Fitting The Mold
How to become one of Allah[swt]s finest, as explained by Him
Alhamdulilah, in the last post we covered the fact that we have the final say before doing an action. Allah[swt] gave us the power to either give in to temptation, or to stomp on our shaytaans dreams by remaining righteous and going closer to Allah[swt].Aside from the last post, this is simply put and reaffirmed once again in Surat al-Israa, ayah 65, when Allah[swt] says to Shaytaan:
“Indeed, over My [believing] servants you have no authority.And sufficient is your Lord as Disposer of Affairs.”
Amazing. Allah[swt] straight up tells Shaytaan here that he’s got nothing on Allah[swt]s believing servants, or his ‘abd in arabic. So, how do we become one of these ‘abd so we’ll be immune from Shaytaan insha Allah?
To every question there is an answer in the Quran. Let’s take a gander at Surat al-Furqaan, ayat 63-76, I’ll just put the translation cause it’s kind of lengthy.
63 And the servants of the Most Merciful are those who walk upon the earth easily, and when the ignorant address them [harshly], the respond [with words of] peace.
64 And those who spend [part of] the night to their Lord prostrating and standing [in prayer].
65 And those who say “Our Lord, avert from us the punishment of Hell. Indeed its punishment is ever adhering,
66 indeed it is evil as a settlement and residence.”
67 And [they are] those who, when they spend, do so not excessively nor sparingly, but are ever, between that, just moderate.
68 And those who do not invote with Allah another deity or kill the soul, which Allah forbidden except by right, and do not commit adultery. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty.
69 Multiplied for him is the punishment on the day of resurrection and he will abide therein humiliated.
70 Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. 71 And he who repents and does righteousness does indeed turn to Allah with [accepted] repentance.
72 And [they are] those who do not testify to falsehood, and when they pass near ill speech, they pass by with dignity.
73 And those who, when reminded of the verses of their Lord, do not fall upon them deaf and blind.
74 And those who say “Our Lord grant us from among our wives and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us a leader [example] for the righteous.
75 Those will be awarded the Chamber [the most elevated portion of Jannah]
76 Abiding eternally therein. Good is the settlement and residence.Since this is a big chunk of ayat with instructions with each one, I’m going to try to break it down vun by vun.
63.‘Those who walk upon the earth easily‘ is explained in the tafseer books as those who walk gently, with the balance of having dignity while not being arrogant. Try, to walk in a confidantly humble manner.
64.Tahajjud doesn’t mean that we have to get up hours before fajr and bust out a juz per rak’a in recitation. Before you go to bed, pray two rak’a with the intention of tahajjud. Or, even more rewarding would be to wake up and pray two rak’a right before Fajr begins. While you’re praying, beg Allah[swt] for your worldly and otherworldly desires to be fulfilled; He loves it when we ask him for things, and tahajjud is the time to do it.
65 & 66. This one is alhamdulilah do-able by all of us, all the time. Always try to remember to ask Allah[swt] to protect you from the hell fire, because it’s definitely not a pleasant place to be.
67. When you buy something, don’t buy the most expensive, but don’t buy the cheapest - get the one right in the middle. This shows balance and modesty, as well as a healthy level of attachment to the dunya (not too attached, but not just floating around all day).
68. Don’t have any other gods, because there is only one God[swt]. Don’t kill anyone, especially innocent, because Allah[swt] has made killing haraam except by certain rights, and no hanky panky.
69. Warning us about what will happen if we do the things Allah[swt] told us not to do. We should take these warnings seriously, reflect on them, and not just read them like a story.
70 & 71. Here, Allah[swt] is saying that if we do any of the aforementioned sins, we shouldn’t despair; we still have hope. Just repent to Allah, have belief in Him and His message, and do good deeds, and then insha Allah, Allah will replace our sins with good deeds. Then in the next ayah, He is reaffirming that if we just repent and try our best to do good deeds from then on, our repentance will be accepted insha Allah.Note that this is amazing for those of us who are living or have lived sinful lives. Those of us who want to repent, but are discouraged by all the sinning we’ve already done. But to us Allah says not to worry, he’ll forgive all that and give us equal amounts of good deeds. There’s no excuse for us not to turn our lives around, insha Allah
72. Don’t lie or testify to something you know is a lie. And if you hear something bad or someone says something bad to you, be the better person and walk away with the dignity of silence.
73. This one may be the hardest one for us. Reflecting on the verses of the Quran. Here’s a tip: instead of reading the Quran like a story or a narrative, read each verse or sets of verses and really think about them. How do these apply to me? Am I like the people of heaven or hell? How can I change. The Quran isn’t meant to just be an occasional read. It’s meant to help us analyze ourselves and change our lives for the better, insha Allah. Try as best you can to develop a connection to Allah[swt] through His book.
74. Ask Allah[swt] to grant us a great family. ‘Comfort of my eyes’ here means a source of happiness, not just because of anything, but due to their righteousness and commitment to Allah[swt]. Also, ask to be among those who can be a good example for others as well. But remember, asking is one part, then we have to try.
75 & 76. Allah[swt] is then telling us what we will recieve if we show our commitment to Him by doing all the acts of righteousness, and abstain from acts of sin.Sorry for the long post, it’s a big set of ayat.
That, in a nutshell, is how we can become some of Allah[swt]’s most beloved people. Now, if we’re not doing any of these, then maybe we should start by doing one or two and mastering them, then moving onto the next. Be careful of trying to take on too big a task all at once, especially in Islam. Small but consistent is more beloved to Allah[swt] than huge and sporatic. Insha Allah, keeping this in mind, we can all become better and closer to Allah[swt].
Wassalamu Alaykum
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2 Responses to “Fitting The Mold”
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JazaakAllah kheir, this was a really good explanation, and with your permission, I would like to use it for a reminder session =)
Go for it, insha Allah.
AR