The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Continued from the previous post “Perception Part 6a: The Heart’s Response”

Who is the Owner of Hearts?

Another perspective to the question of the heart’s response is that in both cases of the negative and positive response, it is not necessarily the person responding but their heart. The person is the heart, the heart is the person. His heart represents who he really is. How he responds to any given situation depends entirely on the heart given to him. So thus by witnessing ones heart’s response to tribulations, a person’s truest character is being brought out before him. However, this does not mean that a person seeks a defence of his negative response by claiming that he had no choice but to respond in the way he did. However, if we understand that the heart’s true nature is hidden and only brought forth through the medium of tests, then the purpose of tests is understood as a means by which one is purged of weakness of heart through being able to witness the content of one’s character through the heart’s response to tests. If he responds negatively then it is a blessing so that he may correct his faults while he has the opportunity to do so.

However those that respond positively also have to face a secondary test that of avoiding exulting in their response by being proud in themselves for their response. If it is understood that ones response is based on the heart given to him by Allah then his response was indicative of the blessing of possessing such a heart and not necessarily because of any great effort on his part. And although he may well have consciously striven to ensure he only responded positively, one cannot remove from that response the possibility that his positive response was primarily because of the heart given to him in the first place. When Ayesha, radia’anha, asked the prophet, sall’Allahhu alayhi wasallam, why he stood for such long hours in the night prayer given that he had already been granted paradise? The response of the prophet was to say, “Should I not be a grateful servant?” This is an indication that all good is attributed to Allah and that we are the mere recipients of His countless blessings, blessings which do not necessarily directly correspond to whatever good we may consciously strive for. So even in our good, what we ought to take credit for is considerably less than what we deserve.

If we consider it true that a proof that tests are primarily intended to purge the heart of negativity, weakness and disbelief to varying degrees depending on the individual, then some may be moved to question the proof offered for this principle. Namely that the response of the prophet was only natural, for he was after all, the prophet of God and the best of all creation, so how could he react any other way. This is actually the very point being made. For, because he was the prophet he had been given the purest of all hearts, a heart only able to respond with gratitude, kindness, forgiveness and mercy, towards even those that sought to harm him. Countless examples exist of him forgiving those that had at one time gone to great lengths to harm him, and yet when they eventually they recognised his prophethood and inclined towards him, he forgave them. His response was based on the heart he had been given by Allah. This heart’s response was also coupled with an understanding of the wisdom behind the test, so that both the intellect and heart combined to respond in the best manner. The combination was a perfect balance between the use of reason, intellect and the spiritual response of a pure heart overflowing with compassion.

Again to this some may pose a similar reply from a different perspective by saying that he responded thus because he was the messenger of Allah. This argument is posed as a means of avoiding tackling ones faults. However to employ such an argument would be to seek to reject the Quran and Sunnah. By stating only the messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, could respond in such a high manner would be to say that following the Quran and Sunnah are impossible. Thus whenever a difficult question arises he invokes this reason instead of striving for nothing short of the highest standards if conduct as enjoined by the Quran and Sunnah, rather than as an avoidance of responsibility.

Summary

Thus tests are the perfect truth serum of the heart, for they draw out what is contained in the heart, some of which may be known but much of which is hidden. One of the most unsubstantiated claims to make with Allah is in claiming purity for oneself, as Allah says in the Quran:

“Those who avoid enormities of sin and abominations, save the unwilled offences – (for them) lo! thy Lord is of vast mercy. He is Best Aware of you (from the time) when He created you from the earth, and when ye were hidden in the bellies of your mothers. Therefore ascribe not purity unto yourselves. He is Best Aware of him who wardeth off (evil)”. (Quran, at-Tur, 53:32)

Allah is reminding us not to claim purity for ourselves for we do not truly know what is contained in our hearts. The best position is to suspect oneself and ones intentions by being honest with Allah about ones faults and complete dependency on Him. As He states:

“Say: “Whether ye hide what is in your hearts or reveal it, Allah knows it all: He knows what is in the heavens, and what is on earth. And Allah has power over all things”. (Quran, Al-e-Imran, 3:29)

Thus if we understand tests as a necessary means of purging the heart of negativity and also as a means of viewing its composition we are placed in the fortunate position of being able to alter ones response through correctly ones faults. Similarly, those that have responded positively to tests have greater grounds for showing gratitude because firstly they were tested which demonstrates God’s love for them, they responded positively which is a sign of their sound heart, and also a sign of the heart granted to them. To witness this ought to generate gratitude and the generation of gratitude is in turn a sign of being brought to the doors of gratitude before Allah, which is another great blessing.

The Messenger of Allah, sall’Allahu Alayhi wasallam

Thus if we want to judge our true states we ought to examine carefully how we have reacted to difficulties and tragedies and the degree to which either negative or positive feelings have resulted in the heart. In either case one ought to be moved to be grateful to Allah for the test. A person would show considerable gratitude to ones doctor for saving his life if that resulted from having his infected limb severed by the doctor. The patient does not consider the loss of the limb as a cause for grief but a cause or joy for through this mercy his life was saved. In the same way if we take to heart the view that God is all good, and all goodness is attributed to Him as the Originator and Creator of Goodness, then we think nothing short of Allah than our Lord and Creator who is helping us at every instance, through both prosperity and adversity alike. The servant that understands this is the servant that beings to become the beloved of Allah. We are thus reminded of the most beautiful prayer of the prophet, sall’Allahu alayhi wasallam, at Ta’if when he prayed so beautifully and showed us his true heart’s response in his unbounded love, gratitude and humility to Allah.

“O Allah! I complain to You of my weakness, my scarcity of resources and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people. O Most Merciful of those who are merciful. O Lord of the weak and my Lord too. To whom have you entrusted me? To a distant person who receives me with hostility? Or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair? So long as You are not angry with me, I do not care. Your favour is of a more expansive relief to me. I seek refuge in the light of Your Face by which all darkness is dispelled and every affair of this world and the next is set right, lest Your anger or Your displeasure descends upon me. I desire Your pleasure and satisfaction until You are pleased. There is no power and no might except by You”.

If the Messenger of Allah (s) responded in such a beautiful and humble manner given his exulted position then how are we to respond?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Introduction

Insha’Allah we continue this series of discussions regarding perception, with a slight but not radical alteration in our course, this time assessing the heart and its response to the trials and tribulations set for it by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. I wrote this article last March, largely for the need to tackle two main problems that arise when we face difficulties and tests in our lives. One is that if we can understand the purpose of tests, and have a deeper understanding of how the heart is caused to react when tested, we will be in a better position to understand ourselves and hence deal with our situation. Read the rest of this entry »

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Painful were the experiences of the heart when it lost Allah”
The heart, what can be said of it. There are some that are closed to experience because the pain is too great for it to bear. There are some so open that they become overwhelmed with pain of existence. There are others attracted to good hearts. And there are others attracted to bad ones. There are some that exude goodness and others that exude darkness. It is neither for us to open our hearts to such an extent that we cannot bear emotions rising and falling like tides. And nor is it for us to close our hearts so that we do not feel. Ours is to recognise the beauty of the heart created for each and every soul by Allah. Hearts that love and forgive. Hearts that show compassion and give a helping hand. All these emerge from the heart beyond the comprehension of the mind. But when the heart begins to awaken to the possibilities of the world, to the possibilities of how much good it is capable of, it dives in without a care. We live inside our hearts and whatever they contain is what we see through our eyes. What we feel and understand is a translation of who we are and who we are, are our precious hearts. Ours is to understand this most precious of our gifts from Allah, learn to use them as they should so that we may learn to unlock their immense potential. We must remember not to allow our hearts to dive into the world and to pursue its meaningless treasures. The only treasure to seek is the translation of the stories written in our hearts, to unravel the meaning of who we are so that we may understand one beautiful wisdom that, “There is no victory without Allah”.

Joyful were the experiences of the heart when it found Allah”
The joy of hearts that learn love is found only with Allah. And pain for those contained in their love for things created. When we do not acquire what we seek of life we do not realise, the pain is not the failure to acquire but the pain of the heart in not gaining closeness to Allah. Each time we call upon the heart to guide us, the heart seeks its Lord, and each time we gain other than Allah the heart weeps. Not for what has been gained but what has been lost, the opportunity to find its Lord again. Everything besides Allah is dunya, it is all dunya and must all one day end, but the Face of our Lord must endure. This is what the early Muslims understood and that is why, no matter what, they stood proud and proclaimed, “There is no god but God”. There literally is ‘no god but God’. That God will not be found in things, and not even in the best of dreams. He is none of those things. Those things, even if they are noble dreams, are still His creations and will perish. Hence if we pursue those things for themselves then we are not seeking God. There is a subtle yet vast difference between the idea of seeking Allah through His creation and seeking Him. The same idea may be applied to Muslim Lands where there are many people fighting for soil whist thinking they are fighting for Allah. Consequently it is a fight that will always result in defeat because the land already belongs to Allah, yet those hearts do not. The challenge is not to fight for what we already possess, but for what we do not, free hearts. Hearts free from occupation so that those hearts are free to worship Allah alone. It is Allah that we should be fighting for, but instead we find ourselves fighting for His creation. Locked in the grip of this unholy alliance, unless we break free our life is nothing more than wonderings of what could have been, what should have been. Defeat is contained in being unable to separate Allah from His creation. Victory is contained in being able to see Allah alone, free from His creation. And in that we find – it is better to have defeat with Allah than victory without Allah - There is no victory without Allah.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Introduction

The Messenger of Allah said, “Pursue knowledge even to China, for its pursuance is the sacred duty of every Muslim.” Ibn Abdal-Barr

It is said that it is only during times of crisis we really see the true natures of people. At times when people are challenged with the truth, a truth that they may not wish to see, we often see the true natures of people. During these times what had previously remained hidden, we see, become manifest. For example the tribe of the Prophet Muhammad (s) referred to him as Al-Amin, or the trustworthy because of the nature of his character. People came to know him as someone that never lied, stole or cheated anyone in anyway. He was always fair, consistent, truthful with everyone and everyone knew that he was a man of his word. They trusted him so implicitly that when one day he summoned them all to a gathering, he stood atop a small hill and said, “If I were to say to you that there was an enemy approaching from the other side would you believe me”? They all said in unison, “Yes of course we would, you are Al-Amin”. It was at that moment he announced to the people of his clan that he was the prophet and messenger of God chosen by Him to be the last of the prophets – most disbelieved him except a few who were aware of the signs of an imminent prophet and knew that he met all the criteria that had been prophesised. However, it is understandable that it would have required much more faith, courage and conviction to go from believing implicitly that a person was trustworthy to them believing he was a prophet – they needed time and there was no one more patient and understanding with people than the Prophet (s).

The purpose of this article  is not about how the Prophet (s) eventually won over and united the clans of Arabia under the banner of Islam through his vast character, but rather about how truth impacts people in different ways, how the same truth can illicit entirely different responses from different people. In other words the truth has the power  of drawing out of the heart the true natures of people – either they incline towards it or they reject it. This is an act of great mercy from Allah because it is better to have withdrawn from ones heart all of ones good and bad deeds, to be rewarded for our good actions and rewarded for acting to remove our bad traits, than to stand before Allah on the final day with a heart full of disease.

The Messenger of Allah said, “God does not regard your externals or your riches but rather your hearts and your deeds.” Muslim

Strength of Heart

“Whoever covets knowledge that was barred from him, discontented with the limits of his understanding, shall be veiled from pure unity, unadulterated comprehension, and sound faith on account of his covetousness. He will then vacillate between belief and disbelief, assertion and negation, and resolution and denial. Obsessive, aimless, sceptical, and deviant, he is neither an assertive believer nor a resolute disbeliever.” (The Creed of Imam Al-Tahawi, No.43., translation by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, 2007)

What this demonstrates is the inherent arbitrariness of human beings who will absolutely stand by one principle one day but will abandon it the next because accepting a truth is a bridge too far for them. In other words, the point of no return, their saturation point, their ability to accept a certain version of events, a certain narrative that is not consistent with the view they would prefer to hold. But how is this related to the purpose of seeking knowledge? When we referred to a crisis we were in particular referring to two types of crisis; (i) self-crisis and (ii) crisis of belief. Both are related but we can also understand both of them from different perspectives. What both have in common is that they initiate a response from people, in particular crisis tends to draw out our true natures, or specifically latent characteristics contained in the heart. For example, a person may not consider himself to be courageous but when faced with some difficult situation finds that he possesses more courage than he thought. Conversely, a person that thought he was courageous, when faced with a similar situation, did not have the heart to deal with it as he should. There are many other examples that relate to almost every other human characteristic. In other words what I am seeking to demonstrate here is that there are always at least two aspects to us at any given time; (i) the self we know through our manifest attributes, and (ii) the self we have yet to discover through our hidden attributes. One of these attributes is the extent to which we are able to withstand the truth. Or in other words, the capacity of our heart, its strength as a vessel, to be able to hold the truth. The stronger the heart the greater its capacity to hold the truth, and holding the truth relates to courage. In other words ones capacity for the truth is entirely dependent on the courage a person possesses. The word courage in old English is derived from ‘Cor’, the inner-most, or pith of something. In other words, its heart. Courage comes from the core, from the heart. In essence courage was the very thing that defined man, the very thing that made him different from the ordinary. Similarly the Arabic word for heart, which is Lubb, was derived from an ancient Sanskrit word which meant something that leapt which was not only a reference to the ‘beating heart’ but also referred to a ‘leap of faith’ which could only be achieved with courage. Hence what we are presenting is the idea that when we refer to heart, in its greater part, it refers to courage, and when we refer to the truth and knowledge – our ability to withstand the truth is entirely a function of the courage we possess.

Why do we learn?

The Messenger of Allah said, “The best charity a Muslim practices is acquiring some knowledge and teaching it to his brother.”Ibn Majah

The Messenger of Allah said, “To acquire some useful knowledge is of greater merit than to perform a hundred devotional prayers voluntarily”. Ibn Majah

Let us now take the ideas we have presented thus far to the premise of this article which is, “what is the purpose of seeking sacred knowledge?” Something that we have mentioned previously is the idea that whilst knowledge to an extent may be acquired through books, understanding is entirely granted by Allah. Thus it is entirely possible to possess knowledge without understanding, and understanding without knowledge. As any student of sacred knowledge will be able to tell us, the purpose of seeking knowledge is the continuation of the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (s), in transferring guidance, knowledge and learning of the prophetic tradition and sacred law to people – in order to facilitate their journey through life in order to achieve success in this life and the next through learning about our roles, responsibilities and obligations. In short how we can be the best human beings possible – knowledge that only the Qur’an and Sunnah can truly provide – but fragments of which exist in many other traditions and may be found in many peoples and cultures by the Mercy of Allah. But it is only in Islam that it exists entirely intact and in the same complete and pristine form in which it was delivered by the Prophet (s). However, understanding that knowledge is not easy and requires many years of dedication, devotion and complete commitment. Furthermore, unlike other forms of knowledge such as medicine or law, which do not have to be practiced continually, sacred knowledge requires a continuous and consistent application from morning, evening and night, each and every day.

Sincerity and humility are the cornerstones of knowledge

The Messenger of Allah said, “Practice humility until no one oppresses or belittles another”. Muslim

Our commitment to learning demonstrates sincerity to God Who rewards the sincere seeker of knowledge with understanding and insights. In other words the key attribute that sincerity demonstrates is humility, which is continual practice without reward but with its hope. By working consistently towards something without sign of immediate reward and perhaps without sign of reward in our lifetime demonstrates our humility to Allah that we cannot gain knowledge from any tangible means except by His will and permission. By showing Allah our humility it is that humility that He rewards and not necessarily the knowledge we have gained through our studies. The greatest proof of this is the fact that Allah chose Jibrael (as) through which to teach the Prophet (s) the Qur’an. Allah could have taught the Prophet (s) directly so why did he choose Jibrael (as) even when the Prophet (s) was better than Jibrael (as)? The answer is humility. The process was intended to teach us humility, that to gain knowledge requires a teacher, without whom knowledge can neither be known or understood. That, knowledge is but a small portion of what a teacher really teaches, at the heart of what he is teaching is humility. Hence if to learn requires humility then consider the degree of humility required to possess sacred knowledge? Sincerity and humility purify the heart and prepare it for sacred knowledge.

The Messenger of Allah said, “The servants God loves the most are those most sincere with God’s servants.” Imam Ahmad

Once we have understood that humility is the entire purpose of seeking knowledge then it entirely changes the way we approach knowledge and how we use it in our daily lives and with our interactions with people. Knowing less and being humble is better than knowing more and being arrogant. But knowing more and being humble is the best of stations and one that we as Muslims should all be striving towards. So knowing that humility is the purpose of seeking knowledge coupled with the understanding that it is our scholars are our teachers, who are the trustees of prophetic guidance, where then does that bring us? It brings us to the key point in this thesis which is that the purpose of seeking knowledge is not so that we can pick up the Qur’an and Sunnah and seek our own interpretations by going to the primary sources ourselves, but instead the purpose of seeking knowledge is so that we possess the requisite humility and knowledge to be able to understand the knowledge of our scholars and follow their understanding. That is it!

But unfortunately there are many Muslims that are eroding the meaning of Islam through seeking to interpret the Qur’an and Sunnah through their limited knowledge which they then promulgate as validated opinion. In doing so, such people seek to bypass a process that God Himself decreed which was the separation of access to sacred knowledge by various stages according to ones sincerity and humility and according to what knowledge has been written from them by Allah.

The Veiling of Sacred Knowledge and the Stages of Illumination

The Messenger of Allah said, “Honour scholars, as they are the inheritors of the prophets. Anyone who honours them has honoured God and His Messenger.” Al-Khatib

In other words, through consistency of practice and seeking to gain knowledge, we demonstrate to God our sincerity and humility. This humility is rewarded by Allah through greater understanding, insight and perhaps some wisdom. This insight enables us to see beyond what we would ordinarily see. We are able to see the spirit of Islam, its meaning and where its orthodoxy lies. Without being able to see where its orthodoxy lies and what it looks like – one will be in the dark, seeking a door to exit a vast room. But by the light of humility our way is illuminated, we see who the true carriers of sacred knowledge are and are attracted to them. We seek their words and sit at their feet. Even at this stage we have not even begun to get into the depths of sacred knowledge, we have barely skimmed the surface. Just to get this far may have taken several years which is one way in which Allah is both testing us, and showing us the value of sacred knowledge – it cannot simply be read about in a book and nor can it be acquired in a short space of time. It is only through spending several years as a student to the master that the master knows to what extent the student can be given sacred knowledge. Everything we had learnt prior to meeting our teacher was simply for the preparation of his company, was simply to acquire the level of humility and adab required to gain knowledge from a teacher who had devoted his entire life to learning knowledge. Hence in this we find a sign that Allah will not disgrace a teacher by sending him students that will disrespect him. That it is better such a teacher possess only a handful of noble students than an abundance of insincere students – Islam does not promote quantity over quality which is how sacred knowledge has been preserved through our scholars.

Hence we conclude this thesis by saying that in order to preserve this great tradition of Islam requires us to understand the value of sacred law, the respect it must be accorded, the years of devotion and seriousness it requires – and above all else to remember that its entire purpose is so that we may learn humility and with that humility sit at the feet of those that sat at the feet of those that sat at the feet of the Noble Messenger himself (s). The best of students were the Companions of the Prophet (s) and when the Prophet (s) spoke it is said they sat so still as though there were birds perched on their heads. This was the respect the companions accorded the Prophet (s) and this is the same respect we should accord to those that have worked tirelessly to preserve the words of the Prophet (s) – our noble and venerated scholars.

وَجَاهِدُوا فِي اللَّهِ حَقَّ جِهَادِهِ هُوَ اجْتَبَاكُمْ وَمَا جَعَلَ عَلَيْكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ مِنْ حَرَجٍ مِّلَّةَ أَبِيكُمْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ هُوَ سَمَّاكُمُ الْمُسْلِمينَ مِن قَبْلُ وَفِي هَذَا لِيَكُونَ الرَّسُولُ شَهِيدًا عَلَيْكُمْ وَتَكُونُوا شُهَدَاء عَلَى النَّاسِ فَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِاللَّهِ هُوَ مَوْلَاكُمْ فَنِعْمَ الْمَوْلَى وَنِعْمَ النَّصِيرُ

“And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; the faith of your father Abraham (is yours). It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer, give regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah! He is your Protector – the Best to protect and the Best to help”! (Qur’an, Al-Hajj 22:78)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Introduction

Continuing from our last post where we specifically made mention of one of the most important issues affecting Muslims in these times which is the lack of referring to Allah as the Originator of Power. All power belongs to Him and everything that happens in the heavens and the earth is by His will alone. The key point we were referring to is avoid the grave offense of ascribing partners to Allah by referring to events that may occur as a direct result of the actions of others. In other words we should not say that if we are afflicted with oppression that this is because of the actions of the oppressor but rather that it is from Allah and only through sincerely turning to Allah repenting, and seeking His forgiveness and guidance may that oppression or injustice end. Now, that is not to say that we do not hold to account those that may be acting unjustly but the point here is that by ascribing the act as a function of the power of Allah we are both testifying to the truth as well as looking at ourselves to understand what of our actions have contributed to the situation. In this post what I would like to cover in greater detail is one of the ideas I mentioned in the previous post which was the idea of seeking to avoid inadvertently working to erase the memory of Allah from the hearts and minds of the believers. This post tells us how to recognise when we are acting against ourselves and our fellow Muslims and how this may be avoided.

Reminding Ourselves and Others of Allah

Following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad (s), the best of believers have always been those that constantly remind others of God through their actions and intentions, through their knowledge and speech and through what they do and what they avoid. People are thus graded in Islam according to the degree to which they act for the common good of the people, whether believer or non-believer, but specifically for the good of his fellow believing brothers and sisters. Thus the best amongst us tend to be those are constant in reminding others of Allah. This specifically has several effects upon the individual:

(i) Fitra

Firstly, it has a direct bearing on the Ruh, whose inclination is towards the remembrance of its Lord. The fitra or innate nature of all human beings is to remember Allah, to be selfless and to do good through helping other people. Hence when we remind people of God it is a message that the eyes see, the ears hear, the message enters the mind and the heart and all bear witness to what they all once heard and saw when their Lord brought forth the whole of humanity in front of Him and asked, “I am I not your Lord”?

مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ

“When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): “Am I not your Lord (who cherishes and sustains you)?”- They said: “Yea! We do testify!” (This), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: “Of this we were never mindful” (Qur’an, Al-Araf 7:172)

Hence whether believer or not through the simple act of reminding people of God of speaking about God when referring to other matters we are appealing to the innate nature of human beings as created by Allah that of His knowledge and remembrance. With reference to non-Muslims we must remember the actions of the Prophet Muhammad (s) and the fact that every Muslim, before he became a Muslim was a non-Muslim. There were no Muslims at the time of the Prophet (s), his message in its entirety went to disbelievers and often to those of extreme actions and beliefs. But it was only by his constancy and not judging who may be recieving the message that so many people entered the faith. Hence our role is simply to remind people of goodness and hopefully through that process awaken the goodness in them. For those already aware of and believe in goodness, through reminders of God, are being invited to identify with God, and those that identify with God are being invited to the ranks of the believers.

(ii) Taqwa: Continual Worship

As believers we are all at various states and stages in our remembrance of Allah. During the day our remembrance fluctuates, usually at its highest during periods of worship and perhaps weakest when we are occupied by work or play. That is why as believers we seek as much as possible to converge all our actions into one state, that of a continuous form of worship through remembering Allah during all actions. Hence it may be that we’re cooking a nice meal, we will begin by being in a state of wudu. When we’re cutting the meat or vegetables we should say bismillah in order to affirm that it is not the knife that cuts but the properties given to it by Allah. When we put the food in the pan to cook we should do so with the right hand and also say bismillah. And throughout the cooking process we are showing our gratitude to Allah for providing us with so many ingredients with which to flavour our food. Making continual dua and thanking Allah when cooking is one way in which we make this otherwise mundane act an act of deep ibadah in which our food becomes full of flavour and barakah. Conversely, if we rushed our cooking and forgot the One that provided our ingredients and enabled us to cook them together to produce a filling meal, then we have forgone an opportunity to thank Allah for an immense blessing. This is one example but in all good deeds and actions, no matter how small we can remember Allah because every good action we take part in contains the signs of Allah.

It is for this reason that Taqwa is the highest form of worship of the greatest reward because it entails a continuous remembrance of Allah in all our actions. The prophet (s) once said, “I do not sleep except that my eyes are closed, my heart is awake and in the presence of its Lord”. In other words the Prophet (s) had the station and state of heart and mind where He was constantly aware of his Lord even when he slept. Following the same principle, as believers, the more we get into the practice of remembering Allah in all acts great and small the easier it becomes to acquire a state of heart and mind where we find it easy to remember Allah.

(iii) The Benefits of His Remembrance

فِيالْأَرْضِ وَابْتَغُوا مِن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ وَاذْكُرُوا اللَّهَ كَثِيراًلَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ

“And when the Prayer is finished, then may ye disperse through the land, and seek of the Bounty of Allah: and celebrate the Praises of Allah often (and without stint): that ye may prosper”.(Qur’an, Al-Jumu’ah 62:10)

However, acquiring this state of remembering Allah is not simply something we do, of no other benefit, other than the reward of His remembrance. The entire reason why it is enjoined is because when one is in a state of worship, their heart and mind with its Lord, it is very difficult for that person to become perturbed as a result of difficulties. When all around people are losing their heads we keep ours  because we acquire forbearance (hilm), which is one of the results of continual mediation on the existence of Allah. Given that this earth is the arena of tests, trials and tribulations as commanded by Allah, it stands to reason that the better prepared we are for those tests the more likely we are to be successful in them. And the greatest route to success in those tests is to acquire a state of heart and mind that does not become perturbed as a result of difficulties. Constantly keeping Allah to mind is the best way of ensuring success when, and not if, those difficulties arise.

(iv) Fear Allah and avoid those that do not fear Him

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

“O ye who believe! Fear Allah, and let every soul look to what (provision) He has sent forth for the morrow. Yea, fear Allah: for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget their own souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors!” (Qur’an, al-Hashr 59:18-19)

We said in our previous post:

But they will never mention the name of Allah. And by not doing so their tongues not only belie what is in their hearts, but they are also actively working to erase the memory of Allah from the hearts and minds of their brothers and sisters. Such people, whether they do this wittingly or unwittingly, are still actively working against Islam and as such should either be educated or avoided.

This is a very important and serious point because it has a direct bearing on the success to which we have been referring as a result of our being tested. In this case we are being tested with both believers and non-believers alike because in both cases they are ascribing the power of action to other than Allah. How does this work? The believer that mentions the name of othan than Allah when referring to a global situation affecting Muslims is denying that Allah has any power in the situation. At the same time by not mentioning the name of Allah he is also working to remove the memory of Allah in the person. Conversely, imagine the person who continually reminds people of Allah, imagine then how firmly rooted the memory of Allah will be in those people. People who, whenever they are afflicted with tests remember Allah rather than war or politics.

Remembrance is also a sign of a fear of Allah, and hence those that continually remember Allah, He subhanhu wa ta’ala has placed in them a sign of His fear. Hence instead of referring to other than Allah they remember Allah during all times and all seasons, during times of war and peace alike. Compare this to a person that does not fear to mention the name of other than Allah. Which one has a greater fear of Allah? Which one has greater right to be listened to?

As we also previously mentioned there may be good believers that may be inadvertently forgetting to remember Allah and seeking to describe a situation through describing the effects of the instruments of Allah. There are three key points here. Firstly remembering Allah takes time and practice and hence we need to be patient with people and give them gentle reminders to ascribe all power to Allah. Secondly, they may not be acting intentionally and hence should be forgiven, their faults overlooked, as the Prophet (s) said, “Veiling the faults of the faithful is akin to restoring life to the dead.” (At-Tabarani).

Thirdly, given that the first two points are true we still need to be vigilant of the potentially detrimental actions of others. If a person does not ascribe all power to Allah and if a person, to whatever degree, remembers politics and other people much more than Allah then he is ineffect working to remove the memory of Allah from the minds of the faithful. Knowing the intention of the person in this case in not important because his actions still have the effect of forgetting or denying Allah when in actual fact the name of Allah should be mentioned and His aid sought. But in either case we should be forgiving and gentle when dealing with those that may inadvertently err because that is what we too would want should we also err, which we all inevitably do. The best of our actions are when we are calling others to the remembrance of Allah and not to war or politics. When we remind others of Allah. When we follow the example of our Prophet (s) without whom we would not be believers at all.

وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا مُوسَى بِآيَاتِنَا أَنْ أَخْرِجْ قَوْمَكَ مِنَ الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى النُّورِ وَذَكِّرْهُمْ بِأَيَّامِ اللّهِ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِّكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ

“We sent Moses with Our signs (and the command). “Bring out thy people from the depths of darkness into light, and teach them to remember the Days of Allah.” Verily in this there are Signs for such as are firmly patient and constant,- grateful and appreciative”. (Qur’an, Ibrahim 14:05)