As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone, welcome back to the Faith Revival. So last time we talked about the reality of iman.
And if you notice, Ubadah as he's speaking to his son, he's saying that your faith, you will not be able to even begin to embark on the reality of faith until you understand that which has come to you is not meant to have missed you, and that which missed you
is not meant to have come to you. Those are things that are completely out of your control though. So how do we move on from beginning to taste the reality of faith to actually tasting the sweetness of faith?
So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said that there are three characteristics that if a person has, then he has tasted halawatul iman, the sweetness of faith. So he's moved beyond simply how to respond properly to circumstances that are out of
his control to actually using iman to drive him in a certain way and he arrives at the following three outcomes. Number one, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says he loves someone and he loves
someone purely for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Meaning there is no other reason why you love this person except for the sake of Allah. So your relationships are defined by your iman now.
So you love someone only because of their love of Allah or because they bring you closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Number two, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that Allah and his messenger
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam are more beloved to him than anything else. So that covers all of your material possessions, that covers not just people and relationships but all your material possessions.
So the love of wealth is subdued, the love of fame is subdued, the love of Allah and his messenger comes above all of that. Relationships, possessions, but what's the most important thing to that person?
Is this person bitter, resentful, do they miss that wealth, do they miss that fame, do they miss relationships that are not defined by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? No.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that they would hate to return to disbelief more so than being thrown into a fire. They would hate to return to disbelief more so than they would hate to be thrown into a fire.
Meaning iman is more precious to them than even their physical selves. They would rather suffer physically than have to return back to ignorance and disbelief. There is so much from this hadith.
So it defines your relationships, it defines your things, iman starts to define everything in your life and you start to taste the sweetness of iman. And the scholars of the Arabic language they mention that dhawq, tasting, in the Arabic
language goes beyond just tasting in the sense of eating and drinking. But for example they would say ya dhawq wa tleeb that you taste perfume. That doesn't mean you actually drink from a bottle of perfume or a bottle of cologne.
But you taste the sweetness of it meaning you smell it. So you smell the goodness of it and the sweetness of it. So this dhawq, this tasting is far beyond simply eating and drinking.
It is the dhawq of the heart, the sweetness of iman in the heart. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is comparing the outcome of the striving of the believer for belief to a person now that's tasting honey, that's tasting the sweetness of iman.
And when that iman settles in the heart and you start to actually taste the sweetness of it, you would not want to go back on that faith no matter what. You love the restrictions, you love putting Allah and His Messenger before everything else.
It defines you as a person and you're okay with that and you're pleased with that. And there's a beautiful saying from Abu Hanifa rahimahullah ta'ala. He says, innana fee sa'ada wa halawa. We are living in happiness and sweetness.
Meaning it's happiness and the sweetness of iman. He said lawuAAanima biha almulooq lajaaladoona AAalayha bisayoof. He said that if the kings knew the sweetness that we derive from our faith, they would
come after us with armies to try to take it away from our hearts. The treasure of tasting the sweetness of faith, this puts you beyond the circumstances mentioned in the previous hadith. This is when you are actively engaging your iman with your relationships and with your
possessions and your iman is more precious to you than anything to the point that you would rather be thrown into a fire than to return back on that iman. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to taste the sweetness of that faith.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow the love of Him to define what we love and who we love as well. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to remain on belief until death comes to us and not to return to a place of ignorance. Allahuma ameen. See you all next time inshaAllah.
Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
