The Problem is Not with The Qur'an , the Problem is With its Followers

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said " Study Qur'an (regularly) for it will act as an intercessor and entreat for its readers on the Day of Judgement "

[Muslim]

Explanation : The Qur'an embodies the final divine revelation from Allah(Swt). A book of divine guidance that is capable of positively revolutionising human personality deserves to be read.

How unfortunate is that a great majority of Muslims have made this ultimate source of guidance into an object of recitation only. They rarely understand the obligation to understand the message of this book, rather they use it to pile up rewards from Allah through recitation alone.

For those who read and understand but do not commit themselves to accept it as the source of guidance to mould their lives faithfully and capably , the Qur'an cannot transform their lives with its golden touch.

Then there are many who think that they already know and understand this ultimate source of guidance . It is deplorable that even with the Qur'an as their guide, Muslims have had such miserable rides on the roller coaster of history. The problem is not with the Qur'an , the problem is with its followers . The Qur'an will take sides for or against us on the Day of Judgement.

Try To Seek Contentment

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said "Richness does not mean having a great amount of property, but richness is self-contentment "

[Bukhari]

Explanation : We instinctively measure richness in terms of "possessions". We envy the rich and wealthy based on their possessions. However, richness or poverty is actually a state of mind, an attitude. A very rich person , in the ordinary sense could feel himself very poor because he does not have enough . In contrast, a "not so well-to-do " person may feel rich because of self-contentment.

However this narration makes neither richness nor poverty a worldly pursuit. If we live in poverty, we ought to strive toward rectifying the conditions in light of Allah's practical divine guidance . If we are wealthy, we should be careful about what we have acquired and how, and furthermore, whether those possessions are helping us to seek pleasure or displeasure of Allah.

If Allah has blessed us with resources, we do not have to be ashamed , but we should be conscious of our responsibilities and try to seek contentment. We should also not despise ourselves if we are poor . Instead , we should make honest effort in His path to improve our situation.

Hospitality is From Islam

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said , "Let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day speak good , or keep silent, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his neighbour, and let him who believes in Allah and the Last Day be generous to his guest "

[ Bukhari]

Explanation : "Let him speak good or remain silent" , this indicates that good speech is better than keeping silent , and that silence is better than evil speech , and this is because the Prophet (saw)'s statement contains a command.

And from the Good Speech is conveying knowledge from Allah (swt) and His Messenger (saw) and teaching the Muslims, and commanding the good & forbidding evil and reconciling the differences between people , and speaking well to the people , and also from amongst the best of speech is the statement of truth, for the one who truly fears and hopes for the recompense.

"Let him be generous to his neighbour" and "Let him be generous to his guest" contains instructions on the rights of the neighbours and guests, and doing good to them and encouragement upon protecting the limbs upon doing harm to them , and also Allah has advised us in His Noble Book with Ihsan (good behaviour , kindness, good treatment) towards the neighbours.

And in another hadith,Prophet Muhammad (saw) has said " Jibraeel (as) did not cease to remind me regarding the rights of the neighbour, until I began to think that they would also receive a part of inheritance "

Hospitality is from Islam, and from the character of the Prophets and the Pious . Some of the scholars have made it obligatory , though the majority consider it to be from the noble, recommended traits of character.

Humanity is just One and One Family

Abu Hurairah (ra) reported that the Prophet (saws) said :

"Verily, Allah the Exalted and Glorious will say on the Day of Resurrection ' O son of Adam , I was indisposed but you did not visit Me.' He would say , 'O My Lord, how could I visit you as you were the Lord of the World '. Thereupon Allah will say 'Did you not know that such and such slave of mine was ill but you did not visit him ?' Did you not realise that if you had visited him , you would have found (its reward) with Me ?'' O son of Adam , I asked food from you but you did not feed Me.; He would submit , 'My Lord how could I feed you as You are the Lord of the Worlds ?' Allah will say ' Did you not know that such and such slave of mine asked you for food but you did not feed him ? Did you not realise that if you had fed him, you would have found (its reward) with Me ?' Then Allah will say 'O son of Adam , I asked water from you but you did not give it to Me' . He would say ' My Lord , how could I give you (water) as You are the Lord of the Worlds '? Allah will say ' Did you not know that such and such slave of mine asked you for water to drink but you did not give it to him ? Did you not realise that if you would have given him the drink , you would have found(its reward) with Me '? "

[Muslim]

Explanation : Islam teaches us to open our hearts and minds to help the needy and the destitute without any distinction of color, creed, race or religion. One has to rise above these biases and prejudices.Humanity is just one and one family.

We are from one father and one mother. Serving and helping others is serving Allah in the sight of Islam. If someone stretches his hand out to you to seek help, and if it returns empty, you then have refused to help Allah.

To please Allah is through pleasing His bondsmen. The One in heaven becomes kind to you if you are kind to those who inhabit the Earth. As it is mentioned in the above narrated hadith.

Victory Comes with Patience and Relief with Affliction

The Messenger of Allah (saw) said "Be Mindful of Allah (Swt) & you will find Him in front of you, Recognize and acknowledge Allah (swt) in times of ease and prosperity , and he will remember you in times of adversity. And know what has passed you by (what you have not attained ) was not going to befall you , and what has befallen you was not going to pass you by. And know that victory comes with patience , relief with affliction , and hardship with ease."

[Tirmidhi]

Explanation : Prophet 's (saw) statement ; "Be Mindful of Allah (Swt) & you will find Him in front of you" means "Perform your actions for His sake out of His obedience , and let yourself not seen to oppose Him or disobey Him , then you will find Allah with you in times of difficulty ", as happened with three men who fled to a cave to seek shelter from torrential rain, whereupon a large rock descended upon the entrance to the cave and sealed it.

So they said to one another " Look to the pious actions that you have performed in the past and ask Allah (Swt) by them, for verily He is the only one who can save us from this ".

So each one of them mentioned a good action that they had performed previously, purely for the sake of their Lord, so Allah removed the rock that was blocking the entrance to the cave , and they were free from their imprisonment , and their story is well known from the Sahih of Muslim .

This story shows that one of the permissible and indeed recommended form of Tawassul, or seeking Waseelah to Allah, is through the good actions one has performed .

And his (saw) statement ; If you ask, then ask Allah (alone) , and if you seek help, then seek help from Allah (alone) guides us to having trust and reliance upon our Protector , and that we should not take any Ilaah (object of worship) except Him , and that we should not depend on anyone other than Him in all our affairs, no matter how small they may be.

And Allah (Swt) has said ; " And whoever puts his trust in Allah, then He will suffice him "
[ Qur'an , Surah at-talaq ]

O Mankind ! It is you who stand in need of Allah !

Allah says : " Son of Adam ! Fill your time with My worship and I will fill your heart with richness , and end off your poverty. But if you do not, I will make your hands fully busy (i.e in worldly affairs) and I will not end off your poverty"

[Tirmidhi]

Explanation : Our purpose of existence on this Earth is more meaningful than being slaves to worldly gains. There can be no meaningful life better than the one prescribed by our Creator Allah. Every act done according to Allah's way is an act of worship. Man is the beneficiary and Allah is in no need.

" O Mankind It is you who stand in need of Allah , but Allah is Rich (free of all wants & needs), Worthy of All praise "

[Qur'an 35 :15]

The above text necessitates that man must depend upon Allah (swt) asking Him Alone for assistance. It also requires that man must love Allah and worship Him alone to gain His pleasure and His help.

Islam, therefore, leads man to a true liberation from any false attachment. It brings peace & contentment to the heart . It helps the believer against hypocrisy and all forms of dishonesty.

Islamic Tawakkal

Umar bin Khattab (rd) heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying , " if you trust Allah with the right kind of Tawakkal, He will provide you sustenance as He provides for the birds - they go out in the morning with empty stomachs and come back in the evening with full stomachs "
[Tirmidhi]

Explanation : The life of the Prophet (saws) was a superb example of Islamic Tawakkal. In every move and at every stage of his mission , he used the best tactics and the best strategies at human disposal, and then fully relied on Allah without having even a bit of worry at the consequences.

For example, while migrating from Makkah to Madinah, he took all the precautions that were humanly possible for his safe departure from Makkah and safe arrival in Madinah.

Planning the migration secretly, leaving when least expected, asking Ali (rd) to sleep in his bed so that his departure is not noticed, selecting a hiding place on an opposite direction to Madinah, arranging of survival provisions for three days of hiding and a week of travelling, arranging of a faithful guide, arranging for the camels to be brought only when leaving the hiding place, selection of route least traveled, etc. But once he had done whatever was humanly possible, he had such trust in Allah that he was never worried about the consequences even when everything seemed to fall apart.

It was the remarkable demonstration of his Tawakkal, when enemies reached at the mount of the Thowr cave and Abu Bakr (rd) became worried, he calmly assured him, "Do not worry, Allah is with us."

Even in basic matters of the world, one has to do his best then leave the results to Allah(Swt). With the degeneration of the Ummah , Tawakkal has also been taken on wrong connotations.

Some people think that Tawakkal entails only siting like monks and thinking Allah will do something. That meaning is from Shaitan to make Muslims inactive and indolent.

The real Tawakkal is such a strong conviction of Allah's approval and mercy being with you in your Islamic struggle that no problem in the world is able to dampen your spirit or make you feel defeated or helpless.