“Indeed, you cannot guide those whom you love, but Allaah guides whomever He wills…”

Allaah Ta`aalaa guides only those who want to be guided:

In Majaalis-e-Hakeemul Ummat, Hadhrat Thanvi رحمة الله عليه has mentioned something interesting under the Tafseer of one Aayah. He says:

“As long as a person doesn’t intend his own islaah, no mu`allim or murshid’s ta`leem and tarbiyat will be of any benefit to him, and generally, nobody’s Du`aa will have any effect on him either. Look: who could be a greater Mu`allim and Murshid than Rasoolullaah صلى الله عليه وسلم, and whose Du`aas were more accepted than his? Yet, even though his uncle, Abu Taalib, had trust in and was a lover of Rasoolullaah صلى الله عليه وسلم, and Rasoolullaah صلى الله عليه وسلم ardently wanted him to accept Imaan and made efforts in that regard until the end, but despite all of that, (Abu Taalib) did not intend it, so no method (of Da`wah, etc.) was successful.

Under the Tafseer of the Aayah:

إنك لا تهدي من أحببت ولكن الله يهدي من يشاء…

{“Indeed, you cannot guide those whom you love, but Allaah guides whomever He wills…”}

The pronoun in يشاء (He wills) refers to Allaah Ta`aalaa, but another possibility is that the pronoun can refer back to من (whomever), which would make the meaning: “Allaah guides only that person who wants to be guided and is desirous of it.”

[Majaalis-e-Hakeemul Ummat, p.305]

This is a very important point. When a person understands this, he will not become despondent if his Da`wah, Amr bil-Ma`roof Nahyi `anil Munkar, etc., is rejected by people and does not have the effect in bringing about islaah that he wants it to have. No da`wah, nahyi, ta`leem, tarbiyat, suhbat, etc., will bring about islaah in a person who himself doesn’t want islaah. That’s why Nabi Nooh عليه السلام gave Da`wah continuously, tirelessly, for 950 years, every single day, day and night, in public and in private, and yet only about 80 people accepted Islaam in that entire period of almost a thousand years. Those people didn’t want Hidaayah. They simply mocked and jeered.

Allaah Ta`aalaa guides only those who want to be guided, and islaah only comes about in such people who want islaah.

A Muslim’s duty is only to convey the Message (of Islaam), to proclaim the Haqq, to do the Amr bil-Ma`roof and Nahyi `anil Munkar. Results are only from Allaah Ta`aalaa. Our focus mustn’t be on results. Our focus must be on discharging our duty to the best of our ability. Make Du`aa for good results from it, but understand that it is entirely up to Allaah Ta`aalaa, and that if people themselves don’t want hidaayah or islaah, it won’t be granted to them no matter how much anybody else wants it.

May Allaah Ta`aalaa guide and grant islaah to us, first and foremost

آمين