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Lesson 9: Direct obedience (Part II)
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Lesson 9
Direct obedience - Part II

Although Allah (S.W.A) gave us liberty to follow our customs and cultures in observing natural laws, he was specific in certain matters. I will paraphrase many for you in this section, but you must go and search for these laws yourself in the Holy Qur’an. It is taboo to disobey these direct and specific laws of God. Disobedience of these laws is a deceleration of war with Allah (S.W.A) – we don’t want to think about that, or do we? Anyway here are some:

 

Religious Laws

 

  1. The first order is to believe that there are no other Gods other than Allah (S.W.A) and that Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) is His last prophet and messenger. This simply means that our instincts must be controlled to abide by what pleases Allah (S.W.A) and to shun all that which causes him displeasure. For example, when we study, we must do so only for Allah (S.W.A). We must never study for rankings or high marks. We must study to learn as much as we can so that when our time comes to serve Allah (S.W.A), we will do so with skill and competence; we must love one another for Allah (S.W.A); we must be kind for Allah (S.W.A); we must pray to Allah (S.W.A) etc. We must obey, serve and worship for Allah (S.W.A)’s sake and in his name only.

    We must believe in Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W)’s prophet hood. This is so very crucial because to deny him is to deny Al-Qur’an as well and without Al-Quran, we would not really know Allah (S.W.A) in the way he wants us to know him, nor serve him, nor worship him correctly. Therefore to believe in Prophet Muhammad (S.W.A) is to accept Al-Qur’an and henceforth is to believe in the one who revealed the book – Allah (S.W.A).

  2. There must be no compulsion in religion for non-Muslims, but those who are already Muslims must not convert to any other religion. If they do, then they become what Qur’an calls Murtad. Allah (S.W.A) will reject all the work of a Murtad in his or her lifetime and he/she is promised hell fire as a place of final rest (2:256), (2:217).

  3. We must pray the five daily prayers. Salat ul Fajr, Salat ul Dhuhr, Salat ul Asr, Salat ul Maghrib and Salat ul Isha. It is compulsory every day to pray these Salahs at their appointed times. Neglecting any one of them is a terrible crime against ourselves. There is a popular hadith about this that the Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) said that after death, while in a state of rest, a person who skipped salah will have for company a snake that will keep on biting him/her until the time of another salah. If he/she prayed that salah the Snake then will vanish.

     
  4. We must fast during the month of Ramadan. Allah (S.W.A) says that all service, worship and obedience we do is for our own good; only fasting is what we do for Him. We are excused from fasting when we are sick or traveling, but we must pay the not fasted days from days later after Ramadan. If we miss a day of fasting intentionally, we have to fast for 60 consecutive days for expiation or feed 60 people.

  5. We must pay Zakah (charity). Well, some children are very rich. They may have property in the hundreds or even thousands saved away. There are three kinds of Zakat: Zakat-ul-Mal, Zakat-ul-Fitr, and Sadaqah.

    Zakat-ul-Mal is paid from property wealth and savings that have been held for a whole year. So If you are a child with money, remind your guardian to pay zakat from your savings if you manage to keep more than 100 for one full year.

    Zakat-ul-Fitr is paid by the head of the family. Each member of the family pays a specific amount determined by the local religious leaders of the place. This money must be paid before Salat-ul-Eid-il-Fitr so that the poor can buy food and enjoy Eid as well.

    Sadaqah is not compulsory. This is paid from the kindness of one’s heart to those who stretch out a hand for help. Don’t pass them by. Allah (S.W.A) will appreciate your kindness and keep a reward for you. Many acts of kindness to people or animals are also sadaqah too. Praising Allah (S.W.A) on the prayer beads by saying Allah is high above all imperfections (subhannallah), All prayers are due to Allah (alhamdullillah), and Allah is the greatest (allahu-akbar) is also sadaqah. A step taken towards offering salah is also sadaqah. The list goes on. Be quick in doing these almost effortless deeds worship and service to improve your chances for eternal life, if Allah wills (inshahallah).
     
  6. We must make pilgrimage to Makah at least once in our lifetime if we can afford it.