Seeking the Pleasure of Allah

Those who seek the pleasure of Allah (swt) pursue actions purely because they know that their Creator, Allah (swt) will be pleased with them for pursuing the actions. Are we selective in choosing from the actions of fard and mandub depending on what is easy and what is difficult? Then our criterion is not the pleasure of Allah (swt) but the pleasure of Allah (swt) is subject to our pleasure. That is, we look fundamentally at our pleasure and subjugate the law of Allah (swt) to it, since we select actions according to our pleasure and displeasure.

Seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt)

Many verses of the Qur'an refer to the believer as the one who performs actions seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt). They are those whom Allah (swt) is pleased with and they are pleased with Allah (swt). Hence, those who seek the pleasure of Allah (swt) pursue actions purely because they know that their Creator, Allah(swt) will be pleased with them for pursuing the actions. Many ahadeeth mention actions that illustrate such a mentality.

In order for us to understand this mentality, and then pursue it, we need to understand how this mentality is shaped through seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt) through the concepts of halal and haram. Naturally, the Prophet is the best example for this.

The du'a after persecution at Ta'if

When the Prophet was confronting the Qur'aysh during the period in Makkah, he went to visit the tribe of Banu Thaqif in Ta'if. As the seerah narrates it, he was treated very badly, and was forced out of the city by the louts in Ta'if. It was after this event that he made the famous du'a, where he seeks help from Allah (swt), "O Allah! To You do I complain of my weakness, little resource and my lowliness before (these) people. O Most Merciful! You are Lord of the weak and you are my Lord. To whom will You confide me? To one afar who will misuse me or to an enemy to whom You have given dominance over me? If You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favour of well-being on me is sufficient for me. I seek refuge in the light of Your countenance, by which the darkness is illuminated and by which the affairs of this life and the next have been rightly ordered, lest Your anger descend upon me, or Your wrath not light upon me but come down on me. It is for You to be satisfied until You are well pleased. There is no power and no might except in You."

These words indicate a mentality. They indicate that even after his failure to succeed in his objective at Ta'if, as long as Allah (swt) was happy with him , he was prepared to continue the sacrifice. This is an example of an action that was fard for the Prophet . Yet, he did not see failure in the fard as an excuse for leaving the action. He suffered great difficulty in Ta'if. The louts had stoned him such that his socks had clogged up with blood. In the du'a that he makes, he narrates his predicament. The "one afar" refers to the people of Ta'if, while "an enemy to whom You have given dominance over me" refers to the Qur'aysh in Makkah. Hence, the Prophet was stating that he had nowhere to go. He could not go back into Makkah, while Ta'if had rejected him. He was sitting in no man's land. Yet, rather than use the predicament as an excuse to give up, or seek the wrath of Allah (swt) on the mushrikeen, he seeks refuge in Allah (swt) and indicates that success or failure in these actions is the path to the pleasure of Allah (swt).

Overcoming obstacles for Allah's (swt) pleasure

Hence, the purpose for pursuing the fard was the pleasure of Allah (swt). His thought was not to give up at the first sign of obstacles, but to overcome whatever obstacles that he faced in order to gain the pleasure of Allah (swt). The obstacles, and their overcoming, became the basis through which he struggled and sacrificed to gain the pleasure of Allah (swt). Hence, no obstacles would prevent him from achieving the pleasure of Allah (swt). This raises the subject of sacrifice and struggle. The mentality displayed by the Prophet indicated that he saw struggle and sacrifice not as burdens, but as the natural consequence of seeking the pleasure of Allah (swt). The concepts of halal and haram necessitate following actions that may lead to sacrifice and struggle. The Prophet illustrated how in all his actions, he bore the consequences with the greatest dignity and honour. Hence, the du'a when he was expelled in Ta'if, the patience during the difficult years in Makkah and the struggle against the enemies of Islam during the relatively comfortable days in Madinah. All of these indicate that he struggled and sacrificed with supreme confidence regarding the outcome.

Excelling in the fard and the nafilah (recommended)

The example quoted above is from the d'awa of the Prophet to establish the deen of Allah (swt) by founding the Islamic State. The same mentality is exhibited when we look at his other actions. A suitable example would be prayer. It is narrated by 'A'ishah (ra) that one night, the Prophet arose for tahajjud prayer. 'A'ishah went back to sleep and woke up some hours later. The Prophet was still in prayer. The following morning, she saw that his feet had swollen due to the long time that he stood in prayer. She said to the Prophet , "why do you take so much trouble, when Allah (swt) has forgiven all your past and future sins?" The Prophet replied, "Should I not be a grateful servant who spends his night in prayer because Allah (swt) has forgiven all my sins, past and present."

For the Prophet this action was fard and hence, we can reconcile his zeal and application to the task. However, this same zeal was demonstrated in the prayer that was not compulsory. This indicates that for nafilah (recommended) prayer, the Prophet did not use the fact that they were not obligatory as not to pray them, but sought comfort and solace in them. Indeed, Allah (swt) calls us to seek help in patience from prayer,

"And seek help in patience and prayer." [TMQ 2:45]

Abu Bakr (ra) excelled in the recommended.

This mentality was also seen in the Companions (ra). 'A'isha (ra) narrated, 'When the Muslims were put to test, Abu Bakr set out migrating to the land of Ethiopia, and when he reached Bark al-Ghimad, Ibn Ad-Daghina, the chief of the tribe of Qara, met him and said, "O Abu Bakr! Where are you going?" Abu Bakr replied, "My people have turned me out (of my country), so I want to wander on the earth and worship my Lord." Ibn Ad-Daghina said, "O Abu Bakr! A man like you should not leave his home-land, nor should he be driven out, because you help the destitute, earn their livings, and you keep good relations with your kith and kin, help the weak and poor, entertain guests generously, and help the calamity-stricken persons. Therefore I am your protector. Go back and worship your Lord in your town."' So, Abu Bakr returned and Ibn Ad-Daghina accompanied him. In the evening Ibn Ad-Daghina visited the nobles of Qur'aysh and they did not refuse Ibn Ad-Daghina's protection, and they said to Ibn Ad-Daghina, "Let Abu Bakr worship his Lord in his house. He can pray and recite there whatever he likes, but he should not hurt us with it, and should not do it publicly…"

It came to pass that Abu Bakr (ra) built a mosque in front of his house, and there he used to pray and recite the Qur'an. This situation scared the nobles of the pagans of Qur'aysh, so they sent for Ibn Ad-Daghina. When he came to them, they said, "We accepted your protection of Abu Bakr on condition that he should worship his Lord in his house, but he has violated the conditions and he has built a mosque in front of his house where he prays and recites the Qur'an publicly." Ibn Ad-Daghina went to Abu Bakr to ask him to desist. Abu Bakr (ra) replied, "I release you from your pact to protect me, and am pleased with the protection from Allah."

He did this even though it wasn't fard to recite Qur'an loudly. He did this knowing that the loss of protection had the severest of consequences. We need to ask the question why? The Qur'aysh knew that the Qur'an was a miracle from Allah (swt); so it irritated them when the Qur'an was recited loudly. The purpose of generating the irritation was to initiate a conflict resulting in a discussion about the beauty of Islam and the corrupt way of the Qur'aysh. This d'awa was not a fard on Abu Bakr. In fact, before the hijrah the d'awa was only fard on the Prophet . Yet, Abu Bakr still initiated it. For he knew that in these actions, the pleasure of Allah (swt) existed. It was this striving even in the recommended that earned him the most favoured position amongst men outside of the Prophets . He was one of the ten Muslims guaranteed jannah in their lifetime. Do we excel in the mandub and nafilah in this manner? Do we strive in carrying the deen of Islam, now that it has become fard upon the Muslims?

The implications of seeking Allah's (swt) pleasure.

When Ramadhan has passed us, the pleasure of Allah (swt) should still be part of our memories. The Prophet stated that fasting the six days of Shawwal is added to that of Ramadhan, then multiplied such that it is as rewardable as fasting the whole of the year. If we haven't selected fasting in these six days, a deep look into oneself will indicate our criteria. Was it because we are too weak to take the trouble, and our justification is that it is not fard? The sacrifice of more abstinence is too great for us to bear. Indeed, there is no sin in this, but if we cannot bear these hardships, then will we be able to bear the hardships that come from other obligations from Islam?

When we select any action, do we abstain from fulfilling its full requirements because of the consequences in terms of the sacrifice that we need to undertake? Are we selecting from the actions of fard, mandub and nafilah depending on what is easy and what is difficult? Then our criterion is not the pleasure of Allah (swt) but the pleasure of Allah (swt) is subject to our pleasure. That is, we look fundamentally at our pleasure and subjugate the law of Allah (swt) to it, since we select actions according to our pleasure and displeasure.

Even if we undertake all the furood (sing. fard) and abstain from all the muharamaat (sing. haram), do we do it begrudgingly? This will only result in fulfilling these actions literally but without the correct tangible results. Hence, fasting in Ramadhan, with an attitude that one cannot wait until'iftar comes, means that the person in reality does not gain the taqwa that should be the value that one gains. His focus is on eating at'iftar, not the pleasure of Allah (swt) emanating from fulfilling the fard and overcoming the obstacles of hunger willingly.

As Muslims, we should be very careful about this element, because we may find that we may become like the munafiq 'Abdullah ibn 'Ubayy. This was a man who abided by all the Shari'ah but his motive for abiding by the Shari'ah was for reasons other than the pleasure of Allah (swt). May Allah (swt) protect us all from this, insha'Allah (swt). May we be those deserving of Allah's (swt) victory through striving to attain His (swt) pleasure. Ameen.

Seeking the Pleasure of Allah (swt)