Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm:

وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُورًا فَمَا لَهُ مِن نُّورٍ

(Qur’ān 24:40). ‘Wa Man Lam Yaj`ali Allāhu Lahu Nūrān Famā Lahu Min Nūr’, ‘And he to whom Allah has not granted light - for him there is no light.’ Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is the One who gives light. Whom does He give it to? He gives it to whomever He wants. And those He wants are His beloved ones. Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla enlightens. When people look, there is a beautiful light on people’s faces.

People who don’t have Iman/faith and who don’t believe in Allah ﷻ have darkness on their faces. No matter how beautiful they look, that beauty has nothing to do with light. A man can be black, and if he has Iman, he has light on his face. Even when a person is completely white, if he has no Iman, he has darkness on his face. This light is the light of Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ gives it to the loved ones who believe in Him. It cannot come with money. It comes through sincerity.

There are some Muslims who are just Muslims. They don’t have Iman, they have only Islam. Iman is different from Islam. Everyone who takes Shahadah is Muslim. And a person with Iman is the one who respects and loves our Holy Prophet ﷺ, who loves the Awliya’, makes Dhikr and follows the Murshid. They are Mu’mins/believers. The rest don’t have Iman.

Are we saying this? No, Allah ‘Azza wa-Jalla is saying this. ‘قُل لَّمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَٰكِن قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا’, ‘Qul Lam Tu’uminū Wa Lakin Qūlū ‘Aslamnā’, ‘Say: “You believe not but you say, “We Submit”.’ (Qur’ān 49:14). Islam is not only to become Muslim. It is said to them “Don’t say you became Mu’min”. Iman has not entered their hearts yet. When Iman enters the heart, light comes out. As long as Iman doesn’t enter the heart, they can learn the whole Qur’an and Hadith by heart, no light will come from them. It is because Iman hasn’t entered their hearts. Someone who doesn’t know anything except Al-Fatihah and Qul Huwa Llah [Al-Falaq] and who has Iman in his heart has the light of Iman. Others don’t have the light of Iman.

It is a great favor of Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ gives it to whomever He ﷻ wants. And the way that takes to Allah ﷻ is to follow our Holy Prophet ﷺ, to love him, to love the Awliya’ and the Sahabah, to love the Mu’mins. Allah ﷻ has given this. Everyone can do it. But people are cheated. Muslims say, “If you do so, you will become Mushrik. If you do so, you will become Kafir” and want to prevent this light. As Kafirs already don’t believe in anything, they don’t care about light and darkness. They don’t know about it yet. They think that it is a normal thing, whereas it is not normal. Darkness causes all kinds of troubles to people. May Allah ﷻ protect us. May Allah ﷻ increase our light insha’Allah. Wa min Allah at-Tawfiq. Al-Fatiha.

Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Adil ق