The Keys to Revival: The Necessity of Spiritual Awakening, Lessons from Generations – By Shaykh Khalid al-Kharsa

The Keys to Revival: Guidance in Crisis and Hope for the Future

This is the first in a series of three articles focused on how revival of the Umma must take place. From the On-Demand Course The Keys to Revival: Guidance in Crisis and Hope for the Future, this series brings together three leading scholars addressing the spiritual, social, and scholarly solutions needed for upliftment of the Umma.

The Umma today faces an immense and pressing need for awareness and guidance. We are living through unprecedented times of hardship and crisis. This situation necessitates that every Muslim be cautious and aware of their surroundings. The ailment is clear, and we won’t waste time describing it further, as doing so would be futile. Instead, let us focus on the remedy.

We are witnessing daily news of international conspiracies against our Umma, targeting our sacred sites, our Quran, our morality, and our religion. As I mentioned, this calls for caution and awareness regarding these tribulations, doubts, and crises. It also requires us to take appropriate actions to address them. 

The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “There will be tribulations.” We asked: “O Messenger of Allah, what is the way out of them?” He replied: “The Book of Allah, in it, is the news of what came before you, the information of what will come after you, and the judgment among you. It is decisive, not jest. Whoever speaks by it tells the truth, whoever acts by it is rewarded, whoever calls to it is guided to the Straight Path.”

The Book of Allah and the Sunna: The Way Out of Tribulation

In another hadith, the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) directed us to the path by which we can emerge from crises, saying: “I have left you two things; you will never go astray as long as you hold onto them: the Book of Allah and my Sunna.” In another narration: “The Book of Allah and my family (Ahl al-Bayt); they will never separate until they return to me at the Pond (of Paradise).” 

From this, dear brothers and sisters, how can the Book and the Sunnah guide us? How do we inspire the Umma to rise amidst its current hardships? Undoubtedly, the answer lies in gatherings of knowledge and the remembrance of Allah, especially blessed courses with the great scholars and teachers of our Umma. We ask Allah (Most High) to open their minds and hearts and to guide their tongues to what holds the keys to revival, the doors of reform, and the paths of guidance.

The First Key: The Necessity of Spiritual Awakening, Lessons from Generations – By Shaykh Khalid al-Kharsa

Allah (Most High) created humans with a pure nature. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Every child is born upon the fitra (natural disposition).” They are born pure and clean. However, when human actions interfere, they corrupt this nature, which Allah (Most High) created in a pristine state.

Allah (Most High) sent messengers (Allah bless them and give them peace) to pour light into hearts, for the heart is the shining lamp that illuminates the body. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said in a hadith qudsi: “My servant continues to draw near to Me with extra deeds until I love him. When I love him, I am his hearing with which he hears…” In this way, all the limbs are illuminated through the remembrance of Allah (Most High), turning the servant into a radiant lamp among people, guided by the guidance of the Messengers (Allah bless them and give them peace). Therefore, this Umma must experience a spiritual awakening.

In the time of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), the city of Madinah was illuminated by his presence. People did not need reminders because they lived in an environment of faith. At night, Madinah was like a beehive, filled with the remembrance of Allah, recitation of the Quran, and other forms of worship. However, as time passed, hearts changed, and the light of nightly remembrance diminished. The daytime is for earning a lawful livelihood, and the night is for seeking divine light. 

A person works during the day to sustain their earthly body and purifies it by consuming what is lawful; then, at night, they turn to Allah (Most High), becoming outwardly and inwardly illuminated. The sustenance of the night becomes the provision for charity during the day. Allah (Most High) says: “And they give out of what We have provided them.” This follows after Allah mentions that they rise during the night in worship. The sustenance gained at night becomes a means for spending during the day.

The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) acquired this from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and passed it on to the generations after them. We see the example of Imam Hasan Basri (may Allah have mercy on him), who met more than a hundred Companions. 

Imam Hasan Basri said: “I inform you that I accompanied people who were more averse to what was lawful for them than you are to what is unlawful for you. They avoided nine-tenths of what was lawful, fearing to fall short of fulfilling what Allah had commanded them.” Imam Hasan Basri also said: “We fought in Khurasan with 300 Companions of the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace).” Among these Companions was Masruq ibn al-Ajda‘, who had accompanied many Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). He said: “I found their hearts to be vessels of knowledge, purified by their clarity.”

The Companions’ hearts were filled with light, which is why the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “Consult your heart.” He said this to the Companion because their hearts would guide them to light and righteousness. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) did not say this to us but to the Companions’ hearts. Whoever possesses the heart of a Companion should consult it, but first, they must illuminate their life with the remembrance of Allah.

The Importance of Righteous Company

These qualities can only be attained through companionship (suhba) with those who have traversed this path and experienced its realities. When you sit with such a person, you benefit. Yunus (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “A man would benefit simply by looking at Hasan, even if he did not see his deeds or hear his words, because his state was the true influencer.” The state comes before speech. We are in dire need of this state, which was acquired by those who accompanied the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and passed it on to subsequent generations. 

The light of guidance that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) left will continue to flow within this Umma and will remain a source of sustenance. It will pass from one heart to another, from one believer to another, preserving the Muhammadan light among people.

I ask Allah (Most High) to make us among those whose vision and insight are illuminated, whose lives are filled with light, and whom He blesses wherever they may be. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.