BE MINDFUL ALLAH, HE SHALL PROTECT YOU

Praise be to God, we praise Him and seek His help, and forgiveness, and we seek refuge with Allah from the evils of our souls and our deeds. Whoever Allah guides none can mislead him, and whoever He cause to stray none can guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone with no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger, sent with guidance and the religion of truth to proclaim it over all religion, he effectively accomplished the message and discharge the trust and he gave sight away from blindness he guided from error. He never leaves any good but points it to us or evil but warned us against it. He thereafter left us on a clear pure path; whose night and day are similar, and only the perversed turns away from the path. May Allah bless him, his family and his companions, and those who follow their footsteps till the Day of Judgment. Consequently, Fear God - O Muslims - and sincerely purify the religion for Him, beware of thimgs that could cause the wrath of the Lord of the Worlds, “O you who have believed, if you fear Allah , He will grant you a criterion and will remove from you your misdeeds and forgive you. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty?” (Anfal: 29). WHOEVER GUARDS FOR ALLAH, ALLAH PROTECTS HIM Muslim brothers, this meaning can be derived from the position of the prophet (pbuh) when leaders of Quraish plotted to either arrest or kill him, or to banish him, but Allah did save him after he blew dust in their faces, and he left them safe and sound. This pattern remains the practice of Allah, whoever consciously guards Allah’s rules, Allah protects him, and the greatest protection is that in the matters of religion including the bodily protection. It is not necessary for a person to be protected without being tried, he could be tried just to raise his grades, he could as well fall into pitfalls, however the right disposition with regards to the religion and dawah (advocacy) is that victory comes with patience. It was possible for God Almighty to prevent them (the Quraish) from harming the Prophet completely, but the noble prophet went through the tradition of trials to test his patience, and to amass a great reward in the sight of God, and to also teach the Duat- Reform Advocates how to confront adversity, and exercise patience on whatever harm they meet, whether small or great. Allah, the Almighty reveals this blessed law to his messenger (pbuh)- the mercy to the worlds. Whoever among men holds to it, tread his path and holds tenaciously on to his rope, such are the true believers, the righteous who guides Allah’s limit. Such are the protected under the protection of Allah in this life and the hereafter. Human’s Need to the Protection of Allah: Brothers in Islam, be aware that there is no one who is not in dire need of God’s protection and triumph. How then can a person obtain God’s protection? The messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) have rightly answered this question, as in the hadeeth of Ibn 'Abbaas (RA) where he said: "I was behind the Prophet peace be upon him day and said: “One day I was behind the prophet and he said to me: "Young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, ask of Allah; if you seek help, seek help of Allah. Know that if the Nation were to gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit you only with something that Allah had already prescribed for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with anything, they would harm you only with something Allah had already prescribed for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." ( narrated by Tirmidhi, who said it is true and good hadith) "In that way the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) taught us how we can merit the protection of God- the exalted. He made that a product of our being mindful of Allah- the Almighty, (Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you). What is the meaning of our being mindful of Allah? The meaning is that: we keep His borders, His rights, His orders and His prohibitions. The mindfulness is to stand in complete compliance with His orders, and move away from His prohibitions and bounds. We should not exceed what was ordered and authorized to lead to what He forbade. If we are able to do this, we are indeed among the faithful and pious ones who attain Allah’s protection and special care, God Almighty said: “Surely Allah defends those who believe” (Hajj: 38), Those are great good news which soothes the heart of the believer, who lives in the midst of the struggle between the forces of good and evil in this life, "The forces of evil and delusion work on earth, and the battle continues between good and evil, between guidance and misguidance, and conflict exists between the forces of faith and the forces of tyranny since God created man. Evil gain mastery, falsehood armed, it grips arbitrarily without blame, it attacks without caution, it also controls to stray people from good if they seek it, and lead them away from the truth if they open their hearts for its (whispers). It is therefore mandatory for faith, goodness and truth to gather power which could protect them from oppression, safeguard it from sedition, and guards if as well from by thorns and poisons. Allah did not want to subject the believers to their power thus He informs them of His closeness and His defense for them. Brothers of faith: Allah protects His pious slaves in this world and the hereafter, He keeps them in this world in themselves, their children, and their families, Allah, The Almighty said: Unquestionably, [for] the allies of Allah there will be no fear concerning them, nor will they grieve Those who believed and were fearing Allah For them are good tidings in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. No change is there in the words of Allah . That is what is the great attainment. (Q10: 62-64) Imam Ibn Kathir says in his interpretation commenting on this verse: "Allah, the exalted informs that His close friends are those who believe and are pious, anyone who is pious and devout is a friend and ally of Allah. (no fear concerning them) with respect to the horrors of the day of the Hereafter (nor shall they grieve) of what is in this world. " Servants of Allah: The Quran tells us a story of how God Saved the treasure of the two young orphan lads which was buried under a wall which was near falling by the intervention of prophet Musa and a righteous man. It also stated that their father was righteous, see how Allah guarded and protected him even in his descendants, God Almighty said: “And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord. And I did it not of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience." (18: 82) Whoever guards Allah, He protects him, whoever guards Him in his youth days, Allah guards him during his old age, He magnifies his strength, hearing faculty, his eyesight, strength and mind. There was some of the righteous who lived long and Allah guarded their senses says: Parts of our body we guarded in our youth age and Allah guards them for us in our old age. Brothers of faith: there are many models and many examples in the Qur'an and the Hadith which inform of the protection of Allah for the pious ones which are admonishing and lessons. We would recall some models in the revelation of some prophets and the righteous. This include what the Quran tells us about prophet Ibrahim (AS) when he rose to call to the truth, monotheism, and smashing of idols. But when trials came and was threw into the fire, then came the command of Almighty Allah thus: “We said: “O fire! Be a comfort and peace for Ibrahim; and they desired a war on him, but We made them the greatest losers.” (21: 69- 70) Likewise the case of prophet Musa who labored for Allah and proclaimed His message to pharaoh and his people, in the end after he was commanded to take his companions away, pharaoh and his people followed them; the sea was before them and pharaoh behind them, there and then came the protection of Allah: So they pursued them at sunrise. And when the two companies saw one another, the companions of Moses said, "Indeed, we are to be overtaken!" [Moses] said, "No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me." (26: 60- 62) In the midst of the story of Moses and Pharaoh there is a highlight of a great model of a believer among the people of Pharaoh, here he discharges and offers his honest advice as he said to the family of Pharaoh: And you will remember what I [now] say to you, and I entrust my affair to Allah . Indeed, Allah is Seeing of [His] servants." So Allah protected him from the evils they plotted, and the people of Pharaoh were enveloped by the worst of punishment” (40: 44-45) Of the protection and guard of Allah for His pious servants is the sustaining of the rewards of their regular deeds when they are preoccupied by sickness or journey. The Messenger of Allah peace be upon him says: ((if a servant (of Allah) is sick or travels, it will be written for him the like of deeds he regular does while in sound health and as a resident) "Narrated by Bukhari." Servants of Allah: Another wonderful examples of the protection and guard of Allah for His pious slaves is the account of the three companions of the cave narrated by Messenger of Allah peace be upon him: “While three persons were traveling, the night fell and they had to enter a cave in a mountain in order to spend the night. A big rock rolled over and blocked the mouth of the cave. They said to each other: Nothing could rescue you but invoking Allah with the best deed you have performed (so Allah might remove the rock)”. One of them said, 'O Allah! My parents were old and I used to go out to collect wood. On my return I would milk (the animals) and take the milk in a vessel to my parents to drink. After they had drunk from it, I would give it to my children, family and wife. One day I was delayed and on my return I found my parents sleeping, but I disliked to wake them up, or to feed my family before them. I waited with the vessel in my hand with my children crying at my feet (because of hunger) until dawn when they woke up and drank their share of the milk. O Allah! If You regard that I did it for Your sake, then please remove this rock so that we may see the sky.' So, the rock was moved a bit but it was too small for them to get out. The second said, 'O Allah! You know that I was in love with a cousin of mine, like the deepest love a man may have for a woman, and I tried to seduce her but she refused, until one day she became in need of money, and she came to me for help, so I offered her one hundred and twenty Dinaars (gold currency) provided she gives in to my desire, and she accepted. When I sat in between her legs, she said to me: Fear Allah, and asked me not to deflower her except rightfully (by marriage). So, I got up and left her, though she was the most desired and beloved to me, and made her keep the money. O Allah! If You regard that I did it for Your sake, kindly remove this rock.' So, the rock was moved a bit but it was to small for them to get out. Then the third man said, “O Allah! Once I employed workers, and I paid them, except one who left with out taking his due share, so I invested it and from it great wealth developed. After some time that man came and demanded his money. I said to him: Go to those camels, cows and the shepherd and take them for they are all for you. He asked me not to mock him. I told him that I was not mocking him, so he took it all and left nothing behind. O Allah! If You regard that I did it sincerely for Your sake, then please remove the rock. So, the rock was removed completely from the mouth of the cave, and they came out walking”. (Bukhari & Muslim) Servants of Allah: The greatest result believers derived from guarding the commands of Allah and His prohibitions is that God guides and helps them and saves their religion from temptation until they meet God is with Him satisfied with them, God Almighty says: And those who strive for Us - We will surely guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good. (29: 69) SECOND SERMON Servants of Allah: Islam is greatly concern about peace and stability in the society, it therefore establishes commands, and forbade corruption and evil, it establishes as well bounds, checks and deterring laws. Allah says: “And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” (5: 2) God told us that security is for those who work righteousness, and adheres to the ways of guidance, and move away from the ways of corruption and decadence, the Almighty says: “They who believe and do not mix their belief with injustice - those will have security, and they are [rightly] guided.” (6: 82) The Prophet -peace be upon him, do say whenever he sees the crescent: ((O Allah! establish this crescent for security and faith, safety and Islam, the crescent of good and guidance, my Lord and your Lord is Allah)) "Narrated by Ahmad, Tirmidhi." And Islam achieve security in society in that it takes the hands of the oppressor, the vandals, the transgressors to the souls, and wealth, an action which prevent them from committing crimes, and deterrent to others from rebellion and aggression, because Islam is a religion of justice, a religion of mercy and goodness, it orders not its followers but on goodness, and it never forbid them except from what is evil and harmful, so it places a harsh punishment for those who terrorize people through actions like gangsterism, kidnapping people and others, Allah says: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That is for them a disgrace in this world; and for them in the Hereafter is a great punishment” “Except for those who return [repenting] before you apprehend them. And know that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” (5: 33- 34)