Assalamu Alaykum.
My name is Theresa Corbin and I’d like to start to little bit about Waseelah (Seeking nearness to Allah).
I’ve done two videos so far about the waseelah. The first video I discussed what waseelah (seeking nearness to Allah) is. And in the second video, I discussed what are some obstacles to waseelah and how we can overcome them…
In this video, I would like to talk about what are some of the signs that we are coming nearer to Allah? What are some signs that we have waseelah?
When we seek nearness to Allah, Allah makes a greater effort to come near to us and we have just to make the effort as the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
“Allah says: ‘I am just as My slave thinks of Me when he remembers Me.’… ‘He who comes closer to Me one span, I come closer to him a cubit; and he who comes closer to Me a cubit, I come closer to him a fathom; and if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running”. (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
And a cubit is an ancient measure (from the palm of your hand to the elbow).
So if you want to come near to Allah by a cubit, He will come to you the distance of two arms outstretched.
So all we have to do is just put the effort forward and Allah does the exponentially more to come near to us.
Lot has been recorded in the Hadith about this topic ‘the signs of coming near to Allah’, ‘the signs of nearness to Allah’. We find this also in the Quran.
Allah’s Love for Us
Some of the signs that He’s granted us His love and acceptance on earth. This is also in Sahih Al-Bukhari collection:
“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 pleasure of the people of the earth.”
So Allah tells angel Gabriel that He loves you for example Inshallah or me inshallah, and Gabriel tells the angels in Heaven that this person is beloved by Allah, and they love him and that love extends to the people of the earth and the people of the earth begin to love that person.
So that one sign, when good people start to love you, you wonder: “what’s happened to all these people like me for some reason?” It’s one of the signs that you see your nearness to Allah…
Becoming Nearer to Allah
So what is another sign? Whenever you think about becoming near to someone, you think, you know, your love for them, you remember them often, you’re always thinking about them or talking about them in other company with other people…
The same is true when you’re near to Allah. You remember Allah often, you speak about Him often, you talk about Him as much as you can, and you fell enjoying your worship…
The same is happening in our relationships with human beings when we start to love them and become near to them, we think about them a lot, and we want to do things to please them.
The same happens when you seek nearness to Allah. Alhamdulillah.
Allah Makes Us Better People
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) tells us in another hadith, also in sahih al-Bukhari in Hadith collection:
“If Allah wants to do good to somebody, He afflicts him with trials.” (Al-Bukhari)
and sometimes it sounds hard when you love someone you want them to be confortable and have things easy, but if you look at it in a different perspective, you’ll start to understand.
When you have a student that you see his potential if you’re a teacher… even our parents don’t understand us… when you see a people who has great potential, you want to test them to make them better people, better students to learn more. So this often is an easy process for the student.
The same happens with Allah to His servants. Allah sees good in that servant so He wants to test them and make them better, a better servant, a better slave.
So whenever you know you go through hardship, you’re seeking nearness to Allah through hardship; or even ease can be a test for us as well. Allah is trying to see will it forget about its Lord; will it become ungrateful; or will it drive you even nearer to Allah when faced with these trials, either ease or calamity.
I hope InshAllah that we are all able to taste the sweetness of faith and nearness to Allah.