To Be in the Company of the Prophet
Answered by Shaykh Farid Dingle
Question: Assalamu alaykum
What is a regimen (a hizb I can implement) day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year–so that inshaallah I’ll be in the company of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) in the Hereafter?
Answer: Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
Dear questioner,
If only I knew! Nevertheless, here are some steps that we can all take:
1) Learning
We all need to learn what it is that Allah will ask us about. We need to learn about what is halal to eat and drink, how to get a halal income, how to interact with others in a halal way.
This entails studying a complete book of fiqh, and a complete book on Islamic character.
The following courses would cover this:
Belief and practice, Halal and Haram, Spirituality, Marriage.
2) Applying
This is where it really starts. To be with Messenger of Allah in this life and the next means to follow in his footsteps. Through the courses above, you should know pretty well what to do, but now you need to do it.
The point is not tons of works, but rather fulfilling your obligations, performing the confirmed sunnas, being persistent, and not given in to idleness. You should always be doing something useful.
3) Tripping up
To err is human, but trick to keep going even when you fall on you know. The rule is: whoever keeps going, wins.
And the Holy Prophet has said, Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘By Him in whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would do away with you, and bring a people who would sin and then they seek forgiveness from Allah, and He would forgive them.’ [Muslim]
Ferreting out your own faults and finding out how and why you fall of your face is essential. If you just assume that you are okay or that your faults will just disappear, you are in grave danger.
We always have to be changing and working on ourselves. This requires work. Allah Most High has said:
He who purifies it [his soul] has already succeeded,
And he who squanders it has already given in to ruin. [91: 9-10]
5) Company
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘A man is upon the religion of his best friend, so let one of you look well to whom he befriends.’ [Abu Dawud]
You have to be with people who are going in the same direction as you are.
6) Continual repentance
Please see this answer.
In general, the deeper the repentance the closer you are to Allah and His Messenger.
I pray this helps. If it does, and you get to the other side, please give me a helping hand too.
Wassalam,
[Shaykh] Farid Dingle
Shaykh Farid Dingle grew up in a convert family in Herefordshire, UK. In 2007, he moved to Jordan to pursue traditional studies. Shaykh Farid continues to live in Amman, Jordan with his wife and kids. In addition to continuing his studies he teaches Arabic and several of the Islamic sciences.
Shaykh Farid began his journey in sacred knowledge with intensives in the UK and Jordan (2004) in Shafi’i fiqh and Arabic. After years of studying Arabic grammar, Shafi’i fiqh, hadith, legal methodology (usul al-fiqh) and tafsir, Sh. Farid began specializing in Arabic language and literature. Sh. Farid studied Pre-Islamic poetry, Umayyad, Abbasid, Fatimid, and Andalusian literature. He holds a BA in Arabic Language and Literature and continues exploring the language of the Islamic tradition.
In addition to his interest in the Arabic language Shaykh Farid actively researches matters related to jurisprudence (fiqh) which he studied with Shaykh Hamza Karamali, Shaykh Ahmad Hasanat, and continues with Shaykh Amjad Rasheed.
