Why is dua not accepted – 3

Auto-generated transcript:In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and peace and blessings be upon the honour of the prophets and messengers. Muhammad and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and upon his family and his companions, and peace and blessings be upon him. My brothers and sisters, the second question and second reason that Ibrahim Ahmad Hebron said to the people of Basra as the reason why their duas are not accepted, was he said you recite the book of Allah, but you do not act upon it. I remind myself and you, subhanAllah, that the purpose of all these reminders is for us to think about ourselves and say what is it that I am doing in my life and where does that fit? Does it fit the people who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when Allah said, Udhoni astajib lakum, ask for the knowledge of the Prophet, and the knowledge of the Prophet, and the knowledge of the Prophet, and the knowledge of the Prophet, ask me and I will give you, who was Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala addressing? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was addressing the Sahaba of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He was addressing the most obedient people that ever existed. He was addressing the best generation. He said, Udhoni. Now by definition, the promise of Allah, ask me and I will give you, extends to the end of time. But also, the condition of who those people should be also extends to the end of creation, to the end of time. Because the dua is for, Udhoni is for the people who are obedient to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It came for them and it will be for those who are like them. Ittaba'hum bi-ihsan. Those who make their ittiba with excellence. I can understand that. I can understand and I can accept and certainly for myself, we cannot hope to be anywhere close to the Sahaba. But at least we need to be on the same path as them. We cannot be going in the opposite direction and expect our duas to be accepted like the duas of the Sahaba, Ridhwanullahi alaihi majma'in, used to be accepted. So let us be very clear in our minds and say that what is it that I am doing, which will make me somebody whose dua is never rejected. And that is to recite the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to act upon it. In another place Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu lima takooluna ma la tafa'aloon kabura maqtan inda Allahi an takoolu ma la tafa'aloon Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, Oh you who believe, how is it that you say something that you do not do? And it's a big issue with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Kabura maqtan. It's a big issue with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that you say something which you do not do. So he's talking about living by our word, by living by what we proclaim to believe. Now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent us his book, his word, that is the actual speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said in a manner that pleases and is in keeping with his majesty and grace. So he sent this to Jubail-e-Salam and Jubail-e-Salam came and conveyed that by word, by speaking to Rasulullah . Rasulullah heard that, he memorized it, and he conveyed it again as speech to the Sahaba and the Sahaba listened to it and then they repeated it to each other and they memorized it and they wrote it down and it was preserved and it has been preserved in perfection from the time it was revealed. Alhamdulillah, till it reaches us. Now Allah sent us his book, which is the light of guidance and as a criterion between right and wrong. It is Al-Huda and it is Al-Furqan. These are the names of the Quran Al-Bajid. This is the guidance and it is the criterion between right and wrong. By mentioning stories of previous generations, the Quran Al-Kareem warns us, warns us about dangers and pitfalls in the journey of life. The Quran gives us information that only the Creator Allah can give about the day of judgment and beyond, about Jannah and Jahannam and so on. It tells us what to expect after we die, which only the one who will not die, Al-Hayyul Qayyum, Al-Hayyul Qayyum can say and can give. The Quran Al-Kareem came to prepare us for a life that is certain, but about which we know only what Allah told us. It came to show us what choices to make, which path to tread, which lifestyle to adopt and which priorities to have if we want salvation and eternal success. And therefore, everything begins with making a choice. A choice to live a life in obedience to Allah or the choice, may Allah protect us, to live a life in obedience to Khairullah, to something or someone other than Allah, including yourself. The path to eternal salvation and eternal success is only and only the path that leads, that is a life that is being led in order to please Allah alone. There is no other path. So anyone who believes that every way leads to Jannah, all paths leads to Jannah, that all beliefs and all ways are okay, this is completely and totally against the Quran and against Islam. There is only one way of success. Only one. Allah said, بَمَنْ يَبْتَغِي غَيْرَ إِسْلَامِ دِينًا فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ بَهُوَ فِي الْآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ Allah said, whoever comes with anything other than Islam, whoever comes with, anything other than Islam, on the Day of Judgement, will have that rejected and will be among the failures. That person will not be successful. In the Akhirah, he will be among the Khasireen. He will be among those who are the losers. We ask Allah to save us from that. Allah said, نَهْنُ عَالَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ وَمَا أَنْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِجَبَّارٍ فَذَكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَا يَخَافُوا وَعِيدٌ Allah said, we know best what they say. He told the Prophet He did not send him as a, as someone to force. The Quran and the Mujid and its teacher, Rasulullah did not come to force us to make these choices. And that's why Allah said in this Ayat of Surah Al-Qaf, which I mentioned to you, نَهْنُ عَالَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ We are aware and we know best what they say. وَمَا أَنْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِجَبَّارٍ And you, O Prophet Muhammad are not there, have not been sent to compel them, to do Jabbar on them, to compel them to believe. وَمَا أَنْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِجَبَّارٍ فَذَكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَا يَخَافُوا وَعِيدٌ So remind them with the Quran, those who fear my warning. And Allah is saying this to Rasulullah . I remind myself and you that the Quran did not come only to be memorized and recited in a beautiful way. Or written in artistic calligraphic forms. Or used for Barakah to be recited before meetings, at weddings and funerals. To be carried on top of the head when entering a new house. To be distributed to others without even reading it yourself. The Quran did not come for any of these purposes. The Quran Majeed came for one purpose only. To be read, understood and followed as one follows a map to a destination. This is the Quran. The Quran Majeed came for one purpose only. To be read, understood and followed as one follows a map to a destination they have not been to yet. Right? So here is the destination we have not been to yet. And we have to wait there. We have a map. How do you follow that map? You follow it very, very carefully. And you follow it. You actually walk on the road that is mentioned, that is drawn in that map. You don't just read the map. You don't take the map and put it on a high place. You don't do any... You read them. You actually follow the map. You would follow such a map very carefully because you know that to miss a turn or take a wrong turn could mean the difference between life and death. In such a case, while you may be impressed with how beautifully that map has been drawn, your focus and concentration will be on following the map and walking along the path that it shows. That is the choice that we must make. Do we want to follow the Quran? Or do we just want to read it and treat it as something of barakah and actually not take the barakah from it? In the Quran, in the case of the Quran, it is not only a map, but it comes with a guide, a teacher, a trainer, and a demonstrator as proof of concept and evidence that Islam works. That the way of the Quran al-Kareem, the way of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the way called Islam, is the way to success in this world and the next. Not when you do anything else with it. Other things like reading, listening, learning, and so on are important, but the results come only from practice. Like Judo or any martial art, knowing about the Quran is not enough. Knowing how to read the Quran is not enough. Knowing Arabic enough to be able to write the ayat is not enough. You must be able to do it. Otherwise, you may be the world's leading authority on Judo, but in a street fight, anyone will beat you because you cannot do Judo. Right? Like Judo or any other martial art, knowing is not enough. You must be able to do it. And if you can't do it, you will lose in a fight. So also in Islam. After learning, one must practice. A Muslim, therefore, is someone who practices Islam. Not someone who is Arab or Pakistani or Indian or something. No. A Muslim is someone who practices Islam, who follows Islam. Not someone from some ethnicity or culture or nationality or even family of Muslims, where everyone around him or her may be practicing Islam, but he does not. There is no NPM. There is no non-practicing Muslim in Islam. To be Muslim, we must practice Islam. Otherwise, we can be students of Islam, even teachers of Islam, but we will not be Muslim. We have this. In this country, you have heads of the Department of Islamic Studies who are Jewish or Christian or atheist. They are not Muslim. It's a terrible tragedy. It is a great irony, but that's a fact. I remind myself and you, with Allah, only the one who practices Islam will succeed. Only the one who practices Islam will succeed. Only the one who knew but did not do will be an abject failure. We ask Allah to help us to be successful in this world and the next.