নীচের ভুয়া খবরের কথা কি মনে আছে? ধর্ম প্রীয় মানুষের রাগ উস্কে দিতে আসল শিরোনামটি মুছে দিয়ে বসানো হয়েছিল একটা মিথ্যা শিরোনাম। আসল ছবিটি ছিল ভূমিকম্পের আগে একটি অ্যাপার্টমেন্ট বিল্ডিং ভেঙে পড়ার পুরনো একটা ছবি যেটাকে থিয়েটার হিসেবে গুজব ছড়ানো হয়েছিল। শুধু একটি ছোট গুগল ইমেজ সার্চ করেই এই ভুয়া খবরটা ধরে ফেলা যায়। কিন্তু আমাদের সার্চ করার এত সময় কই? কে কার আগে আমরা অন্যদের সাথে শেয়ার করবো তার জন্য আমরা সবাই খুবই ব্যতিব্যস্ত।
যুগ যুগ ধরে মানুষ যেমন তথ্য ব্যবহার করে আসছে - সেই সময়ের মত করে - তেমনিই বিশেষ গোষ্ঠী ও জাতি তার নিজের সুবিধার জন্য এর অনেক অপব্যবহারও করে আসছে। তবে ইন্টারনেট, সোশ্যাল মিডিয়া এবং স্মার্টফোনের সর্বজনীনতা অতীতের তুলনায় এটিকে অনেক বড় চ্যালেঞ্জ করেছে। এই প্রযুক্তিগুলি প্রতিটি মানুষকে এক একটি "নিউজ আউটলেট" বানিয়েছে এবং একটি বোতাম বা স্পর্শের সাহায্যে আমরা পৃথিবী জুড়ে হাজার হাজার এবং লক্ষ লক্ষ মানুষের কাছে পৌঁছাতে পারি। যেহেতু এই ক্ষমতা আমাদের হাতে এসে গেছে তাই তার জন্য আমাদেরকে অনেক বেশী দায়িত্বশীলও হতে হবে। ক্লিক করার আগে আপনাকে এর সত্যতা যাচাই করতে হবে। এখন, প্রশ্ন হল আপনি এটা কিভাবে করবেন? প্রযুক্তির যেমন তথ্যের ছড়ানোকে সহজ করছে তেমনি তথ্যের সত্যতা যাচাই করাও এখন খুবই সহজ হয়ে গেছে। এখনকার প্রযুক্তি ব্যবহার করেই এর সত্যতা নিমেষেই যাচাই করা যাবে। সামনে হয়ত নতুন নতুন প্রযুক্তি আসবে ভবিষ্যতে প্রযুক্তি র কিন্তু মৌলিক বিষয়গুলো একই থাকবে। এখন দেখা যাক কি ঘরে বসেই এটা অতি সহজে করা যাবে:
- বিষয়টির প্রাথমিক জ্ঞান অর্জন করুন। যদি আপনার জ্ঞানের একমাত্র উৎস সেকেন্ড হ্যান্ড প্রসেসড ইনফরমেশন হয়, তাহলে আপনি ভুল তথ্যের জন্য অত্যন্ত সংবেদনশীল। এটি তাজা খাবার খাওয়ার পরিবর্তে খুব বেশি প্রক্রিয়াজাত খাবার খাওয়ার মতো আপনার স্বাস্থ্য সমস্যা এবং রোগের সম্ভাবনা বাড়ায়। মৌলিক জ্ঞ্যান অর্জন করুন- যেমন ভূগোল, ইতিহাস, অর্থনীতি, সামাজিক বিজ্ঞান, পদার্থবিজ্ঞান, গনিত, রসায়ন, চিকিৎসা, ধর্মীয় গ্রন্থ, ইত্যাদি।
- তথ্য যাচাই করার জন্য কমপক্ষে তিনটি উৎস রাখুন (আরও বেশি হলে আরো ভাল কিন্তু তিনটির নিচে যাবেন না)। প্রথমে আপনার উৎস স্থাপন করুন এবং তারপর এটি যাচাই করার জন্য "ট্রায়াঙ্গুলেশন" বা “ত্রিভুজীকরণ” কৌশল ব্যবহার করুন। উৎস নির্ধারণ করার সময়, নিশ্চিত করুন যে সেগুলি ডাইভার্সিফাইড উৎস থেকে যাচাই বাছাই করা হয়েছে ( তার মানে- এক উৎস আরেক উৎসের তথ্য ব্যবহার করছে না। যেমন স্বাস্থ্য তথ্য যাচাই করার জন্য নিরপেক্ষ উৎস (যেমন www.wikipedia.org), আমেরিকান উৎস (www.cdc.gov), আন্তর্জাতিক উৎস (www.who.int), কিছু এশিয়ান/আফ্রিকান/ইউরোপীয় উৎস ব্যবহার করুন।অবশেষে জীববিজ্ঞান এবং চিকিৎসাশাস্ত্রের মৌলিক বিষয়গুলি থেকে আপনার গবেষণা ব্যবহার করুন। যদি আপনি এটা করতে না পারেন, তাহলে অন্যদের মধ্যে সেই তথ্যগুলি শেয়ার করে দয়া করে অন্যের ক্ষতি করবেন না।
সংক্ষেপে আবার বলছি:
আপনি তথ্য প্রকাশ করার আগে ভালো করে চিন্তা করুন।
শেয়ার করার আগে যাচাই করুন।
একটু অপেক্ষা করুন।
অতপর চিন্তা শেষ করার পরেই শুধু মাত্র শেয়ার করুন।
মনে রাখবেন: সর্বদা "ট্রায়াঙ্গুলেশন" বা “ত্রিভুজীকরণ” কৌশল ব্যবহার করে, তথ্যের নির্ভরযোগ্য উৎস ব্যবহার করে ভালো করে যাচাই করুন। পরে যেন নিজের কৃতকর্মের জন্যে নিজেই অনুতপ্ত না হই, অনিচ্ছাকৃত ভাবে যেন কারো ক্ষতি না করি, নিজেকে এবং নিজের পরিবারকে অন্যের কাছে ছোট ও হাস্যকর না বানাই।
সুরা আল-হুজুরাতে মুসলমানদের জন্য কিভাবে সামাজিক জীবনকে পরিচালিত করতে হয় তার বিস্তারিত বিবরণ রয়েছে- অন্যের উপর গুপ্তচরবৃত্তি না করা, উপহাস ও খারাপ নামে না ডাকা, অথবা সম্ভাব্য কারণ ছাড়া অনুমান না করার কথা বলা আছে। সেখানে খুবই কঠোর ভাবে গীবত করার ক্ষতিও ব্যাখ্যা করা হয়েছে। যাই হোক, আমরা অনেকেই তথ্য প্রযুক্তির মাধ্যমে যে নতুন সামাজিক যোগাযোগের প্ল্যাটফর্মটি পেয়েছি, তা আমাদের বাস্তব জীবনের সাথে খাপ খাওয়াতে পারিনি। মুসলিম হিসেবে আমাদের দায়িত্ব আরো বেশি- বুদ্ধিমত্তার সঙ্গে এবং ন্যায়সঙ্গতভাবে এই তথ্য প্রযুক্তির ব্যবহার করতে হবে।
যদিও এটি যেকোনো মাধ্যমের জন্য সত্য কিন্তু যেহেতু প্রযুক্তি প্ল্যাটফর্মগুলি এখনো অনেকর জন্য নতুন এবং এর থেকে ক্ষতির সম্ভাবনাও অনেক বেশী, তাই আমরা যখন তথ্য ব্যবহার করব তখন আমাদেরকে দ্বিগুণ সতর্ক থাকতে হবে। এটা শুধু উচিত বললে ভুল বলা হবে, এটা আমাদের জন্য অবশ্য কর্তব্য।কারনঃ আল্লাহ তায়ালা বলেন:
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِن جَآءَكُمۡ فَاسِقُۢ بِنَبَإٍ۬ فَتَبَيَّنُوٓاْ أَن تُصِيبُواْ قَوۡمَۢا بِجَهَـٰلَةٍ۬ فَتُصۡبِحُواْ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلۡتُمۡ نَـٰدِمِينَ
“মুমিনগণ! যদি কোন পাপাচারী ব্যক্তি তোমাদের কাছে কোন সংবাদ আনয়ন করে, তবে তোমরা পরীক্ষা করে দেখবে, যাতে অজ্ঞতাবশতঃ তোমরা কোন সম্প্রদায়ের ক্ষতিসাধনে প্রবৃত্ত না হও এবং পরে নিজেদের কৃতকর্মের জন্যে অনুতপ্ত না হও। " সূরা হুজুরাত (৪৯:৬)
إِذۡ تَلَقَّوۡنَهُ ۥ بِأَلۡسِنَتِكُمۡ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفۡوَاهِكُم مَّا لَيۡسَ لَكُم بِهِۦ عِلۡمٌ۬ وَتَحۡسَبُونَهُ ۥ هَيِّنً۬ا وَهُوَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ۬
“যখন তোমরা একে মুখে মুখে ছড়াচ্ছিলে এবং মুখে এমন বিষয় উচ্চারণ করছিলে, যার কোন জ্ঞান তোমাদের ছিল না। তোমরা একে তুচ্ছ মনে করছিলে, অথচ এটা আল্লাহর কাছে গুরুতর ব্যাপার ছিল। "সূরা নূর (২৪:১৫)
https://thinksimplealways.blogspot.com/2021/10/learn-how-to-handle-information-wisely.html
Remember this below fake news? the original title was changed with a a fake title to instigate anger. The original picture was an older picture of a earthquake collapsed apartment building collapsed during the earthquake years before the incident and relabeled as a theatre. Just a quick Google Image search reveals the fake news. But we don't have time to do a quick google search but we are busy to share with others first before we even process the information.
Surah Al-Hujurat has great detail for Muslims on how to deal with social life. It talks about not spying on others, not to mock and call names, or not to assume without having probable cause. It also explained the harm or filthiness about backbiting in a most strong manner. However, somehow many of us couldn’t correlate that to the new platform that we got through Information Technology, the social media. Muslims need to be able to use the information wisely and justly.
Throughout human history information was used and abused for the benefit of particular groups and nations. However the omnipresence of the Internet, social media, and smartphones made this a much bigger challenge than in the past. These technologies have made every human being a “news outlet” and with the click of a button or touch, we can reach thousands and millions of people across the earth. As a Muslim, we’re the least educated in information handling in this Information Technology era, especially, when it comes to sharing information on the social media platforms. Though this is true for any medium but as the technology platforms are more subtle to understand and the harm can be out of proportion, we should be doubly cautious when we use information. So why should we worry about what we share? It comes from Allah:
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِن جَآءَكُمۡ فَاسِقُۢ بِنَبَإٍ۬ فَتَبَيَّنُوٓاْ أَن تُصِيبُواْ قَوۡمَۢا بِجَهَـٰلَةٍ۬ فَتُصۡبِحُواْ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلۡتُمۡ نَـٰدِمِينَ
“O ye who believe! If an evil-liver bring you tidings, verify it, lest ye smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did.” Surah Al-Hujurat (49:6)
إِذۡ تَلَقَّوۡنَهُ ۥ بِأَلۡسِنَتِكُمۡ وَتَقُولُونَ بِأَفۡوَاهِكُم مَّا لَيۡسَ لَكُم بِهِۦ عِلۡمٌ۬ وَتَحۡسَبُونَهُ ۥ هَيِّنً۬ا وَهُوَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ عَظِيمٌ۬
“Behold ye received it on your tongues and said out of your mouths things of which ye had no knowledge; and ye thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of Allah. “ Surah Al-Noor (24:15)
The above ayaths should give us enough chilling effect before you click, share or like a news or content on social media as you would have to make sure that those contents are correct and the messenger is trustworthy. You have to verify the information before passing it on. Now, the question is how do you do it? It’s rather easier to identify the validity of the information because of the technology as well. The use of technology will change in future but the fundamentals remain same:
Acquire primary knowledge of the subject. If your only source of knowledge is second hand process information, you’re highly susceptible to misinformation. It’s like eating too much processed food instead of eating fresh food increases your chance of health issues and diseases. Learn fundamental knowledge, such as, Geography, demography, Economy, Social Sciences, Physics, Chemistry, Medicine, Math, etc. And as a Muslim, you must learn the Quran and Sunnah.
Have at least three sources (more is better but don’t go below three) to verify information. Establish your sources first and then use triangulation technique to validate it. While determining the sources, make sure those are diversified and distributed and aren’t using each other's information. E.g. to validate health information use American sources (www.cdc.gov), International sources (www.who.int), some Asian/African sources and finally use your research from the fundamentals of Biology and Medicine. If you don’t have those, don’t bother to share those information among others.
To recap: remember to pause before you publish, ponder and verify before you share, and always use authentic sources of information using Triangulation technique.
আমি একজন মুসলিম!
আমি মর্মাহত! আমি অনুতপ্ত! আমি ক্ষুব্ধ!
বাংলাদেশের হিন্দু সম্প্রদায়ের অন্যতম এই ধর্মীয় উৎসব শারদীয় দূর্গাপূজা নিয়ে যে পরিবেশ সৃষ্টি হয়েছে সেটা খুবই দুঃখজনক। একজন মুসলিম হিসেবে এটি আমার জন্য খুবই কষ্টের একটা অনুভুতি। একজন মুসলিম হিসেবে আমার দায়িত্ব হলো রাষ্ট্রীয় সীমানার মধ্যে প্রত্যেক মানুষের সুরক্ষা নিশ্চিত করা, সেটা যে ধর্মেরই হোক না কেন।কেউ যখন একটি রাষ্ট্রের নাগরিক হিসেবে নিজেকে এর কাঠামোর মধ্যে অর্পণ করে তখন এটা একটি সন্ধিপত্র হিসেবে কাজ করে। তখন সব নাগরিকের মর্যাদা, অধিকার ও নিরাপত্তা রক্ষা আমার দায়িত্বের মধ্যে পড়ে যায় - বিশেষত সংক্ষালঘু সম্প্রদায়ের নিরাপত্তা নিশ্চিত করা - কেননা তাঁরাই সবচেয়ে বেশি নিরাপত্তাহীনতা অনুভব করে। কেউ যদি কোন অন্যায় করে, সেটা যে ধর্মেরই হোক না কেন তখন তার জন্য আইন অনুযায়ী ব্যবস্থা নিতে হবে। কিন্তু কেউ যদি ইসলাম এর নামে কোন মন্দিরে হামলা চালায় অথবা হিন্দু সম্প্রদায়ের লোকজনের উপর আক্রমণ করে (এমনকি কথার খাতিরে যদি ধরেও নেই যে কেউ ইসলাম এর অবমাননা করেছে- যদিও আমার বিশ্বাস করতে কষ্ট হচ্ছে) তখন আমাদের বাকি সব মুসলিমদের জন্য কর্তব্য হয়ে পড়ে এর প্রতিবাদ করা ও তাদের সাহায্যে এগিয়ে আসা। তা না হলে আমি যখন শেষ বিচারের দিনে আল্লাহর সামনে দাড়াবো তখন আমাকে এর জন্য অবশ্যই আল্লাহর সামনে জবাবদিহি করতে হবে।
আল্লাহ্ তায়ালা বলেন,,,
وَلَا تَسُبُّوا الَّذِيْنَ يَدْعُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ فَيَسُبُّوا اللّٰهَ عَدْوًا بِۢغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ
‘হে ঈমানদারগণ! তারা আল্লাহকে বাদ দিয়ে যেসব দেবদেবীর পূজা-উপাসনা করে, তোমরা তাদের গালি দিও না। যাতে করে তারা শিরক থেকে আরো অগ্রসর হয়ে অজ্ঞতাবশত আল্লাহকে গালি দিয়ে না বসে।
(সূরা আনআম: ১০৮)
বিশ্বনবী (সা.) বলেন, ‘
কোনো মুসলমান যদি ভিন্ন ধর্মাবলম্বীদের অধিকার ক্ষুন্ন করে কিংবা তাদের ওপর জুলুম করে, তবে কেয়ামতের দিন আমি মুহাম্মদ ওই মুসলমানের বিরুদ্ধে আল্লাহর আদালতে লড়াই করব। ’
(সুনানে আবু দাউদ : ৩০৫২)
বিঃ দ্রঃ - ধর্মীয় সংখ্যালঘু হিসেবে একজন মানুষ কতটা মানসিক পরিস্থিতির মধ্যে থাকে সেটা যে কখনো ওই অবস্থায় থাকে নাই সে ওটা খুব কমই বুঝতে পারে।
The best gift humans are born with is Death, which is the only certainty in our life but we tend to forget this and act as if we will never die!
Disclaimer: Though I may have singled out Facebook but it’s more or less true for any social media platform.
How do you know Facebook is using you?
How do you know you rather use Facebook, not the other way?
How to use Facebook effectively?
Imagine! You have a hammer, a miracle tool. This is a very useful tool indeed. You can fix many things with a little bang here and there with this tool. You can also use it as a protection tool from a thug or a hijacker on the street. You can also use it for weight lifting during your exercise. You also can use it as a hook to pull something up or use it as a carry on hook. You can go on and on. But you are smart enough to not to use a hammer for all the necessities in your life. That doesn’t make sense. It’s so obvious to you. Facebook is also a tool, a social media tool but unfortunately it’s not so obvious to us that it’s built for a purpose. However, as it’s a new tool using the mew technologies: Internet and Smartphone, it doesn’t seem so obvious to all of us. A social media platform is purposed to use to connect people who live away from you, and not for your family members living in the same house or friends who you would see daily or weekly and you can go visit them. We would see ourselves as fool if we carry a hammer at all the time but we don’t perceive the Facebook, instagram, Snapchat, etc. in the same way because we still couldn’t grasp its true utility. Moreover the companies are making billions of dollars out of our ignorance so they encourage us to continue with our foolishness. They continue making money and we continue to spiral down to the “social” hell.
How to use Social Media platform as it should be used?
Define the goal(s) of your use of social media platform. It could be anything that’s aligned to the purpose of life such as, connecting with your family members living far apart, as resources for your education, use its Marketplace to do commerce, carrying out activities and awareness campaigns for the cause you believe in, etc. Bottom line is to making sure that you use this platform only to advance your goal you set forth. Review every now and then to check if you’re within that limit. As soon as you find yourself drifting away from that goal, you should be alarmed and get back to the lane immediately, just like the way the Lane Detector Warning (LDW) in your car works.
If you really want specific instructions: separate a certain time in a day to check social media. Better if you don’t use it everyday. Use only certain days in the week. Predefine it and stick to it.
Learning from the Exploration of America’s East to West drive (in April 2021)
قُلۡ سِيرُواْ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱنظُرُواْ كَيۡفَ كَانَ عَـٰقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلُۚ
"Travel through the earth and see what was the End of those before (you)" - Surah Al-Room
In April, I traveled and learned the America’s landscape and its history. I have experienced the Native Americans lands, learned the nature’s making of the the Grand Canyon in millions of years and the native Americans living there for thousands of years, touched the Mormon history at salt water wash in Utah, went through the very high elevation and the landscape of Utah, felt the East to West American expansion, saw the history of the Nipton gold rush and the human greed. It was an experience that can’t be captured in few words but it’s worth to capture few of my realizations to share with everyone - if it has any usefulness to anyone.
- Islam is the fastest growing religion. This is a very partial narrative or at times misleading. The truth is Islam is the fastest growing “Immigrant” Religion. There are local Americans, especially the Black Americans who are getting converted in a rate that adds to narrative but overall, I found that most Islamic centers in the USA are built and maintained by the immigrant Muslim communities. A quick recount of my observation: Connecticut- Bangladeshi, NewYork - Bangladeshi, Pakistani; Bridgeview, Michigan- Arab, Dearborn, Michigan- Arab; Columbus, Ohio- Somalian, African American; Amarillo, Texas - African immigrants, and Afghans; Albuquerque, New Mexico - Afghans, and Arabs; Las Vegas, Nevada- Arab, and South Asians, the list goes on. I found hardly few centers run by non-immigrants- Illinois and Ohio have a good number of Black Americans. But I didn’t find any Islamic centers run by majority White Americans whereas they represent more than 70% of the U.S. population. What does it tell us?
- My realization through these road trips reminds me that America is more of a continent and union of states than a country that we are used to see in Asia or Europe. Though I may be exaggerating it a bit but driving through the landscape and its vastness gives that feeling. The vastness and diversity may be true for Russia, Canada, China, India, etc. however, unlike those countries, the USA is built in just last couple of hundred years. It’s also so connected through the Interstate highways. East to West and North to South are a spectrum of landscape and climate. When you are in Florida, you won’t remember what does it like to live in Maine or Vermont- when you’re In Arizona or Nevada, you won’t know how does it like to live in Kensas or Oklahoma or in upstate NewYork. The change in landscape is spectacular. If you fly out you may not internalize that changes but driving through it gives you an euphoric feelings. It feels unreal sometime when you see 90 degree (Fahrenheit) in Mojave desert and then you see the snow covered houses and icy roads in Colorado.
- It’s also surprisingly homogeneous. You see same kind of stores, homes, and roads. It tells that USA was built in a short period of time rather than forming organically. Some of you may know the history of ethnic cleansing done to the native Americans who had lived in this land for thousands of years.
- The sufferings of Native Americans are muted but vivid to the eyes of the beholder. Navajo nations in Arizona, Natives Americans lived in the bank of the Colorado River, the great migration of Mormans up to the Salt Water Wash in Utah tells you the stories that remain hidden or forgotten.
- The excessive consumptions is visible everywhere. The massive solar thermal power plant in California Mojave dessert, miles after miles of solar panels by destroying the dessert ecosystem, leveling off the mountains in Utah for minerals, massive farms in Oklahoma/Kansas (and the list goes on) are a few examples of our excessive consumptions. We eat more than we should, we throw 40% of food to the trash (it’s from statistical data), we build huge house for few people that takes up more land, requires more building materials and consumes more energy. Scientists and environmentalists talk about saving the earth by reducing carbon foot print but we should save ourselves from excessive consumptions and waste to save the earth. If we reduce our excessive consumptions then our production would be reduced and we would create less pollution, less toxics (plastics, chemicals, etc.), and less of everything. Because of our actions driven by greed and consumptions, we are wreaking havoc in this earth.
ظَهَرَ ٱلۡفَسَادُ فِى ٱلۡبَرِّ وَٱلۡبَحۡرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتۡ أَيۡدِى ٱلنَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعۡضَ ٱلَّذِى عَمِلُواْ لَعَلَّهُمۡ يَرۡجِعُونَ
Surah Al-Room:
Mischief has appeared on land and sea because of (the meed) that the hands of men have earned that (Allah) may give them a taste of some of their deeds: in order that they may turn back (from Evil).
- American West, in particular, and the America, in general, is the story of a Triumph and a Tragedy. Triumph of the human ingenuity, perseverance, and courage that turned this vast land with unlimited opportunity and natural beauty into a homogenous country. However the very triumph of human ingenuity brought the unforgiving tragedy to the indigenous natives who had lived in this land for thousands of year. I don’t know if such a transformation and takeover were done to a land in such a short period of time anywhere in the world in human history.
Finally, my humble wish to continue to explore this land and the world to learn more from its history and to gain any wisdom whatsoever from it. This helps me to realize that how insignificant I am in the scale of space, and time; what’s the purpose of my life and what should I prioritize over the materialism that we all are surrounded by.
At some point in life, most of us go through these fundamental questions of life. Why were we created? What are we doing in this world? And more questions like that. If I summarize all of these questions, we are essentially asking ourselves, “what is the purpose of our life?”
There are so many directions you can go to find the answer to that. There are philosophers who have tried to answer this question for thousands of years. Everyone comes with their own conviction and finds the answer to this fundamental age old question. But as a theist person in general and as Muslim in particular, we are blessed to have the direct access to the source - the Creator. We believe that Allah has created us therefore, first and foremost, we should look to Him for answers. Who would be better to ask why we were created than our own creator? If we want to know the purpose of a car engine, we would ask the manufacturer of the engine. If we want to know the purpose of a phone, we would ask the manufacturer of the phone. The manufacturer hands us the user manual and specifications detailing out the purpose and how to use that machine. We look into the user manual of the device and find that answer. Similarly we need to look into the user manual i.e. the Quran to find that answer. Did Allah tell us why we are created? What’s the purpose of our life? Yes, He did. He did it in a very concise way. Just like Allah has defined who He is in Suratul Ikhlas, He has given us the answer to that question. Allah has created us to perform عبودية- Servitude of Him, and nothing else.
۞ وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ ۞
“I have only created jinns and men, so that they may serve Me.” (Al Dhariyat - 51:56)
The purpose is stated very clearly by Allah. We are the slaves of Allah and are here to do nothing but obey Him. We need to do whatever He asks us to do and we need to refrain ourselves from whatever He forbids us from. Our goal is to implement this in our everyday lives till we return to Him.
Once we accept why we need to serve Him, the next step is to identify what we need to do and how do we do them?
Allah made it very simple for us; He told us in the Quran to obey Him and obey His messenger.
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُواْ ٱلرَّسُولَ وَأُوْلِى ٱلۡأَمۡرِ مِنكُمۡۖ فَإِن تَنَـٰزَعۡتُمۡ فِى شَىۡءٍ۬ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ وَٱلرَّسُولِ إِن كُنتُمۡ تُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِۚ ذَٲلِكَ خَيۡرٌ۬ وَأَحۡسَنُ تَأۡوِيلاً
“O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.” Suratul Nisa (4:59)
There are many Surahs (such as, Surah Al-Anfal 8:1 & 20, Surah Al-Imran 3:32, etc.) this clear command is repeated. One example being Surah Al-Imran (3:32)
۞ قُلۡ أَطِيعُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَۖ فَإِن تَوَلَّوۡاْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلۡكَـٰفِرِينَ ۞
“Say, "Obey Allah and the Messenger." But if they turn away - then indeed, Allah does not like the disbelievers.”
After that there’s no disputing the fact that we have to (a) Obey Allah and (b) obey His Messenger (pbuh). Though this is easy for us to understand in this world when we need to obey someone such as our teacher or our boss, we create unnecessary confusion on what it means to obey Allah and His messenger. Though we shouldn’t, we get somewhat lost to internalize what it means to obey Allah and where we find his commands. In short or simply put - we find His orders In the Quran. There’s no other source for Allah’s commands but the Quran. And what is obeying His Rasul? It is obeying The messenger’s Sunnah. That’s it. It's really that simple.
(a) Allah has said in Surah Al-Baqarah (2:2) that he has revealed the Quran as the guidance for the Muttaqin.
۞ ذَٲلِكَ ٱلۡڪِتَـٰبُ لَا رَيۡبَۛ فِيهِۛ هُدً۬ى لِّلۡمُتَّقِينَ ۞
It’s also the Furqan (differentiate the Truth from the False). So, we have the source and text where we can find the commands. But don’t we hear from people that the Quran is not for ordinary Muslims to read and interpret but for the scholars to interpret for us? Especially for people who don’t know the Arabic language? Let’s deep dive into this issue and try to find the solution, just like everything else, from our creator - Allah.
Allah has promised that He has made the Quran easy for those who want to seek advice from it.
۞ وَلَقَدۡ يَسَّرۡنَا ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ لِلذِّكۡرِ فَهَلۡ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍ۬ ۞
“And We have certainly made the Quran easy for remembrance (advice), so is there anyone who will remember (advice)?” - Surah Al-Qamar (54:17)
He has repeated this many times in that Surah as well as in other places in the Quran. Therefore, we shouldn’t be worried about whether we can understand it or not. When the creator says that it’s made easy for us, then why should we be worried? We intentionally drive ourselves away from it and make it an excuse- oh, it’s very tough and even when we try reading it, we don’t understand. Let me ask a very very simple question - did you understand how to drive before you learned how to drive? Was it easy riding a bike before you learned how to? Could you easily understand books before you learned how to read? For those of us who claim to be educated, was Science, Math, Arts, Engineering, Medicine, or Law, etc. easy before we learned ? How did you get to the point where you don’t consider these to be as hard as they were initially?
Let me guess...You studied it, right? You invested time, money, energy and effort into it. That’s how Allah has created us. Allah has given us all the gifts to make something easy. We just have to put our effort into it.
To make the Quran easy, we have to invest. Once we take a step towards understanding the Quran, Allah has made His promise - it will be easy for us. How much time have you spent learning your tool of trade? 15 years? 20 years? Every day 8 to 10 hours, right? Let me do some rough math- you invested a minimum of 50 to 70 thousands of hours in your life to call yourself the expert in that subject. Now the question is - How many hours have you spent learning the Quran? Maybe 1 thousand or 2 thousands hour? Even that is just learning the recitation and tajweed - not really intended to take the “advice” that Allah has gifted humanity in the Sura Al-Qamar. The question then naturally comes - what is wrong with us? The answer is -
We either don’t care or don’t want to take advice. We are too busy doing everything else in our life. We are worried about our sustenance; we firmly believe that if we don’t learn and work hard we won’t be able to live our life. Therefore, we spend the majority of our time learning the trait to make our life comfortable. However, what Allah has said about the sustenance? Is it we who are in control of our sustenance? It apparently seems so but if you ponder deeply you would see it otherwise. Think about the brain, arms, legs, eyes, ears that you use to make your living - did you earn those? Or were those just given to you? If you were born in the midst of a war zone, would you be doing the same thing you are doing today? Did you choose your place of birth? Did you choose your family when you were born? Weren’t those all predestined? We think that we are in control but the truth is we are given control to very few things that are on the surface thus misled us to this false belief. Didn’t Allah mention in the Quran that He has created us and provides us sustenance? Didn’t he mention that he increases sustenance to whoever He wants and decreases to whoever He wants?
Look at the below ayat carefully. Allah has mentioned 4 things: creating us, providing sustaintence, causing us to die and finally resurrecting us. Out of those four things, we all accept that three things (creating, causing death and resurrecting) have nothing to do with us as those are the decree of Allah. But for some reason we never reckoned with the “sustenance” part….
۞ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَكُمۡ ثُمَّ رَزَقَكُمۡ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُڪُمۡ ثُمَّ يُحۡيِيكُمۡۖ هَلۡ مِن شُرَكَآٮِٕكُم مَّن يَفۡعَلُ مِن ذَٲلِكُم مِّن شَىۡءٍ۬ۚ سُبۡحَـٰنَهُ ۥ وَتَعَـٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشۡرِكُونَ۞
“It is Allah Who has created you: further He has provided for your sustenance; then He will cause you to die; and again He will give you life. Are there any of your (false) "Partners" who can do any single one of these things? Glory to Him! and High is He above the partners they attribute (to Him)!” - Suratul Rum (30:40)
۞ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَبۡسُطُ ٱلرِّزۡقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقۡدِرُۚ إِنَّهُ ۥ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِۦ خَبِيرَۢا بَصِيرً۬ا ۞
“Indeed, your Lord extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it]. Indeed He is ever, concerning His servants, Acquainted and Seeing.” - Surat Al-Isra (17:30)
۞ وَفِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ رِزۡقُكُمۡ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ ۞
“And in the heaven is your providence and that which ye are promised;” - Suratul Dhariyat (51:22)
On top of that Humans are created with a natural biological tendency to fall in love with the worldly beauties. We see this beautiful worldly life and race with each other to grab more and more. Allah Himself has said that in the Quran- he made this world beautiful in our eyes. And then he warns us about these ephemeral worldly attractions and advises us to seek for the things that are way better and everlasting.
۞
زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ ٱلشَّهَوَٲتِ مِنَ ٱلنِّسَآءِ وَٱلۡبَنِينَ وَٱلۡقَنَـٰطِيرِ ٱلۡمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ ٱلذَّهَبِ وَٱلۡفِضَّةِ وَٱلۡخَيۡلِ ٱلۡمُسَوَّمَةِ وَٱلۡأَنۡعَـٰمِ وَٱلۡحَرۡثِۗ ذَٲلِكَ مَتَـٰعُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَاۖ وَٱللَّهُ عِندَهُ ۥ حُسۡنُ ٱلۡمَـَٔابِ (١٤) ۞ قُلۡ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُم بِخَيۡرٍ۬ مِّن ذَٲلِڪُمۡۚ لِلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوۡاْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ جَنَّـٰتٌ۬ تَجۡرِى مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا وَأَزۡوَٲجٌ۬ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ۬ وَرِضۡوَٲنٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِۗ وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرُۢ بِٱلۡعِبَادِ ۞
“Fair in the eyes of men is the love of things they covet: women and sons; heaped-up hoards of gold and silver; horses branded (for blood and excellence); and (wealth of) cattle and well-tilled land. Such are the possessions of this world's life; but in nearness to Allah is the best of the goals (to return to). (14) Say: shall I give you glad tidings of things far better than those? For the righteous are Gardens in nearness to their Lord with rivers flowing beneath; therein is their eternal home; with companions pure (and holy) and the good pleasure of Allah. For in Allah's sight are (all) His servants.― (15) “ - Surah Al-Imran (3:14-15)
More on the worldly life in this Surah that worldly life is nothing but deceiving.
۞
كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ۬ ذَآٮِٕقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوۡنَ أُجُورَڪُمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَـٰمَةِۖ فَمَن زُحۡزِحَ عَنِ ٱلنَّارِ وَأُدۡخِلَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ فَقَدۡ فَازَۗ وَمَا ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَآ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلۡغُرُورِ ۞
“Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing)” - Surah Al-Imran (3:185)
He continued the warning in many places in the Quran
۞
ٱعۡلَمُوٓاْ أَنَّمَا ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَا لَعِبٌ۬ وَلَهۡوٌ۬ وَزِينَةٌ۬ وَتَفَاخُرُۢ بَيۡنَكُمۡ وَتَكَاثُرٌ۬ فِى ٱلۡأَمۡوَٲلِ وَٱلۡأَوۡلَـٰدِۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيۡثٍ أَعۡجَبَ ٱلۡكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ۥ ثُمَّ يَہِيجُ فَتَرَٮٰهُ مُصۡفَرًّ۬ا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَـٰمً۬اۖ وَفِى ٱلۡأَخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ۬ شَدِيدٌ۬ وَمَغۡفِرَةٌ۬ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضۡوَٲنٌ۬ۚ وَمَا ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَآ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلۡغُرُورِ (٢٠) سَابِقُوٓاْ إِلَىٰ مَغۡفِرَةٍ۬ مِّن رَّبِّكُمۡ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرۡضُہَا كَعَرۡضِ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ أُعِدَّتۡ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦۚ ذَٲلِكَ فَضۡلُ ٱللَّهِ يُؤۡتِيهِ مَن يَشَآءُۚ وَٱللَّهُ ذُو ٱلۡفَضۡلِ ٱلۡعَظِيمِ ۞
“Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children - like the example of a rain whose [resulting] plant growth pleases the tillers; then it dries and you see it turned yellow; then it becomes [scattered] debris. And in the Hereafter is severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and approval. And what is the worldly life except the enjoyment of delusion.(20) Race toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is like the width of the heavens and earth, prepared for those who believed in Allah and His messengers. That is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills, and Allah is the possessor of great bounty.(21)” - Surah Al-Hadeed (57:20-21)
The world is created full of luxury for people but for muttaqin, we have it all with Allah in the hereafter.
وَزُخۡرُفً۬اۚ وَإِن ڪُلُّ ذَٲلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَـٰعُ ٱلۡحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنۡيَاۚ وَٱلۡأَخِرَةُ عِندَ رَبِّكَ لِلۡمُتَّقِينَ ۞
“And adornments of gold. Yet all this (i.e. the roofs, doors, stairs, elevators, thrones of their houses) would have been nothing but an enjoyment of this world. And the Hereafter with your Lord is (only) for the Muttaqûn.” - Surah Al-Zukhruf (43:35)
Based on the above warning and order from Allah, we need to be prudent on how much time we should spend to amass worldly wealth. Also, Allah has said that he has created us and provided Rizq (provisions). It’s mentioned in so many places -
۞
فَفَإِذَا بَلَغۡنَ أَجَلَهُنَّ فَأَمۡسِكُوهُنَّ بِمَعۡرُوفٍ أَوۡ فَارِقُوهُنَّ بِمَعۡرُوفٍ۬ وَأَشۡہِدُواْ ذَوَىۡ عَدۡلٍ۬ مِّنكُمۡ وَأَقِيمُواْ ٱلشَّهَـٰدَةَ لِلَّهِۚ ذَٲلِڪُمۡ يُوعَظُ بِهِۦ مَن كَانَ يُؤۡمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلۡيَوۡمِ ٱلۡأَخِرِۚ وَمَن يَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ يَجۡعَل لَّهُ ۥ مَخۡرَجً۬ا (٢) وَيَرۡزُقۡهُ مِنۡ حَيۡثُ لَا يَحۡتَسِبُۚ وَمَن يَتَوَكَّلۡ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَسۡبُهُ ۥۤۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بَـٰلِغُ أَمۡرِهِۦۚ قَدۡ جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِكُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدۡرً۬ ۞
“Thus when they fulfill their term appointed, either take them back on equitable terms or part with them on equitable terms; and take for witness two persons from among you, endued with justice, and establish the evidence (as) before Allah. Such is the admonition given to him who believes in Allah and the Last Day. And for those who fear Allah, He (ever) prepares a way out (2) And He provides for him from (sources) he never could imagine. And if anyone puts his trust in Allah, sufficient is (Allah) for him. For Allah will surely accomplish His purpose: verily, for all things has Allah appointed a due proportion. (3)“ - Suratul Talaq (65:2-3)
Nonetheless, Rizq is the single most obstacle for us to get into the Ubudiyah. Does it mean that we don’t need to work and be idle? It's actually the opposite which is true. We have a short life and Allah has commanded us to do so many things that our life seems too short for that. But for Rizq, the work is not a necessary precondition. As mentioned above and many other Surahs Allah has promised the Rizq, unlike most other things in this life and hereafter, without setting any precondition to work.
لَهُۥ مَقَالِيدُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۖ يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌۭ
“To Him belong the keys ˹of the treasuries˺ of the heavens and the earth. He gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills. Indeed, He has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things.” - Surah Al-Ashura (42:12)
ٱللَّهُ لَطِيفٌۢ بِعِبَادِهِۦ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۖ وَهُوَ ٱلْقَوِىُّ ٱلْعَزِيزُ
“Allah is Ever Kind to His servants. He provides ˹abundantly˺ to whoever He wills. And He is the All-Powerful, Almighty.” - Surah Al-Ashura (42:19)
زُيِّنَ لِلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَيَسْخَرُونَ مِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ۘ وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ فَوْقَهُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
“The life of this world has been made appealing to the disbelievers, and they mock the believers. Those who are mindful ˹of Allah˺ will rank above them on the Day of Judgment. And Allah provides for whoever He wills without limit.” - Surah Al-Baqara (2:212)
تُولِجُ ٱلَّيْلَ فِى ٱلنَّهَارِ وَتُولِجُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فِى ٱلَّيْلِ ۖ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْحَىَّ مِنَ ٱلْمَيِّتِ وَتُخْرِجُ ٱلْمَيِّتَ مِنَ ٱلْحَىِّ ۖ وَتَرْزُقُ مَن تَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍۢ
“You cause the night to enter the day, and You cause the day to enter the night; and You bring the living out of the dead, and You bring the dead out of the living. And You give provision to whom You will without account [i.e., limit or measure]." -Surah Al-Imran (3:27)
فَتَقَبَّلَهَا رَبُّهَا بِقَبُولٍ حَسَنٍۢ وَأَنۢبَتَهَا نَبَاتًا حَسَنًۭا وَكَفَّلَهَا زَكَرِيَّا ۖ كُلَّمَا دَخَلَ عَلَيْهَا زَكَرِيَّا ٱلْمِحْرَابَ وَجَدَ عِندَهَا رِزْقًۭا ۖ قَالَ يَـٰمَرْيَمُ أَنَّىٰ لَكِ هَـٰذَا ۖ قَالَتْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَآءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ
“So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, "O Mary, from where is this [coming] to you?" She said, ‘It is from Allah. Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account.’” -Surah Al-Imran (3:37)
ٱللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ ۚ وَفَرِحُوا۟ بِٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَمَا ٱلْحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنْيَا فِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ إِلَّا مَتَـٰعٌۭ
“Allah extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it]. And they rejoice in the worldly life, while the worldly life is not, compared to the Hereafter, except [brief] enjoyment” - Surah Ar-Ra’d (13:25).
Aren’t those ayats enough to convince us? Yes, there are so many reasons for which we have to work but Allah didn’t make working as a prerequisite for Rizq. They are independent. If Allah didn’t make it a prerequisite then why are we so eager to make that as a prerequisite? This may sound weird and counterintuitive because we didn't grow up listening to that but that’s the fact repeated in the Quran time and time again. After reciting and having belief in those ayats, how could we continue worrying about the sustenance? Don’t we see people amass enormous amounts of wealth and then leave this world empty? Even for the sake of argument, if you think that you can earn your Rizq but don’t you have to leave this earth after a maximum of 100 years which essentially stops your Rizq that you can consume? Do you have that in your control? Can you extend your life to another few hundred or thousands years? So how can we say that we can earn our Rizq? Imam Ghazzali has explained very nicely in one of his books for whoever needs a more complicated explanation. Therefore, we should stop worrying about the Rizq, and delve into the true slavery of Allah i.e spending our time to do those kinds of work that are purposeful and connected to the commands of Allah and Rasul. If Allah wills then he would provide the sustenance through our work or He can provide sustenance from unanticipated sources without any measure (as noted in the previous few ayats). In that way, we will free ourselves from being consumed in the search of our sustenance.
Before we go to the next step, let’s clarify one thing so that we don't incorrectly correlate wealth or other worldly things as a measure of success or failure in our life.
Firaun was a super king in Egypt and Prophet Musa was merely a foster child. Namrud was rich, Karun was rich too. We see so many evil but powerful characters in the history of mankind who are rich and, apparently successful in worldly affairs.
On the other hand, we see the prophet Sulaiman was a king, Zul-Qarnain was a mighty powerful man who built a giant wall to protect people from Yajuz & Majuj. Another such example, but with a great twist, was prophet Yousuf who had so many ups and downs in his life but eventually he became the powerful Minister of Egypt. These examples are abandoned in the history of mankind. Even our last prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was raised as an orphan who born in an elite and powerful tribe: Qurayish. Then he suffered tremendous loss in his personal life. He had lost everything including his homeland and had to migrate to Madinah. But after all, Allah gave him wealth (to the extent) and he became the ruler of Madinah and the islamic world. Nonetheless, at the time of his death, he had very little left for his family. Allah has repeatedly mentioned in the Quran that the believers are the successful ones. So, what do all these anecdotes in history tell us? Here's what I think:
Success or failure isn't a direct function of wealth and power in this world. You may or may not have wealth or power. That alone doesn't label you as a successful person. Success has two factors in it. One is worldly and the other one is the hereafter. And the success in the endless hereafter is the ultimate success compared to 100 years max life time which would be considered as a blink of an eye or less than that of eternal life. You may be rich, which is OK, and you may be poor, which is equally OK. It is the other factor of the equation, the eternal life in the hereafter, that determines your ultimate success or failure as a whole. So, we should stop looking at the rich people as though they are evil people or as if they are the blessed people. Similarly, we should stop looking at the poor people as if they are the failed one or they are the chosen ones. We should be looking at how we are utilizing our wealth or lack of wealth to secure our success for eternal life. If Allah blessed us with wealth without chasing for it and if that helps me to be in Ubudiyah, then it’s a blessing from Allah and vice versa. However, if our wealth is the outcome of our chasing it day and night and doesn’t help me to completely submit as a slave to Allah, then the same wealth is a form of test and we are failing in that test. Same is true for poverty - I have seen people who are so poor that they can even perform basic Salah or Fasting, let alone complete submission as a slave to Allah. In that case, poverty is the form of a test in which they are failing it completely. Hope this clarifies it to all.
Now we can examine the next step. The apparently complicated part is how do we serve Allah.
We need to learn the Quran - learning the Quran in Arabic as Allah has said in the Quran. The Quran in Arabic is the Quran, the translation of it is not Quran. In the Quran, Allah said
۞ إِنَّآ أَنزَلۡنَـٰهُ قُرۡءَٲنًا عَرَبِيًّ۬ا لَّعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ ۞
“Indeed, We have sent it down as an Arabic Quran that you might understand.” - Surah Al-Yusoof (12:2)
Just learning how to read and then read the translation is a kind of a band aid but it’s not truly understanding it. There are many reasons why I said it but if you insist on knowing why, then think about this - in our Salah, we are obligated to recite the Quran in Arabic. The translation of it is not an option. So, you may read the translation outside of the Salah but you are missing the most important part of our Ibadah where we directly talk to Allah and unfortunately, we don’t get any clue what we are talking about. When you recite Quran in your Salah (be it regular Salah or Tarawih) - we just experience the melodies and beautiful recitation but mostly don’t understand what we recite or listen to in our everyday prayer. We see the next person crying in the Salah but our hearts don’t move an inch because we stand clueless.
Allah has sent down the Quran in Arabic so that we understand it. And Allah has said that he made the Quran easy for our remembrance and to take advice from it. So, worry not. It’s the word from the creator of mankind. We would understand it if we gave it a try. There shouldn’t be any doubt.
So once we sort out the source of Allah’s command and learn it to understand, we turn into implementing it i.e. we get into the mode of Ubudiyah. Let’s understand what we understand about Ubudiyah. It essentially means: we are slaves of Allah and as His slaves our job is to obey Him: do whatever He asks us to do and refrain from whatever He forbids us.
There are many ways you can implement Ubudiyah in your life. It has two parts: the prayers and worshipping rituals and (b) all other actions in this worldly life. We are all clear on how to do our daily prayers, and other acts of worshipping and prayers. So I am not repeating it here. You can find it everywhere, I am putting a framework to implement the second part of the Ubudiyah i.e. all our actions in this worldly life, in the hope of making it easy for everyone to follow:
We start with an oath, just like the oath taken by a president or a government, that we would uphold the Ubudiyah in our every action. After that we have to trace the purpose of our actions back to the Quran and Sunnah.
To make it simple: every action should be traced back to at least one command of Allah and complies with all forbidden things that Allah has commanded to not to do.The forbidden (haram) things are actually very small in number.
E.g.
I want to study medicine to serve humanity. Can you trace it to the Quran and Hadith? Does it violate any of the forbidden things?
I want to study Law to serve justice to humans. Can you trace it to the Quran and Hadith? Does it violate any of the forbidden things?
I want to join Law enforcing agencies or the military to uphold justice and fight against injustice. Can you trace it to the Quran and Hadith? Does it violate any of the forbidden things?
You can use the below steps to trace your goals and actions to the Quran and Hadith.
Step 1: For macro goals that you would like to decide for your life. Such as what you want to be in your life.
1a. Identify at least one (more is better) Command from Allah (be it Do’s or Don'ts that is linked to it.
Procedure: ask “why” do you want to do that in your life. If that answer doesn’t connect to the Quran or Sahih Hadith directly, you should continue further. Note that answer. Ask the “why” again on the previous intermediate answer. Continue this until you reach any Quranic Ayat or Sahi Hadith.
E.g. I want to study Law. Why do you want to study law? If the answer is - I want to serve justice to humans. That answer can be directly connected to the following Quranic ayat thus this would be Ubudiya of Allah.
۞
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ كُونُواْ قَوَّٲمِينَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ شُہَدَآءَ لِلَّهِ وَلَوۡ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِكُمۡ أَوِ ٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبِينَۚ إِن يَكُنۡ غَنِيًّا أَوۡ فَقِيرً۬ا فَٱللَّهُ أَوۡلَىٰ بِہِمَاۖ فَلَا تَتَّبِعُواْ ٱلۡهَوَىٰٓ أَن تَعۡدِلُواْۚ وَإِن تَلۡوُ ۥۤاْ أَوۡ تُعۡرِضُواْ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُونَ خَبِيرً۬ا ۞
“O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah , even if it be against yourselves or parents and relatives. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah is more worthy of both. So follow not [personal] inclination, lest you not be just. And if you distort [your testimony] or refuse [to give it], then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted.“ - Suratul Nisa (4:135)
1b. Identify if any of Allah’s commands to forbid (i.e. do not do it) is violated by your goal. This is more complex than the above. If any one of the forbidden commands are violated, then this goal needs to be changed.
e.g. I want to invest in a casino. Does it violate any commands of forbid? Yes, it does. Allah has made Gambling haram so not investing in a casino would be Ubudiyah of Allah.
۞
يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡخَمۡرُ وَٱلۡمَيۡسِرُ وَٱلۡأَنصَابُ وَٱلۡأَزۡلَـٰمُ رِجۡسٌ۬ مِّنۡ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيۡطَـٰنِ فَٱجۡتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُفۡلِحُونَ۞
“O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.” - Suratul Maeda (5:90).
Step 2a: for every micro action to reach the Macro goal, cross verify if any of the actions are violating the commands of Allah (i.e. Don’ts).
Step 2b: ask if that micro action is fulfilling the macro goal, directly or indirectly. If it does fulfill your macro goal and it doesn’t violate any of the forbidden commands from Allah and His messenger pbush, then you are good to go. Otherwise, just make sure that it doesn’t violate the commands of Allah and His messenger pbuh.
Continue the above two steps till you find your actions can be connected to the Quran or Sunnah. But if you can’t link it back to the Quran and Sunnah then you have to rethink your goal and action. Make sure that you apply your wisdom to it. E.g. should I take COVID vaccine or any vaccine as it’s not mentioned in the Quran or Sunnah? The answer is, a vaccine is nothing but a medication/treatment to sickness which has so many references in Quran and in hadiths of Prophet pbuh.
The above framework is an illustration and the goal is to show how to align every action we take in this world to that principle (Ubudiyah) and to go through a self-verification process. It’s important to know that there’s no central authority in Islam, like Catholics or Mormons, to certify it. So it would be you and your knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah and working with the scholars to verify it. Don’t bother much if your actions are deemed wrong in the eyes of others as long as you have clean intentions to please Allah and are aligned with the Quran and Sunnah. All the worldly actions are visible to other human beings but Allah knows your intention behind that action. Allah will judge us based on both of our intentions and actions. So, we have to do everything to please Allah alone. If our intention becomes to please anyone else other than Allah then all of our hard work would be in vain on the day of judgement.
