Remaining Steadfast

By Mamdud Ahmed

May the peace and blessings of Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala be with you all. We always begin by praising Allah, the King, our Sustainer, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Owner of the Seven Heavens and the Earth, and we also send salutations upon our beloved role model, our hero, our prophet, Muhammad, peace be upon him.

You know, the message of Islam is one that has been repeated over and over again for some 1,400 years, and even dating back to the prophets of old and their nations. Since Adam, peace be upon him, all including the jinn kind, are given the option to submit themselves wholeheartedly to Allah, their Master. In this way, the message is kept brief and concise. Yet when societies change with time, people find themselves needing to adjust Islam to their current situation. In ways, yes there are adjustments to be made, but the core of the message is supposed to remain intact. That is why Allah Subhana wa Ta’ala send messengers and prophets, one succeeding another, to preach His deen, to share good news of the Hereafter and inform the masses of the warnings of the punishment of Allah if one was to ignore the message of Islam and remain oblivious to it. The messengers would speak that which is the truth, telling their nations to serve none but Allah, and to show Him thanks and worship alone. The messengers did not expect any reward from their people, for their reward was with Allah, the Almighty. The same message has been spoken since the beginning. All praise belongs to Allah for allowing a select few individuals in this vast world to be Muslims.

We see and know the current situation of the ummah worldwide. As Muslims, we feel and empathize with them, but cannot truly experience what they are experiencing. We make dua for the people of Palestine and Gaza, and all the other places where Muslims resides and are facing difficulties and suffering of various types. We constantly hear words being uttered such as, “When will the Muslims gain victory? When will the help of Allah come?” My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the help of Allah is always near. Hope is near, but it is up to us to have patience of the highest level in tough situations and to turn to Him at all times, to offer our worship to Him with as much devotion and humility as we can possibly present to our Creator, the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. The Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (s) has the solutions to all of our problems; we just need to take the time to search for them.

The message I wanted to convey here was to remain steadfast, in all situations and conditions, good and bad for all that happens to a believers is a good thing. Whenever bad occurs to us, it is a way of getting closer to Allah by seeking forgiveness and remaining firm with patience and when good happens, we give our sincere thanks to the One Free of All Wants, Worthy of All Praise.

We can start by repenting to Him, the One who is always happy to hear from us, wanting us to go back to Him (thereby acknowledging His Oneness and that He alone is the one who can forgive again and again). There is none but Allah to help you, there is none but Allah to provide for you. All that occurs is from Him, good or bad. Declare His power, His greatness mornings and evenings. Remembering Allah does not increase the dominion of Allah, nor does Allah need it. But by us doing so, with the ability to do as our free wills take us, Allah is happy to see the ones He created to submit to Him. Yes, as humans we error and commit sins both intentionally and unintentionally. But it is up to us to always find ways to return back to our Lord in this world because it is to Him we shall return to at the end once death overcomes us. Like the old saying goes, “Pray before you are prayed upon.” I ask Allah to give us the good things of this life and the next and to protect us from the Hell-Fire. And I ask Allah to keep our hearts and minds steadfast upon His deen and upon the Sunnah of Muhammad, peace be upon him. Lastly, I ask Allah to overlook our shortcomings and mistakes as humans, and to accept the little good deeds we have to offer to Him, and that alone being our ticket to His pleasure in this world and the next. Ameen. 

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