Where’s my life going

Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

---*This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. *--- In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon His honored messengers and messengers. Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family and his companions. And many, many peace and blessings. So, my brothers and sisters, one of the questions we need to ask ourselves from time to time and the more we ask, the better. And that is to say, how do I know in what direction my life is going? Am I getting tawfiq to do good deeds or not? Where is my life leading me to? Is it leading me to Jannah or to Jahannam? It's very important to ask this question because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us very clearly what happens in either case. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Suratul An'am in ayah number 125, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, فَمَنْ يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَنْ يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ وَمَنْ يُرِدْ أَنْ يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا كَأَنَّمَا يَسَعَدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ كَذَلِكَ يَجْعَلُ اللَّهُ الْرِجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, whoever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wills to guide, whoever... Please understand this, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not randomly decide to guide somebody or to leave somebody to be in their misguidance. The guidance that comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has to do with the desire of the person to be guided. There is no case of somebody who genuinely and sincerely wants guidance who did not get guidance because if that were the case, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would not have sent his ambiyya. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent his ambiyya and this is evidence for anyone who wants evidence to say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants only one thing for us and that is guidance. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala only wants us to go to jannah. Those who go to jahannam are going to jahannam despite every opportunity that they had to choose to go to jannah. They chose not to go to jannah, that is why they are not going to jannah. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala not to put us in that group of people. So Allah says, whoever Allah wills to guide, he wishes to guide, he opens their heart to Islam, meaning that for that person, Islam will become the most beloved thing. He will love Islam, he would love to spend time in the dhikr of Allah, he would love to study Islam, he would love to practice Islam. He wants to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in every possible way. So whoever Allah wishes to guide, he opens their hearts to Islam. Now again, he says, whoever he wills to leave astray, meaning it's not that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala randomly decides, okay this person I will not help him, no. That person did not choose to obey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That person deliberately chose the path of misguidance. So whoever chooses the path of misguidance and therefore Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala leaves them there, he makes their chest tight and constricted as if they were climbing up into the sky and that is how Allah dooms those who disbelieve. Now the thing to understand therefore here is that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if I think I am being guided, what is the criterion, what is the meter? Am I being guided towards Islam? Is Islam becoming dearer to me? Am I finding joy in the Tilawat of Quran? Am I finding joy in studying Islam, in listening to Islamic lectures, in studying of Islam, in practicing of Islam, in charity, in Hajj, in Umrah, in Salah? The biggest and best test is Salah. Have I started praying Tahajjud if I wasn't praying it, if I was praying it, am I praying it regularly and so on and so forth? What is the quality of my Salah? Is it becoming, am I getting closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or not? How much time am I spending with Allah, meaning in the Masjid, in Islamic activities, in studying and learning and reading and listening to the Qura...