Allaah - the Most
High - says.
"That He will call you to account for
what your hearts have earned."
[Soorah al-Baqarah 2:225].
"The day when neither wealth nor
children will be of any avail, except he who comes to Allaah with a dean
and pure heart." [Soorah
ash-Shu'araa 79:88-89].
The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam said.
"Indeed, there is a piece of flesh in the body; if
it is sound then all the body is sound. However, if it is diseased, then
all the body is diseased Truly that is the heart."1
Al-Haafidh Ibn Rajab (d.795H) -
rahimahullaah -said:
"So know that the world - and whatever is
above it and below it in the water- will not be corrected except when the
actions of its people ore all for Allaah. The actions of the body follow
on from the actions and intentions of the heart. So when the actions and
intentions of the heart ore purely for Allaah alone, then it is corrected,
and likewise the actions of the body will also be correct. However, if the
actions and intentions of the heart ore for other than Allaah, then it is
corrupted, and likewise the actions of the body will be corrupted in
proportion to how much the heart is corrupted."2 And he said: "Hearts will
not be corrected until the ma'rifah (knowledge and realisation) of
Allaah - being in awe of His greatness, loving Him, fearing Him, hoping in
Him, relying and trusting in Him - is not firmly implanted in them. This
is the reality of Tawheed and the meaning of the saying: Laa ilaaha
illallaah (that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah).
Thus, hearts will not be corrected until Allaah is made the ilaah
(deity) to be known, to be loved, feared and hoped in, and that He - along
with this - becomes the only ilaah (deity) worthy of this, without
associating any partner to Him in this."3
Indeed, we may begin to appreciate the
greatness of Allaah - the Most High's - and being in owe of Him, by
considering some narrations regarding what He - the Most High - has
created.
The Prophet sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam said:
"Indeed I see what you do not see and hear what you do
not hear. Heaven has groaned, and it has a right to do so. By Him in Whose
Hand is my soul! There is not in the heaven a space equivalent to four
fingers, except than an angel has prostrated his forehead to Allaah in it.
By Allaah! If you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep a lot, and you would not take delight
in women in their beds, but rather would go to the wilderness and implore
Allaah for help."4 He sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam said:
"The seven Heavens compared to the
Kursee (the Chair) is like a ring which is thrown into a desert. And such
is the magnitude of the 'Arsh (the Throne of Allaah) compared with the
Kursee."5
He sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam also
said:
"I have been given permission to relate to you about the
Angels of Allaah - the Most High - that carry the 'Arsh (Throne). Between
one of the Angel's ear and shoulder is a distance of seven hundred year
journey."6
And he sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam
also said:
"Al-Baytul-Mamoor is in the seventh heaven [directly
above the Ka 'bah]. Each day seventy thousand angels enter it, and they
will not return until the Day of Resurrection."7
So: "the need of the servants for this (type
of) knowledge is greeter then every other need; end it is the most
necessary of all things for them, since there is no life for the hearts,
nor any delight, nor any tranquility, except through knowing their Lord,
the only One Who deserves to be worshipped, their Creator - with His
Homes, His Attributes and His Actions, and that He - along with all that -
is more beloved to the person than anything else. So man's striving is
with regards to everything that will draw him nearer to Allaah, to the
exclusion of the creation ... So the people who know Allaah the best, are
the ones who best follow the way to Him; and know best whet lies at the
end of the way."8
1. Related by al-Bukhaaree (1/126) and Muslim
(no.1599) from an-Nu'maan ibn Basheer radiallaahu 'anhumaa.
2.
Jaami' al-'Uloom wal-Hikam (p120).
3. Jaami' al-'Uloom
wal-Hikam (p.120).
4. Hasan: Related by Ibn Maajah (no.4190)
and at-Tirmidhee (2/51),who authenticated it, from Abu Dharr
radiallaahu 'anhu.
5. Saheeh: Related by Ibn Abee Shaybah
in Kitaabul-'Arsh (1/114) and al-Bayhaqee in as-Asmaa
was-Sifaat (p 290), from Abu Dharr radiallaahu 'anhu. The
hadeeth is authentic due to its various routes of transmission - as Shaykh
al-Albaanee has explained in as-Saheehah (no.109).
6.
Saheeh: Related by Abu Daawood (no.4727) and al-Bayhaqee in
as-Asmaa was-Sifaat, (no.398), from Jaabir radiallaahu
'anhu. It was authenticated by Imaam adh-Dhahobee in al-'Uluww
(p.58).
7. Saheeh: Related by Ahmad (3/153), from Anas
radiallaahu 'anhu. And the addition is related by Ibn Jareer
at-Tabaree in his Tafseer (11/27). The hadeeth was authenticated by
al-Albaanee in as-Saheehah (no.477).
8.
Sharhul-'Aqeedatit-Taahawiyyah (p.27) of Imaam Ibn
Abil-'lzz. |