بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Our actions are based on intentions and our intentions are based on motivations and our motivations are based on our evaluations. The value system of most humans in history is generally obtained from the social environment, however, when we look at the prominent figures Allah has decided to record in a scripture that billions of people throughout human history will read, study, and try to emulate, they represent very different characteristics than the common values people hold. Our Prophet ﷺ was illiterate, Yusuf عليه السلام was sold as a slave and put into prison. From a human perspective, these people have lost their value, but from Allah's perspective, they are honorable. The conclusion is that Allah has a different value system.
What is Allah's value system? This is important to us because we want to be valuable to Allah.
Surah Al-'Asr tells us what Allah's value system is.
All the verses that talk about loss in the Qur'an share the core reason of overemphasizing this world and overlooking the next. Allah swore that everyone is losing. If you want to exempt yourself from that system, Allah provides a methodology in Verse 3:
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
"Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience."
As long as you know these four parts and act upon them, you're not losing anymore; you're gaining.
1) الإيمان (Belief)
Faith is comprised of three parts:
a) قول باللسان (Declaration with the tongue)
Allah says in Surah Fussilat [41:33]:
And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."
Many people try to hide their Muslim identity and take religion out of the equation. You fear being outspoken about your religion may chase people away, but you do not know who will be attracted because of it.
b) اعتقاد بالقلب (Conviction in the heart)
The Qur'an is very assertive. Allah said in Surah An-Nisaa [4:82]:
"Do they not then consider the Quran carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradictions."
This confidence should bring conviction in our heart.
When Abu Bakr heard the people mock the Prophet ﷺ for going to Israa wal Mi'raj, he said, "If he said it, then I believe it is true."
c) عمل بالجوارح (Actions with the limbs)
We know faith increases and decreases. What influences this change? The Scholars said:
الإيمان يزيد بالطاعة و ينقص بالمعاصي - Faith increases with obedience and decreases with sins.
The Linguistic Meaning of الإيمان
إيمان shares the same root as آمن which means safety. When you believe, you are safe.
The Arabs would use a verb with the same when they wanted to say that they are affiliated or entrusted to a certain tribe.
One of Allah's name is المومن, meaning One who provides security.
Muslims affiliate and trust themselves to Allah and thus they are safe.
If you truly believe we achieve:
a) Safety of the Hearts
Allah has many different attributes and each attributes comfort us in a particular way. We have different anxieties and fears and the comprehensive perfection Allah has comfort us. We have different kinds of emotions in our heart, but if we believe, we are. In Surah Ar-Ra'd [13:28]:
"Those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah, Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest."
This is the constant emotion you have when you believe and remember Allah constantly.
b) Safety from Misdeeds
When you don't believe, you won't know the difference between right and wrong. This is the trend of the world now, people believe in individuality or personal democracy, so as long as they are not harming others they can do whatever they want. If they want to burn their house it's their choice. They do not consider right and wrong anymore, desire becomes their first priority in their evaluation system. For any people who have the level of consciousness of a higher order or purpose they know there ar right things and wrong thing,a good things and bad things, and we have the unequivocal standard [18:1]:
"All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad) the Book (the Quran), and has not placed therein any crookedness."
Good is good, bad is bad, Halal is Halal, Haraam is Haraam. We have that protection. Allah set this system of Halal and Haraam to protect us. If you want to summarize the purpose of the Shari'ah in one sentence it is to protect benefit and prevent harm.
C) Safety from Delusions and Wrong ideas
People have all types of speculations about what will happen after they die and they have no way to test it. Allah has told us what is going to happen for sure so we are safe from delusion and thus safe from doing unnecessary actions; we can do what matters and what truly benefits us.
D) Safety from Punishment
Belief is one of the conditions that prevent a person from Hellfire.
People ask: If God is merciful why did He create Hellfire? You can reply: If He truly wants to punish, why did He inform us about the punishment in the Qur'an and tell us how to protect ourselves from it? The intent is corrective; to prevent you from doing things which harm yourself.
E) Safety from the Devil
The Shaytan works on all human beings, but only Muslims know how to defend themselves from him. They know this because of their faith and they are safe because of it.
Al-Muzani رحمه الله said, "Since faith means safety and security, look where your insecurity is in your Creator. This is where you have lack of faith."
Insecurity is a place of weakness of our faith. We fear different things. Some people fear poverty the most, and this is their insecurity, and this is where they lack faith in one attribute of Allah which is الرزاق. If He can make a bird leave it's nest in the morning and come back with a full stomach, He can take care of it.
Some people are worried about relationships the most. This is an insecurity that points to your lack of faith in one attribute of Allah which is He is the One who turns the hearts. If you take care of your relationship with Allah, Allah will take care of all your relationships. Every single kind of insecurity you have can be solved by belief in an attribute of Allah.
Abdullah ibn ‘Amr bin Al-Aas said the Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ الْإِيمَانَ لَيَخْلَقُ فِي جَوْفِ أَحَدِكُمْ كَمَا يَخْلَقُ الثَّوْبُ الْخَلِقُ فَاسْأَلُوا اللَّهَ أَنْ يُجَدِّدَ الْإِيمَانَ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ
Verily, the faith of one of you will diminish just as a shirt becomes worn out, so ask Allah to renew faith in your hearts.” [Al-Mustadrak and graded Saheeh by Al-Albani]
If you keep the same pace without any change, it will become habitual. The solution is to ask Allah to renew your faith. Sometimes we overlook the fact that all the things we do will not work unless Allah decides to renew our faith.
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Some of the Benefits of Faith
Humans have an innate nature to pursue what they believe is beneficial. Allah talks about the benefits of faith extensively in the Qur'an:
1) Surah Aal-Imran [3:68]:
وَاللَّهُ وَلِيُّ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
"And Allah is the Wali (Protector and Helper) of the believers."
2) Surah Al-Anfal [8:19]:
وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
"and verily, Allah is with the believers."
3) Surah Ar-Ra'd [13:28]:
"Those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism), and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah, Verily, in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest."
4) Surah Maryam [19:96]:
"Verily, those who believe [in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger (Muhammad)] and work deeds of righteousness, the Most Beneficent (Allah) will bestow love for them (in the hearts of the believers)."
The Prophet ﷺ said:
ثَلاَثٌ مَنْ كُنَّ فِيهِ وَجَدَ حَلاَوَةَ الإِيمَانِ أَنْ يَكُونَ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِمَّا سِوَاهُمَا، وَأَنْ يُحِبَّ الْمَرْءَ لاَ يُحِبُّهُ إِلاَّ لِلَّهِ، وَأَنْ يَكْرَهَ أَنْ يَعُودَ فِي الْكُفْرِ كَمَا يَكْرَهُ أَنْ يُقْذَفَ فِي النَّارِ
“Whoever possesses the following three qualities will have the sweetness (delight) of faith:
1. The one to whom Allah and His Messenger becomes dearer than anything else.
2. Who loves a person and he loves him only for Allah's sake.
3. Who hates to revert to disbelief as he hates to be thrown into the fire." [Bukhari]
Belief is the overarching philosophy but now you have to do things in your life. You have to make decisions and choices and this is included in:
2) عملوا صالحات (Perform Righteous Deeds)
Not just do good but to reform. These people do good things to transform themselves and their environment.
Allah says in the last verse in Surah Al-Kahf [18:110]:
"Say (O Muhammad): "I am only a man like you. It has been inspired to me that your Ilah (God) is One Ilah (God i.e. Allah). So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord."
If you desire the pleasure of Allah and to meet Allah do good deeds.
Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لاَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى صُوَرِكُمْ وَأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَأَعْمَالِكُمْ
Verily Allah does not look to your faces and your wealth but He looks to your heart and to your deeds. [Muslim]
How do we know if an action is considered a good deed or not?
There are two conditions:
1) Intention (To Please Allah)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّةِ وَإِنَّمَا لاِمْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى
“(The value of) an action depends on the intention behind it. A man will be rewarded only for what he intended.” [Muslim]
2) Methodology (To follow the way of the Prophet ﷺ)
You want to please god but how do you do it? The way we worship has to be in line with the way the Prophets worship which is directly instructed by Allah.
What are the best actions?
Abdullah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said,
أَفْضَلُ الأَعْمَالِ - أَوِ الْعَمَلِ - الصَّلاَةُ لِوَقْتِهَا وَبِرُّ الْوَالِدَيْنِ
"The best actions are to pray on time and to show goodness to parents." [Muslim]
The two best actions cover the two dimensions in our life: Our relationship with Allah and our relationship with the Creation.
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet ﷺ was asked what the best action was. He said,
الإِيمَانُ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِ
"To believe in Allah and His Messenger ﷺ." [An-Nasaa’i]
The best action is subjective to who you are and how you can do it. The Prophet ﷺ gave different responses based on the person. He knew this person is lacking in this aspect so for him to do this is best for him.
Islam has diversified the definition of good deeds. Everything can be a good deed if it is in line with the two conditions. The Prophet ﷺ said:
كل سلامى من الناس عليه صدقة، كل يوم تطلع فيه الشمس: تعدل بين الاثنين صدقة، وتعين الرجل على دابته فتحمله عليها، أو ترفع له عليها متاعه صدقة. والكلمة الطيبة صدقة، وبكل خطوة تمشيها إلى الصلاة صدقة، وتميط الأذى عن الطريق صدقة
“On every joint of man, there is charity, on everyday when the sun rises: doing justice between two men is charity, and assisting a man to ride an animal or to load his luggage on it is charity; and a good word is charity, every step which one takes towards (the mosque for) Salat is charity, and removing harmful things from the way is charity". [Agreed Upon]
So Allah swears by time which is limited for every man. All of us are losing because our time is only reducing every day. We are definitely walking closer to death, there is no way for us to prevent this process. Allah is reminding us of this urgency. We are heading to our destination and we need to act fast. Now we are urgent and want to do things that benefit us, what do we do?
Start with faith. Correct your faith and research where you are lacking in it and fix it. Vitalise your faith. Faith should be in our heart, tongue, and limbs. Faith leads to security. It wears out and deteriorates and that's why we should ask Allah to renew it.
Do good deeds. Even if an action is widely done by people ask yourself: Why am I doing this? Then: How should I do this?
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