Monday, July 18, 2005

Treatment towards the creation of Allah (swt)

I begin in the name of Allah: The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

Dearest readers, I do not wish to make a long post however the topic in discussion is extremely important. I request you to read the article by devoting your complete attention towards it and thereafter one must attempt to bring the teachings into practice.

One of the biggest misunderstandings that we have adopted towards Islam is that we believe that Islam is based wholly on ibaadat (worship of Allah (swt)). Yes indeed, a part of Islam does concern the worship of the Lord and these acts are vital, for example: praying our daily salaah, fasting in the month of Ramadhan etc.
However the problem arises when we begin to believe that by fulfilling only one part of Islam we have fulfilled our entire obligation as muslims.

Ibaadat is one part of Islam and the other parts of Islam are concerning the way we live which is in relation with the creation of Allah (swt). We have completely dismissed this part of Islam that instructs every individual to be extremely vigilant when dealing with the creation of Allah (swt)

A well-respected Sheikh has related the hadith about a woman who use to be very mindful of her ibaadat. She use to offer her prayers in abundance and wake in the dark of the night, sacrificing her sleep to perform her tahajjud prayers. However, it was the habbit of this woman to cruelly tie her cat up and not provide the cat with any source of food or drink. This cat being unable to move or seek its own food, died very soon.
Due to the suffering and torment that this woman had subjected her cat to, she was thrown into the fire of hell.

Readers, let us not fool ourselves into thinking that due to the fact that we dress ourselves in islamic attire, due to the fact that we pray our salaahs, we have fullfilled our duty. No! This is not the case. We pray our prayers but simultaneously we utter words from our mouths that offend others, we subject others to great discomfort, we scar the hearts of others without even realizing that such a deed will result in severe punishment.

A Muslim is known by his kind treatment towards others. His treatment should be such that even those who do not believe in Islam feel obliged to marvel at the teachings of such a religion. I conclude by saying that yes surely we must be watchful about our ibaadat, we must ensure we perform our daily prayers etc. But at the same time we must ensure that we have reformed our characters, and that any creation of Allah (swt) does not feel threatened, insulted or even discomforted by our presence, our words or our actions.


I end by making a supplication to Allah (swt): Oh Allah, we beg You to make us people who do not oppress any of Your creation. If we have done so in the past we ask You to grant those we have oppressed satisfaction in this world and the Hereafter. Oh Allah, we beg you to not make us Muslims just by name but make us firm muslims by actions, make us people who strive to follow Your command, Oh Allah, make our characters like that of your beloved Prophet (saw) who endured pain from his enemies and in return gave them supplications of goodness.
Ameen.