How can we get closer to Allah swt
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
I found this article of Muhammad al-Shareef wherein he shared pointers from Ibn Qayyim, very beneficial.
I was listening to a tape once and the shaykh was talking about stories and hadeeth dealing with children. One of the stories that he mentioned was about the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam playing with children. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was playing with Al-Husayn and then he raised him up for people to see and he said, “Allah will love those who love Al Husayn!”
So it got me thinking of other lessons from the Qu’ran and Sunnah that can give us more ideas of how to we can have Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala love us. Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah actually wrote different ways we can gain Allah’s subhaanahu wa ta’aala love.
One: We need to take advantage of the third portion of the night. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“Every night Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala comes down to the samaa’ ad- dunya and he calls out to the people, ‘Is there anyone who will make du’a, so I may accept their du’a! Is there anyone who will ask for forgiveness, so I shall forgive them!’”
So we should take advantage of this by praying Qiyaam-ul-Layl (voluntary Night Prayer).
Two: We should also remember Allah often. Whenever we are commuting to work or standing in a line somewhere, its always our chance to remember Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. Allah says:
Remember me and I shall remember you (Al-Baqarah 2/152)
And who does not want Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala to remember them?
Three: We should read the Qu’ran with understanding. Read what Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala revealed to us for our life and for our death. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
Will they not contemplate the Qu’ran (An-Nisaa’ 4/82)?
And Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
A book we sent down…so that they may contemplate its verses (As-Saad 38/29).
Four: We should sit and be with those people who truly love Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and spend our time with them. In Surah Al-Kahf, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
(Some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth (Al-Kahf 18/22).
In this verse, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala mentions the dog of the Ahl Al-Kahf (people of the cave) over and over again. Why? It is because of the companions that the dog had, the companions that he was with that he is mentioned so many times. So if a dog is going to be mentioned in the Qur’an so many times because of his compantions, you can imagine how much Allah will love the person who chooses to spend his time with the people Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala loves. As the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam taught us, good companionship is like a person who sells musk. Even if the companion doesn’t give you any musk, you are going to benefit form the smell and fragrance of the musk.
Five: We should love to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“Whoever loves to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala, Allah loves to meet them!”
And no doubt if someone is going to love to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala they will do good for that meeting; they will prepare for that meeting. And the one who does not want to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala, is the one who has been spending his life in disobiedance. He will not love to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala will not love to meet that person.
Six: We should push away everything that stands between us and Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and Allah’s Messenger sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam. We have to critically look at the things that we are doing in disobediance to Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and take them and extract them out of our lives.
Seven: We should always put RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam in front of us. We should always put the wishes of the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam before our wishes. {DEAR READERS KINDLY NOTE THIS POINT AND TRY TO IMPLEMENT IT IN OUR LIVES. MAY ALLAH SWT HELP US PRACTICE IT. AMEEN}
Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala revealed in the Quran:
Say if you love Allah, then follow me. Allah will love you and forgive your sins (A’le-Imraan 3/21)
Eight: We should make patience a part of our character. As they say, a person who continues to do something will be known for that which he does. When a person is patient in his dealings in his home and at his work, then he becomes as-saabir (the patient). And Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala tells us of those who are patient:
And Allah loves those who are patient (A’le-Imraan 3/146)
Nine: We should learn Allah’s subhaanahu wa ta’aala’s asma was-sifaat (names and attributes). So when we read in the Qu’ran Ar-Rahman we should understand it’s meaning and depth and hope Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala has mercy on us. And when we read that Allah is As-Sami’ and Al-Baseer, that He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, we should understand that Allah can see us at all times. And when we read in the Qu’ran that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala is Shadeedul-‘Iqaab, He is severe in punishment, we will think twice before we disobey Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and we will abstain from that action.
Ten: We should continue in doing our nawaafil (voluntary acts). In Hqdeeth Qudsi, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam says that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
The slave will continue to come close to me in voluntary deeds until I love him.
In the sharh (explanation) of this hadeeth, the scholars have said these are voluntary acts of all kinds. Voluntary acts of the tongue and the limbs.
A poet once said, “How can you disobey Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and you claim that you love Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala.”
This is a very unique way of understanding. If your love of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala is true, you will obey Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. Verily the person who loves someone, will follow that person.
I found this article of Muhammad al-Shareef wherein he shared pointers from Ibn Qayyim, very beneficial.
I was listening to a tape once and the shaykh was talking about stories and hadeeth dealing with children. One of the stories that he mentioned was about the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam playing with children. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam was playing with Al-Husayn and then he raised him up for people to see and he said, “Allah will love those who love Al Husayn!”
So it got me thinking of other lessons from the Qu’ran and Sunnah that can give us more ideas of how to we can have Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala love us. Ibn Al-Qayyim rahimahullah actually wrote different ways we can gain Allah’s subhaanahu wa ta’aala love.
One: We need to take advantage of the third portion of the night. The Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“Every night Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala comes down to the samaa’ ad- dunya and he calls out to the people, ‘Is there anyone who will make du’a, so I may accept their du’a! Is there anyone who will ask for forgiveness, so I shall forgive them!’”
So we should take advantage of this by praying Qiyaam-ul-Layl (voluntary Night Prayer).
Two: We should also remember Allah often. Whenever we are commuting to work or standing in a line somewhere, its always our chance to remember Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. Allah says:
Remember me and I shall remember you (Al-Baqarah 2/152)
And who does not want Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala to remember them?
Three: We should read the Qu’ran with understanding. Read what Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala revealed to us for our life and for our death. Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
Will they not contemplate the Qu’ran (An-Nisaa’ 4/82)?
And Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
A book we sent down…so that they may contemplate its verses (As-Saad 38/29).
Four: We should sit and be with those people who truly love Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and spend our time with them. In Surah Al-Kahf, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
(Some) say they were three, the dog being the fourth among them; (others) say they were five, the dog being the sixth,- doubtfully guessing at the unknown; (yet others) say they were seven, the dog being the eighth (Al-Kahf 18/22).
In this verse, Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala mentions the dog of the Ahl Al-Kahf (people of the cave) over and over again. Why? It is because of the companions that the dog had, the companions that he was with that he is mentioned so many times. So if a dog is going to be mentioned in the Qur’an so many times because of his compantions, you can imagine how much Allah will love the person who chooses to spend his time with the people Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala loves. As the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam taught us, good companionship is like a person who sells musk. Even if the companion doesn’t give you any musk, you are going to benefit form the smell and fragrance of the musk.
Five: We should love to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. The Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam said:
“Whoever loves to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala, Allah loves to meet them!”
And no doubt if someone is going to love to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala they will do good for that meeting; they will prepare for that meeting. And the one who does not want to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala, is the one who has been spending his life in disobiedance. He will not love to meet Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala will not love to meet that person.
Six: We should push away everything that stands between us and Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and Allah’s Messenger sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam. We have to critically look at the things that we are doing in disobediance to Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and take them and extract them out of our lives.
Seven: We should always put RasulAllah sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam in front of us. We should always put the wishes of the Prophet sal Allaahu alayhi wa sallam before our wishes. {DEAR READERS KINDLY NOTE THIS POINT AND TRY TO IMPLEMENT IT IN OUR LIVES. MAY ALLAH SWT HELP US PRACTICE IT. AMEEN}
Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala revealed in the Quran:
Say if you love Allah, then follow me. Allah will love you and forgive your sins (A’le-Imraan 3/21)
Eight: We should make patience a part of our character. As they say, a person who continues to do something will be known for that which he does. When a person is patient in his dealings in his home and at his work, then he becomes as-saabir (the patient). And Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala tells us of those who are patient:
And Allah loves those who are patient (A’le-Imraan 3/146)
Nine: We should learn Allah’s subhaanahu wa ta’aala’s asma was-sifaat (names and attributes). So when we read in the Qu’ran Ar-Rahman we should understand it’s meaning and depth and hope Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala has mercy on us. And when we read that Allah is As-Sami’ and Al-Baseer, that He is All-Hearing and All-Seeing, we should understand that Allah can see us at all times. And when we read in the Qu’ran that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala is Shadeedul-‘Iqaab, He is severe in punishment, we will think twice before we disobey Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and we will abstain from that action.
Ten: We should continue in doing our nawaafil (voluntary acts). In Hqdeeth Qudsi, the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam says that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala says:
The slave will continue to come close to me in voluntary deeds until I love him.
In the sharh (explanation) of this hadeeth, the scholars have said these are voluntary acts of all kinds. Voluntary acts of the tongue and the limbs.
A poet once said, “How can you disobey Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala and you claim that you love Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala.”
This is a very unique way of understanding. If your love of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala is true, you will obey Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aala. Verily the person who loves someone, will follow that person.
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