[Husayni]

Raj’a (Hope in Allah)

Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq (may Allah have mercy on him), in defining raj’a, said, “Raj'a is being contented with His overflowing generosity. It should be witnessed in all (His) actions, otherwise, this hope is but self-deception.”

Allah encourages us to have hope in Him, and forbids us from despairing of His mercy. He says:

Say: O my servants! Who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah forgives the faults altogether; surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. (39:53)

And He says, giving good news of his wide-spread mercy:

And My mercy encompasses all things. (7:156)

The Exalted says in describing those who hope in His mercy:

Surely those who believed and those who fled (their home) and strove hard in the way of Allah, these hope for the mercy of Allah. (2:218)

Many sayings of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) encourage people to have hope in Allah’s mercy.

Abu Harayra narrates that the Prophet of Allah said, “By He who holds me in His hands, if you did not commit sins, Allah would remove you and replace you with another people who would commit sins and then ask for Allah’s pardon so that Allah would pardon them.”

Abi Musa al-Ash‘ari (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “On the Yawm al-Qiymah some Muslims will come with sins like mountains. Allah will forgive them and put them upon the Jews and Christians.”

It is recorded in Muslim in the Book of Tawbah that Ibn ‘Umar heard the Prophet of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) say:

On the Yawm al-Qiymah the believer will approach his Lord until He makes him admit his sins. When Allah asks, “Do you know about such and such sins?” the believer will say, “My Lord, I know.” Then Allah will say, “I overlooked those sins in the dunya and I forgive them today.” And he will be given a page of his good actions.

Raj’a (placing one’s hope in Allah) is different from wishful thinking. The one who places his hope in Allah takes action by means of obedience, seeking Allah’s pleasure and acceptance. The one who entertains wishful thinking leaves out means and struggles and simply waits for Allah’s reward. About such a person the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said, “The impotent one is he who lets himself follow his whims, hoping that Allah will fulfill his wishes.”

Anyone who places his hopes in Allah and asks Him, must roll up his sleeves for sincere and hard effort so that he can get what he asks Allah for. In this regard Allah says, showing the way of asking Him:

Therefore whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and not join any one in the service of his Lord. (18:110)

If the servant of Allah is in the prime of his youth, if he is committing sins and obeying his lower self and desires, he has to make fear of Allah stronger than hope in Allah. However, if the servant of Allah is at the end of his life, he has to make hope stronger than fear. Allah says in a hadth qudsi recorded in Sa al-Bukhari: “I am in the good opinion of my servant.”

The Prophet said in a hadith narrated by Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah, “One should not die until he has a good opinion of Allah” (Muslim, The Book of Jannah, “The Order to Have a Good Opinion of Allah”).

If the servant approaches his Lord by following the path leading to His nearness, he must join the stations of fear and hope. He shouldn’t let fear overtake hope so that he despairs of Allah’s mercy and forgiveness, or let hope overtake fear so that he might fall into disobedience. Rather, he should fly with both, soaring into rarified spheres, and continue
to approach ever closer to the Divine Presence. Thus, he will achieve the attributes of the people about whom Allah says:

Their sides draw away from (their) beds, they call upon their Lord in fear and in hope. (32:16)

They fear His Hellfire and hope for His Garden of Paradise. They fear distancing themselves from His nearness, and hope for His closeness. They fear that He might desert them and hope that He will be pleased with them. They fear disconnection from Him and hope for connection with Him.

In addition, those who place their hopes in Allah are of different levels. Ibn Ajiba in Mi‘raj al-Tashawwuf says,“The hope of the common is the hope of returning with a good reward; the hope of the elite is of obtaining His pleasure and nearness; and the hope of the elite of the elite is of obtaining witnessing and increasing in the attainment of secrets of the King, the Worshipped.”

xcerpt from 'Realities of Sufism' by ma'rif billah Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al Jayli (RA)

[wannachange]

Assalaamu alaykum WR ALLAH WB

Husayni, on 14 July 2012 - 04:15 PM, said:

They fear His Hellfire and hope for His Garden of Paradise. They fear distancing themselves from His nearness, and hope for His closeness. They fear that He might desert them and hope that He will be pleased with them. They fear disconnection from Him and hope for connection with Him.

Very Beautiful.

Husayni, on 14 July 2012 - 04:15 PM, said:

In addition, those who place their hopes in Allah are of different levels. Ibn Ajiba in Mi‘raj al-Tashawwuf says,“The hope of the common is the hope of returning with a good reward; the hope of the elite is of obtaining His pleasure and nearness; and the hope of the elite of the elite is of obtaining witnessing and increasing in the attainment of secrets of the King, the Worshipped.”

xcerpt from 'Realities of Sufism' by ma'rif billah Shaykh Abdul Qadir Al Jayli (RA)

Hmm..The Elite want to please Allah SWT because the lover always wants their beloved to be pleased and the fact that their beloved is pleased in turns makes them pleased.

The Elite of the Elite want to attain the secrets of Allah SWT which, in comparison, doesn't appear as selfless as the motivation and desire of the Elite. I know this is wrong but I don't know how. Where is my reasoning flawed please.

wassalaamu alaykum WR ALLAH WB