The True Joy: State and Station
This is the fifth in a series of articles on true happiness, joy, and commitment according to the Quran and Sunna from the seminar The True Joy with Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Kharsa and Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.
The servant’s joy is in their beholding that they are a servant of Allah and that Allah is their Master. They behold that it is Allah who takes care of their affair and who facilitates all matters for them.
This joy and rejoicing in Allah, if it becomes settled within the heart it goes from being a state to a station. It is of the highest of stations of closeness to Allah.
The virtues of character and the spiritual virtues, when they first come, are called a state. States come and go. Then, a quality – whether it be a quality of character such as generosity, kindness, or gentleness, or a spiritual quality such as hope, reliance on Allah, trust in Allah, this rejoicing in Allah – rather than being a fleeting state lingers. A station is when that state is embraced, cultivated, and rooted such that it remains.
From State to Station
If rejoicing in Allah becomes a station, it accompanies one in all one’s circumstances in life, in all times, places, and circumstances, and likewise, in the turbulent tests of life. That which is a station that you have reached remains with you, even in the bitterest of tests. You do not lose that happiness. That is because the joy of the faithful servant is in beholding Allah, in their presence with Allah, and in their being in obedience and devotion to Allah. Beholding that all of this is a bounty from Allah and a manifestation of Allah’s Mercy. None of this is changing so it does not matter the fleeting things that happen in life.
They first rejoice in this worldly life by the bounty of Allah and His mercy in these matters described. Then after this life, the faithful believer rejoices at the point of death. For the faithful believer, death gets transformed from being a woeful loss to being a blessing. Death itself gets transformed for the servant who reached true rejoicing in Allah through becoming present with Allah. Having drawn close to Allah, devoted themselves to the worship of Allah, and having cultivated this rejoicing in Allah, their very death gets transformed from a tribulation and loss to being a pure blessing and bounty.
No Tribulation
In such a state, when death comes to a righteous servant, they would say taking from what the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said to his own daughter Fatima, “There is no tribulation on your father after today.” We will be meeting the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) and the beloved servants of God. We will be meeting God Himself.
After that, they rejoice in the meeting of Allah in the grave. But then, the day of Resurrection for them becomes a day of rejoicing. Not all people will be in fear and awe on the day of Resurrection.
Allah says:
أَلَاۤ إِنَّ أَوۡلِیَاۤءَ ٱللَّهِ لَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَیۡهِمۡ وَلَا هُمۡ یَحۡزَنُونَ
“Verily indeed the friends of Allah need never be feared for, nor shall they grieve.” [Quran, 10:62; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
We should strive to be of the elect servants of God. They are those who chose God above all else so God chose them above all others. They truly chose Allah in the critical choices in life. Who are they?
ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَكَانُوا۟ یَتَّقُونَ
لَهُمُ ٱلۡبُشۡرَىٰ فِی ٱلۡحَیَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡیَا وَفِی ٱلۡـَٔاخِرَةِۚ
“Those who truly believe and ever show godfearingness. Theirs is the great joyous tiding in this life and the next.” [Quran, 10:63-64; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
That is the true victory. Allah says:
ذَ ٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلۡفَوۡزُ ٱلۡعَظِیمُ
“That is the mighty undying triumph.” [Quran 10:64; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
Good Pleasure of Allah
Likewise, when the righteous Servants of Allah enter Paradise they will rejoice. They rejoice in this life, rejoice at the time of death, rejoice in their graves, rejoice in the Hereafter on the day of resurrection, and they rejoice when they enter Paradise. In Paradise, they are under the good pleasure of Allah, in states of closeness to Allah and beholding Allah so they are in layer upon layer of joy and bliss. Allah says:
فَرِحِینَ بِمَاۤ ءَاتَىٰهُمُ ٱللَّهُ
“Overjoyed at what Allah has given them.” [Quran, 3:170; tr. Keller, Quran Beheld]
Such people who devoted themselves to Allah, rejoice in this life in their beholding Allah, in their presence with Allah, in their devotion to Allah. They rejoice in beholding what they have as bounty and mercy from Allah. So they rejoice in this life and then they rejoice in the Hereafter. And rejoice in the reward of Allah, His good pleasure, and in beholding Allah eternally, in layer upon layer of indescribable bliss.
Either Or
The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him. And whoever hates to meet Allah, Allah hates to meet him.” If the servant loves Allah by turning to Allah, by devotion to Allah, by regular remembrance of Allah, and they are consistently beholding the favor and mercy of Allah, if they truly love to meet Allah, then, Allah loves to meet them.
On the other hand, the servant who is distant from Allah, who has not cultivated this meaning of longing to meet Allah, they have not turned to Allah. They have not devoted themselves to Allah, have not remembered Allah, and do not find this yearning for Allah in their heart. So they dislike the prospect of death. And they dislike the prospect of meeting Allah. Then, Allah dislikes meeting them.
