Take Care of Your Relationship with Allah
“Be mindful of Allah, He will be mindful of you...” This hadith reveals core truths about the nature of our relationship with Allah. If you take care of your relationship with Him, He will take care of you. Whatever you need or desire, in the end it can only come from Him. This is not to say that we can never ask people for help, but we should understand that ultimately Allah is the source of all help that comes our way. The companions used to ask Allah for help in everything, large or small, even in getting salt for their food.
We sometimes get bogged down with the side issues in our religion: with definitions, fiqh issues, and the differences between us, while forgetting the essence of our relationship with the Creator. The Prophet captured this essence for Ibn Abbas and for all Muslims, and taught us that as long as we turn to Allah, we will be all right. In order to understand we must try it; it is one thing to read about it, and another to actually experience finding Allah at your side in moments of hardship.
The Prophet told us a story of three men who were caught in a storm and sought shelter in a cave. No sooner had they entered the cave than a massive boulder fell and blocked the only exit. The three men called upon Allah to help them, testifying to deeds they had done solely for the sake of Allah, and as each one told the story of their deed, the boulder shifted and they were able to escape. One lesson of this story is that if we are mindful and obedient to Allah in times of ease and enablement, He will be at our side when we are desperate.
