I Love You For the Sake of Allah

“Because.. Fahad! I love you….”
(Wait! What!! What did he just say!!!! Oh my God! I am feeling quite uncomfortable right now! Wait till my friends hear that the Imam of the Masjid just declared his love for me). “Because… Fahad! I love you for the sake of Allah.”
(What does this mean? For the sake of Allah? What is he trying to say here?)
“Because… Fahad! I love you for the sake of Allah. The Prophet said that if you love your brother then tell him. So I am telling you that I love you for the sake of Allah”(Did the Prophet really say that?! I gotta check this out.)

This conversation and this trail of my thoughts happened around 3 years ago. There are some conversations of your life that just get stuck in you head and they keep on repeating themselves in your mind over and over again. “Because… Fahad! I love you for the sake of Allah” is a dialogue that just wouldn’t let go of me. It has gripped me. It has changed me. This was a watershed moment of my life.This was the first time anyone apart from my family members had expressed their love for me.

It turned out that he was right. And he is almost always right. The Prophet (peace be upon him) really did say that. He said: "When one of you loves his brother, then let him inform him of it." (Tirmidhi: 36/89, Grade: Hasan)
A man was with the Prophet (peace be upon him) and a man passed by him and said: Messenger of Allah! I love this man. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) then asked: Have you informed him? He replied: No. He said: Inform him. He then went to him and said: I love you for Allah's sake. He replied: May He for Whose sake you love me love you! (Abu Dawud: 43/353, Grade: Hasan)

After getting to know this, I started my search to figure out what love for the sake of Allah means? And I learnt many things and this changed my perception about many things. But lets take a step back for now.

I met Nailul for the first time a couple of weeks after arriving in Japan when I started going to the Masjid for Isha prayer with Sato san. Sato san would bring his car to the dormitory to pick the students up for prayer at the Masjid and then he would drop them back after the prayer (May Allah bless him). So when I entered the car and sat down, Sato san did not show any intention of starting the car. I said, Sato san who are we waiting for? He replied, We are waiting for Nailul san. Then sure enough, 5 mins later (he is always late 😛 ), Nailul came and gave us a greeting full of energy: Assalaaaaaamu Alaikuuuumm!! (no one else does salam like that) Oban deeeeeesu!!.

We became friends very soon. We would go to the Masjid for Isha and Fajar in the car (he would go every day whereas I would skip it quite a few times especially for Fajar). The 20 mins rides to Masjid and back were the basis of our friendship. We used to talk about so many things. Islam, Japan, Studies, Islam, Pakistan, Indonesia, Islam, History, Quran, Western Imperialism, Islam again, our mutual struggle i.e. Japanese language, future plans, Islam again. Yeah I know I have written Islam a few times in the list. But to him, the whole life revolved around Islam. If I could describe him with one word then I would say that he is a “Muslim”.

Nailul likes to criticize things a lot. Actually this is a very common complaint about the people who come closer to Islam that they criticize everything. The thing is, that the current societies are so far away from Islam that the people who develop their “Islamic sense” find plenty of wrongs even in things which might seem very normal and harmless to other people. Nailul was different from the people around him and he was 200% sure that he was right because he had clear evidences from Quran and Sunnah. He is very knowledgeable ma.sha.Allah, there is no doubt about that. And it is really hard to argue with him over anything once he had made up his mind about it. He does not fluctuate and he does not waver, no matter who is in front of him. His loyalty and love for Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him) is far superior to the love of everything else in this world combined. The only thing I could point out in this approach was that he is saying PhD level things to people who are struggling with their primary school education. So of course, they wouldn’t understand what he is talking about.

Of course I wasn’t exempt from his criticisms. Actually I think I bore the brunt of it. Sometimes I would think that hey Nailul! why do you always criticize me? I don’t think that I am a bad person. I like to think that I am a good person. I like to think that I have always been a good person. So if I do 10 good things and then make a mistake then why do you always jump on my mistake and not give more attention to the good things I have done? I am a human being. I will make mistakes. That is unavoidable.

But soon I realized the wisdom behind Nailul’s approach when my professor started doing the same thing. I would do an experiment 100 times and proudly tell him that it succeeded 97 times so we have a success rate of 97%. But he would just shrug his shoulders and say, I don’t care about that. Tell me why the experiment failed those 3 times. You need to focus on those failures and correct those mistakes if you want to become a good researcher. On hearing this, a light bulb just went off in my head that ooooooohhhhh!!!! Nailul is doing the same thing to me! He just wants me to become a better Muslim. After that, I started loving his criticisms. Wouldn’t you love someone who is making so much effort to make you a better person?

We have a Tajweed class every Saturday night in the Masjid. The class starts after Maghrib and finishes before Isha prayer. When Nailul took over this class and started teaching Tajweed, the participation of Pakistani community in this class suddenly dropped. When those people were approached and were encouraged to join the class again, they did so by using a trick. They would come very late in the class (just before Isha prayer) so that they wouldn’t need to recite the Quran and the class would end before their turn could come. When questioned about this, they said that Nailul criticizes us a lot. He doesn’t even let us recite two words together and starts pointing out the mistakes. Then he explains those mistakes in detail for like two minutes and we feel embarrassed the whole time. I said, listen, he doesn’t do this just to you, he does this to everyone. I have seen how he teaches his fellow Indonesians and I have seen how much they have improved because of him. It is actually our fault and our parents’ fault that most of the Pakistanis did not learn to recite the Quran with proper Tajweed. He is here to teach us free of cost. He doesn’t mean to embarrass you, he just wants you to learn. When he points out a mistake, don’t take it as a personal attack (that’s a big problem with us. Even positive and constructive criticism looks like personal attack to us. How big are our egos!). What he is saying is the truth. And we should not get offended by the truth. We should not run away from a challenge, we should face it, learn from it and overcome our mistakes. Now I have seen it myself that how many mistakes I used to make before Nailul and how much I have improved because of him. And I can never thank him enough for that.

Now we are back to point where we started because this was the time around which Nailul told me that he loves me for the sake of Allah. And I started my research on this topic to figure out what does it mean and what are its implications and consequences. Well here is what I have understood so far: Loving someone for the sake of Allah is very different from loving someone for other reasons. It is an extremely beautiful concept of Islam. It means loving someone because he reminds you of Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him), because he has made you a better person and a better Muslim, because you have learnt so many beneficial things from him, because there is no other motive or reason of your friendship except the love of Allah and the Prophet (peace be upon him), because he likes those things for you which he likes for himself and he hates those things for you which he hates for himself, because he enjoins good and forbids evil for you not to butter you up or to humiliate you, but with no other intent except seeking the pleasure of Allah. Such people are rare to find and such people should be treasured the most. When you love someone, you would do anything to make him happy and you wouldn’t do anything that might offend him. But when you love someone for the sake of Allah, you would do everything to make sure that Allah is happy with him and you would do your best to stop him from things that might offend Allah.

I pray that may Allah give me shade on the day of judgement because of Nailul.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Allah will give shade, to seven, on the Day when there will be no shade but His. (These seven persons are) a just ruler, a youth who has been brought up in the worship of Allah (i.e. worships Allah sincerely from childhood), a man whose heart is attached to the mosques (i.e. to pray the compulsory prayers in the mosque in congregation), two persons who love each other only for Allah's sake and they meet and part in Allah's cause only, a man who refuses the call of a charming woman of noble birth for illicit intercourse with her and says: I am afraid of Allah, a man who gives charity so secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given (i.e. nobody knows how much he has given in charity), and a person who remembers Allah in seclusion and his eyes are then flooded with tears." (Sahih Bukhari: 10/54, Sahih Muslim: 10/117)

I pray that may Allah make my faith perfect because of Nailul.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever gives for the sake of Allah, withholds for the sake of Allah, loves for the sake of Allah, hates for the sake of Allah, and marries for the sake of Allah, he has indeed perfected his faith." (Tirmidhi: 37/2713, Grade: Hasan)

I pray that may I get the honor of being admired by the Prophets (peace be upon them all) and martyrs because of Nailul.
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, said: 'Those who love each other for the sake of My Majesty shall be upon podiums of light, and they will be admired by the Prophets and the martyrs.'" (Tirmidhi: 36/87, Grade: Sahih)

Nailul’s recitation of the Quran is amazingly, hauntingly beautiful ma.sha.Allah. Those of you who never got the chance to hear the recitation of Nailul, here is a gift for you. Brother Ridwan had secretly recorded the 1st taraweeh of Ramadan 1436 AH (18 June 2015). He did not upload this clip for 3 years because he knew that Nailul would fight with him and make him take down this clip. But now that Nailul is not here, he was free to upload it. Nailul does not like publicity. Nailul hates being praised (I don’t know how angry he will be with me for writing this article). But I think people should know how good he really is Ma.sha.Allah.
https://soundcloud.com/artnugraha/juz-1-alquran

I was there in the Masjid that day when this clip was recorded. Probably I was given the responsibility of reading from the Mashaf and correcting the Imam if he makes any mistake. But I am in so much awe of Nailul’s recitation that I tend to ignore many of his mistakes (he doesn’t make that many anyway). I just tell myself that may be I read it wrong, may be I didn’t hear it properly and Nailul was right all along so I shouldn’t interrupt his recitation. I only point out when I am 200% sure that he has made a mistake.
I just love the way Nailul recites the word “Ulaaika” (اُولٰٓٮِٕكَ ,which means these people). It gives me goosebumps every time.

اُولٰٓٮِٕكَ عَلٰى هُدًى مِّنۡ رَّبِّهِمۡ‌ وَاُولٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ الۡمُفۡلِحُوۡنَ‏
These are the people who are on (the true) guidance from their Lord, and they are the ones who are successful. (Quran 2:5)

Whenever I wonder what “these people” will be like, I think of Nailul. That’s the thing about Nailul! you read so many things about good people, righteous people, successful people in Quran and Sunnah. You learn the criterion and the signs of recognizing those people and you put yourself to the test. You fail spectacularly! You put Nailul to these tests and he passes them. There are so many verses of Quran and Ahadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that immediately make me think of Nailul.

I read that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Islam began as something strange and will go back to being strange, so glad tidings to the strangers.” (Sahih Muslim: 1/279, Tirmidhi: 40/24, Ibn Majah: 36/63)
and I immediately think that oh! this is Nailul! He is such a stranger in this world today.

Allah Almighty said: The believers are only those who, when Allah’s name is mentioned, they feel a fear in their hearts and when His Verses (the Quran) are recited unto them, they (i.e. the verses) increase their Faith; and they put their trust in their Lord (Alone). Who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and spend out of that We have provided them. (Quran 8:2-3)
(Yeah that just sounds like Nailul to me)

Allah Almighty said: And the servants of (Allah) Most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant address them, they say "Salam!" (Peace). Those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord prostrate and standing. Those who say "Our Lord! avert from us the Wrath of Hell, for its Wrath is indeed an affliction grievous. Indeed it is evil as settlement and as a residence". Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold a just (balance) between those (extremes). Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred, except for just cause, not commit fornication― and any that does this (not only) meets punishment (Quran 25:63-68)
(Nailul! Nailul! Nailul!! Nailul!! Nailul!! All Nailul!!)

There are so many of such verses and ahadith that I cannot write them here. I used to read about amazing people in the books and I used to think that, you see, I agree that these books were written by credible people, I agree that they have been handed down to us without any mutilation, I am sure that what they are describing is true. But I haven’t seen those people myself na! How can I visualize them and the things they did? Now such people only exist in the books and in the graves. But then Allah Almighty gave me Nailul. He gave me such a beautiful gift and I found a living, breathing, practical example right in front of me and I could not deny it.

This Friday, 28th September 2018, was the last time Nailul gave khutbah in Sendai Masjid. After the prayer, people gathered around Nailul to bid him farewell. I was there too in the crowd and I started talking to a Pakistani brother. He said I don’t know English so I cannot understand his khutbah very well. But his khutbah always leaves an impact on me and I could feel it reaching my heart. He was absolutely right. This is the effect Nailul has on a lot of people. I know this about myself that I am very weak. There are so many things that I should do but I don’t do them. Sometimes when people ask me about a certain issue, I have to say that Islam says this, but I am weak and I am struggling to follow it completely myself. But Nailul ma.sha.Allah does everything that he says. I think that is why his words leave a deep impact on the people and they get affected by it. He reminds me of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. He would address a crowd of hundreds of thousand of people in English and majority of the crowd didn’t even understand English. But yet they would listen to his speeches with full attention and they loved him a lot. When they were asked do you even know what he is saying? They would respond that no I do not understand what he is saying but I know that whatever he is saying is the truth. Nailul is also like that. This is the power of sincerity and pure intention.
قَالَ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم: "الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ." قُلْنَا: لِمَنْ؟ قَالَ: "لِلَّهِ، وَلِكِتَابِهِ، وَلِرَسُولِهِ، وَلِأَئِمَّةِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَعَامَّتِهِمْ."
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said, “The deen (religion) is (sincere) advice.” We said, “of whom?” He (peace be upon him) said, “Of Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and (this advice is) for the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk.
(Sahih Muslim:1/103, Sunan Nasai:39/51, Tirmidhi:27/32, Nawawi:7 )

Nailul has made me cry so many times! I think that he is among the top three people who have made me cry the most. But unlike other people I am actually thankful to him for making me cry. He has put the fear of Allah in my heart.

I was always happy to find Nailul in the Masjid. His presence there always made me smile that yeah! this is where you belong Nailul! Whenever I could not go to the Masjid, I was satisfied with the thought that he would be there and he would take care of everything. But now that he is not here, I fear for myself even more.

To those people who make fun of Nailul for the things he says and his lifestyle, I would just say that I fear for you, I pray for you and I give you these verses:
Then at this statement do you wonder? And you laugh at it and do not cry. And you are engaged in your useless games. So prostrate to Allah and worship him. (Quran 53:59-61)

This article has become quite long already but I wanna keep writing about Nailul. I wish that I could write a book about him. He is very special to me. I think that he is special to Allah as well and Allah has sent him to the Earth for a special purpose. I hope that one day, many books will be written about Nailul in.sha.Allah.

Now a few trips down memory lane.

And lastly, remember Nailul! when yesterday (29th September 2018) during your house cleaning, you were about to throw away Maryam’s sketch book and I told you not to do that because she is your daughter and one day she would like to know what she used to do during her childhood in Japan. That these are her precious memories and few years later, you would like to relive them as well. You agreed with the logic of this argument and decided to take the sketch book with you to Indonesia. Then a few hours later, you gave me your notes for your khutbahs and asked me to dispose them off. Did you really think that after saving you from destroying your memories of Maryam’s childhood, I was going to destroy our memories of your khutbahs??

With a very heavy heart, I bid farewell to my teacher, my Imam, my Sheikh, my brother and my best friend Nailul Hasan.

Congratulations on the completion of your PhD. May Allah give you the best in this world and the next. May Allah keep you, Intan, Maryam and the rest of your family always happy and blessed. I have learnt so much from you in these four years. You will always be in my prayers in.sha.Allah.

Sendai will never be the same without you and Sendai Masjid will never have an Imam like you. Hopefully this is not a permanent good bye. In.sha.Allah we will get to see each other again very soon.

I love you so much for the sake of Allah. And I pray that may Allah make us neighbors in the paradise.
Ameen

P.S. I am really sorry that despite all your efforts, I am still single 😁🤣

Khawaja Fahad Iqbal

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I Love You For the Sake of Allah