Women in Islam and The Purpose of Deen

By Mufti Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri (DB)

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Part I Fida Kunna Abi May My Father be sacrificed for You

The three main purposes of women going to Haram-e-sheriff

First of all, I want to make you understand a masla (a religious issue) or that I want to clarify a misunderstanding. People think and specifically our sisters, our women think that the takreer (religious speech) is different for men and women. This is a misunderstanding. Humans are of two kinds (or genders), men and women. The Prophet explained about gender related things which I will elaborate. There used to be majlis of Prophet after salah in masjid-un-nabawi. The women also used to sit behind the men. Those days the women used to come to masjid to offer salah but the purpose was not to pray salah. They came for three reasons: 1. That was the time when the deen was being revealed. Whatever portion of the Quran was revealed, both men and women were supposed to remember that. And both the men and women kept reciting the Quran in madinah. The masaail related specific to a gender that Prophet teach will be learnt by both men and women. So the women used to come to learn the deen. 2. They used to come for the barakah of the place. The two sacred places, one in mecca and madinah has some special blessings associated with it and the rewards there are immense. Women used to come to earn these blessings. Even today women go to the Prophets masjid and so do we instruct our women to come to haram sheriff. Even if one doesnt do anything, we ask
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them to keep looking at the Kaba e sheriff and to keep reciting the durood because of the barakah of that place. 3. The ziarat (the act of visiting) of the Prophet .Even today Prophet is there in the masjid and special times are arranged for both and women separately so they greet Prophet with their salams. With these three purposes, the women used to come to Masjid-un-Nabawi during the time of the Prophet .The (daleel) evidence for this is during the time of the Prophet ,there were nine more masajid other than the Prophets Masjid in madinah munawarrah in different locations. There are two books of Hazrat Abu Dawood (RA). One is Sunnan Abu Dawood and the maraasil Abu Dawood is attached at the end of Sunnan Abu Dawood. In the second page of maraasil Abu dawood, the names of nine masajid are given but there is not a single narration that says that women went to any of these nine masajid. They used to come only to the Masjid-un-Nabawi. If we think that their purpose was to offer salah, then they would have gone to other Masajid to offer salah but there is not a single narration that states that. They used to come only to the masjid-un-nabawi and for the three main purposes. As the deen was being revealed and they are supposed to learn, they visited the masjid. Today our female children learn deen in maktab (a place where Quran is learnt) and in those days, there were no books and everyone have to learn deen as it was revealed and so people learnt coming to the masjid. Second is for the ziarat of the Prophet and today is to offer salam at the roza-emubarak (blessed grave) of the Prophet .Now when women go to to masjidun-nabawi offer their salam, they will offer salah too. And third is for the barakah of the sacred places of mecca and masjid.

Men and Women are like two portions of a fruit

Once there was a majlis of Prophet after salah, the male companions used to sit in the front and so do the women who will sit behind the men. Today the method of learning is one reads fazaail-e-amal or other books or they sit listening.
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In those days, as there were no books, this was not the method of learning. Whatever masla one has, they ask directly to the Prophet and he answers. This was in practice for a long time like the students of ilm would sit and ask the teacher. The teacher would answer their questions and the students will write down the answers and this has been the method. One Sahabi asked the Prophet ,if a person has a wet dream and he wakes up, is ghusl wajib on him? Prophet said if he sees wetness in his cloth, then ghusl is wajib. It sometimes so happens one has a dream but no wetness is seen in his clothes when ghusl wont be wajib. Hearing the reply of the Prophet ,Hazrat Umme Sulaim (RA) who was sitting at the back asked, O Prophet of Allah, what if this happens to a woman? Prophet said that same is the case for the women. When a fruit say the watermelon was cut half with a knife, both the portions of the fruit will have same characteristics. If one portion is sweet, the other too will be sweet. They are portions of the same fruit. Prophet told that men and women are two portions of the same fruit. So whatever ahkam (religious commandments) that has come for men, it is also for women and vice versa. Same is the case of this masla which is for both men and women.

99% of Allahs commandments are common to both men and women

Another example is, as far as the instructions related to bayt-e-sulook is considered, this has been given in connection with women in Quran but we know that this is the same for men also. Ya ayyuhannabiyyu itha jaaka almuminatu yubayiAAnaka AAala an la yushrikna billahi shayan wala yasriqna wala yazneena wala yaqtulna awladahunna wala yateena bibuhtanin yaftareenahu bayna aydeehinna waarjulihinna wala yaAAseenaka fee maAAroofin fabayiAAhunna waistaghfir lahunna Allaha inna Allaha ghafoorun raheem. O Prophet! When believing women come to thee to take the oath of fealty to thee, that they will not associate in
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worship any other thing whatever with Allah, that they will not steal, that they will not commit adultery (or fornication), that they will not kill their children, that they will not utter slander, intentionally forging falsehood, and that they will not disobey thee in any just matter,- then do thou receive their fealty, and pray to Allah for the forgiveness (of their sins): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (AlQuran: 60:12) When women come to give bayt, the Prophet was asked to accept their bayt on some conditions which is the same for men too. In fact there are many evidences from ahadeeth where Prophet took bayt from men on the same conditions as described in Quran in connection to the women. Hence it has been proved that whatever the masail that comes in Quran and sunnat related to men, it will be valid for women and vice versa. Why? Because both men and women are human beings and both are the children of Adam (AS). Those ahkaam which are based on being a human, it applies to both men and women. But then human beings are of two kinds like men and women when some features will be distinct to each kind and so some commandments will be slightly different. For example, men will get beard and women wont. Shaving the beard for men is haram while for women if some hairs grow out, it is waajib for her to shave. So there are specific differences between men and women which both men and women understand. In such cases of coming down to a specific gender, there will be different commandments for both men and women as such conditions are met only with the specific gender like monthly period is seen only in women, so the commandments related to that will be only for women and what is that to do with men. But one must understand that such differences in commandments related to different gender are just 1%. And 99% of the commandments are common to both men and women. Women should understand that based on gender, the difference in commandments is to do just with 1% and as a human in general, 99% of commandments applies to both.

Allotting special time for women for deeni talks

Women think that when they are present, only the commandments related to 1% are explained. When there are 99% of commandments common to both men and women, how can one stick to delivering talks on only 1%? There will be talk on
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that 1% if only the women are present. When both men and women are present, how can there be talk on that 1%? When I spend my time during ramadhan in Uk and USA, every day after zuhr salah, there used to be the ijtima of women. I used to sit in my room and deliver the lecture keeping in mind the masail for women. It so happens that the men who come to leave their women will sit in front of me during such lectures. I drive them away because if men sit in front of me, then I will have to talk related to them and not women, and when I will be alone in the room with no men, then I can deliver lecture specifically for women and those lectures are of not much use to men and it is not even necessary for them. There is a hadith where some women told the Prophet that always in his majlis, men dominate them and so the topic specific to women do not come up and so they requested him to allot some specific time for them where there are only women. The Prophet also allotted specific time in a day where there were only women and he delivered lecture only based on women. Similarly on the day of Eid, during the khutbah (sermon) when many men were sitting in front of him and women were sitting at the back, Prophet talked about things common to them both. After delivering the khutbah, the Prophet instructed the people to sit as such and He took Bilal and reached to the place near the women going through the rows of men and delivered speech specific to women.

Charity extinguishes Allahs anger

The first thing that he told was, If anyone among you loses three children, they will become barrier for you against the hell. A woman asked the Prophet ,Ya Rasoolullah !What about the one whose two children dies. The Prophet replied, The two children will then become a barrier. That is to say he spoke things related to them. Similarly on an Eid day, Prophet asked women to give things in charity, if not money then jewels. I do not know about here but at least in UK, America and Africa, women have their own bank account
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and have bank balance. In Asia, women might not be having money but they would have lot of jewels saved and they dont leave any way to save them. So Prophet asked them to give their jewels if not money in charity. He also told them that he saw more women in hell. One thing to be noted here is apart from the great miraj journey of the Prophet ,he had taken five or six times spiritual tour as found in the ahadeeth and he has seen the hell. So Prophet told that he found the women more in jahannam (hell). And jahannam is the place of Allahs anger. The one with whom Allah is angry, only he will go to hell. It has been said in a hadith that charity extinguishes the anger of Allah and the Prophet also instructed one to give in charity and prepare to save from hell.

The three deficiencies of women that leads them to hell

When Prophet told that he found more women in hell, a woman stood up and asked this. We do not know who this woman is but she was tall and stout and looked like someone from Qureish. She asked, O Prophet of Allah! Why are we more in hell? Both men and women are slaves of Allah and why is that women are more in number in hell. The Prophet told, You people have three deficiencies because of which many of you will enter jahannam: The first deficiency is that you women curse a lot. It is the nature of women to taunt and curse. A woman curses her own children. This is not something good but a very bad thing. Even if you say bad words jokingly, bad words are bad and they will be written down. The second deficiency the Prophet told was, You are ungrateful to the favors of your husband. Hazrat Tayyib (RA) used to say in his lectures when explaining this hadith that when a husband keeps fulfilling all the demands of his wife throughout his life and if he fails to fulfill her demand even once, she will become so upset that she wont even prepare breakfast. If the
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husband says something, she will say what good she found in his house! After tasting the favors from him all her life, she still says that. So Prophet said, You women are ungrateful to the husband for all his favors. A hadith says if one is grateful to the people, he becomes grateful to Allah also. When one is ungrateful to the people and that too to a husband who is very closely related, then how can she become grateful to Allah ?The Prophet continued, The third deficiency in you women is in spite of being deficient in deen and also in aql (intellect), you people are so tactful that you get control over men of sharp mind. She can spoil the relation of her husband with his mother, father and his siblings. A woman can so control the men that his keen intelligence doesnt work before her. It is now very obvious that when a woman gains control over the intellect of man, then she will so make him do things that should not be done. This might lead to quarrels, fights and fasaad. As the woman is behind this all, that becomes a reason for her to enter jahannam. Then another woman stood up and asked, O Prophet of Allah, why is that we are deficient in religion and aql? See, this is the glory of the Companions be it the men or the women that they used to accept every part of deen after understanding it. They dont fall for commandments being blind and deaf. It comes in Surat-ulFurqaan; Wallatheena itha thukkiroo biayati rabbihim lam yakhirroo AAalayha summan waAAumyana. Those who, when they are admonished with the Signs of their Lord, droop not down at them as if they were deaf or blind; (Al Quran: 25:73). The slaves of Ar-Rahman when they hear naseeha (advise) related to Allah ,they dont fall for it deaf and blind. If they get any doubt in their hearts, they used to get clarified immediately. These are women and the woman is asking here when men and women are human in general, then why that is their aql is deficient? Prophet asked her, Dont we have two women in place of one man in case of witness in Quran? The women had knowledge of Quran and so they said, Yes, O Rasoolullah !This is in the Quran. Prophet then said, This is because of the deficiency of your intellect. Now only this much is in the hadith and I would like to clarify this a little more. The womens intellect as such is not less than men
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for there are many intelligent women who passed away and who are still present. If there are foolish women, then so we have foolish men. If there are extra-ordinary intellects among men, so there are among women.

Are women by birth deficient in aql?

By birth, there is no deficiency in the aql of a woman but the atmosphere of women is such that, their memory gets weakened. If men are left with five to six children in their home for five days, they will go crazy but the poor mother is left with the kids day and night hearing their cries and needs that she is patient with them out of motherly love but this leaves some effect on her mind. The man cannot tolerate at all for he might slap the child. A mother cannot do that because of her motherliness and love but this 24 hours environment will have an effect on her memory. That is why there is a reason given in the Quran why two women are in place of one man for witness. fain lam yakoona rajulayni farajulun waimraatani mimman tardawna mina alshshuhadai an tadilla ihdahuma fatuthakkira ihdahuma alokhra . And if there are not two men (available), then a man and two women, such as you agree for witnesses, so that if one of them (two women) errs, the other can remind her.(Al-Quran: 2:282). There is a narration in the Islamic history. Now the normal procedure of enquiring the witness is not all the witnesses are brought before the Judge at the same time but they will be asked individually keeping the other witnesses away from the one questioned. Once in a case, the judge asked two women to give witness separately. The women objected to this and they wanted to give the witness together presenting the ayat of Quran before the Judge which he had to accept it eventually so if one woman forgets, the other woman might remind her. This is the thing that one should understand, a woman is not deficient by birth but her atmosphere makes her so affecting her memory power and that is why there are two women witnesses in place of one man.

The deficiency of women in deen

I remember an incident. There was a powerful woman here, Indira Gandhi (former PM of India). She got married and got a child. After a year and a half, she had another child. Her father Nehru called his son in law and told him that he didnt give baby making machine to him and he warned him not to have any child
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anymore. As the two sons were growing up, she involved completely in politics and made a great progress. If we see the Islamic history and see the women making such progress, we wont see many children in their married life. Even if they had, there will be someone to take care of the kids. So Prophet didnt explain in detail but he sufficed them with the example of two women bearing witness in place of one man. Then about deficiency of deen, he asked, There are days in a month when you dont pray or fast, isnt it true? The Prophet is saying because of not praying salahs in specific days, women remain behind men in deen. So women miss prayers every month and also fasting in the month of ramadhan which she makes up in other eleven months. Though her prayers are forgiven, men continuously offer salah going to masjid and they pray sunnat salahs, nafil salahs and do other forms of zikr. Only farz salahs of women are forgiven while men exceed them in offering other salahs like sunnat and nafil. Similarly when women cannot fast in ramadhan and obviously she was forgiven and she fasts in other months, the men fast right in the month of ramadhan which has its own barakah. The women then affirmed to what the Prophet said about their deficiency in deen.

Fida kunna abi

After giving this reply, the Prophet said, Tashaddaqna fida kunna abi, Give in charity, let my father be sacrificed for you. When Prophet told this, the women started removing their jewels and started giving in charity to Hazrat Bilal who was spreading a sheet to collect. The Prophet never said fida kunna abi in the assembly of the male Companions but only to the women. So what I was telling is when the Prophet was in assembly of only women, he used to preach that which is specific to women and when he is in assembly of both men and women, he used to preach from that 99% common commandments because of which both men and women got benefitted. Know that as far as the
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Islam is concerned, the aqeedah (belief) and aamaal (acts/deeds) will be same for both men and women. There can be minute difference in aamal like women cannot pray during her periods and fast during ramadhan but as far as aqeedah and aamal in general are considered they are same for both men and women. I said in the beginning, when women come to the assembly they expect that specific topic related to them be presented. Certainly such things should be presented but that will happen only when there are women in the assembly and not the men. But when the assembly is mixed, then the topic too will be a mixed one applying to both men and women.

Part II The Purpose of Deen

The purpose of deen of Allah
The other thing I wanted to discuss is what is the purpose and essence of the entire deen? We dont have chakki (mill to grind flour) like before. When there used to be mill in the houses, the lowest part of the mill had keela (pivot) and the upper part will run around this keela. In Arabic, it is said as qutburrahaa, the chakkis keela. So what is that part around which the whole deen runs? There was a great buzurg who passed away, I wont mention his name but those who know will know him and those who dont, it is not necessary to know, he said that the qutburraha of the entire deen on which the deen runs is to establish the rule of Allah .This is the keela of deen upon which the whole deen runs. He used to say that the five times prayer that is offered in congregation is the parade of the army. The commander makes them to parade and this is the army parade. He then said zakat is their fund and fasting is their struggle to practice to remain hunger. And he told about the hajj that it is an international conference. The entire purpose of the deen is to establish the rule of Allah on the earth. There is another great person who is still alive and he said that he does not agree with the above point that the whole
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purpose of deen is to establish the rule of Allah but the purpose is to create the fikr (concern) of akhirah and he runs everything on this keela.

The greatest purpose is the pleasure of Allah

There lived a great pious woman by the name Rabia Basaria. She was walking holding a pot of water in one hand and in the other hand she was holding the lantern. Someone met her on the way and asked her where is she going? She told she will extinguish the Hell fire with this pot of water and burn the jannah with this lantern and finish it off because no one is worshipping for the sake of her Lord but people worship Him fearing the hell and desiring for jannah. This is not from Quran or sunnah but a call of a pious woman. What is being told from the state of a normal Muslim is that the qutburrahaa of deen, the axis of deen through which the entire deen runs is the fikr of akhirah. In the light of the Quran and hadeeth, the ummath has been thinking for the past fourteen hundred centuries that the axis of deen is Ridhwaan minallaahi akbar, that is Allahs pleasure, to please Allah .If you pray salah and Allah is pleased with your salah, then your salah is accepted and if Allah didnt like my salah, then the salah will be thrown back on my face. This is the case with my zakat, fasting and hajj. If Allah likes the ibaadat and He is pleased, then I have achieved my purpose and if not, those ibaadat will be thrown on the face of the worshipper. Also this is a clear thing that the one who pleases Allah will definitely go to jannah and why would he go to hell for jahannam is for those who earned the anger of Allah .So for the past fourteen hundred centuries, this has been the understanding of the Muslim ummah. There is an ayat in surah Tawbah: Wa ridwaan minallaahi akbar. But the greatest bliss is the good pleasure of Allah. (Al-Quran: 9:72). To please Allah is the greatest purpose of all.

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An analogy to ponder
Whatever the other people mentioned above is not wrong for they are right in their own position but that is not kutburrahaa, the keela of mill, on which the upper whole part of chakki goes around. We say in our sermon daily to have fikr for akhirat for that is in Quran and hadith and having fikr for akhirat is not a wrong thing but this is not kutburrahaa and the whole of the deen doesnt go around this. As far as establishing the deen of Allah on the earth, this is obviously a great purpose, this is not a wrong thing but then making it the kutburrahaa and to make run the whole of the deen around this is not right. Take the example of a tree, it has a stem and then there are broad branches, then small branches arise from those big branches and from there comes the leaves, flowers and fruits. So now what is the stem of the tree of Islam? This is ridhwaan minallah, the pleasure of Allah .In every amal, this should be in the mind that my amal should be liked by Allah and my Allah becomes pleased with me. This should be in the mind whenever we do the amal. And then when we get good opportunity, we should establish the rule of Allah but this is not the stem but one of the branches. We should do this when we get the opportunity. If one makes effort to establish the rule of Allah , then the purpose here is again the pleasure of Allah .

Khilafat committee in UK
Let me tell you something. In UK, there was a Khilafat committee and this is an old thing. They had their own parliament too. Once they got my appointment to discuss on this topic. About 10-12 youths came. I arranged tea for them and after having tea there was a silence as I wanted them to start as it is they who came to discuss on this topic. After some time, a young man from them asked me, Hazrat, what is the shariats command in establishing the Khilafat? I said that it is farz and that ended their conversation. They remained silence because they thought if I say something contrary to this, they will present evidence to prove that point. After this silence, they asked me, Why dont you join our khilaafat committee? I said,
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You skipped one question in between these questions and you have jumped directly to this third question. So ask me the second question They said, What is that second question? I said, Ask me where it is farz to establish the rule of Allah ?They apologized for not asking that question and they asked me for the reply. I said, Establish the Islamic rule in the Muslim countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, etc., which is presently not run by the Islamic rule. I told them to establish Khilafat in Misr (Egypt) when they said that there they chop off the head. I told them, O slaves of Allah! UK is not a Muslim country. People left you here to have some peaceful life. So why to create a fuss here troubling the life of other muslims? If you desire for Khilafat, you should go to the Muslim country and should try there. So we should establish Islamic rule where the conditions are met and this is not the stem but a branch.

An act is not deeni or worldly but righteous or wrong

The person mentioned before who said establishing Islamic rule is the keela of deen has actually cut the branch and placed it in the place of stem. So is the case of the other person who said that the fikr of akhirat is the keela of deen, when this is not the stem but the fruit of a tree. When there is stem, there will come out branches, leaves, flowers and finally fruit and the fikr of akhirat is this fruit. For the past fourteen hundred years, this is the understanding of the muslim ummah that the kutburrahaa of deen is Allahs pleasure. In islam, there is no division between deen and dunya like there is nothing called deeni work and dunyawi work. Whatever a mumin does is a deeni work. Whatever a muslim does, be it the brother or the sister, Allahs pleasure should be always in the mind like if I do this, will my Allah ,my Master and my Lord will be pleased? If we know that Allah will be pleased with an act, one should do that act and if one knows that Allah will be displeased with an act, then the muslim, man or a woman should not do that act. In Quran, not just in one place, but in several places it is repeated as: Inna allatheena amanoo waAAamilus salihati olaika hum khayru albariyyah. Those who have faith and do righteous deeds- they are the best of creatures.(AlQuran:98:7) Where there is eemaan, there are righteous deeds. Righteous deed is a
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comprehensive word and there is nothing like deeni act and dunyawi act but a deed is either righteous or wrong. Even the salah is either a good deed or a bad deed. If the intention behind offering salah is show-off, then it is a bad deed. If a man does a job thinking that he will earn halal income and take care of those under his care and responsibility, then this job is also a work of deen. So finish off the division between deen and dunya. Whoever does a good deed with eemaan then out of all the creations of Allah ,he is the best of the creatures. Now when one does righteous deed with eemaan, when he will get the reward? Here in this world, he wont get the reward.

We will get our reward in akhirah and not in dunya

Sometimes salary is paid monthly and sometimes weekly like in some places in Europe and USA. At one time, one used to get salary every six months and even before that one gets salary per year. The frequency of wage intervals is proportional to the cost of living. Aforetime when the cost of living was less, if one gets yearly salary that was enough for the whole year. When the cost of living increased, the salary had to be paid every six month as the yearly salary couldnt cover the whole year. When the cost of living further increased, the salary had to be paid every month. In USA and Europe, if one pays the salary today, the money doesnt remain after three days. So they are paid salary every week for that is how the cost of living is high there. Wherever the value of currency is high, the distress too is high as the cost of living is high and the monthly salary doesnt suffice one for the whole month. So I was telling Allah will not give the reward to a believer in this world. Let the month pass by and then get the salary. A man fills his vehicles fuel tank with petrol with his money and goes to work daily and returns home with empty hand and this goes for 29 days. He wont have much to give his wife but he knows that on the 30th day, he will return home with his bag filled with money. With the hope of receiving money on the 30th days, he fills his vehicles fuel tank with petrol, goes to work daily and works for a whole month. So when we can wait for one month in this world to get the salary, this whole of worldly life is not even one day when compared to the hereafter. wainna yawman AAinda rabbika kaalfi sanatin mimma taAAuddoon. Verily a Day in the sight of thy Lord is like a thousand years of your reckoning. (Al-Quran: 22:47) So we see
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that this worldly life is just quarters of a day compared to the hereafter. Cant a believer wait even for quarter of a day to get his reward? Just pass through this worldly life and return to Allah where the reward is prepared. Now what is the reward? Jazaohum AAinda rabbihim jannatu AAadnin tajree min tahtiha alanharu khalideena feeha abada. Their reward is with Allah. Gardens of Eternity, beneath which rivers flow; they will dwell therein for ever; (Al-Quran: 98:8). And there is a greater reward than the jannah, which is radiya Allahu Aanhum waradoo Aanhu. Allah well pleased with them, and they with Him: (Al-Quran: 98:8). We arrange wedding for our daughters and the bride goes to the husbands place. When the daughter gets love and affection in husbands house, it wont matter if the son in law lives even in a small house for it wont make much difference but if the daughter doesnt get love and affection even if her husband has a palace like house, then that wealth is cursed for what is the use of that wealth? So if Allah is pleased with His slaves and His slaves are pleased with their Lord, then what can be the greater reward than this? But, who gets this reward? Thalika liman khashiya rabbah. All this for such as fear their Lord and Cherisher. (AlQuran: 98:8). Thaalika points to both the rewards: Jannah and radiya Allahu Aanhum waradoo Aanhu. Who will get both these rewards? Thalika liman khashiya rabbah. The one who has taqwa (piety) will receive those rewards.

Taqwa, a brief explanation

I explained in a majlis about taqwa, fearing Allah .We keep saying fear Allah ,fear Allah .Why to fear Allah ,is He our enemy? We know this fear of Allah is out of love just like how a student fears his teacher, a disciple fears his spiritual guide, and a righteous son fears his father. A son thinks he should not do something that will make his father angry. A student fears his teacher thinking if his teacher gets angry with him, how he will progress in education. Similarly, a disciple fears if his spiritual guide gets angry with him, then who will guide him to Allah .One should fear based on love and one should fear going against their
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wish. Fear similar to this should be developed for Allah that one has love and desire for Him and he becomes firm to obey Allahs every single command. Whatever Allah commanded us to do, we should do all those things and whatever Allah has forbidden us from doing things, we should refrain from such things. This condition of the heart is called as taqwa. Regarding the animal of qurbani that gets sacrificed, Allah says, Lan yanala Allaha luhoomuha wala dimaoha walakin yanaluhuttaqwa minkum. It is not their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, it is your piety that reaches Him. (Al-Quran: 22:37) The qurbani meat enters the cooking pot and the blood goes down to the drainage. This blood doesnt reach Allah but the love of your heart through this Qurbani reaches Allah .With whatever passion you sacrificed the animal that will reach Allah .And the Quran says that the one who has taqwa will get the reward. The taqwa is the basis for everything. Eeman is a tree and the fruit that comes out of that tree is taqwa. That is why Allah says, Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ittaqoo Allaha. O ye who believe! Fear Allah. You have planted the tree of eemaan and now bring the fruit of taqwa. Fear Allah and bring the passion and string desire in the heart that you should fulfill every command of Allah .Now your tree has brought fruits and has become fabulous. This is not taqwa when there is no passion in the heart of being a Muslim like you grow beard when your wife permits and shave it when she or the employer doesnt permit, you pray when you get time and leave it when you dont find time, you pay zakat when you like and when some poor comes to your house and leave it when none asks you. This is not taqwa. Taqwa is when you get the courage and passion in the heart that you should fulfill every command of Allah .Now if one errs while fulfilling commands that is a different thing as human errs and Allah forgives through repentance. But if there is no desire at all and one fulfills the commands as he likes like when he gets time, then this is not taqwa and the tree is
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fruitless. Now how to bring this fruit taqwa? This is very easy. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo ittaqoo Allaha wakoonoo maAAa alssadiqeen. O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are true (in word and deed). (Al-Quran: 9:119). Be in the company of those who already got taqwa with eemaan. A muskmelon gains color looking at the color of the other muskmelon. When one is in the company of a person who is very righteous and steadfast in prayers, the other will start praying salah even if he remains with him for just three days. Be in the company of righteous and slowly and slowly the taqwa will emerge. This is the meaning of Thalika liman khashiya rabbah. You know that just with eemaan, direct salvation is not assured. The muslims who sinned may have to go through hell if Allah didnt forgive their sins. But if one gets the fruit taqwa and gets passion, he might get both the rewards: Jannah and the pleasure of Allah . Brothers and sisters, whatever eemaan we have, it is merely because of the grace of Allah .Now just concentrate if you have the taqwa and passion in your heart and if not, read the books about pious people, go in jamaat, sit in the company of pious guide for at least one hour every week, and strive to be in the company of righteous. 100% success will come only when the tree of eemaan gets the fruit of taqwa. This is the gist of this lecture. Let Allah SWT grant us all taqwa, make us pious and keep us steadfast. Ameen

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