Tawheed & Shirk- 3
Alhamdulillah, Summa
Alhamdulillah, I continue the
series of sermons which I began elaborating on the subject of Tawheed
and Shirk.
Today, I want to draw your attention to something: every day we say we will do something but we end up not doing it. And Allah is not pleased at all that you do not do what you have said you will do.
Whenever we start praying (Salat) and anytime we read the Holy Quran, we start by saying: Aouzubillahi Minash Shaytaan-ir-Rajim. This simply means that we seek protection with Allah against Satan the Cursed, the one whom Allah rejected. But many times people don’t reflect upon those words: What am I saying? Where is that Shaytan (Satan)? And where does he stay? They think: In what way will Satan come to me so that I can repel him?
In fact, most people
take this Satan as an external Satan and the repelling of the external Satan is
a normal occurrence. They take this only as referring to the external Satan and
they do not at all talk about the inner Satan. And the Quran actually explains
clearly and mentions the inner Satan even more. The Quran says that Shaytan
comes in different garbs, in different ways and you do not recognize him.
So it is the inner
Shaytan that is the most dangerous. Each person has a different Satan in him.
And he doesn’t recognize that Shaytan and he doesn’t know from (where) the Shaytan will
trap him. So this is a matter in which I draw the attention of my disciples and
the rest of the Ummah Muhammadiyya (pbuh).
Normally and generally
people see the Satan of all the others and he does not see his own Satan. The
Quran says that people do not recognize the Shaytan who resides within them.
Despite the fact that they know very well that each one has a Satan which is
within them, yet they cannot identify him. And when the Shaytan is calling him
from the inside, he also does not recognize that it is another voice [i.e. that
of Satan’s]. He fails to identify that voice.
So when you read Aouzobillah
(I seek refuge with Allah) - Aouzoubillahi Minash Shaytaan-ir-Rajim (I
seek refuge with Allah against Shaytan the Accursed One), read it with full
reflection. Seek to know about which Cursed Satan that you have asked for divine
protection. The people who are outwardly seeking to harm you, then, how is it
possible that you do not recognize them? On the contrary, whenever you perceive
their danger, well, you take all necessary precautions to avoid them. When you
protect yourselves from these external evils, it is not considered a great good
deed as it becomes an automatic deed that is linked to the fulfillment of your
requests. It is not a matter of good people or bad people. In fact, all people
- even atheists - seek protection against Satan who attacks them externally.
Even if the atheist does not ask this protection from Allah, but he asks for it
from the people! But he certainly recognizes that existence of that Shaytan/Satan, i.e. evil.
So in the same way
there is an external Satan, there is an internal or inner Satan as well. That
Shaytan is inside all people but the latter cannot identify him. That’s why
sometimes people are surprised when they find out that such and such persons have committed such and such wrong. That is because they have not perceived the
Satan which is within them. [They have not mastered the knowledge on how to
deal with him].
Now when we talk about
lies and falsehood, bear in mind that nowadays lies are the greatest enemy of
people, the greatest enemy of the world. Concerning lying, if you think it’s
just a teaching of religion, it’s just Islam that says that Muslims don’t need
to lie, then, it denotes that you have not fully understood the reality of
lying [lies/ falsehood]. Lies are like the poisons of this world. A lie does
not distinguish between good and evil. It is a poison that certainly destroys.
If you end up taking an amount that is enough to destroy, then it will definitely
destroy. Lying leaves long-lasting effects on people, in the world. The poison will
do its job. Lies are also as virulent as a poison. First of all, lying is a sin; that is to say, for all
believers, those who have grown [acquired] faith [in them] for Allah and follow
Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh). Thus, lying is a sin for them. And they will be the
most accountable for that sin on the Day of Judgement – on earth as well, but
more so, in on the Day of Judgement. But what I insist in telling you is that
lies are poisons. And most certainly it will cause its negative effect. It is
in fact lies which are the root cause of all havoc in the world. This is
because lying is another name for the worship of Shaytan. Many times in the
past, I have explained to you that when we say: “O Allah, it is You alone Whom
we worship and it is with You alone we ask for help”, if after that there
is any lack, or negligence in putting into practice that worship and seeking
for divine help, then there is the possibility for Istighfar (Repentance).
But if what you claim (you say, i.e. you are supposedly asking for Allah’s
help, etc.) is completely false, if you [or any other person] know that you
need to turn to Allah exclusively to seek His help, yet instead of that, you
knock on all the doors of all those that are not Allah and are against Allah,
then at that moment you will receive the punishment for it on this earth itself
and that punishment will be in different forms and in different garbs.
So, you need to know
how to recognize the Satan which is within you. You need to remove the darkness
of bad thoughts, and bad actions from your whole being, and you need to distance
yourselves from lies. Not only that, but there is also arrogance and
superiority complex. Remember that as the Quran mentions, it is arrogance,
disobedience to Allah due to a superiority complex that had made Iblis succumb
to evil. Iblis had manifested the spirit of evil in him.
So, you should bear in
mind that all the evil that happens in the world, every believer has the foremost
duty to turn that evil into good. In fact, the first step is to seek the help
of Allah to do this work because it is not an easy work at all. It’s very difficult,
but it’s not an impossible feat. With Duahs, even though you are
powerless, you are weak, but it is Allah who will manifest His power and change
the situation. As for you, you must have Yaqeen (i.e. certitude) in
Allah. You must remain attached to Allah. You must not abandon Allah. This is
what it means to remain attached to Tawheed. You don’t leave Allah at
all, despite the lightning, the trials that befall you. You should be firm, and
put your trust in Allah. When evil is spread around you, you do not succumb to this
evil. You remain firm, and you do not leave Allah, you do not leave Tawheed.
Do not let Shaytan divert you from Allah!
Shaytan succeeded in
deviating Iblis, and Iblis became the incarnation of evil. There are sometimes
people who think that Shaytan and Iblis are the same thing. I do not blame
them, because in the concept of good and evil, with the behaviour of Iblis, and
how he ended up showing his arrogance in front of Allah, then it is not
surprising that they think that. But let me also tell you that Iblis is one
entity and the concept of evil - Shaytan - is another entity, which had joined
together to form one entity, that is, Evil.
This is a very long
topic that can be discussed in great lengths. We can keep on talking on this
subject, but we, Insaan, need to know that Allah has declared war against
evil in all its forms. Iblis is a form of evil; he is not the totality of the
concept of evil. Shaytan includes the total concept of evil. That’s why, when
Allah and His Messenger Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) addressed mankind, they spoke
about Shaytan and his army. Is it just Iblis and Shaytan who is evil? No! The
army is also evil.
So, you need to take
precautions to stay on the “Siratwal Mustaqeem” (The Right Path). Evil
comes in several forms, interior and exterior, it comes in different forms and
in your intention as well. It is up to you to make your Satan become a Muslim!
[i.e. to control it and make it submit to Allah and not have any power to
affect you negatively]
Iblis was a single
being. But Shaytan is everywhere. When we talk, we don’t say: The Iblis which
is in us, we need to fight him! We say: The Shaytan which is in us, we
need to fight him. So it is clear that here we are dealing with a larger
concept of evil that represents the totality of evil, which is inside man [the
human race] or all around him (in his environment) interior or exterior of man
(the human race).
That Shaytan is present
among the Jinns as well, and yet not all the Jinns are Shaytan,
who are evil! There are good Jinns as well. So, there is a balance
between good and evil in all of Allah’s creation, whether Jinns or Insaan.
All those who fight
against evil as a whole, they are the truly courageous ones who will be
victorious [who will win the battle between good and evil]. Allah is not blind
to their efforts. I say to all my followers and all the rest of the Muslims
around the world, do not make your Islam a screen for evil. Don’t let evil
penetrate the shell of Islam. Think that Allah has chosen you as His warriors, His
soldiers in this world. He has given you the armour of Tawheed and Taqwa
and Salat and Duahs to repel all forms of evil. If Shaytan has
his army, then bear in mind that we are the Hizb’Allah (Followers of
Allah), and not the Hizb’ush-Shaytan (Followers of Shaytan). There is a
big difference between good and bad. So it is your duty - we all have this duty
- to remain attached to Allah and remain part of His army.
Insha-Allah, as Allah has promised, it is His army that will win the
final battle – will have the final victory in this world and in the Hereafter.
It is Tawheed the supreme truth. Apart from Allah, there are no other
gods. So, pray to Him all the time and invite to Him all the time. Do not fall
into any other form of Shirk when you invite people to you. Show Tawheed,
the beauty of Tawheed, and show that you work for Tawheed, for
the establishment of Tawheed. It is Allah Who will inspire the hearts
towards Islam, the Sahih al Islam, towards the source where they will receive
the true extent of the blessing of Tawheed and remain attached to Tawheed.
Insha-Allah.
May Allah help us all
to wage a constant war against all forms of Satans and that Islam, that Allah
in His Oneness that is Absolutely Pure triumph over all the false gods that God’s
creatures have associated with Allah. May the truth of Tawheed spread and may
its light illuminate the whole world before Allah destroys it [i.e. the world].
Insha-Allah, Ameen.
----Friday Sermon of 15 December 2023~01 Jamadi’ul Aakhir 1445 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.