 3]
“To Allah belongs exclusively (the
right to grant) intercession:” [Zumar, 44]
“they offer no intercession except
for those with whom He is well pleased, and they stand in awe and reverence of
His (Glory).” [Anbiyaa, 28]
Dear
readers, as you can see, intercession is only possible with Allah’s consent and
therefore the most important thing for a believer is, of course, to win His
consent.
# Our Master the Prophet will intercede for the sinners of his community
The
following hadiths relate to intercession[1]:
"I will intercede on the
judgment day. I will say, ‘My God, send those who have a mustard seed size of
faith in their heart to the Paradise’. They will go to the Paradise. Then I
will say to those who have a little in their hearts, ‘Go to the Paradise." [Bukhari]
“On the judgment day, I will
intercede first of all.” [Muslim]
“I will be the one who intercedes
for the first time on the judgment day and whose intercession will be
accepted.” [Ibn Maja]
“With Allah’s consent, I will
intercede for everyone from my community who does not die with sin of
polytheism.”
[Bukhari, Muslim]
“Every prophet possesses a special
prayer which is accepted. I have saved mine for the Judgment Day to intercede
for my community.” [Bukhari]
“Intercession is one of the five
things which have not been given to any prophet before me. I will intercede for
everyone who does not die with a polytheistic belief (but dies with faith).” [Bazzar]
“I will intercede for those who are
deceived by their ego” [Daylami]
# Those who commit big sins will also benefit from intercession
“I will intercede for those who
committed many sins.” [Khatib]
“I will intercede for those members
of my community who committed big sins.” [Imam Ahmad, Nasai]
“The number of those for whom I will
intercede on the judgment day will be more than the number of sand grains.” [Tabarani]
“On the Judgment Day, I will say,
‘My Lord, send those who have a mustard seed size of faith in their heart to
the Paradise!’ All of them will go to the Paradise with my intercession.” [Bukhari]
“Lest no member of my community
falls back, I will not sit on my throne although I will enter the Paradise. I
will say to Allah (swt), ‘My community, my community’. My Lord will ask, ‘What
do you want me to do with your community?’ And I will answer, ‘My Lord, make
their reckoning quickly so that they get rid of agony.’ I will be given the
list of those who deserve the Hell. I will intercede for them. In fact, the
Guard of the Hell, Malik, will say, ‘You have left no one to be punished.’” [Bayhaqi, Tabarani]
“Those who do not believe in my
intercession may not benefit from it.” [Shir’a]
“Those who deserve my intercession
the most are those who recite the salawat for me the most.” [Tirmidhi]
Dear
readers, in order to benefit from the intercession of our Master the Prophet,
we must live in accordance with the path taken by him and say lots of salawat
for him.
# Kawthar (Hauzu'l-Kausar)
On
the Judgment Day, each prophet will have a pond. See the following hadith:
“Each prophet possesses a pond.
Their communities will come there to take water. Each prophet prides on the
high number of those who come to their pond to take water. I hope that I will be the one who will have
the highest number of people to come for receiving water.” [Tirmidhi]
See
the following Quranic verse:
“To thee have We granted the
(Fount of) Abundance.”
[Kawthar, 1]
Our
Master the Prophet explained Kawthar in the following way:
“It is a pond which my community
will gather around on the Judgment Day.” [Muslim, Abu Dawud]
“I will have arrived in there before
all of you.”
[Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Maja]
And
it is stated as relating to the water that entire pond:
“Its water will be whiter than milk,
colder than ice and sweeter than honey. The soil on its bottom will smell
fragrant. On the edge of the pond, there will be so many jugs and containers as
the number of stars in the sky. One who drinks that water for once will never
feel thirsty again. One who does not drink it will never satisfy their thirst.” [Bukhari, Muslim]
Our
Master the Prophet said that his community will come next to the pond, one of
the groups will be prevented, an angel will explain that they are the ones who
brought heresies after him [Bukhari, Muslim]; and he also stated that those who
do not accept the apology of their religious siblings will not be able to drink
from that water.
"One who does not accept the apology
of his religious sibling cannot drink from the Kawthar pond." [Hakim]
# The key to the eternal salvation: Faith
Dear
readers,
Doubtlessly,
the two greatest blessings granted to human beings after the blessing of
existence are “reason” and “faith”. A human being is included in
the class of humanity with a modicum of "reason" and has a place
among other human beings. And with a modicum of "faith", that human
being begins to ascend to the position of decency and maturity, and thus
possesses a place in the sight of his Rab. That modicum of "reason" is the start of all the
values and traits which distinguish a human being from animals. And a modicum
of "faith" is the start of
all the decent behaviors and maturity which will come from their Rab and which
will distinguish them from rude people. In short, "reason" is the
start point of being a human while "faith" is the start point of
decency.
Therefore
our Rab has attached great importance to that modicum of faith. In the words of
our Master the Prophet:
“Allah (swt) will place deservers of
the paradise to the paradise and deservers of the hell to the hell, and then
command, ‘If you find one who has a mustard seed size of faith in their heart,
remove them from the hell.’” [Bukhari,
Muslim]
Dear
readers, just like that modicum of faith is the main reason for all blessings
and the salvation of human beings in the mundane life, it is also the main
reason for an eternal salvation in the afterworld. Therefore, we should strive
to possess a proper and complete faith, protect our faith well and stay away
from anything which will damage it.
# The most important thing which damages one’s faith
Certainly,
the most important thing which damages the faith of a human being is to forget
their Rab by obeying to the desires of the nafs (ego). Or, to explain it in a
clearer way, it is to engage in those works which are forbidden by Allah (swt)
and unlawful and abominable deeds. What causes faith to hold on to one’s heart
and grow is to remember the Glorious Allah much. Qur’an reading, worshipping,
obedience, prayers, contemplation, all of them are a tool for this. Our Master
the Prophet said:
“There is a polish for everything;
the polish for the heart is to remember Allah.” [Bayhaqi]
“Qur’an and dhikr (mention) feed the
faith in the heart just like water feeds grasses.” [Ramuz al-Ahadis]
Our
masters the Sahabah (Those who saw
Muhammad, believed in him and died as a Muslim) formed dhikr groups after
each salat and mentioned Allah (swt) in order to keep their faith completely
fresh.
According
to Abdullah ibn Abbas (r.a.):
"In the time of the Messenger
of Allah, dhikrs were performed aloud after obligatory salats." [Bukhari]
Ali
(r.a.) said about the Sahabah:
“When they invoked Allah (swt) in
the morning, they used to shake like the branches of trees shaking on a windy
day! Their eyes used to water and they used to cry so much as to soak their
clothes!” [Ibn Kathir, Abu Nuaym]
# False gods that nestle in our hearts
Unfortunately,
we have abandoned this very important Sunnah (tradition) like many others.
Instead of them, we have produced heresies which have nothing to do with
religion. And now, global secret powers make us invoke “money”, which is their
own god, for 24 hours and 7 days. We are always thinking about it… All the
media ceaselessly inject the love of property, money and entertainment into our
hearts from morning to night. We are now unable to think anything other than
the desires of our egos. We are now like those who Allah (swt) referred to as:
“Then seest thou such a one as
takes as his god his own vain desire? Allah has, knowing (him as such), left
him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart (and understanding), and put a
cover on his sight. Who, then, will guide him after Allah (has withdrawn
Guidance” [Jathiyah, 23]
Certainly,
the way to get rid of this situation is to properly perform salat, which is the
most important tool of remembering Allah, and to never abandon it. The Rab of
all the Realms ordered that:
“establish regular prayer for My
remembrance.”
[Taha, 14]
“establish regular prayer: ...
remembrance of Allah is the greatest (thing in life) without doubt.” [Ankabut, 45]
“When ye have performed the
prayers, celebrate Allah's praises, standing, sitting down, or lying down on
your sides;.” [Nisa, 103]
# The most important indication of faith
Salat
is the most important indication of remembering Allah, remembering Allah is also
the most important indication of faith. Our Master the Prophet informed:
“Salat means faith. A believer is
one who performs salat in accordance with its time and other requirements.” [Ibn Najjar]
“What distinguishes unbelief from
faith is to abandon Salat.” [Tirmidhi]
As
it can be seen, there is an absolute connection between “remembering Allah” and
“faith”. Therefore, if we don't perform salat by lazing around, let us start
again immediately. If we already perform them, let us try to perform them in
the best and most proper manner with an awake heart.
Dear
readers, when Qur’an commentators comment on the 3rd verse of the
surah of Fatiha, they state that Allah, with His attribute the ‘rahman’, shows mercy to everyone
without distinguishing unbelievers from believers in the world, but that, in
the afterworld, He, with the His attribute the 'rahim", will show mercy only to believers.
While
we have opportunities in the world, let us try to do everything that we need to
do for our hereafter. Let us not forget that our record book will be closed
when we die. And everything will be finished then.
Be
entrusted to Allah.
-------------------------------
[1] http://www.dinimizislam.com/detay.asp?Aid=442
