True Faith: Devotion Beyond Worldly Gain
Discourse of Huzoor Wala Shan Pir Sahib (RA)
Dated: 21 December 1985
Discourse No. 37
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فَنِعۡمَ الۡمَوۡلٰی وَ نِعۡمَ النَّصِیۡرُ
رَبِِّ اشۡرَحۡ لِیۡ صَدۡرِیۡ وَیَسِّرۡ لِیۡۤ اَمۡرِیۡ وَ احۡلُلۡ عُقۡدَۃً مِّنۡ لِّسَانِیۡ یَفۡقَہُوۡاقَوۡلِیۡ
اَللّٰهُمَّ صَلِ عَلٰی سَیّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍوَّعَلٰی اٰلِ سَیِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍوَّعَلٰی اَصْحَابِہٖ وَعَلٰی اَذْوَاجِہٖ اَجْمَعِیْنَ وَبَارِکْ وَسَلِمْ وَصَلِ عَلَیْہٖ
All praise is for Allah.
Countless thanks to Allah Almighty, the Sovereign Lord, Who has once again granted us the opportunity and privilege to gather here for His pleasure, in His remembrance, and in His love. May countless blessings and peace be upon the Leader of the Prophets, the Beloved of Allah, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), through whose blessed mediation these divine favors have reached us.
Dear attendees,
Before we begin the recitation of the Awrad-e-Pak, it is important to understand a few essential points.
Allah Almighty says in the Holy Qur’an:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَّعْبُدُ اللّٰهَ عَلٰي حَرْفٍ
“And among the people is he who worships Allah on the edge.”
(Surah Al-Hajj 22:11)
According to the explanation of Hazrat Abdullah ibn Abbas (RA), during the time of the Prophet (PBUH) there were some Bedouins who accepted Islam and even performed acts of worship, yet deep within their hearts they believed that if Islam brought them worldly benefit, then it was a good religion; otherwise, it was not.
If their mares produced healthy foals, if they were blessed with sons, and if their crops flourished, they remained pleased with Islam. However, if these worldly expectations were not fulfilled, they abandoned the faith and became apostates.
It is also narrated in a Hadith that a Jewish man embraced Islam. Afterwards, he lost his eyesight, his only son passed away, and he suffered severe financial and agricultural losses. He came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said, “Take your Islam back, for it has brought me no benefit.”
The Prophet (PBUH) replied:
“Islam cannot be taken back.”
The man then openly renounced Islam and became an apostate.
Dear brothers,
Even after fourteen centuries, there are still people who remember Allah or adopt the path of spirituality merely in the hope of gaining worldly wealth and comfort. If those expectations are not fulfilled, they begin to doubt the path itself and fall into misguidance. Such people are indeed unfortunate.
Fourteen centuries are more than enough for mankind to understand that servitude to Allah, obedience to His Messenger (PBUH), love for the Prophet (PBUH), and the remembrance of Allah are not meant to secure worldly success. Their true purpose is to establish a living relationship with Allah—the very purpose for which humanity was created.
The comforts and hardships of this world are merely tests. They reveal whether a person remains faithful to the covenant of servitude he has made with Allah or whether his devotion was only hypocrisy.
Even if one suffers every hardship, loses worldly possessions, or faces endless trials, his relationship with Allah and His Messenger (PBUH) should not diminish in the slightest. Likewise, if Allah grants him wealth, children, honor, and every worldly blessing, he should never forget the One who bestowed them. Instead, he should recognize every blessing as a gift from Allah and dedicate it to His path.
During the Battle of Uhud, when the disbelievers launched a fierce attack and reached the Prophet (PBUH), striking him repeatedly, Hazrat Sa’d (RA) placed his arm before the Prophet (PBUH) to shield him, and it was severed. He used his other arm, and it too was cut off. Finally, one of the enemies struck his legs with a sword, severing them as well.
After the Companions (RA) forced the attackers to retreat and calm returned to the battlefield, the Prophet (PBUH) took shelter near the mountain. The mutilated body of Hazrat Sa’d (RA), without arms and legs, was brought before him.
Hazrat Sa’d (RA) slowly dragged himself toward the blessed feet of the Prophet (PBUH), kissed them, and exclaimed:
“By Allah! I have attained my goal.”
Reflect for a moment—what goal had he achieved?
He had left behind his family, his homeland, his wealth, and finally even sacrificed his life.
To those who worship Allah only for worldly gain, Hazrat Sa’d (RA) would appear to have lost everything. But those who understand the true meaning of faith know that sincere servitude to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH)—even at the cost of one’s life, wealth, family, and homeland—is the greatest victory and the true purpose of a believer’s existence.
Indeed, Hazrat Sa’d (RA) truly attained his destination.
Dear attendees,
There is another profound lesson hidden within the Hadith I mentioned.
The Jewish man demanded that the Prophet (PBUH) “take Islam back.” The Prophet (PBUH) answered:
“Islam cannot be taken back.”
Consider these words carefully.
The man had already become an apostate, so where had Islam gone?
The meaning of the Prophet’s statement is this: you never truly accepted Islam in the first place.
Had you accepted Islam sincerely, you would have experienced the sweetness of faith just as the Companions did. Even after sacrificing everything, they found greater joy in Islam. Had they possessed a thousand lives, they would have offered each one willingly for the sake of Allah and His Messenger (PBUH), considering even that insufficient.
When you accepted Islam, your heart was already occupied by worldly expectations. Because of those impure and doubtful intentions, true Islam never entered your heart.
Islam settles only within a pure heart, and once it resides there, it never departs.
Worldly hardships cannot bring complaints to the believer’s tongue nor resentment into his heart. Likewise, worldly prosperity cannot distract him from the remembrance of Allah.
A true servant of Allah remains unconcerned by whether life is filled with responsibilities or hardships. His greatest desire is simply to spend his life in the service of Allah, and that alone is the greatest blessing.
When a servant sincerely belongs to Allah in this manner, Allah, out of His grace, grants honor to his wishes and decrees for him only what is best.
Dear attendees,
These blessed Awrad are recited so that, through their blessings, Allah Almighty may make us His true servants and true followers of His beloved Messenger (PBUH). May He grant us victory over Satan and the lower self through His divine power, allow our lives to be spent in His remembrance, and bless us to depart from this world while remembering Him.
Now let us begin.
In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
Thereafter, Awrad-e-Naziriyah Sharif was recited, followed by a collective supplication.
