Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Dignity of free will
Al-Shuara (The Poets) Sura 26: Verse 4

"If We will, We can send down a (compelling) sign on them from heaven, so that they are forced to bow their necks before it (in humility)."

If God willed, He could, for example, write His Name on the surface of the heavens with starts or, as He caused Mount Sinai to tower above the Children of Israel to compel them to keep their covenant, He could compel people to believe in some way. However, the signs he provides in creation and the lives of humankind, as well as through the Prophets, are perfectly sufficient for one who is not overcome by arrogance, wrongdoing, misjudgement, and carnal desires; if God were to provide a more obvious sign, this would mean negating human free will and nullifying the purpose of the tests we are put through.

God has endowed human beings with distinguishing faculties and honoured us with free will. He has also created us with a disposition to believe and worship. Moreover, just as the whole universe and our physical composition provide multiple signs for Existence and Unity of God, each human being has many experiences throughout their life that also give certainty to their conscience about this same, cardinal truth. In addition, God sent numerous Prophets throughout history, the character and life of whom, along with the many miracles God created at their hands, were an undeniable sign for the truth of the Message from God. In short, God opens all the doors to faith for human reason and conscience. However, He never compels human beings to believe, because this would be in contradiction to the dignity of free will.

Unbelief arises not from there being a lack of sufficient signs, but rather from human arrogance, wrongdoing, misjudgement, an attachment to the world and worldly benefits, or carnal desires. This is clear in the history of many peoples who refused to believe, even when the miracle they asked their Prophet to perform had been shown to them, and who were subsequently destroyed as a result.

Compiled From:
"The Quran: Annotated Interpretation in Modern English" - Ali Unal, pp. 762, 763

Understanding The Prophet's Life

The "Challenge" of Istiqamah

Istiqamah (being steadfast) is not an easy thing to achieve. The proper istiqamah will only come about when faith is firmly rooted in the heart. Complete or perfect istiqamah - which implies complete devotion to the oneness of Allah without any shortcomings - may be impossible to achieve. By the mercy of Allah, such "perfection" is not what is required of human beings.

A hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) makes this point clearer. The Prophet said,

"O People, you are not able to, or you will not do, all that you are ordered to do. But, instead, try to be upright and have glad tidings."[Abu Dawud]

In another hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, the Messenger of Allah stated, "Be straight on the path or be close to it." What the Prophet meant by this statement is that a Muslim must be in one of two situations for every belief, statement and deed: The first state is where the belief, statement or deed is correct and along the Straight Path. It is like a person who has taken aim at something and has actually hit his target. The second state is where the person intends to do what is right and correct but falls a little short. In this state, it must have been the case that the person intended and wanted to hit the target but he simply missed due to his own inability. However, at no time would a Muslim intentionally not hit the mark or not aim at the mark. The Prophet mentioned these two cases and these two only, and they are the only acceptable cases. (Ibn Rajab)

Hence what is required upon the person is either to be fully following, adhering and sticking to the Straight Path or to be doing his best to adhere to that Straight Path, although he may fall short of that Straight Path.

Compiled From:
"Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi" - Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo, pp. 834-837

Cool Tips!

The Most Important Words

When it comes to getting along with your parents, the single most important word is please. The two most important words are thank you. The three most important words are I love you. The four most important words are How can I help? There is power and magic in each.

Saying please is polite and shows respect. The same goes for thank you. Nothing perturbs parents more than ingratitude. So look for ways to say thank you, whenever you can.

"Thanks Mom. Dinner was yummy."
"Dad thanks a lot for letting me use the car last night. I had a great time."

I love you is the next most important phrase. In some homes, hugs and sure love yas are passed around freely. In others, it's not so warm and fuzzy. If that's your lot, try being a cycle breaker and starting a new trend in your home, where you express love and affection in one way or another. It only takes one person to get started.

How can I help? is the next most important phrase. Caution: Make sure your parents are sitting down when you try this out on them because it might give 'em a stroke.

"Mom, I know you're totally stressed right now. How can I help?"
"Oh, no! Look at the garage. It looks like a tornado hit it," says your dad.
"How can I help, Dad?" you say back.

Compiled From:
"The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make" - Sean Covey, pp. 135, 136