In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
“O THE BELIVERS! BE CONSCIOUS OF
ALLAH
with all consciousness that is due to
Him
And do not allow death to overtake you ere you have surrendered
yourselves unto Him.” [Al-Imran 3: 102]
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا
ٱلَّذِينَ
ءَامَنُواْ
ٱتَّقُواْ
ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ
تُقَاتِهِۦ
وَلَا
تَمُوتُنَّ
إِلَّا وَأَنتُم
مُّسۡلِمُونَ
(١٠٢)
INTRODUCTION: The paramount urge of our Creator and Sustainer to
those who believe in Him is to be always conscious of His omni presence,
supreme authority over each and every thing, countless bounties that are spread
in and outside the human frame and the constant sense of accountability about
the life pattern that he or she leads on this earth to His obedience or
disobedience. To attain this consciousness is a life long pursuit of a
Believer. How he or she is able to inculcate this phenomenon is what Allah
demands from the Mumineen. This is the subject matter of the Verse # 102 of
Al-Imran. I will elaborate it but let us first examine the context in which
this and the subsequent verses were revealed to Rasulullah (S).
Reference to the Context:
* In the previous verses the addressees were Bani
* What is the process which can save them form falling into ditch of
blasphemy and pave the way towards keeping them on the straight path is to
develop the constant awareness of His presence and lead an ever-vigilant
Allah-conscious life. It would be possible only when a Mumin remembers Allah
with every breath of his or her life in all respects and under all circumstances.
It is a life-long exercise both of mental attitude and physical behavior of a
believer. Let us see what it envisages.
EVALUATION OF THE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT IS DUE TO HIM:
1. What He has
done and what He is doing for us:
* Allah (SWT) created us and created this universe for us. He placed us
on earth as His vicegerent and then put the entire world and what it contains
at our service, providing all and every thing that is essential for our
survival.
* He is providing all that is sustaining our life on earth. That must
fill our heart with gratitude and must feel always thankful to Him. The more
you are thankful to Him the more He will give you [Ref: Ibrahim.14:7] Feeling
and remembering always His magnanimity will bring the man closer to his or her
Lord and that is His right on His slaves and through developing this habit a
Muslim will become Allah conscious.
2. Evaluation of His favors and Bounties:
* His bounties are countless and limitless – they are so much in abundance
in number that man cannot count them in any form. [Ref: Ibrahim. 14: 34]
* Whatever one enjoys and whatever he gets on earth he/she must express
his/her heartfelt thanks to Allah and is never forgetful of this realization.
Feeling always grateful to Him is the right of Allah and a Muslim must
develop this habit of remembering Him through expressing his or her extreme gratitude
to Him. This is His right on His slaves and developing a constant habit towards
remembering His favors will make him or her Allah conscious.
3. Developing the
consciousness of the situation where one is using His gifts and bounties that
are trust in his/her hands. You are
not their master. You are trustee only. So you are to use them the way He
directs you to invest in the service of His Deen and not in the service of
Shaitan, thereby feeling always accountable to Him for its proper or improper
use on this earth. It will inculcate the enormous sense of responsibility along
with the paramount reflection of accountability in a Muslim, finding himself or
herself constantly living under the shadow of hanging sword of accountability
with fear and hopes on earth. It will keep him/her always shivering and will
make him/her more and more Allah conscious day by day. This is Allah’s right
on His Abd and it will make him or her consciously Allah conscious, the essence
of His Ubudiyah.
4. The path of righteousness is the path of struggle in the way of
Allah towards establishing His authority and His Deen on earth. This path is
not of bed of roses but is strewn with inevitable thorns of trials and
tribulations at every step as Batil never accepts the prevalence of Haq in
human society. Whenever a Mumin encounters this situation, he/she forebears it
with Sabr, devotion and remembers Allah with total surrender. He/she begs his pardon, comes closer to Him
and seeks His help and Nusrah at every step of his/her life. Allah responds to
his humble efforts in His way as He commands: “As for those who strive in
Us, We surely guide them to Our paths, and Lo! Allah is with the Muhseneen.”
[Al-Ankabut.29: 69]
5. A Muslim faces a lot of pitfalls of temptations, compromises and
hardship but he constantly begs the pardon of Allah and His help to come out
successful from these trials. That is the right of a Mumin on his Lord and
the Master in His infinite mercy comes to his help – a two ways track. This is
the height of Allah-consciousness and
only a Mumin who struggles in the way of Allah for the Iqamah of His Deen
fulfills the truthful demand of Allah consciousness as it ought to be. That is
what Allah urges in Verse # 102 of Surah Al-Imran and one must know it: “Allah
is with those who are Allah-conscious and those who are Muhseneen” [Al-Nahal.
16:128.
6. In fact, this entire process as elaborated above is “Aitesam Billah”
[holding the rope of Allah] which is nothing but the Qur’an itself and
fulfilling the obligation of Iqamatuddeen which is incumbent upon all of us. It
would be possible to attain that height of Iman only through nurturing the
sense of constant fear of Allah in the heart.
7. And when the entire Ummah will go through this process, it will be
galvanized into a Unified Ummah with love and affection for each of its constituent
calling the people to the fold of Allah [Dawah Ilal-Khair], eradicating the
“Munkar” [what is not permissible] from the society and establishing the
“Maaroof” [the permissible] in its place as laid down by Allah in Verse # 110
of Al-Imran. This process of struggling for Iqamatuddeen created Unity amongst the
Muslims of Aus and Khazraj. They relished the spirit of Akhuwah [the brotherhood] when they struggled for
Allah’s Deen all around jointly and concertedly under the benevolent leadership
of Rasulullah (S) in Madinah that is what is confirmed by the Qur’an in Verse #
103 of Al-Imran.
8. The Muslim Ummah can again get the desired Unity in its ranks and
files only when it undertakes the mission of “Khair-e-Ummah” and struggles hard
together towards the Iqamah of Allah’s Deen, it will relish the desired Unity
for which everyone of us especially the Muslim leadership is crying day in and
day out. It will always remain out of reach unless all undertake and work
together for the Iqamah of Allah’s Deen in the body politics of Muslim Ummah. It is long overdue. The Qur’an is exhorting
and reminding each of us who go through these verses every day but pass on with closed mind. So
Allah (SWT) is also neglecting us the way we are ignoring His urge to fulfill
the mark of Allah-consciousness through the active process envisaged
above.
9. It is incumbent on each and every Muslim to struggle for His Deen
individually and collectively in terms of Verse #110, especially when Allah’s
Deen is no where in the world visible in dominant position. The Ummah is not
conscious of this fact and sleeping in deep slumber. As such, it stands no
where in the community of nations.
However, Muslim leadership around the world cannot shelve its
responsibility at all from the onerous burden that falls upon its shoulders as
Allah ordains in Verse # 103 of Al- Imran that there must be a party or a
group from amongst you [the Ummah] that must invite the people to the Khair,
enjoins right conduct [Maaroof] and forbids indecency [Munkar]. Such are they
who are successful”
* This is the right of Allah on Muslim leadership. Had they been
reminding themselves with the exercise of Allah-consciousness as the Verse #
102 envisages, the affairs of Ummah would have been quite different than what
we see today. The inherent obligation of “Haqqah Tuqatehi” is neither pursued by
the Muslim Leadership – the Imams, the Muslim scholars, and the intelligentsia nor
by the individual Muslims as it ought to be. We both individually and
collectively are not holding the rope of Allah, the Qur’an. Muslims are
shopping upon the Qur’an and chose its easy part to the extent of Ebadah, do it
ritualistically and are contented with the notion that they are “following”
Islam. What a horrible miscalculation it is!
* The Islamic Movements around the world are no doubt a few exceptions
to this miserable scenario but unfortunately they all are bogged down with the
ongoing socio-economic-political disarray of the Ummah and are not able to
concentrate their total time and energies in building the requisite trustworthy
and God-fearing teams of Da’ee Ilallah in the context of the modern world in
proportion to the numerical strength of the Ummah,. As such, the fate of Ummah could not be
revived in spite of their best wishes.
* Centuries have passed in this state. The world and its
socio-cultural-economic-political dynamic have totally changed. Human society
is eager to find the solution of its ever-increasing burning problems and the
Muslims who could deliver it are just busy in offering the rituals of Ebadah
alone. The Deen that came to deliver Khair and Justice to suffering humanity is
lying buried in the pages of the holy Qur’an and is closed in or restricted to
the four walls of mosques.
* Muslims both individually and collectively have unfortunately lost
the sense of direction as: what to do and how to do. However,
they can change their condition today if they start thinking Islam as a Deen
and a Movement and not as religion as Judaism and Christianity are. Along with
it, they develop the habit of evaluating the condition of their Iman in Allah
and examining the status of their individual Taqwah - Allah consciousness as it
ought to be, the central theme of this write-up in terms of Verse # 102 of
Al-Imran. They can change their position, practically in no time, if their
thinking process, their actions and deeds synchronize with ever vigilant
Allah-Consciousness, the motivational force to keep them upright in all and
every walk of life, struggling for the Iqamah of Allah’s Deen and establishing
His authority on self, family and the society in which they pulsate. This is
the ultimate reality of Allah-consciousness inviting His Nusrah [help] both in
our individual, and collective life and it would be always there in terms of
various Verses of the Qur’an quoted above.
10. Iqbal rightly summed it up the entire scenario in one of his
couple:
“Tu hi Nadan chund kalyun per quena'ut kar
Tangiyeye daman bhi tha”
Translation: Out of foolishness you [Muslims] remain contented
with a few petals [of Ebadah] whereas the garden has every thing in abundance
(for the total needs of the Ummah and beyond)
11. Muslim Ummah has to attain the position of “Khaira Ummah” and
“Ummatun Wasatun” [The best and the most moderate nation]. This is its destiny
and it can accomplish its goal/mission only through the process of “Shuhadah
Al-Annas”. “Allah consciousness” is its barometer. The more a Muslim is
conscious of his position on earth the more he/she will devote his time,
energy, talents and resource in His way towards the fulfillment of his/her goal
of life. A conscious and a paramount struggle in the way of Allah for His Deen
will elevate a Mumin to the category of “Muhseneen”
12. However it must be clarified at this stage that this struggle for
the Iqamah of Allah’s Deen is not just for a day or an year or casual but must
continue with complete and total consciousness of Allah till one breaths his or
her last. That is what the concluding part of the Verse # 102 of Al-Imran
exhorts: Wa La Tamutunna illa wa Antum Muslimun” [And do not allow death to
overtake you ere you have surrendered yourselves unto Him]
13. It shows that it is a life-long process and program of continuously
developing Allah consciousness, through keeping engaged in struggle for the
Iqamah of His Deen in the body politics of the land, come what may. This is the
right of Allah on every Muslim and Muslimah and this is the essence of “Haqqah
Tuqatehi”, the “Allah-consciousness” that is due to Him.
14. May Allah give Tawfeeq to all of us to struggle for the Iqamah of
His Deen to the last breath of our life and keep us up to the highest point of “Allah
– consciousness” leading us to attain the most coveted position of “Al -
Muhseneen” with Allah (SWT) through this pursuit! Amen!
Shamim Siddiqi
April 8, 2009