A person who does not remember Allah is starving their heart.
Many people view the world we live in as a place that is too far gone from the path of Allah, that people who love Allah and strive for righteousness are either naive or just simply don’t exist anymore.
Some reach this conclusion because they have decided to believe that God was somehow “more present” in the past, and that there were more good people in generations gone by.
But the truth of the matter is that there has been bad and good in every age. Were the people of Hud not destroyed because of their immense arrogance and pride?
Did the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) not come at a time when polytheism and depravity was rampant?
Current generations have not invented evil, nor was it always easier for past generations to be good.
Allah is near. The truth remains. The path is clear. And the shaytan is still hard at his work, trying to get us off the path to Allah. But we can’t be fooled into thinking we can never reach righteousness in times like these, when the world is so crazy. We can’t be complacent in thinking loving Allah was something people did a long time ago.
Examples from Our History
We can use the stories of those who came before us as inspiration. And we can still look around today and find people who are still on that same path.
Asiya
A great example of someone who loved Allah is that of Asiya.
Asiya lived in Egypt in a time when the ruler was worshiped as a god and had great power. It just so happened that she was married to such a ruler-Fir'aon (pharaoh). And because of her position as the pharaoh’s wife, she lived a life of great luxury and safety.
But Asiya’s life changed one day when she found a child floating down the Nile River. Things only got weirder from there. That child was Moses and he became a great Prophet of Allah.
Asiya accepted God’s message sent through Moses. But Moses challenged pharaoh, and pharaoh was having none of it. You are probably thinking by now that you have heard this story a million times. But you might not know what happened next.
Once pharaoh found out about Asiya’s belief in and love for Allah, he flipped. If pharaoh couldn’t have all of Asiya’s love and worship, no one would have it (typical psychopathic behavior).
Asiya didn’t care. She refused to love this evil man, her wealth and safety more than Allah. And she especially wasn’t going to worship a man along with or instead of her creator, Allah.
Pharaoh tortured and killed Assiya for her tawheed (monotheism). As Asiya was being killed, she did not ask her husband for his mercy or try to bargain with him. Instead she said:
{[...] "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."}(66:11)
We can learn a lot from Asiya. Her love for Allah was great and she never let anyone get between her and her Lord.
Today, some people may not like us for our love of Allah and our faith. But since we are not being tortured or killed for it, we should find it very easy to imitate Asiya’s example and put our love for Allah first.
Umar ibn al-Khattab
Umar ibn Al-Khattab is another example of someone who loved Allah deeply. But that wasn’t always true of Umar. There was a time when Umar was more impressed with himself than the message of Allah.
As a contemporary of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Umar was born into the Quraysh tribe of Makkah. He was known to be a tough guy in his day. Like any run of the mill thug, he was physically intimidating, headstrong and very proud.
In the early days of the Prophet’s message, like many of the Quraysh who benefitted from the corrupt power structure of Makkah, Umar was a staunch enemy of Islam and the Muslims. He clung to pride of heritage in the face of truth.
One day he finally decided to kill the Prophet and be done with it. He was instead directed to speak with his sister who had become a Muslim. Furious, he marched to his sister’s home. But something happened in his heart that changed his mind.
After hearing Allah’s words in the Quran, Umar proclaimed his love of Allah, accepted Islam, and became a close companion of the Prophet. You have probably already heard this story of Umar as well. But you might not know that it was reported that his love for Allah and the Prophet grew so great that even the shaytanwould flee from him out of fear of his strength of faith.
Umar once said:
“We were the lowliest of people, but Allah gave us might and glory through Islam. If we seek glory through other than what Allah gave us glory through, He will abase us (again).” (Al-Hakim)
Today the pre-Islam Umar might resemble something from a Jersey Shore type reality show. He was arrogant, strong and proud of his corrupt background. That was until Allah changed his heart, and he realized that he was nothing in comparison to Allah, he was nothing without Allah, and was only guided through Allah’s mercy.
We can learn from Umar’s love for Allah, by realizing we are not Muslim because we are good people and deserve it. But we are Muslim because Allah has shown us His mercy and we would be nothing without it. This inspired Umar to love Allah as it can inspire us as well.
Examples from our Contemporaries
There are people in our time, in our day, living in our countries, who carry on the tradition of striving for righteousness and loving Allah. Nouman Ali Khan is one example.
After returning to Islam from atheism, Nouman Ali Khan has turned his life around and dedicated it to learning and teaching others about the miracle of the Quran and the language in which it was revealed.
He says: “Praying the five daily prayers on time simply means you have accepted Allah’s terms of communication so that you can ask Him what you want”. He reminds us that prayer is the ultimate way to come to love Allah and communicate with Him.
Yasmin Mogahed, a woman of many accolades, is someone who has come to a prominent place in our faith when it comes to learning how to love Allah and putting that love first.
She says: “A person who does not remember Allah is starving their heart.” In all her speeches and writings, she tries to guide people to reestablish the tie between their heart and its source- Allah.
In our postmodern world, striving for righteousness and loving Allah is not a lost tradition. We just have to look to our own history to see how it has been achieved and then look to those around us who are currently working towards it for examples.
The doors to Allah are not closed because we are far removed from the end of the line of Prophets. Allah is close to us, by His knowledge, just like He has been close to all of His creation. Our job is and always has been to get closer to Him.
So, in a time like no other and so much like all other times, as Allah says:
{Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.} (13:28)
Some reach this conclusion because they have decided to believe that God was somehow “more present” in the past, and that there were more good people in generations gone by.
But the truth of the matter is that there has been bad and good in every age. Were the people of Hud not destroyed because of their immense arrogance and pride?
Did the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) not come at a time when polytheism and depravity was rampant?
Current generations have not invented evil, nor was it always easier for past generations to be good.
Allah is near. The truth remains. The path is clear. And the shaytan is still hard at his work, trying to get us off the path to Allah. But we can’t be fooled into thinking we can never reach righteousness in times like these, when the world is so crazy. We can’t be complacent in thinking loving Allah was something people did a long time ago.
Examples from Our History
We can use the stories of those who came before us as inspiration. And we can still look around today and find people who are still on that same path.
Asiya
A great example of someone who loved Allah is that of Asiya.
Asiya lived in Egypt in a time when the ruler was worshiped as a god and had great power. It just so happened that she was married to such a ruler-Fir'aon (pharaoh). And because of her position as the pharaoh’s wife, she lived a life of great luxury and safety.
But Asiya’s life changed one day when she found a child floating down the Nile River. Things only got weirder from there. That child was Moses and he became a great Prophet of Allah.
| you might not know what happened next... |
Once pharaoh found out about Asiya’s belief in and love for Allah, he flipped. If pharaoh couldn’t have all of Asiya’s love and worship, no one would have it (typical psychopathic behavior).
Asiya didn’t care. She refused to love this evil man, her wealth and safety more than Allah. And she especially wasn’t going to worship a man along with or instead of her creator, Allah.
Pharaoh tortured and killed Assiya for her tawheed (monotheism). As Asiya was being killed, she did not ask her husband for his mercy or try to bargain with him. Instead she said:
{[...] "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."}(66:11)
We can learn a lot from Asiya. Her love for Allah was great and she never let anyone get between her and her Lord.
Today, some people may not like us for our love of Allah and our faith. But since we are not being tortured or killed for it, we should find it very easy to imitate Asiya’s example and put our love for Allah first.
Umar ibn al-Khattab
Umar ibn Al-Khattab is another example of someone who loved Allah deeply. But that wasn’t always true of Umar. There was a time when Umar was more impressed with himself than the message of Allah.
As a contemporary of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), Umar was born into the Quraysh tribe of Makkah. He was known to be a tough guy in his day. Like any run of the mill thug, he was physically intimidating, headstrong and very proud.
| something happened in his heart that changed his mind |
One day he finally decided to kill the Prophet and be done with it. He was instead directed to speak with his sister who had become a Muslim. Furious, he marched to his sister’s home. But something happened in his heart that changed his mind.
After hearing Allah’s words in the Quran, Umar proclaimed his love of Allah, accepted Islam, and became a close companion of the Prophet. You have probably already heard this story of Umar as well. But you might not know that it was reported that his love for Allah and the Prophet grew so great that even the shaytanwould flee from him out of fear of his strength of faith.
Umar once said:
“We were the lowliest of people, but Allah gave us might and glory through Islam. If we seek glory through other than what Allah gave us glory through, He will abase us (again).” (Al-Hakim)
Today the pre-Islam Umar might resemble something from a Jersey Shore type reality show. He was arrogant, strong and proud of his corrupt background. That was until Allah changed his heart, and he realized that he was nothing in comparison to Allah, he was nothing without Allah, and was only guided through Allah’s mercy.
We can learn from Umar’s love for Allah, by realizing we are not Muslim because we are good people and deserve it. But we are Muslim because Allah has shown us His mercy and we would be nothing without it. This inspired Umar to love Allah as it can inspire us as well.
Examples from our Contemporaries
| prayer is the ultimate way to come to love Allah and communicate with Him |
There are people in our time, in our day, living in our countries, who carry on the tradition of striving for righteousness and loving Allah. Nouman Ali Khan is one example.
After returning to Islam from atheism, Nouman Ali Khan has turned his life around and dedicated it to learning and teaching others about the miracle of the Quran and the language in which it was revealed.
He says: “Praying the five daily prayers on time simply means you have accepted Allah’s terms of communication so that you can ask Him what you want”. He reminds us that prayer is the ultimate way to come to love Allah and communicate with Him.
Yasmin Mogahed, a woman of many accolades, is someone who has come to a prominent place in our faith when it comes to learning how to love Allah and putting that love first.
She says: “A person who does not remember Allah is starving their heart.” In all her speeches and writings, she tries to guide people to reestablish the tie between their heart and its source- Allah.
In our postmodern world, striving for righteousness and loving Allah is not a lost tradition. We just have to look to our own history to see how it has been achieved and then look to those around us who are currently working towards it for examples.
The doors to Allah are not closed because we are far removed from the end of the line of Prophets. Allah is close to us, by His knowledge, just like He has been close to all of His creation. Our job is and always has been to get closer to Him.
So, in a time like no other and so much like all other times, as Allah says:
{Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured.} (13:28)
-onislam.net
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