Being an Ameen

 

إِنَّا عَرَضْنَا الْأَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَالْجِبَالِ فَأَبَيْنَ أَنْ يَحْمِلْنَهَا وَأَشْفَقْنَ مِنْهَا وَحَمَلَهَا الْإِنْسَانُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولً

[33:72]

Indeed we offered the trust to the heavens and the earth and mountains , and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man undertook to bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.

All of these bounties and blessings have been given to us to be used in Allah سبحانه وتعالى’s pleasure not for our own pleasures.

The meaning of Amaanah:

Amaanah is something one gets for a short period of time, therefore we want to use it to the maximum according to the instructions in the time period for which we are given that Amaanah.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى has given us this life we can imagine it like when we rent a car. Its not ours forever, there are certain rules and regulation to how much we can drive the car. If we stay in those guidelines and return the car to the company everything would be fine. And if we don’t i.e. exceed the mileage or damage the car in some way then we will be penalized for not fulfilling the Amaanah the way it was suppose to be fulfilled. Just like that our whole life is given to us as a loan from Allah سبحانه وتعالى

Thats why the deen of Islam is called DEEN

It’s the same root letters as ‘Dayn’ i.e. Daa Yaa Nun which means loan in Arabic language; and Deen is the way to fulfill  that loan.

This life has been given as loan from Allah سبحانه وتعالى and deen is the name of instructions and the way to live that life so that when we return that life to Allah سبحانه وتعالى on Yaum-ud-Deen. In Surah fatiha, Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّيْنِ

[1:4]  sovereign of the day of recompense.

-> everybody in the world translates that as the Day of judgment; we will not find any translation that translates it as the day of religion actually because it’s the day of deen; the day on which our loan/dayn will be presented in front of Allah سبحانه وتعالى – Our life every second, every statement every emotion every feeling will be presented in front of Allahسبحانه وتعالى and it will be checked that did this person do that according to the instructions or not…so this is the meaning of Amaanah.

We have a very small, narrow meaning of Amaanah. Especially those who know Urdu.

“ppl think Amanah is to leave with someone 2-4 rupees”  –  its much more than that! i.e. People think that  Amaanah means leaving something small with someone like leaving your jacket with someone so he may return it to you. Amanah means much more than that in the deen of Islam.

The opposite of Amaanah is Khiyanah

In Quran Allah سبحانه وتعالى said

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

[8:27] o you who believe; do not betray the trust of Allah and the prophet when you know the consequence

– Do not do khiaynah with Allah. Don’t think you can betray Allah; Do not think you can be disloyal, disobedient to Allah; Do not think that you can be    negligent and neglectful of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, and do not think you can be disloyal to Nabi karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم; Do not do khiyanah with his Sunnah; Don’t think that the  Sunnah is not for you.

– And also do not betray the trust that others give you. You know well full that your betraying them. You knowingly and deliberating betray them.

– you know that something has been given to you as amanah and still you are untrue to it.

Types of Khiyanah: 1. Betraying Allahسبحانه وتعالى s, 2. Betraying Nabi karim صلى الله عليه وسلم w, 3. Betraying the trust that others give us.

I already explained  the first type of khiyanah that is betraying Allah. The second type of khiyanah is with Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم

And What is the Amanaah that  Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم has given us?

– that is the Sunnah; that is an amanah which has been gifted to every single member of this ummah – the real legacy and heritage of his Nabuwwah is his Sunnah.

So if we were to be khaayen(untrue) to him that would mean being untrue to his Sunnah.

People  when they are told something is sunnah. They say:

This is only sunnah brother! It means you should say to me that he was only our Nabi saw brother; hes only Imam-ul-Anbiya-wal-Mursalin brother; Hes only Rahmat-ul-lil’aalameen brother!

Go stand infront of the Roza and say to Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم: You are only a Nabi and this is only your Sunnah. (Al-Amaan Al-Hafeez! ) 

Can we be an ummati and say only nabi?

Can our son say to us,”Oh, you are only my father” ; Can someone say to their mother, “you are only my mother. O woman! You are only my mother.”

Can you talk like that?

But that’s how people say . Brother its only Sunnah why do you emphasise so much on those prayers. How can you be a momin and say those two words?

It means we haven’t learnt the meaning of,

Ashadu Anna Muhammadan Abduhu wa Rasuluhu

Theres no ONLY Nabi; Theres no Only Sunnah

Its not like yeh sunnat HEE hai…yeh SUNNAT hee toh hai, O Allah kay banday…This is Sunnah! He is my Nabi  صلى الله عليه وسلم that’s enough for me – its a one step equation.

Okay, so want to tell me it is not fardh? That is what you want to tell me?

Let me go scratch your car outside.  Its not farz to drive a car that is scratched. Let me take a knife and scratch your Mercedes and if you say anything I”ll say ITS NOT FARDH!

You know if I said that to you, you would look at me; You’d want to slap me – that’s how I feel when you tell me its not farz about the sunnah of my Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم.

You won’t accept a scratch on your car and you accept scratches on the Sunnah?

This Sunnah is an Amanah.

We’d want to have it pure and pristine and complete and perfect just like Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم lived it : pure, perfect and complete and beautiful as

أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ

[33:21]

We dont want even a single scratch to come on it…what do you mean then ‘Its only sunnah’? Allahu Akbar Kabira.

This is khiyanah as an Ummati of Nabi Karim saw; this is being untrue to NabI Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم

This is the Amanah that the heavens, mountains and earth didn’t want…Yes! It is intense! Its srong..Its deep…Its an Amanat.

In hadith, narrated by Syeddina Abu Huraira r.a,  Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

“ Signs of  a Munafiq are three: When he speaks he lies, When he makes a promise he goes against it and when an Amanah is given to him he does Khiyanah.” 

When a trust or charge is given to him he betrays it; he’s untrue to it; he’s disloyal to it; and he disregards it.Nabi Karim saw did no call such a person momin, he called him a munafiq, hes not a true believer. In another hadith narrated by Imam Ibn Hanbal’s Muslim: There is no iman (no perfection in that iman, no value in that iman) for a person who doesn’t have Amanah, i.e. the person who is untrue to the trust that has been bestowed upon him by Allah سبحانه وتعالى, by His Rasool saw and the trust that has been bestowed upon him by other people.

Now, Allah سبحانه وتعالى has given a lot of blessings to us in this world , He is going to take back each and every single blessing back. Every single blessing that has been given to us in this world will be taken back from us. Some of them Allah سبحانه وتعالى takes back from us gradually. Your health gradually starts to fade, your teeth gradually starts to rot as you grow older, that person who use to walk tall now he walks bent now,the strength in your bones start to fade, the person who could walk without anything needs a walking stick now. This is all Allah سبحانه وتعالى giving us signs that gradually Allah سبحانه وتعالى will take back the blessings. The person who use to eat anything and everything, now hes having digestive problems. There are certain things hes not able to eat. That person who could make lots of tawaf now he has high blood pressure cant make more than one tawaf in one day.We don’t realize what ability we have now and what we are going to lose when these things get taken back from us. That person who was strong and use to make many nafl fasts now gradually he becomes weak and cannot make many nafl fasts. That person who use to sleep, use to have the naimah of being able to sleep, sometimes too soundly, now that person maybe restless in their sleep , unable to sleep, tossing and turning in their sleep. So death is the ultimate of taking back all the blessings of life. Death is just another name that Allah سبحانه وتعالى will take back each and every single blessing that he gave us.

What does it mean to be true to this Amanat?

Let us take one blessing at a time. First lesson is that Allah  سبحانه وتعالى will reduce somethings over time.

1. Eyesight:

Let’s take eyesight as a person gets older they may get a cataract,  their eyes may fade, they may get a higher and higher prescription glasses but when they die their eyesight is taken back.

Amanat returns to Allah سبحانه وتعالى

On the Day of Judgment Amanat is examined by Allah سبحانه وتعالى.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى will see how did the person use their eye.

Remember that Amanat is to use the bounties and blessings of Allah swt according to the will and wish of Allah and not to use them according to our will and wish if it was against the will and wish of Allah swt. This person will be examined and Allah swt will make him stand infront of him and ask him how did you use this Amanat. Let us check and examine in this book of deeds how you used this Amanat

…and if He سبحانه وتعالى finds that this person used their eyes to stare at the ghair mehrams, used their eyes to look at things that they were not allowed to look at, Allah سبحانه وتعالى will say you are not worthy of this Amanah.

Just like a man who sometimes gives his son something to do or a businessman gives his son small share of business and says let’s see how you run it and if he messes it up he takes it back saying you weren’t worthy of this.

-> So, Allah swt will say you aren’t worthy of seeing so you won’t be allowed to see Me in Jannah; you aren’t worthy of seeing so you won’t be allowed to see Syeddina Rasoolullah saw in Jannah.

->Your eye will have to go to Jahannam and get purified and cleansed because this eye that you’ve brought to me you did khiyanah in this Amanat. You are not worthy of getting your sight back.

Allahuakbar!

There will be darkness over this person but the believers, they will have a light around them on the day of Judgment. The disbelievers and the hypocrites will call to the people of iman and will ask them that they want some light from them.

يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتُ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا انظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِن نُّورِكُمْ قِيلَ ارْجِعُوا وَرَاءكُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُورًا

When the male hypocrites and the female hypocrites will say to those who have iman, look at us also.

Look at us cast a glance on us, notice us on this world , we who didn’t bother notice you and your deen on earth ,on Day of Judgment take notice of us. Give us some of the light that you have, the light you are able to use , the light you are able to see with. It will be said to them :  You should go back, back to where you came, You should try to get the light from there. This was the light that was gotten from this world, If you aren’t able to get the light from this world you will not be able to have the light on the Day of Judgment.

Then when this person goes into Jahannam there is no light in Jahannam and we understood this in science that the hotter the flame the darker the color. You will notice this in your stoves that the blue flame is more hotter than the orange & yellow flame. So, though we don’t have it on earth the flame of Jahannam will be so dark that it will be black. It will be pure heat therefore the fire of Jahannum will be pure black. So when they are in that fire of Jahannum which is pure black it will be pitch black. They wont be even able to see because they didn’t use this amanat properly.

2. Hearing

In the world , Allah swt gave them the blessing of hearing, another amanat. On the Day of Judgment he will be asked how did he used this blessing. He will say I used this blessing to listen to all types of lyrics, hiphop and rap; all types of foul, filth, nonsense, junk & trash, I used my ears for that. I used my ears to listen to lies, backbiting and slander.

At the time of death when hearing will be taken away from him and Allah swt will raise him on the Day of Judgment and say:

وَنَحْشُرُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ عُمْيًا وَبُكْمًا وَصُمًّا

[17:97]

We will gather them on the Day of Judgment and they will come to Allah swt as if they are blind, deaf & dumb.

  It means that the eyesight is taken back, the hearing is taken back. The blessing is taken back, the amanat is taken back. You weren’t worthy of this amanat. It’s the ultimate level, the kuffar weren’t worthy of this amanat.

They will never get their sight back, they will never get their hearing back.

2. Eating

Another blessing that Allah swt gave is the blessing of being able to eat. If a person did not use to distinguish between halal and haram on this earth. They said: ‘’Just read Bismillah over it and it will be fine brother, what are you worried about brother.”

Whereas Allah swt said in Quran

حَلاَلاً طَيِّباً

2:168

halal and tayyab. He didn’t get tayyab, he didn’t even care about halal, he ate whatever he wanted to eat without looking what Allah swt wanted him to eat. Or if it is found that he ate from haram money i.e. he took interest, bribes or he he engaged in fraudulent business dealings or he engaged in false advertising and marketing of his product. He tricked people into thinking that he was selling a higher quality than it actually was and he excused it in the name of marketing, not that all marketing and advertising is like this but some marketing and advertising is definitely like this. It is designed to give you an inflated, exaggerated i.e. false impression of the product to convince the consumer to buy it. He did that as a job maybe. Maybe he was in marketing and sales for a company and the company made him use false tactic for that marketing & sales and that how he earned his salary. So he earned haram money and he ate food from that. When he did that now his ability to eat will be taken away from him and now when it found he didn’t use it in a halal way, Allah swt mentions the ultimate punishment for this in Quran Karim .

إِنَّ شَجَرَةَ الزَّقُّومِ

44:43

طَعَامُ الْأَثِيمِ

44:44 

That this tree that is called zaqoom in Arabic language it is called the food of the sinner.

 Atheem means super sinner.

Itham and Zann are two words for sin in Arabic language like illm means knowledge, Alim is a person who has knowledge and Aleem means a Super Scholar. Just like Aleem is a super scholar Atheem is a super sinner; regularly and consistently sinning.

Ta’aam-ul-Atheem( food of the super sinner)  doesn’t say  Ta’aam-ul-kaafir(food of the kafir)

This will be given to the person who regularly sinned, regularly ate haram or regularly ate from the haram, he will be given food from this plant of Zaqoom.

– > The mufassirin write that this plant of Zaqoom has so many thorns in it, that when this person is forced to eat it as his punishment in Jahannam, the thorns will rupture the thorn and he will still be made to eat it more and more.

– > It is so bitter that when you taste it in the morning its bitterness lasts all the way to the night. When you taste it in night its bitterness lasts all the way till the morning. When he eats it the thorns will get stuck in his throat, he will not be able to swallow it nor will he be able to spit it out. It’d be like choking on it.

– > Then,e he will ask for water, something to drink.

What will he get to drink?

Allah swt says in the Quran he will get to drink Ghisleen. 

 What is Ghisleen?  The Mufassirin wrote that it is the collection of all Pus and blood that is melted away from the people of Jahannam when they are burning away in the fire of Jahannam. Allahuakbar Kabira!

Allahumma Ajirna Minanaar. Ajeeb.  This is the Jaza i.e. the recompense and punishment of the sinner.

3. Libaas

In this world Allah swt gave us the blessing of Libaas i.e. being able to clothe ourselves, gave us dignity and wealth so that we can buy apparel and clothing.

That man or woman when they pass away in this world and brought to Allah swt without clothing initially, then they will be asked about this blessing-How did you use it?

-> And if it turns out that they use to unclothe themselves in improper ways. They use to unclothe themselves in front of unlawful people, they use to unclothe themselves and do unlawful things.

-> Then they weren’t true to this amanat of libaas. 

What would happen to this person on the day of Judgment? 

That person will be given a uniform, a new libaas which is made of sulphur you can say with a foul stench.

-> The mufassirin have written that it is such a foul smelling clothing that imagine if every single creature on this earth were to die, all humans, birds, fish, cattle, everything were to die and all of their corpses were left to rot and decompose and the smell that would come from that, that is the type of smell of the libaas that they’d be given. Allahuakbar kabira!

-> They misused the blessing of Allah swt, were untrue to the Amanat of Allah swt in this world.

4. Housing

In this world Allah swt gave us a blessing of a home, of a house, of a roof over our head, of a place where we were safe, but we didn’t, but weren’t true to that blessing.

-> Instead of making our homes a place of illm and taqwa we stayed in our homes with gatherings that were against the deen. Gatherings that were against the Shariah. Instead of bringing those who’d call towards Allah swt in our homes, we brought technologies in our home that brought us towards ghairullah. We brought a TV, Cable, Satellite Dish right into our home. We sat there with our wives and kids and watched those things. We maybe felt embarrassed of the first one or two ads that came up and after that we were numb, we were desensitized, we no longer even felt embarrassed in front of our 8 year old daughter. That what we did in our home. That’s how we treated the amanat in our home.

-> So then when Allah swt will make that person die they will lose that blessing i.e. their home.

Then when they will come to Allah on the day of Judgment,

what type of home will they get in Jahannum?

Allah swt mentions in Quran

ضَيِّقًا مُقَرَّنِينَ دَعَوْا هُنَالِكَ ثُبُورًا

25:13

Its tight ,its constricted and narrow and then they will ask Allah swt for death.It says in Quran that the place will be so tight, so constricted and so narrow  that they will pray to Allah swt for death , it’s better to die than live in such a place.

What will be said to them?

In the Quran it says

لَا تَدْعُوا الْيَوْمَ ثُبُورًا وَاحِدًا وَادْعُوا ثُبُورًا كَثِيرًا

25:14

That on this day you should not ask Allah for one death but you should ask for multiple deaths.

Allahuakbar Kabira!

Can you imagine having that said to you by Allah swt? Can you imagine hearing that sentence from Allah swt? In Urdu: Aik maut nahee mango, kai saree mautein maangein! 

Alamaan Alhafeez, Allahumma Ajirna Minnanaar!

5. Lustful Passion

Allah swt gave a blessing in this world of lustful passion to be used according to His will and wish. This person took this blessing and he didn’t use it according to the will and wish of Allah swt.

He did Khiyanah in this Amanah.He used it in a perverse way, in a vulgar way, in an unlawful way, in a shameful way and on top of that he was remorseless about it, unrepentant about it. Allahuakbar Kabira.

So when he dies this ability will be taken away from him.

In a hadith it comes that punishment for the Zani and Zania ( and it has many meanings) is that there will be scorpions that will climb over the entire body and they will simultaneously sting them as a punishment of that pleasure, the thrill of it that he felt in every pore of his body so the punishment will be that he will feel pain in every single pore of his body.

Allahuakbar Kabira!

The one who fulfills the Amaanah

Now I want you to imagine another type of person who fulfills that Amanah.

->  A person who comes to Allah swt and  lived his/her life according to the will and wish of Allah swt .

They didn’t do Khiyanah. They were Ameen.

They fulfilled that Amanah according to the teachings of Quran-e-Karim. They fulfilled that amanah according to the Sunnah of Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم. They fulfilled that Amanah according to the teaching of the deen.

So when they die and  they will be tested as well.

1. Eyes

When it comes about him or her that he or she used their eyes for the sake of Allah. They lowered their eyes when Allah swt wanted them to lower them. They raised their eyes when Allah swt wanted to raise them. So Allah swt when give this Amanah back to them and say take these eyes back and look at Nabi Karim  صلى الله عليه وسلم, take these eyes back and look at Me, My Jamal and My Husn.

Look at Allah swt!  Allahuakbar kabira

Thats why Allah swt created us. That’s why this amanah was given to us in this world So that Allah swt actually wants to give it back to us. He wants to give to give all of this back to us to use it in more beautiful, more noble and more virtuous ways.

-> You lower these eyes from looking all of these members of creation , let Me give you these eyes back to gaze at Sahabah Karam r.a., gaze at Syedinna Isa a.s, gaze at Syeddinna Yousuf a.s.

Thats why Allah swt gave us these eyes. Yeh ankhein ham ko in cheizon ko  dekhnay kay liyay dee gai nahee. Yeh ankhein hamein anbiya, Sahabah ka deedaar, Allah swt kee deedar kernay kay liyay yeh ankhien dee gai gai hai.  These eyes have been given to us to gaze at Allah swt, Anbiya, Mursalin and all of their Ashaab. That’s why we have these eyes. That’s why Allah swt have given us this sight so we can have that sight and he wants to give us that sight forever.

2. Ears

He fulfilled  the amanah. He didn’t use his ears to listen to vain, idle, foolish talk, he didn’t use his ears to listen to lying and backbiting. Instead they used their ears to listen to Quran ul Karim. They used their ears to listen to the hadith of Nabi Karim s.a.w. They used their ears to listen to words of nasiha of deen.

So Allah swt says you fulfilled the amanah now I am giving you these ears back, now you listen to Quran recited by Ar-Rahman.

Allahuakbar Kabira!

You listen to Quran recited by Nabi a.s. You listen to Quran recited by Obai’ Ibn Ka’ab r.a. I’ll give you these ears back you listen to the voice of Syedinna Isa a.s., I’ll give you these ears back and you listen to these things for all of eternity. I give you these ears…

To be continued, inshaAllah

[Following is inspired from the talk,”Being an Ameen” by Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed db at Birmingham 2011. Not a word-word transcript]