Many people have been kept away from the Qur’an by those who claim
that it can not be understood by laymen. On the contrary this is what Allah says about it. He speaks:
“And
we have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember; then is there any one that will receive admonition? (54:17,
22, 32, 40)”
“Here is a plain statement to men, a guidance and instruction to those who fear Allah!
(3:138).
“So lose not hope nor fall into despair for you must gain mastery if you are true in faith
(3:139).”
The greatest gift of practicing the lessons of the Qur’an, as the latter
verse suggests, is strengthening our souls and thereby gaining mastery over self. This comes as a result of Qur'an dispelling
gray areas from our lives- we can decide and we can execute out of a clear conscience. There is nothing better in this
world than having the reigns of life in one's hands only accountable to Allah (S.W.A). This very fact gives
credence to the saying that – ‘lose yourself in God and you will find your freedom’, which simply means
that you must decide and execute only and always in God's service. All that is required of us is to do our very
best in every endeavor. Do not leave a joule of energy left unused; make sure you have done right whatever the undertaking
you are involved in. Remember, Allah (S.W.A) says, as reported by the Prophet, Muhammad (S.W.A), that He loves proficiency
even if it is in a small matter as slaughtering an animal. After you have done your
best, leave the rest to Allah (S.W.A). No need to worry about the results – success or failure. It is Allah (S.W.A)
to decide that. Your job is done when you know you’ve done your very best. Have only one master, Allah (S.W.A.) and
many causes of indecision wll be eliminated. Direct all your effort to serving Him and He will do the rest for you.
This may be scoring high grades, securing a good job, not being fired from a job, or just deciding on some matters of importance;
it does not matter, Allah (S.W.A) will take care of it. You can choose any job you fancy, a doctor, an architect, an engineer
– you name it. Be all you want to be for Allah (S.W.A)'s sake, and you will work wonders. Working for
Allah (S.W.A), that is serving his creatures in whatever way you can, or deciding for them, is the best motivator and
visions' sharpener in the whole world. Just work for the love of pleaseing Allah (S.W.A), and you will have the
energy of a bull in whatever you do, and you will find a clear direction in your decisions. Study for Allah (S.W.A), work
for Allah (S.w.A), want to please for Him, love for Allah (S.W.A), then and only then, will you have a real taste of a good,
a focused, a contented, and a relaxed life, with or without material wealth. When we live and work for Allah (S.W.A), we find
real freedom – freedom from fear of teachers, our bosses, poverty, social harassment, and any bondage on the freedom
of man. This will happen because when one works for Allah (S.W.A), she/he is rewarded with high motivation and always accomplishes
work with proficiency. Normally, these people leave no room for criticism. They are neither afraid of errors nor failure because
they are willing to acknowledge them. They look at the two as things of the past that
call for more effort and new tactics to perform better. All this happens because man’s mind is focused on serving one
master, Allah (S.W.A). The many warring interests of those who might be exercising power over us divide our attention
to bits and pieces and in the end we produce results that do not reflect our actual potential. This is so because when we
work for other than Allah (S.W.A), we deliver to the extent it is expected of us, or what it takes to acquire what we worked
for, and we are not motivated further than that into the uncharted wealth of our potential. We can reach our optimal potential
only If we make God our only boss, and we make service to him our craving- an unstoppable craving. Allah (S.W.A) exhorts us
to take him as our sole master in whatever we do as this will make us superior to those who do not. He speaks:
"(It is) a Qur-an in Arabic, without any crookedness (therein): in
order that they may guard against Evil (39:28)".
“Allah puts forth a Parable -
a man belonging to many partners at variance with each other, and a man belonging entirely to one master: are those two equal
in comparison? - Praise be to Allah! but most of them have no knowledge(39:29)”.
Therefore, while in school, let us not study for
marks, but instead, let us study to learn as much as we can about the subject presented to us. After all, in the real world
it is not the marks we scored on tests that matter; what matters is how well we can apply what we studied to advance life
on earth. Likewise, when we find a job, let us not work for money, prestige, or social status. All these confuse and
divert us from our real goal of life. All work or discoveries are valued for their usefulness in advancing life. So, if we
work to be rich, powerful, etc., in one way or another, we undermine our goal of advancing life by being self-centered, and
en route it may land us in confusion; confusion is the absence of Allah (S.W.A)'s guidance.
To be continued...
