وَٱضۡرِبۡ لَهُم مَّثَلَ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنزَلۡنَـٰهُمِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَٱخۡتَلَطَ بِهِۦ نَبَاتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَأَصۡبَحَهَشِيمً۬ا تَذۡرُوهُ ٱلرِّيَـٰحُۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬مُّقۡتَدِرًا ٱلۡمَالُ وَٱلۡبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَاۖوَٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ خَيۡرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابً۬اوَخَيۡرٌ أَمَلاً۬ وَيَوۡمَ نُسَيِّرُ ٱلۡجِبَالَ وَتَرَى ٱلۡأَرۡضَبَارِزَةً۬ وَحَشَرۡنَـٰهُمۡ فَلَمۡ نُغَادِرۡ مِنۡہُمۡ أَحَدً۬اوَعُرِضُواْ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ صَفًّ۬ا لَّقَدۡ جِئۡتُمُونَا كَمَاخَلَقۡنَـٰكُمۡ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةِۭۚ بَلۡ زَعَمۡتُمۡ أَلَّن نَّجۡعَلَ لَكُممَّوۡعِدً۬ا وَوُضِعَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبُ فَتَرَى ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَمُشۡفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَـٰوَيۡلَتَنَا مَالِهَـٰذَا ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةً۬ وَلَا كَبِيرَةًإِلَّآ أَحۡصَٮٰهَاۚ وَوَجَدُواْ مَا عَمِلُواْ حَاضِرً۬اۗوَلَا يَظۡلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدً۬ا
"Set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: it is like the rain which We send down from the skies: the earth's vegetation absorbs it, But soon it becomes dry stubble, which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah Who prevails over all things.
Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: but the things that endure, Good Deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes.
One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch, and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them.
And they will be marshalled before thy Lord in ranks (with the announcement), "Now have ye come to Us (bare) as We created you first: aye, ye thought We shall not fulfil the appointment made to you to meet (Us)!":
And the Book (of Deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say "Ah! woe to us! what a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!" They will find all that they did, placed before them: and not one will thy Lord treat with injustice."
(Qur'an: Kahfi: 18: 45-49)REFLECTIONOne of cornerstone of the tenets of Islam is the believe in 'Al-aakhirah' - life in the Hereafter. Yet, the inculcation of conviction to this Reality (Haqiqah) in our life, such that it truly sink in and serves as our touchstone in shaping our values, our perspective and our worldview - is sorely deficient (lacking) or even missing. There are significant difference between receiving mere information from attaining to knowledge; and having knowledge from that of attaining to conviction (yaqeen); and the various levels (degrees) of convictions ('ilm, 'ain & haqq : al-yaqeen). Not that we lack the opportunity to be educated or be guided towards attaining conviction, rather it is the gross lack of attentiveness on our part, not applying in our daily life what we have been taught, through dzikr (remembrance) and fikr (deep reflection). The real lesson is actually in the 'classroom of life'. The subject on the Hereafter is there. Apart from perhaps casually mentioning of it, or merely hearing passing remarks concerning it or perhaps life occurances (birth. sickness, death etc.) that serve to remind us of 'al-aakhirah' - yet these pass us by, without we gaining any increase in conviction of it. Why? Notwithstanding that the blame is upon us, but the distraction is without doubt also due to the allurement of ad-Dunya(life of this world), which cast its hypnotic spell on everyone.WHAT IS LIFE OF THIS WORLD?Allah s.w.t. set forth a parable:
وَٱضۡرِبۡ لَهُم مَّثَلَ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنزَلۡنَـٰهُ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ فَٱخۡتَلَطَ بِهِۦ نَبَاتُ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَأَصۡبَحَ هَشِيمً۬ا تَذۡرُوهُ ٱلرِّيَـٰحُۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ مُّقۡتَدِرًا
" Set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: it is like the rain which We send down from the skies: the earth's vegetation absorbs it, But soon it becomes dry stubble, which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah Who prevails over all things. "
O! What a transitory existence, growing with bestowals from Allah, only to be reduced to stubble and decay. Yet, we place so much emphasis upon such things, which we know will disappear - forgetting that our hope is in seeking the countenance of Allah s.w.t. Who will prevail over all things. Look beyond this world, which is merely a sign, and remember and glorify the Creator. Do not be bedazzled by the creation for they are there only to remind us of Him, so that we may be grateful and glorify Him, not the world. Do not loose sight that you are the slave of Allah, do not let the world enslave you. Hereafter is better! Thus Allah lovingly guides and warns us :
وَذَكَرَ ٱسۡمَ رَبِّهِۦ فَصَلَّىٰ بَلۡ تُؤۡثِرُونَ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنۡيَا وَٱلۡأَخِرَةُ خَيۡرٌ۬ وَأَبۡقَىٰٓ
"And glorify the name of their Guardian-Lord, and (lift their hearts) in Prayer. Nay (behold), ye prefer the life of this world; But the Hereafter is better and more enduring."
(Qur'an: al-A'la: 87: 15-17)
REMEMBER: Things that Endure (GOOD DEEDS) .... our best hope
What are we preoccupied in? Day in and day out, what really keeps us going? What is our motivation, our driver? What really matter in our life? The world (ad-dunya) beckons us with its glitters; abetted by the materialists who tempt our desires with their ever alluring products, bombarding us with advertisements that subtly impose values to replace our set of standards which must constantly be anchored upon our religious Faith (arkaan al-iiman) which favours more the concern for the eternal Hereafter. When this Faith is weak; its nurturing neglected and excerbated by life-style which emphasise more on worldly vanity; competing in amassing wealth and children, the outcome of this push-pull tension between ad-dunya (this world) and al-Aakhirah (Hereafter), will determine the kind of activity most favoured by the person. Nay, Allah s.w.t. knows and gives us this advice:
ٱلۡمَالُ وَٱلۡبَنُونَ زِينَةُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَاۖ وَٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ خَيۡرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابً۬ا وَخَيۡرٌ أَمَلاً۬
"Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: but the things that endure, Good Deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes."
BE VERY CAREFUL: AL-AKHIRAH BECKONS US
The temporary nature of this world seems obvious to us, yet why are there no urgency for us to prepare for the Hereafter? The end of times is sure to come. Even today, signs of instability of our planet are most apparrent with many natural disasters occuring world-wide. Yet, still no urgency! Remember, we may not be able to meet that Last Day, but most certainly our day on this earth will last with our death. This too is most certain, and it may be sooner than we hope & imagine. Yet, still no urgency?! Some, are beginning to have doubt, being influenced by ahli-dunya (the secularists) who persistently mock at our religious belief. Leave them with their heedlessness. On that terrible day not a single mountain will ever remain. flatten and each and every mankind shall be raised to gather before Allah to be judged. And on this Day Allah, after resurrecting us naked and bare, He will mock at them who denied this Day of Judgement:
وَعُرِضُواْ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ صَفًّ۬ا لَّقَدۡ جِئۡتُمُونَا كَمَا خَلَقۡنَـٰكُمۡ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةِۭۚ بَلۡ زَعَمۡتُمۡ أَلَّن نَّجۡعَلَ لَكُم مَّوۡعِدً۬ا
And they will be marshalled before thy Lord in ranks (with the announcement),"Now have ye come to Us (bare) as We created you first: aye, ye thought We shall not fulfil the appointment made to you to meet (Us)!":
O! This will be the Day of much regret, especially for those who do not take seriously what has been taught in our Aqidah regarding the Hereafter. Those who did not heed the advice to hasten to doing good Deeds while we can in this world. all those wealth and children, and the allurement of the world are of no use - only record of Good Deeds accepted by Allah will stand as testimony that can assist us. What matters most here will be our own Book of record - laid bare to the minutest detail - big or small, we shall have to account for them. Allah's justice will be fully manifested. Fortunate would be those who are covered by Allah's Mercy:
وَوُضِعَ ٱلۡكِتَـٰبُ فَتَرَى ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ مُشۡفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَـٰوَيۡلَتَنَا مَالِ هَـٰذَا ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةً۬ وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّآ أَحۡصَٮٰهَاۚ وَوَجَدُواْ مَا عَمِلُواْ حَاضِرً۬اۗ وَلَا يَظۡلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدً۬ا
And the Book (of Deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say "Ah! woe to us! what a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!" They will find all that they did, placed before them: and not one will thy Lord treat with injustice.
OUR PRAYER
رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغۡ قُلُوبَنَا بَعۡدَ إِذۡ هَدَيۡتَنَا وَهَبۡ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحۡمَةًۚ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلۡوَهَّابُ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّكَ جَامِعُ ٱلنَّاسِ لِيَوۡمٍ۬ لَّا رَيۡبَ فِيهِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُخۡلِفُ ٱلۡمِيعَادَ
رَبَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا بِمَآ أَنزَلۡتَ وَٱتَّبَعۡنَا ٱلرَّسُولَ فَٱڪۡتُبۡنَا مَعَ ٱلشَّـٰهِدِينَ
"Our Lord! let not our hearts deviate now after Thou hast guided us, but grant us mercy from Thee: for Thou art the Grantor of bounties without measure. Our Lord! Thou art He that will gather mankind together against a day about which there is no doubt: for Allah never fails in His promise.
Our Lord! we believe in what thou hast revealed, and we follow the Messenger; then write us down among those who bear witness."O Allah! Your Salutations of Peace and blessings be upon our Leader, Your Beloved Messenger Muhammad, and his purified family, all his righteous companions and all those who follow them in righteousness and benevolence, aiding his cause from time to time till the Hereafter - Aa-min
Wa-allaahu a'lam
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posts
Salam Ustaz,
ReplyDeleteWe are now living in this dunya that is 'decorated' with lots of nafs,attractions of desires and beautiful things. But yet,Allah swt has created this world for us, not for 'total enjoyment' but a testing and tribulation grounds for us,mankind.The winner or 'survivor' won't be one who gets the US$1million but one who gets to taste the sweetness of Paradise.
We have all the information of how much goodness the Paradise contains but yet,day in day out, I wonder how do we get through our lives fruitfully,spending our times wisely, besides being fully conscious of Allah swt in every moment of our lives?
What other 'activities' could we do?I worry about being questioned by Allah swt how did I spend my time here...
Please help.
Wa 'alaykum salaam war. wab.
ReplyDeleteWhen we are steadfast in following the Sunnah of our Prophet s.a.w., we will insyaAllah attain Paradise.
The Way of life (ad-Deen al-Islam) which he teaches is not burdensome nor difficult, and he does not teach us to go to extremes, nor does he forbid us from enjoying life.
In fact enjoying goodness of life is a command so that we can attain to being a grateful servant of Allah. What we must avoid however, is to be heedless, forgetful of Allah, rebellious & ungtateful.
What we need to inculcate is to remain steadfast (istqomah)upon this Deen, holding fast to all the truth regarding Allah, the angels, the books, prophets, alAakhirah & accepting Allah's Qada' & Qadr. Doing what He commands & refrain from the forbidden.
The essential state that we need to inculcate is Taqwa (always mindful & conscious of Allah); always being sincere & grateful to all His favours; have good opinion of Allah at all times;remember to hasten to good deeds - mindful the rights of Allah & the rights of His creatures in creation;seek always His Guidance & Forgiveness'; cleanse or free ourselves from bad traits & emulate all the noble traits of our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. with real feeling of love.
Thus to be mindful & engage in much remembrance of Allah in our daily life (which includes remembering all the above), means that we are not "ahl-al-dunya" (people of this world)rather we become "ahlullaah" - we belong to Allah or "Allah's people". Thus the reminder for us regarding this is succinctly expressed in our Swolah repeatedly - "verily the Swolah that I'am offering, every sacrifice that I make, my (entire) life and my death is only for Allah Lord Sustainer of the worlds. There is no partner to You (O Allah), and this is what I have been commanded to do, and I am of those who submit as Muslims."
As to your question: what other activities? Well, many many activities within the above paradigm.Satisfying your desires & needs for enjoyment as an expression of thanksgiving (gratefulness to Allah) - can be regarded as 'ibaadah.
Wa-Allaahu a'lam
Whosoever Obey Allah and His Messenger, has already attained the highest Achievement. (Q:Ahzab: 33:71)
was-salaam
Assalamu 'alaikum,
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post ustadh. Few people nowadays remind others on the value of this temporal world as compared to that of the eternal akhira. Thanks once again.
Thank you Ustaz, for the advice, reminders and teachings that you have brought forth in this blog.
ReplyDeleteAllahu akbar!
Salam Ustadz,
ReplyDeleteCan you give us examples of how children can be an allurement as mentioned by Allah in the verses quoted? As a mother, i do agree that my time for devotion to Allah is much greatly affected in raising my children. But neglecting their needs is also not acceptable. Hope Ustadz can help us draw a clearer line on this issue.
Shukran Jazillan
Wa’alaykum salaam wr. wb.
ReplyDeleteBy ‘allurement’ here, it is the chosen translation to the Arabic word “zeena” ( زِينَةُ) which in some other translation, the chosen word is “ornaments” – howbeit, we can understand it to mean: ”something that excites and attracts our desires towards itself; something that can add beauty to our life or which may perhaps help to make it complete.”
Thus, it is undeniable that both wealth and children indeed are things that humankind naturally would be motivated to acquire or hope to be bestowed with. Thus, if we can summarize succinctly, most people would compete basically for these. Allah s.w.t. here is warning mankind not to lose sight that these things by themselves, wealth and children, are not enduring. Therefore do not be deceived by it as though they are the ultimate (which many ‘ahl ad-dunya’ - the materialist secularist - regards them so) , but we Muslims must turn our attention to that which really matter.
Things that really matter is when we consider: “How did we get that wealth? And how do we spend it on? Do we regard our children as a trust from Allah? And do we fulfil our obligations towards them with sense of gratitude towards Allah s.w.t.? Through these questions, we Muslims will know how to utilize these allurements and transform them into “wal-baaqiya tu as-solihaat” (righteous deeds which endure - وَٱلۡبَـٰقِيَـٰتُ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتُ ).
Islam is not against people having these (wealth and children) per se – but Allah s.w.t. in this ayat is only warning us against failure to have the proper regard towards them, and against our not utilizing them in the service of Allah s.w.t.
In raising your concern when you state: “my time for devotion to Allah is much greatly affected in raising my child” – you may have been mistaken of an important point: If you consider your child as a trust from Allah s.w.t., and you are constantly grateful to Allah (shakur), and you regard every effort to raise them, to nurture them, to provide for them etc. as a duty you are fulfilling for the sake of Allah s.w.t. – then, these (efforts in raising your child) ARE also your Devotion to Allah s.w.t. Perhaps in looking after them, your other personal (individual) devotion as a Muslim may have been affected – but actually, you are still engaged in devotion to Allah s.w.t. As long as the 'fardh 'ain' are not neglected, the devotion to Allah s.w.t. in being a good mother to your child carries a MUCH higher value than any personal devotion (nawaafil) that you may have to forego. So, be cheerful my sister.May Allah be pleased with all our endeavor in life.
WaAllaahu a’lam
Alhamdulillah Ustadz, now i have a better understanding of my role as a Muslim and mother.
ReplyDeleteJazakAllahu Khair
Salam Ustaz Zhulkeflee,
ReplyDeleteI truly share the sentiments of Blue. The nature of my work is such that it requires a lot of thinking and concentration, that I feel that I do not remember Allah as often as I should. I am afraid that I will be of those who regret in the afterlife- those who regret being too occupied with the worldly things, and forgot about the more important things (akhirah). Na'uzubillah. I feel that even my Fardh 'ain is of poor quality, probably as a result of being too distracted by the worldly things. Ustaz, how do I not get ourselves too distracted by the things in this world (for instance, problems at work) so that the quality of my solat and other ibadah can be improved? Thank you.
Wassalam,
ILDASOLHA
Wa ‘alaykum-salaam waraHmatulLaah
ReplyDeleteSister,
In my advice to some of my students, I have reiterated my concern of the way Muslims learn and carry out their Fardhu ‘ain, which needs to be re-looked into again. (ref: virtual halaqah: http://miftahuljannah.friendhood.net/bustanul-arifin-f1/).
My concern was because I sensed that many may have learnt Islam merely as a subject, and not so much as a way of life to be striven upon. For many, Fardhu ‘ain are regarded merely as things to be done, and they overlooked that these are made obligatory upon us Muslims to benefit from them, because it contains hikmah and the Mercy of Allah – as transformative program for changing our entire worldview and paradigm. (ref: "Parable of the good Word": http://al-amthaal.blogspot.com/2008/05/good-word-like-good-tree.html).
Remember, by being Muslims we are not doing Allah any favour, whereas it is Allah Who has in fact favoured us. Actually when Muslims re-orientate themselves and regard the “arkaan al-Islam” as crucial ‘building blocks’ of their life and each fulfilment of these arkaan (singular – rukun) must be appraised upon how close ('taqarrub') they have become towards Allah s.w.t., only then can they extract themselves of the malaise you have described (which I termed as “Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde” syndrome – i.e. intermittently lapsing into forgetfulness or heedlessness ('ghaflah'), then remembrance, then forgetfulness of Allah again in the cycle in life). Allah warns us of this in the Qur’an, and wants to guide us to be different:
“And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget themselves souls! such are the rebellious transgressors! Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden: it is the Companions of the Garden, that will achieve Felicity.”
(Qur’an: Hashr: 59:19-20)
If our Fardhu ‘ain is done in accordance with the intended (correct) approach, which I regard as the traditional way (to be differentiated from the ‘conventional’ IRK-style in learning Islam), the Muslims remembrance of Allah would be continuous and strong throughout their life, (inshaAllah, Allah will instill 'istiqomah') not just in their wakeful hours, even when they are in their sleep too, in spite of the so many life-engagement and worldly distractions he/she may be exposed too.
So your ‘firasat’ that perhaps “my Fardh 'ain is of poor quality” was spot-on. Muslims problem today may primarily be due to one single principle problem i.e. of knowledge and of their education – more precisely Islamic education (or the lack of it, or and the confusion regarding it). So do not despair and strive to carry out what Allah wish for us to aim to do, especially to wholeheartedly enter into Islam (as opposed to partiality) and be careful of distractions which are what our enemy Satan is trying to snare us into, so do not allow yourself to backslide – especially in seeking knowledge with practice (‘ilm wa ‘amal):
“O ye who believe! enter into Islam whole-heartedly; and follow not the footsteps of the Evil One; for he is to you an avowed enemy. If ye backslide after the clear (signs) have come to you, then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.”
(Qur’an: Baqarah: 2: 208-209)
WaAllaahu a’lam