The Shaykh’s reminder of some hadiths in which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) guides the believing, God-fearing servant, and the explanation of the greatness of the rank of God-fearingness.

The Shaykh : And there are strange hadiths that show the extent of the impact of a Muslim's fear of his Lord, and how our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, makes matters available for this God-fearing Muslim that He does not usually make available for people. In precise jurisprudential terms, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, breaks the system of the universe in order to preserve the wealth of this Muslim. It is a system about which our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, said in this system: We have some incidents and witnesses of this. For example, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: A cloud was moving like this, and then it turned like this. This man who heard the voice walked with the cloud for a short distance, and then the cloud discharged its load of rain on a land, and he looked at it and found a man working with his pickaxe. He greeted him, as if to say, for example, "Peace be upon you, and O so-and-so." The man was surprised because he knew him as a stranger, so he asked, "How did you know my name?" He said to him, "I was walking in the desert and heard the cloud saying, 'Water the land of so-and-so.' So I came with the cloud until I reached you, and I knew that you were the one intended." The point is: by what did he deserve this care from Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He? He said, "By Allah, I do not know except that I have this land, so I farm it, and then I divide its produce and harvest into three parts: a part I spend on myself and my family, a part I return to my land, and the third part I spend on the poor and needy around me." He said, "That is it." Look now, have you ever heard that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made the sky available for a specific land? No, but this happened because he feared Allah, so Allah, Mighty and Majestic, singled him out with special care from Him, unlike all other people. Of this kind is also what came in this hadith in Sahih Muslim, and of this kind is also what came in Sahih al-Bukhari, that a man needed some money as a loan, so he went to a rich man and said to him, "O so-and-so, lend me one hundred dinars." He said, "Bring a guarantor." He said, "Allah is the guarantor." He said, "Bring a surety." He said, "Allah is the surety." It seems, as they say in our region of Sham, that he was blessed, and by blessing they mean pure-hearted, good-natured, not knowing deception, not knowing treachery. "Do you want a guarantor? I have no guarantor. Allah is enough as a guarantor... Do you want a surety? I have no surety. Allah is the surety." And it seems that the case was as they said: "Birds fall according to their kind", that this rich man was also blessed. It was said that this answer came from the borrower... Since Allah is the guarantor and Allah is the surety, please give me one hundred dinars in gold. They agreed on a day for repayment, and the man took the dinars and set out for trade. The appointed day came and he was far from the town. What did he do? By Allah, He blessed him in his wealth, and he took one hundred dinars, stuffed them into a piece of wood, dug a hole, and packed them in tightly... and he came to the seashore and said, "O Allah, You were the guarantor and You were the surety..." and he threw the wood into the sea. This is madness, but this scrupulousness for Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and his love for keeping his promise overcame him; there was no one but Allah as guarantor and Allah as surety. And our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, is capable of everything. He commanded the waves to take this wood from this shore to the distant shore where the rich man was. The rich man went out to check the shore for the man who had borrowed one hundred dinars from him, and waited a little, and then he saw this wood being tossed by the waves, sometimes from behind and sometimes from the front, until it came near him. He took it to his house and there broke it open, and there the dinars fell to the ground. After a while, the borrower came. Look, also at his good heart, he counted out one hundred dinars for him. He did not rely on that act because it was an extraordinary event; it is not possible for a person to rely on it. So he presented the one hundred dinars. And look also at the purity of this rich man. He told him the story: "By Allah, the story is like this and like this. I went out on the appointed day, waited, and found this wood, and took it, and there were one hundred dinars in it." He said, "By Allah, the truth is that when the appointed time reached me and I was unable to present it to you at the specified time, I did such and such. The wood is the one I threw, relying on Allah." He said to him, "May Allah... May Allah bless you in your wealth." What could be more... than this help from Allah for His God-fearing servants? And it may be of this kind also the story of the three who took refuge in the cave, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "While three men from before you were walking, rain fell on them, and they took refuge in a cave in a mountain. A rock from the mountain slid down onto the mouth of their cave and closed over them. So some of them said to the others, 'O these men, look for good deeds you have done for Allah and call upon Allah with them, perhaps Allah will relieve you. Look for good deeds you have done for Allah and call upon Allah with these good deeds, perhaps Allah will relieve you.' So one of them raised his hands and said, 'O Allah, if You know that I had two old parents and a wife, and I had young children whom I was grazing. When I finished grazing, I would milk and bring the milk, and I would start with my parents before my children. One day the trees delayed me, so I returned and it was evening. I milked as I used to milk and brought the milk to them, and I found them asleep. I stood at their heads, hating to wake them from their sleep, and hating to give the children drink before them, while the children were crying from hunger at my feet. That continued to be my habit and their habit until dawn broke. If You, O Allah, know that I did that seeking Your pleasure, then open for us from it an opening through which we can see the sky.' So the rock moved a little until they saw the sky." A rock means a large mountain cave. The second said: "O Allah, You knew that I had a cousin whom I loved as much as men love women. I asked for her hand, but she refused until I came to her with one hundred dinars. When she was between my legs, she said, 'O servant of Allah, fear Allah and do not open the seal except with its right.' So I withdrew from her. If You, O Allah, know that I did that seeking Your pleasure, then open for us from it an opening.' So the rock also moved a little, but they could not get out until the third stood and said, 'O Allah, if You know that I hired a worker for a measure of rice. When he finished his work, I offered him his measure, but he was pleased with it. I did not stop farming until I gathered from it cattle and their herders. Then he came to me and said, 'O servant of Allah, give me my right.' I said to him, 'Look at those cattle and sheep, go and take them.' He said, 'O servant of Allah, fear Allah and do not mock me. I only have a measure of rice with you.' I said, 'Go and take them, for those cattle are from that measure.' So he went and drove them away. If You, O Allah, know that I did that seeking Your pleasure, then open for us.' So the rock moved and they came out, walking." All of this is aid from Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for His God-fearing servants, in verification of the saying of the Lord of the Worlds: We are in need of such education to be truly believers, if Allah wills.

The questioner : ... without exerting the means and preparing the conditions ... the meats ... that we start ... .

The Shaykh : It is necessary.