Learn About Your Deen
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
“No fatigue, disease, sorrow, sadness, hurt or distress befalls a Muslim – not even the spike he receives from a thorn – except that Allah expiates some of his sins because of it.” [Bukhari]
Allah does not forget our struggle, rather he has set it as a blessing to remove our sins. Let us remember this in our daily endeavours so we are not put down by life in the dunya.
Allah knows best.
Many of us forget the mercy Allah has placed upon mankind. From His creation to His forgiveness, he has bestowed the upmost mercy in creating ourselves and everything around us.
His mercy is unparalleled in comparison to any of His creations. The fact that we have love and compassion between one another is only by the mercy Allah has placed upon the earth.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Allah has one hundred mercies, out of which He has sent down only one for jinn, mankind, animals and insects, through which they love one another and have compassion for one another; and through it, wild animals care for their young. Allah has retained ninety-nine mercies to deal kindly with His slaves on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhari]
This mercy will only be given to the people who show mercy to others. This does not merely include mankind but one must be merciful to all of Allah’s creation.
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.” [Tirmidhi]
“Verily, whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.” [Tirmidhi]
All our provisions in this world is proof of Allah’s mercy. We forget what He has provided for us everyday especially when we are in need of something. Daylight and darkness is a blessing in itself. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And out of His mercy He made for you the night and the day that you may rest therein and [by day] seek from His bounty and [that] perhaps you will be grateful.” 28:73
Allah knows of our flaws and weaknesses as He himself placed that upon us:
“And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.” 4:28
Thus He has decreed upon Himself mercy to forgive our sins:
“And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself – indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.'” 6:54
The people who receive more of Allah’s mercy are those who have acknowledged His blessings and favours; used them in a way which pleases Him; spend their wealth in charity and to look after the needy; employed their hands to care for orphans; utilised their gift of speech to speak good; and performed other honourable acts ordained by Allah.
“Obey Allah and the Messenger that you may obtain mercy.”3:132
“And this [Qur’an] is a Book We have revealed [which is] blessed, so follow it and fear Allah that you may receive mercy.” 6:155
“And establish prayer and give zakah and obey the Messenger – that you may receive mercy.” 24:56
Allah is the most merciful, however, He is also severe in penalty. One cannot try to deceive Allah and take advantage of His mercy by constantly committing the same sins without sincere repentance or resolving never to go back to the sin again.
“But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘Indeed, I have repented now,’ or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment.” 4:18
We as Muslims are encouraged to have hope of reward for the good deeds we carry out while being concerned of the sins we commit. We repent sincerely while believing that Allah will forgive us. We feel contentment through the words of Allah and always have hope for the afterlife:
“Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is on the earth and the ships which run through the sea by His command? And He restrains the sky from falling upon the earth, unless by His permission. Indeed Allah, to the people, is Kind and Merciful.” 22:65
Allah knows best.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “When the day of Friday arrives there are angels upon the door of every mosque to record those who arrive in order and when the Imam sits to deliver the sermon they close their scrolls and come to listen to the remembrance. The example of one who arrives earliest is like one who offers a fine camel, then the next is like one who offers a cow, then the next is like one who offers a ram, then the next is like one who offers a chicken, then the next is like one who offers an egg.” [Bukhari]
Let us all make sure we get to Jumu’ah early or on time.
Allah knows best.
Gender equality has become a common topic in modern times so let us explore what Islam has to say on this matter.
Firstly, equality cannot be defined as the contemporary idea of being equal because it just keeps changing based on subjective views made by western society. We must look at it in comparison with other religions – the entire history of men and women.
Islam recognises equality of men and women but at the same time it is strongly emphasised in the deen that roles and responsibilities are different. If these roles are reversed societal problems occur – look at the rise of feminism today and the issues that have come with it.
There is no physical or chemical equality between men and women. Allah gave us different physical attributes along with huge differences in bodily chemicals such as hormones. These define how we are in our daily lives and thus it does not make sense at all for us to have the same responsibilities.
However, when it comes to spirituality in Islam there is no separation. Women can attain all the spiritual heights that a man can in the worship of Allah; there is no advantage one way or the other. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so – for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.” 33:35
“Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do.” 16:97
“And their Lord responded to them, ‘Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker among you, whether male or female; you are equal to one another…” 3:195
Many times throughout the Qur’an Allah addresses both men and women although the Arabic grammar used may seem masculine, it still applies to both genders. In other places such as the ayahs above, Allah specifically mentions men and women together to highlight further the importance of what is He is saying to us.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Verily, women are the twin halves of men.” [Tirmidhi]
To say however, that men and women have the same rights in Islam is incorrect. We all have our duties set upon us by Allah, some of which are similar and others are different. This is the manner in which Allah created mankind; men and women will excel in contrasting aspects in life. We fill each other’s flaws and that is the beauty of Allah’s creation.
Let us not take the Western view of equality as the correct path. It seems to change generation by generation and has no basis except for subjective morality. We must stick with the perfect guidance set by Allah the creator, through His messenger (ﷺ). Take heed of what Allah warned us in the Qur’an:
“Be not deceived by the [uninhibited] movement of the disbelievers throughout the land.” 3:196
Allah knows best.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “The one who recites the Quran and the one who listens to it have an equal share in the reward.” [Bukhari]
Let us replace the playlists in our phones with the Qur’an. Let his words purify our hearts instead of pollute them with music. Just as we guard our eyes we must guard our ears.
Allah knows best.
Being a hypocrite (munafiq) in Islam is not like the meaning of the word in English; there is a much deeper meaning. It is one of the worst forms of status one can obtain and holds the worst punishment coming in the hereafter, worse than the disbeliever. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire – and never will you find for them a helper.” 4:145
The first attribute associated with hypocrisy is lying. Allah says:
“When the hypocrites come to you, [O Muhammad], they say, ‘We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah .’ And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars.” 63:1
The grammar used for lying in this ayah translates to continuous liars – no lie is too small. With these lies comes treachery and breaking promises. The prophet (ﷺ) said: “The signs of a hypocrite are three, even if he fasts and prays and claims to be a Muslim: when he speaks he lies, when he gives a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he is treacherous.” [Muslim]
The hypocrites mock the messenger (ﷺ) when they are told to believe in the way that he (ﷺ) and his companions believed:
“And when it is said to them, ‘Believe as the people have believed,’ they say, ‘Should we believe as the foolish have believed?’ Unquestionably, it is they who are the foolish, but they know [it] not.” 2:13
Let us not assume this applies merely for the people at the time of the prophet. This act can be carried out in our time as people mock and reject the sunnah of the prophet (ﷺ). They will call the true Muslims who follow the prophet ‘extreme’ in their deen.
You ever heard the people that say “I am a Muslim, but…” and fill the gap in with things like “I’m not that into it” or “I don’t believe in most of what it teaches” – these are signs of a hypocrite.
Allah continues with the attributes of a munafiq:
“And when it is said to them, “Come, the Messenger of Allah will ask forgiveness for you,” they turn their heads aside and you see them evading while they are arrogant.” 63:5
When you tell them let us seek forgiveness, let us make tawba – fix ourselves up; you will see them turn their heads. “Tut, stop preaching I don’t wanna’ hear this”. Sound familiar?
They think less of those who are true Muslims – they look down on the ummah.
Allah describes the steps one takes before becoming a hypocrite in the Qur’an. These ayahs paint the scene of judgement day when the people are walking in pitch black darkness towards our eternal place.
“On the Day you see the believing men and believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right, [it will be said], ‘Your good tidings today are [of] gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein you will abide eternally.’ That is what is the great attainment.
On the [same] Day the hypocrite men and hypocrite women will say to those who believed, ‘Wait for us that we may acquire some of your light.’ It will be said, ‘Go back behind you and seek light.’ And a wall will be placed between them with a door, its interior containing mercy, but on the outside of it is torment.” 57:12-13
The Muslims will be very distinct in how they look on that day with light shining in front on them. Good deeds and actions that were performed in the dunya is transformed into light on that day in order to see where one is walking as that day will be completely dark.
The hypocrites will try to use the light from the true believers when Allah will place a huge wall between them with Allah’s torment on the outside for the hypocrites while the believers will be in Allah’s mercy.
Allah explains how they lost their imane and became hypocrites:
“The hypocrites will call to the believers, ‘Were we not with you?’ They will say, ‘Yes, but you afflicted yourselves and procrastinated [delayed repentance] and fell into doubt, and false hopes deluded you until the decision of Allah came. And the Deceiver deceived you concerning Allah.” 57:14
They put themselves in situations in which there was fitnah (trial) that will test their faith thinking it will not affect them. They kept putting themselves around people who do bad things, the places they go to, the haram they exposed themselves to. Opened themselves up to situations that made sinning easy.
When one puts oneself in a bad environment one may feel it first, the heart will feel uncomfortable – similar to walking into a room that has a bad smell, you will be affected at first. However, stay there long enough, keep going into that room and that smell becomes normal – the same way that environment, the bad company and places will become the norm after some time.
The second step they took is that they procrastinated – meaning they realised what they are doing is bad for them and also realised in their own conscience that they should change but they told themselves they’ll change soon or there’s still time.
“I have these messed up friends right now and I can’t really make them upset so I’ll just give it more time, I will change”.
“Just a little longer, I’m still young, I have time. Just this one more party. Just this one more date. Just this one more outing with these people”.
“You know, ramadan is coming soon, once that comes you watch, I’m going to be a different person; until then.. you know, make dua’ for me”.
How many people do we know like this? Are we like this ourselves?
Assumption 1: It will not effect me.
Assumption 2: I can stop whenever I want, I haven’t lost myself, I’m not addicted. I can walk away whenever I feel like.
As a matter of fact the longer one stays in such a state the harder it’ll be to get out of it, reaching a point where one feels it is impossible to stop. One will not know anything outside of that environment, it’ll feel as if it is too late to change.
Once it reaches that point, a guilt sets in. “I am such a bad person, I have been doing these bad sins all the time etc.”. Nobody likes to feel guilty, and that point shaytan will come and whisper “why do you feel guilty? You don’t have to feel that way. The only thing making you feel guilty is this Islam thing. It says that this and this is haram, and restricts your life. How true is all of it anyway?”.
One will then question their faith and religion. Many people in the Ummah live this ayah. Their doubts have no logic, they merely started in a bad environment in which they put themselves in and ended up questioning Islam and its teachings.
Doubt in a way will sooth such a person’s conscience. They will end up sinning and not feeling that guilt anymore. “It’s probably not true anyway so I shouldn’t feel bad for not following it”.
Once they stay in this state of putting themselves in fitnah, procrastinating and doubts about the deen, two things are taken away:
The afterlife will mean absolutely nothing.
What is left after this? The dunya. Everything in one’s life becomes about this world and nothing more. Money, fame, haram leisure, it’s the only thing that becomes interesting. If someone even brings up paradise and hellfire it becomes a joke.
One will be convinced that some sort of worldly gain will bring happiness and will continue to chase. This thing after another as there is no materialistic gain in this dunya that will satisfy one’s soul.
One will keep looking for that fulfilment and never achieve it because the one thing that will grant fulfilment – the pleasure of Allah – is no longer there, the desire does not exist anymore. Until the decision of Allah came (death).
The ultimate deceiver is shaytan – he was successful in deceiving you and now the only place for these people is the lowest, darkest pit in hellfire.
Let us take a step back and review our own selves.
Have we started falling into this downward spiral of hypocrisy? Are we already in this spiral? Have we reached the state already?
Nothing of this world will be of value before Allah. No materialistic gain, no money, no fame nothing – it means nothing for us on judgement day.
The light that Allah mentioned with the true believers is the only thing that matters and the only way to get that light is with a sound heart.
“The Day when there will not benefit [anyone] wealth or children
But only one who comes to Allah with a sound heart.” 26:88-89
Allah knows best.
