"Two Characteristics To Taste The Benefits Of Faith: Patience And Thanks"
Recently, our Foundation hosted a talk given by Seyyid Muhammed Ibrahim Elmas on the topic of "tasting" Belief and the conditions towards obtaining it, as well as the obstacles impeding such an experience.
Seyyid Elmas explained that Allah has instructed his potential servants to act with sincere effort and motivation in order to obtain the true taste of Iman in their lives. He gave the analogy of a disciplined sportsman who follows a disciplined and strict regime for the purpose of obtaining his or her goals and benefiting from them.
"We are living for Allah's sake; and at every moment of our day and in every one of our emotional or psychic states we must try to be with Allah", he stated. The first and foremost thing that we should do, he said, was to express our thanks and gratitude to our Creator. If we establish an attitude of gratitude in our lives and at every opportune moment, then many doors will open for us.
Seyyid Elmas also stated that "The way of Gratitude propels the believer towards the loftiest road of slavehood to Allah".
He also emphasised that patience and conscious reflection and contemplation are required throughout ones' life, in all stages and degrees. Patience is something that should be adopted in all situations and worn by the Believer as if it were a cloak or type of dress. This constitutes, as Seyyid Elmas expressed it: "Putting our sole trust in Allah and thus submitting to Him in full".
"Allah has given mankind the opportunity to be His vicegerent on earth, but man needs to be conscious and aware in order to comprehend its reality", said Elmas. Such a duty requires that the Believer be aware of Allah, be aware of his own soul and ego as well as the existence of other creatures apart from himself.
Elmas stated that all our actions and works should be oriented towards the next life and the foundations should be on Tawhid (Unity of God). The muslim should conduct all his actions carefully so as to identify what actions can obtain the pleasure of God and that the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) is the door to which all investigative belief can be practised.
Seyyed Elmas also stated that "There is a very important matter that I learned from the students of Said Nursi. The students of the Risale make supplicants for each other by name. Thus we should make dua and supplications for each other with sincere hearts and for the sake of Allah only".
Elmas summarised three main factors that cause the enjoyment of faith to be lost from peoples' lives:
- Turning away from Allah
- Following ones' lower desires and Satan
- Excess involvement with worldly ambition
He mentioned that one of the things that cause people to turn away from Allah is the disease of ignorance. The medicine and healing for such a condition is knowledge and in particular, knowledge that derives from the source and root of the Qur'an. "The life of the person should be imbued and painted with such knowledge in a conscious way", emphasised Elmas.
Elmas also stated that it was a miraculous attribute of the Risale-i Nur to reach every level and stratum of society and be digested and understood by them in a sufficient manner. By the Grace of God, the most subtle and finest points of religious knowledge are conveyed by Nursi to all people via a comprehensive method. In addition, Seyyed Elmas recounted how he had collected and read many multifarious religious works but that it was only after studying the Risale-i Nur did he really start to internalize within himself the true savour of faith.
