Sermon 197                                                  				 				Allah's attribute of Omniscience, Advantages of fear of Allah ,  About Islam 
 
 Allah knows the cries of the beasts in the  forest, the sins of the people in seclusion, the movements of the fishes  in the deep seas and the rising of the water by tempestuous winds. I  stand witness that Muhammad is the choice of Allah, the conveyor of His  revelation and the messenger of His mercy.    Now then, I advise you to fear Allah, Who created you for the first  time; towards Him is your return, with Him lies the success of your  aims, at Him terminate (all) your desires, towards Him runs your path of  right and He is the aim of your fears (for seeking protection).  Certainly, fear of Allah is the medicine for your hearts, sight for the  blindness of your spirits, the cure for the ailments of your bodies, the  rectifier of the evils of your breasts, the purifier of the pollution  of your minds, the light of the darkness of your eyes, the consolation  for the fear of your heart and the brightness for the gloom of your  ignorance.    Therefore, make obedience to Allah the way of your life and not only  your outside covering, make it your inner habit instead of only outer  routine, subtle enough to enter through your ribs (up to the heart), the  guide for all your affairs, the watering place for your getting down  (on the Day of Judgement), the interceder for the achievement of your  aims, asylum for the day of your fear, the lamp of the interior of your  graves, company for your long loneliness, and deliverance from the  troubles of your abodes. Certainly, obedience to Allah is a protection  against encircling calamities. expected dangers and the flames of  burning fires.    Therefore, whoever entertains fear of Allah, troubles remain away from  him after having been near, affairs become sweet after their bitterness,  waves (of troubles) recede from him after having crowded over him,  difficulties become easy for him after occurring, generosity rains fast  over him after there had been famine, mercy bends over him after it had  been loath, the favours (of Allah) spring forth on him after they had  been dried, and blessing descends over him in showers after being  scanty. So, fear Allah Who benefits you with His good advice, preaches  to you through His Messenger, and obliges you with His favours. Devote  yourselves to His worship, and acquit yourselves of the obligation of  obeying Him.    This Islam is the religion which Allah has chosen for Himself, developed  it before His eyes, preferred it as the best among His creations,  established its pillars on His love. He has disgraced other religions by  giving honour to it. He has humiliated all communities before its  sublimity; He has humbled its enemies with His kindness and made its  opponents lonely by according it His support. He has smashed the pillars  of misguidance with its columns. He has quenched the thirst of the  thirsty from its cisterns, and filled the cisterns through those who  draw its water.    He made Islam such that its constituent parts cannot break, its links  cannot separate, its construction cannot fall, its columns cannot decay,  its plant cannot be uprooted, its time does not end, its laws do not  expire, its twigs cannot be cut, its parts do not become narrow, its  ease does not change into difficulty, its clarity is not affected by  gloom, its straightness does not acquire curvature, its wood has no  crookedness, its vast paths have no narrowness, its lamp knows no  putting off and its sweetness has no bitterness.    It consists of columns whose bases Allah has fixed in truthfulness and  whose foundation He has strengthened, and of sources whose streams are  ever full of water and of lamps, whose flames are full of light, and of  beacons with whose help travellers get guidance, and of signs through  which a way is found to its highways and of watering places which  provide water to those who come to them. Allah has placed in Islam the  height of His pleasure, the pinnacle of His pillars and the prominence  of His obedience. Before Allah, therefore, its columns are strong, its  construction is lofty, its proofs are bright, its fires are aflame, its  authority is strong, its beacons are high and its destruction is  difficult. You should therefore honour it, follow it, fulfil its  obligations and accord the position due to it.    Then, Allah, the Glorified, deputed Muhammad - the peace and blessing of  Allah be upon him and his descendants - with truth at a time when the  destruction of the world was near and the next life was at hand, when  its brightness was turning into gloom after shining, it had become  troublesome for its inhabitants, its surface had become rough, and its  decay had approached near. This was during the exhaustion of its life at  the approach of signs (of its decay), the ruin of its inhabitants, the  breaking of its links, the dispersal of its affairs, the decay of its  signs, the divulging of its secret matters and the shortening of its  length. Allah made him responsible for conveying His message and (a  means of) honour for his people, a period of bloom for the men of his  days, a source of dignity for the supporters and an honour for his  helpers.    Then, Allah sent to him the Book as a light whose flames cannot be  extinguished, a lamp whose gleam does not die, a sea whose depth cannot  be sounded, a way whose direction does not mislead, a ray whose light  does not darken, a separator (of good from evil) whose arguments do not  weaken, a clarifier whose foundations cannot be dismantled, a cure which  leaves no apprehension for disease, an honour whose supporters are not  defeated, and a truth whose helpers are not abandoned. Therefore, it is  the mine of belief and its centre, the source of knowledge and its  oceans, the plantation of justice and its pools, the foundation stone of  Islam and its construction, the valleys of truth and its plains, an  ocean which those who draw water cannot empty, springs which those who  draw water cannot dry up, a watering place which those who come to take  water cannot exhaust, a staging place in moving towards which travellers  do not get lost, signs which no treader fails to see and a highland  which those who approach it cannot surpass it.    Allah has made it a quencher of the thirst of the learned, a bloom for  the hearts of religious jurists, a highway for the ways of the  righteous, a cure after which there is no ailment, an effulgence with  which there is no darkness, a rope whose grip is strong, a stronghold  whose top is invulnerable, an honour for him who loves it, a peace for  him who enters it, a guidance for him who follows it, an excuse for him  who adopts it, an argument for him who argues with it, a witness for him  who quarrels with it, a success for him who argues with it, a carrier  of burden for him who seeks the way, a shield for him who arms himself  (against misguidance), a knowledge for him who listens carefully, worthy  story for him who relates it and a final verdict of him who passes  judgements.  	 			  
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