Do You Really Want to Meet Allah? I Dhul Hijjah Series | Dr. Omar Suleiman & Sh. Ali Hammuda

Do You Really Want to Meet Allah?

How badly do you want to meet Allah? How badly do you want to have that moment, the one that you've been longing for? So our mother Aisha found herself when hearing this hadith for the first time in a bit of a dilemma, a bit of an internal conundrum. On the one hand, she loves Allah and she loves to meet Allah. I pray, I fast, I give charity, I do all the right things or so I thought I did, but here I am not liking death.

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh everyone. Welcome to our series on Kitab al-Riqaq, on the book of heart softeners, where we will be joined by our beloved Sheikh Ali Hamouda bi-idhnillahi ta'ala. I will be reading these ahadith that we've chosen from this wonderful book and we'll be listening to Sheikh Ali's commentary bi-idhnillahi ta'ala and hopefully interacting with you a bit bi-idhnillahi ta'ala to really try to get the full benefit of this, especially in a time like Dhul Hijjah where we're transforming ourselves and seeing the images of a journey back to Allah, taking the heart on Hajj, taking the heart on a journey back to Allah with our wonderful group here.

May Allah bless you all in the night, in the middle of the desert to be enlightened bi-idhnillahi ta'ala by Sheikh Ali's commentary. May Allah bless you and preserve you Sheikh. We start with a hadith that gets to the heart of the matter.

The Hadith: Whoever Loves to Meet Allah

How badly do you want to meet Allah? How badly do you want to have that moment where the one that you've been calling upon, the one that you've been longing for, the one that you could not see, but you knew that he could always see you, now brings you right in front of him and you can see him. How much do you long for that meeting? And so the hadith is under the chapter man ahabba liqaa Allah, ahabba Allah liqaa. Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet them.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507)

Ubadat ibn Samit narrates that the Prophet said, whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet them. And whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet them.

Aisha said:

"Verily we hate death," and the Prophet said:

"That's not what I'm speaking about, but rather the believer when the time of death comes to them and they are given the news of the pleasure of Allah and the generosity and honor of Allah, then nothing is more beloved to them than that which is still ahead being that meeting with Allah and what precedes it so they love to meet Allah and Allah loves to meet them. As for the disbeliever at the time of death when they are given the news of Allah's punishment His anger the consequences of their deeds then at that point they hate to meet Allah nothing is more hated to them than that which is ahead and they hate to meet Allah and Allah hates to meet them."

Reflection on the Quranic Connection

You know, subhanAllah this is such a profound hadith in so many different ways but I'm often asked what's my favorite surah in the Quran and it changes from time to time based upon the circumstances that I'm either in or the world is in but the first page and a half of surah Yunus for some reason subhanAllah was always one of my favorite portions of the Quran and it's in this particular ayah:

Allah says those who don't want to meet us those who do not wish to meet us and they are pleased with the life of this world and they settle they are finding their tranquility or seeking their tranquility seeking their settlement in this world and I often think about this idea of what does it mean to not want to meet Allah and I remember reading the tafsir of this and the ulama had multiple benefits of this - they have nothing that they hope for from meeting him, they've been denying this meeting altogether so they have nothing to look forward to from meeting him except for punishment, they don't have any want or desire for anything that could come from that meeting they've been ignoring this meeting because they've been ignoring the creator himself and here we are shaykh and I want you to walk us through this hadith with, what are the implications of wanting to meet Allah and hopefully Allah loving to meet us as well.

Sheikh Ali's Commentary: The Moment of Reception

الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن والا

So our mother Aisha found herself when hearing this hadith for the first time in a bit of a dilemma, a bit of an internal conundrum. On the one hand she loves Allah and she loves to meet Allah. I pray, I fast, I give charity I do all the right things or so I thought I did but here I am not liking death and since death is the necessary gateway to get to the beloved, to get to our Lord and I hate the entry does that mean that I also hate by extension the destination? This was the confusion, and here the Prophet reassured her by saying to her لَيْسَ ذَاكَ, that's not what is meant. And again the blessing that Allah gifted us with mother Aisha to ask these subtle and intricate questions so that we may discuss it 1400 years later and learn new layers of meaning. He said to her that's not what is meant, and then he goes on to explain essentially as you heard that when a person is in the process of soul extraction he is now slipping away into the other world, wherever that moment may be, whether it's in a hospital bed or whether it's on a battlefield or whether it's in your office, and that beginning of separation starts where you're still in the life of this world, you're still aware of those around you but you're beginning to see foreign objects, foreign faces and it's clear that you are departing. At that moment of reception, underline the word, reception at that moment of reception you know what the end destination looks like by those who have come to receive you, either they are beautiful faces with light and reassuring smiles or either they are dark faces with very threatening faces or threatening appearances, therefore from the reception you know the end is going to be the pleasure of Allah Almighty and Jannah, so you love to meet Allah, you want to go the full length of the journey. The other person on the other hand knows that the end destination will be what? The wrath of Allah Almighty and Hell, so you are afraid of the end journey and therefore you will hate, God forbid may Allah protect us, the meeting with Allah Almighty, so Allah will reciprocate it and he will hate to meet him. So this was the clarification given by the Prophet to Aisha and this was the clarification that she would then give to the Tabi'een like Shurayh ibn Hani when he heard this hadith he also said هَلَكْنَا, we're ruined and he had the same issue in his mind that our mother Aisha had when hearing the hadith and then he went to her mother of the believers, I have a problem and she educated him just as the Prophet educated her.

The Analogy of the Airport Reception

This idea my brothers of the reception giving you the ambiance of what is to come, the reception is what gives you the indication of the truth of a place, you realize that reception is what mattered the most not just you reaching a destination as home, how does it begin? what are the signs of what follow? and a worldly analogy that we can all perhaps relate to is two people who hop off the same aircraft to meet a completely different reception when they arrive at the airport two people who are walking down the same corridor heard the same humming of the same engine, who sat on the same row of seats arrived at the same destination same airport, one of them he meets family and friends at the reception and there's perhaps flowers and chocolates and signs and tears and warmth and expressions and arms are wrapped all around his body and his heart just forgets all of the pain of the journey and he's now excited to leave the airport and see what is beyond it and the other person, his twin in experience, but has a different moment here, who is taken aside by grueling and angry faces, people in uniform, stern appearances and a scan of his iris a scan of his DNA, a swab from his mouth and they are putting his passport up to a scanner and they are emptying his bag onto a cold metal table every question feels like an accusation and that's just the reception and so he hates the idea of leaving the airport as much as he hates that experience because it's a sign of what is to come surveillance and pestering and difficulty and such is the situation in the hereafter you understand what is to come just by the very reception itself.

The Juice is Worth the Squeeze

SubhanAllah Shaykh, there is a rule of thumb here by the way I don't know if you have this expression in the UK the juice is worth the squeeze have any of you heard the juice is worth the squeeze? How many of you like being hungry? No one likes being hungry, but how many of you like fasting Ramadan? Do you like skipping sleep like you are right now? No but do you like praying Qiyamul Layl? That feeling in Ramadan you will not achieve what you love until you are willing to endure what you hate for what you love that is a rule of life Allah has placed this upon us we all hate death, that is the natural response that our mother Aisha gives no one likes the idea of dying, but we are absolutely consumed with the idea of meeting our Lord who we have been calling upon and longing for, it is an inevitable meeting, and what this comes down to Shaykh, the destination versus the preparation.

I think of this in American terms, I think of ICE agents and border patrol and the police and unfortunately I get that reception every time I go back to the United States, right, versus SubhanAllah the reception of discomfort versus welcome home, right, welcome, welcome, welcome and what's the first thing the angels say? سَلَام, سَلَام, سَلَام, they're reassuring you Salaam, it's just peace, reassurance peace, reassurance, peace, reassurance.

What it comes down to Shaykh, is that there is a trepidation about the pain of the travel itself, but you've planned so well for the destination, that that allows you to be able to bear what comes along the way so I want you to think if you've been planning a vacation and you've planned it really well you've got your house planned, the resort planned, the food planned, we're gonna do this on this date, everything is all planned out for you, and when you get there, the experience is actually even more beautiful than the picture suggested, how amazing is that, and everything that the believer will have is reassuring that it's better. What about Allah, the names of Allah that we covered, I want to see that, I want to experience that, there is a longing there is a desire that we should have for that to actually be there.

The Wings of Fear and Hope

Now how do we deal with the fact that there is the reassurance that has to come first, before that excitement really sets in? The ulama mention that the believer Ibn Al Qayyim gives this famous example that you have a body of love the love of Allah, the head is the love of Allah, and then you have the wings of fear and hope, that you need an equal wing of fear and hope but you're never going to be exactly equal with fear and hope many of the scholars they said that the believer lives with a little bit more fear than hope throughout their lives but then once they get to this position of death, the hope outweighs the fear, and so that's why you'll see from some of the salaf, someone that might have been weeping out of fear of Allah the day before their death, and then the day of their death, they're beaming with joy and light and depending on the mercy of Allah because when you've prepared for something that anxiety is there until you get to the moment, and then you put your pen to the paper for that actual test but you know you studied as soon as you looked at the questions, you said I was ready for this Allah sets in a sakinah, a tranquility in that moment so the Prophet is giving us a specific time and may Allah allow us to long for him at all times, and to love for that meeting to happen in such a way that as death is happening, we are able to pass through it and look forward to what comes next Ameen.

Divine Reciprocity

Ya Sheikh Omar, you reap what you sow, one of the most soothing aspects of this hadith and reassuring is that it reminds us that we have agency over the destination that we arrive to and what it looks like مَنْ أَحَبَّ لِقَاءَ اللَّهِ، أَحَبَّ اللَّهُ لِقَاءَهُ, whoever loves to meet Allah, so that's within my power and yours the outcome will be Allah will love to meet him so this is the idea of divine reciprocity our future in the hereafter is not simply a coin that is tossed into the unseen a gamble whereby we have no agency, no control we have decisions, we have agency, we have power, the home in the hereafter that we shall have is nothing but the design and the work that we invested for it today in the life of this world love to meet Allah take the practical steps that are needed and Allah will show you the same and more.

Look at how the Quran speaks about this idea of reciprocity, which is an empowering one for us where Allah says what is the reward for excellence, meaning from you and I except excellence from Allah it's empowering when the Quran says Allah Almighty was pleased with them they were pleased with Allah the Quran says Allah will bring about a people who love Allah Almighty and He loves them this is empowering and the door of course swings both ways because the Quran also says they forgot Allah Almighty so Allah Almighty forgets them.

There is a hadith that really illustrates this meaning that we're trying to draw where the Prophet said that Allah Almighty will say to a person on the day of judgement did I not give you a position of authority, did I not give you marriage, did I not honour you, Allah will ask you did I not give you horses and camels, wealth did I not give you positions of nobility and importance and the man will say you did O my Lord so Allah will ask him the second question did you ever think that this day would come when you would meet me and the man will say no then Allah will say to him so I will forget you on this day just as you forgot me what is it that we take from these narrations combined and the hadith that we are covering, whoever loves to meet Allah Allah will love him back, Allah has empowered you, Allah has given you some agency as for what your akhirah can look like through the decisions we make today, nobody can blame a government or blame an ism or blame a friend entirely Allah has put it in our hands to design what our hereafter could look like.

A Relational, Not Transactional God

Sheikh SubhanAllah when you bring it all back together the way that you just did this is not a transactional relationship as you said but as you say this is a relational God so it's not just deed is met by proportionality a greater reward it's closeness is met by a greater closeness, Allah closes the gap and the Prophet said no one of you should die except that إِلَّا وَهُوَ يُحْسِنُ الظَّنَّ بِاللَّهِ except that they have a good opinion of Allah. You want Allah to love you do you love Allah? but that love can't be empty, do your deeds reflect that love? and so when you meet Allah you meet him with what he loves and you hope to receive from him what you love as well BarakAllahu feekum JazakAllah Khair BarakAllahu feekum.

Balancing Good Opinion with Fear

So how do we balance having حُسْنُ الظَّنِّ بِاللَّهِ with Allah and also fearing him at the same time? Well as Ibn Qayyim says when you fear anything else you run away from it, when you fear Allah you run back to him and so your good assumption of Allah is that he will not dismiss your effort your trying that his mercy will overcome your shortcomings, that his greatness will overcome your lowliness, that his perfection is greater than your imperfection that Allah will reward the striving of the striver that Allah will love the one who loves, so your حُسْنُ الظَّنِّ in Allah is based on realities that are felt perceived, practiced, it's not a fake حُسْنُ الظَّنِّ, it's not that I do everything contrary to that love but then say InshaAllah he'll forgive me.

Just realize that on the day of judgment why this hadith is so important what we're being told is that the day of judgment is either the reunion of a loving yet imperfect slave with a perfect and more loving lord or the capture of a rebellious slave who did not turn to a lord who was so merciful to him always.