The door of Success

Ibn ul Qayyim Al Jawziyah (Rahimahullah) mentioned in his book “Fawaa’id ul Fawaa’id” on the authority of Shaqeeq Ibn Ibrahim (Rahimahullah) ,

Who said: The door of Tawfeeq (success) has been closed on the people because of six things:

The First: Because they busy themselves with the Ni’mah (blessing) bestowed upon them and forget about the gratitude they should express to Allah, the One who bestowed the favor on them.

The Second: Because they have an ardent desire for knowledge however, they abandon acting upon it.

The Third: Because they hasten to commit sin but delay repentance for the sin.

The Fourth: Because they are deceived by the companionship of the righteous but fail to emulate their actions.

The Fifth: Because the life of this world is behind them but they are insistent on chasing after it.

The Sixth: Because the hereafter is in front of them but they turn away from it.

The source of all of this stems from a lack of Raja’a (hope in Allah’s mercy) and Khowf ( fear of Allah’s punishment and the fact that He may not accept any of your deeds). And the origin of this stems from a weakness in Yaqeen (certainty). And the origin of this stems from a weakness in Baseerah (sound legislative knowledge). And the origin of this stems from humiliation and ignobility and exchanging that which is superior for that which is mediocre.

If the individual was noble and ambitious he would not settle for mediocre. The source of every good is by the Tawfeeq of Allah as well as by His will, the nobility of the soul, its magnanimity and exaltedness. Subsequently, the source of every evil is the villainousness of the soul, its ignobility and lowliness, as Allah says:“Indeed he will be successful who purifies his soul and he who corrupts his own soul will fail…”

Meaning, the one who exalts his soul, multiplies it’s good and nurtures it upon obedience to Allah, will be successful. However, the one who disgraces his soul and humiliates it by exposing it to sin and disobedience to Allah will utterly lose. Thus the noble souls are not satisfied except with the finer things in life, those things that reap the most praiseworthy outcome. On the other hand, the ignoble souls loiter around the lowliest affairs just as the fly that only lands on feces.

Hence the noble and superior soul is not satisfied with oppression, fornication/ adultery, stealing or betrayal due to the fact that he considers himself more dignified to commit such acts. However, the ignoble soul is the total opposite. And every soul will incline towards what is in conformity with it’s desire(s) and what it deems suitable. This is consistent with the statement of Allah: “Every soul shall act according to what it inclines towards…”

Meaning, every soul will act upon what is in conformity with it’s desires. The soul will act upon what it deems suitable and appropriate for it. Thus, every soul will proceed upon the path that is natural for it. So the Fajir (i.e. criminal) soul will act according to what is natural for it, of welcoming the blessing(s) of Allah with sin while turning away from Al Mun’im.

Yet the believer acts according to what is natural for him, of gratitude to Allah, the One who grants His bounty to whomsoever He wills. Also loving Him, praising

Him, showing affection to Him and being modest before Him, while the slave is conscious of the fact that Allah is evaluating his every movement, coupled with magnification and glorification of Him.

The ignorant people complain

The ignorant people complain to people about Allaah, and this is the highest degree of ignorance, for if he had known his Lord, he would not have complained about Him, and if he had known the people he would not have complained to them.

One of the predecessors saw a man complaining to another man about his poverty and dire necessity. He said to him, ‘O you! By Allaah, you have done nothing but complain about He who has mercy for you, to the one who has no mercy for you’.

The following verses have been mentioned about the meaning of the previous statement of the predecessor.

When you complain to a son of Adam
verily you complain about the Most Merciful
to the one who does not pity.

On the contrary, the person who is profoundly knowledgeable about Allaah complains to Allaah alone. And the most knowledgeable person about Allaah is the one who complains about himself to Allaah, and never to people. He complains about the causes that make people do wrong to him, for he knows about the following Qur’anic verses,

‘And whatever of misfortune befalls you it is because of what your hands have earned. And He pardons much’
(Ash-Shura, 42: 30)

‘Whatever of good reaches you, is from Allaah but whatever of evil befalls you, is from yourself.’
(An-Nisa, 4: 79)

‘(What is the matter with you?). When a single disaster smites you, although you smote (your enemies) with one twice as great, you say: ‘From where does this come to us?’ Say (to them), ‘It is from yourselves (because of your evil deeds). ‘And Allaah has power over all things.
(Al-Imran, 3: 165)

Therefore, there are three levels: the lowest one is to complain about Allaah to his creatures, the highest one is to complain about yourself to Him and the middle one is to complain about His creatures to Him. May Allaah make us from those who complain to Him alone about ourselves, He the Majestic and Most High, Ameen.

Ibn alQayyim alFawaid page 134

source: http://theclearsunn ah.wordpress. com/2009/ 10/24/the- complaint- of-the-ignorant/

The past and the future..

"Your life at the present moment is in between the past and the future.
So what has preceded can be rectified by tawbah (repentance) , nadam (regret) and istighfaar (seeking Allaah's forgiveness) . And this is something which will neither tire you, nor cause you to toil as you would with strenuous labour. Rather it is an action of the heart.
Then as regards the future (then it can be corrected) by withholding yourself from sins. And this abandonment is merely the leaving of something and to be at ease from it. This also is not an action of the limbs which requires you to strive and toil. Rather this is a firm resolve and intention of the heart - which will give rest to your body, heart and thoughts.
So as for what has preceded, then you rectify it with repentance. And as for the future - then you rectify it with firm resolve and intention. Neither of these involves any hardship nor exertion of the limbs.
But then your attention must be directed to your life in the present - the time between to times. If you waste it, then you have wasted the opportunity to be of the fortunate and saved ones. If you look after it, having rectified the two times - what is before it and after it, as we have said - then you will be successful and achieve rest, delight and ever-lasting bliss. However, looking after it is harder than that which comes before and after it, since guarding it involves keeping to that which is most benefiting and beneficial for your soul, and that which will bring it success and well-being."

--Ibn Al-Qayyim

Al-Fawaid (A Collection of Wise Sayings) (pp.151-152)