Asking for Guidance
Dear brothers, good guidance is the greatest gift that we can receive from Allah SWT. It is something that we cannot do without. To be guided by Allah SWT to worship him and to follow the path of our beloved Prophet SAWS is the ultimate goal of every Muslim.
Our lives would be absolutely devoid of any meaning unless we acknowledge Allah SWT and worship Him as He alone deserves to be worshipped.
As Muslims we need to be aware of the underlying fact of existence in this life and that is that we can do without other so-called essentials of life. We can do without wealth and without good health and without other things. Although life would be quite hard and quite challenging without these things, as long as we have the right guidance, we would still be victorious in front of Allah SWT.
As Muslims, we are so very lucky because we don’t even have to hunt and search for the right guidance. As Muslims, we have through the Glorious Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet SAWS, all the guidance we need to be successful.
However, by being Muslim it does not guarantee one to be guided. In fact, our behaviour can work against us from being guided. One example of poor behaviour that of injustice to others, is highlighted in the Quran as a barrier to guidance.
Allah SWT says in Sura Al-Anam:
They who believe and do not mix their belief with injustice – those will have security, and they are rightly guided.
Dear brothers, we need to be aware of our own weaknesses becoming a barrier to the greatest gift of Allah SWT. Injustice is mentioned and so is disobedience to Allah SWT.
We cannot expect guidance if we are not following in the ways taught to us by Allah SWT and by our Prophet SAWS.
Allah SWT says in Sura As-Saf:
And [mention, O Muhammed], when Moses said to his people, “O my people, who do you harm me while you certainly know that I am the messenger of Allah to you?” And when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.
Dear brothers, this ayat mentions the defiantly disobedient and we need to ensure that we do not fall into this category in our words and our behaviour.
We need to constantly seek guidance from our Lord. Our beloved Prophet taught us this practice through his actions and his supplications. It is narrated in hadith that if he woke up for night prayers and at the start of the prayer he would say:
Oh Lord of Jibreel and Mikael and Israfel, creator of the Heavens and Earth, knowledge of the Unseen, you decide between your slaves regarding their differences. Guide me to any doubts of the truth with your permission, you guide whoever you wish to the correct path.
Dear brothers, this is an important Hadith to ponder upon. If the greatest of all creation SAWS was praying for guidance then who are we to omit such a supplication from our prayers?
That being said, this khutba concludes with 3 tips that can be implemented to increase ones chances of being rightly guided:
- Sincerity in actions. This relates to the khutba given a few weeks ago on intention. If we are to achieve guidance from our Lord then we need to have the right intention. And this is dependent upon the sincerity with which we worship to our Lord and the sincerity with which we ask for guidance from our Lord.
- Increase remembrance and worship of Allah SWT. This is an obvious point but the hadith highlights how important our supplication is for receiving guidance. On top of the supplication given here, the one of Istikhara is a very potent one that we should all aim to learn and utilize.
- And lastly, humble yourself. Arrogance about our lives, our possessions, our talents etc. can be a barrier to receiving guidance. We need to be careful that we don’t think that we deserve more than others – even if we appear more steadfast in our worship than them. We need to always be mindful of the fact that everything is through the divine will of Allah SWT and so be grateful for all that we do have.
Dear brothers, we are living in times where misguidance and misinformation is the key weapon of those against the path of Islam. Therefore we need all the help and guidance we can get from Allah SWT to carry us through these times and back to Him in victory. Let us add this request from Him in our supplications so that we are of the rightly guided on the Day of Judgement.
May Allah SWT enable us to carry out actions that warrant his guidance. May Allah SWT deliver us guidance towards His path and may Allah SWT reward us for the effort of receiving his guidance.
Walhamdullilahi RabilAlameen.
