Secure against the coming Divine Wrath

“This (Quran) is enlightenment for mankind and guidance and mercy for a people who have Faith with certainty. 

What! Do those who commit evils think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous deeds - that equal will be their life and their death? Ill is the judgment that they make. 

And Allah created the heavens and earth with truth and so that every soul may be rewarded for what it has earned, and they will not be wronged.”
               ---(Surah Al Jathiya, 45: 21-23)

These are the same verses of Surah Al-Jathiya (Chapter 45) which I explained last week and my explanation is not yet completed. Thus, by the grace of Allah, I now continue my explanation of these three verses.

So Allah’s wrath is coming down on earth, and only those who make a complete repentance for their sins and come in the refuge of Allah, they are the ones who will be saved from the divine punishment. Certainly the life and death of the righteous people can at no time be like the life and death of those who are immersed in evil. If you want to come in the refuge of Allah, then you need to make Tawbah (repentance) sincerely for all your past sins and present yourself in the refuge of Allah. If you do this, then Allah will create such qualities in you, so that people can testify that there is really between you and them a clear distinction, and where then there will be no need to enter into debates on the subject. Everyone will clearly see the difference, especially those who really want to see that. Now, how will they find this difference, and what treatment has Allah reserved for such people?

No space for Satan

Satan does not even approach those who has such firm Iman (faith) in Allah and who pay great obeisance to Allah. Now this struggle we have to do it every day with Satan; this is a struggle that will not end as long as we do not return in the refuge of Allah. A person who receives this divine refuge, certainly Satan cannot approach him because he (Satan) does not have the permission to come in the refuge of Allah. Satan will go in such places where there is space for him to put his feet. When I speak of repentance for all sins, what I mean is that you must not in any circumstance leave any empty space for Satan. Do not give him any ground because when Satan puts his feet in one place, then at that time, his maleficent feet begin to take effect and shall then perpetually grow that little space.

To better understand this, I tell you a story that I have heard in the past (and which I also once related) and which has a connection with today’s subject in question. Once, a Bedouin set up his tent and sat inside. It was night and it was extremely cold outside. Then his camel entered its head inside the tent and told the Bedouin that since it was cold outside, to give him permission to put its head inside the tent. So the camel put its head inside and when it felt the pleasure of the heat radiating inside, it therefore made the Bedouin understand that since its head is attached to its neck, so the neck also has the right to come in and so the neck also found way into the tent. Then, gradually, the camel made its whole body come inside the tent. Then it saw that its front legs also had the right to enter as well as its hind legs and then the moment came when the camel told the Bedouin that now it was he (the Bedouin) who was taking too much place in the tent and thus he must leave the tent to allow its hind legs to enter the tent!

So this is how evil makes its way to fill the space. As soon as you give it any space, so it seizes the opportunity and enters, and then does not leave you. This is how Satan attacks. Now, if all people who are engaged in evil reflect on their psychological state, so, if they do this, they will see that the evil they have done and which they took as nothing (as a simple harmless thing) is actually the detonator which triggers the process for more serious ailments and that is something that does not end, where evil is committed step by step and becomes increasingly difficult to stop.

When you see how in the world there are many drug addicts, who are addicted to all kinds of drugs, so this also is based on the same principle that I just explained (about Satan). There are bandits and criminals who want to corrupt the young school children, and college kids. They encourage children to taste these drugs and therefore with the mere fact of tasting, this leads these children to become addicted to these drugs. With a beginning, a temptation strategy they direct these children in a situation where they want to taste another dose and then they become addicted to it. Thus, step by step Satan does his job and takes all the space. 

Duah for the struggle against Satan

For those who commit sins, who are immersed in evil, it is very necessary that they read profusely this duah: 

 “Rabbana zalamna anfussana wa illam taghfir lana watarhamna lana kunanna minal Khasireen”. 

Our Lord! We have wronged our own souls: If thou forgive us not and bestow not upon us Thy Mercy, we shall certainly be lost. (Al-Arraf, 7: 24)

When I said we have to do repentance for any sort of sins and come in the refuge of Allah, then without this duah it will not be possible to reach this goal. And the cure for this struggle against Satan which has already started is the same duah. And it is a duah which Allah (swt) Himself has taught Hazrat Adam (as) at the very beginning of this struggle/battle (against evil).

So keep in mind that when you make efforts to give your support to the religion of Allah, so as from this moment Allah removes (for you) every obstacle. And you will succeed. So this war between man and Satan has already begun since the time of Hazrat Adam (as) and it’s actually like that. With this duah Hazrat Adam (as) was victorious and it is a duah which Allah Himself taught Hazrat Adam (as).

Jihad-e-Akbar: the Struggle for Inner Purity

So today also, in the era of the battle against Satan, each person must come under the shelter of this verse (duah) and as long as a person does not read this verse (duah) from the bottom of his heart, then he will not receive Allah’s help to ultimately defeat Satan. Remember that if you make efforts in obedience to Allah and if you make an effort to support the religion (Islam), Allah will remove from you all obstacles. Now, to become a help and support for the religion of Allah, this is not an easy thing. Above all, this requires a complete purification of your inner being so that you become one of those who receive the ability and strength from Allah to overcome these Satans who are within you and in your environment too. It is when you do this Jihad-e-Akbar (the greater jihad, the greatest war) against yourselves where you kill your ego, your passions (nafs) that you will become a valuable aid to the religion of Allah. On the contrary, this war which you do against Satan, it’s a way to help you achieve total purification.

Sincere Efforts Open the Doors

So anyone who today has in the heart the enthusiasm to help and become a support to the religion of Allah and despite his condition and his situation, despite all his weaknesses, and some evils which he may have committed, but then, if he really has in him this love and sincerity, then he should not take excuses. He must not say, “Where I am now, how a person like me can possibly come forward to serve the religion of Allah?” 

On the contrary, if he is really sincere, he must submit to Allah, giving himself completely to Allah and say: 

“O my Lord, all that I have/possess, all my capital, I surrender (or have surrendered) to You. It is now You who can place Your blessings in it and grow the work of religion with it. And help me so I can give even more in Your path. By Your grace and favour, I did what I had to do, because it is (or was) my duty to spend in Your way that You Yourself gave me, and I have no fear of poverty because I know that You will never abandon me when I have presented myself and my property/wealth in Your path.”

Allah shall certainly help these types of people. If you make efforts in obedience to Allah and if you make the effort to become a support for the religion of Allah, then Allah will take away from you all obstacles; the obstacles that stood in your path; such obstacles that you yourselves have created, which prevent you from approaching Allah, all these obstacles will be removed by Allah. And at that time you will succeed. Why is this so?

It’s like that because from that moment on you will become a plantation of Allah. Each time and at any time you make the promise to present yourself at the service of the religion of Allah, then you become worthy of forming part of the pure plants in the garden of Allah. And as for the thorns that are all around you, they seek to corrupt you and ruin your health. They become obstacles in the way of your success; such success in the eyes of Allah you have to win, you deserve to win, but then these thorns become obstacles in your path and try to stop you from achieving these successes. But when you become a support in the religion of Allah, then Allah from that moment on gives the same treatment to you as He does with all the righteous people. He removes these obstacles from you, and you become such a person who acquires the protection of Allah, and Allah will remove from you all evil and cast it out. The evils which were once inside you and which were eating and drinking your good deeds (Neki), then it is Allah who shall make it His duty to uproot these evil from you and throw them out.

So when Allah makes such treatment with a person, so it’s like he becomes a beautiful plant which blooms, a plant of good action, a plant that yields fruits and which Allah protects and saves from all kinds of problems and dangers.

So my sermon on this subject does not end here, and Insha-Allah, I will continue this subject next Friday. Insha-Allah, Allah gives me the Tawfiq to give you such explanations that will be easy for you to understand and so that you put them into practice in order to reap the pleasure of Allah. Insha-Allah. Ameen.

- Friday Sermon of September 04, 2015 delivered by the Khalifatullah Hadhrat Munir Ahmad Azim Saheb (atba) of Mauritius.