A Gift Of Guidance

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

When the people of Paradise enter Paradise they say, "Praise to Allah, who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if Allah had not guided us."

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا أُولَـٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ ۖ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿٤٢﴾ وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهِمُ الْأَنْهَارُ ۖ وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَـٰذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّـهُ ۖ لَقَدْ جَاءَتْ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالْحَقِّ ۖ وَنُودُوا أَن تِلْكُمُ الْجَنَّةُ أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٤٣

But those who believed and did righteous deeds - We charge no soul except [within] its capacity. Those are the companions of Paradise; they will abide therein eternally. (42) And We will have removed whatever is within their breasts of resentment, [while] flowing beneath them are rivers. And they will say, "Praise to Allah, who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if Allah had not guided us. Certainly the messengers of our Lord had come with the truth." And they will be called, "This is Paradise, which you have been made to inherit for what you used to do." (43)

[Qur'an Al-'Araf 7:43]

Guidance is the greatest gift of all. If you have guidance you have everything and if you don't have guidance, you don't have anything.

It is not an accident that the Qur'an opens with Al-Fatiha.

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿١﴾ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٢﴾ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿٣﴾ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ﴿٤﴾ إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ ﴿٥﴾ اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴿٦﴾ صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ ﴿٧

In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful. (1) [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Lord of the worlds - (2) The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful, (3) Sovereign of the Day of Recompense. (4) It is You we worship and You we ask for help. (5) Guide us to the straight path - (6) The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor, not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray. (7)

[Qur'an Al-Fatiha 1:1-7]

In it we learn how to praise Allah and we make a statement of commitment and we ask Allah for the most fundamental need--Guidance.

In every raka'a of each prayer, at least 17 times a day, a believer repeats this call--"Guide us to the straight path."

The Qur'an is the Divine response to this call.

الم ﴿١﴾ ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴿٢

Alif, Lam, Meem. (1) This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah - (2)

[Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:1-2]

A straight path is not a confusing path. It is very clear as the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said that, "I have left you on a clear way for it is so clear that its night is like its day. No one will veer from it except that they will destroy themselves."

The way is clear but you need to know the way and how to pursue it so you remain on the straight path.

The straight path is the path that gets you directly to Allah--the closeness to Allah, to the love of Allah, to all that is pleasing to Allah, to the eternal standing with Allah in Paradise. It is the path that is means to the good of this life and the good of the next in the ways that is pleasing to Allah.

Guidance is a gift from Allah and a gift that you don't own. So you keep asking for guidance because you want to preserve the blessing that Allah has bestowed upon you, and you want an increase in guidance. You want to go from being a heedless believer to being a conscious believer, from a conscious believer to a righteous believer, from a righteous believer to the foremost believer, from the foremost believer to the foremost of the foremost believer.

Remember, we are asking from the One who is the Most Generous and it is not difficult for Allah to grant any of these. He only says to it, "Be," and it is.

بَدِيعُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۖ وَإِذَا قَضَىٰ أَمْرًا فَإِنَّمَا يَقُولُ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ ﴿١١٧

Originator of the heavens and the earth. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, "Be," and it is. (117)

[Qur'an al-Baqarah 2:117]

Allah keep on pointing to us in the Qur'an what we should be seeking in this life.

وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ ﴿١٠﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ ﴿١١﴾ فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ ﴿١٢

And the forerunners, the forerunners - (10) Those are the ones brought near [to Allah] (11) In the Gardens of Pleasure, (12)

[Qur'an Al-Waqi'a 56:10-12]

The very foremost are those who went furthest on the straight path. They are the ones who outstripped others in the race. They had exerted their efforts in high goal but their efforts did not get them to the closeness of Allah. It is Allah who grants that closeness to Him.

People can seek many levels of attainment, so seek the highest. When you ask Allah for guidance, feel it in your heart before you say it with your tongue. Bring the meaning to the heart and then you say it. When you don't say with a heart that is attentive, that is not sincerity. You don't say "I love you" to someone and then you have to think about what you just said, those words could not be true.

We seek guidance from Allah in all our circumstances. Bring surah Al-Fatiha into your life. When you have a need and every time you have a challenging situation, recite surah Al-Fatiha.

May Allah guide us to the straight path and bring us close to Him. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam