Fourteenth Ramadan Lecture Presented by Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi, 1443 A. H.
The Human and the Factors of Istiqama and Deviation
I seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth, and that Muhammad, our master, is His servant, Messenger, and Last Prophet.
O Allah, confer Your salat and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad as You conferred Your salat and blessings upon Ibrahim and the Family of Ibrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad's good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahidin.
Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
O Allah, guide us and grant us acceptance, for You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing; accept our repentance, for You are the Relenting and the Merciful.
Istiqama in the march of this life based on servitude to Allah (‘Our Lord is Allah’) and according to His guidance and command (‘So remain on a right course as you have been commanded, along with whoever has repented with you’) is what a person should seek to obtain. It is the choice of the believers and the successful, which represents the mindful and honest affiliation to faith; it is a great favour: If one obtains that , it is a great success and a great favour that Allah bestowed upon him/her. That is because it leads to goodness, might, and honour in this life and great success in the Hereafter.
As we pointed out yesterday, Istiqama is the way that preserves the human dignity of people, so that they live a free and honourable life with dignity, not as slaves to Shaytan, not as slaves to Taghout, not as slaves to Shaytan's Auliya, and not as slaves to the inclination of the soul, the inclination that enslaves people to Shaytan. Therefore, the person moves in the path of Istiqama as a servant to Allah (Glory be to Him) who moves according to the guidance of Allah, the Merciful, the Great, and the Generous, so s/he has a connection of faith with Allah (Glory be to Him) and enjoys His love, great care, and blessing.
Allah (Glory be to Him) is the most Merciful, the most Generous, and the Possessor of Great Bounty; He wants what is good for His servants, bestows His blessings upon them, and guides them to what is good for them in their life and Hereafter and to what grants them salvation, success, righteousness, and goodness in this life and the Hereafter. Those who respond to Him have His promise to grant them a good life, great success, His pleasure, and Jannah, as well as salvation from torment.
He (Glory be to Him) does not only bestow goodness, mercy, grace, and bounty upon His servants and guide them to what grants them salvation when they respond to Him, but also increases them in guidance and illuminates their path: {‘O you who have attained faith, if you become mindful of Allah, He will give you a criterion’}; {‘And as for those who are guided, He increases them in guidance’}. He (Glory be to Him) also purifies themselves when they respond to Him, and He bestows upon them His great providence that to a great extent has to do with increasing righteousness, Taqwa, light, guidance, transcendence, and elevation of faith, humanity, and morality.
Although He (Glory be to Him) tests His servants in this life, He wants success and happiness for them, and He wants them to achieve great results, since He stands in no need of them, their good deeds, or acts of worship. Indeed, He (Glory be to Him) does not use His test to keep His servants away from the great results of keeping to the right path, or to impose obstacles on them so they cannot keep moving towards His pleasure and Jannah. Putting people on trial is an integral part of people's obligations, responsibilities, and living circumstances. However, the righteous enjoy divine providence and transcend in their faith and moral side in the face of all tests, leading to a positive result: They increase in their awareness and success and enjoy greater support from Allah (Glory be to Him).
As for those who go astray and keep welcoming more and more evil into their souls (they do not stick to a right and good course that is based on true response and repentance to Allah or keep seeking to remedy mistakes, but they instead continue in their deviation and stick to what increases evil within their souls), they will fail when on trial. Indeed, they will go astray and deviate from the right path. This is true for some people, as we said yesterday, and it is of a real-life occurrence.
Even some of those who lived in the early days of Islam, after they embraced Islam through the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&F), some of them turned back from Islam into Kufur, while others into Nifaq or deviated at their behavioural, moral, and practical levels. That is well known and received much attention in the Holy Quran, which designated the different groups among Muslim society at the time and presented the test that revealed the true state in reality: Allah says, {‘Never would Allah leave the believers in the state which you are in until He distinguishes the nasty from the good’}.
Guarding against deviation
So if a person is subject to falling into a state of deviation, s/he needs to stay on his/her guard, seek the factors of success, keep turning to Allah (Glory be to Him) for support, and take into consideration all factors that can help him/her remain steadfast, continue walking in the path of righteousness, keep to whatever Allah commanded, and remain on a right course based on the great faithful perspective embodied in the saying, {‘Our Lord is Allah.’} If one pays attention to this issue, which is a very serious issue, then that represents the first requirement that helps him/her remain on a right course—that is, to be aware of this issue and keep away from deviation, swerve, and going astray.
The path of Istiqama is, as we said, a great path that leads to goodness in this life and the Hereafter, hounour, and dignity, for Allah says in the Holy Quran, {‘That is Allah's bounty’}. When Allah presents the characteristics of faith, which we must possess and abide by in the march of our life, He concludes by saying, {‘That is Allah's bounty’}—great bounty and high honour. {‘The path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your favour’}—so it is a great favour and high honour, and one needs to be aware of this matter, of the importance of being in the path of truth with the right position, moving according to what Allah has commanded and guided to, and keeping to that.
In addition to what Allah provides of guidance, support, and success, there is in the right path what helps one remain on a right course due to its educational impact and blessing that add to one’s spiritual purification and cleansing, desire for the path of truth, and love for right positions, good deeds, and good qualities. This is a very important matter that helps people keep to the right path, face challenges, and show endurance in the face of different effects, which are often bad ones.
Allah says, {‘And never would Allah have caused you to lose your faith’}. Therefore, Allah (Glory be to Him) wants success for you and never seeks to render your faith, Jihad, and good deeds worthless. Rather, He (Glory be to Him) is the One Who presents what can preserve your good deeds, faith, and state of Istiqama: {‘And as for those who are guided, He increases them in guidance’}. However, this requires us to move in a right way and always keep turning to Allah (Glory be to Him).
The state of deviation, swerve, and going astray has various forms. It usually starts in the form of practical deviation: a deviation in actions, whether at the behavioural level or the level of the attitudes and behaviours that violate Allah's commands and His instructions. At the level of direct misdeeds, a person disobeys Allah and keeps committing the misdeeds that Allah has forbidden (misdeeds, sins, and crimes) without repentance to Allah or turning to Him. This turns into a continuous behaviour, which has bad effects on the person, his/her mood, and emotions and keeps him/her from having divine support. The resulted bad effects can lead to complete swerve or to complete deviation, and one may face a hard test.
Or it could relate to how a person carries out his/her responsibilities. If s/he does not carry out them in accordance with the guidance and instructions of Allah (Glory be to Him), and if his/her practical performance contains a lot of moody actions (committing injustices and wrongdoings or neglecting responsibilities) that contradict with Allah's instructions and teachings, this may reflect badly on his/her effort and its acceptance . his/her effort stems from his/her personal mood and the inclination of the soul. S/he is not keen to carry out his/her duties correctly and properly.
Also, of the states of deviation is the deviation that occurs at the practical level and later turns into intellectual . A person, for example, might deviate in his/her practical performance; s/he might make a mistake, but then deliberately sticks to it. S/he might, in his/her practical reality, commit actions that represent disobedience to Allah's commands and guidance and do not go in line with His guidance and command. Later, s/he starts justifying his/her deviation and disobedience, so s/he seeks to present what intellectually backs his/her deviation. However, all of that has no true foundation but mere distortion and is not backed by truth. Indeed, s/he depends on distortion of facts to back his/her falsehood and misdeeds.
This happens to many people, especially those who deviate among the educated. Such people seek to justify their deviation, so they make up fabrications and explanations in an intellectual way. This intensifies the state of deviation and makes it become a practical state and an intellectual state, which are explained and justified that may get to the level of fabricating lies against Allah (Glory be to Him). This state is too dangerous.
Of the states of deviation is the practical deviation that develops into negative positions. A person might hold contrary views, stick to them, or act badly with regard to the way, as we mentioned, s/he carries out responsibilities: S/he does not carry them out according to the guidance of Allah in his/her approach and behaviour or according to the values that Allah instructed in the Holy Quran, such values that make deeds righteous, help one gain the desirable fruit of deeds, and so on—this is accompanied with bad deeds that are clearly deviated.
After that, when the person has deviated and refused to change course, s/he loses success. Therefore, his/her state of deviation from the right path, the right way, the right deeds, and the right position turns into the negative position. So s/he moves to hinder away from Allah's path and adopts negative positions against the truth and the right path as a whole. His/her role becomes all about hindering away from the path of Allah (Glory be to Him), which is a role that serves the enemies of truth, the enemies of faith, the enemies of Taqwa, and the enemies of the right path. S/he goes wherever they go in a way that supports some or even all of their positions.
This state happens to many people: They move, but in their move, there are a lot of impurities, negativities, and bad actions, and in the end, s/he might deviate. After deviating and going astray, s/he adopts negative positions, hindering positions, discouraging positions, and offensive positions. Indeed, s/he abandons the right path and turns into the negative direction, the bad direction, and the opposite direction, whether in the way of Nifaq directly or in the way of those with a sickness in their hearts (as named in the Holy Quran). This happens to many people.
The inclination of the soul and its many serious consequences
Some may not go beyond the state of deviation; however, it is a serious state as it keeps one from Allah's support and from the right, practical way and enslaves him/her to the inclination of the soul. In the end, s/he loses his/her right, practical way.
These are some forms of deviation, swerve, and going astray that happen after one has moved (has really moved) in the right path.
With regard to the factors that lead to deviation, swerve, and going astray, the first of which is the inclination of the soul. The inclination of the soul is a title that includes many details, and it is a very serious title that receives much attention in the Holy Quran. It speaks about inclination a lot and about its dangers and negative effects. Allah (the Almighty) told Prophet Dawud (PBUH)—so it becomes a reminder for every believer—{‘And do not follow the inclination, lest it misguide you from the path of Allah’}. If a person follows the inclination of his/her soul, this will make him/her deviate from the path of Allah, the right path, and the path of truth; then it makes him/her go astray. This is a very dangerous issue.
Of the details that have to do with the inclination of the soul is moral ambitions. This happens when a person is given authority. When given authority or when gaining victory, some people's moral ambitions start moving, so s/he becomes greedy to have high positions, to have a great reputation, to have great influence, to have great effect, and to enjoy great importance among people so that s/he enjoys a specific title, a particular position, or an important official status of influence and effect. This matter to him/her is so fundamental that if s/he does not get it, s/he will leave the right path as a whole. Such an ambition becomes his/her main goal.
S/he might have started with an honest and sincere intention for the sake of Allah, seeking His pleasure and adoring the right position and the right path; however, psychological deviation latter occurs deep inside him/herself at the level of purpose, hope, and orientation. As a result, instead of seeking Allah's pleasure and a high rank with Him, this person gets attracted to high status, position, reputation, and importance, which become the most important thing to him/her. Even the title and official status become the criterion that shapes his/her orientation, position, and satisfaction. So, without obtaining such things, s/he becomes indignant, malicious, complaining, and perplexed, and s/he takes a position against the just cause and those people on the right path, falling into a state of inaction and shrinking from his/her responsibilities. That is because the primary matter upon which s/he decides whether or not to proceed and pay efforts, is his/her goal, position, status, reputation, importance, and even title.
The rank would be enough for some people to, if not having a particular rank or position of authority, turn away from the right path, change, adopt a completely different position, and shrink from his/her responsibilities. Then, s/he starts to feel no motive to keep to the right path and makes that the primary focus of his/her hopes and interests away from Allah and what He has: {‘But that which is with Allah is better and more enduring’}.
When enjoying a state of authority, materialistic ambitions appear. For some people, both the materialistic and moral ambitions occur: S/he yearns for position, fame, titles, authority, and money. These ambitions bring with them diseases at the psychological level, driving him/her away from faith, sincerity, and truthful devotion to Allah. His/her ambitions, interests, and desires become what affects his/her performance, deeds, and concerns.
This is a very serious issue and occurs to a lot of people. At the beginning, s/he sets out with good and pure intention and sometimes under very difficult circumstances where fears prevail over ambitions; or rather, there is no room for ambitions at all. Indeed, this is true for some situations: There is nothing to seek, as there are only fears, dangers, and challenges. S/he may successfully overcome all of this. Nonetheless, when s/he reaches a position of authority (where there are positions, ranks, fame, and titles), s/he fails the test and cannot bear temptations nor keep himself/herself under control. Therefore, his/her inner feelings along with purposes, orientations, and interests keep changing to the extent that s/he sets fame, rank, power, title, and official status as his/her worshipped false god—an extremely serious state that every person must guard against.
Materialistic ambitions have a serious impact on the person. If s/he has a materialistic orientation—trying to possess materialistic potentials, being eager for a lot of money, and looking for a luxurious life at any cost—s/he will keep running after all of that and direct all his/her concerns, hopes, and efforts to achieve it. So when s/he succeeds in achieving that, s/he becomes satisfied and interactive and moves with devotion. However, if s/he does not get what s/he wants, s/he becomes a different person who is always of complaining spirit, spiteful, indignant, angry, stressed, and very upset. Then, s/he starts taking negative positions and looks for any banners to wave as a pretext to offend, take negative positions, prevent others from the course of Allah, cause destruction, discourage people, and disturb and break their unity. In fact, the main reason behind all of that (whatever the raised banners are) is his/her materialistic motives, ambitions, and desires.
That may lead some people into betrayal and dishonesty about public funds, which do not belong to him/her and have to do with fulfilling his/her responsibilities. It may also lead him/her to commit injustice for the sake of obtaining unlawful money, treating people unjustly, and stealing what is rightfully theirs. This leads to deviation from the path of Istiqama and causes Allah's wrath, rage, and torment. Besides, it renders all his/her previous good deeds worthless and keeps him/her away from achieving success for the rest of his/her life. What /he is going to lose is a lot because if a person gained the possession of the entire world or owned gold equal to the earth in size, s/he would be willing to pay it in the Hereafter to protect himself/herself from the severe torment of Allah.
What you gain when you deviate from the right path and when you violate your values, principles, and the right direction is worthless; it equals nothing when compared to your loss: losing Jannah, the eternal happiness, your spiritual transcendence, your dignity, your faith-based values, and your honour in sticking to what is right. That is because greediness is lowness and decline. It declines one's status and dignity. It is dangerous to the soul and its honour and dignity.
The state of material greediness has to do with the inclination of the soul. When a person falls into this state, s/he starts to look at it as a right: S/he considers that s/he deserves to have his/her material demands met, as well as all his/her material desires, because s/he has taken a rightful position. As a result, s/he wants the price from people, their rights, or public right. Therefore, s/he gets way greedier and far more rapacious while sticking to this perspective (the perspective of entitlement), that makes him/her think s/he deserves getting this and that, and so s/he starts to count it as a favour. Such people think they have done a favour to Islam because of their position: {‘They regard their acceptance of Islam as a favour to you. Tell , “Do not regard your Islam as a favour to me. Rather, it is Allah Who has done you a favour by guiding you to the faith’}. Such a person keeps reminding others of what s/he has done: ‘I stood this position, and I did this and that, so why do you not give me this or that?!’ S/he starts to make a long list of his/her personal demands and desires that s/he sees that people are obliged to provide him/her with and to fulfil as soon as s/he wants without any delay. The state of greediness is too dangerous!
Of the factors that badly affect a person's direction and his/her state of Istiqama is arrogance, conceit, and self-centredness. For example, some people may walk into the right path, some maybe in early stages (even in a very early stage), which is a great favour from Allah. So they pay efforts and keep moving in this path. This state helps them to be granted success by Allah (Glory be to Him) and be honoured with moving in the right path. People usually achieve that.
However, at some point, people might fall into a state of arrogance due to forgetting Allah; they do not, any more, consider their success as a favour from Allah or that it is success and grace granted by Allah. They start to consider that it is a payback for their personal brilliance, and so consider that they are important people, that they are talented and brilliant, and that every success they have achieved is because of themselves and their personal brilliance. They forget Allah and His bounty and favour. They, step by step, keep thinking highly of themselves until they think of themselves as very great people and very brilliant people with no shortcoming. They think of themselves as being in very high positions and assume that people should deal with them based on that. They think that people should always glorify them, sanctify them, obey them in all they want and desire, respond to their demands, and deal with them with humbleness, which matches the position that they created for themselves.
On top of that, such a person usually deals badly with other people. S/he loses humility in dealing with people and has no problem offending people because s/he sees that s/he is great and that people around him/her are nothing. Therefore, s/he does not hesitate to offend people, and at the same time, s/he is expecting respect from them (high levels of respect), but s/he does not see that s/he should be dealing with them with respect or appreciation.
Egotism is reflected in how s/he deals with people, in his/her approach, and in how s/he carries out his/her responsibility. S/he stops discharging responsibility according to morals and values and in a state of humility, mindfulness, keenness, loyalty, honesty, and seriousness. S/he moves according to his/her personal motive in all matters. This means that s/he is the centre of all that s/he does and that his/herself is the criterion when dealing with people: How do they see him/her? Even when s/he discharges his/her responsibility! So s/he focuses on responsibilities that bring him/her fame; however, s/he is not willing to do what might not lead to fame however important they are. S/he loves and feels comfortable towards those who compliment him/her and exaggerate in praising him/her, and s/he considers them as good people. On the other hand, s/he despises others for as a simple reason as being advised by them: If they give him/her a piece of advice or alert him/her of shortcomings or mistakes (even though it is brotherly or in a polite way), this piece of advice irritates him/her and causes him/her to have ill feelings.
Self-centredness makes one regard everything as personal matters: S/he thinks of all what comes from people as a personal issue, a personal position, or a personal ill feeling. S/he looks at all matters in the practical reality based on this perspective. This state is serious, for it keeps one away from Allah and gets him/her to deny Allah's grace on him/her. Furthermore, in the end, it has horrible effects that get the person to lose his/her good deeds and what Allah could give him/her of people's love among Allah's slaves. Then s/he does not achieve his/her hopes; instead, s/he tortures him/herself with ill feelings, which accumulate and get followed with many things. everything poses a problem to him/her: A piece of advice would cause him/her to turn life upside down; an observation would cause him/her spare no effort to face it; problems in the practical reality would make him/her look at everything as personal and explain everything as if it were personal. S/he keeps being busy with him/herself and going into dispute at the verbal and practical levels based on this. This state is too serious, and faith-based discipline is what makes a person stay away from that. We will come to draw much attention to this matter.
Among the factors of deviation that have to do with the desires of the soul is transgression, which occurs in the state of authority. At times of great challenges and difficult circumstances, some people may keep paying effort in the cause of Allah. However, when authority comes, they transgress the limits, commit injustice, become arrogant in their dealing with the servants of Allah, and deviate from His guidance and commands: {‘So remain on a right course as you have been commanded, along with whoever has repented with you, and do not transgress’}. They may do injustice to others, when angry or upset. So if anything goes wrong with them, they address the matter in a way that goes beyond justice or what is right. This is of very serious consequences on the person, and it, as mentioned earlier, comes when some get authority. Indeed, some people fall into a state of transgression when having authority. This is why Allah says, {‘So remain on a right course as you have been commanded, along with whoever has repented with you, and do not transgress.’} Transgression is a serious issue.
When those in power get angry, upset, or nervous about something, their reaction becomes excessive, surpassing justice and what is right—a kind of reaction that comes nowhere near justice or what is right. Therefore, it is all about satisfying their desires and their rage, making themselves content, and translating their level of nervousness into action. Their reaction and anger become the criterion according to which they handle things.
Those in a position of authority are always at risk of falling into this state. When you are in any position of authority (for example, a security official) or you are a person of influence, importance, or power (in any position of authority, whether having authority over a group or being a senior security or military official or an official in any position of authority)—when a person is in any position of authority or influence, s/he should keep away from handling things according to his/her level of anger, agitation, discontent, or annoyance. If anger and agitation becomes his/her criterion for handling things, s/he will turn into a tyrant or an oppressor, and his/her behaviour will become that of an arrogant. Worse than that, s/he may seriously commit a very serious kind of injustice whether by words, attitudes, or actions at work or in other places. This is a state that takes one away from the path of Istiqama and causes Allah's wrath (Glory be to Him).
Times of anger and agitation could be of very serious consequences. When some of those in positions of responsibility get angry and agitated, they become arrogant in their words, behaviours, and manners because they look at things based on the great status they falsely see themselves enjoy. So they do not deal with things according to justice and the right criterion, nor do they care to do that. This is a very serious issue.
{‘Do not overstep the limits, for He sees everything you do. And do not rely on those who have done injustices’}—do not rely even slightly on those who oppress because this may cause you to transgress. Some people learn from the tyrants the way they control the country and deal with people, instead of returning to Allah's manifest way in order to adhere to it. They would say , ‘We are the authority, and this is how we should deal, behave, and talk with others.’ As a result, they transgress. This is of very serious consequences.
Of what is branched from the inclination of the soul, and of the factors of deviation and swerve from the line of Istiqama, is moral and financial corruption. Moral corruption is a vice as well as a crime and misdeed at the same time. It is of the most dangerous things when it comes to the bad effects on the human's spirituality: All forms of moral corruption do make the soul get evil, wicked, and degraded. Consequently, the human soul changes and so turns into a malicious soul that no longer feels attracted to the values of faith, to the right path, and to good deeds like before. And the soul then tends to bad things. So the human, his/her speech, his/her tongue, and his/her expressions become malicious. Also, his/her behaviour becomes bad; his/her interests change, and s/he neglects his/her responsibilities. This matter is too dangerous for a person, and s/he should guards against falling in it.
Financial corruption is also a betrayal, a sin, a vice, an offense of bad effects, and injustice, as well. Allah says, {‘O believers! Do not betray Allah and the Messenger, nor betray your trusts knowingly’}. This is a very dangerous issue, which comes from the inclination of the soul, and one must be aware of it.
In addition, among the factors affecting some people are the problems and disputes . In the framework of the actual headway to take the right position, the path of Istiqama on the base of Allah's commands and guidance, a person may encounter difficulties, problems, challenges, and sometimes conflicts. In the framework of fulfilling responsibilities and collective performance, people go ahead collectively to fulfil their collective responsibilities. However, divergence in points of view, differences of views, or problems in the practical reality may happen. Such cases must be addressed with a practical spirit with commitment to Taqwa. That is because all may happen in all work reality and in all work fields: Divergences in views, differences of views, problems in the practical performance, and shortcomings in performance may happen. However, such situations must not turn into conflicts, into personal ill feelings, and then into personal matters. This is of very serious consequences.
Some people, for instance, may take any practical problem or practical discussion personal, as if it were a personal matter. For instance, when his/her opinion is not accepted, s/he takes it personal though this has been because his/her view may not have been right, may not have been clearly comprehended at the very least, or may not have been convincing to be right. That is, the matter does not go beyond his/her viewpoint.
About the problems in the practical reality, in the practical reality some particular problems, obstacles, or delays and absence of certain things happen. If the issue turns into personal ill feelings that accumulate in some, they, in the end, become an obstacle of psychological dimension to continue paying effort. So s/he turns his/her back to his/her responsibilities and starts to change. Some may fall into a negative state, in which s/he tries to hinder others of working for the sake of Allah, discourage, and disturb the unity of the people. S/he tries to widely extend his/her problem by spreading the state of ill feelings, resentment, and discontent; then, s/he makes it bigger and greater, and turns it as if it were the Islam itself, as if it were the truth, as if it were Jihad, and as if it were everything so that it must be above everything else, including basic responsibilities, important positions, big challenges, existing conditions, and great deeds. Everything is unworthy of his/her attention, and s/he gets preoccupied in his/her thinking and attention by his/her problem: S/he is always talking about it, complaining about it, adopting positions based on it, and accusing others because of it. S/he keeps being vengeful, and s/he has nothing to focus on except that problem, which becomes the ultimate focus of his/her thinking, communication, attention, and attitude, as well as directing all his/her efforts into it. This state is too dangerous, of which one must be aware, because anything can affect you when moving in the right path that proves your servitude to Allah, your obedience to Allah, and your response to what is right. It is dangerous! Nothing deserves to be an obstacle holding you back from maintaining what Allah has ordered to be maintained.
These are some of the obstacles, problems, and factors that cause a person to go astray and deviate. S/he may face a certain test that can cause him/her to completely deviate from the right path.
The factors that help keeping to Istiqama
About the factors that help keeping to Istiqama, the first of which is turning to Allah (Glory be to Him). This is a very important matter; of the most important things a person must ask Allah for are success and steadfastness.
One of the most important prayers mentioned in the Holy Quran is the prayer of those who are well grounded in knowledge. As you can see, Allah has described them as well grounded in knowledge, who have consciousness, insight, well-grounded knowledge, sense of knowledge, knowledge of the truth, and knowledge of guidance to a high, stable, thorough level. Also, they are not marginal in their knowledge and insight; instead, they are of a grounded, thorough, stable level of consciousness and insight. Despite all of that, they do not have a sense of self-importance or rely on themselves in that; they still fear deviation. So Allah has taught us their prayers in the Holy Quran, {‘Lord! Do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us; and grant us Your mercy. You are, indeed, the Great Giver’}. This is among the most important prayers, so when you invoke Allah with it, you must be aware of your need and of the importance of this matter. You must guard against this danger: the danger of deviation. That is because it happens to many people—many do fall into deviation. So if you do not want to deviate as they have done, you must turn to Allah.
Among the prayers comes also, {‘Our Lord! Do not burden us with what we cannot bear’}: Lord, do not burden us (even in practical tests or even in the situations we face) with what we cannot bear so that it affects our commitments, deeds, and priorities.
a prayer for a good end to your life and for granting you success and that Allah does not make you depend on yourself: ‘O Allah, do not place me nor any of your slaves in charge of my soul even for the blinking of an eye .’ This is of the prayers mentioned by the Prophet (PBUH&F). He prayed to Allah not to place him in charge of himself. Here, you are asking Allah Himself to give you permanent care, preserve your faith, and your steadfastness in holding to the right position, so you do not change because of any of the effects that change others.
There are some factors for Istiqama you should focus on, one of which is strengthening your servitude to Allah. You need to continuously enhance the feeling that you are a servant to Allah and reflect the true meaning of your saying, {‘Our Lord is Allah.’} If you do not always strengthen this feeling, you will forget that you are a servant to Allah and become tyrant—this is very serious.
The true scale of your servitude to Allah is your submission to Him. You should be submissive to Allah even with the things that go against your interests and desires. (Do not let your interests and desires be your criterion for dealing with all matters.)
You should also seek the pleasure of Allah; make it your chief purpose. Authority, reputation, and money should not be what attracts you, simply because they are not in the cause of Allah but in the cause of your interests. You should always look for Allah's pleasure with everything you do. In addition, with everything you do successfully, think of it as a favour from Allah without which you could not have achieved anything. With any success you make or any right position you take, remember that it is a favour from Allah.
He (Glory be to Him) has described His believers, muttaqin, mujahidin, and steadfast servants, saying, {‘the ones who constantly praise’}—that is part of His saying, {‘the repentant ones, the worshipers, the ones who constantly praise’}. They always praise Allah, for they believe that success is only from Him; therefore, He must be praised for every achievement and everything He has bestowed upon them because they believe it is from Him—this is an important matter.
Another factor of Istiqama and steadfastness is the strong relationship with Allah's guidance, taking into consideration the causes of guidance; it is very essential because there are some people who get affected by propaganda, semi-truth, suspicion, and deceptive media campaigns. Due to the fact that they do not have adequate awareness and they lack understanding of what refutes such semi-truth, they interact with that and deviate.
In Allah's guidance, we have what provides us with awareness, insight, knowledge, and right understanding so that we do not get affected by propaganda, deceptive campaigns, or semi-truth. It also has a good impact on the soul and gives us insight of what we have to do. This is why it is a principal factor for holding to what is right, even adoring what is right, being satisfied with the truth, and being reassured of it; accordingly, it strengthens your position and steadfastness. In addition, Allah increases in guidance those who seek guidance: {‘And as for those who are guided, He increases them in guidance’}.
Another important factor of Istiqama is the benevolent spirit. Having a benevolent spirit means you like to give and think of what you can do and spend, and this helps you get rid of the stingy and greedy spirit and remain steadfast. Allah says about spending, {‘as an affirmation of their own faith’}. That is because it plays an important role in strengthening the soul in the right path.
One more factor of Istiqama that we have to take care of is devotion to Allah. At some point in his/her life, one may be honest and sincere, seeking Allah's pleasure and acceptance. Later on, his/her devotion and sincerity get affected by the negative factors (mentioned earlier) that lead him/her to deviation and make him/her think only of his/her interests: desires, self-satisfaction, or other things.
Therefore, your devotion to Allah requires protection, maintenance, and continuity. Let your primary concern be Allah's pleasure and His acceptance of your deeds, for everything you want from good and glory is from Him: He grants you honour and all that is good is in His hand. Therefore, do not turn to others for your hopes and desires through what you do; this has a very negative impact. Maintaining devotion to Allah, being engrossed in His obedience, and guarding against any change in the orientation—you should always turn towards Allah (‘Our Lord is Allah’). If your aim changes and becomes all about a specific position, status, or desire under any banner, it is a very serious state that may lead you to deviation.
What can benefit you is seeking to increase faith transcendence, soul purification, and self-accountability and to keep evaluating yourself and what you do. It is a very important matter to work continuously to enhance your faith, insight, and self-purification. You should not stop at a certain point. To stop at a certain point means you think that you no longer need any insight or guidance and that you have ample knowledge. So if others want to advise you, you believe it is not necessary or you rather think of it as annoyance because you do not need it. As a result, you do not react, take initiative, nor listen to Allah's guidance or reminder, benefit, or make betterment in your practical or behavioural reality.
If a person does not seek to achieve transcendence in faith, and s/he stops at a certain level, this standstill begins to affect him/her negatively. Gradually, the bad effect on him/her increases little by little until s/he changes because s/he goes down (instead of transcending) in insight, faith, commitment, interaction, etc. This is of very serious consequences.
Also, taking care of self-accountability is an important matter; that is, one looks at his/her reality, assesses his/her deeds, and tries to find out his/her shortcomings and evaluate what s/he does with a sincere spirit that earnestly looks for shortcomings so as to remedy them. This is an important matter: {‘And let every soul look to what it has sent forth for tomorrow’}. This is your future, and your actions decide your destiny and your relationship with Allah (Glory be to Him). You should be careful about that.
Among the main assistant factors one should take care of and take into consideration is not to follow the steps of Shyatan. One should remain careful of Shyatan and his steps because the tactics and methods that he relies on are a step-by-step approach, with which he draws you towards them little by little, until he traps you into severe, major, and very serious pitfalls. If a person knows that this is Shyatan's tactics, s/he must not be careless or take it easy little by little. This is really serious.
Shyatan, himself, is the first example of deviation from Istiqama: He is the first to go astray from the straight path of Istiqama. In the beginning, he had the same rank as angels, and used to worship Allah (Glory be to Him), but he preserved deceit in himself. He admired his acts of worship and this admiration kept growing bigger and bigger in his eyes: The more acts of worship he did, the more arrogant he became till he ended up glorifying himself by himself instead of glorifying Allah inside himself. He did not see Allah's favour in any of what he had achieved. Self-conceit made him arrogant, and when the time of Allah's test came, he failed, a very terrible and serious failure. So Shyatan uses the method of drawing people through steps.
One of the important matters that a person should understand is the matter of the test and trial. In the practical field of this life, you are on trial, as you are being tested in your affiliation, honesty, and steadfastness. This is very serious. You will be tested: How do you react at times of pleasure? How do you react at times of distress and when facing desires? For a person who keeps turning to Allah, remains on his/her guard, and seeks Allah's help, s/he will pass such tests with great success from Allah (Glory be to Him).
Another main and important matter that a person needs is patience. Patience is very essential for Istiqama and always keeping to the right path. A person needs patience in all cases: anger, satisfaction, lusts, desires, and temptations as well as fears, challenges, dangers, and pressure—in all cases patience is needed. This is why the Holy Quran repeatedly encourages us to be patient: {‘And be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient’};{‘And Allah loves the patient ones’};{‘Indeed, the patient ones will be rendered their reward in full without measure’}. Patience is a must and cannot be avoided. Therefore, a person needs to seek Allah's help: {‘Be patient, for your patience is only with Allah’}; {‘Our Lord, pour out patience upon us’}.
Of the most important matters that a person must constantly guard against is negligence and shortcoming. A person must have such feeling that s/he, no matter what s/he does or presents, will remain short in fulfilling Allah's right upon him/her or what the reality requires. When it comes to fulfilling responsibility, a person cannot fulfil all his/her responsibilities no matter how far s/he has reached, how perfect s/he has been, or how much s/he has done. The credit in all of that belongs to Allah (Glory be to Him). So when a person is granted success, s/he must know that Allah bestowed a favour upon him/her, consider him/herself a defaulter, and ask Allah forgiveness for his/her shortcomings.
We have a very great lesson and an important lesson of what Allah has instructed His Prophet, the Master of all His Messengers: Muhammad (PBUH&F). Allah has commended Messenger Muhammad to ask for forgiveness intensively, and it has been repeated in the Holy Quran. As an example, Allah says, {‘When there comes Allah's support and the victory, and you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes, then glorify the praises of your Lord and seek His forgiveness, for certainly He is ever Accepting of Repentance’}. At the highest level of achievement, at the highest level of fulfilment (victory and successful conquest), and as people entering to the religion of Allah in multitudes), Allah told him to glorify the praises of ‘your Lord’ and seek His forgiveness. ‘Praise your Lord, yet do not praise yourself.’
When a person gets his/her appointed work done and achieves specific results, most people, in such cases, bestow glory upon themselves. At the level of their deep thinking, they sit thinking about themselves that they are incredibly successful, great, important, etc., and they admire themselves. Their obsessions, thoughts, and feelings become all bout that . Then, they think about how others think: Are they going to highly praise them? Are they going to pay them compliments, bestow glory upon them, and magnify their achievement? Are they going to fall short or be negligent to that due to what must be envy, malice, or other reasons?
In every achievement, every success, and every great position one stands, s/he should be on his/her guard against becoming absorbed in the glory of him\herself. Instead, s/he must turn to Allah, consider that all the bounty is from Allah, that all credit goes to Allah, and that the only one who grants success is Allah. He (Glory be to Him) is the One Who grants success, and if not for His help, a person would be nothing, would never succeed, and would never achieve anything. Therefore, s/he should return to Allah and be absorbed in thinking of that . At the level of remembrance, s/he should glorify and praise Allah and ask Him for forgiveness for his/her shortcoming and negligence.
Therefore, these great, noble faith-based feelings protect people from conceit, arrogance, vanity, and self-centredness, and they are of the most important matters people need. However, most people blind themselves to them . This was at the individual level.
At the collective level, any nation that moves according to Istiqama in its servitude to Allah and based on His guidance and orders must enjoy an atmosphere where people enjoin one another to truth and patience. It's a very important matter, which helps people remain in a right course, to be accustomed to enjoin one another to truth, and not to be angry because of that.
It is deeply unfortunate that many are the people who get angry when they are enjoined or advised to what is right even in a way that is polite or normal or that is free from provocation—whenever they are advised to what is right! This is true for many people, especially those who are in high positions of responsibility and who are given some titles. Such people get angrier and more resentful than other people with the person who enjoins or advises them to what is right, no matter how polite and respectful s/he is, no matter if what s/he says is reminding them of Allah (Glory be to Him), and no matter how honest and not hurtful his/her advice is. They still get angry!
It is necessary and a must—if we say it a hundred times, it would be quite a bit—that everyone must get rid of such ill feelings (anger, agitation, and resentfulness) towards who enjoins him/her to what is right, towards who advises him/her to what is right, and towards who warns him/her about certain aspects of shortcomings. Those who are in position of responsibility (whatever their ranks, names, or positions are) are mostly in need to be enjoined to what is right, accept enjoining one another to what is right, and avoid pride and arrogance towards that. This is a very bad state, when the person is being resentful and very angry, because of being advised to what is right. The person should get rid of this mentality completely.
Advising one another is a very important matter, but it should be in a proper way: brotherly reminder, avoiding harmful and offensive words, and refraining from the use of a provocative manner. That is because the provocative manner is considered as a way of insulting and humiliating others rather than advising or enjoining others to what is right.
Also, one of the most important matters is cooperation in righteousness and Taqwa. At the collective level, what benefits people and helps them is their commitment to Istiqama on the right path in accordance with the guidance of Allah (Glory be to Him) and His commands: cooperation in righteousness, in what contains righteousness, and in Taqwa. This helps them, for cooperation is of great blessings and helps achieving great results.
That is enough for today.
We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us success in seeking what pleases Him. O Allah (Glory be to You), have mercy on our martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. You are All-Hearing!
Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
