By Abdullahi Jamaa
Getting closer to Allah is the dream of every Muslim. However, this is an uphill battle that is not easy for people of weak faith. Is there a secret to achieving a strong relationship with the creator? Yes but the magnetic of field of Taqwa must be cultivated.
We often say we fear Allah but we end up committing frivolous sins with a lot of slipshod: things like backbiting, lying and many other grave turpitudes including drinking, fornication, adultery and corruption.
We longer separate the sacred from the profane. We kill, we drink and commit zina like disbelievers. We commit economic crimes stealing from the public and spreading injustice in our land. We have left nothing to chance in disobeying the creator.
There isn’t meaningful difference between others and us. The light of Islam is missing from our faces, absent from our approach and generally we lead a miserable hermit life full of personal and communal neglect.
Have you heard about the story of Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Adham? One day, a youthful man came to him complaining that it was hard for him to avoid sinning, committing zina and doing all the evil things on earth.
The sheikh said: “So you want to disobey Allah? If so then do not eat Allah’s Rizq because all the rizq are His, do not walk on His earth because the earth belongs to Him and look for somewhere else to live where He cannot see you.”
Is that really possible, no for sure. The wold with all its provisions and sustenance belongs to Allah. Disobeying means abusing His mercy: the health, the wealth, the family. Disobeying means arrogance and lack of appreciation.
Disobeying Allah! Oh no. It’s reported that some companions of our beloved prophet (SAW) collapsed whenever they encountered a disbeliever, they couldn’t believe in their eyes that somebody can walk on earth while arrogantly disobeying Allah.
Now we are in a different world where many Muslims disobey the creator without feeling remorseful. We are Muslims by names and not by actions, with cracked lips we often say the Shahada but it did not settle in our hearts. We are cultural Muslims without Islamic culture.
What can we do now?
Can we do something to achieve Taqwa? Yes we can, there are so many ways and one of them is increasing acts of Ibadah. This means challenging ourselves because it’s not easy for us to be mentioned in the celestial tablets: to be the favourite of Allah and the darling of angels.
We are doing very badly with our five daily prayers, often doing it casually, just praying for the sake of removing the obligation from our shoulders. We are very weak Muslims, carrying ourselves like a heavy stone, getting contented with just praying for the sake of it. And sadly, we are eyeing for Janah with this kind of lazy attitude.
Come on, prayers are prayed for acceptance, meaning a lot has to be done both physically and emotionally. Praying like a praying mantis and expecting angelic results is a sin itself. Let’s go back to our prayer and find out if it really has the power to protect the faahish from us. This is the beginning of our first assignment to achieve a score of Taqwa .
And then we must concert all our spiritual acts of worship, doing every bit of righteous deed that is within our capacity. Many people will say ‘please don’t make the deen hard for us’ but that is a cheap excuse that has been exaggerated for a very long time.
In doing and increasing good deeds some discipline and consistency has to be developed. It means therefore change must be sought with repeated actions done again and again for a period of time until they are engraved in our hearts and minds.
We must get out of the comfort zone and tame our souls if we really want Jannah. Anything short of struggle is a daylight dream. You know hard work pays; we cannot keep on twiddling our fingers expecting a spiritual magic to take us to heavens and make us stout champions.
Start your own spiritual challenge today. For example, say that in 40 days or in one month I have to do this particular actions consistently and every day I have to wake up say at 4am to do the virtuous deed of night prayer, a round of morning and evening athkaars, a juzu of Quran and your struggle is worth if done with a sincere intention and without Riyaa and neglect.
The sweetness of Islam relies largely on efforts and ibadah. It’s so sweet like the honey of paradise to obey the Lord through consistent actions of Ibadah. Ibn Taymiyah said he got real pleasure in worshiping Allah through diligent acts of Ibadah.
The ball is in your court. You have the choice to obey or disobey Allah. Best of luck.
