What about Satan? Should I fear him? Well, Allah says: "Lo! the devil is an enemy for you, so treat him as an enemy." (35.6) "Will ye choose him and his seed for your protecting friends instead of Me, when they are an enemy unto you? Calamitous is the exchange for evil-doers." (18.50) So if I don’t want to be one of the evil-doers I should not choose Satan for a friend. True, as the Quran says, "the devil's strategy is ever weak." (4.76) But I should nonetheless be wary of him.
What’s the difference between Allah and Satan? Well, "The devil promiseth
you destitution and enjoineth on you lewdness. But Allah promiseth you
forgiveness from Himself with bounty. Allah is All-Embracing,
All-knowing." (2.268) "Lo! Satan is for man an open foe." (12.5)
"Satan was ever man's deserter in the hour of need." (25.29) As for
Allah, "it was not Allah's purpose that your faith should be in vain, for
Allah is Full of Pity, Merciful towards mankind." (2.143) "…and He is
the Most Merciful of those who show mercy." (12. 64)
The Quran says: "Man was created weak." (4.28) Yet, it does not say
to me go and sin; it says if you sin, be honest and say sorry. If I heed Satan
for a moment and commit a sin, then I have to repent, and I may be punished
even if I repent, so that I will not be encouraged to go on that way, the way
of Satan. Allah says: "Forsake the outwardness of sin and the inwardness
thereof. Lo! those who garner sin will be awarded that which they have
earned." (6.120) Allah wants to save me. Allah wants me to lead a clean
life in a clean society. If I am not clean I should not expect (my) society to
be clean. If society is clean and healthy, that’s not a guarantee that I’ll be
clean too. I have to watch my own acts. If I am married, Allah would not want
me to be constantly watching my wife. I can’t watch her all the time, anyway!
Allah will make her watch herself by keeping duty to Him, by taqwa.
Allah says: "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one
of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the
support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that
which Allah hath guarded." (4.34) Nobody can watch anybody. I can’t always
trust someone's integrity or probity, because anybody can deceive me. History
is full of betrayal stories. Even very, very good believers are fallable: they
are likely to make mistakes. So Allah thought of a way to minimize these
mistakes. Scholars call it (sadd addaraaii) or Prohibition of what may
lead to committing sins. If you leave a man with a woman alone they are likely
to make a mistake, sooner or later, or at least have the desire to do so. The
Prophet (pbuh) said: "No man is privately alone with a woman but their
third is Satan." If you let your son or little brother go to a place where
alcohol and drugs are served freely, he is very likely to do as others do. So
what do you do to save him? You prevent him from going there. If he doesn’t
listen to you, what happens? Idem for the Quran. The Quran prohibits adultery
because, as you know, there may be bad consequences for everybody. Children,
for example, have the legitimate right to know their biological fathers, which
is not always possible. Would you be pleased if you learnt that the child you
call your son, the child you have fed for so many years, was in fact the son of
another man? If that didn’t happen to you personally, well, it did happen to
many men.
In some countries a woman can marry more than one man at a time. Some men are happy with that situation because they prefer it to being stigmatized for not being able to beget a child : but that's a choice. The Law can allow marriage for all, but at the end of the day every individual is free to choose his way; the Quran tells you its way and it's up to you to choose. Allah knows that making love makes one feel so good, but for how long? Allah knows that cocaine makes one feel so good, but for how long? If I can’t marry, for material reasons, for example, and I make a mistake, at least, I should say sorry. At least I should consider that as a sin. Allah says: "Will they not rather turn unto Allah and seek forgiveness of Him ? For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." (5.74) "And those who, when they do an evil thing or wrong themselves, remember Allah and implore forgiveness for their sins - Who forgiveth sins save Allah only ? - and will not knowingly repeat (the wrong) they did." (3.135) So I should beg Allah’s pardon and implore Him to give me the means to marry. It’s not a matter of coertion. It’s not because Allah wants me to suffer from such deprivations. It’s because Allah wants me to elevate myself from an animal into a decent human being. Love was made to encourage people to marry and beget children. Some of these children would hopefully worship Allah. Allah knows that I can, if I will, and with His help, do without all that filth. Allah knows that, if I am a good believer, I can be stronger than Satan and all his temptations. Experience will show me that Satan can sometimes be as good as a lion in a cage, and it’s I who will go and let him out of the cage. Experience will show me that I wouldn’t make such mistakes only if I were weak. Sometimes I would do it soon after being relieved from a long suffering! Allah says: "And if misfortune touch a man he crieth unto Us, (while reclining) on his side, or sitting or standing, but when We have relieved him of the misfortune he goeth his way as though he had not cried unto Us because of a misfortune that afflicted him." (10.12) What would I expect Allah to do to me in that case? So when Allah punishes me for my mistakes, it’s because He wants me to be an honest, decent person. Allah says: "O men of understanding! O ye who believe! Now Allah hath sent down unto you a reminder, A messenger reciting unto you the revelations of Allah made plain, that He may bring forth those who believe and do good works from darkness unto light. And whosoever believeth in Allah and doeth right, He will bring him into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, therein to abide forever. Allah hath made good provision for him." (65.11) Allah only wants good for me. He wants me to be happy. Allah lwould ove me before I love Him. Allah says: "O ye who believe! Whoso of you becometh a renegade from his religion, (know that in his stead) Allah will bring a people whom He loveth and who love Him." (5 .54) When I sin and I'm punished Allah wants me to feel embarrassed, ashamed of myself, so that I say SORRY. Allah says: "O man! What hath made thee careless concerning thy Lord, the Bountiful, Who created thee, then fashioned, then proportioned thee? Into whatsoever form He will, He casteth thee." (82 6-8)
Now, why do I sin? Very often it’s either because I am pessimistic (and think
Allah is not going to help me anytime soon) or because I feel self-sufficient
and think that even Allah’s punishment would not affect my life anytime soon.
But why should I expect Allah to help me? As a believer, do I want to serve
Allah or do I want Allah to serve me? What if Allah gave me everything I wanted
? Would I even care about moving up from the level of Islam to the level
of Iman? Allah first gave me a chance to be a Muslim, now He gives
me a chance to become a moomin (a believer). This is a higher
grade, I have to work hard to get up there. I have to work hard psychologically
and intellectually. So if Allah puts me in a pitiful situation, because of my
own sins, that’s my chance to create a harmony between the physical things I do
as a Muslim (praying, fasting…) and the spiritual framework within which I do
these things. By doing so, I give a meaning to my salah (prayer),
to my fasting, to my pilgrimage… I am not only imitating other people; I am
translating the language of my own heart and mind into physical acts. This will
not happen overnight: it comes bit by bit. Allah knows what I want. Allah knows
what I need. Allah knows the limits of my patience more than I do. Allah knows
everything about me, even before I was born. What matters now is my intention,
is what I have at heart. Do I want to serve Allah or do I want Allah to serve
me? If I just want Allah to serve me, I will remain no more than a Muslim,
which is per se a GREAT thing. If I want to serve Allah, Allah will put the
angels at my service. In the Quran: "Lo! those who say: Our Lord is Allah,
and afterward are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve,
but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised. We are your
protecting friends in the life of the world and in the Hereafter. There ye will
have (all) that your souls desire, and there ye will have (all) for which ye
pray.” (41.30-31)
Trial by ordeal is painful. But I know that non-believers too go through painful experiences. It’s my intention, it’s my heart, that turns my painful experience into grades on the ladder of the Faith, if I ever care about that. It’s ups and downs. My Iman may go up very high, then it plummets, then it goes up higher than ever before, then it dies away, then it revives again and becomes stronger and stronger …until I find myself on the straight path. Yes, it’s a lengthy process, but only for the moomin, the good believer, because the rule is: the higher you rise in faith the harder your trials will be.
Now, what if I fail a test/trial? Very simply, I will be punished. When I feel alright, even if I am a moomin, I may fall to temptations, I may forget all the sufferings I experienced during my last ordeal. So Allah would remind me by a new ordeal. That good job which gave me such a strong feeling of security and self-sufficiency, well, I'm losing it now. I try by all means to get a new job: all to no avail. My feeling of security is replaced by pessimism. What do I do? Well, I either give way to my animal instincts, pushed by my overwhelming pessimism, or I remember my Lord and run to Him for safety. Unfortunately for me, Allah may not remove my calamity anytime soon indeed. He may wait for me to learn a lesson. Allah may wait for me to put more questions to myself, to go through a self-analysis, to think more objectively about the world around me, about life, about my role in this world, about my goal in this life. Allah would wait for me to be honest with myself. If I do this I will increase in faith more and more. As for the job, Allah created the whole world, how can’t He help me find a good job…?
I too could say why should I be punished in the first place since it’s Allah who created Satan and gave him the power to mislead me? Suppose your only son stole a car and went to prison, would you take responsibility for that? Would you agree to go to prison in his place, because it’s you who did not give him the right upbringing? Maybe your son is good and would never do such things, but suppose your wife’s car was stolen by the son of a single mother who made love with her boyfriend during a school outing. Would your wife curse the boy who stole thecar or the ex-High School student who gave birth to him? If you (man) slept with a girl that you picked up on the street and you got AIDS, who would you blame for that? The girl, her parents, yourself, society? If you got a bad illness because of the junk food you eat every day, would you penalize the big food companies or the new ways of life or society, or who? Would you blame the whole food chain? So the Quran sensitizes and empowers the faithful. The Quran speaks of nafs ammara (literally, the soul inciting to evil) and nafs lawama (the soul which blames itself) and nafs mutmainna (the soothed soul). It’s up to me, as a believer, to manage my nafs, with the help of Allah, Who says: "And a soul and Him Who perfected it And inspired it (with conscience of) what is wrong for it and (what is) right for it. He is indeed successful who causeth it to grow, And he is indeed a failure who stunteth it." (91.7-10) "But ah ! thou soul at peace! Return unto thy Lord, content in His good pleasure! Enter thou among My bondmen! Enter thou My Garden!" (89.27-30) The Quran helps me organize my life as an individual and helps individuals organize their life as a community. The Quran sets a set of rules, some are very specific, others are general. There are things that any literate believer can take directly from the Quran. Other things need erudition. Our erudites help us understand not only the words but also the spirit of the Quran.
Anyone can know directly from the Quran how to give thanks to Allah for all His grace. Allah says: "See ye not how Allah hath made serviceable unto you whatsoever is in the skies and whatsoever is in the earth and hath loaded you with His favours both without and within? Yet of mankind is he who disputeth concerning Allah, without knowledge or guidance or a scripture giving light." (31.20) But when it comes to handling our complex relations within society we need serious knowledge inspired by the Quran and the Hadith. It’s our scholars, those who have the knowledge, who tell us how we can accomplish our mission as viceroys of Allah in the earth. Allah says: "Ask the followers of the Remembrance if ye know not!" (16.43) "Remember Allah, as He hath taught you that which (heretofore) ye knew not." (2.239) "If only there had been among the generations before you men possessing a remnant (of good sense) to warn (their people) from corruption in the earth, as did a few of those whom We saved from them!" (11.116) Life in society needs organization. People need to know their rights and obligations; they need to know, for example, the extent of the freedom they are allowed in society. But people also need to understand why they should abstain from doing things that others, in the same society, would do without embarrassment. Even a truly intellectual person can end up obeying Allah’s do’s and don’ts without protesting. That’s ibada, worship. But there’s ibada (worship) and ma’rifa (knowledge). I strive, within the faith, to understand, to know the end Allah "had in mind" when He commanded this or prohibited that. Allah says: "They question thee about strong drink and games of chance. Say: In both is great sin, and (some) utility for men ; but the sin of them is greater than their usefulness." (2.219) As a believer, I understand that Allah did not prohibit that without reason: "…the sin of them is greater than their usefulness." That is, for practical reasons. Take men-women relationships, for example. From a societal point of view, there might be no problem for a sensible, honest and faithful woman to receive her male friend in her office or even in her tent or personal room. But it’s because human experience has always shown that people don’t behave in the same way and that man can be weak that religion wanted to make rules and regulations. Allah says: "And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands' fathers, or their sons or their husbands' sons, or their brothers or their brothers' sons or sisters' sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed." (24.31) Allah speaks here in detail because, as you know, even in positive law many people tend to look for loopholes and derogations in order to get that which is not theirs, to circumvent the law.
Freedom is not only an individual responsibility. It’s also a collective responsibility. If the City (the state, the authority) outlaws the use of drugs, for example, the aim is noble; the aim is to save many people from addiction, from falling into delinquency. It’s an (amana), a trust; it is a general interest. Your children are not only your children; they are the children of the nation; they are the future of the nation, they are the treasure of the nation, be it Morocco, Malaysia or America. The City too should have a say in the way you bring up your child. Idem for the Quran. If I am a believer, the Quran shows me how to deal with my child, how to deal with my wife, how to behave in society as a whole. Allah says: "But seek the abode of the Hereafter in that which Allah hath given thee and neglect not thy portion of the world, and be thou kind even as Allah hath been kind to thee, and seek not corruption in the earth; lo! Allah loveth not corrupters." (28 .77) The Quran wants you and me to be responsible persons. Even when it comes to elections, I have to vote -if I ever do vote- for the person I think is best -even if I don’t really need anything from that person or his/her party. Whether I go and vote or stay at home on election day, my responsibility will not end there. I am responsible every single day: "…and be thou kind even as Allah hath been kind to thee, and seek not corruption in the earth." (28.77) That’s everyday! At least I should not contribute to corruption. Because if corruption becomes rampant, widespread, everybody would suffer, even good believers. Allah says: "And guard yourselves against a chastisement which cannot fall exclusively on those of you who are wrong-doers." (8.25) If an epidemic, for example, comes it will affect everybody.
That’s why the Quran wanted to organize our life, individual and collective, in such a way that everybody would enjoy the beauty of the world in a decent, legitimate way that wouldn’t harm anybody: Life is a precious gift. Allah wants life for us, not death. He says: "And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, that ye may ward off (evil)." (2 .179) The Quran even cares for our feelings. If I don’t like somebody I may turn away from him, but if he says hello I should return the greeting. Allah says: "When ye are greeted with a greeting, greet ye with a better than it or return it. Lo! Allah taketh count of all things." (4.86) "O ye who believe! Shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Ye abhor that (so abhor the other)! And keep your duty (to Allah). Lo! Allah is Relenting, Merciful." (49.12) This teaches us humility. Every individual is important. Even a sick person, even a mad or penniless unemployed person, is important at least quantitatively -because he/she has to eat, to get dressed, to get medical care.... and thus everybody contributes directly or indirectly to the smooth running of the economic machine here or elsewhere. When we talk about a country’s economy, we say it's a market of 100,000000 consumers. We put everything in that number: the wise and the crazy.
Solomon is quoted in the Quran as saying: "My Lord! Forgive me and bestow
on me sovereignty such as shall not belong to any after me. Lo! Thou art the
Bestower. So We made the wind subservient unto him, setting fair by his command
whithersoever he intended. And the unruly, every builder and diver (made We
subservient), And others linked together in chains, (Saying): This is Our gift,
so bestow thou, or withhold, without reckoning." (38.35-39) Not everybody
can be Solomon, of course. Not everybody can be rich -even in America and
China. From the very beginning life was based on dualities, just like the whole
world. Male and female, day and night, good and bad, rich and poor, faith and
heresy. Both believers and non-believers can be poor or rich, but believers and
non-believers do not approach life in the same way. Even believers do not
approach life in the same way all the time. Hence, the importance of guidance.
Allah shows me the way, but He will not always push me to do something or
prevent me from doing something. Allah says: "We verily sent Our
messengers with clear proofs, and revealed with them the Scripture and the
Balance, that mankind may observe right measure; and He revealed iron, wherein
is mighty power and (many) uses for mankind." (57 .25) You could do
different things with a knife, with your money or with your body. Just as I
have a unique finger or eye print, I can also have a different psyche, a
different destiny than others. But I am not totally master of my fate. Even
when it comes to remembering Allah. Allah says: "Lo! this is an
Admonishment, that whosoever will may choose a way unto his Lord. Yet ye will
not, unless Allah willeth. Lo! Allah is Knower, Wise." (76.29-30) "So
whosoever will may heed. And they will not heed unless Allah willeth
(it)." (74.55-56) "… but Allah hath endeared the faith to you and
hath beautified it in your hearts, and hath made disbelief and lewdness and
rebellion hateful unto you. Such are they who are the rightly guided."
(49.7) Allah even "cometh in between the man and his own heart."
(8.24) But Allah’s meddling in my life would generally differ according to two
things: 1) my faith (the degree of my faith in Allah; 2) the kind of good Allah
wants to bestow on me sooner or later. "Lo! my Lord is Merciful,
Loving." (11.90) But when I am leaving my place of work for the last time,
without having any alternative in the offing, I may not even care about that
good thing Allah may be keeping for me. I don’t want to suffer. I don’t want
sleepless nights. I don’t want to hear comments or see looks that make me feel
small. I want happiness now, and forever. Why should I be laid off by a human
like myself? Why should other people continue to go to work? Why should other
people live a normal life? The same questions, they have always been asked by
believers and non-believers alike. Reason alone cannot answer these questions.
We only try to philosophize about things, as I am doing in my book. Because we
know what’s in the Quran, we know what happens in life around us, but there are
things we don’t know. And it’s these things we don’t know that make it hard for
you and me to understand anything sometimes.
If I am a moomin (a believer), Allah gives me in the Quran an
interesting example of how I could misunderstand Allah’s actions. The story of
Moses with Al-Khidr (in the Surah of Al-Kahf) shows me that even a Prophet
cannot always understand Allah’s 'behaviour'. This story shows that it’s quite
normal (it’s human nature) if I cannot understand what’s happening to me,
because I am using human reason/logic to think about these things. The problem
is not with reason, though. The problem is that we humans base our reasoning on
data which may not be complete. Allah has all the data, that’s the
difference. It’s like Allah managing my patrimony without my knowledge but
wisely, in my best interest. What Allah takes away with one hand He makes up
for it with the other. In the Quran He says: "It may happen that ye hate a
thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is
bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not." (2.216) For example, Allah
speaks in the story of Moses with Al-Khidr of this man who left two orphans.
"…And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and
there was beneath it a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been
righteous, and thy Lord intended that they should come to their full strength
and should bring forth their treasure as a mercy from their Lord…" (18.82)
We do not know the age of this man at his death. But no matter how old he is,
that's it, this man has accomplished his mission, he can go to rest. Allah will
take care of his children and widow. This should enlighten me personally that I
must break down this psychological barrier which tells me that at certain age I
must absolutely have achieved this or that, otherwise I am in a state of
personal failure or considered as such. It is this psychological barrier that
torments us, traumatizes us, makes us mad, blind. And we keep wondering why
this or why that. Because we do not have all the data we do not really care
what may happen next. Perhaps this man who died and left a widow and two
orphan boys was an excellent man in relation to Allah, but might be less useful
in one way or another to his children. Who knows ? We all know that a man can
be a good husband but not necessarily a good father, and vice versa. This man
could well be an excellent husband and father and yet Allah wanted his children
to go through certain experiences or others to prepare them for a specific
mission in the future. Who knows?
Hence the importance of Istikhara prayers in which the faithful say: "O Allah, I seek Your counsel through Your knowledge and I seek Your assistance through Your might and I ask You from Your immense favour, for verily You alone decree our fate while I do not, and You know while I do not, and You alone possess all knowledge of the Unseen. O Allah, if You know this matter ( mention matter here ) to be good for me in relation to my religion, my life and livelihood and the end of my affairs, my present and future, then decree it for me and facilitate it for me, and then place blessing for me within it, and if You know this affair to be harmful for me concerning my religion, my life and livelihood and the end of my affairs, then remove it from me and remove me from it, and decree for me what is good, wherever it may be, and make me content with it."
Suppose you were in a beautiful garden and then you got a call with bad news:
chances are you’d forget all about the beauty of the garden. All your thoughts
will focus on your SELF. There’s nothing more important to you than your SELF.
And that’s normal. Allah says: "Man was created weak." (4.28)
Paradoxically, it’s in a time of weakness that we pay attention to things we
wouldn’t notice normally. There’s a very old house on the outskirts of the
city. It’s in the worst possible state you could imagine. The French family who
built this house and lived in it for years and years, during the colonial era,
would be shocked to know that it has been turned into a dirty animal shed with
lots of filth all around. Of all those French settlers there remains one family
in the whole area and it still lives in its old house. I have seen more than a
dozen such uninhabited old houses in and around a rural commune not far away. I
last went on foot to that rural area one morning in 2016 and I was a bit
dazzled (once again) by the beauty of the valley and the artificial waterfalls
and I can understand why the first French settlers loved that place. (At least
at that time, more than a century ago, there was no dam on the river and so
there must have been much more water than now.) The problem is, I was just
going past a large graveyard, with lots of graves in it, when the rustic beauty
of the valley brought a broad smile to my face. I quickly forgot all about the
graveyard and took pleasure in walking alongside the waterfalls. Such is the
power of temptation! But is it un-Islamic to feel and enjoy the beauty of the
world? Is it un-Islamic to live in a beautiful mansion in the middle of the
greenery? Allah says: "Who hath forbidden the adornment of Allah which He
hath brought forth for His bondmen, and the good things of His providing?"
(7.30) This beauty was made for us, but it can also turn against us. It’s like
a knife, you know. Allah says: "Beautified for mankind is love of the joys
(that come) from women and offspring; and stored-up heaps of gold and silver,
and horses branded (with their mark), and cattle and land. That is comfort of
the life of the world. Allah! With Him is a more excellent abode." (3.14)
So why should there be such pleasures in the first place? Why should there be
such a beauty? Well, it’s the same beautiful place for the French settlers, for
those who lived there before them and for those who live in there now. The same
beauty, the same temptations, the same graveyard. But Allah did not make beauty
only. He also allowed for there to be nasty things -for us to reflect.
Even the soldiers who served the French colonial authorities were not all
French. Many came from other French colonies. And the foreign people who were
then in our cities and villages were not all French. Also there were local
collaborators. We learnt all this at school. The question is, does one choose
to be a settler in a colonized country or a collaborator? A settler or a local
collaborator may have a family and children to feed. These children may not
necessarily know how their father got the money to buy them good food or good
clothes or build them a good house. Another question is, what’s the difference
between a house built with money made by collaboration (or corruption, for that
matter) and a house built with money made by legitimate trade, for example ?
For a stranger, what matters is the look of the house: is it nice or not? He
will be thrilled at the beauty of the house, of the car, of the factory, of the
children… even if he knows the origin of the money. It’s because people look at
the look, not at the origin. If this stranger were poor or single or homeless,
who would care about him? He may even be of those who, as Allah says,
"whenever Allah tries them by straitening their means of life, say:
"My Lord despiseth me." (89.16) Maybe the French family who lived in
that old house (turned into an animal shed) enjoyed the beauty of the house and
the area in that beautiful time, but then the French had to leave. Maybe they
weren’t even happy with the money they got when they sold everything. But why
is the house so dirty now? Is it because the owner of the place is so poor that
he only cares about the money he gets from the animals? Doesn’t he care about
beauty? Or could he be kind of "a wise person" who believes beauty is
transient? Could he be happy with his life as it is? I don’t even know who it
is, so I can’t answer those questions. But what would I do in his place? What
would I care about? That’s a very big question.
Allah knows all that ! He knows that only a few would ever care. He says:
"And whatsoever He hath created for you in the earth of divers hues, lo !
therein is indeed a portent for people who take heed." (16.13) It’s for
those people who "take heed" that Allah made that beauty. If Allah
says to those people: "Is He then Who createth as him who createth
not?" (16.17,) they will certainly say: No! Allah says: "Have
they not observed what is before them and what is behind them of the sky and
the earth? (…) Lo! herein surely is a portent for every slave who turneth (to
Allah) repentant." (34.9) "A vision and a reminder for every penitent
slave." (50.8) This penitent servant (‘abd muneeb) would be
sensible to all beauty: be it wild beauty in the woods or man-made beauty like
that wonderful car parked in front of the school. But this penitent servant
would not be impressed too much by man-made beauty when he knows the origin. He
would care as much about the look as about the origin.
Allah says: "The evil and the good are not alike even though the plenty of
the evil attract thee." (5.100) This penitent servant knows that it’s all
trial. Allah says: "Every soul must taste of death, and We try you with
evil and with good, for ordeal." (21.35) But here’s the problem! If that
is what I believe really, well, I will be tested. I can’t feign. Allah says:
"Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We
believe, and will not be tested with affliction? Lo! We tested those who were
before them. Thus Allah knoweth those who are sincere, and knoweth those who
feign." (29.2-3) If I pass the first test, I should prepare for the next.
The rule is : the higher I rise in my iman (faith) the harder
my trial will be. And I’ll be tried with people around me, people who have
wonderful cars, nice houses, good jobs, lovely children… and even people who
don’t have anything at all. Allah says: "And We have appointed some of you
a test for others: Will ye be steadfast? And thy Lord is ever Seer."
(25.20) I’ll be like a lonely sailor in a pitiless sea, lonely except from
Allah. Each time I go beyond a wave in this monstrous sea of temptations I say
"lo! with hardship goeth ease, Lo! with hardship goeth ease" (94.5-6)
until I reach the shore with the least damage. It’s a fascinating experience.
Hey, one would argue, I’m not a Muslim and I served your Muslim state. Is it wrong for me to be paid for that? Is it wrong for you to collaborate with my non-Muslim state and right for me to collaborate with your Muslim state? Two weights and two measures? That’s a hard question. However, we read in the Hadith: "The Messenger of Allah dispatched us - myself, Az-Zubair, and Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad. He said: ‘Proceed until you reach Rawdah Khakh, where there is a lady carrying a letter. Take the letter from her and bring it to me.’ So we proceeded on our way with our horses galloping until we reached the Rawdah. There we found the lady and said to her: ‘Give us the letter.’ She said: ‘I have no letter.’ We said: ‘Either you take out the letter, or we shall take off your clothes.’ He said: 'So she took it out of her braid.' He said: 'We brought it to the Messenger of Allah, and it was from Hatib bin Abi Balta'ah, addressed to some people among the idolaters of Makkah, informing them of some matter regarding the Prophet. So he said: ‘What is this O Hatib?’ He said: ‘Do not be hasty with me O Messenger of Allah! I was a person who is an ally to the Quraish, not being related to them. The Muhajirun who are with you have relatives who can protect their families and their wealth in Makkah. So since I have no lineage among them, I wanted to do them a favour, so they might protect my relatives. I did not do this out of disbelief, nor to renegade from my religion, nor did I do it to choose disbelief [after Islam].’ The Prophet said: ‘He said the truth.’ Umar bin Al-Khattab said: ‘Allow me to chop off the head of this hypocrite’” The Prophet said: ‘Indeed he participated in (the battle of) Badr. You do not know, perhaps Allah looked at those who attended Badr and said: ‘O people of Badr! Do as you like, for I have forgiven you.’ " He said: ‘It was about him, that this Surah was revealed: ‘O you who believe! Do not take My enemies and your enemies as protecting friends showing affection towards them.’ "
In other words, it's a question of principles and convictions.
Some people surpass themselves by practising certain sports or by engaging in certain adventures. A penitent servant surpasses himself by practising his faith, on the ground, in reality. In either case, if I am a moomin, I’m doing that for the good of my own soul. Allah says: "And whosoever striveth, striveth only for himself, for lo! Allah is altogether Independent of (His) creatures." (29.6) The world is full of people, but only a few of them mean to you. Your family and your friends mean to you more than anybody else. Idem for Allah. In the Quran we read: "Leave Me (to deal) with him whom I created lonely, And then bestowed upon him ample means, And sons abiding in his presence And made (life) smooth for him. Yet he desireth that I should give more…" (74 .11-15) How can someone like this one mean anything to Allah? If I want to mean something to somebody I do something to please him, don’t I? If I want to mean something to Allah I do something to please Him, don’t I? But if I can lie to people, if I can feign to people, I can’t lie to Allah. Allah says: "Thus Allah knoweth those who are sincere, and knoweth those who feign." (29.3)
All the temptations, all the glamour, all the beauty in the world was made for that purpose. Allah says: " (All this hath been) in order that Allah might try what is in your breasts and prove what is in your hearts. Allah is Aware of what is hidden in the breasts (of men)." (3.154) And just as we reveal to Allah that we are truly sincere, He reveals to us, through our tests, that when everybody lets us down, He alone stays by our side to support and save us. Just as we know Allah more and more we end up loving Him.
By creating us, Allah wanted to show us His beauty and bounty. Allah did not
need us. He just wanted to give us a chance to have this earthly experience.
Allah knew that the earth would not be a paradise for us. He promised us a true
paradise without deserving it, plus eternity. But we, me first, want paradise
right here and now. That's why Allah gives us time : to think, to compare, to
remember. Fortunately, Allah does not punish us right away. And He does not
punish us for all our sins. Even Pharaoh, He did not punish him right away.
Because Allah knows that when we give ourselves the time to think (earnestly
and in good faith) we will naturally have the chance to see His righteousness
and justice in all that He does.
