Draw Closer to Your Lord - I

When a person contemplates the state of people who are trapped in
forbidden lusts and those who pursue the satisfaction of their
instincts and desires, you will find that they share a common factor,
which is evident in their every movement and moment of repose, and
which is reflected in their facial features: a weak connection with
Allaah The Almighty.
How can a heart which is connected to Allaah The Almighty, a heart
that knows Himand has tasted the pleasure of being close to Him, find
pleasure or comfort in looking at nude pictures, watching pornographic
movies or stealing surreptitious gazes at what is unlawful? Thus,
everyone who has fallen into one of the sins related to sexual
desires, or returned to it after repentance and abandoning it, has
been dragged to this state due to the weakness of his faith. Weak
faith facilitates the way to his soul which is a persistent enjoiner
of evil, as well as to the accursed Satan, and thus he was trapped in
the swamps of sexual desire after being firm for a long time in the
gardens of faith.
Faith in Allaah The Almighty is theshield against falling into
prohibitions, second only, of course, to the guidance of Allaah The
Almighty. The Prophet said: "The adulterer is not a believer at the
time he commits adultery." [Al-Bukhaari]
Thus, when faith inhabits the heart, dominates the feelings, and flows
to the organs to lead them to the pleasure of Allaah The Almighty, the
person will notdare to think of committing an act of disobedience. The
eye will not dare to look at what is prohibited, nor will any part of
the body dare to disobey the commands of Allaah The Almighty. Building
faith in the heart is not easy; however, the one who insists on
knocking on the door will be let in eventually.
This is a modest attempt to help you on your way to strong faith,
which destroys the desire that may have humiliated you and caused you
to suffer one calamityafter another. It involves the following steps:
Strengthening one's fear of Allaah The Almighty
Allaah The Almighty Says (what means): {But as for he who fearedthe
position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful]
inclination, Then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.} [Quran
79:40-41] Fear of Allaah The Almighty is the real deterrent that
prevents you from falling into the clutches of desire,not just the
fear of scandal or thefear of diseases. In Madaarij As-Saalikeen,
Imaam Ibn Al-Qayyim said, "When fear of Allaah dwells in the hearts,
it burns the places of desires in them." Below is a practical program
that helps to strengthen the fear of Allaah The Almighty in your
heart:
1. Remembering death often:
The more we remember death, the softer our hearts will be and the
greater will be their fear of meeting Allaah The Almighty. As we are
always committing sins and misdeeds, to remember death constantly, you
have to do the following:
- Visit the graves: Make a weekly plan or a plan every two weeks
tovisit the graves since visiting the graves reminds one of the
Hereafter. The Prophet said: "Ihad forbidden you to visit the graves;
now, you can visit them, for it softens the heart, makes eyes shed
tears, and reminds of the Hereafter." [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
- Washing the dead and accompanying funerals: The sightof a dead body
being turned in the hands of the washer greatly softens the heart and
implants fear of Allaah The Almighty.
- Writing one's will and always looking at it: The Messenger of Allaah
said: "It is not permissible for any Muslim who has something to will
to stay for two nights without executing a written will with him."
[Al-Bukhaari] Writing a will and looking into it from time to time
keeps you mindful of death.
- Remembering the agonies of death and watching the dying people.
2. Writing down and counting your sins:
The Muslim remembers the sins that he has committed with his body. He
remembers the sins of the tongue, like backbiting and tale-bearing,
the sins of the eye like looking at what is prohibited,the sins of the
private parts like masturbation, etc., and the sins of the heart like
arrogance, pride,envy, and others. Thus, the Muslim should remember
his failure to carry out his religious duties and the rights of others
upon him, which include being dutiful to parents, maintaining kinship
ties and others. He shouldbring to mind his negligence in acts of
worship, such as lack of humbleness and concentration inworship,
abandoning voluntary acts of worship, and failing to attend
congregational and Friday prayers.
After you have written down these sins, also write down the blessings
of Allaah The Almighty that He has bestowed upon you. Then, make a
comparison between the blessings that Allaah The Almighty granted you
and the sins that you defy Him with night and day. This is sure to
fill your heart with fear of Allaah The Almighty, that He might punish
you for your sins.
Performing acts of worship regularly and perfectly
Faith requires words, deeds, and belief in the heart, and acts of
worship serve as the fuel of faith,which cause it to increase or
decrease. This is because faith increases by obedience and decreases
by disobedience.
This is a recommended schedule for acts of worship:
- Do not miss congregational prayers in the Masjid, especially the
Fajr prayer. This is a sure test of whether you can get rid of
thisproblem from your life. The moreyou perform the Fajr prayer at its
due time, the clearer it becomes that this problem is not deeply
rooted in you.
- Observe voluntary prayers after the obligatory ones. These voluntary
prayers are twelve Rak'ahs (units of prayer) every day and night,
guaranteeing the one who performs them a house in Paradise. They are
four Rak'ahsbefore the Dhuhr prayer and two after it, two after the
Maghrib prayer, two after the 'Ishaa' prayer, and two before the Fajr
prayer.
- You should perform the Witr prayer and voluntary prayers at night,
even if they are two short Rak'ahs.
- In all these prayers, always try to evoke the heart in prayer and
encourage your body to be humble as much as possible. Thisis because
prayers forbid immorality and bad conduct, and listening to a lecture
on humbleness and concentration inprayer may help with that.
- Give greater care to performing ablution and try to contemplate on
its inner dimensions. With every drop of water coming down from your
body, Allaah The Almighty forgives the sins committed by that part of
the body. Think, while performing ablution and with the water dripping
from your face, how Allaah The Almighty is forgiving your gazing at
and listening to things that are prohibited, and how He is forgiving
your watching pornographic movies or sites. When the water drips from
the fingers of your hands, Allaah The Almighty forgives you for all
the prohibited actions you did with them, whether they were
masturbation, browsing pornographic sites, or other sins that involve
your hands. When the water drips from your feet, Allaah The Almighty
forgives every place to which your legs moved to, for example to a
date with a girl, or to obtain a new lewd movie from an evil friend.
- Live in this state when you perform ablution and be completely
certain and expect everything good from Allaah The Almighty. If you
believe that He will forgive you, He, the Exalted, will certainly do
so. Allaah The Almighty Says in a Qudsi Hadeeth (sacred narration): "I
meet as much expectations of My Slave as he expects of Me (i.e. I am
Able todo for him what he expects I can do for him), and I am with him
when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me within himself, I will
remember him within Myself,and if he remembers Me in an assembly, I
will remember him ina better assembly. If he draws one span nearer to
Me, I will draw one Thiraa' (64 cm) nearer to him; and if he draws one
Thiraa' nearer to Me, I will draw the distance of two outstretched
arms nearer to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I will go to him
running." [Al-Bukhaari and Muslim (this is the narration of
Al-Bukhaari)] - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -