Ten Principles For Those Seeking The Path Of Allah

Assalamu’alaikum

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Indeed all praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness, we seek refuge with Allah from our soul’s evil and our wrong doings, he whom Allah guides, no one can misguide, and he whom He misguides, no one can guide.

May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad the Messenger of Allah and his family and Companions and all who follow them in righteousness until the Day of Judgment.
I have carefully outlined 10 principle to help us in the quest for living on the path of Allah as follows.

Principle 1: Have sincere unwavering intention.  Prophet Muhammad Peace and Blessing be upon Him said, “each person will be rewarded for what he intended” (Muslim). This calls for determination in the heart to continuously act or to abstain from something only for Allah’s sake. A sign of having sincere intentions is that one does not change his resolve for fleeting reasons; what is done for Allah [The Truth and sincere Actions] should not be forsaken to please His creation.

Principle 2: Work purely for Allah, (the One) without partners or associates. Prophet Muhammad Peace and Blessing be upon Him said: “worship Allah as though you see Him, but if you do not see Him (know that) He sees you” (Muslim). A sign of working purely for Allah is to not accept anything except the truth, and to see everything else besides the truth as vain and fleeting. As the prophet Peace and Blessing be upon Him also said, “Let the slave of the dinar perish” (Bukhari). And also “Leave what is doubtful for what is not doubtful” (Tirmidhi and Nasa’i).

Principle 3: Align one’s desires with the guidelines and rulings of the Shariah (Islamic law). 

Principle 4: Be patient in times of hardship and difficulty, when struggling with personal desires, and in avoiding sinful acts and pleasures. Whoever practices this regularly reaches a state whereby

1.    he is in his sleep as if he were awake [worshiping]

2.    In his mixing with people as if he were in seclusion

3.    In his fulfillment as if he was hungry

4.    In his pride as if he were humiliated

5.    In talking to others as if he were silent

Principle 5: Base one’s actions on following the prophet’s way and scholarly opinions with authentic proofs from the Quran and Hadith, and not on innovations. This prevents the following of one’s own desires and becoming proud of one’s own opinion. Surely, a person who takes himself as his own ruler will not succeed.

Principe 6: Have high ambitions, and do not procrastinate. It is said: “do not leave today’s work until tomorrow,” because actions are built on each another; and whoever is content with a lower [status] will be deprived of a higher one.

Principle 7: Be aware of one’s incapability and insignificance. This is not referring to laziness in worship or lack of productivity in work. It is about realizing that one is not capable of doing any action without support from Allah, the Most Capable, and Most Generous. This awareness is also manifested in viewing other people with respect and reverence, for people are means and helpers of one another on the path to Allah, the Exalted and Most Bountiful. So be steadfast in seeking Allah’s guidance for all your action through constant Istikhara [Spiritual consultation]

Principle 8: Have fear and hope, and do not be sure that your good deeds are accepted until you have witnessed this [on the Day of Judgment]. One should have hope not because of the good deeds themselves, but because Allah Himself is the Most Benevolent,Generous and Merciful.

Principle 9: Be consistent in one’s wird (regular litany of worship), for the one without a wird does not have additional source of support from Allah.  With a wird,

1.    The soul opens up in public and private

2.    It becomes more mindful of the rights of others

3.    It increases in loving and hating for others what it loves or hates for itself

4.    It makes one work more for Allah in order to please Him, just as a person would love that Allah does for him what he finds pleasing.

Principle 10: Be constantly observant of your actions and do not stray away from the remembrance of Allah even the blink of an eye. For the one who is always observant of his heart for the sake of Allah, and does not let other than Allah enter his heart, is one who has truly guided by Allah, experienced His Benevolence, and has reached ‘ilm al-yaqeen (certain knowledge). This is manifested in seeing Allah as the Enabler or Mover of everything that remains still or in motion around us. One’s mindfulness then increases from there until he recognizes that Allah is the Sustainer of everything, so His interaction with the creation is characterized by the best of manners. (Exemplifying this), the Prophet peach be upon Him said: “My Lord taught me good manners, and He gave me the best of manners.”



Kindly note that any mistake in the contents of this article is due to my imperfection as a human being as only Allah Subhanahu Wa-Ta'ala is perfect in all affairs.
May Allah Forgive us our sins, guide us right from the evil of insincere intention, save us from misguided knowledge and grant the entire ummah benefit from this work AMIN.
Kindly feel free to make comments, contributions or corrections where necessary.
May Allah Bless us all, AMINFollow @islamcreedng