Timeless Seeds of Advice summary

Hope

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah (SWT) have mercy on him) once narrated a story of Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah (SWT) honour his soul) where he metaphorically used a man, sheepdog, and shepherd to signify the role of Allah (SWT) in providing refuge to a distressed man from the accursed Satan’s harmful and evil reach.

Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq (may Allah (SWT) be pleased with him), who was nothing less than a great and noble Muslim, also carried immense fear of Allah (SWT) in his heart and would often weep and cry to beg for the Almighty’s mercy. Ibn al-Jawzi also stressed the fear of God helping people achieve great things in life.

All our life, we are taught that Allah (SWT) is the only one who fully understands and has the ability to take away our problems and hardships. Choosing the Almighty’s path will take us away from all our misery and difficulty in life. Allah (SWT) knows all, and he certainly knows what’s best for his people. If you’re trapped in the dark, cry out his name, and he shall show you the path of light. Ibn al-Jawzi also shed some light on the importance of asking Allah (SWT) for help, blessings, and forgiveness. If any of our prayers are not answered, we must not lose hope, as Allah (SWT) knows the best time to grant us our wishes. We must also reflect on our ways and methods of worship.

When we recite the verses of the holy Quran, our minds and souls travel to a place of tranquillity and peace where there is no one but Allah (SWT). And wherever we go, he stays with us. We feel an immense sense of security and satisfaction when we realise that Allah (SWT) is with us every step of the way throughout our lives. When we learn that nothing in this life happens without his will, it’s easier to accept our fates and worry less about our future.

Even a pious personality like Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah said that he constantly works on himself and his faith to become a better Muslim. People who flaunt and rely on their past good deeds must humble themselves because our religion is all about constant virtue. Even Allah (SWT) despises arrogance in his people. The month of Ramadan tests us for our patience and strength and takes away our arrogance. It’s a month of self-development and acquiring maximum spirituality. Patience helps us suppress our anger and complaints about hunger during our fast.

When Ali Bannat was asked about his biggest regret, he said that it took a doctor to tell him that he was going to die while Allah (SWT) had told him all his life, but he refused to believe it. Ibn al-Jawzi also said to prepare for the afterlife instead of worrying about the world’s luxuries.

Allah (SWT)’s Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) once told Abdullāh Ibn Umar (RA) to live in this world like a stranger or travel because life here is not permanent for anyone and nobody knows about their last moment in this world.

You need to keep your faith and trust in your Lord strong and firm because only true reliance will lead to a better relationship with your Lord. Abū Hurayra also sheds light on Allah (SWT)’s quote where he mentions that anyone who causes harm to a believer, Allah (SWT) will declare war against them. When a believer loves their Lord with all their heart and soul, the Lord blesses them with the right direction in life, which is all we can ask for.

The Quran says that the afterlife is better than our life in this world. And to be happier in the afterlife, one must stay away from all sins. However, sins are inevitable. Even a good believer can knowingly or unknowingly make mistakes, but there is no one more forgiving and merciful than Allah (SWT).

Ibn al-Qayyim explained Allah (SWT)’s excellence and bounty so well when he said that our Lord only puts his believers through tough and testing times to make them cherish the good ones that await them. Allah (SWT) instructs us to be grateful for what we are blessed with if we wish to have more of his blessings. We are also instructed to be patient without being sad or losing hope because the Almighty has greater plans for us, and in return for our patience, we’ll be blessed with great happiness. Allah (SWT) remarkably appreciates it when his believers atone for their mistakes and ask him for forgiveness with humility and gratitude.

Ibn ʿUmar (RA) quoted our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said that Allah (SWT) loved those who were helpful to the people around them. When you make a Muslim happy, remove their troubles, forgive or help them pay their debt, or feed them when they are hungry and have no food, Allah (SWT) loves you for those deeds. Allah (SWT) instructs us to suppress our anger and rage if we wish our hearts to be secured on the Day of Judgment. The Quran says that if Allah (SWT) takes something you love away from you, he’ll bless you with something better.

Sadness is one of the harsh realities of life. Anybody who believes that true faith erases all sadness from one’s life is mistaken. Even the prophets and the most righteous people experienced extreme sadness. Our holy book’s purpose is not to make all our problems and sadness magically disappear. Instead, it serves as a guide for us to find our way to happiness.

Every time you succeed in life, two factors work together to make it happen – your hard work and Allah (SWT)’s help. Allah (SWT) only blesses your work when you put enough effort into it. However, sometimes, you put a tremendous amount of hard work into something, and the results aren’t what you expected. At that point, you must remember and find comfort in the fact that Allah (SWT) knows best. In the face of a calamity, we often see people blaming and questioning Allah (SWT). We forget that Allah (SWT) doesn’t owe us a thing, and unlike Jannah, this world is supposed to be imperfect.

Being humble and kind is the only way to move forward in this world. If history teaches us anything, it’s that a powerful ruler like Pharaoh can meet with massive failure, and a homeless man like Prophet Ibrahim (AS) can be a successful example for all Muslims. At the end of the day, Allah (SWT) is the one deciding everyone’s fate.

We can only imagine the pleasure of meeting Allah (SWT), but he says that if we knew the feeling of it, we would be sad to be away from him. Everything you lose in this world can be replaced, but Allah (SWT) is irreplaceable. If you lose him, there’s nothing else that can match him. This is why we perform ṣalāh five times a day to strengthen our connection with Allah (SWT) more than ever. The minute you start prioritising other activities over ṣalāh, you must immediately stop and gain some clarity, as distancing yourself from Allah (SWT) will bring you nothing good.

When a man came to Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and asked him to find him a way to fix the hardness of his heart, Al-Ḥasan said: “Discipline it with dhikr.” Your heart without dhikr is like a fish out of water.

Even though Allah (SWT) knows you inside out, he still listens to you whenever you talk. Talking to Allah (SWT) about your problems is better than any therapy because he isn’t only the best listener but also the best problem solver. So, a believer must use the powerful weapon of dua.

Every sin we commit doesn’t do any harm to the Almighty. It only harms us. So when our Lord stops us from committing sins, it’s because he wants us to stay away from harm’s way. Similarly, he doesn’t benefit from our obedience. It’s we who enjoy the fruits of our obedience and worship.

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī said that if you spend all your life trying to make your afterlife better, you’ll succeed in both lives. But the ones who only think about the luxuries and matters of this world without worrying about the life after death will end up being unsuccessful and unsatisfied in both lives. Messenger of Allah (SWT) (peace and blessings be upon him) elaborated on how real wealth in life is the richness of heart and soul instead of wealth in terms of worldly goods.

Possessing knowledge of the world and its creator makes all humans truly alive. The ones who are deprived of such knowledge do not serve any purpose in life. However, those who possess the knowledge are worse and still stay away from good deeds.

When a man asked al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī: “What is the secret to your piety?”

He listed four things that he understood:

1. He understood that his Rizq (provision/sustenance by Allah (SWT)) could never be taken by anyone.

2. He understood that no one else could worship for him, so he started doing it himself.

3. He understood that Allah (SWT) was watching him, so he felt ashamed to do anything wrong.

4. He understood that death is inevitable, so he began to prepare for his meeting with Allah (SWT).

Ibn Qayyim said: “The keys to the life of the heart lie in:

1. Reflecting upon the Quran.

2. Being humble before Allah (SWT) in secret.

3. Leaving sins.”

Satisfaction and happiness come with patience, perseverance, and gratitude. Allah (SWT) highly praises and appreciates self-development and spiritual growth in his believers. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Even if a person was in sujūd from birth until death, they will still be regretful on the Day of Judgment.”

This hadith holds so much power because it tells us the importance of doing constant good deeds. We must never rely on our past good deeds and spend our present being carefree. Every small deed matters as it can save us on the Day of Judgment.

Allah (SWT) asks his believers not to be afraid in the face of sadness or difficulty, as he is always with us. Even when Shaytan tries his best to distract us from our path of righteousness, we must hold onto our faith in Allah (SWT). It might not make our problems or grief go away, but it will definitely give us the power to fight it.

We must never forget the graciousness and greatness of our Lord, as he even provides sustenance to the ones who disobey him. Just imagine how much he has to give to the ones who love him dearly and obey him sincerely.

Being a believer doesn’t mean Allah (SWT) will take away all your problems. He created mankind to feel pain and pleasure accordingly. Whenever Allah (SWT) sends a storm our way, he also gives us the strength to navigate through it with the help of our faith. Two of the hardest burdens in life are sadness and fear. If we take a look at the history of Islam, we’ll come across so many great men and women who endured such terrible grief, pain, and fear, and the only thing that helped them conquer it was faith in Allah (SWT). The ones who are patient and pious are incredibly dear to Allah (SWT), and he rewards them in full without reckoning.

Ibn al-Jawzi asked us to learn self-discipline from Mūsā. We must remember his story when we refuse to break our sleep at the time of Fajr.

Ibn al-Jawzi was absolutely right when he said that the most precious thing in this world is knowing Allah (SWT). When you truly know your Lord, you understand your life and its purpose in a much clearer way. You should be so aligned with Allah (SWT)’s ways and teachings that when a person who doesn’t know God knows you, they must feel like they know God.

Treat people as you want Allah (SWT) to treat you on the Day of Judgment. If every Muslim achieves this mindset, we’ll truly be a community of peace and love. Our Lord is so magnificent and great that he doesn’t provide us with a reward based on our attainment of the results but on our sincerity to attain the results. This is why everything in our religion comes down to an individual’s intentions.

When you are consistently obeying Allah (SWT), it will not sit well with our most ardent enemy, Shaytan. He will come to you again and again to drift you away from Allah (SWT)’s path. If you stay persistent and refuse to leave your Lord’s path, Shaytan will exhaust himself after constant efforts. However, if you are not persistent and dedicated, he will continue to try and distract you and might finally succeed one day.

Allah (SWT) asks his believers always to be careful and cautious. He instructs us to remember two matters and forget two:

1. Remember Allah (SWT) and death.

2. Forget any good you have done to others and any evil that was done to you by others.

Many of us often wonder why Allah (SWT) puts us through tests and trials in life. Let’s have a look at the five reasons why:

1. To direct us (He wants us to always return to Him).

2. To inspect us (to test your faith).

3. To protect us (from misguidance).

4. To correct you (from your sins and straying).

5. To perfect you.

In today’s day and age, it is quite common for people to compare themselves with others around them. Allah (SWT) has strictly instructed us not to compare our lives to others. This world is what it is because of the differences and uniqueness among people.

Even the greatest man of all time (peace be upon him) would ask Allah (SWT) to save him from worry and sadness, incapacity and laziness, cowardice and miserliness, being heavily in debt, and being overpowered by other men. When our beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was not away from sadness and worries, then who were we to outrun grief and fear? To keep it all away, we must constantly ask our Lord to fill our hearts with happiness and gratefulness. When we are blessed with happiness, we must not worry or be pessimistic and be appreciative and grateful to our Lord.

Ibn ʿUthaymīn said: “If you truly contemplated the meaning of Allāhu akbar (in ṣalāh), the world would vanish from your thoughts. This is because Allah (SWT) is greater than everything, and you are standing before the One greater than everything.” He went on to add that the ṣalāh is one of the biggest honours because one gets to connect with their Lord personally.

Imam al-Shāfiʿī said: “There is a verse in the Quran that every wrongdoer should be terrified of.”

He was asked, “Which verse is that?”

He replied: “And your Lord never forgets.” [Quran 19:64]

When you realise that all your actions and intentions are so closely scrutinised by your Lord, who never forgets anything, you feel nothing but the urge to repent for all your past sins and the ones you’ll do till the Day of Judgment. But the good thing is that even though our Lord doesn’t forget, he forgives when his believers cry and beg for forgiveness and mercy.

Abu Hafsah Abdul Malik Clare (may Allah (SWT) reward him) said that there is no point in waiting to get old to worship Allah (SWT). You never know when your last day is in this world. Leading our lives by the ways and teachings of the Quran and the Sunnah will never take us to the path of suffering.

Our Lord is really good at covering our sins from the world. When the world is impressed with the image that we put up, it’s actually our Lord who we should be grateful for not displaying our sins in front of the world. You must realise in time that all Allah (SWT) requires from you is repentance. The moment you disobey him and feel the darkness in your heart, it’s the time to ask for forgiveness.

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī used a beautiful metaphor to explain kindness to us. According to him, an intelligent man carries his tongue behind his heart. It means that before saying anything ever, he checks with his heart to see if he should say it or not. On the other hand, a foolish man will always speak without thinking first.

The ego is one of your biggest enemies. As Bishr Ibn Ḥārith said, you won’t be able to completely embrace the peace and sweetness of worship until you put a barrier between yourself and your ego’s desire. Isḥāq al-Mawṣlī narrated an incident where the caliph, al-Muʿtaṣim, said to him: “O Isḥāq if the ego’s desires overcome you, sound opinion will depart from you.” It’s harder to obey your Lord when you are constantly feeding your ego what it desires.

A person’s sins fill their heart with loneliness, which is why a sinner always feels lonely, even in the middle of a crowd. When you spend your entire life disobeying Allah (SWT), you can’t blame anyone else but yourself for the loneliness you feel in your heart. This world doesn’t mean anything to our Lord, even though he owns it all by himself. We walk on this Earth as if it’s ours without even obeying our Lord or being grateful to him.

When you take one step towards your Lord, he’ll bring you ten steps closer to himself. He loves it when his believers reach out to him, even when it’s in times of need. With Allah (SWT) on our side, no difficulty is big enough to stand in front of us and without his blessings, we can spend all our lives trying to succeed, but we’ll always find it impossible to win.

Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has emphasised the effects of friends on a man’s life. An individual is always known by the company they keep. It’s easier for you to adopt the habits and manners of people you sit among, which is why you must seek friends who follow the path of Allah (SWT) so they don’t catalyse you from being distracted by the right path.

Allah (SWT) likes to bless his believers with what they wish and desire. But when it’s not reciprocated with gratitude, Allah (SWT) is capable of changing the blessing into a punishment to make the person realise the importance of it. We often take our blessings for granted, which we must not. A True believer must fill their heart with taqwa, which means piety and fear of Allah (SWT).

Allah (SWT) is the best planner of all. If he deprives us of something, it’s either because he’s testing our patience or he has something better planned for us.

Aid al Qarni made a list of six ingredients of happiness in his book:

1. Have a firm trust in Allah (SWT).

2. Resign yourself to the inescapable fact that everything that is decreed will happen and will follow its unalterable course.

3. Patience has no substitute for the positive effect it has on the afflicted.

4. An unwavering belief in the implications of this question: “Without showing forbearance, what will I accomplish?”

5. To ask yourself: “Why should I be a willful party to my own destruction?”

6. Knowing that from one hour to the next, circumstances are transformed and difficulties vanish.

Allah (SWT) is always there to grant you anything you wish for, but when his believer puts their hopes or trust in someone other than their Lord, he gets upset. He abandons his believers and makes the thing or person they place their trust in ruin them. We get so attached to worldly things and people that we forget that everything and everyone is meant to perish one day.

Al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī was right when he said that you’ll always see a believer doubt their actions and question themselves because they are worried about disobeying Allah (SWT) even involuntarily, but transgressors will never blame or scrutinise themselves even when they are openly sinning.

Here are some reminders that you must keep with yourself at all times so you don’t lose your way to Allah (SWT):

1. The Quran says: “Allah (SWT) does not burden a soul beyond that it can bear.” He knows that you are strong enough to bear the trial he’s putting you through.

2. His love for you is bigger than anybody else’s, including your own love for yourself.

3. Trust in Allah (SWT) for what you may think is pain might be a blessing in disguise.

4. Allah (SWT) wants what’s best for you, so never question his care and concern for you.

5. He loves it when you make Duas, so don’t stop asking him for his blessings because he loves bestowing them upon you.

Imam Ibn al-Qayyim tells us how we can attain Allah (SWT)’s love:

1. Recite the Quran and understand its meaning

2. Perform obligatory as well as voluntary deeds to please Allah (SWT).

3. Remember Allah (SWT) in every situation.

4. Put his commands before your desires.

5. Know Allah (SWT), his many names, and attributes.

6. Show gratitude for his uncountable favours and blessings.

7. Worship him when he descends during the last third of the night.

8. Stay away from everything and everyone that creates barriers between you and Allah (SWT).