Brothers and Sisters! How can we remember Allah throughout the day without withdrawing from the routine of our daily worldly life? How can we make sure that our personal life, family life, professional life and all other activities continue in full swing, and at the same time, our life as a whole – every moment of it is filled with the remembrance of Allah?
This is something that appears to be very difficult, but Alhamdulillah, it is something that can be accomplished, if we actually want to do so. We just have to be conscious about our different states of consciousness. My khutba today is to remind myself and you about some of the states of consciousness that we must strive to develop by remembering certain things, absorbing them and reminding ourselves about them.
Firstly, each one of us should say to himself or herself: I am in Allah’s presence; He is watching me. If ever I am alone, He is the second and if I am with someone else, He is the third. This means that He is with me wherever I am. We have in Surat al-Hadid,
وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
“And He is with you wherever you are; He sees all that you do” (al-Hadid, 57:4).
And we have in Surat al-Mujadilah,
مَا يَكُونُ مِنْ نَجْوَى ثَلَاثَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ رَابِعُهُمْ وَلَا خَمْسَةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ سَادِسُهُمْ وَلَا أَدْنَى مِنْ ذَلِكَ وَلَا أَكْثَرَ إِلَّا هُوَ مَعَهُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كَانُوا
“No three people can meet secretly without Him being the fourth, nor five without Him being the sixth, nor less than that, nor more, without Him being there with them wherever they may be” (al-Mujadilah, 58:7).
While on one hand, Allah is transcendent—beyond time, beyond space, beyond direct apprehension, existing outside the created world, yet on the other He is closer to us than we can even imagine. Allah says in Surat Qaf,
وَلَقَدْ خَلَقْنَا الْإِنسَانَ وَنَعْلَمُ مَا تُوَسْوِسُ بِهِ نَفْسُهُ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الْوَرِيدِ
“We created man and we know what his soul whispers to him. We are nearer to him than his jugular vein” (Qaf, 50:16).
He is watching everything we do and hearing everything we say. His knowledge is all encompassing. We should remind ourselves of this reality as often as we can throughout the day, and also every time we begin a new task, and every time we speak. Indeed, our aim should be to imprint this on our hearts in such a way that this consciousness becomes our very breath. When the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was asked by a companion about the best method of purifying himself, he replied: “You should always remember that Allah is with you wherever you are.”
Secondly, we should say to ourselves: Everything we have or possess, has been given to us by Allah. All the blessings we have—the known and the unknown—our very existence, our life, our body, our physical appearance, our provisions, and all our abilities and accomplishments are from Allah. The Qur’an says in Surat al-Nahl,
وَمَا بِكُم مِّن نِّعْمَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ
“Whatever blessing you have is from Allah” (al-Nahl, 16:53).
And the Qur’an says in Surat Ibrahim,
وَإِن تَعُدُّوا نِعْمَتَ اللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَا
“And if you were to count God’s blessings, you could never count them” (Ibrahim, 14:34).
In all the adhkar; the supplications and the invocations that the Prophet (SAW) has taught us, there is a constant theme of hamd; which means praise and thanks of Allah; gratefulness and gratitude to Allah. Many of these adhkar are simple to learn. We should learn as many of the adhkar as we can. Throughout the day, as we witness all that Allah has blessed us with, we should punctuate our day with these adhkar. If we feel that there is nothing else to thank Allah for, then we should thank him for the life that He has given us, for so long as there is life, there is hope.
If we ever appear to be short of things to be thankful for, we should recall the hadith of the Prophet (SAW) which says, “There are three hundred and sixty joints in the body and for each joint you must give a charity each day.” The joints in the human body enable it to work and make all kinds of movements. If man’s body did not have these joints, it would have been impossible for him to sit, stand, lie, move, and make use of the different organs of his body. Thus every joint is a blessing for which one must express gratitude to Allah.
On one occasion the Prophet (SAW) said, “Charity is prescribed for each descendant of Adam every day the sun rises.” He was then asked: “From what do we give charity every day?” The Prophet (SAW) answered: “The doors of charity are many…enjoining good, forbidding evil, removing harm from the road, listening to the aggrieved, leading the blind, guiding one to the object of his need, hurrying with the strength of one’s legs to one in sorrow who is asking for help, and supporting the feeble with the strength of one’s arms–all of these are charity prescribed for you.” He also said, “Every good deed is charity; even a smile in the face of others is charity.”
Charity can be practiced by everyone no matter how poor he or she is. There is charity in glorifying Allah by saying Subhan Allah. There is charity in praising and thanking Allah by saying Alhamdulillah. There is charity in exalting and magnifying Allah by saying Allahu Akbar, and there is charity in declaring Allah’s oneness by saying La ilaha illallah.
Thirdly, we should know that nothing in this world can happen without Allah’s permission. Everything lies in the hands of Allah. No harm can befall us and no benefit can reach us except as Allah ordains. The Qur’an says,
وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ اللَّهُ بِضُرٍّ فَلَا كَاشِفَ لَهُ إِلَّا هُوَ وَإِن يَمْسَسْكَ بِخَيْرٍ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
“If Allah should let any harm touch you, no one could remove it except He; while if He should let some good touch you, know that He has the power to do all that He wills” (al-An’am, 6:17).
Muhammad (SAW) would supplicate to Allah the Almighty after each Prayer, saying, “O Allah, whatever you want to give me, no one can stop it from coming to me and whatever you want to prevent from coming to me, nobody can give to me.” We should keep reminding ourselves throughout the day, especially as we expect something to happen, or not to happen, that everything happens only as He commands, and by His permission.
Fourthly, one should say to oneself: I am going to return to Allah one day and that day could be today. We do not know when we will leave this world. It may be that the coming morning is our last morning, or perhaps the coming evening is our last evening. Indeed, it may be that this hour is our last hour, or even, that this moment is our last moment. Such an uncertainty does not, of course, justify a complete withdrawal from this life. What is required of us is to be always conscious of this uncertainty, to the extent that it motivates us to spend every moment of our remaining life seriously, considering it as a gift from Allah and spending the resources He has blessed us with in a manner that pleases Him.
To help us attain this state of consciousness, we should recall and reflect upon the following Qur’anic verse as much as we can throughout the day.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
“To Allah we belong, and to Him is our return” (al-Baqarah 2:156).
These are the four states of consciousness that can help us achieve a life completely devoted to the remembrance of Allah (SWT). May we be blessed with His conscious remembrance.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.
الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Ali ibn Abi Talib (RA) defined taqwa or consciousness of Allah as “fearing Allah, adhering to His commandments, being content with what He provides one with, and getting ready for the Day of Judgment.”
We are here in this world on a journey; to be tested by Allah. We are returning back to Him. If we are conscious of this fact, then we should do whatever we can within our means to go back to Allah in a state where He is pleased with us and we are pleased with Him.
رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ خَشِيَ رَبَّهُ
“Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with Him. Thus shall the God-fearing be rewarded” (al-Bayyinah, 98:8).
The sahaba (companions) of the Prophet (SAW) were so mindful of Allah that they got genuinely concerned when ayah 102 of Surat Aal ‘Imran was revealed. This blessed ayah says,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ
“O you who believe, be conscious of Allah with all the consciousness that is due to Him, and do not die except as Muslims” (Aal ‘Imran, 3:102).
The sahaba expressed their inability to the Prophet (SAW) to abide by this divine command, saying that because of their worldly preoccupations, they simply could not be mindful of Allah all the time to a degree that He merited. In His infinite mercy Allah (SWT) revealed the ayah,
فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا وَأَنفِقُوا خَيْرًا لِّأَنفُسِكُمْ
“So be mindful of Allah as best as you can; and listen, and obey; and spend in charity: it is for your own good” (al-Taghabun, 64:16).
There is another ayah that says,
لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا
“Allah does not burden any soul with more than it can bear” (al-Baqarah, 2:286).
While such ayat provide tremendous relief to the believers, they also imply that one’s effort toward achieving righteousness, piety, and consciousness of Allah should be stretched to the utmost. Allah knows the potential and the capability of each one of us. Each one of us has to exert his or her level best.
وَسَارِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
“Race with one another towards forgiveness from your Lord and towards a paradise the width of which spans the heavens and the earth. It has been prepared for the Muttaqin” (Aal Imran, 3:133).
May Allah make us among them. Allahumma Amin.
