Lying to God, Moderation in Dress, Submission Thy Name is Islam
Issue 241 » September 26, 2003 - Rajab 29, 1424
General
| Living the Quran |
Al-Tawbah
(The Repentance) Some of the hypocrites pledge solemnly to God that if He would bestow His grace on them and give them some of His bounty, they would be very charitable to the poor and behave in the way expected of righteous people. Such a pledge, however, is given at a time when those people are poor, when their poverty makes them yearn for a time of plenty. Yet when God answers their prayers, and favours them with His bounty, they forget all about their pledges, and behave like misers. This violation of their promises and lying to God make hypocrisy take root in their hearts. Hence they continue to be hypocrites until they die. Human beings are weak and niggardly, except for the few who manage, by God's grace, to elevate themselves. They cannot rid themselves of their miserliness unless their hearts become full of faith, raising them above the needs of this world and freeing them of their eagerness to protect their immediate interests. This is easy if they hope to achieve something better in the hereafter, and aspire to receive God's acceptance, which is far superior to all comforts and enjoyments. When a person's heart is devoid of true faith, his natural instinct to keep his wealth for himself is aroused whenever he is called upon to give in charity or to spend something for God's cause. The fear of poverty overrides his weaker desire to respond to such a call. He is imprisoned within his niggardliness, feeling insecure. A person who make a pledge to God and then reneges on his pledge and lies to God is not free from hypocrisy. Hence their deliberately unfulfilled pledges and their repeated lies breed hypocrisy which settles permanently in their hearts. A believer's heart is reassured by faith, does not fear to be poor as a result of spending in charity for God's cause, because he knows that what people may have will be exhausted and what God has in store is inexhaustible. His knowledge motivates him to pay in furthering God's cause willingly, without any fear that he will be left in need. Even if he becomes without money, what he hopes to receive from God is infinitely better and far greater. Source: |
| Understanding the Prophet's Life |
Excellence of Adopting Moderation in Dress `Amr bin Shu`aib on the authority of his father and grandfather reported: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Allah
loves to see the sign of His Bounties on his slave.'' A simple dress is commendable if one wears it as a gesture of humility winning Allah's Pleasure. Yet, to zealously pursue the goal of goodness, to extend a helping hand to the indigent and the needy, to behave favourably towards one's relatives and to wear a fine dress as a manifestation of Allah's favours are equally good acts of high merit. A fine dress is not impeachable in itself but it becomes so, if worn with an air of arrogance and self-importance. On the other hand, an expression of Divine bounty makes it praiseworthy. In other words, it is the intention which makes an act good or bad. Alongside the practice of the example of the Messenger of Allah, the sincerity of action and making the right intention, therefore, become indispensable. Source: |
| Cool Concepts! |
Submission Thy Name is Islam Nature has determinism, the human being has destiny. Acceptance of this destiny is the supreme and final idea of Islam. Does destiny exist and if so what form does it take? Let us look at our own lives and see what remains of our most precious plans and dreams from our youth. Do we not come helplessly into the world faced with our own personality, with higher or lower intelligence, with attractive or repulsive looks, with an athletic or dwarfish stature, in a king's palace or in a beggar's hut, in a tumultuous or peaceful time, under the reign of a tyrant or a noble prince, and generally in geographical and historical circumstances about which we have not been consulted? How limited is what we call our will, how tremendous and unlimited is our destiny! A human being has been cast down upon this world and made dependent on many factors over which he has no power. His life is influenced by both very remote and very near factors. Recognition of destiny is a moving reply to the great human theme of inevitable suffering. It is the recognition of life as it is and a conscious decision to bear and to endure. In this point, Islam differs radically from the superficial idealism and optimism of European philosophy and its naive story about 'the best of all possible worlds.' Submission to God is a mellow light coming from beyond pessimism. As a result of one's recognition of one's own impotence and insecurity, submission go God itself becomes a new potency and a new security. Belief in God and His providence offers a feeling of security which cannot be made up for with anything else. Obedience to God excludes obedience to a human being. It is a new relation between a human being and God and, therefore, between one person and another. Submission to God is also a freedom which is attained by following through with one's own destiny. Our involvement and our struggle are human and reasonable and have the token of moderation and serenity only through the belief that the ultimate result is not in our hands. It is up to us to work, the rest is in God's Hands. Submission to God is the only human and dignified way out of the unsolvable senselessness of life, a way out without revolt, despair, nihilism, or suicide. It is a heroic feeling not of a hero, but of an ordinary human being who has done his duty and accepted his destiny. Islam does not get its name from its laws, orders, or prohibitions, nor from the efforts of the body and soul it claims, but from something that encompasses and surmounts all that: from a moment of cognition, from the strength of the soul to face the times, from the readiness to endure everything that an existence can offer, from the Truth of submission to God. Submission to God, thy name is Islam! Source: |
