The first and foremost instruction, always given by all the Prophets, the rightly-guided caliphs and the pious among the Ummah (Muslim Community) to their companions had been to inculcate fear of Allah, implant His love in one's heart and to promote attachment with Allah. Hence following their footsteps, I also have chosen it as the first advice to my dear brothers and sisters and in future I will continue to do so whenever I get a chance, for it deserves a preferential and priority treatment.
Whoever holds firmly to Allah will be shown way that is straight [3:101]
O ye who believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam*
[3:102]
*Here state of Islam not only refers to being a muslim, but on also being a mu'min, i.e, one who has surrendered his life to the commandments ordered by Allah and is always within his bounds.
Belief in Allah is the most important over all other articles of faith. Hence association of heart with Allah should have priority in prayers. Fear of Allah should have priority in morals and soliciting the pleasure of Allah should have priority in all personal dealings. In short, the proper orientation of our entire life is to be based on the desire to win the pleasure of Allah and this should have priority over all other motives, efforts and endeavours. Our life should revolve around only seeking Allah's grace, blessing and guidance. He alone should be our centre of hope and our goal to return back to him. A person should live and die for Allah, and his worship and sacrifices should also be meant for Him alone.
Master of the Day of Judgment* [1:4]
Thee Alone do we Worship, Thee alone do we ask for help#
[1:5]
Show us the Straight path. The path of those on whom Thou has bestowed Thy Grace, those whose is not wrath, and go not astray#
[1:6-7]
Surely my prayer and my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah the Cherisher of the worlds.# [6:162]
*This verse which we recite daily in our prayers, if recited with knowledge of what it means and its significance, puts our faith and belief in the hereafter and that we all are bound to return back to him and hence we shall be careful of how we deal in this world.
#These verses go in conjunction with the Shahada (as a fact, 1/3rd of the Quran is all about the oneness and Might of Allah) that we shall only turn to him for help and that our prayers shall be addressed to him only, and only he deserves this pleasure, respect and privilege.
He should worship Allah with full devotion and subject his life exclusively to unqualified submission to Allah. The Qur'an says:
They had been ordered nothing but that they should worship Allah with sincere devotion and being true in faith to Him. [98:5]
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has, on different occasions, explained this relationship in such clear terms that there is no ambiguity left in its meaning and purpose. It is explicitly clear from his statements that the nature of this relationship is nothing but—
To fear Allah in all matters—open or secret— (Bayhaqi)
And to rely on the might of Allah rather than one's own resources. (Bayhaqi)
He should be ready to face the anger of men to solicit the pleasure of Allah, and never prepared for the vice versa. And when this attachment with Allah rises to the extent that all love, enmity, giving and withholding by a person is for the sake of Allah alone, and with no other motive behind, it means that he has attained perfection in his attachment with Allah. The Prophet (p) said:
Whoever loved for Allah, and hated for Allah gave for Allah and withheld for Allah, is the person who has perfected his faith. (Bukhari)
Now look into the meanings of the Qunut which you recite every night. Every word of it points towards the connection you should have with Allah. Just ponder over its words and see for yourself the promise you make with Allah about the kinds of connections you should have with Him.
O Allah, we seek Your help and crave for pardon from You We believe wholly in You and solely depend upon You, (so) we praise You in the best words, we are thankful to You, and not ungrateful to You, (Hence) we abandon and reject (leave) all those who transgress Your Commands. O Allah, we worship You alone, offer prayers for Your sake, bow down to You and all our endeavours and efforts are meant to lead us towards You. We are hopeful of mercy from You and are afraid of Your punishment. Undoubtedly Your punishment is to fall on the rejecters.
This attachment with Allah is also clearly reflected in the special Du'a (Supplication) of the Prophet (p) which he used to recite at the time of Tahajjud. He used to say:
O Allah, I have bowed down to you, declared my faith in You, placed my reliance in You, always took recourse to You, fought for You and placed my case before You.
The above mentioned is the correct interpretation of this study time and again to retain it in your attachment that a firm believer should have with Allah. Now let us consider the method of acquiring and increasing it.
The only method of acquiring it is to believe in Allah and accept Him the One with no partner, as the Provider, the Deity and the Master of his own self as well as of the whole Universe, and to accept all the attributes, the rights and the privileges of divinity as reserved for Allah alone, and thus cleaning one's heart from all possible effects of polytheism (Shirk).
Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds [1:2]
Thee (alone) we worship, thee (alone) we ask for help [1:5]
And put thy trust in Allah, and enough is Allah as a disposer of affairs [33:3]
Verily it is we who have revealed to thee in truth; so serve Allah offering him sincere devotion [39:2]
Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors other than God (say):"We only serve the in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah". Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not such as are false and ungrateful [39:3]
When this is achieved, connection with Allah is duly established.
Now the strengthening of this relationship with Allah is that you are His vicegerent, custodian factors. One is of thinking and understanding and the other is to practice.
First you are required to fully grasp and understand your relationship with Allah by nature as well as logically incumbent upon you in practical life with the help of the Qur'an and the Hadith (sayings of the Prophet (p). The correct perception, discernment and appreciation of this relationship is only possible through deep and intensive study of the Qur'an and Hadith and by repetition of this study time and again to retain it in your mind. Consequently whatever aspects of your relationship with Allah dawn upon you, ponder over them and look into yourself as to how much are you meeting the demands of that relationship and where and to what extent are you failing. Your attachment with Allah will increase in proportion to your self assessment and understanding of your required role.
For example, your first and foremost relation with Allah is that of a worshipper with the worshipped. Your other of and responsible for innumerable trusts (Amanat). Your third relationship with Allah is that you have executed a sale deed by declaring your faith and conviction in Him and through this Contract you have bartered your life and property to Him and He has purchased it in consideration of paradise for you in return. Your fourth relationship with Allah is that you stand responsible to Him. You are not accountable to Him only for your acts and deeds that are open and visible but also a record is being maintained concerning your intentions and aspirations. In short, these and many other relations exist between you and Allah. Hence the strengthening or weakness of your relationship with Allah depends upon proper understanding, realisation and fulfilment of the demands of these relationships. Your relation with Allah will grow weaker and weaker if you do not care for the demands of this relationship and will get deeper and stronger if you are duly conscious of and attentive to its demands.
It is an admitted fact that whatever task a man stands for, be it worldly or heavenly, the main force behind has been the purpose for which one has risen, and zeal can only engender when he has deep interest and enthusiasm towards achieving that aim. A self-seeker cannot succeed without being selfish. Intensity in love for self leads him to the service of his self with the eagerness of the same strength. A man working for his children, by being devoted to their love, sacrifices his own pleasures and comforts for the welfare of his children, and sometimes stakes not only his worldly gains but even the benefits of the Akhirah (Hereafter), so that they may prosper to the utmost. A man working for his nation or country is a captive of its love and because of this love he endures monetary losses, as well as hardships of detentions and jails. He works hard day and night and sometimes even sacrifices his life for the freedom, defence and supremacy of his nation or state.
But this conceptual method can neither be fruitful nor maintained for long unless it is strengthened and reinforced through practical means. And that practical method is the unqualified obedience of the command of Allah and all out efforts to perform these tasks which please Allah. True obedience to Allah's commands means total compliance—open as well as secret— not unwillingly but with full eagerness and zeal, without any worldly aim and solely to please Allah. At the same time, abstain openly, as well as in secret, from all activities forbidden by Allah, with full abhorrence and deep contempt and fearless of any worldly loss, save the fear of the wrath of Allah only. This conduct in life will raise you high up to the position of Taqwa (abstention from the displeasure of Allah). Further when you engage yourself in spreading all that pleases Allah and suppressing and eliminating all that displeases Allah, you do not hesitate in sacrificing anything including your life, money, time, efforts and intellect for this purpose. Moreover you do not boast of any of your such sacrifices, nor do you consider it any favour to anyone. Instead you regard your biggest sacrifice short of the due right of your Creator. Then this is the attitude that elevates you to the position of Ihsan (beauteous submission to the will of Allah).
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