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What does it mean to feel “safe” from Allah? These powerful verses from Surah Al-A'raf contrast two states — sleeping at night and playing during the day — and expose a deeper issue: a heedless heart.
This reflection is a wake-up call about spiritual alertness, small sins we take lightly, and how to live with constant awareness of Allah without paranoia, but with purpose. Are we awake… or just moving?
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
In the second rak'ah, the verses that were read are very interesting and I want us to
pay attention to a small, subtle, but significant difference between the two. Allah says, أَفَأَمِنَ أَهْلُ الْقُرَاءَ أَن يَأْتِيَهُمْ بَأْسُنَا بَيَاتًا وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ
Do the people think that our tribulation will not come to them? Are they feeling safe and secure that our tribulation will not come to them while they are sleeping in their homes?
أَفَأَمِنَ أَهْلُ الْقُرَاءَ أَن يَأْتِيَهُمْ بَأْسُنَا بَيَاتًا وَهُمْ نَائِمُونَ Or are they sure that our tribulation will not fall upon them during the day while they're
playing? Two different words are used here. يَنَامُونَ يَلْعَبُونَ Sleeping and playing. And SubhanAllah, there is something very interesting that the Mufassirun
point out about the difference between sleeping and playing. If you think about it, when a person goes to sleep at night, they have a false sense of security that they've locked
all the doors, that there's nothing happening outside, there's no intruder that's on the outside, right? You won't be able to sleep at night if you think that someone's about to bang your door down, or if you left a window open or something of that sort that would
cause you some sort of anxiety when you go to sleep. So when a person goes to sleep, they have a sense of security that I've shut all the doors and there is no threat that's
coming to me from the outside. And when a person plays, يَلْعَبُونَ, the playing during the day that is being referred to, is a sense of carelessness, that there
is no imminent danger or task or anything that would interrupt what I'm doing right now that would make my situation dire or urgent, so I can afford to take a break and
do what I need to do. Now obviously there are degrees of this, right? There are those that are asleep in the greatest sense of the word. There are those that are playing as in they are mocking the revelation, they're mocking the prophets of Allah. They're making
fun of the revelation so they feel so secure that they think they can spit at a prophet and nothing would happen to them, right? But I want to bring it to us and what the ulema mention of the subtle difference between the two and then give it a practical dimension.
Obviously this is in Surah Al-A'raf where you'll have people on the Day of Judgment, may Allah protect us, that took that one deed for granted. They took that one sin for granted and said, I can afford this sin. They missed out on that one good deed because they said,
I can afford to miss out on this good deed. And on the Day of Judgment, they find that their scale tips just the other way. And they have that regret, there was that one
sin that I didn't think was going to be a big deal or that one good deed that I didn't think was worth pursuing. So it comes within the context of Al-A'raf, the people of Al-A'raf.
But if you think about sleep versus play, what is it that unites the two in this context? In regards to sleep, the body is unconscious and so is the soul. In regards to being awake,
the body is conscious, so is the soul. What unites the two states in this context is that the heart is heedless. The heart is in a state of ghaflah. What Allah is really referring
to here as the ulema mention when you peel it back is that whether you're in this state or that state, what is the state of your heart in that place? And if you think about
it, when you read ayat like this, are you really safe from the makr of Allah, from the plot of Allah? And no one should feel safe from the plot of Allah. Does Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala want us to be paranoid? Does Allah Azza wa Jall want us to live like where we're walking and every moment we're looking up and thinking that a lightning bolt might strike us or that punishment is going to come upon us? Does Allah Azza wa Jall want us to sleep with
one eye open? Is that what's actually being asked of us here? Or is Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala impressing upon us the importance of the mindfulness of Allah in every single state that you are
in and in everything that you do? Now look at the Prophet (ﷺ). Said tanaamu 'aynaya, that my eyes sleep, wa laa yanaamu qalbi, my heart does not go to sleep. When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) would go to sleep, his heart
remained awake. Now for the Prophet of Allah (ﷺ), that has two implications. One of them is the spiritual awareness, the instant trigger at the time of tahajjud. The Prophet (ﷺ) had no alarm clock. The way he jumped out of bed
immediately at the mention of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. He was programmed, 'alayhi as-salatu was-salam, internally. His heart was never heedless from Allah. The second one is a prophetic implication unique to him, which is what the ulema mention of the truthfulness of
his dreams. So what his heart witnesses at night is real. Revelation comes to the Prophet (ﷺ) even when he's asleep. Why? Because his heart is always in
a state in which it is ready to receive revelation. Okay, well what about us? Think about the du'as that you make before you go to sleep. You don't shut doors, but what do you do?
For one, you completely submit your soul, your body, and the ability to wake up to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Aslamtu wajhi ilayk, wafawwadtu amri ilayk, walja'tu dhahri ilayk. I'm submitting to you my face. I'm submitting to you all of my affairs. I'm giving you all of my body.
You're submitting your body to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And you're submitting your soul to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, which is even more than that. You're even asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, aati nafsi taqwaha, wazakkiha anta khayru man zakkaha, anta waliyyuha wa mawlaha.
You're asking Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to purify your soul at night. That as my soul goes back to you at night, as it's coming to you, Ya Allah, put it in a state of purification.
Let it be in a state of purification. You go to sleep making wudu. This is a sunnah. An angel sits at the top of your bedside and makes du'a for you every single time you
twist and turn. You're under the protection of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and an angel is making du'a for you. You even submit to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala the ability to wake up.
Bismika Allahumma amootu wa ahya. It's in your name, O Allah, that I die and that I live. So I'm going to die right now every single time I go to sleep. I don't have a false sense of security that I'm going to wake up or that something won't happen to
me at night. I have no sense of security in that. So all of the du'as that you're making at night are a submission of everything to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Ya Allah, I'm giving this all to you because I don't feel safe from the plan of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Death can come to me at night. Something can happen at night. And the Prophet (ﷺ), what does he mention of these du'as, that if a person dies at night making these du'as, then they're from the people of paradise because he would have died in a good
state. Because you're entrusting your state to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So your heart remains alive. Your soul remains in a state of purification. There's an angel that's making
du'a for you as your body is twisting and turning. That's when you're asleep. When you're awake, what does it mean to have a heart that's not heedless? What does it mean to be in that
prophetic state? The ulama mention here that again, you have the greatest sense of spiritual alertness in the Prophet (ﷺ). The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)
was not someone who was paranoid. He wasn't someone that was always looking around, 'alayhi as-salatu was-salam, like something bad was going to happen in that moment. He was fully present when he was with his family. So when he was with our mother Aisha (رضي الله عنها),
you see the beautiful narrations of his presence. When he was with the companions, the narration of Zayd (رضي الله عنه), Zayd ibn Thabit, kunna ma'a rasoolillahi (ﷺ) fa'idha dhakarna ad-dunya dhakaraha ma'ana wa'idha dhakarna at-ta'am dhakarahu ma'ana
wa'idha dhakarna al-akhirah dhakaraha ma'ana. When we sat with the Prophet (ﷺ), if we talked about food, he talked about food too. If we talked about worldly affairs, he talked about worldly affairs too. If we talked about the hereafter, he talked
about the hereafter too. Two things that unite those things. Number one, when he was with our mother Aisha (رضي الله عنها), the spiritual alertness of the Prophet (ﷺ) as soon as the time of salah was there. Right? He completely switched into
salah mode. Nothing gets in the way. His heart was always ready for Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. That's number one. Number two, the Prophet (ﷺ) is bringing dhikr,
the dhikr of Allah Azza wa Jall into every single setting. There's not a single gathering of the Prophet (ﷺ) at home or with companions except that Allah
is mentioned. Number three, observing the rights of Allah Azza wa Jall even in the most worldly mundane things. So when the Prophet (ﷺ) is sitting with the companions and they talk about food and the Prophet (ﷺ) doesn't
say Astaghfirullah, let's not talk about food. He talks about beneficial things regarding food. He talks about beneficial things regarding the dunya. He brings, he observes the limits
of Allah Azza wa Jall even when he's talking about worldly affairs. So he doesn't depart from the permitted when discussing things of this world. He remains within the bounds (ﷺ)
and beyond that he brings in the divine elements, the way to pursue a higher purpose even with those mundane things. So the heart is alive, the heart is constantly
present with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So what does that mean for us? We can have a Prophet (ﷺ) who's always smiling, who's a very subtle and beautiful presence. He didn't have a heavy presence (ﷺ) upon you. But the
same Prophet warns us from laughing too much. Right? Tumitul qalb, kathratul duhak, tumitul qalb. Laughing too much kills the heart. If you knew what I know, then you would laugh
little and you would cry much. So there's a type of laughing that suggests a heedlessness. There's a type of laughing that suggests a person who's not serious about life, who doesn't
understand the urgency of everything that's around the corner, the place that they are in, the purpose that they are in. There's a type of laughing that overtakes a person to where they easily slip in mockery and backbiting and gossip. And that's what the Prophet (ﷺ)
is warning against. That even in those things, the heart is aware of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And so that's the difference between being paranoid and being conscious.
Being paranoid and being conscious. That you're always mindful of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala even in your most joyous moments. And that you are mindful of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
even when you submit yourself to sleep. That you give yourself to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And you're constantly thinking about Him. And you're realizing the vulnerability that
your state is constantly in and how fragile every single moment of life is. But SubhanAllah,
I mean, let's just be real here. Praying Salat at-Tarawih, you started to hear the fire truck, the ambulance noises. Immediately there's a state of alert. Something goes off, right?
The believer does not wait for the spiritual fire truck or the spiritual ambulance to be alert. They're always alert so that they're never taken by surprise. Even when they're
in their most serene and happy and playful moments. They're never distant from the thoughts about Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And so as we're in the state of fasting and I conclude
with this, Taqwa is heightened awareness. Allah Azza wa Jall removes from us distractions, even food and drink so that we have heightened awareness. First and foremost about our sins.
Secondly, and the higher aspiration about Him Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in a way that we pursue something that's higher. How do you bring alertness? I want you to just think about
every single element of your life, even your sleep and your play. You know, you play basketball, you play cricket, you have hobbies doing this, you have hobbies doing that. You like to travel,
you like to look out here, you like to look out there. Whatever it is, how do I bring the mindfulness of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to that so that I don't have a heedless heart? Because if I'm not supposed to have a heedless heart even when I sleep, then by extension,
nothing else that I do. Should I be in an absolute state of ghaflah where I'm not even thinking about Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and the possibility of that moment being snatched away from me before I can even conceive what's actually happening to me. May Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala make us a people that are always alert. May Allah Azza wa Jall allow us to avoid even the smallest of sins. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us a people that pursue even what seems like the smallest and most insignificant of good deeds. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
make us not amongst those whose scales are even, but amongst those whose scale of good deeds is far heavier than their scale of bad deeds and those who enter into al-Firdaws al-A'la without any form of accountability and without any form of punishment. Allahumma
ameen. Jazakum Allahu Khayran.
