tips to achieve contentment

8/2/2019 Tips to Achieve Contentment

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From the bayan of Sheikh Maulana Abdus Sattar(Hafizahullah)

Imam and Khateeb, Masjid Bait-us-Salam, Karachi, PakistanTranslated by

http://theheartopener.wordpress.com/


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Tips to achieve contentment

Ya ay yuhan nasu inna wadal lahi haq qun fala tagur rannakumul hayatud

dunya wa la yagur ran nakum bil lahil garur.Al Quran-35:5

O men! Certainly the promise of Allah is true. Let not then this present life deceive

you, nor let the chief deceiver deceive you about Allah.

The boatman and the people

A boatman stops in an island and informs people to get down in the island butwarned them that there is more danger in the island and they should return soon tothe boat immediately after fulfilling their needs. Some paid heed to the words ofthe boatman making use of the important things in the island and returned soon tothe boat and got a good place to sit, very spacious and comfortable. Some peoplesmind got lost in the island totally forgetting the words of the boatman. Later they

became conscious of the boatmans words and came running to the shore to get onthe boat. They got the place but a very dungeon one. Some were so lost in theisland that they took the stones they liked, cut the trees they liked completelyforgetting the words of the boatman and they could find only very little place in the

boat when they returned. They didnt have the heart to leave the things they tookfrom the island too and they carried those things in that little place along withthem. This gave them pain, sometimes in the hip, loin and sometimes in this flankand that flank. They are having their journey with much difficulty and restlessness.

The other people in the island were so lost in the beauty of the island that whenthey returned to the shore, the boatman already left with the boat. These peoplewho remained in the island became food for the voracious animals.

Allah is saying:


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Ya ay yuhan nasu inna wadal lahi haq qun fala tagur rannakumul hayatud

dunya

O men! Certainly the promise of Allah is true. Let not then this present life deceive

you.

We have come down to this island of world only for a little while. Some are veryfortunate that they take only necessary things from this dunya and start journeyingin the boat towards their destination. Their face is only towards the destination inthe boat and they eat, wear, earn only what is necessary and have house only as per

their requirement. Some forget the words of Allah inna wadal lahi haq. These

people are also fortunate if they remember Allah when they get fifty or sixty or

even seventy years old and start running towards the original destination thinkingthat they are only travelers. They too will get a place in the boat. Some people areso engrossed and infatuated with this dunya that they want this dunya to be theirhome; they buy and gather all sort of things in their home. They made their life soheavy that sometimes they get pain in their hips, sometimes they get depression,tension, and sometimes they lose their sleep in the night. Neither do they have

peace in the day nor do they have tranquility and rest in the night for such is theheavy life. Some do not have any sense and they do not even know where they are

heading. Allah is warning us not to get lost in the attraction of this dunya and itis enough if one takes important and necessary things from this dunya and let theface be always towards the destination.

Will any wise man invest in someones house?

When a man is in a rented house, he wont fulfill all his wish and desires there asthe master of the house can send him out anytime when he wishes. When our innerheart tells us that this dunya is a rented one and we are just a trustee here, then why

is a Muslim keen in fulfilling all his desires here? It is he who fulfills all his desireswho thinks that this is his house. It is in ones own house that one fulfills his needs.

Alladheena yarithoonal firdaus. Allah will make you inherit that house, thejannatul firdaus. Walakum feeha maa tashtahee anfusukum. Therein ye shallhave all that your souls shall desire. Make your heart understand that the master


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can send you anytime out and so why to make expensive flooring and attachexpensive tiles and construct a big building there when the master will remove usanytime. Muslims one time had this understanding and was very firm in the beliefthat this world is a rented place and the Master of the universe can send them out

of this dunya anytime. Just like how it is impossible for a water bubble to stay longand so is our stay in this dunya. We are quite sure when it comes to length of stayin a waiting room but we dont even have that much belief about staying in thistemporary world. The ignorant Muslims want all his desires to be fulfilled here andhis wishes and desires never end and wants to get fulfilled. Will a man who is todie wish like this? Will a man who rents in a house think like this? Say the mastergives a man his house for rent for a month and this man starts building double floorand start attaching new tiles, does he have any brain? Has he gone mad? What is

more foolishness that he is to die and leave this world and he wants to fulfill all hisdesires here?

The fight erupts between a husband and a wife because the wife complains that hishusband doesnt fulfill her desires and so do the husband complains about hiswife.The man is not clashing with a man but desires of a man are clashing withdesires of another man. The hirs (whims) of man is clashing with others hirs. Thelong term goals of a man are clashing with the goals of others. The whole world isa prey for this clash. The desires of anyone be it the father, son, daughter and the

mother never end. The man wants to fulfill all his desires right in the rented house.The man who spends on a rented house is called a fool. He will be called of lessintelligence if he invests in someones house. When this is the case, how about theone who doesnt know when he will leave this dunya, in the morning or in theevening? Today he is among the living ones and tomorrow he might be amongthose who are dead. What can be more foolishness than this? But only in thisfoolishness, the whole world is running. In fact whoever is more into it andwhoever spends more on this earth, he is called the most intelligent as everyone is

running in this foolishness.


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The love of dunya and the love of Allah cannot stay togetherLet Allah grant us the true faith of the life of hereafter and through this Allah grants one, the contentment. The one whose eyes are on the akhirat, Allah saves him from the dirty diseases of hirs, greediness, wishes and jealousy. One issaved from the fire of these diseases and gets the wealth of satisfaction andcontentment that he thinks whatever he has, he has more than enough. If he getstwo times food per day, he thinks it is more, if he has two to four dresses for thewhole of a year, he thinks he has more for how long he has to stay here! One leadsa peaceful life and a life of contentment when his eyes are fixed on the hereafter.He is like the one who understood the words of the boatman and got his necessary

things and then came and sat in the boat. He says as he is on journey, lesser andlighter the things better will be his journey. His journey of life is better when hehas a blessed small house, small vehicle and not a big status. With these, his

journey will be easier. Unfortunately now the wishes and desires has been soamplified that it has now been encompassed in something very necessary. Look atthe man and the woman, their desires never end and their wishes never getfulfilled. These are all worldliness where the heart is stuck in the worldly things.

The heart in which there is love of the world, the love of Allah is forbidden inthat heart. Just like in one utensil, the water and the fire cannot stay together, the

love of the world and the love of Allah cannot stay in a heart as both arecompletely different things. Today we have this poison of love of dunya and wehave been afflicted with this disease.

Extinguish the fire of hirs with contentment

Every person desires for a status and he wants to see all his desires to be fulfilled.

The fire of hirs never extinguishes and never ends. He is very ignorant for hethinks when he gets more, it will be all ok. This is like throwing dry grass over thefire, will the fire extinguish? Wont it flare up more? If you keep questing for moreand more wealth and think that the fire of desires will extinguish, then this willnever happen for it will only flare up more. Water is poured on the fire and not thedry grass. Sprinkle the water of contentment on the fire of hirs and not more


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wealth. The fire will then cool down. Develop the thinking of that hereafter. Ya ayyuhan nasu inna wadal lahi haq. O men! certainly the promise of Allah is true.

fala tagur rannakumul hayatud dunya. Let not then this present life deceive you.

Allah is saying to the Muslims: wa laa tamuddanna aynayka elaa maamattanaa behi.Do not strain your eyes towards that which we have given to those

Kuffar. azwaajam minhum zahratal hayaatid dunyaa, le naftenahum feehe. we

have given for enjoyment to parties (wedded pairs) of them, the splendor of the life

of this world, so that we may try them in it. All the enjoyment given to the Kuffaris to put them in fitna (trial). This disease has so fallen on our lives that we haveforgotten the akhirah.

When a man forgets the akhirah, then his longing for desires extends, his

expectations become far stretched, his goals become long-term. And inwhosoevers life there is the remembrance of akhiratu, Allah grants him the lifeof contentment and he thinks whatever he has, he has more than enough. Todayneither the man is content nor the woman, neither he is satisfied nor her. The manraises the slogan, more, more and so do the woman. The woman asks herhusband, What did you do for me so far? and the man asks her, What did youdo for me? When the akhirat disappears from the sight, then all the long-termgoals and wishes never get ends, there wont be any patience and gratitude; his

desires never gets end and he needs more and more. There is then a beautiful lifewhere a man keeps that world (hereafter) in front of him at every single moment

where Allah will make him the master of that house. Alladheena yarithoonal

firdaus. Allah will say, Today is the day where you can fulfill all yourdesires and wishes. This is not the place though for we have to leave from here.

The story of Ibrahim ibn Adham (RA)

Ibrahim ibn Adham (RA) was leading a heedless life when a man came to him.The man was looking into the house here and there. Ibrahim (RA) asked him whathe is doing here. The man said that he is a stranger and he is looking for some

place to stay. Ibrahim RA told him that this is his house and not an inn where hecould stay. The man asked him in a serious tone, Who lived here before you?Ibrahim RA replied, My maternal uncle. The man asked, Where did he go? for


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which he replied, He died. The man then asked, Who lived before your uncle inthis house? and he replied, His uncles father. He asked again, Where did hego? and he replied he died. He further asked him who lived before him andIbrahim replied, His father. He then asked him where did he go and he answered

that he also returned to Allah The stranger then taught the lesson to Ibrahim . that the first one came, stayed for some time and went away, then came the secondone, stayed for a while and went away and so the third one. And he told Ibrahimthat the one who comes and goes like this is a traveler. He told him from such adepth of the heart that it so affected Ibrahim that it changed his life entirely, he left

all his kingdom and he became the chief of the awliya of Allah .

Aye sarai dahr musaafiron, ba khuda ye kisi ka makaan naheen,

jo the muqeem kal yahaan, aaj kaheen un ka nishaan naheen

O the travelers of the temporary world, by Allah, this is not anyones house

Those who were residing here yesterday, today nowhere is their sign.

None remained on this earth for everyone went under the earth.

The biggest admonisher

The one who doesnt allow a fly to sit on his cheeks, today he is eaten up by theworms. The eyes that had so much of shine, today has become the food for theinsects. The brain from which the evil used to originate and in which there wascharacteristics of firaun is being disintegrated under the earth. How many are likethis, who never cared about themselves in this dunya! They had a big name andstatus and where did they go now? Everything is going to be destroyed and it is allthe scene of the times. O the honored ones! The biggest admonisher and the

preacher for Muslims and the thing that brings in revolution in their lives is the true

remembrance of that afterlife. The Prophet said I am leaving two admonishersbehind me: 1) Naatiq, (the one that speaks), which is Quran and 2) Saakit, (the one

that is silence), which is death. This is such a big admonisher. Let Allah help usall to take a lesson.


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An analogy to ponder

Say a person is undertaking journey for hajj, riding on an animal and on the way,

he stops at a field to feed his animal so it gets fat and he gets so lost in feeding his

animal that he forgets his journey, wont one call him a fool? With this body as a

conveyance, Allah wants us to reach that destination but one gets so lost in

feeding this body and so lost in the comfort of this body that he doesnt like any

stain to appear on the face, he doesnt like to see any change in his beauty, he

doesnt like to see any patch on the dress and he doesnt like to have any sort of

lack in the comfort or peace. One is so fixed to this ride that he forgot his

destination. Who can be more foolish than a person like this? What sort of life is

this? The vehicle we got through which we are to reach the destination, we have

been so attached to it and forgot the main destination. O the honorable ones! Thats

the real life and if one is fortunate to get its true remembrance, then the immediate

wealth that one gets in this world is Allah grants him the life of contentment

and his desires comes in control. The fight then wont erupt between the husband

and a wife based on fulfilling any desires; neither will a fight erupt between the

father and a son based on any desires for all these are the consequences of love of

dunya and being heedless of akhirat.

The signs of an akhirat oriented person

1.ContentmentYou will never see an akhirat oriented person severing relation for such people will

unite. If there is any severing, then that would be only for Allah and never will

they fight based on desires. Today all the severity stems from desires; very big


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desires and wishes clash with each other. So the sign of the one who has been

destined with the remembrance of akhirat is that Allah grants him the life of

contentment. He will always remain content and satisfied, he might be in a hut, he

might get just one time food, even be it dry, he will always remain happy and

content for how long he has to stay in this world and the days will pass just with

one time food per day. Only the one who wants to live longer gets worried about

the taunts of the people and the status for he thinks what the people will say, what

the community and the family will say. This fear has made him a depressed patient

and destroyed his sleep. This fear has created a pricking in him that what will

people say. The one who is not destined with the remembrance of akhirat is not

destined with contentment. The greatest sign of a persons belief in akhirat is that

he will have contentment always in his life.

2.RepentanceThe second sign is that Allah will make him fortunate to do tawbah

(repentance) immediately. As he knows that the life of akhirat can start anytime, he

wont procrastinate his repentance thinking like let me start another factory on

usury and I can repent later or let me earn the haram for a while and then I will see

later if I should repent. This can only be done by a person who is heedless of

akhirat and whose belief in akhirat is not true but has become very weak. Once a

person gets a firm belief in akhirat, he immediately repents to Allah and there

wont be any delay. It is not like I am committing five sins and I will leave one. It

doesnt happen like this but if he is committing a sin, every day he will repent and

pray hajat salah asking Allah to save him from that sin and grant him salvation.

So when one gets a firm belief in the akhirat, he gets the tawfeeq to repent soon.


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The one whose belief is weak, he keeps delaying the repentance and sometimes he

becomes so unfortunate that Allah forbid he dies without repenting.

3.Strong affinity towards righteous deedsThe third sign is that an akhirat oriented person doesnt get mere submission when

it comes to good deeds but he gets a strong desire towards the righteous deeds.

When I know I will get great reward on my hard work, then how much I will enjoy

the work. There will be enthusiasm, right? When I know tomorrow I will get prize

from Allah in front of all people, how much happiness will be there in the

ibaadat (worship)? When the belief in the akhirat becomes weak then ibaadat

moves away from the life and even if there is ibaadat, it will be done with laziness

and indolence. waithaa qaamoo ila alssalaati qaamoo kusaala.When they stand

up to prayer, they stand without earnestness. They always stand in prayer with

laziness and do their ibaadat thinking that as a burden. Either he does that thinking

that as a burden or he doesnt do at all. There is no enthusiasm, desire and

eagerness. This is the sign that his belief in the akhirat has become very weak. So

there are three signs when a man gets firm belief in the akhirat. 1) Allah grants

him contentment, 2) He gets tawfeeq to repent soon and 3) Allah grants him

enthusiasm, desire and eagerness in righteous deeds. He gets all these things.

The one who remembers the hereafter often will be raised among

the martyrs

O honorable ones! It is very necessary that we should get rid of this disease seen

today about the heedlessness of the life after death. We should always be highly

conscious and mindful of that life. We should have attention and regards to that life


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all the time and then we will enjoy the life and the life will be very joyous. That is

why our beloved Prophet used to say, O people! Remember that life

abundantly. Only through this, the worldly desires will leave you alone and the

long term goals will leave you alone. Our beloved mother Ayisha RA asked our

beloved Prophet O Rasulullah! When the martyrs will be assembled on the ,

Day of Judgement, will anyone else also will join their ranks? The Prophet

replied, O Ayisha! The one who remembers that akhirat at least twenty times per

day and night of his life, Allah will gather him among the martyrs. Yes among

the martyrs for such is the wealth of remembering death. That is because the whole

of the life gets beautified by remembering the death and being firm in the belief of

that life like earnestness in the ibaadat, improvement in the akhlaaq (conduct), the

worry of halal means and to speak the truth, the essence of humanity is created

from it and the beauty of humanity comes with this. Overlooking others, forgiving

others, to gain control over ones anger, patience, tolerance, the realization of ones

mistakes and all these things come here and one gets the beauty of the life. So let

one remember the death abundantly.

How to remember the death?

Now how to remember the death? Think of those close to you who passed away

like where did they go, how beautiful their faces were, how they had their wishes

and aspirations, how wealthy they were and where did they go today? Howbeautiful were their eyes and what would be their conditions today under the earth?

What the scene the worms and insects would be creating to them? How will be

their punishment, how lonely their life would be and how they would be lying in

the darkness of the grave? And the one who left this world all of a sudden, think of


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them and think how the death comes all of a sudden. Remember that this life is

temporary and time bounded. And so my honorable ones! For the sake of Allah

keep your life in this world very light, a life of less expenditure and a life of ,

contentment. That is why our beloved Prophet said that the special slaves of

Allah dont lead a luxurious life. When the man falls for the luxury of this

world, he then forgets the akhirat. Only in fulfilling his desires, he is so cheerful,

hardworking and is extremely worried about earning more that he doesnt even

know that he has to go somewhere else.

There is no comfort, but the comfort of the Hereafter

The Prophet of Allah said that the man who wakes up with the worry of this

world, Allah will leave his heart restless for the entire day and the one who

wakes up with the worry of akhirat, Allah makes him independent of this

world. How many are today, those who wake up with the worry of the akhirat? The

man sleeps with the worry of the dunya and wakes up with the worry of this dunya.

If a man is worried about his son, it is to do with the dunya, if he is restless about

his wife, it is about the dunya and this is the only concern. No one worries about

the hayaa (modesty) of his daughter, the youth of his son, the haram means and no

one asks for wazeefah for such things. We will get to hear many people asking for

wazeefah saying that their business is not going well, the factoring is not runningwell and their earning has decreased. No one talks and complains about the akhirat

of the daughter and that the environment of the house is not akhirat inclined. No

one cries on this, none gets agitated on this and none is worried because the very

wish is that they make up the dunya and thats it. O the honorable ones! Life is


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Allahumma la aisha illa aishul aakhirah. O Allah! There is no comfort, but the

comfort of the Hereafter.

No one knows when this journey will end. During night, one is among the living

ones and no one knows how many will be among the dead during the next day.

How many people are like that! In the morning they will be among the living and

when the night comes, they will be lying under the earth. There is no delay in the

death, a man sleeps and he doesnt wake up, a man goes to office and he gets heart

attack. This is life and be prepared to go to Allah Keep the life simple and .

lighter, do not spend more, lead a life of cautiousness that you should return to

Allah Keep your heart clean, keep your body and its parts too clean from the .

sins so that Allah is pleased seeing us and pleased seeing our hearts. Keep the

heart clean for others free from jealousy, rancor or malice. Keep your body and its

parts also clean from the dirty of sins so when you go to Allah you do not feel ,

ashamed and reach Allah victorious. And we do not know when we will be

presented before Allah Let Allah . grant us all the true remembrance and

concern about the akhirat. Ameen

tips to achieve contentment

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