Hoping for the reward and feeling a closeness to Allah the Almighty

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

Hoping for the reward and feeling a closeness to Allah the Almighty
حسام بن عبدالعزيز الجبرين







Hoping for the reward and feeling a closeness to Allah the Almighty













Praise belongs to Allah, whose light illuminated the horizons, the One, the Self-sufficient, the Sustainer, and I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the judge and the just on the Day of Encounter. and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, who has decent morals, peace and blessings of God be upon him.







Afterwards,



I advise you and myself to fear Allah and to do enduring righteous acts and refrain from forbidden acts. Because after the years of this world there will be long times during which we will not be able to draw closer to God through deeds. "Be fearful of a day when you shall be returned to Allah, then every person shall be paid, in full, what he has earned, and they shall not be wronged"Al-Baqara:281).







Brothers in Islam:



Worship of the heart and its frequent recall is evidence of sincerity and strength of faith, and it is a quality of faith, if it is strong in the heart, Then the believer performs acts of obedience easily. And this quality leads him to noble morals like patience, generosity, forgiveness, advice, honesty, trustworthiness, etc. It relates to performing the obligatory duties and abandoning the forbidden, and it has a strong connection with supererogatory actions and voluntary actions. It distances its owner from the suspicion of hypocrisy and makes the Muslim feel enjoyment in secret actions. It is the servitude of hoping for reward, getting nearness to God and seeking His pleasure.







Dear friends,



Here are some hadiths that encourage to hope for reward and draw close to God Almighty;



It is narrated In the two authentic books of hadith: "The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended.








“And it is also narrated in al-Bukhari:A believer) who accompanies the funeral procession of a Muslim out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's reward and remains with it till the funeral prayer is offered and the burial ceremonies are over, he will return with a reward of two Qirats. Each Qirat is like the size of the (Mount) Uhud. He who offers the funeral prayer only and returns before the burial will return with the reward of one Qirat only."








And it is narrated in Muslim: "When a Muslim spends on his family seeking reward for it from Allah, it counts for him as sadaqah".








And in the month of Ramadan, we often hear - May God reached us to Razamazn - "He who observed the fasts of Ramadan with faith and seeking reward (from Allah), all his previous sins would be forgiven, and he who observed prayer on Lailat-ul- Qadr with faith and seeking reward (from Allah), all his previous sins would be forgiven".Haritha was martyred on the day (of the battle) of Badr, and he was a young boy then. His mother came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! You know how dear Haritha is to me. If he is in Paradise, I shall remain patient, and hope for reward from Allah, but if it is not so, then you shall see what I do?" He said, "May Allah be merciful to you! Have you lost your senses? Do you think there is only one Paradise? There are many Paradises and your son is in the (most superior) Paradise of Al- Firdaus."Narrated by Al-Bukhari.








So she said: ( I shall remain patient, and hope for reward from Allah) means: I seek reward from God while refraining from being anxious.







Servants of Allah:



We memorize the words of God: "So, whoever does any good act (even) to the weight of a particle will see it" [Al-Zalzalah 7] But what is its impact on our lives? What effect does it have on our words and our actions?







Do we perceive His saying, Surely, "Allah does not wrong (anyone), even to the measure of a particle? If it is a good deed, He multiplies it, and gives a great reward out of His pleasure".








Do we avoid what we have been forbidden by sensing “And whoever does evil (even) to the weight of a particle will see it"?








Sensing these verses makes the Muslim keen to do good as much as he can and avoid evil, even if it is a little! He does not despise anything of goodness. In the hadith: "Don't consider anything insignificant out of good things even if it is that you meet your brother with a cheerful countenance".( Narrated by Muslim).







Brothers in Islam:



Hoping for the reward and getting closer to God, makes the Muslim join the relationship even if it is cut off! Hoping for the reward and getting closer to the Lord, makes the seller speak true and show the defect even if the value is decreased. Hoping for the reward and drawing close to God, makes the Muslim get up from his bed and head to the house of God in the severe cold, in response to the call: (come towards prayer). Hoping for the reward and drawing close to God makes it easier for the employee to accomplish the required work, even if his manager does not see him, even if his boss does not thank him! Hoping for the reward and getting closer to God leads the son and the girl to hurry to respect his parents and enjoy serving them. Hoping for the reward and drawing close to God is a reason for giving preference to others over himself for which God praised the Ansar. Hoping for the reward and drawing close to God makes the Muslim serve his relatives, neighbours, friends and colleagues as per the capacity and this sense makes them not harm them. Anticipating the reward and drawing close to God makes oneself like those whose sides remain apart from their beds in fear and hope. Hoping for the reward and getting close to Allah makes them spend their money seeking God’s pleasure, seeking reward and getting close to God makes the preacher continue his preaching, wanting nothing but reward. and getting closer to God makes the merchant satisfied with a reasonable profit and makes him apply in his sale the principle of brotherhood and love “None of you can be a true believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself”. And hope for the In following the funeral of a stranger who is away from his family, whether you know him or not.








My dear brother, do not deprive yourself of the reward because of the smile and the cheerfulness of your face. Hope for the reward of the spoken or written word. Hope for the reward of the discipline of your leadership. Hope for the reward to spend on your family and offspring. Hope for the reward to give pleasure to others. Hope for a reward to pick your garbage when you go to a picnic.







Some of the elders used to approach the steps when they walked to the mosque, in anticipation of reward. Because with a step, a degree is raised and sin is forgiven As in the hadith. In general, the pure intention is a trade with God Almighty, God bless you and me.







Second sermon



Praise be to God...








Brothers in Islam,



Hoping for the reward multiplies the good deeds and preserves the activity in worship and preserves the desire for worship. And hoping for reward relieves hardship and pours contentment, sincerity and struggle in the soul.








And hoping for the reward turns habits into acts of worship, and the companions of the prophet (Muhammad peace be upon him)used to hope for the reward of habits as Muaz bin Jabal said:' I keep vigilance and I sleep: I hope for the same reward for my sleep as for my vigilance". Narrated by Al-Bukhari.








Sufyan bin Zubed,( may God have mercy on him,) said: “I am glad that I have an intention in everything, even in eating and sleeping.”








And if the business mind person wants to hit more than one bird with one stone, then the mind of the believer makes him do several intentions in a work.








Al-Ghazali said in Ihya Ul-Uloom: virtues are multiplied because of good intentions, the one can make several intentions in obedience. so he will get the reward of each intention.".







Sheikh Ibn Baz( may God have mercy on him) said: “If a person performs ablution Intending to observe tahayyatul-wazu(prayer of wazu) and he enters mosque after ablution and performs two rakias intending the tahiyyatu-wazu(prayer of ablution) and the tahiyyatul-masjid ( prayer of greeting). He will get a reward for both prayers of salutation and the prayer of the mosque. praise be to God.”








Brothers in Islam:



Let's look at some examples in which multiple intentions can be made. In marriage, their intention can be made to comply with the Prophet’s command (“O young men, whoever among you can marry, let him marry,” )the intention of chastity for oneself, the intention of chastity for a Muslim girl, the intention of seeking a righteous child, the intention of increasing the number of Muslims, and the intention of bringing happiness to her and her family.








And in your recitation of the Holy Qur'an: hope for the reward of a single letter and make the intention to increase faith, the life of the heart. And make the intention to act upon Qur'an, the intention to seek healing from Qur'an, and the intention to avoid abandoning Qur'an, and think that the Qur'an intercedes for those who act upon it.







And in your service to your sister and brother: hope for the reward of doing righteousness with parents, kinship and of good manners.







And in perfecting the work: make the intention of doing perfect the work. Because“Allah loves one who does the job perfectly” and make the intention to make the wages and salary halal( legal) and to evoke the observance of his Lord.







And while gifting a Misiak: hope for the reward of the gifting. And make the intention to spread the Sunnah, and hope that you will get the reward when he will do miswak at the time performing ablution, prayer and others.







And when you go on a picnic with your kinship, make the intention to enter pleasure into their heart, and this is righteousness and charity.







And when you go to the house of God, remember that every step raises a degree and winds up a sin, and that God has prepared for you an abode in heaven, and that you will have the reward of prayer as long as you wait for the obligatory prayer. And realise that angels are praying for you until you are at your prayer place., so how many virtues and goodness will get the one who realises it and waits for prayer after prayer, by which Allah erases sins and raises the ranks, and the majority of scholars are of the view that i’tikaaf is valid even for an hour! And I concluded with a famous phrase by Ibn Al-Mubarak that was transmitted to us by scholars: “A small deed may be made great by the intention, and a great deed may be made small by the intention.









Then send peace and salutations.