Don't Let Him Spoil Your Relationship with Allah!

Peace be upon you, dear brothers. Yesterday, I visited a brother who has recently been afflicted with many trials, including the loss of his two newborn children, and he has no one else. By Allah's will, the brother was saying: "Patient and content, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds." I said to him: "You are grieving, yes, but it is right for you to find joy with this grief, joy because Allah, the Exalted, is making you patient, and this means that Allah wanted good for you." He said: "Honestly, I do not find this joy."

Reasons for Doubting Allah's Mercy

I said: "Okay, why is that?" He said: "Because I doubt that such a trial will enter me into Paradise." I said: "Why?" He said: "Sometimes I doubt that Allah, the Exalted, will have mercy on me." I said to him: "Wait, this is despair in the mercy of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted." He said: "I seek refuge in Allah, I am despairing of myself, not of my Lord, the Glorified and Exalted, meaning the problem is with me."

I said to him: "Do you love Allah and His Messenger?" He said: "Of course." "Do you glorify Allah and His Messenger?" He said: "Of course." "Do you say words of disbelief?" He said: "I seek refuge in Allah." "Do you aid the enemies of the nation against it?" He said: "I seek refuge in Allah, rather I pray Fajr present, and in the courses that I give, I mention the hadiths of the Prophet, peace be upon him." Meaning, the brother has Islamic dignity.

He said: "But honestly, I do these deeds without joy. It is true that my fear of sins has not affected these deeds and my acts of obedience, but I do them without joy." I said: "Okay, no problem, sins like what?" He said: "For example, I smoke and I am not able to leave this habit." I said: "Are you admitting your mistake in this?" He said: "Yes, I admit."

Acknowledging Sin and Allah's Forgiveness

So where does this go from the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "{And others have acknowledged their sins, mixing a righteous deed and another evil. Perhaps Allah will forgive them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful}" [At-Tawbah: 102].

Look, brothers, a very important point: Allah may bless a person with worldly blessings, and this may be a test. If he does not give thanks for them, it will be a burden on him in the Hereafter. This is a great blessing, we must be happy with it, find joy in it. This has no meaning except that Allah wanted good for you. When Allah tests you and makes you patient, what does it mean except that Allah wanted good for you? When Allah makes you love Him, the Glorified and Exalted, and makes you love His Messenger, peace be upon him, and makes you love His religion and His Quran, this has no interpretation except that Allah wanted good for you.

Satan and the Station of Gratitude

So when you say: "By Allah, sins prevent me from feeling that I deserve mercy," take heed, this is not an accounting of the self. Self-accounting is commendable. This is the voice of Satan. Why? Satan wants to deprive you of the station of gratitude.

The station of gratitude, Ibn Al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, in his great book "Madarij As-Salikin," mentioned the greatest rank, what is the greatest rank? The rank of the grateful, the rank of gratitude. So when Allah blesses you with religious blessings such as patience, contentment, love of Allah and His Messenger, and glorification of Allah and His Messenger, it is incumbent upon you to be grateful. But when you continue to doubt yourself under the pretense that I hate sins and I am deficient before Allah, you exaggerate to the point that you doubt Allah's love for you and doubt that Allah wanted good for you, thereby depriving yourself of the station of gratitude. Satan prevents you from being grateful for this blessing.

But do you know what happens? At that moment, you think that Allah is tempting you with the abundance of these blessings, that there is temptation, and consequently, every gift that comes to you from the gifts of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, you feel it is poisoned. Why? Because it is temptation, not a blessing. No, Allah is more compassionate, more merciful, and greater than that His gifts are poisoned. When He blesses you with religious blessings, this means that He wanted good for you. So beware that Satan deprives you of the station of gratitude to Allah, the Exalted.

Look at this brother, because the matter is not clear to him, he was deprived of the station of gratitude and did not find joy in worship. Brothers, Allah, the Exalted, is severe in punishment, but notice the balance in the great Quran: "{Know that Allah is severe in punishment and that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful}" [Al-Ma'idah: 98]. You see many people have contradictions, you may find in some actions that he is secure from the plot of Allah and overcomes the side of hope, and at the same time he doubts that he is not merciful.

Despair in Allah's Mercy and Security from His Plot

I told this brother a hadith or a saying of Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, which he found strange. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "The major sins: associating partners with Allah, despairing of Allah's mercy, security and doubt in Allah's mercy, or despair in Allah's mercy, and despair in Allah's mercy, and security from Allah's plot." He said: "Despair in Allah's mercy is great." Yes, great, because you diminish or reduce the status of one of the attributes of Allah, the Glorified and Exalted. You say: "From my side, I blame myself." No, my brother, this is a way for Satan to tell you: "Of course, of course, Allah is merciful but you do not deserve His mercy, Allah is Forgiving but your sins will not be rectified for a sincere repentance so that Allah may forgive them." This is a cunning and evil satanic trap, beware of it.

And thus, look at the balance: from the major sins, from the greatest major sins is despair in Allah's mercy, and at the same time security from Allah's plot. How is it that security from Allah's plot? That you commit sins and you are secure from their effect in this world and the Hereafter, that Allah will not make your heart cling to these sins, and there is a kind of non-accountability, some people are of a kind of audacity, it is said to him: "This is a sin," he says: "What, did I stand on this matter? I am doing good deeds." He belittles his sin.

But as long as you hate the sin and abhor it, you are on the right path. And remember the saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him: "Whoever is pleased with his good deeds and displeased with his bad deeds is a believer." Or may Allah grant you patience and contentment with His decree, the Glorified and Exalted.

Therefore, dear ones, we do not want Satan to deprive us of the station of gratitude. Okay, the sins that I do, these sins I defend against and fight, and I am in the care of Allah, and I am in the care of Allah means I seek help from Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, not that there is estrangement between me and the Lord of Glory, the Glorified and Exalted, but I feel that Allah wants good for me and that Allah loves me every time He enables me to perform acts of obedience. And this sin is not me, it is not that I am Iyad the sinner and I am so and so the sinner because I commit this sin. No, if I am indeed mostly for Allah in general and loving Allah in general and performing His obligations, but I have a specific sin, this is not part of my personality, I seek help from Allah to leave it, it does not obscure my relationship with Allah.

Do not allow anything to obscure your relationship with Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, or deprive you of the joy of enjoying religious blessings and reaching the station of gratitude for them. This is the meaning that I wanted to emphasize, dear ones.

Conclusion and Recommendations

And in summary and conclusion, we say: If you see that Allah blesses you in your religion: love, glorification, patience, contentment, then thank Allah and know that He wanted good for you. As for sins, seek help from Allah regarding them, look at yourself with a positive view: "Allah wanted good for me, Allah enabled me for all this good, so it is a defect on me, it is a defect on me that I remain persistent on this sin."

Okay, and you remain persistent on it? "{And others have acknowledged their sins, mixing a righteous deed and another evil. Perhaps Allah will forgive them}." You do not belittle it and you strive against it as much as you can while you are in the care of Allah, not while you are far from Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, or your relationship with Him, the Glorified and Exalted, is obscured.

We ask Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, to grant us understanding in our religion, to teach us, and to benefit us. Peace be upon you.