بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Ramadan Talk: Fulfilling the Covenant of Allah
By Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Director of the Women’s Section in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir
(1) INTRODUCTION:
(وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ)
“And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their progeny and made them bear witness concerning themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” they said, “Yes, we bear witness”—lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Truly of this we were heedless.” [Al-A’raaf: 172]
• Before our existence upon this earth, Allah (swt) took a covenant or agreement from each one of us as the offspring of Prophet Adam (as). And it is a covenant that each one of us as human beings accepted and agreed to: that Allah is OUR LORD.
• Now we know that when we make a contract with someone, it is important to know the clauses in that contract; what are we signing up to? What are the duties and promises of each party in that contract? What are the consequences of not fulfilling the contract?
• Well Allah (swt) has made it very clear what the clauses of this Covenant that we have with Him is:
- On His side of this deal – He promises His Mercy, His Support, His forgiveness, Protection from Punishment, and His Great Rewards in the Akhirah for the ones who fulfil the contract they have with him. Allah (swt) says:
(وَمَنْ أَوْفَى بِمَا عَاهَدَ عَلَيْهُ اللَّهَ فَسَيُؤْتِيهِ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا) “And he who fulfils that which he has pledged to Allah - He will grant him a mighty reward.” [Al-Fath: 10].
Ibn Jareer At-Tabari (renown and great scholar) said: “His covenant with them is that if they do that, He will admit them to Paradise.”
• Each one of us wants to secure these promises from Allah, but what is our end of this deal? What are the clauses that we need to fulfil to earn all of this, to be deserving of all this?
• And what does it actually mean when we said – Allah is OUR LORD?
• To believe that Allah is our Lord means much more than believing that He is the Creator of the world. The Quraysh believed that Allah was the Creator. Allah (swt) says:
(وَلَئِن سَأَلْتَهُم مَّنْ خَلَقَهُمْ لَيَقُولُنَّ اللَّهُ فَأَنَّى يُؤْفَكُونَ) “And if you ask them who created them, they will surely say: “Allah”. How then are they turned away?” [Az-Zukhruf: 87].
- So what is it that they turned away from? What is it that they refused to accept?
- Well it is simple. They refused to accept & recognise ALLAH’S AUTHORITY over the whole of creation - that Allah should have authority over all their individual actions, and their political, economic and social affairs.
• And this is what it means when we say the SHAHADA – because what is the Shahada? – It is the testimony we make in the presence of Allah in this world that we accept this Covenant, pledge, contract that we make with Him – i.e. that Allah is our Rabb and we pledge to worship none but Him:
- And what this means – to worship none but Allah? it is not just that we don’t believe in any other gods but him, or that we pray only to Him – but that we SURRENDER or SUBMIT to Him alone in ALL our actions, the values we embrace, the inclinations and desires that we have, what we see as Khair and Sharr (good and bad), the laws we follow, the system that we live by. (قُلْ إِنَّ هُدَى اللّهِ هُوَ الْهُدَىَ وَأُمِرْنَا لِنُسْلِمَ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ) “Say: Verily, Allah’s Guidance is the only guidance, and we have been ordered to surrender to the Lord of the Aalameen (mankind and all that exists).” [Al-An’aam: 71].
(2) WHAT IS ENTAILED IN THE COVENANT OF ALLAH?
• So what does it mean to SINCERELY SURRENDER/SUBMIT to Allah?
• Allah (swt) explains what this means in Surah Al-Ma’idah:
(وَاذْكُرُواْ نِعْمَةَ اللّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَمِيثَاقَهُ الَّذِي وَاثَقَكُم بِهِ إِذْ قُلْتُمْ سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا وَاتَّقُواْ اللّهَ إِنَّ اللّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ)
“And [always] remember the blessings which God has bestowed upon you, and the solemn pledge by which He bound you to Himself when you said, 'We hear and we obey.' Hence, remain conscious of God: verily, God has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].” [Al-Maida: 7].
• So to SINCERELY Surrender/Submit to Allah means - To HEAR AND OBEY (Sami’naa wa a tha’naa) – in ALL that Allah has made obligatory upon us; to fulfil all the commands that He has placed upon us; to implement all the laws and limits He has prescribed for mankind – His Shariah in its entirety; to essentially be conscious of Allah in all our actions and affairs and how we live our lives – as individual believers and as an ummah - fulfilling all we have pledged to Him.
- The great Islamic Scholar, Ibn Taymiyyah (ra) said: “This whole religion revolves around knowing the truth and acting by it, and action must be accompanied by patience.” Why patience? BECAUSE we need to be willing to take the difficulties, consequences, trials, sacrifice desires and interests that come with acting by the truth and holding on to the Covenant of Allah.
- The great Islamic Scholar Imam al-Ghazali (ra) stated: “Sincerity is all your deeds be for Allah (swt), and that your heart be not gladdened by men’s praise nor that you care about their censure.”
• So sincerity to Allah – is not just avoiding doing an action to gain the praise of others...BUT also ensuring that we don’t avoid doing an action because of criticism or censure of others, or how others might see us, or what they might say or do to us – because if we are still concerned about the views of others which leads us to disobey Allah – then this is not true sincerity to Allah.
• Now, I want to explore a little more what is meant by – “Hear and Obey”.
- As believers, we often make calculations in our head – if I do this action that Allah has asked from me – how will it affect this in my life
- So if I fast, how will it affect my studies, my exams, my work – maybe I will be too tired or won’t be able to concentrate – which may lead us to not fast
- If we do our daily five prayers or wear the Khimar and Jilbab at work, then how will it affect my job, my ambitions, or how colleagues or society may see me – which may lead us to neglect these obligations?
- If I command the Maruf and forbid the Munkar, how will it affect my relationship with my Muslim friends or family?
- Or, if I carry the Dawa for the System of Allah, the Khilafah, how will it affect my job, my status, how society views and treats me – which may cause us to fail to fulfil these obligations?
- On the other side of things – we often make the calculation - if I don’t do this action that Allah has prohibited – then how will it affect me? So if I don’t take a mortgage, or a loan that deals with interest (Riba), how will it affect my financial security, or my education aspirations? If I don’t mix or socialise with the opposite sex at work then how will it affect my relationship with my colleagues or promotion prospects? If I don’t engage in the democratic process and vote within the man-made democratic system, which Allah prohibits, then how can I secure my interests as a Muslim in the state in which I live? Such calculations may lead us to violating the Limits and Prohibitions of Allah.
• But Allah tells us that to fulfil the covenant with Him, to be deserving of all that He has promised us – our side of that deal is to remove those calculations in our head and to – Hear and to Obey.
- THIS means placing our yearning for the Akhirah over our yearning for the things of this world. And this is no easy thing; it really isn’t when the attractions and pressures of this world are many, and desires or fears can be strong – but it helps when we consistently remember two things: How temporary this life is and how the joys and pleasures of this world are nothing compared to what awaits the patient believer who fulfils their covenant with Allah. The Prophet (saw) said:
«من أحب دنياه أضر بآخرته، ومن أحب آخرته أضر بدنياه، فآثروا ما يبقى على ما يفنى»
“He who loves his world will harm his Hereafter, and he who loves his Hereafter harms his world, so give preference to what lasts over that which perishes.”
- The struggle between the attachment to the joys and pleasures of this world and the yearning for the joys and pleasures of the Hereafter is like a tug of war – but where we end up in the Akhirah depends on which we give preference to – which we pull harder on. And what drives us to pull harder for the Akhirah is to reflect consistently on what awaits us there Insha Allah. The Prophet (saw) said, «إِنَّ مَوْضِعَ سَوْطٍ فِي الْجَنَّةِ لَخَيْرٌ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا فِيهَا» “The space taken up in the Hereafter by something as little as the whip of one of you is better than the whole of this earth and what is on it.” Bukhari and Muslim reported from Abdullah ibn Abbaas: The sun was eclipsed during the time of the Messenger of Allah (saw)...They said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, we saw you picking something, then we saw you recoiling.’ He (saw) said,
«إني رأيت الجنة ، فتناولت منها عنقودا ، ولو أخذته لأكلتم منه ، ما بقيت الدنيا»
“I saw Paradise, and I tried to take a bunch of its fruit. If I had managed to do so, you would have eaten from it until the end of the world.”
• To win this tug of war between this Dunya and the Akhirah – it also helps to reflect on certain verses of the Qur’an. Allah (swt) says:
(إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَشْتَرُونَ بِعَهْدِ اللّهِ وَأَيْمَانِهِمْ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلاً أُوْلَـئِكَ لاَ خَلاَقَ لَهُمْ فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلاَ يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللّهُ وَلاَ يَنظُرُ إِلَيْهِمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلاَ يُزَكِّيهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ)
“Indeed, those who exchange the covenant of Allah and their [own] oaths for a small price will have no share in the Hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them or look at them on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them; and they will have a painful punishment.” [Al-Imran: 77]
- What does it mean by those who exchange the covenant of Allah and their own oaths (so what they pledged) for a small price? It means selling the Deen for a MISERABLE price.
- When do we do that? Or how could we do that unknowingly? It is when we make those calculations in our head about how an Islamic action will affect our interests in this world that lead us to neglecting the obligations, commands, laws or system of Allah. It is when we make the things in this world more important than the covenant with Allah because we’re worried about losing something in this world...selling the pledge and promises to Allah for a miserable price. Why miserable? Because whatever we gain is TEMPORARY and MINISCULE compared to what awaits us in the Hereafter.
- But the CONSEQUENCES are severe as Allah says in Surah Aali-Imran, verse 77.
• So this quality of HEAR and OBEY is one of the vital aspects contained in this COVENANT we have with Allah. And a beautiful example of how this is illustrated is in the actions of Abu Bakr (ra), the great companion of the Prophet (saw) and second Khalifah of Islam. When Abu Bakr (ra) assumed the role of Khalifah, a difference arose amongst the people of whether to send the army of the Muslims to Syria or not, due to the change in circumstances following the death of the Prophet (saw). This was an expedition which the Prophet (saw) when alive had directed to be sent under the command of Usamah (ra). In response to this difference of views, Abu Bakr (ra) said: “By Him in whose hands is my soul even if the beasts of prey snatch me away and no one remains in the villages I would carry out the orders of the Prophet (saw) and send the army under the command of Usamah bin Zayd.”
With these words he put an end to all of the arguments. He was not talking about balancing up the strategy or what was most beneficial. He only stressed the need to follow the Sunnah and carry out the orders of the Prophet (saw). He plainly said: “I am a follower of the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw) and I am not an innovator.” He was making it clear that the policy of his ruling would be to follow the footsteps of the Prophet (saw) no matter the consequences. He was bound to follow the way of his beloved Prophet (saw) even if he was the only person to be left behind.
• This example reminded me of a discussion I was having with some Muslims of the need for the Muslim armies to liberate occupied Muslim land such as Palestine and Kashmir. But they were arguing that it was not practical or feasible now due to the strength of the superpowers of today such as America, Britain and Europe who would not allow this. So this is another example of making those calculations in our head of what will work and what won’t rather than Hear and Obey, for Allah (swt) says:
- (وَإِنِ اسْتَنصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ) “....if they seek help from you in the matter of the Deen, help is incumbent on you...” [Al-Anfal:72].
• So to HEAR and OBEY the Commands of Allah is SINCERITY in fulfilling the Covenant with Allah.
(3) SEVERING THE COVENANT WITH ALLAH (SWT):
• So how else could we unknowingly break the COVENANT of Allah? Allah (swt) says:
(وَالَّذِينَ يَنقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللّهِ مِن بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَيَقْطَعُونَ مَآ أَمَرَ اللّهُ بِهِ أَن يُوصَلَ وَيُفْسِدُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ أُوْلَئِكَ لَهُمُ اللَّعْنَةُ وَلَهُمْ سُوءُ الدَّارِ)
“But those who break the covenant of Allah after contracting it and sever that which Allah has ordered to be joined and spread corruption on earth – for them is the curse, and they will have the worst home.” [Ar-Rad: 25].
• Imagine the COVENANT with Allah like a ROPE between our hands and our Rabb.
- What is a rope made up of? Various strands or fibres which are twisted or wound together. When twisted together, it makes the rope strong and serves its purpose. When pulled apart or untwisted, it weakens the rope until it no longer resembles or can be described as a rope or serves the purpose of a rope because it is just strands of fibres.
- This is what Allah tells us in this verse that to break the covenant of Allah is to sever, separate, pull apart or untwist that which Allah has ordered to be joined.
- How could that happen that we sever that which Allah orders to be joined? How could we separate that which Allah has ordered to be united?
(a) Making a Distinction between Different Islamic Obligations in Terms of Fulfilling them:
- Firstly, it is by making a distinction between different ISLAMIC obligations in terms of fulfilling them
- So we fulfil the fast but not the five daily prayers; or we fulfil our prayers but are silent when the sanctities and Deen of Islam are being attacked as we see what is happening in al-Aqsa at the moment
- Or we fulfil our obligations to our parents but not our marital responsibilities.
- Or we fulfil the Khimar and Jilbab, but do not avoid Tabarruj (beautification of the woman in the presence of non-Mahram men), or we don’t abide by other Islamic social laws.
- Or we fulfil the Zakat but fail to speak out against the oppression of the Ummah which Allah commands.
- Or we command the Maruf and forbid the Munkar when it comes to our family members but not when it comes to the rulers of the Muslim lands and the scholars of this Ummah when they violate the commands of Allah as Allah has obligated us to do.
- Or we fulfil our duties to our children and family but we are neglectful in carrying the Dawa of Islam to establish the System of Allah on this earth, the Khilafah based upon the method of the Prophethood, and make this Deen prevail over all other Deens as Allah has commanded.
- So making this distinction between fulfilling different Islamic obligations is part of breaking the covenant of Allah, untwisting that Rope for Allah commanded that all of these things be joined together as part of our Deen...the Deen of Islam.
(b) Disuniting of the Ummah:
- The Second way that we could sever that which Allah demands to be joined as part of our covenant with Him is dividing the Ummah of Islam when Allah commands that we should be united as Muslims – dividing and disuniting us with national borders, national identities, or ethnic or tribal loyalties, so today we see different nation states such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, etc. Or we divide ourselves based upon secular politics, where different secular political parties and their supporters fight or insult one another for the sake of power, for example in Pakistan, supporters of Imran Khan verses the opposition secular parties; or in Bangladesh – the Awami League verses the BNP.
This is despite the fact that Allah says:
- (إِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونِ)
“Indeed! This Ummah is one Ummah, and I am your Lord so worship Me (alone).” [Al-Anbiyaa: 92].
- This division between Muslims spreads corruption in the earth, such as causing Muslims to fight one another as we see between Saudi and the Houthis in Yemen at the moment.
- It also causes Muslims to abandon their oppressed Muslim brothers because they are from a different country or ethnicity. So we see the regime in Turkey failing to protect the Muslims of Syria from being slaughtered by Assad because they are in a different country, or we see the previous prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, abandoning the Uyghur Muslims in East Turkistan because of Pakistan’s national interests with China, or we see the regimes in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia pushing the desperate Rohingya Muslims away from their shores and denying them dignified sanctuary because they are from a different land.
- So dividing the Ummah in this way into different states and communities is part of severing that which Allah commanded to be joined, for we are one Ummah united upon one Deen. It is breaking the duty that Muslims have towards one another to defend, to protect, to support, to give refuge to one other, as Allah says:
(وَاعْتَصِمُواْ بِحَبْلِ اللّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلاَ تَفَرَّقُواْ) “And hold firmly to the rope of Allah all together and do not become divided.” [Aali-Imran: 103].
(c) Separating the System of Allah from the Deen of Islam – the Khilafah:
And Finally...
- The Third way that we could severe that which Allah commands to be joined is by separating the ruling System of Allah from the Deen of Islam - separating the spiritual, moral, social aspects of Islam – such as prayer, fasting, Zakat, Hijab, duties towards our family – from the political aspects of Islam.
- So we give less weight and attention to the Islamic laws and system on ruling, economics, judiciary, punishments, foreign affairs, and essentially separate this from our Deen. So we sever that which should be joined – the spiritual and moral aspects of Islam with the political aspects of Islam – even though Allah commanded for them to be joined.
- In fact, it is the ruling system of Islam – the Khilafah based upon the method of the Prophethood which helps to protect the covenant that the believers have with Allah and to remind and direct mankind to fulfil that covenant they made with their Rabb.
- HOW? Through implementing all the laws of Islam within a state and society so that Muslims understand, are educated in properly and fulfil all their obligations and abide by all the Commands and Limits of Allah with ease rather than being faced with all the obstacles that are often in our way today in holding on to the covenant of Allah under man-made systems. And the Khilafah helps direct mankind to the Covenant they have with Allah by carrying the dawa of Islam to mankind in a powerful manner.
- This is why the Prophet (saw) said:
«لتنقضن عرى الإسلام عروة عروة، فكلما انتقضت عروة تشبث الناس بالتي تليها، وأولهن نقضا الحكم وآخرهن الصلاة»
“The knots of Islam will be undone one by one. Whenever one knot is lost then the people grabbed onto the one which came after it. The first of these knots to be undone will be the Ruling (al-hukm) and the last will be Prayer (salah).” And this is exactly what happened when we lost the Khilafah in 1924; we lost the body that keeps those knots of Islam tied and helps protect the Ummah’s Covenant with Allah.
- Not only that establishing the rule of Allah on this earth is the pledge of giving true authority to Allah over His creation – which remember is what we mean when we say – Allah is our Lord.
- How so? Well, leadership is needed to run the affairs of mankind, to organise and direct the affairs of life, and to implement Allah’s rulings comprehensively upon a state.
- An ISLAMIC LEADERSHIP is the means to preserve this Deen, defend it, return its honour and spread it to all parts of the earth in the most effective way such that the Word of Allah is supreme and so that the Deen of Islam prevails over all false deens as commanded by Allah, lifting mankind from oppression, and taking humanity from the darkness of man-made systems and ways of life to the light of Islam.
- All of this gives Allah authority over his creation, and it is the manifestation of what we mean when we say Allah is our Rabb.
- We know from history that it was the leadership of Islam under the Khilafah state that brought whole nations, clans, sects, tribes, colours under the banner of La-illaha-illallah, establishing the authority of Allah in this world. The Khilafah became the superpower of the world – establishing Islam in dominance upon this earth.
- This is why the great companion of Islam and second Khalifah of the Muslims, Umar bin Al-Khattab (RA) said: "There is no Islam without unity, no unity without leadership, and no leadership without obedience."
- And can you imagine - we say Allah is Our Lord, we say that we worship none but Him, we say that He has authority over all of creation – but today - there is not one inch of land in this world today where the System of Allah is implemented – how can this be?
- And this is the reason for the scale of corruption, oppression, misery, hardship, slaughter, attacks on our Deen, persecution of our Ummah and mankind
– all resulting from the absence of that which Allah ordered to be joined within His Deen – the ruling system of Allah – the Khilafah.
- And it’s why the renowned Islamic scholar Imam Ghazali (RM) said, “The Deen is the foundation and the Sultan is the guard. What does not have a foundation will crumble and what does not have a guard will be lost.”
(4) THE PLEDGE THAT A LEADER/RULER IN ISLAM HAS WITH ALLAH AND HIS PEOPLE:
• Which brings me to my final point – which is what is the pledge that a leader or ruler in Islam has with Allah and those he governs? Well it is very simple. Allah (swt) says:
(وَمَن لَّمْ يَحْكُم بِمَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ) “and whoever does not rule from what Allah has revealed, they are the kaafiroon.” [Al-Maidah: 44].
So the pledge that the ruler in Islam has with Allah is to implement the laws of Islam in entirety over the people he rules, and that includes protecting the blood and Deen of the Muslims when they are being persecuted, as in Syria, Myanmar, East Turkistan and elsewhere; defending the sanctities of Islam as with Al-Aqsa; liberating Muslim land that has been occupied by the enemies of Islam, like in Palestine and Kashmir, and carrying the message of Islam to the world. And if the ruler over the Muslims does not do that, then he violates his Covenant with Allah, for the validity of his rule depends upon the full implementation of Islam as Allah stresses in the verse above.
• And our contract as Muslims with a leader in Islam is that we show obedience only and only if he fulfils his covenant with Allah, implementing the whole of Islam without exception because if we support and obey a ruler in anything but Islam then we violate our own covenant with Allah, as the Prophet (saw) said:
«خِيارُ أئمَّتِكُمُ الَّذينَ تحبُّونَهُم ويحبُّونَكُم وتُصلُّونَ علَيهِم ويصلُّونَ علَيكُم وشرارُ أئمَّتِكُمُ الَّذينَ تبغَضونَهُم ويبغَضونَكُم وتَلعنونَهُم ويَلعنونَكُم قُلنا : يا رسولَ اللَّهِ أفلا نُنابذُهُم ؟ قالَ : لا ما أقاموا فيكُمُ الصَّلاةَ»
“The best of your Imams (leaders) are those whom you love and they love you, who pray for you and you pray for them; and the worst of your Imams are those whom you hate and they hate you and you curse them and they curse you. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked, ‘Should we not face them with the swords?’ He said: ‘No, not as long as they establish salat (meaning Islam) among you.’” [Muslim]
• And yet today, we have rulers over the Muslim lands who seek to fulfil their pledges to everyone except Allah and the Muslims – to foreign powers, to international institutions like the UN and their un-Islamic agreements like CEDAW; rulers who make and break their promises to the people relentlessly; or rulers who exploit the card of Islam to gain support for their secular un-Islamic rule – like Imran Khan of Pakistan who talked about his support for the Prophet’s Madinah model while at the same time defending China who persecutes the Uyghur Muslims, and Erdogan of Turkey who likes to see himself like a Modern day Ottoman Caliph, while following the secular footsteps of the one who actually destroyed the Khilafah and the rule of the Ottoman Caliphs – Mustapha Kemal.
• So brothers and sisters, if we wish to fulfil our covenant with Allah and to earn all his promises – let us be careful about the type of ruler and system we Support – for Allah accepts that we give allegiance to nothing but the Islamic system – the Khilafah based upon the Method of the Prophethood, and the leader that governs over it and fulfils his covenant with Allah.
(5) CONCLUSION:
• So to conclude, we know the weight of keeping a promise in Islam. It was narrated that ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (ra) said: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) said:
«فمَن أَخْفَرَ مُسْلِمًا، فَعليه لَعْنَةُ اللهِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ، لا يُقْبَلُ منه يَومَ القِيَامَةِ عَدْلٌ، وَلَا صَرْفٌ»
“Whoever breaks the covenant of a Muslim, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels and all the people, and Allah will not accept any obligatory or naafil act of worship from him.” (Reported by Bukhari and Muslim)
• Imagine, if this is the level of seriousness that Allah considers keeping promises between ourselves as believers, then what is the weight of keeping the promise or the pledge we give to Him (swt) – to hear and obey all His Commands, to submit to all His Orders, to never place anything or anyone above Him in determining how we live our lives, and to establish His authority by establishing His System, the Khilafah upon this earth?
• So let us remember the Words of Allah: (وَأَوْفُواْ بِالْعَهْدِ إِنَّ الْعَهْدَ كَانَ مَسْؤُولاً) “And fulfil the covenant, for surely the covenant will be questioned of.” [Al-Isra: 34].
• And may Allah help us to fulfil this covenant and be raised on Yawmul Qiyama to be amongst the ones who fulfilled our contract with Allah and strived our utmost – in word and deed – to fulfil each and every promise and pledge we made to our Rabb (swt). Ameen Allahumma Ameen.