WHY SO ?
THINK ABOUT IT !
YOU KNOW THE
ANSWERS
يُرِيدُ
ٱللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنْكُمْ وَخُلِقَ ٱلإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفاً
“Allah would make
the burden light for you,
for man was created weak.” …
(al-Quran
4:28).
PRAYER (‘SALAAT’):
When you
don’t offer prayer (Salaat), you look for excuses. You think that you didn’t
have time, you were too busy. You are working on your ‘Duniya’. Who’ll work on
your ‘Hereafter’? Look on the other side of it! You might have done something wrong
that Allah did not like you to stand in front of Him in prayer. Do you believe
in “taufeeq illa bi-Allah’? Then try to get it right! Allah is very serious
about prayer (Salaat) and commands us to establish it. There are hundreds of
verses in the Holy Quran about it. Here is a ‘Dua’ (supplication) of Prophet
Abraham:
رَبِّ
ٱجْعَلْنِى مُقِيمَ ٱلصَّلاَةِ وَمِن ذُرِّيَتِى رَبَّنَا وَتَقَبَّلْ دُعَآءِ
“O my Lord! make me one who establishes regular
prayer,
and also (raise
such) among my offspring O our Lord!
and accept You my
prayer.”
(al-Quran 14:40)
Allah had instructed Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) to
convey to the believers His commands about regular prayer (Salaat):
قُل
لِّعِبَادِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ يُقِيمُواْ ٱلصَّلاَةَ وَيُنْفِقُواْ مِمَّا
رَزَقْنَاهُمْ
سِرّاً
وَعَلانِيَةً مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ يَوْمٌ لاَّ بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلاَ خِلاَلٌ
“Speak to my
servants who have believed, that they may
establish regular
prayers, and spend (in charity) out of
the sustenance We
have given them, secretly and openly,
before the coming
of a Day in which there will be
neither mutual
bargaining nor befriending.”
(al-Quran 14:31)
وَأَقِيمُواْ
ٱلصَّلاَةَ وَآتُواْ ٱلزَّكَاةَ وَٱرْكَعُواْ مَعَ ٱلرَّاكِعِينَ
“And be steadfast in prayer; practice regular
charity; and
bow down your heads with those who bow down (in
worship).”
(al-Quran 2:43)
حَافِظُواْ
عَلَى ٱلصَّلَوَاتِ وٱلصَّلاَةِ ٱلْوُسْطَىٰ وَقُومُواْ للَّهِ قَانِتِينَ
“Guard strictly your (habit of) prayers,
especially the Middle Prayer;
and stand before
Allah in a devout (frame of mind).”
(al-Quran
2:238)
يَآأَيُّهَا
ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ٱسْتَعِينُواْ بِٱلصَّبْرِ وَٱلصَّلاَةِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَ
ٱلصَّابِرِينَ
“O you who believe! Seek help with patient perseverance
and prayer; for Allah is with those who
patiently persevere.”
(al-Quran 2:153).
FAITH (‘IMAN’):
If your
faith (Iman) is so weak that it cannot make you walk to the mosque for prayer
(Salaat), or it does not make you repent for the missing prayers, how can it
make you win the Paradise? You are here in
this world to prepare for the Hereafter. And you cannot do it without ‘Iman’ or
faith.
ٱللَّهُ
وَلِىُّ ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ يُخْرِجُهُمْ مِّنَ ٱلظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَى ٱلنُّورِ
وَٱلَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوۤاْ أَوْلِيَآؤُهُمُ ٱلطَّاغُوتُ يُخْرِجُونَهُمْ مِّنَ ٱلنُّورِ إِلَى
ٱلظُّلُمَاتِ
أُوْلَـٰئِكَ
أَصْحَابُ ٱلنَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
“Allah is the Protector of those who have faith;
from the
depths of darkness He will lead them forth
into light.
Of those who
reject faith the patrons are the evil ones;
from light they
will lead them forth into the depths
of darkness. They
will be companions of the fire,
to dwell therein
(for ever).”
(al-Quran 2:257)
إِنَّ
ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَصَدُّواْ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّواْ ضَلاَلاً
بَعِيداً
إِنَّ
ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَظَلَمُواْ لَمْ يَكُنِ ٱللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلاَ
لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقاً
إِلاَّ
طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَداً وَكَانَ ذٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ
يَسِيراً
“Those who reject Faith and keep off
(men) from the way
of Allah, have verily strayed far,
far away from the Path.
Those who reject Faith and do wrong,
Allah will
not forgive them nor guide them to
any way –
except the way of Hell, to dwell
therein
for ever. And this to Allah is
easy.”
(al-Quran 4:167-169)
SUCCESS:
Everybody
wants success. We are all trying to succeed in this world and forget about the
next. But even in this world, when the caller calls us five times every day
with the words: ‘Come to the success’ (‘Hayee-ya al-alfalah’), we ignore him
and reject the offer of success. There must be something wrong with us!
ٱلَّذِينَ
هُمْ فِى صَلواَتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ قَدْ أَفْلَحَ
ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ
هُمْ عَنِ ٱللَّغْوِ مُّعْرِضُونَ وَٱلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِلزَّكَواةِ فَاعِلُونَ
وَٱلَّذِينَ
هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ
“Successful indeed
are the believers, who are
humble in
their prayers, and who shun vain conversation,
and who are payers
of the poor-due,
and who guard
their
modesty.”
(al-Quran
23:1-5)
وَتُوبُوۤاْ
إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعاً أَيُّهَا ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“And turn unto Allah together, O believers,
in order that
you
may succeed.”
(al-Quran
24:31)
ٱلَّذِينَ
يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلواَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَواةَ وَهُمْ بِٱلآخِرَةِ هُمْ
يُوقِنُونَ
أُوْلَـٰئِكَ
عَلَىٰ هُدًى مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَأُوْلَـٰئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ
“Those who
establish worship and pay the poor-due
and have sure
faith in the Hereafter; such have guidance
from their Lord.
Such are the successful”.
(al-Quran 31:4-5).
They are
successful because they sincerely obey the Almighty and become His friends.
أَلاۤ إِنَّ
أَوْلِيَآءَ ٱللَّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
“Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah
there is no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
(al-Quran 10:62).
FATE/LUCK:
Don’t blame
your fate or luck for your failures. We make our own choices in life and our
fate or luck is based on those choices. That’s why we are held accountable for
our actions in this world. Everybody has to carry his own load.
لاَ يُكَلِّفُ
ٱللَّهُ نَفْساً إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ
“On no soul does
Allah place a burden
greater than it
can bear. It gets every good
that it earns, and
it suffers every ill that it earns. …”
(al-Quran
2:286)
If
everything in our lives were pre-determined or pre-destined, Allah and His
Prophet (s.a.w.) won’t ask us to invoke Him and pray for His mercy, for solidarity
of faith (Iman), knowledge, bounties, provision, peace, happiness, children,
success in worldly affairs, protection from evil and Hellfire, forgiveness and for
compassion to enter the Paradise, etc., etc. If we can change our situation by
turning to God in repentance, begging Him for His mercy and practicing the good
deeds, then it is not the fate. It’s us. Yes, us!
Some people
may not like this notion as they are strong believers of fate/luck. If everything
was pre-destined, we are not guilty then. Accountability makes no sense. Why
would then Allah punish us for our evil deeds and reward us for good deeds? I
invite you to ponder over the following few verses of the Holy Quran. Allah
says:
إِلاَّ مَن
تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلاً صَالِحاً فَأُوْلَـٰئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ ٱللَّهُ
سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ
حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُوراً رَّحِيماً
“Unless he repents, believes, and works
righteous deeds,
for Allah will
change the evil of such persons into good,
and Allah is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
(al-Quran 25:70)
There goes your theory of fate/luck out of the window.
It’s your good or bad actions that decide the outcome. Here, again, is the
confirmation:
وَمَن تَابَ
وَعَمِلَ صَالِحاً فَإِنَّهُ يَتُوبُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَتاباً
“And whoever
repents and does good, has truly
turned to Allah
with an (acceptable) conversion.”
(al-Quran 25:71)
If you can
convert your misfortune into good fortune through repentance and good deeds,
you better stop talking about bad luck. Be practical! Here is another proof:
وَمَآ
أَصَابَكُمْ مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُواْ عَن
كَثِيرٍ
“Whatever misfortune happens to you, is because
on the things your
hands have wrought, and for many
(of them) He
grants forgiveness”.
(al-Quran 42:30)
And in this verse of the Quran, Allah clears all
doubts about bad luck or misfortune:
مَّآ
أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَآ أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن
نَّفْسِكَ
“Whatever good, (O
man!) happens to you, is from Allah;
but whatever evil
happens to you, is from your (own) soul.”
(al-Quran 4:79)
There is a related subject of ‘Qadha’ or ‘Qaza’ and
‘Qadr’ but it is a separate issue, different from the issue of good or bad
deeds or the actions we are responsible for.
Muslims (believers in general) have a duty or
responsibility to ward off evil and encourage the good deeds for the sake of
community. The society, as a whole, benefits from it.
وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَآءُ بَعْضٍ
يَأْمُرُونَ
بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنْكَرِ
وَيُقِيمُونَ
ٱلصَّلواَةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَواةَ وَيُطِيعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ
أُوْلَـٰئِكَ
سَيَرْحَمُهُمُ ٱللَّهُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
“The Believers,
men and women, are protecting friends
of one another:
they enjoin what is just, and forbid what is evil:
they observe
regular prayers, practice regular charity,
and obey Allah and
His Messenger. On them will
Allah pour His
mercy; for Allah is Exalted in power, Wise.”
(al-Quran 9:71).
Here is the
best ‘Dua’ (supplication) in the Holy Quran that can change lives; and we are
commanded to recite it:
رَبَّنَا لاَ
تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَآ أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلاَ
تَحْمِلْ
عَلَيْنَآ إِصْراً كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا رَبَّنَا
وَلاَ
تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لاَ طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ وَٱعْفُ عَنَّا وَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا
وَٱرْحَمْنَآ
أَنتَ مَوْلاَنَا فَٱنْصُرْنَا عَلَى ٱلْقَوْمِ ٱلْكَافِرِينَ
“… (Pray:)
"Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or
fall into error;
our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that
which You did lay
on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us
a burden greater
than we have strength to bear.
Blot out our sins,
and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us.
You are our
Protector; Help us against those
who stand against
Faith."
(al-Quran 2:286).
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