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.
A simple framework of Ubudiyah
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.
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