Our Ultimate Goal

To attain the Pleasure of Allah (SWT) by:

1. Directing our sincere devotion to Him Alone.

2. Achieving the true following of His Messenger, Muhammad.

Abu Sa'eed al-Khudree (ra) relates that the Prophet said: "Allah, the Lord of Honour and Glory, will call the inmates of Paradise, 'O Residents of Paradise!' They will respond, 'Here we are, our Lord, and all good is in Your Hands. ‘He will ask them: 'Are you now pleased?' They will answer: 'Why should we not be pleased, our Lord?

When You have bestowed upon us such bounties which You have not bestowed on any of Your other creation. ‘He will then say to them: 'Shall I not bestow upon you something even better than that?' The inhabitants of Paradise will inquire: 'What could be better than that?' Allah will say, 'I bestow upon you My Pleasure and shall never thereafter be displeased with you.’"  

Verily, our Lord, Your Pleasure is more exalted and precious than any felicity. We put Your pleasure above and before all else.

By doing so we follow in the footsteps of our Prophet who sought Your pleasure before asking for Paradise in his supplications: “O Allah, I ask You for Your Pleasure and Paradise.”

Allah (SWT) is indeed more precious to us than anything else, and He is Greater than all else.

His pleasure is also more valuable than any other objective:
"But the greatest bliss is the good Pleasure of Allah: that is the supreme success.” [Surah At-Taubah (9), Ayah 72.]

Allah, Exalted is He, is the First:
there is nothing before Him; and He is the Last: there is nothing after Him. He is the Most High: there is nothing above Him, and He is the Most Near: there is nothing nearer than Him. He is the Ever-Living and the One who sustains and protects all that exists. He is the All-Mighty; the All-Wise; the All-Aware; the All-Knowing; the All-Seeing; the Owner of Power; the Most Strong. He has power over all things; everything is in need of Him; all actions are easy for Him; and He is in need of nothing whatsoever:

"There is nothing like unto Him; and He is the All-Hearer, the Ever-Watching." [Surah Ash-Shura (42), Ayah 11.]

It is He who creates all things from nothing and provides after destitution. He gives life and causes death. He resurrects the dead from their graves; and to Him will be the final return on the Day of Judgment, when He forgives whom He wishes to forgive, out of benevolence, and punishes whom He wishes to punish, out of justice:

"Such is Allah, your Lord. His is the Sovereignty. None has the right to be worshipped but He. How then are you turned away?" [Surah Az-Zumar (39), Ayah 6.]

All save Him, Exalted is He, will perish:
"Whatsoever is on it [the earth] will perish; but the Face of your Lord, full of Majesty and Honor will abide forever.” [Surah Ar-Rahman (55), Ayah 26-27.]

So how could we not consider the Pleasure of Allah: to be our ultimate goal for which we strive and break away from whatever opposes it, so that we can have recourse to its protection and delight in it?

"So flee to Allah (front His Torment to His Mercy) Verily, I (Muhammad) am a plain Warner to you from Him.” [Surah Az-Zariyat (51), Ayah 50.]

Our Prophet taught us that the Pleasure of our Lord is our refuge and shelter:

A'isha said: "I missed the Messenger of Allah in bed (one night) so I looked for him and (suddenly) my hand perchance felt the sole of his feet in the mosque. They were upright (in sujud position) and he was saying: 

("O Allah! I seek refuge in Your Pleasure from Your Wrath and in Your Pardon from Your Punishment; and I seek refuge in You from You. I could never praise You enough (as You deserve), You are as You have praised Yourself.")

The Pleasure of Allah, Mighty is He, is an objective before which all other objectives diminish in importance:
"And Allah is better [as regards reward in comparison to your reward], and more lasting [as regards punishment in comparison your punishment." [Surah Ta-Ha (20), Ayah 73.]

Whoever finds and attains it has indeed found everything could possibly need; and whoever loses it or is misguided away from has lost everything.

This is the person that Allah, has left astray, "...and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight. Who, then, will guide him after Allah?” [Surah Al-Jaathiya (45), Ayah 23.]

One of the mercies that Allah has granted His creation is His undertaking to realize this aim (of pleasing Him) for all those who seek it with sincerity:
"Allah chooses for Himself those whom He wishes, and guides unto Himself those who turn to Him in repentance and in obedience.” [Surah Ash-Shura (42), Ayah 13.]

Allah, Exalted is He, never turns away anybody seeking His guidance. Instead, He assists and guides them to it:
"As for those who strive hard in Our cause, We will surely guide them to Our Paths (Allah's religion).” [Surah Al-‘Ankabut (29), Ayah 69.]

On the authority of Abu Hurairah (ra) who said that the Prophet said: “Allah the Almighty says: ‘I am as My servant expects Me to be.  I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me a hand's span, I draw near to him arm’s length; and if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’ ”

How could we not then make Allah's (SWT) Pleasure our ultimate goal?
On the authority of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (ra) from the Prophet is that among the sayings he relates from his Lord, Exalted is He, is that He said:

"O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another.

O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you.

O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food from Me and I shall feed you.

O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you.

O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.

O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and you will not attain benefiting Me so as to benefit Me.

 O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any man amongst you, that would not increase My Kingdom in anything.

O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you as wicked as the most wicked heart of any man amongst you, that would not decrease My Kingdom in anything.

 O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more than a needle decreases the sea if put into it.

O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good (in the Hereafter) praise Allah and let him who finds other than that blame no-one but himself.”

How could we not seek His Pleasure and aspire to be amongst His beloved friends whom he defends and assists:

“Truly Allah defends those who believe.”  [Surah Al-Hajj (22), Ayah 38.]

Allah also says in the Hadeeth Qudsi: "Whoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him... "

And can we not aspire to be among His beloved about whom He says in the same Hadeeth Qudsi:                                   
"My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with optional works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his sense of hearing with which he hears, his sense of sight with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes, and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him; and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it…"

We hope to attain His Pleasure and we wish that our Lord will admit us in Paradise on the Day of Resurrection along with the righteous people:
"My worshippers! No fear shall be on you this Day, nor shall you grieve, (you) who believed in Our Signs and were Muslims. Enter Paradise, you and your wives, in happiness. Trays of gold and cups will be passed round them, [there will be] therein all that one's inner-self could desire, all that the eyes could delight in, and you will abide therein forever. Such will be the Paradise which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds which you used to do [in the life of the world].Therein for you will be fruits in plenty, of which you will eat [as you desire]." [Surah Az-Zukhruf (43), Ayat 68-73.]

In light of all of the above, does our set goal equal other goals?
"Say:  Is the blind one equal to the one who sees? Or darkness equal to Light?” [Surah Ar-Ra'd (13), Ayah 16.]

"Is he who walks on his face without seeing, more rightly guided, or he who [sees and] walks on a Straight Path [Islam]?” [Surah Al-Mulk (67), Ayah 22.]

A Muslim's objective illuminates his path, outlines his endeavours, and regulates his footsteps, actions and positions. You find him walking on the ground while his heart is set on the Heavens.

He goes forth one instance and holds back another; sometimes hastens and sometimes slows, speaks on one occasion and holds his tongue on another.

During all this he is proceeding confidently towards his ultimate goal.

This objective makes the Muslim intolerant of neglecting the commands of his Lord or disobeying film in any way.

For doing so would come between him and his exalted aim. It also makes him waste little of his time, lest it should come to nothing.

He is cautious not to spend the fleeting moments of his life on anything that does not please his Lord.

One of the merits of a Muslim's ultimate goal is that it controls the means by which it is achieved.

The goal does not serve to justify the means for those who wish to attain it, nor does it allow them to justify any means with a view to achieving that goal.

Rather the goal controls the means which, in its turn, is controlled for it. The goal would not be attained by any words or actions unless these are done with sincerity towards Allah and in accordance with the teachings of the Prophet.