Guidance Comes from Above –
So Learn to Connect with God!
Guidance Comes from Above –
So Learn to Connect with God!
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
The long and short of the story is this:
It is God – and God alone – that has the key, and that controls all access, to the human heart.
And that means Guidance comes directly from Allah. And from no one else.
So, if you really care about your future in This World and in the Next World, find a way to connect with him.
And this applies equally to Muslims and to Non-Muslims.
I am not saying Muslims should not be “Nice,” and outgoing, if they want to attract people to Islam. Far from it.
And I am not saying Civility is not a virtue in Islam. It absolutely is.
In fact, Islam is all about Civility.
And Islam is all about being “Nice” and kind and merciful.
All you have to do is to look at the life of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam! A nicer and more “Civil” man never walked this earth!
And Islam is about saying and doing “Nice Things” as much as you can.
To one and all.
God Almighty says in the Qur’an:
Qooloo Linnaasi Husnaa.
Paraphrase:
“Say nice and good things to people.”
I just cannot get over this Aayat. I suppose, that is how this whole business of people saying “Hi” and “Good Day” and all that started in this world. Islam did it. One more time.
But, at the same time, don’t beguile yourself into thinking that your being “Nice” will automatically melt every non-Muslim or unbelieving heart around you or everywhere.
Or that it will siphon off the last ounce of Corruption and Evil from every human heart and situation and society – Muslim or Non-Muslim.
Or that it will necessarily lead to everybody accepting Islam. And will result in everybody living happily together ever after.
If that were true, some of the arch-foes of Islam and Muslims, during the time of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, would have been among the first to embrace Islam.
These were folks who knew Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, intimately. They experienced life with him as a most amazing and wonderful and honorable human being in the whole wide world.
They knew first hand, and only too well, what a kind, compassionate, loving, generous and “Nice” man Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, was.
And they also understood Islam, and recognized its basic truth and validity and merit. But they chose to fight it with everything in their power. They did it because accepting Islam would have run directly counter to their Self-Interest.
Their Hawaa!
Did you see what I called Hawaa? I called it “Self-Interest!” Just reflect on it.
If knowing the Truth and being Nice is all that matters, everybody then will accept Islam the moment they find out the true teachings of Islam.
So, the way God Almighty seems to have designed his world is a bit different from that.
As a result, the way Abu Lahab, and Abu Jahal, and other arch-foes of Islam and Muslims at the time of Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, saw it, if Islam wins, they lose.
That is right. They understood only too well that if Islam came, they will have to go. That would mean the end of their leadership and power and of their wealth and greed.
It is precisely the way many of the military and civilian dictators and corrupt hereditary monarchs throughout the Muslim world see Islam and Muslims today: If Islam gains the upper hand, they are finished. Their reign of corruption and tyranny on this earth is over.
And the Devil is the patron and guide of these people. He provides them ideas to fight Islam and Muslims and he sustains their morale and spirit.
Zayyana Lahumush Shayitaanu A’maalahum!
And one way the Devil fights Islam is by burying it in the language and culture of Theology – mostly Christian and Jewish Theology. Because Islam is no Theology.
And then a whole army of Mercenary Mullahs and Professional Islamic Theologians springs up to own and manage and control Islam and Muslims under the influence and direction of the tyrants and dictators in the Muslim world.
So, Nice is good, but Hawaa plays a very important role in this world in general. And Hawaa goes a long way in determining who will or will not come to Allah.
That is why there are both Good and Bad people in this world. Those who are driven by Self-Interest and Greed and those who are motivated by the Love and Fear of God.
And Qur’an is mostly Guidance for only those who love and fear God: The Muttaqeen.
Qur’an says that it is:
Hudan Lil-Muttaqeen.
For, the world, the way God designed it, is a Theatre of Test and Toil and Tears. Not an Abode of Peace and Tranquility. It is not an arena for Rest and Reward and Remuneration.
Don’t forget that the Abode of Peace that we are promised is Paradise. It is Jannat. And it is called Darus Salaam. And it is not this world.
I have been saying for the longest time that this Duniya is Darul 'Amal. It is a Workplace!
This world is our Workstation – our little cubicle in the lap of God’s vast and infinite universe, where we are placed our duties to perform.
The fact is the world is a place where Good and Evil wrestle and combat each other. But the world is not a place where the results are announced. We will have to wait till after death to see the scorecard.
As a result, it takes more than a “Nice” word, or a kind gesture, for people to see the truth of Islam and come forward to embrace it.
It happens when the doors of a human being’s heart are opened from above – by God Almighty.
That is why no one, other than God, can take credit for “Guiding” people.
Not the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. Not you and I.
Aayat Karimah:
Innaka Laa Tahdee Man Ahbabta!
Wa Laakinnallaha Yahdi Man Yashaa!
Paraphrase:
“You just don’t and can’t bring whomever you wish to God’s path.
It is God Almighty who gives Guidance to whom he wishes.”
People find “guidance” – Hidaayat as the Qur’an calls it – when the divine mercy smiles down at them. And when they are “pre-programmed” to receive and accept Guidance.
Not when someone – a human source for example – wants to “guide” them. And not when they want to “discover” the truth for themselves.
Therefore, to take credit for oneself, or to give credit to others, for our guidance – and for our “Finding God” – is Shirk, pure and simple. It is taking credit from God and giving it to others, as if others are partners in actions that God does.
That is why blessed and fortunate indeed are those who are guided. For, their hearts are opened by God, from above – and not by any other source from anywhere else.
This is not to say others – an identifiable human source – do not play a helpful role in either bringing people closer to Islam or in driving people away from Islam.
They do.
We are all perfectly capable of doing that. And we indeed do both those things all the time: helping people to open their eyes to the beauty of Islam or giving them cause to dislike and resent Islam and to run away from it.
But the “Guidance” part that puts people over the top positively or negatively in the form of either accepting or rejecting Islam? That comes from God and from no one else.”
And if you want to insist that God Almighty is also in charge of all the instrumentalities and mechanisms leading up to this outcome, then who can say you are wrong?
END