Qur'anic Reflections

#10. The checklist (part 1)

Allah Subahanahu wata'ala mentions the characteristics of the people of paradise and these 5 things should be on every Muslim's checklist!

I. The patient : This is a difficult trait to imbibe into one's character especially since we're a generation whose worst nightmare is a slow WiFi connection.

-_-

Patience broadly encompasses three things :

1. Patience at the time of calamity
Life is like a book, you won't always understand why some things happen but at the end, every chapter is an essential part of the story (paraphrasing from a quote idk where I found it)

Life is a roller coaster ride and bad times are inevitably going to greet us at one turn or another. Ustadh Nouman shares some beautiful advice on this:

He says that when the Israelites were just reeling from the torture the pharoah had inflicted on them, Musa Alayhissalam asks them to be grateful to Allah. He asks them to think about how Allah saved them from the pharoah.

Now these were a people who'd lost their children to this tyrant's insecurities and yet, the only thing  Musa Alayhissalam wanted them to focus on at that moment was to remember the favours of Allah.

And I think of this as the best tip.

Focus on the good stuff. Be grateful. Because it always always always could've been worse.

2. Patience with regard to obedience
This happens with a lot of us practicing Muslims who're actively trying to hasten towards good deeds. Everyone experiences their low moments, and shaytan takes this opportunity to make us believe that even though our efforts have been sincere, the outcome is nowhere to be seen.

Whenever I experience this, I think of this quote I read in an article.

"It is not for man to look for results. "

When Ibrahim Alayissalam had built the Ka'ba Allah had asked him to call people for Hajj. Ibrahim Alayhissalam had doubted if his voice from that barren land could reach the people of the world. But the sheer number of people performing umrah and Hajj from all parts of the world today is testimony to the power of sincere intentions.

Focus on getting the work done. The results are with Allah and Allah has mentioned multiple times in the Qur'an that the deeds of the believers never go waste.

Expect the best from Him.

3. Patience with regard to disobedience

In a world full of temptations, where sins are being portrayed gloriously it becomes increasingly challenging to practice Sabr.

Allah knows what our hearts conceal, what our deepest and darkest desires are and Allah also knows how we try to suppress them, how we constantly strive against our Nafs to come out as an obedient believer.

When something doesn't come naturally to you, don't worry. Just push yourself towards it. The most gracious deed is the one you have to force yourself to do.

Keep pushing, be patient, and one day in sha'Allah it'll become a habit.

There is a hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that the best way to gain Sabr is to be greedy for it and to ask Allah Subhanahu wata'ala for it.

So make it a point that you always include this in your dua!

I'd like to add that Sabr is probably the most difficult trait for me to adapt into my nature. These are some of the tips that have helped me. I hope they help you too! 

II. The true

This comes in three packages.

-Being true to Allah : Proving that your shahada is true by fulfilling the requisites of iman like strong will in the face of hardships, taking Allah's tests in your stride and standing up for His cause whenever needed.

-Being true with others :

Truthfulness leads to righteousness and righteousness leads to paradise.

Lying leads to wickedness and wickedness leads to hell fire.

Those two statements are enough to help us understand the magnitude of virtue attributed to a true character and the magnitude of wickedness attributed to lying.

Malik related to me that Safwan ibn Sulaym said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked, 'Can the mumin be a coward?' He said, 'Yes.' He was asked, 'Can the mumin be a miser?' He said, 'Yes.' He was asked, 'Can the mumin be a liar?' He said, 'No.' " (Muwatta Malik)

Lying is the trait that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) used to hate the most. It is a sign of hypocrisy according to another hadith:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "The signs of a hypocrite are three: Whenever he speaks he tells a lie; whenever he is entrusted he proves dishonest; whenever he promises he breaks his promise." (Sahih Bukhari)

And we all know that the hypocrites will have the worst punishment in the hell fire. 

So no matter what, we must always remain truthful with our friends and family. 

-Being true with oneself :

This is a major boost for me when I'm procrastinating. We make a lot of plans but execution is where our boats are stuck. To set these plans to sail, we need to trust in our ability to make decisions and abide by them. Productivity comes only when we stick to the plans we have made for ourselves.

During our very own training camp aka Ramadan, we're all left with awe at how much we accomplish in such a short period of time. It helps us realize what our true potential is and how we're letting it rust away due to our laziness.

We need to be mindful of the time we waste because we're going to be held accountable for it.

Let us all make a resolution this Ramadan that we're going to stop all kinds of lying even while joking and that we remain true to our cause and don't let laziness get in the way of achieving our goals.

May Allah give us strength. Ameen!