By Yusuf Abdullahi In the name of Allah who states “He who created death and life, that He may try which of you is best in deed; He is t...
By
Yusuf Abdullahi
In the name of Allah who states “He who created
death and life, that He may try which of you is best in deed; He is the exalted
in might, Oft forgiving” Q14:42. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon His noble
servant, our master Muhammad and his oppressed progeny.
The piece for this week is the mission behind the
creation of man. It is very unfortunate that most people are either ignorant or
careless about this mission for which they were created and placed on earth.
The philosophy behind life is very clear in Islam. Allah says “Behold, thy Lord
said to the angels I will create a vicegerent on earth, they said Wilt though
place therein one who will make mischief therein and shed blood? Whilst we do
celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name) He said I know what ye know
not” Q2:30
We can clearly understand from the verse above that
Allah has created man to live as His vicegerent on earth. This means that he
should run his life strictly in accordance with the directives of Allah as
contained in the noble Qur’an. So it is part of this exercise to teach the
children the essence of life which is to worship Allah alone and not associate
anything with him. Allah states "O you people! worship your Guardian Lord,
who created you and those who came before you; that you may become righteous.
Who has made the earth your couch, and the heavens your canopy; and sent down
rain from the heavens and brought forth therewith fruits for your sustenance;
then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth). Q2:21-22
Based on this, the life has three stages; our living
on earth, the interim stay in the grave otherwise referred as the life in the
unseen and the life hereafter. All these three stages are important but most
important of all is the life here as is the fieldwork of the two lives to come.
Therefore, we must work harder to live as vicegerents of Allah so that we may
acquire His pleasure and attain the greatest abode of His righteous servants in
the hereafter.Therefore, in the cause of his life, man must make sure that he
properly understands and gives more attention to spiritual aspect of his being
which has greater impact and determines his hereafter.
Here and hereafter are two accustomed expressions
that simply refers to this life and the life after. Which of the two is more
important? The earthly life of course. This is because, it is the seed for the
life that comes after it. No doubt, all messengers of Allah were sent on this
motive and no nation was left. In fact Allah has told us the answer of the
rebellious in a response to angels on the coming of the messengers "They
will say, yes indeed a Warner did come to us, but we rejected him and said
Allah never sent down any (message); ye are in nothing but a grave error! Q67:9
RUNNINDG A PLEASED LIFE
prosperous is he who purifies the soul and failed
has he who soils it with sin and impurity. Q91:9-10. In a hadeeth, the prophet
(S) every child is born on a pure nature, it is his parent that brings him up
as a Christian or a Jew. Allah states"we will give a pure and wholesome
life to every one man or woman who acts righteously and has faith and we will
reward them in accordance with the best of what they used to do" Q16:97
On whatever capacity one lives in this world,
he/sheshall be judged based on his/her action. The trial of life covers the
rich and the poor, scholar and ignorant, civil servant and the farmer just as
it affects all and sundry. So we must be very careful in our duty to Allah the
Most High!And from the wisdom of Allah, the linking bridge is death that all
souls must taste.We may ask what is death?Simply, death could be defined as an
end to living. Life's end or stoppage from being alive.I could recall a little
article I wrote during our university days on a similar appellation on which many
commented including medical students.Although we know about death, but we
hardly think overit especially with regard to what comes after.When the Western
scientists enumerate characteristics of living things, they simply say death is
the final but unimportant end! One must ask himself some related questions
however. Is the death an end or a beginning? What is the wisdom behind death?
Where do we go after death? What is the relation between the physical and
spiritual aspects of human being?And what are the lessons to learn from the
death of others we witness?Regrettably, many people do not mind the religious
teachings about death and therefore live unconscious of the related highlights.
Most important thing I want to draw our attention to
is the spiritual aspect which is beyond the comprehension of a qualified
medical doctor. A doctor pronounces a man dead when the various systems of his
body such as circulatory and respiratory among others cease to function.The
organs are there but no longer function and the doctor can neither restart nor
give akick.Allah says "They will further say Had we but listened or used
our intelligencewe should not (now) be among the companions of the blazing
fire. They will then confess their sins; but far from Allah's mercy are the companions
of the blazing fire!Q67: 10 -11
In the light of the above verses we can understand
that LISTENING and INTELLIGENCE are very important criteria for good
comprehension of the essence behind this life. As such those that missed the
guidance were perished in hell. May Allah protect us!The sermon of Luqman
el-Hakeem to his son is very relevant where he admonished him to associate no
partner with Allah, to be obedient to his parents, to be steadfast in prayers,
bid people unto virtue and forbid vice, bear patience with whatever may befall
himin the path of Allah, turn not his face in scorn and pride and not be
indifferent towards people. Q31;19. The psychological contribution of Dr.
Alexis Carrel, a French scholar wrote in his book, Reflections sur le conduite
de la vie, Persian translation, Pages 99 -100 is very relevant here and could
traced from its sources.
REWARDS ACCORDING TO DEEDS
The righteous and the wicked are rewarded
accordingly. "But give glad tidings to those who believe and work
righteousness, that their portion is Garden, beneath which rivers flow. Every
time they are fed with fruits there from, they say why, this is what we were
fed with before, for they are given things in similitude and they have therein
spouses purified; and they abide therein (forever)" Q2:25
Imam Ali has said at times one's enemy is more
helpful than one's friend because the latter makes one aware of his
shortcomings leading him to overcome them.Therefore, the success behind this
life is undoubtedly to live in accordance with the teachings of the creator and
to attain His pleasure. The losers are those that wasted their lives by missing
the guidance of Allah running their lives in accordance with their wishes. Most
people will not perceive this until they die. These are the ignorant, the
careless that think they are in control but the real and actual controller is
Allah, the Omnipotent and disposer of all affairs.I hope we will make the best
use of our time to acquire the pleasure of our creator in this trial so that Allah
might be pleased with us.
While urging us to put in more efforts to achieve
the pleasure of Allah the Most High, the unconditional need for our goals,
esteemed readers on the need to refer to Shi'a scholars, books and sites for
more information and guidance, the need for the unconditional release of Sheikh
el-Zakzaky and all his disciples cannot be overemphasized.
Wassalamu alaikum.
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