27 th Novemeber 2012. Surah Al Baqarah (Al Birr - 2:177): Part 1 Lecture by Sister Eman al Obaid www.alhudasisters.wordpress.com Taqwa We are all trying to obtain the taqwa. Birr = the goodness Al Abrar = the one full of goodness Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, 1
The qibla was towards Jerusalem. Allah subhana wa ta'ala commanded the Muslims to pray towards Mecca. The munafiqeen and Jews opposed this and asked why. Our focus should be about the bigger picture. When Allah subhana wa ta'ala sent this command it was to see how much the people would submit to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. It is not about the direction itself. Anything in Islam is a symbol, so we do not magnify the symbol itself, we follow the commands of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. We do the commands because we are following Allah subhana wa ta'ala, and not asking why why is the tawwaf seven times. People argue about small matters in Islam and leave the big matters, your faith, your worship. This is about submission. but [true] righteousness is [in] The Abrar, their heart is busy thinking of good deeds. There is no place for bad deeds or desires etc. their heart is constantly boiling with the good deeds; how can I make Allah subhana wa ta'ala love me, how can I make Allah subhana wa ta'ala take me to Paradise. Allah subhana wa ta'ala reforms you inner self. Let your heart think of Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Purification of our heart is our job in your life and Allah subhana wa ta'ala will take charge of your outer self, make it perfect. Allah subhana wa ta'ala can do miracles. You will be the abrar that deserves to be in Paradise. What is Al Birr? 1. Al Iman al Billah What is Iman al Billah? The description of Al birr is a recap of your aqeedah. Al Iman al Billah for the Al Abrar, their faith is an important matter. They believe without any doubt. The 1 st Pillar of faith is Iman ul billah. 2
The Pillars of Iman ul Billah. You need four conditions: Wajood illaah Rububiyati Uloohidiyah Asma siffat WAJOOD ILLAH Believing in Allah subhana wa ta'ala s existence. - that Allah subhana wa ta'ala exist. People have a problem with this they don t believe Allah subhana wa ta'ala exist. Everything in the Universe is a sign that there is a Creator and there is One Creator because of the perfection and harmony the night and day etc. The fitrah which is your instinct will lead you to believe that Allah exist. In a time of distress he will turn to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. ALLAH SUBHANA WA TA'ALA S ACTIONS What are Allah subhana wa ta'ala actions? He creates, He disposes of your affairs, He owns, He guides, He provides, He sustains. You will not be considered a believer unless you believe Allah subhana wa ta'ala exists and you believe in all His actions Allah subhana wa ta'ala honours some and humiliates others. Everything in the Universe will teach you about Allah subhana wa ta'ala s actions. Human beings when they don t understand Ruboobiyatah they will attribute it to incidents, things, he is the one doing it. Some people believe in the stars, or someone came and bought the rain, you walk into a shop and everyone comes into the shop, you did well in an exam when you wore certain clothes or used a certain pen etc. This is negating Ruboobiyah. ALLAH SUBHANA WA TA'ALA S DIVINITY Allah subhana wa ta'alais the only Illah. All my worship and all my actions should be directed to One Illah. - if I live, I live for the Sake of Allah, when asking you ask Allah subhana wa ta'you re your reliance is only on Allah subhana 3
wa ta'ala. Your steps and your sleep is for the Sake of Allah. You love Allah subhana wa ta'ala because of His divinity and perfection. ALLAH IS HAVING THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NAMES & ATTRIBUTES None is like Allah s Names and Attributes. No one is having the rahma like Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Allah huwa Al Malik, Allah huwa Al Quddos. All the Names and Attributes of Allah are perfect and suiting Him. Even the good attributes you have, you don t own them, mercy and love is a provision from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. None deserves to be loved for himself except for the Sake of Allah, the only one you love for him is only Allah subhana wa ta'ala, the one you only love because of him is Allah subhana wa ta'ala Allah subhana wa ta'ala is perfect and deserves all the praises and He is the only one having these Attributes. Allah subhana wa ta'ala gave you the attributes that deserve the praise Allah subhana wa ta'ala made you like that. This is La illaaha illa Allah. I deal with Allah subhana wa ta'ala as if He exists and He is taking care and charge of everything. Whatever comes from me, the worship will be directed to Him. Why? Because Allah subhana wa ta'ala is perfect in His Names & Attributes. This is Iman ul Billah. It is not where I will turn my face. Hijab, prayer etc is all submission. Hajj itself does not give you barakah. The real al birr (righteousness) is important. People argue about the small matters and leave the big issue Al Iman ul billah. Correct Al Iman ul billah will save a person and elevate a person in Paradise. Nothing is more heavier than La illaaha illa Allah. My good deeds without Iman al billah will be useless. The faith gets spoiled, ruined and scratched very fast it is very fragile in the heart. Sitting with someone with doubts is contagious. You need to guard your faith and your faith needs renewal. One third of the Qur an talks of the faith. We need to renew our faith. The aqeedah, we need to know it again and again. You will never graduate from the Names of Allah you need to constantly renew it. 2. Al Yawm al Akhir Al Yawm al Akhir there is no day after it, this is the last day. Here in the dunya we have days, Paradise is enjoyment. The hadith s associate belief in Allah subhana wa ta'ala with the Day of Judgement. To believe in Allah subhana wa ta'ala is your goal I need to please Allah subhana wa ta'ala and know Allah subhana wa ta'ala. You will know your result in Yawm al Qiyamah. The motive for you is Yawm al Qiyamah. Allah subhana wa ta'ala will account me on this day. You worry about this day and you will have a stress free life. 4
Yawm al Akhir includes all that Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us of what will happen in the time of death and after death. Tasdiq to believe without any doubts. Every hadith and ayat that is talking of some stages of Yawm al akhir, you need to feel it is real and that you are there. We need to feel we are there and how I should act. Now I can act I don t want to go to that day and not be able to act. The difference between the people of the dunya and the people of the grave is that the dunya is deceiving the people desires, false hopes, I can do. Yawm al Qiyamah there is no amal. If you could ask the people of the grave one question, what they would wish for, they would wish to be able to say SubhanaAllah. They would wish to say AlhamduliLlah because they know how much it weigh s, they know now what they are missing out on. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala make us always to remember. In the end we will all go. Rich and poor will be under the ground. The most beloved people to you will want to quickly bury you - you and your good deeds, you and your faith. This is al birr. Yawm al Akhir includes everything after death. - To believe in the agony of the death, the Angels of Death coming to take the soul. - The soul will descend to Heaven - The questions of the grave punishments or delights of the grave - When Allah subhana wa ta'ala resurrects the human being - Al Hisab the Recompense - Al Meezan The Balance - Al Qantara, As Sirratt All this is included Al Iman Yawm al Akhir the Journey to Eternity. We need to remember this all the time. The kaffir is one who disbelieves and denies, or is having doubts in any one element of the Day of Judgement. What do you need to believe? The faith will show on the outside one day I will not exist in the dunya, a reality, anything can happen to me. How will you prepare for it? Bil amal as salihah. You don t know what good deeds can take you to Paradise. Don t be miserly in doing good deeds. Be in places and situations where you are doing good. Even your eating and drinking, make it for the Sake of Allah. 5
3. Al Imannu bi al Malaika Who are the malaika? The unseen world. None can be there, but Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam informed us of them. Hadith: Allah subhana wa ta'ala created them from light. Human beings Allah subhana wa ta'ala created from sand, Allah subhana wa ta'ala created the Jinn from fire. The light is the opposite of the darkness. They have wings. The faith needs information. This is the information regarding the angels. Believing angels are fairies and are all female is negating the faith. These are the real angels. Iman ul billah the matters of the ghayb follow iman ul billah. How many wings do the angel s have? The angels have two to six hundred wings Angels Jibril alaihi as-salaam has 600 wings and one wing covers the horizon. Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam saw angels in their actual form only twice. They can change their form into human being, the most beautiful human being. How they came to Ibrahim alaihi as-salaam, how thy came to Prophet Muhammad ṣallallahu alayhi wa sallam. 6
The angels are Slaves of Allah day and night they are worshipping, submitting to Allah subhana wa ta'ala. The angels are one of the pillars of your faith. They are honoured to be worshippers of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and yet we refuse to be a Slave of Allah to be obedient. Allah subhana wa ta'ala created the angels only to glorify, magnify and praise Allah subhana wa ta'ala and worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Human beings have a choice. AlhamduliLlah Allah subhana wa ta'ala honoured the human being, you are better than the angels, but only if you are obedient. With your obedience you are better than the angels, with your disobedience you are worse than the animals. Allah subhana wa ta'ala also created us to worship and magnify Allah subhana wa ta'ala, but you have a choice. Either you take it or don t take it. What will make you to glorify Allah subhana wa ta'ala, magnify Allah subhana wa ta'ala, and worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala? When you know that the angels, the pure creation of Allah subhana wa ta'ala, they are created to worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala day and night. For us we can eat, drink and sleep, you can do it for the Sake of Allah. We worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala, but we will reach Allah subhana wa ta'ala in different ways, with the prayer, with fasting, with reading the Qur an. You will be bored with one way and Allah subhana wa ta'ala will reward you. Each angel has one type of worship all it s life. For us Allah subhana wa ta'ala appreciates the different ways we worship. When the angels worship in one way, prostrating until the Day of Judgement, they will raise their head and say Ya Rabbi, you deserve more than this. When you know about the angels it a way to be better than them by just obeying to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, don t oppose, don t reject, don t deny, don t belie, just submit and surrender to La illaaha illa Allah. The angels are bodies but they also have a mind. They are not a just a soul or spirit. They have a brain but they don t have desires. Allah subhana wa ta'ala gave them the ability to surrender and the power the ability and strength. Your body has a certain capability and strength. This is a transcript of a lecture given by Sister Eman al Obaid. We ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and His Mercy. Anything that is good from these notes is from Allah subhana wa ta ala. Any mistakes & misrepresentations are my own. I ask Allah subhana wa ta ala for His forgiveness and to put forgiveness in the hearts of those who read them. JazakAllah Khairan. 7