The Way to Success
Important pieces of Advice on "the
Way to Success"
All Praises and thanks
be to Allah, we thank Him, and we seek His help and ask for His
forgiveness. We appeal for Allah's refuge from the evils of our
souls and from the evils of our deeds. This who is guided by Allah
will not be misled by anyone, and this who is misled by Him will
not be guided by anyone. I bear witness that there is no god but
Allah with no partner and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.
My noble brother: Have you
ever thought of drawing a safe path for your success in life… in
your business… in your study… and in all your
affairs?!
Have you tried to understand
the reasons of success?
Have you perceived why some
people succeed in their affairs while others fail?
We will deal here with the
notion of success… and demonstrate its ways and obstacles… What is
the meaning of success in the life of a Muslim?
Success in the
Life of a Muslim
My noble brother: Know that
the notion of success in the Muslim's life is closely connected to
his/her belief and approach in life... A Muslim's success in
his/her life's affairs is not separated at all from his/her success
in his/her afterlife affairs. They are connected by the belief in
Allah and the Hereafter.
A Muslim does not aspire to
the pleasure of the present worldly life while discarding his/her
share in the afterlife. They understand that whatever success they
achieve in life at the expense of their afterlife, it is a loss in
the end. And it is known that what is well that ends well. Allah
Almighty has said: {Say (O Muhammad): "The losers are those who
will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.
Verily, that will be a manifest loss!"} [Surat Az-Zumar:
15].
Transliteration:
qul inna alkhasireena
allatheena khasiroo anfusahum waahleehim yawma
alqiyamati ala thalika huwa alkhusranu
almubeenu
He, Glory be to Him, has said:
{and they rejoice in the life of the world, whereas the life of
this world as compared with the Hereafter is but a brief passing
enjoyment.} [Surat Ar-Ra'd: 26].
Transliteration:
wafarihoo
bialhayati
alddunyawama alhayatu
alddunya fee alakhirati illa
mataAAun
Brother: So you have to
understand that your success in this life cannot be a real one
unless it is in a way which pleases Allah so that it will not be of
bad consequences in your end. Such matter cannot be achieved unless
you combine two things upon which the success in life and afterlife
is based:
The
first: high
determination that motivates you to seek the means.
The
second: the fear of
Allah by which you escape from torment.
Determination generates the
heat of aspiration to the sublime matters whether in this worldly
life or of the Hereafter. Fearing from Allah directs and controls
your determination by righteousness and commitment in a way that
makes success an evidence for you, not against you before Allah.
Following, brother, are the means of success and its
way:
Methods of
Success:
First:
Sincerity: it is the blessing of
deeds and their key to success. So, my noble brother, if you want
to succeed in your work and in all your life, you should reform
your intention in all matters, and that you make it in accordance
to what Allah Glorified and Exalted, wants. The Prophet, peace and
blessings of Allah be upon Him, has said: "The reward of deeds
depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward
according to what he has intended." [Reported by
Al-Bukhari].
Whatever your goal in life and
your desire from your work are, if your intention is to benefit
yourself, then it is your goal in life. However, if your intention
is to benefit yourself to strengthen it in obedience or to benefit
Muslims, and you intend to thank Allah Glorified and Exalted for
that, you are, then, heading towards a means of acceptance. Seeking
Allah by deeds entails Allah Almighty' love; and Allah's love is a
key of acceptance as was mentioned in the Hadith. The Messenger of
Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him, has said: "If
Allah loves a person, He calls Gabriel saying: 'Allah loves so and
so; O Gabriel, love him.' Gabriel would love him, and then Gabriel
would make an announcement among the residents of the Heaven:
'Allah loves so-and-so, therefore, you should love him also.' So,
all the residents of the Heavens would love him and then he is
granted the acceptance of the people of the earth." [Reported by
Al-Bukhari].
O brother, remedy your
intention and see what do you want from your work?
What is the aim of your
study?
If you see it rightful, so
commit yourself to it as it is the key of acceptance.
If you find in your intention
the trace of love to celebrity or fame, hypocrisy, pride, arrogance
and vanity, so reform your intention as deeds become fruitless by
bad intentions. The Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon
Him, has said: "This who learns knowledge that is learned for the
sake of Allah Glorified and Exalted, he does not learn it but only
to gain the perishable goods of the worldly life will not find the
fragrance of Paradise in the Hereafter."
O brother, be sincere in your
intention to be gifted with acceptance. Make, by your good
intention, the one success as two successes: one in this worldly
life and one in the Hereafter.
Second:
do not make your success in
life as all your determination. Live, however, as a strange and
make success in it as a way to the success of the Hereafter {And
indeed the Hereafter is better for you than the present (life of
this world).} [Surat Ad-Duha: 4].
Transliteration:
Walalakhiratu khayrun
laka mina aloola
Suppose that
you own all the earth
And people
yield to you so what then
Are not your
place tomorrow is the bottom of your grave
And dust will
fill this and that
Do not make this worldly life
and its enjoyment as your utmost concern so you exert all your
efforts for that and forget your share in the Hereafter. This will
close the means of success. You will then work more and harder and
will be deprived from yielding the fruits. In the Hadith, the
Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, has
said: "verily, whoever takes the Hereafter as is his concern, Allah
makes his richness in his heart and reunites him and this worldly
life will come to him forced. And whoever has this worldly life as
is his concern, Allah makes his poverty between his eyes and
disperses him and he will not gain from this worldly life but only
what is destined for him." [Al-Albani, authentic due to other
narrations].
O you who
endeavors himself
Demands this
world in illness and in pain
This world is
not for you and you are not for it
So make the
two concerns as only one
Ibn Al-Qayyim,
may Allah have mercy on him, said: "If the slave is concerned, in day
and night, only with Allah alone, Allah Almighty will fulfill all
his needs, bear all his concerns and will empty his heart for His
love, his tongue for His remembrance and his organs for His
obedience. If he is concerned, in day and night, with this worldly
life, Allah will make him bear its concerns, distresses and
annoyances and will make him engaged with himself. His heart is
busy from His love with the love of people, his tongue from His
remembrance with their remembrance and his organs from His
obedience with their services and businesses. He drudges like
beasts in serving others. So whoever turns away from the
worshipping, obedience and love of Allah is afflicted by the
worshipping, love and servicing of the creatures".
In addition, the Prophet,
peace and blessings of Allah be upon Him, has said in the Hadith:
"whoever makes all concerns as only one; which is the concern of
the Hereafter, Allah will suffice him from all other concerns; and
this whose concerns of the conditions of the worldly life are
ramified, Allah will not care in which valley he perishes"
[Declared good by Al-Albani].
O brother, do not make all
your concern in succeeding in this worldly life. Money will be
consumed, position will end and glory will vanish. Only good deeds
remain, so make them your greatest concern. If so, Allah has
promised you with two things:
The
first: to, more
quickly, bring you each and every good
The
second: to suffice you
from all concerns.
These are all mentioned in the
words of Allah Almighty: {Whoever works righteousness - whether
male or female - while he (or she) is a true believer (of Islâmic
Monotheism) verily, to him We will give a good life (in this world
with respect, contentment and lawful provision), and We shall pay
them certainly a reward in proportion to the best of what they used
to do (i.e. Paradise in the Hereafter)} [Surat An-Nahl:
97].
Transliteration:
Man AAamila
salihan min thakarin aw ontha wahuwa
muminun falanuhyiyannahu hayatan
tayyibatan walanajziyannahum ajrahum biahsani
ma kanoo yaAAmaloona
The good life is the title of
success. The aim from things is its benefit. The aim of success is
but happiness and the good life.
For how long
you will be in travelling
Long seeking
going and coming
Home emigrant
does not benefit you as being estranged
From lovers
who do not know conditions
Once in the
East, once in the West
Death, due to
greediness, is not recalled
If you are
satisfied livelihood will come peacefully
Satisfaction
is richness; it is not a lot of money
Third: Fearing
Allah: this is the key
for all good and the prevention from all evil. Allah Almighty has
said: {And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will
make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). (2) And He
will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine.} [Surat
At-Talâq: 2-3].
Transliteration:
waman yattaqi Allaha
yajAAal lahu makhrajan (2)Wayarzuqhu min
haythu la yahtasibu
It is a way out from
distresses and the key for livelihoods. Allah Almighty has said:
{and whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make
his matter easy for him.} [Surat At-Talâq: 4].
Transliteration:
waman yattaqi Allaha
yajAAal lahu min amrihi yusran
Ibn Kathir,
may Allah have mercy on him, said: "it means that He facilitates his
affairs, makes it easy for him and grants him a speedy relief and a
quick way out."
My noble brother: make fearing
Allah the key of your success in all matters. Ponder on and work
upon His ordains, so He facilitates your affairs. Avoid committing
His forbiddance, so He prevents you from afflictions and dooms. Be
benevolent to His slaves, so He will be supporter for you. Approach
Him by good deeds, so He will be faster with all good for you. Put
your trust in Him in your matters, so He will be sufficient for you
in all your affairs. Allah Almighty has said: {And whosoever puts
his trust in Allâh, then He will suffice him} [Surat At-Talâq:
3].
Transliteration:
waman yatawakkal AAala
Allahi fahuwahasbuhu
Brother: remember that you are
in need of Allah. He alone disposes the affairs… feeds people… and
clothes people… {Who is he that can provide for you if He should
withhold His provision? Nay, but they continue to be in pride, and
(they) flee (from the truth).} [Surat Al-Mulk: 21].
Transliteration:
Amman hatha
allathee yarzuqukum in amsaka rizqahu bal lajjoo fee
AAutuwwin wanufoorin
He protects and guards them at
day and by night. He saves their lives and existence. All creatures
are in need of Him. So, do not forget that you are in need for His
help, in need for His success. Whatever your efforts are, without
Allah's blessing, they are fruitless. A poet said:
Unless Allah
supports the boy
The first
thing to destroy him is his diligence
Fourth: let
your determination be high: brother, if you intend to follow the
road of success in your life, putting your trust on Allah, seeking
His help, fearing Him, ignoring your intention for money, so you
have to know that Allah Glorified and Exalted has fixed cosmic laws
concerning life. Some of the laws of Allah in life are toiling and
diligence. Any living being has to struggle and toil to survive and
live. Each living being has, willy-nilly, to struggle the hardships
of life, to struggle its living, hunger, heat, cold and hardships
according to what he has of the determination, power, resolution
and success.
Allah Almighty has said:
{Verily, We have created man in toil.} [Surat Al-Balad:
4].
Transliteration:
Laqad khalaqna
alinsana fee kabadin
This means that man toils the
diversities of this worldly life and the matters of the Hereafter.
Acquiring the Hereafter requires from you; patience, diligence and
toil.
Livelihood needs you to toil.
Acquiring knowledge, as well, needs you to toil. Whoever has a goal
in this life has to exert efforts to achieve it. A workless cannot
gain desires!
And here appears the value of
high determination. This who has it is concerned with his/her goal.
He/she is never satisfied with inferiority. The core of his/her
goal is to live in nobility, die in nobility and be resurrected in
the Hereafter with nobility.
Brother, beware of increasing
your determination and decreasing your religion. You aspire for
prestige, money, position and power while you wreck your religion.
This is not high determination. This is, however, the obeyed
miserliness of which the Prophet peace and blessings of Allah be
upon Him, has said: "Two hungry fierce wolves left with sheep;
eating and spoiling, will not be as messier for the religion of a
Muslim who asks for wealth and glory." [Al-Albani said: good
authentic].
This who
spends days in collecting money
Fearing
poverty, this he does is poverty
Do not think
that poverty is that out of richness
Poverty of
religion is one of the worst poverties
High determination is praised
as long as it is an aspiration that pleases Allah and that it is
not harmful to one's religion. This is the praised determination
that becomes a very powerful reason for success. Ibn Al-Jawzi, may Allah have mercy on him,
said: "This who reflects clearly will be guided to the
requirement of the noblest standings and will be prohibited from
being satisfied with the inferiority at any case. A poet
said:
I have not
seen in people's faults a fault
As the deficit
of the capable for perfection
So the sane should aspire for
the utmost possible goal. If it were supposed for a man to ascend
to the sky, it would be a very ugly defect to be satisfied to stay
on earth. If prophecy could be acquired by diligence, a neglectful
of this would be at the rock bottom. As matters are not alike, then
one has to acquire the utmost learning. Imitation is a very ugly
deficiency. If one has a strong determination, it will elevate him
then to choose to himself a doctrine and not to imitate the
doctrine of anyone else (do not stay in laziness. What has been
missed is being missed due to laziness. Any gaining is reached by
diligence and resolution. Determination boils in the hearts like
the boiling of what is inside pots." [Said Al-Khatir, (the Hunting of the
Thought) p.286]
If souls are
grand
From their
aspirations bodies will tire
Fifth:
good pondering into matters: by
continuous planning, preserving arrangement, wise use of time and
leisure and avoidance of confusion and disorder. Anyone who can
divide efforts on time accurately by giving important goals more
effort and time than the less important businesses, he/she must
succeed. This can only be achieved by a sane person who can put
matters into their proper place.
{He grants Hikmah to whom He
pleases, and he, to whom Hikmah is granted, is indeed granted
abundant good.} [Surat Al-Baqarah: 269].
Transliteration:
Yutee alhikmata man
yashao waman yuta alhikmata faqad ootiya khayran
katheeran
(Hikmah literally means
wisdom, but it means here the knowledge, and the understanding of
the Qur'ân, and the Sunnah and one's ability to speak and act in
the correct and right way) and think my brother, about the words of
the Messenger of Allah, Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
in the Hadith: "There are two blessings which many people lose:
(They are) health and free time for doing good" [Reported by
Al-Bukhari].
It is evidence that time and
high determination have a strong role in achievement and
success.
Inactivity and wasting time
with what has no benefit for a Muslim is a disadvantage in two
ways:
First:
it is a disadvantage in the
Hereafter, because the remorse of the people of the Hereafter will
be for each moment at which one did not remember Allah, so what
about a moment at which one disobeyed Allah!
Second:
it is a disadvantage in this
worldly life, as a man who wastes time uselessly must lose a lot of
benefits.
As the degree
of the people of resolution, resolutions are achieved
And as the
degree of the people of honor, honors are achieved
Inferiorities
are great in the eyes of the inferior
And great
things are inferior in the eyes of the great
Yahya Ibn
Mu'az said: "the
aggrieved is the one who inactivates his/her days with the
fruitless, empowers his/her organs for the things that would
destroy them, and dies before being sobered up from the hidden
violations."
One of the ancestors said:
"night and day work on you so you should work on
them."
Abu al-Abbas
al-Dynury said: "there
is nothing greater or nicer than time and heart and you are wasting
both time and heart."
Brother:
be wise in disposing your
affairs, hold yourself responsible for your time and define your
duties towards your Lord, your soul, your family and your worldly
life obligations. If you manage your matters well by organizing,
planning and accountability, you will succeed in most of your
affairs.
Do not procrastinate today's
businesses to tomorrow. Do not sleep in the times of duties. Do not
be desperate in critical times. Know that persistence is the way of
victory and that patience is the key for relief. Be as a poet
said:
A heart that
looks at its thoughts and a hand
That passes
affairs and a soul that its fun is fatigue.
And as another poet
said:
I have not got
possession by wishes
But with days
that made the forepart grey
I wore for it
the turbidity of dust as
If you saw
unclear to see the weather clear
Do not accompany the people of
slackening and laziness. If you accompany them so let it be in fear
and apprehension of them. Do not look at the pleasures of the
people of idleness; they are but in a way of failure that you do
not see its signs. Look at the people of seriousness. Read in their
stories in history. Ask about their affairs. You will find that
they have busied themselves with the most useful and righteous
deeds.
Peace and blessings of Allah
be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his family and
companions.
Written by: Abu Al-Hassan ibn Muhammad Al-Faqeeh
Translated by Wathakker website
en.wathakker.net
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