Day 10: Be mindful of Allah…
INTRODUCTION
In today’s world, a large number of Muslims have turned heedless. Issues around terrorism, social welfare, war and family structure are rampaging concerns affecting us. This accounts for 95% of our higledy-pigledy state. We pray but our prayers lack concentration. We fast yet we do not give up falsehood. We go to hajj while being careless about the source of income. We support corruption, keep mute at oppression and fail to uphold justification. This is the situation of the modern day Muslim ummah .
The Muslims of yore were cautious and steadfast. They believed in Allah and were true to their faith. They acquired the rights for the oppressed and stood for justice against their kins. This earned them felicity and dignity in all endeavors. They ruled over Mesopotamia and conquered Constantinople. All because they were mindful of Allah, following His commandments and abstaining from His forbidden. In return, Allah elevated their status and raised them to lofty heights.
INSPIRATION
Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas, radiyallahu anhuma, reported: One day I was behind the Prophet, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and he said to me:
"O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice] : Be mindful of Allah, and Allah will protect you. Be mindful of Allah, and you will find Him in front of you. If you (have need to) ask, ask of Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that even if the Nation (or the whole community) were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded for you, and that if they gather together to harm you with
something, they would not be able to harm you with anything except that which Allah has already recorded against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried."
[Al-Tirmidhi relates this and says: It is a good, genuine Hadith]
In a version other than that of al-Tirmidhi it reads:
"...Be mindful of Allah, you will find Him before you. Get to know Allah in prosperity and He will know you in adversity. Know that what has passed you by was not going to befall you; and that what has befallen you was not
going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with affliction, and ease with hardship."
REFLECTION
- Being mindful of Allah involves: observing His obligations, adhering to His injunctions and abstaining from his prohibitions.
- If we are mindful of Allah, He will safeguard us, our iman, and elevate our status like He did for the Muslims of the early days.
- If we choose to be heedless, then our situation will never change until we change ourselves.
- If we are mindful of Allah, we will find Him close to us more than we imagine. He will give us guidance, support, help, protection, and a near victory.
- We are in need of Allah and our total dependency is on Him. Hence, if we ask, we ask Allah for all our needs. This is an affirmation of tauhid.
- Allah has already decreed what is going to take place. Ours is only to believe and take action.
CONCLUSION
We can live a peaceful and happy life by being mindful of Allah and submitting to Him. By understanding qadar positively, we will not live a stressful, unhappy life of always worrying about our future or what the consequences of our actions and decisions will be. We should do our best to fulfil Allah’s obligations while trusting and accepting whatever He wills for us. The only solution to rectifying our state is to return to the basis — the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
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