Reflections From The Qur’an (12): The Importance of Getting Our Iman Correct and Focused, Right from the Beginning

Introduction

Alhamdulillāh… All perfect thanks and praises are due to the Almighty Allāh. I send peace and blessings upon Ḥabībī Muḥammad, his household, his companions and all those who follow his guided path, till judgement day.

This is the 12th part of our Reflections from the Qur’an series, which is posted here on GSalam.Net. It was started during Ramadān 2014. This is the second entry for Ramadān 2015. I pray that Allah grants us better understanding for His book and religion, so we can put it into practice and get closer to Him as possible.

The Verse of Our Reflection

In Surah Al-Baqarah, 8-9, Allah describes some characteristics of the hypocrites and started by saying:

وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَقُولُ ءَامَنَّا بِٱللَّـهِ وَبِٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ وَمَا هُم بِمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٨﴾ يُخَـٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّـهَ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ ﴿٩﴾ـ

“There are some people who say, “We believe in Allah and the Last Day,” yet they are not believers. They seek to deceive Allah and the believers, but they only deceive themselves, though they do not realize it.”

Reflections on the Verse

Upon pondering on this verse, I thought of what it takes to develop a firm belief in Allah and put it into practice in our daily lives, so to live as true Muslims, die as Muslims and be resurrected among Muslims.

Īmān (faith/belief) is a requirement which every Muslim has to have it firmly engrossed and engraved in his heart. This is because however one’s īmān is will influence every single aspect of his life. The stronger it is, the more trust you have for Allah. The weaker it is, the easier it is for you to compromise for material gains in the present life. Therefore, having it right, correct, firm, and tangible from the start is necessary.

Belief in Allah requires that one believes genuinely in the existence of Allah Himself; that He's the creator, One and Only. Yes… Allah is One. He is Self-Sufficient. He does not give birth, nor was He born. And there’s nothing like Him. This conviction should not have any sort of external interference with it. In other words, I believe in Allah, not because my parents (fathers and ancestors) believed in Him. I rather believe in Him because He’s ought to be believed in.

Once one has developed a concrete belief in the existence of Allah, he must also believe that Allah has created creatures called Angels, who –in normal circumstances, are unseen to us. Angels were created to serve and worship Allah. They fail not to obey His commands to them and they are prompt as they are commanded.

The main purpose for our creation and existence on this earth is to worship Allah. In order to guide us to the straight path that leads to Him, Allah has chosen from among us Messengers and sent them to guide us. As evidence of their prophecy, each of these Messengers were given scriptures from Allah. Allah used some of the Angels to bring down His scriptures and to reveal all his commandments to mankind. Thus, all Messengers were made to see Angels in different forms. The Qur’an in our hands today, serves as an example and is the most authentic scripture of Allah in hands today.

A believer is also required to firmly believe that there’s going to be a Last Day, where judgement will be carried out for the righteous to be rewarded and the evil to be punished for their bad deeds. This means, on the Last Day, everything is going to be eternal. And there will be only two destinations. Heaven will be for those who chose righteousness in this life, and Hellfire will be for those who chose infidelity and transgression.

In addition to all that, a believer has to believe in the fate and destiny decreed by Allah. This is because we live in this world to be trialed and tested. Thus, not all incidents are logical to our human understanding. We have the right of choice sometimes, but we are obliged to believe in Fate and Destiny some other times.

Anyone who develops all the above in his heart becomes a believer, whether he utters it or not. However, after having believed in all these, he is required to utter his Shahādah before he's considered as a Muslim and relate with Muslims. This is because, we are not made to know and judge others based on what are hidden in their hearts. That remains between them and Allah. Although, he will definitely have to declare it because what is developed in the hearts reflects in all actions of the body.

Our verse of reflection is reminding us of the need for a constant check on our faith, as we may lose focus for our objectives along the way. Along the way, we may compromise our principles as well.

Since an utterance of shahādah is required for Islamically legal dealings, and since that’s the only way we can identify a Muslim from a non-Muslim, some may utter it to declare their īmān; that they believe in Allah and the Last Day, but they are actually making up for recognition and not really as true Muslims. Moreover, in order for them to be accepted by the Muslim community, they will have no choice but to join the real Muslims in their prayers, fasting, and even giving charity.

When the hypocrites do that by choice, we leave them to Allah to deal with them accordingly. But the concern here is that some of us whose īmān is not grounded enough in their hearts, and as a result, they tend to involve in activities that nullify their faith or their Islam altogether, without realizing it.

Among other things that nullify one’s belief, even though he’s not a hypocrite, is seeking assistance from fortune tellers to predict for you something unseen as well as your future. This nullifies all you’ve built in the form of faith/belief in Allah. Also, believing that someone with authority, power, wealth or strength possesses more authority, power, wealth or strength than Allah, or can do better for him, nullifies one’s īmān or weakens it. Having these in one’s heart leads to easy compromise for the basic pillars of Imān we’ve developed in our hearts. To emphasize our verse of reflection further, Allah says in Surah Yūsuf, 106:

وَمَا يُؤْمِنُ أَكْثَرُهُم بِٱللَّـهِ إِلَّا وَهُم مُّشْرِكُونَ ﴿١٠٦﴾ـ

“And most of them, even when they profess belief in Allah, attribute partners to Him.”

Honestly, this is one of the scariest verses I’ve read in the Qur’an. Imagine, you’ve spent 60 years of your life, having the conviction and also giving the impression (to others) that you’re are a good Muslim, only to find out that, at the end of the path, that all that while you’ve been doing the wrong thing. This statement is also emphasized by Surah Al-Kahf:

قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُم بِٱلْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَـٰلًا ﴿١٠٣﴾ ٱلَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا ﴿١٠٤﴾ـ

“Say, “Shall I tell you of those who will lose the most through their actions? They are those whose efforts have been wasted in the life of the world while they thought they were doing good.”

Conclusion

In order to avoid getting our efforts going wasted, every Muslim needs to know that:

1. Our īmān is the source of our strength in life; therefore,
2. Īmān is the most precious asset we should treasure.
3. Once it’s compromised, our mean of communication and relationship with Allah is compromised; therefore,
4. It’s fundamental to get it correct, straight and focused and on a solid foundation.
5. We believe in Allah, not to follow our fathers, but because He is worth your devotion.
6. We have to follow the teachings of our beloved Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam, to ensure the īmān we carry in our hearts reflects in all we do.
7. The īmān we have in Allah should be the only factor that influences our actions, decisions, interactions and feelings, and not the otherwise.

May we develop the correct īmān in Allah and have enough sincerity to safeguard it until we meet Allah. Amīn.

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Until our next article, I leave you in Allah’s protection.

Allāh knows best.
Allāhu Ḥāfiẓ 🙂