Duties of Love with reference to God

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

(2) DUTIES OF LOVE

 (a) Duties of Commission:

(1)  Seeking in all actions the Pleasure of God, Who is the Moral Sovereign of the Universe, enjoined:

“And of mankind is he (i.e., the true Muslim) who would sell (even) his life to earn the Pleasure of Allah. And Allah is full of kindness to His devotees.” (2:207).

Nay: a true Muslim, in his highest spiritual effort, goes even beyond, and seeks God Himself:

“… and (the righteous) have in their minds no favor from anyone for which a reward is expected in return, but only the yearning to seek the Countenance of their Lord Most High.” (92:19-20).

(2)          Cultivation of Gratefulness to God enjoined:

“… and express gratefulness to Allah, if it is (indeed) He Whom you worship.” (2:172).

“… and be grateful for the favor of Allah …” (16:114).

(3)          Cultivation of sincere devotion to God enjoined:

“… so serve Allah offering Him sincere devotion;…” (39:2).

(4)          Steadfastness in devotion to God enjoined:

“… and hold fast by Allah (without swerving)! He is your Patron: an excellent Patron and an excellent Helper.” (22:78).

“… Your God is One God: so stand true to Him…” (41:6).

“Verily those who say: ‘Our Lord is Allah’, and remain steadfast thereto, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.” (46:13).

(5)          Seeking nearness to God, the Source of all Goodness and Holiness, enjoined:

(a)        through turning penitently unto Him:

“And turn penitently unto your Lord and submit unto Him before there comes unto you the torment, and then you shall not be succored.” (39:54).

(b)       through seeking ardently the means of approach:

“O you who believe! fear Allah and seek the means of approach unto Him and strive with might and main in His cause: that you may prosper.”⁴¹ (5:38).

(c)        through detaching from worldly things and engaging in remembrance of and communion with Him:

“And remember the name of your Lord, and devote yourself to Him with an exclusive devotion. Lord of the East and the West! No God is there but He. Take Him therefore for (your) Disposer of Affairs.” (73:8-9).

“Therefore remember Me, I will remember you …” (2:152). 

“O you who believe! Remember Allah with much remembrance and glorify Him early and late.” (33:41-42).  

“… and celebrate His praise.” (25:58).

“And remember your Lord in your (very) soul, with humility and in reverence, without loudness in word, in the mornings and evenings; and be not of those who are neglectful (of Allah’s remembrance).” (7:205).

This remembrance should take the form of regular prayers also:

“Verily I! I am Allah! no God there is but I; so worship Me and establish regular prayer for My remembrance.” (20:14).

These regular, or, obligatory, prayers should be performed punctually at the appointed times:

“Verily regular prayers are enjoined on the Believers at fixed times.” (4:103).

The regular prayers are to be followed (and preceded) by as much remembrance of God as possible and practicable:

“Then when you have finished the prayer, remember Allah, standing and sitting and lying on your sides …” (4:103).

Also, besides the regular and repeated daily communion and constant remembrance of Allah during the normal waking hours of the day and the night, devoted Muslims should sacrifice their comfort during the sleeping hours of the night, according to their individual capacity, for communion with their Lord:

“Only those believe in Our revelations who, when they (i.e. the revelations) are recited to them, fall down in adoration and celebrate the praises of their Lord, and they are not puffed up with pride. Their limbs do forsake their beds of sleep (while yet there is night), the while they call on their Lord, in Fear and Hope, and of that wherewith We have provided them they spend (for the welfare of others).”  (32:15-16).

Indeed, the ‘Servants of God’ are:

“… those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord, prostrate and standing …” (25:64). 

        (6)     Cultivation of Love for God enjoined:

Allah is the Loving One (al-Wadud) and the cultivation of, and absorption in, His love forms the highest pursuit of a Muslim. The Holy Qur’an speaks of the true Believers as “a people whom Allah loves and they love Him.” (5:54).

It is a relationship which is cultivated through right belief and right conduct:

“Verily those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, for them (Allah) Most Gracious will appoint (in this world as well as in the next) Love (i.e., His own love and the love of fellow creatures).” (19:96).

This relationship is consciously and assiduously cultivated at a level where it surpasses a Muslim’s love for everything else:

“… but the Believers are strongest in love for Allah.” (2:165).

It forms the highest achievement for a Muslim, gives the direction to his will, and functions as the motivating force—equally with ‘fear of God’—for all the actions of his life. 

 

(b) Duties of Omission

(1)          Following lusts of the heart, thereby incurring God’s Displeasure, prohibited:

“… and follow not the lusts (of your heart) that it beguile you from the Way of Allah. Lo! those who wander from the Way of Allah have an awful doom, for as much as they forgot the Day of Reckoning.” (38:26).

(2)          Ungratefulness to God, prohibited:

“… and unto Me give thanks, and be not ungrateful to Me.” (2:152).

 (3)          Behaving disloyally (as opposed to, sincere devotion) to God, prohibited:

“O you who believe! be not disloyal to (or, betray not the trust of) Allah …” (8:27).

(4)          Worshipping false gods, whether those of the polytheists and idol-worshippers or those that reside within the human self, prohibited:

“And assuredly We sent among every people a Messenger (with the Command:) ‘Serve God, and eschew Evil and shun false gods’.” (16:36).   

(5)          Fickle-mindedness in respect of faith in God’s Goodness, condemned: hence to abstain from it is duty:

“And of mankind is he who worships Allah, as it were, on the verge: if there befalleth him good, he is contented therewith; but if there befalls him a trial, he turns round on his face; he loses the world and the Hereafter: that indeed is a loss manifest.” (22:11).

(6)          Allowing pre-occupation with and engrossment in worldly things to stand in the way of God’s remembrance, prohibited:

“O you who believe! let not your riches or your children—the two worldly things having a wide range of engrossment—divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whosoever does that, the loss is their own”. (63:9).

(7)          Lack of earnestness in prayers and in the remembrance of God in general, condemned as the way of the Hypocrites, hence abstinence from it is duty:

“… (The Hypocrites) when they stand up in prayer, stand without earnestness, making a show to the people, and they remember not Allah but little.” (4:142).

(8)          Befriending the forces of evil, thereby violating our duty of love for God, condemned:

“Whosoever befriends Satan (who represents all the forces of evil), instead of Allah, has of a surety suffered a loss that is manifest.” (4:119).

This is so because:

“… Satan’s wish is to lead them astray far away (from the Right).” (4:60).

(9)          Loving any object of worldly life in preference to love for God, severely condemned: hence abstinence from it is duty:

“Say (O Muhammad! to the Muslims): If your fathers, and your sons, and your brothers, and your mates, and your kindred, and the wealth you have acquired, and the commerce in which you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight—(these) are dearer to you than Allah, or His Messenger, or the striving in His cause: then wait until Allah brings about His decision: and Allah guides not the rebellious.” (9:24).

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

 

The Way to Salvation - KINDNESS

KINDNESS

A prophetic saying further elaborates this in these words:

‘He who is devoid of kindness is devoid of all good’.

A higher stage of ‘twasi bil-haqq’ is that of calling people to Allah, enjoining good and forbidding evil. A true Muslim should give clothing to the ill-clad, food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty. But the greatest benefit he can render to his fellow beings is to turn them back from moral and spiritual bankruptcy and guide them to the straight path of the Quran and Sunnah. 

In one’s life journey to the ultimate goal, the duty of each Muslim is to catch hold of the hand of one who goes astray from the straight path of Islam and to guide him aright. Mutual counsel gives life to actions and fosters a healthy spirit among the individuals.

At a still higher stage, ‘twasi bil-haqq’ adopts the form of testifying to the truth and veracity of Islam (Shahadat-ihaqq) exalting the truth from Allah over all man-made ideologies (E’Ia-e-Kallmatillah), and establishing Islam both in the individual and social aspects of life (Iqamat-i-Din). The testimony to the truth may be by the tongue of a true preacher or the pen of a devoted scholar, or by the life of a man devoted to service. The highest and most revered form of this testimony is presented by a Muslim who leaves his house and family to fight the enemy for the cause of Allah (Jehad-fi-Sabilillah). Endurance is the greatest solace of a true Muslim while going through all the trials on account of ‘twasi bil-haqq’. Especially in the higher stages, mutual teaching and exhorting to constancy become so essential that ‘twasi-bis-sabr’ has been mentioned separately to highlight the collective and cooperative character of Muslim society.

It is no doubt difficult for all and sundry to attain the above mentioned highest stages of belief or ‘Iman’, righteous deeds, mutual exhortation of truth and mutual exhortation of patience and endurance. But if a man’s inner personality has not been corroded by some spiritual or moral ailment, it is almost certain that a healthy and potent seed of religious belief will flourish into wholesome and balanced branches of righteous actions, exhortation to truth and constancy.

It is surely excusable if a lay Muslim, who has very little knowledge of the fundamentals of Islam and performs the well known basic duties of ‘Shariah’ (Islamic code of law), confines himself to ‘twasi bil-marhama’ i.e., doing himself acts of kindness and compassion and advising others to the same, which is just the threshold of ‘twasi bil-Haqq’. But those who embark on rigorous spiritual exercises like repeated recitation of a religious formula called ‘Zikr’ to attain deeper and richer states of faith and belief, those who engage themselves in devotional prayers and ‘mustahabbat’ (some thing additional to what is obligatory of ‘farz’) but pay little attention to the more obligatory duty of ‘twasi-biI-haqq’ are seriously misguided in their attitude. Lives of these people are mostly either totally devoid of the essential religious duty of ‘twasi bll-haqq’ or they exhibit just a vestige of it in the form of occasional brief sermon or sporadic moralizing advice. This state of affairs is certainly wrong and needs to be rectified immediately.

In this connection a story reported by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) puts the urgency of this duty in very bold relief. He mentioned an extremely pious old man whom the angels testified that he never indulged in sin even for as long as the blink of an eye, but who never angered or got moved at the sight of people breaking the commands of God. Despite all his piety and life-long spiritual observances, Allah ordered the angels to destroy him first and then the entire community.

On the other hand, it should also be clearly understood that it is equally dangerous to aspire and struggle for the highest stages of ‘twasi bil-haqq’ through activities geared to establishing an Islamic order of society, but taking meager interest in spiritual devotions and performing only those prayers which are obligatory (farz), and attenuate faith to a mere theological belief without realizing its deeper meaning and cultivating it inwardly. All types of unbalanced attitudes and life-styles within these two extremes are misconceived and possibly dangerous.

Source: The Way to Salvation (Book by Dr Israr Ahmed)