Planting the Rightness in the Hearts of the Beloveds

First Obligation as a Muslim

You should know - may Allah guide you and us to His obedience- that the foremost obligation upon a Muslim is to know his Lord (Allah), who created him and provides him with all His bounties and needs. He is Allah; the Only Divine and everything else is His Creation. He is Unique, Incomparable, and a Merciful God. He is unseen, both, in this world and the Hereafter; otherwise (if He is seen) He is Comparable to His Creation. He has no association nor needs a helper or advisor. He is Ever-living, All-Knowing and Omnipotent.

Allah says in Chapter Al-An'am verse 59:

(وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ الْغَيْبِ لاَ يَعْلَمُهَا إِلاَّ هُوَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا وَلاَ حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ الأَرْضِ وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ)

"And with Him are the keys of the Unseen; none but He knows them. He knows what is on land and in the waters; and not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the shadows of the earth, nothing of wet or dry but it is in a clear book." [6:59]

And in Chapter Fatir Verse 11:

(وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَاجاً وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنثَى وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِ وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلَا يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ)

"And Allah created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then He made you pairs. And no female bears or brings forth except with His knowledge and no long-living person is given long life, nor is anything diminished of his life, but it is [recorded] in a Book. Surely that is easy for Allah." [35:11]

This is the first thing a Muslim is obliged to know.

Then the second obligation upon a Muslim is to know his Messenger Mohammad (May Peace be upon him), who was sent by Allah for the guidance of the whole humanity. And that he is truthful and trustworthy and thus it is obligatory upon every Muslim to follow what he says and does. He was born in Mecca; where Allah first revealed to him the Noble Quran (through Angel Gabriel) and sent him as a Messenger to both the Jinn and the Humans. He then emigrated to Madina - by Allah's permission- from where Islam spread to every corner of the world.

Allah says in Chapter An-Nissaa Verse 80:

مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ وَمَن تَوَلَّى فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظاً))

"Whoever obeys the Messenger, verily obeys Allah; and whoever turns his back, We have not sent you as a watcher over them." [4:80]

Allah says in Chapter Al-Ahzab Verse 56:

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيماً))

"Indeed Allah and His angels bless the Prophet. O you who believe, invoke blessings on him and invoke peace upon him in a worthy manner." [33:56]

Allah says in Chapter Al-Hujurat Verse 2:

 (يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلَا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَن تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ)

"O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not shout words at him, as you shout to one another, lest your works should be invalidated without your being aware." [49:2]

See how critical and dangerous it is to embark on any deed that displeases the Prophet (Peace be upon him) because that destroys all your previous deeds, and will only be restored by making repentance.

Then a Muslim is obliged to know the following:

1.     The true faith in Allah, in His absolute attributes, His Angels, His Scriptures, His Prophets, Day of Judgement and Predestination

2.     The Do's, that is the righteous deeds to be done

3.     The Don'ts, the evil deeds that are prohibited

Faith - He should believe that what Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was sent forth with is the truth (The Quran and the Sunna), death is the truth, resurrection in the day of judgment is the truth, accountability is the truth, Siraat is the truth- the straight path that Allah wants his servants to follow; Mezaan (scale) is the truth- Allah's justice over his servants and his ability and swiftness to distinguish between good and evil deeds of his servants and does not mean the material scale. And that Paradise is the truth, and Hellfire is the truth; and whoever enters Paradise will dwell therein forever, and therein whatever his soul desires and his eyes enjoys to see; and whoever enters Hellfire - may Allah saves us and you from it- will not depart it and will dwell therein forever, a permanent and everlasting abode, will be punished and tied up (hand cuffed) and will be stung by the frightening crawling pests, will be burned (roasted) in its fire and will be drowned in its Zamharir (the Valley in the Hell which cuts the bodies due to its extreme coldness as the fire cuts due to its extreme hotness), will wish that death comes to him but of no avail and will wish if he is shifted from the heat of the fire to the coldness of the Zamharir and vice versa. Allah, exalted in His Majesty has prepared such severe punishment to those who were disobedient to Allah and his Messenger (PBUH).

Allah says in chapter Annisaa verse 13 and 14:

(وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ (13) وَمَن يَعْصِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ نَاراً خَالِداً فِيهَا وَلَهُ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ (14))

"Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding therein; that is the great triumph. But whoever disobeys Allah, and His Messenger; and transgresses His bounds, him He will admit to a Fire, abiding therein, and for him there shall be a humbling chastisement." [4:13-14]

And it is obligatory to know that whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and strives to adhere to their instructions and is steadfast on that until death comes to him Allah shall enter him Paradise and it is obligatory for Muslims to love him (i.e. maintaining good relation with him and ask Allah to have mercy on him) and this is known as Al Walayah. And that whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and does not adhere to their instructions and dies on this state then Allah shall put him into Hell and abides therein forever and it becomes obligatory upon Muslims to hate him (i.e. severing of relations and shall not ask Allah to have mercy on him) and this state is called Al Bara'ah.

He should also believe that whoever dies on major sins, the Prophet (PBUH) will not intercede on his behalf before Allah.

Allah SWT says in chapter Ghafir verse 18:

(مَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ وَلَا شَفِيعٍ يُطَاعُ)

"The evildoers will not have any intimate [friend], nor any intercessor who might be heeded."[40:18]

Allah SWT says in chapter Al Anbiya verse 28:

(وَلَا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلَّا لِمَنِ ارْتَضَى)

"And they do not intercede except for him with whom He is satisfied"[21:28]

For anyone who disobeys Allah can't acquire His contentment until he asks for His forgiveness and repents to Allah for his past sins and make intention to return to bad deeds anymore and instead that he intends to do righteous deeds.

He should believe that the attributes of Allah is His Essence - Glory be to Him - and there is no distinction between His Essence and his Attributes; the meaning of which, Allah, for example, is Omniscient, thus out of His Attributes is Knowledge but His knowledge is not acquired or gained like the knowledge of His creation because they are born ignorant then acquired knowledge by learning, etc. but this is not the case with Allah; His knowledge is not acquired but His Essence measures on the same basis all His Attributes.

Inspired from the book "Planting the Rightness in the Hearts of the Beloveds" prepared by Sheikhs of Dar Al-Quran.