What Does ‘All for Allah’ Truly Mean?

“What Does ‘All for Allah’ Truly Mean?”

 

By now, everyone probably knows that the “A” in the ABCs (and now D and E) of MKA stands for “All for Allah.”  But what do we mean when we say, “All is for Allah?”  Does it mean that we carry out the good works of MKA for rewards in this life, like provisions, forgiveness, health or happiness?  Or does “All for Allah” mean that we do what we do for the blessings of the next world, in the hereafter?  To avoid hell and be admitted into heaven, where pure food, drink and companions await us, seated upon couches in gardens under which rivers flow?

 

Or is it something else entirely?  Something more?

 

Explaining what we in MKA label “All for Allah,” the Promised Messiah (as) once said:

 

“If a true Muslim is told that he will receive nothing in return for his good deeds, that there is no heaven and no hell, and no comfort and no delight, he would still not give up his righteous deeds and his love for the Divine.  This is because all his worship, his relationship with God Almighty and his obedience to Him and his losing himself in submission to Him is not because he expects any reward or punishment.  He regards his own being as something which has been created solely for the recognition of God Almighty, and for His love and obedience, and for no other purpose whatsoever” (Malfuzat, v. 3, pp. 182-183).

 

 

When we do everything for Allah’s sake alone, we quickly learn that we also need Him (and only Him) for everything.  Showing how this concept, what we might term, “All from Allah,” is inextricably linked to “All for Allah,” Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (rm) writes:

 

“Our Master Prophet Muhammad (sa) says, ‘My state of utter need, my poverty, is my pride.’  The utter need and love of Allah is the basis for the dervish’s search [for Him].  The state of poverty which is the pride of our Master is not the poverty of the lack of the worldly.  It is the abandonment of everything but the wish for the Essence of Allah.  It is to leave all the goods—not only those of this world, but those promised in the hereafter—and thus in total need to present oneself to one’s Lord” (Sirr Al-Israr, Tr. Al-Halveti, p.67).

 

If you approach your work as a Khadim – be it Waqar-e-Amal or Khidmat-e-Khalq or indeed anything and everything in life – with the mindset, “Oh my Lord Who Guides, I wish only to earn Your pleasure, but neither do I know not how best to achieve this aim, nor do I possess the means to achieve it, so guide me according to Your pleasure, and fulfill my needs, Oh You Who are the Best of Providers,” then He will surely guide and provide for you, inshallah.  Verily, by casting aside the rewards of this and the next world, we leave ourselves with only Allah Himself as our motivation – and indeed our reward – for life’s journey.  On that note, the Promised Messiah (as) gives us glad tidings, that, “When a true Muslim employs his faculties to achieve this purpose, he beholds the countenance of his True Beloved.”  And that is the meaning of "All for Allah."  May Allah Himself enable us to arrive at this level of nearness to Him.  Ameen.