Allah Loves

when you fear something, you run away from it, but when you fear Allah, you run back to Him

Taqwā is remembering that Allah sees everything so that we are deterred from doing anything that could compromise His love

(itqān) means excellent work ethic or due diligence; احْسَان (iḥsān), which I mentioned earlier, is excellence but in the broader sense of always trying to set higher standards for ourselves. Iḥsān refers to motivation, to the drive that we have with regards to Allah; itqān refers to the higher work ethic.

everyone has their blessing

tawakkul, to trust in Allah. Our trust in Allah shouldn’t make us incapable. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said وَلَا تَعْجَز, “Don’t ever be a person who is helpless”, don’t ever be a person who concedes, who seems to be defeated.

we have to be in a place of emotional strength to be able to help someone through their emotional vulnerability, or we have to be in a place of financial strength to be able to remove someone’s debt or to be able to provide for someone who’s having a difficult time providing for themselves.

prepare yourselves with strength, show your strength;

وَلَا تَعْجَزْ, “don’t ever be helpless” is about picking ourselves up, trying to grow, trying to be in a position of power both as an individual and as a community.

This Hadith is talking about strength of īmān, strength of faith, strength of resilience, strength of body and spirit, all different types of strengths

“and don’t ever be helpless and if anything comes to you that is not to your liking then simply say قَدَرُ اللهِ وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلَ, ‘It’s the decree of Allah and what He has willed has come’ and do not say ‘if’ because it opens the door of the shayāṭīn.”

“The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than a weak believer and in all of them is good.”

“seek your strength from Allah”,

seek that which benefits you

If we amplify mercy to people, we will receive more mercy from Allah. If we amplify kindness, we will receive more kindness from Allah

or, as in the case of the man who removed a harmful thing from a path, to a whole community, by taking care of the environment.

When the Prophet (peace be upon him) tells us about stories of entrance to Jannah for what are seemingly small actions, they always involve service to someone else.

what if Allah uses us as a means of removing someone else’s hardship

they put a sense of inner joy into their brother’s or sister’s heart”. They bring them inner peace. They pick them up when they’re down.

أَنﹾ تُدْخِلَ عَلَی قَلْبِ أَخِيكَ سُرُوراً

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَى اللهِ, “The most beloved people to Allah”, أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ, “are those who are most beneficial to the people”.