The Law Of The Universe

Allah tells us in the Quran, again and again, we hear about Jahannam (hellfire). We know and we think about Jahannam as being something far away. Right? Jahannam (hell-fire), we think of it as being something far away. It's in the hereafter. Yeah. That torture and that torment is far away. But what we don't realize is that the torment and the torture of taking something other than Allah and loving it as you should only love Allah will torment you and torture you in this life, before the next life. That same thing that answers all these questions. What do I think about most? What am I most afraid of losing? What makes me angry? What's the first thing on my mind? What do I think of in my Salah? That same thing, whether it is your family, your kids, your husband, your status, your money, what's this person saying about me? What's that person saying about me? My image in front of people, what do people think? Whatever it is, that same thing will become the cause of your greatest pain, and torment. You see how it works? 

Allah has designed this universe in a specific way. Allah has designed the human heart in a specific way. When you change that design, when you go against that design, you feel the pain. Because you are going against the law of the universe. What is the law of the Universe? La Ilaha Illallah (there is no Diety worthy of worship except but Allah) La Ilaha Illallah is not just a statement that we say. In fact, we say it many times a day, but it isn't just a statement. When you are saying La Ilaha Illallah, you are saying that there is nothing worthy of being put at the center of my life, except for God. There is nothing else worthy of being what occupies my mind all day long. There is nothing else worthy of being the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, the last thing I think about before I go to sleep, what occupies my mind during the Salah...there is nothing else worthy of being that important of defining me in that deep of a way except for God. That's Tawheed. That's what it means to be a Muslim. Allah has designed the world, the universe, the human being, around La Ilaha Illallah. When you go against La Ilaha Illallah, and you take your money and you make that your Ilah (God), you will suffer. Because you are going against the law of the Universe. When you take your spouse and you put your spouse in that place, you will suffer. When you take your children and you put your children in that place, you will suffer. You will feel it, because you are going against the law of the universe. This isn't how Allah designed it. Allah made our hearts in such a way, that it is only to be filled by him. And so, when you fill something with a substance that it wasn't intended to be filled with, it breaks. Our hearts are like a cup. And you can fill that cup with whatever you choose. But if you choose to fill it with this life, if you choose to fill it with Dunya (this world), if you choose to fill it with money, if you choose to fill it with status, if you choose to fill it with what people think, then that cup will break. That heart will never feel at rest. That heart will not feel peace, until it is filled with what it is designed to be filled with, and that is Allah, and the remembrance of Allah. Not the remembrance of the creation, we should not be obsessing our minds and our hearts with anything other than our creator.

- by Ustadha Yasmin Mogahed