Rasoolullahﷺ – The Guide to Jannah

Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

There are two ways to guide anyone. One is to give them a map and leave it to them to follow it. The other is to send a guide with the map, who teaches them how to read the map and guides them on the right path, course correcting as necessary, so that they can never be lost. In corporate consulting, we recommend a course of action and then run a pilot program as Proof of Concept to demonstrate the benefits of following our recommendation. That not only builds credibility in the new way but also prevents costly mistakes from being made. Allahﷻ chose that method, when He decided to give the world a new way of life for the last time. That is why Allahﷻ taught us to make dua for guidance to the Path – Siratal Mustaqeem and not to the destination, Jannah. The Path of those who He blessed and not those who incurred His anger or became misguided. That is the dua we make at least 17 times a day when we recite Sura Al Fatiha in every Salah – Ihdinas Siratal Mustaqeem. Allahﷻ accepted this dua and said: هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَرْسَلَ رَسُولَهُۥ بِٱلْهُدَىٰ وَدِينِ ٱلْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُۥ عَلَى ٱلدِّينِ كُلِّهِۦ وَكَفَىٰ بِٱللَّهِ شَهِيدًا Fath 48:28 He is the One Who has sent His Messenger with ˹right˺ guidance and the religion of truth, making it prevail over all others. And sufficient is Allah as a Witness. The question to ask is, ‘Allahﷻ accepted my dua and sent His Messengerﷺ. But am I following him or someone else?’ Let us ask before we’re asked. Allahﷻ not only accepted our dua but He also told us what the result of following His Messengerﷺ would be. The way of Muhammadﷺ, Islam would become the most preferred and prevalent way of life on earth. Today we wonder at how certain negative and harmful lifestyles and choices have become so prevalent and powerful when just a few years ago they were despised and kept hidden. That is the power of living your choice with confidence. No matter what it is, if you do it with confidence, the world will follow you. If this is possible with negative things, how much more with positive ones. But when the ignorant are confident and the knowledgeable are diffident and apologetic, ignorance will prevail. Remember that when the truth must be spoken, silence is culpable. Rasoolullahﷺ and all those who followed him in excellence demonstrated this and will be our witnesses. Everything we have in this world, from the air we breathe, produced by trees we cut, to gravity which cancels the centrifugal force of the spinning of the earth and saves us from flying off into space; to water which came from outer space and is the most ancient substance on earth, essential to survival of all living things, locked into a perpetual cycle of self-purification and renewal; to the Northern Lights, evidence of the shield that Allahﷻ placed to protect us from solar flares, a single one of which would be enough to reduce us and our arrogance to ash. From love in the heart, to courage, to Imaan which makes those who have lost limbs and families in Gaza, ask questions related to the Fiqh of Wudhu and the permissibility of adopting an orphan who not only doesn’t have parents, but who has nobody in the world. From the food we eat to our health and wealth, families and friends, power and authority, to happiness and the equanimity to face grief. For Tahajjud and His descent to the lowest heaven and offer to accept our dua, and even more for the Tawfeeq to get up and pray and ask Him to forgive us. And most of all for His Mercy and Forgiveness, His Generosity and Grace, His Glory and Majesty and the faculty to recognize it as such and fall in Sujood and say, SubhanAllah and Allahu Akbar instead of saying, WOW or OMG. Every single one of them, all that I mentioned and all those I cannot possibly mention, or even count, are the blessings of Allahﷻ. That is why He said: وَءَاتَىٰكُم مِّن كُلِّ مَا سَأَلْتُمُوهُ وَإِن تَعُدُّوا۟ نِعْمَتَ ٱللَّهِ لَا تُحْصُوهَآ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَظَلُومٌ كَفَّارٌ