Look to what deeds you send for Hereafter .........

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَلۡتَنظُرۡ نَفۡسٌ۬ مَّا

قَدَّمَتۡ لِغَدٍ۬‌ۖ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرُۢ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ

وَلَا تَكُونُواْ كَٱلَّذِينَ نَسُواْ ٱللَّهَ فَأَنسَٮٰهُمۡ أَنفُسَہُمۡ‌ۚ

أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقُونَ لَا يَسۡتَوِىٓ أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ

وَأَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ‌

أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ هُمُ ٱلۡفَآٮِٕزُونَ

"O ye who believe! Fear Allah and let every soul look to what (provision) he has sent forth for the morrow. Yea, fear Allah: for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do. And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget themselves souls! such are the rebellious transgressors! Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden: it is the Companions of the Garden, that will achieve Felicity."

(Qur'an: Hashr: 59: 18-19)

REFLECTION

SubHaanAllah! These verses have been one of those verses which emphasise ‘Taqwa’ – a high station indeed that every Muslim must strive for with patient perseverance.

Al-Hamdulillaah! The term ‘Taqwa’ is a commonly used term, in fact it becomes an essential subject every Friday sermon for reminding ever Muslim to adhere to.

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ

"O ye who believe! Fear Allah"

What is Taqwa?

The usual translation into English is ‘reverential fear of Allah’, which may convey some aspect of it, yet the full understanding of this term still evades many. I prefer to use term “the ‘consciousness of Allah’, which entails factors which lead to true obedience to Allah s.w.t. and His Messenger Muhammad s.a.w. - obedience to what Allah ordered and staying away from what Allah forbade.” Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali rhm. [Ref: “al-Ghazali – Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship”] has listed six important qualities in ‘Taqwa’ (consciousness of Allah):

[1] AWARENESS

By conscious awareness we mean the state in which one’s mind and feelings are in no way distracted from what one is doing and saying. Perception is united with action and speech. Thoughts do not wonder. When the mind remains attentive to what one is doing, when one is whole-heartedly involved, and when nothing makes one heedless, that is when one has achieved conscious awareness.

[2] UNDERSTANDING

Understanding the meaning of one’s words is something that goes beyond awareness, for one may be conscious of making an utterance, yet not be aware of the meaning of that utterance. What we mean by understanding therefore is an awareness that also include comprehension of the meaning of one’s utterance. People differ in this respect, not sharing a common understanding of the Qur’an and the glorifications (we uttered).

[3] REVERENCE

As for reverence, this is something beyond both awareness and understanding. A man may address his servant in full awareness and understanding the meaning of his words, yet without reverence, for reverence is in additional element.

[4] AWE

As for awe, it is over and above reverence. In fact, it represents a kind of fear that grows out of the latter (i.e. reverence). Without experiencing fear, one will not stand in awe. There is an ordinary fear of things we find repugnant, like scorpions or bad temper, but this is not awe. What we called awe, is the kind of fear we have for a mighty king. Awe is the kind of fear induced by a sense of majesty.

[5] HOPE

As for hope, this is unquestionably something else again. There are many who revere one or other, and who are in awe of him or afraid of his power, yet do not hope to be rewarded by him. In our prayers, however, we must hope for the reward of God, Great and Glorious is He, just as we fear His punishment for our faults.

[6] SHAME

As for shame, it is something additional to all the rest, for it is based on the realization of one’s deficiencies and the apprehension of sin. It is quite possible to conceive of reverence, fear and hope, without this element of shame

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PREPARE FOR THE HEREAFTER!

وَلۡتَنظُرۡ نَفۡسٌ۬ مَّا قَدَّمَتۡ لِغَدٍ۬‌ۖ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرُۢ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ

“... and let every soul look to what (provision) he has sent forth for the morrow. Yea, fear Allah: for Allah is well-acquainted with (all) that ye do.”

Meaning, hold yourselves accountable before you are recompensed, and contemplate what you have kept for yourselves of good deeds for the Day of your return and being paraded before your Lord, Allah asserts that surely, He knows all of your deeds -- O mankind! -- and actions. Nothing that pertains to you ever escape from His observation, nor is any matter of yours, whether major or minor, ever is beyond His knowledge. When we claim to believe in Allah and His Messenger, this must include faith in the inevitability of the Hereafter. This life here in this world (Dunya) is temporary and is of a fleeting duration. What is the maximum age that one can live? One hundred years or one hundred and thirty years? Even if it is a thousand years, it will still have to end with our death! The Hereafter is for eternity. How then can we neglect to send provision for the morrow? Do not be deceived by the ‘Secularists’ (the Ahl-al-Dunya), people who is only concern for the here and now. There are even Muslims who are advocating this ideology –

LAA HAW-LA WA-LAA QUW-WATA IL-LAA BIL-LAAH!

They would cynically either downplay any emphasis upon the teachings of al-Akhirah or even scorn Muslims who wish to place the religious concern over worldly concern, branding these sincere Muslims as being “backward, anti-development, traditional, archaic etc.” forgetting that the Qur’an emphatically places Al-Akhirah (Hereafter) to be of the utmost importance and immensely valuable over al-Dunya (worldliness). Do not be mistaken! We are not against al-Dunya (worldliness) per se, what we are against is the heedlessness of al-Akhirah (Hereafter) being deceived by false attribution of the value of worldliness; the deception that this world is equally important to the concern of the hereafter. This is further than the Truth! The worth or value of al-Akhirah in fact, cannot at all be equated with value of anything of this world. It is only when worldly matter is linked to the Hereafter that it becomes valuable. Devoid of the concern for al-Akhirah, it is worthless. Thus, what differentiate us Muslims with others is that we identify ourselves as “people who are in this world but not of this world. For, we belong to Allah, and we shall most certainly be made to return to Allah. Our Hereafter cannot be compromised for this World.” Allah s.w.t. warns us:

وَلَا تَكُونُواْ كَٱلَّذِينَ نَسُواْ ٱللَّهَ فَأَنسَٮٰهُمۡ

أَنفُسَہُمۡ‌ۚ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡفَـٰسِقُونَ

“And be ye not like those who forgot Allah; and He made them forget themselves souls! Such are the rebellious transgressors!”

Meaning, do not forget the remembrance of Allah, the Exalted; otherwise, He will make you forget to perform the good deeds that benefit you in your return, because the recompense is equated with the action. Remembrance of Allah s.w.t. is so important, lest we forget ourselves – forgetting the purpose of our temporary life; forgetting that we are in fact being tested and there are effects (good or bad) as consequences to our thoughts and deeds; forgetting about what is lawful and forbidden; forgetting that we shall face the Judgement Day. Thus, many have strayed into sins and transgression when they become heedless of Allah s.w.t. So do not be like these transgressors. This is why Allah the Exalted said:

لَا يَسۡتَوِىٓ أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ وَأَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ

“Not equal are the Companions of the Fire and the Companions of the Garden”

It is so obvious yet there are Muslims who may have been deceived into thinking that there is not much difference between being a believer and those who are unbelievers. These two categories of people are never the same with regards to the judgement of Allah, the Exalted, on the Day of Resurrection, no matter what people today wish to believe. This distinction is always emphasised especially to inculcate sense of dignity and self-esteem in Muslims because, those whose faith may be weak, can easily succumb to temptation of imitating and following the false ways of 'Secularists' and the unbelievers – (the ahl-al-Dunya). Allah s.w.t. emphasises in other verses:

أَمْ حَسِبَ الَّذِينَ اجْتَرَحُواْ السَّيِّئَـتِ

أَن نَّجْعَلَهُمْ كَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ

الصَّـلِحَـتِ سَوَآءً مَّحْيَـهُمْ وَمَمَـتُهُمْ

سَآءَ مَا يَحْكُمُونَ

"What! Do those who seek after evil ways think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous deeds― that equal will be their Life and their death? Ill is the judgment that they make."

(Qur’an: Jaathiyah: 45: 21)

وَمَا يَسْتَوِى الاٌّعْـمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ

وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ

وَلاَ الْمُسِىءُ لِيـلاً مَّا تَتَذَكَّرُونَ

"Not equal are the blind and those who (clearly) see: nor are (equal) those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, and those who do evil. Little do ye learn by admonition! "

(Qur’an: Ghaafir: 40: 58)

أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ

كَالْمُفْسِدِينَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ أَمْ نَجْعَلُ

الْمُتَّقِينَ كَالْفُجَّارِ

"Shall We treat those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, the same as those who do mischief on earth? Shall We treat those who guard against evil, the same as those who turn aside from the right?"

(Qur’an: Swod: 38: 28)

Therefore, Allah s.w.t. asserts that He will honour the righteous and humiliate the sinners, and this is why He said here:

أَصۡحَـٰبُ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ هُمُ ٱلۡفَآٮِٕزُونَ

“: it is the Companions of the Garden that will achieve Felicity."

So do not be saddened nor feel that as Muslims we are ‘unsuccessful’, because true success is not in this world but in the Hereafter. It is frightening that many Muslims have slowly been duped and constantly exposed to this Secularist's propaganda making this world so alluring whereby they neglect to prepare for the Hereafter. This phenomenon becomes pervasive today in our Muslim community, so let us remind ourselves and one another to be wary. This last verse should be stamped in our hearts and mind as this is the guarantee for us by Allah s.w.t. of our worth and of those who ultimately are the successful ones.

OUR DO’A

رَبَّنَآ أَفۡرِغۡ عَلَيۡنَا صَبۡرً۬ا وَتَوَفَّنَا مُسۡلِمِينَ

رَبَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَا وَٱرۡحَمۡنَا وَأَنتَ

خَيۡرُ ٱلرَّٲحِمِينَ

رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنۡيَا حَسَنَةً۬ وَفِى ٱلۡأَخِرَةِ

حَسَنَةً۬ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ

Our Lord! Pour out on us patience and constancy, and Take our souls unto Thee as Muslims (who bow to Thy will)"!

Our Lord! We believe; then do Thou forgive us, and have mercy upon us: for Thou art the Best of those Who show mercy!'

"Our Lord! Give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter and save us from the torment of the fire!"

O Allah! May Your Salutation, peace and blessings be upon our Leader, our beloved, the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad ibn’ ‘Abdillah, and to his household, companions and followers of the companions, and those who follow them in truth and benevolent, those who assist in this Deen, our parents, teachers, families and all Muslims, in all places and time, till the Hereafter. Aa-min!

WaAllaahu a'lam

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