By Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (Rahmatullahi ‘alayh)
Bismillahir Rahmaanir Raheem
On one
occasion, when I was addressing a group of young boys, I said to them: “The
word “you” is in “youth”. And you are presently in youth. Your youth
is in your hands. Now it is left to YOU to
safeguard the ‘you’ in your youth or destroy the ‘you’ in your youth.
If you
safeguard that youth, Allah Ta’ala will give you respect and dignity. You will
enjoy good health – both physical and spiritual. And Allah Ta’ala also promises
the noble and enviable position of being under the Shade of His Throne on the
Day of Qiyamah. There will be success in both worlds.
However, if
you say that you are not interested in safeguarding that youth and want to
enjoy this worldly life, by engaging in those actions which please the nafs,
and which displease Allah Ta’ala. …Then ask yourself: What is
enjoyment in life? Who is the One that gives enjoyment in life? True enjoyment
and happiness will only come from the One who Created the heart and controls
the heart – Allah Ta’ala.
Sins
bring temporary satisfaction, gratification and
enjoyment of the nafs …a little while of pleasure that so many amongst our
youth engage in, and thereafter, dealing with the consequences life-long.
As my respected Shaykh (Rahmatullahi 'Alayh) would
say:
“Agreed, there is a little stolen
pleasure in sin
But what great rebellion is this
against the Sustainer
(Allah Ta’ala)
(That you use His bounties to disobey
Him).
A little while of pleasure and everlasting
regret;
What stupidity it is to bury
the janaza of respect and honour.”
We deal with
so many cases of young boys diagnosed with AIDS, with pregnancies and abortions
by school girls. …What did that temporary enjoyment bring them? …Short
term gratification and long term, misery, disgrace, humiliation.
No doubt, the
environment that we live in is very vicious: In the name of Education, so much
of Haraam is read, so much of Haraam is heard, and so much of Haraam is seen.
When there is so much of exposure to Haraam, promotion of sin, invitation to
sin, temptation to sin, the net result is that the youth are easily caught.
And there is
also no doubt that, “Youth is a kind of madness.” It is a
stage or period in life, where the young person does not want to listen to
parents or to anyone. He believes and even says that he is free and can do
whatever he wants. He does not want to be bound by restrictions.
However,
as Muslims, we should know better. True freedom is only
obtained when we are released from the prison of this world and return home to
Jannah. So long as we are in this world, there will be restrictions, there will
be rules and regulations. This is part of our test. If we pass, we
secure freedom forever and ever, where our every desire and wish is immediately
fulfilled.
No one remains
in youth. A few years and it’s all over. How many regret having lost their
youth and the wonderful opportunities of obeying Allah Ta’ala, whilst hale and
healthy?
…When Allah
Ta’ala gives enjoyment, then that enjoyment is true enjoyment,
which is related to the heart. Happiness and peace are not related to money,
music, illicit love, drugs, etc. True
pleasure is not outside the heart. The true enjoyment is that which
Allah Ta’ala gives in the heart of a Mu`min – but conditional
that the Mu`min is obedient to Him and His Rasul (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi
wasallam)."
Together with the effort to stay away from sin, and spend the time of
youth constructively - in good, we should continuously make Dua for Allah
Ta’ala’s special protection. …In the words of my Shaykh:
‘(O Allah) wherever I am – whether on
earth or in the skies – my Taqwa must always remain safe.’
**********************
Rasulullah (Sallallaahu ‘alayhi
wasallam) said:
“Seven
persons are those who will be sheltered under the shade [of the Arsh (throne)]
of Allah on the Day of Judgment when there will be no other shade, besides His
shade. They are
:
A just ruler;
A young man
who passed his youth in the worship and service of Allah – The Lord of Honour
and Glory;
One whose
heart is perpetually attached with the Masjid (mosque);
Two persons
who love each other for the sake of Allah - they joined together for His sake
and parted for His sake;
A man who is
invited for sin by a charming and beautiful woman but he declines, saying: ‘I
fear Allah!’;
One who
spends in charity in a secret way without making a show, so that his left hand
may not know what his right hand spent;
And
One who
remembers Allah in solitude so that his eyes overflow.”
