The Signs of Qiyamah- 6
It is by the wisdom of Allah that man was
created. The universe was created, and the system of habitation for man on
earth was established so that Allah’s beloved creation could learn to find
their way on this earth and seek Him, Allah, their Creator. With the
intelligence that Allah endowed the new Adam, our common ancestor, we have seen
how Allah sought to protect the human race so that it would not fall into Satan’s
traps. Where there is light, there is also darkness. While darkness is a
blessing from Allah for mankind to find rest, it is also the ideal time for Satan
to carry out his work.
Allah created man to worship Him alone, without associating anyone with Him. All the souls that Allah created from His divine breath, and which He decreed to be born from the creation of the first Adam until the Day of Judgement, have all received guidance to show them the path to Allah. This guidance, the guides of Allah, are the prophets and messengers of Allah, and in times when there are no prophets and messengers, it is the reformers and pious people who carry out this work, guiding their people towards the worship of Allah alone, without associating anyone with Him.
We find in the verse I have recited that Allah
speaks of the self-reproaching soul (Al-Nafs-e-Lawwammah). We see that
from the moment a person is born on this earth, they are accompanied not only
by angels to record their actions and take account of them, to pray for them,
but also by a Shaytan (devil) who follows them. Hadiths report that until now,
only Hazrat Isa (as) was not touched by Satan at his birth. One of these
Hadiths, reported by Hazrat Abu Hurairah (ra), is as follows: The Prophet
(pbuh) said, “Every child is touched by Satan in his sides with his fingers
when he is born, except for Isa, son of Mary. He (Satan) tried to touch him but
instead touched only the barrier (or veil).” (Bukhari)
Here, we realize that Satan only touched the
first layer of the uterus, the second, or even the child’s placenta [i.e. Isa’s]
which provides nourishment, and thus this Hadith clarifies for us that the one
whom Allah created by His “Kun Fayakun” (Be, and it is!) was not touched
by Satan at all.
However, this does not mean that Satan did not
try to deviate him from the divine messages - when he officially became a
Prophet or even before - by adding things that Allah did not say, but Allah
nullified what Satan added and confirmed His original message. Allah did this
not only for Hazrat Isa (as) but also for all His prophets. (Al-Hajj, 22:53)
So, we see that darkness has its benefits as
well as its harms. It is a blessing for those who know how to take the good
side of things and remain in prayer, and it is a festivity of evil for those
who seek to harm their fellow beings by practicing sorcery or committing evil
deeds such as theft, rape, and all sorts of other crimes.
Now, whether it is day or night, we find that
these evils such as crimes are happening in broad daylight as well. In the
past, what Satan and all those who followed him did, they did in secret, but
now, during the era of Resurrection that we are currently living in, we find
that all prohibitions, all satanic acts are being carried out in broad
daylight, and there is no difference between day and night.
When a baby is born, he is born a Muslim, and
it is his environment and his parents that make him an idolater. Reflect well
that the moment you value something more than Allah, and worship something
other than Allah, or even though you say you believe in Allah, but associate
partners with Him in His worship, all these are condemnable in the eyes of
Allah.
Allah created man to worship Him alone
(Az-Zariyaat 51:57). Consider then that Allah will bring all people one day,
after their death, to account for the promise He made to them: that they will
have to give an account on the day they leave their bodies created from earth
and return to Him.
The soul, as I was telling you, is of the
essence of Allah. However, if Satan manages to imprint upon a soul to such an
extent that the soul begins to devote itself more to Satan than to Allah, then
that soul loses its divine essence and becomes a companion of Satan. It is this
kind of soul that will burn along with Satan one day in the fire of hell.
Keep in mind that just as man has received
instruction to worship Allah alone and to do good on earth in order to earn his
place in paradise, similarly, the spirit of evil (Satan) also has his job. His
job is to deviate people from the path of Allah and to win the challenge
against Allah by leading many souls away from Him.
Therefore, the test is clear. The trial is very
clear. If man does not realize that evil is there to trap him so that he does
not find the eternal mercy of Allah, then he will slip and lose the divine
light that was within him. But as long as he fights against his Nafs
(his own passions - those passions that Satan uses within him to lead him away
from the path of Allah), then the soul that seeks war against all evils,
against his desires that are not approved by Allah, despite having committed
mistakes and even sins, as long as he repents and turns to his Creator, then
that soul begins its journey towards enlightenment, towards purification.
Allah is warning mankind in this verse from
Surah Al-Qiyaamah not to wait until the Day of Resurrection to feel regret and
reproach themselves for not having listened to Allah through His guides. This
regret should be present while you are alive and fully aware of what you are
doing, realizing your mistakes and correcting your actions so that you may
attain the mercy and forgiveness of Allah.
Consider that Allah grants a very extensive and
great amount of time before deciding to punish. He gives mankind ample delays
and much time to turn back and reform. Therefore, I advise you not to wait
until that fateful Day to overcome you [before tasting death - while you are alive
on this earth and witness the End of Days], and Allah overturns this earth and
destroys everything He created, and you find yourself in that very painful hour
when the “Doomsday” as we say, the time of the end of the world, comes upon
you. Consider well, as I have told you in my past sermons, that this great day
shall verily come when everything will come to an end, and what we are living
is also an end of the world for each soul that goes through calamities and
finds death therein. Calamities which cause havoc from all sides and take
lives, this also is a form of Qayaamat, but that Day, that Hour when all
of Allah’s creation will be extinguished shall verily come, and Allah will
create a new creation. How that creation will be, only Allah knows!
Nonetheless, just as Allah has promised, just
as He created mankind, He has the power to return them all to Him for their
Judgement. Here, Allah refers to the reconstitution of mankind down to even the
tips of their fingers. As we all know, the truth of the Quran has been
confirmed through scientific studies where it has been discovered that no two
people have the same fingerprints. Each individual is unique. Just as Allah
created us unique, we will all return to Allah after our death, and that Hour
is the day when a new world will appear and life on earth will be but a memory.
Every small action of mankind will have repercussions, whether it will earn a
good reward or punishment, or whether Allah will decide to turn towards them
with His forgiveness and mercy.
But what we unfortunately realize, especially
in the times we are living in, is that man has disregarded the divine teachings
and is destroying his own environment, turning his earthly paradise into a
hell. This makes us realize that we are living the Day of Judgement. This
period of Qayaamat is long in man’s perception but very short in Allah’s
estimation. Therefore, only repentance and a return to Allah can illuminate
your future in the Hereafter, because this world is very temporary for every
human born upon it (i.e. the earth).
We all need to cooperate for human survival, a
survival based on Tawheed, so that when the Hour comes – and I say this for the
future generations who will witness that Day – they will be ready to leave this
earth without any regret. Those who will have regret are only those who have
forgotten Allah and whom Allah has also forgotten, depriving them of divine
mercy, and their place will be in hell.
May Allah accept us as good on the day He decides
to take our lives. May Allah establish His Deen-e-Islam on earth for the
final victory, and may truth prevail over falsehood and faith over disbelief. Insha-Allah,
Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 15 November 2024~ 12 Jamaad'ul Awwal 1446 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.