Guiding to success

All praise be to Allah and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger: A person cannot do without the guidance of Allah (Glory be to Him) to a person in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah (may He be Exalted) says:"O you who believe! Follow not the footsteps of Shaitân (Satan). And whosoever follows the footsteps of Shaitân (Satan), then, verily he commands Al Fahshâ' [i.e. to commit indecency (illegal sexual intercourse, etc.)], and Al Munkar [disbelief and polytheism (i.e. to do evil and wicked deeds; to speak or to do what is forbidden in Islâm, etc.)]. And had it not been for the Grace of Allâh and His Mercy on you, not one of you would ever have been pure from sins. But Allah purifies (guides to Islâm) whom He wills, and Allâh is All-Hearer, All-Knower." [Surat An-Nur: 21].

 So, the one whom Allah guides to purify his soul has succeeded and won. Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Indeed whosoever purifies himself (by avoiding polytheism and accepting Islâmic Monotheism) shall achieve success." [Surat Al A`la: 14]. The highest degree of Allah's guidance to success is to draw faith and obedience nearer to a person and make them the most beloved things to him, in the meantime He directs away disbelief and disobedience from him and make them abhorred to him. This is the rank which the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him)

gained and Allah granted them in His Saying: "And know that among you there is the Messenger of Allâh (peace be upon him). If he were to obey you (i.e. follow your opinions and desires) in much of the matter, you would surely be in trouble. But Allâh has endeared the Faith to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and has made disbelief, wickedness and disobedience (to Allâh and His Messenger peace be upon him) hateful to you. Such are they who are the rightly guided." [Surat Al Hujurat: 7].

Ibn Al Qayyim said: "Allah (Glory be to Him) addresses his believing servants saying: Had it been for guiding you to success, your souls would not have accepted faith because accepting faith was not done by your opinion but it is by the guidance of Allah to success. I made faith beloved to you and adorned it in your heart and made disbelief and lewdness abhorred to you."[1]

Guiding to success is one of the things which is only asked from Allah alone because no one else is able to achieve it; so whoever asks it from someone else shall be deprived of it.

Allah (may He be Exalted) says:"Verily, you (O Muhammad peace be upon him) guide not whom you like, but Allâh guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided." [Surat Al Qasas: 56].

 The guidance which is mentioned in the Ayah is called the guidance of success as scholars said. Shu`ayb (Jethro peace be upon him) said: "And my guidance cannot come except from Allâh, in Him I trust and to Him I repent." [Surat Hud: 88].

 Ibn Al Qayyim said: "Knowledgeable people have agreed that guiding to success is that Allah would not leave you to yourself and that the greatest failure is that He does not interfere between you and your soul." [2]

The Prophetic guidance came with this meaning, Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)said:

"The supplications of the distressed people are: "O Allah! Your Mercy is what I hope for. Do not abandon me to myself for a twinkle of an eye, but put all my affairs in good order for me. There is no god but You."[3]

The mistake which is done by many people is: They think that the one who is granted money, a post, a wealth, or any other worldly matters is guided to success. The matter is different of what they believe because the world is given by Allah to those whom He loves and those whom He does not. Allah mentioned that about man and told the people that the matter is not as they believe.

Allah (may He be Exalted) says:"As for man, when his Lord tries him by giving him honor and bounties, then he says (in exultation): "My Lord has honored me." * But when He tries him by straitening his means of life, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me!" * Nay." [Surat Al Fajr: 15 - 17].

 The true is the one who is truly guided is the one who is given a post or a wealth and use it for the sake of Allah, supporting his religion, and benefitted his Muslim brothers. If a person is given money, he should spend it for Allah's Sake because it is the wisdom of Allah to afflict His Servants, so the one who is truly guided is the one who thanks Allah when he is given sustenance, whereas the distressed is the one who disbelieves and goes astray when is given wide sustenance. Allah (may He be Exalted) says:"Nay! Verily, man does transgress (in disbelief and evil deed). * Because he considers himself self-sufficient." [Surat Al `Alaq: 6 - 7].

 Allah said about His Prophet Solomon:"One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: "I will bring it to you within the twinkling of an eye!" Then when he [Sulaimân (Solomon)] saw it placed before him, he said: "This is by the Grace of my Lord - to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful! And whoever is grateful, truly, his gratitude is for (the good of) his ownself; and whoever is ungrateful, (he is ungrateful only for the loss of his ownself). Certainly, my Lord is Rich (Free of all needs), Bountiful."" [Surat An-Naml: 40].

 The guidance of Allah to His Servants is of many types, such as: To give goodness to some people but they refuse or deny it, then Allah withholds it until it grants to some people who deserve it. The Prophet (peace be upon him) stayed more than ten years offering his message to tribes to support and aid him but they did not respond until Allah chose the Ansar [Supporters] to have this great honor in this world and in the Hereafter.

Of which: To guide a person in the last portion of his life to a righteous deed to die while doing it and it would be the last of his actions .

Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: A young Jewish boy used to serve the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he became sick. So, the Prophet (peace be upon him) went to visit him. He sat near his head

and asked him to embrace Islam.

The boy looked at his father, who was sitting there; the latter told him to obey Abul-Qasim (peace be upon him) and the boy embraced Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him) came out saying: "Praises be to Allah Who saved the boy from the Hell-fire."In another narration: "When he died,  he (the Prophet) said: Offer Salah for your friend."

[4]  Of which, Allah guides a person to few actions but takes a great reward for them in the sight of Allah. Al Bara' ibn `Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said:"A man whose face was covered with an iron mask (i.e. clad in armor) came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said, "O Allah's Messenger! Shall I fight or embrace Islam first? "The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "Embrace Islam first and then fight." So he embraced Islam, and was martyred. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, A Little work, but a great reward. "(He did very little (after embracing Islam), but he will be rewarded in abundance)." [5]

Whoever fears Allah (may He be Exalted), sincerity fills his heart, Allah knows the truthfulness of his intention, and supplicates Allah frequently will combine the reasons which will bring about guidance; and Allah is the One whose aid is to be implored, no might nor strength save in Allah.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds [i.e., people]. May Allah send His Peace and Blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and all his Companions!

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[1] Madarij As-Salikin (1/447).

[2] Madarij As-Salikin (1/445).

[3] [Sunan Abu Dawud (4/324) No. (5090) and Al Albany graded it as authentic in Sahih Al Jami` As-Saghir No. (3388)].

[4] [Sahih Al Bukhari (1/416) No. (1356) and Ahmad (3/260) with his own wordings].

[5] [Sahih Al Bukhari (2/308) No. (2808) and Sahih Muslim (3/1509) No. (1900)].