Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Law and Happiness
Abasa (He Frowned) - Chapter 80: Verse 20

"He made the way easy for him again."

Human being in their dealings with their fellow human beings are obliged to accept a social life based on cooperation; in doing so they effectively forgo some of the freedom enjoyed within their own sphere of work. Merely taking part in a society based on injustice and gaining social differences is not enough to satisfy the basic needs of the average human being. In such a society, taking advantage of the efforts of others leads to corruption and a loss of the original purpose of removing glaring differences between people and bettering their lives.

It is clear that a framework of laws, understood and respected by all, must govern the different members of society. If there are no clear laws governing even the most basic of transactions (like buying and selling), transactions will cease to function correctly. Laws are necessary to preserve the rights of individuals. The power and wisdom of the Creator, who has guided the human being towards his/her well-being and happiness, has also guaranteed the success and happiness of society.

Guidance in the form of social law is mentioned by God in the above verse. This making of life easy for the human being is an indication of the social guidance which God has given to the human being in the form of laws and instructions.

Compiled From:
"Quran and Its Recitation During Ramadan" - Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Protection

There is a hadith of major importance which each Muslim should learn. This hadith is from Said ibn al-Musayyib from Abd al-Rahman ibn Samra ibn Jundub, who said that one day as they were seated on the steps in Medina, the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) came out, stood before them and said:

"I saw something magnificent last night, I saw a man from my people as the angel of death came to take his soul. The goodness he had shown his parents came to him and turned back the angel of death.

I saw a man from my people as the punishment of the grave loomed before him. His ablution came to him and rescued him from it.

I saw a man from my people, as devils surrounded him. The remembrance of God Almighty came to him and drove them away.

I saw a man from my people as the angels of punishment surrounded him. His prayer came to him and saved him from their grips.

I saw a man from my people who was perishing from thirst. Every time he approached the pond (Hawd), he was held back and driven away. His fasting in Ramadan came to him, gave him water and quenched his thirst.

I saw a man from my people, and I saw the prophets sitting in circles, one circle after another. Each time he approached one of the circles, he was driven away. His greater ablution came to him, took him by the hand and seated him at my side.

I saw a man from my people when there was darkness before him, behind him, on his right and on his left, above and beneath him. He moved aimlessly in its midst. And then his pilgrimages - the lesser and the greater - came to him, took him out of that darkness and brought him into the light.

I saw a man from my people protecting himself with his hand from the fumes of the fire and its harm. His charity came to him and shielded him from the fire, spreading out over his head.

I saw a man from my people who was speaking to the believers, but they were not speaking to him. Then the good relations he had kept with relatives came to him, and said, "O assembly of Muslims, this man kept his ties with relatives, so speak to him." And they spoke to him, shook his hand and he shook theirs.

I saw a man from my people surrounded by the demons of hell. His enjoining of fairness and forbiddance of evil came to him and rescued him from their grip; they brought him to God Most High.

I saw a man from my people whose right hand had lost the scroll. There came to him his fear of God Almighty; it took the scroll and placed in his right hand.

I saw a man from my people whose scale was light [in good deeds], and there came to him those members of his family he had lost, and this weighed down the scale.

I saw a man from my people standing on the brink of hell, and there came to him his hope in God Almighty. It rescued him from hell and he passed on.

I saw a man from people who had been put in the fire, and there came to him the tears he had shed in reverent for fear of God Almighty. They rescued him from the fire.

I saw a man from my people standing on the bridge, tossing about like a palm tree in storm. His hope in God came to him. It steadied him and he walked [across].

I saw a man from my people advancing over the bridge, some-times crawling, sometimes clinging to it. The blessings he had invoked upon me came to him. It set him on his two feet and saved him.

I saw a man from my people who had come to the gates of heaven and found all of them locked. His testimony - "There is no deity but God" - came to him, opened the gates for him and led him into heaven." [Tirmidhi]

Compiled From:
"The Invocation of God" - Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, pp 107-109

Blindspot!

Overly Content

Imam Ibn Ataillah said, "The source of every disobedience, indifference, and passion is self-satisfaction. The source of every obedience, vigilance, and virtue is dissatisfaction with one's self. It is better for you to keep company with an ignorant man dissatisfied with himself than to keep company with a learned man satisfied with himself."

In our day, there is an urgency to root out the feeling of shame. There are self-help books to show how to excise this out of the soul. But dissatisfaction with oneself is the very thing that causes people to reflect and re-evaluate, which is requisite for spiritual success. Shame and dissatisfaction can be moral savers. (Shame is different from low self-esteem, in which one feels contempt for himself.)

Sidi Ahmad al-Zarruq said that there are three signs of being overly content with the soul. First is being sensitive to one's own rights and indifferent to the rights of others. In Islam, one's responsibilities preponderate over one's rights. The second sign is ignoring one's own faults, as if he has none, while being preoccupied with the fault of others. A poet once said, "A contended eye does not see faults." The third sign is giving oneself too much leniency.

Compiled From:
"Purification of the Heart" - Hamza Yusuf, p. 160