Prelude:
Ilm (knowledge) in islam, takes a high priority. The occurence of the word ilm and its derivatives (muallim, allama etc.) in the quran, totalled more than 700 times, second only to the word Allah and Al Rabb. It just shows how important ilm is in Islam. In the quran it is commanded thus:
(فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لِذَنْبِكَ
وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مُتَقَلَّبَكُمْ وَمَثْوَاكُمْ)
[Surat Muhammad 19]
Translation:
SO KNOW , [O Muhammad], that there is no deity except Allah, and ask forgiveness for your sin and for the believing men and believing women. And Allah knows of your movement and your resting place.
In short, we must know what is the meaning of "Laa ilaha ilallah, Muhammad Rasulallah", our obligation upon utterance of the highest kalimah in Islam. (Notice the emphasis of ilm - knowledge.)
Thus Imam Bokhari in his famous kitab Sahih Bokhari, said:
"It is obligatary to have ilm (knowledge)
BEFORE speaking and doing" i.e. we must have ilm (knowledge) BEFORE we say or shahadah, before we perform the solat, fasting, zakat and Haji.
But what is happening today is the opposite. People (even born Muslims) utter shahadah without the knowledge of the obligation of the one who utters it! And; performing the solat without knowing its rukun, wajib, sunnah and also that there is a commandment that we perform our solat by following what and how he commanded us to perform it....and so on. (Sollu kama ra aitu ussollu-pray as you see me pray" Hadis Bokhari)
Ibaadah
'Ibadah is not complete just by the mere saying that "Allah knows....(what's in our heart?"). There are certain conditions imposed by Allah which are necessary for our ibadah to be accepted by him.
For surely Allah, he knows everything, but it is us, how do we know that our ibaadah is being accepted by Allah or not?. Or are we sure that we are following the right path in accordance to the way that is ordained by him? How do we know for sure? Does Allah expect that we grope through the path without knowing which is the straight path, without any guidance? . So we have to look into the quran for what Allah wants out of us.
For Allah almighty is just, he created us only to worship him and none else, and he also provided us with the manual as to how we should live our lives in obedience to him so that we do not go astray:
(وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ)
[Surat Adh-Dhariyat 56]
Translation:
"And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me".
He also commanded us to worship him only and none else:
(وَإِذْ أَخَذْنَا مِيثَاقَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ لَا تَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا اللَّهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا مِنْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ)
[Surat Al-Baqarah 83]
Translation:
And [recall] when We took the covenant from the Children of Israel, [enjoining upon them], "DO NOT WORSHIP, EXCEPT ALLAH; and to parents do good and to relatives, orphans, and the needy. And speak to people good [words] and establish prayer and give zakah." Then you turned away, except a few of you, and you were refusing.
He also said he will guide us, (only if we are deserving i.e. being ikhlas and obedient to all his commands i.e. part of being taqwa).
So Allah azzawajal, he sent us the (1) quran as guidance:
(ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِلْمُتَّقِين
[Surat Al-Baqarah 2]
This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a GUIDANCE for those conscious of Allah,
- and (2) he also sent his messenger, Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. also to guide us by his mannerisms:
لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِى رَسُوْلِ اللهِ اُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ
(لَقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُسْوَةٌ حَسَنَةٌ لِمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّهَ وَالْيَوْمَ الْآخِرَ وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا)
[Surat Al-Ahzab 21]
Translation:
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah AN EXCELLENT PATTERN (EXAMPLE) FOR ANYONE WHOSE HOPE IS IN ALLAH AND THE LAST DAY AND {WHO REMEMBERS ALLAH OFTEN}.
And he, Allah swt further says:
(قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ)
[Surat Aal-E-Imran 31]
Translation:
And commanded Muhammad s.a.w to inform mankind:
Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah , THEN FOLLOW ME (Muhammad), [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
And he tells us, What and which path he considers the straight path that those who followed it will achieve the promised reward, for those who found it, and thread upon it:
(فَإِنْ آمَنُوا بِمِثْلِ مَا آمَنْتُمْ بِهِ فَقَدِ اهْتَدَوْا ۖ وَإِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَإِنَّمَا هُمْ فِي شِقَاقٍ ۖ فَسَيَكْفِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ ۚ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ)
[Surat Al-Baqarah 137]
Translation:
"SO IF THEY BELIEVE IN THE SAME AS YOU BELIEVE IN, THEN THEY HAVE BEEN RIGHTLY GUIDED; but if they turn away, they are only in dissension, and Allah will be sufficient for you against them. And He is the Hearing, the Knowing".
Having sent his book (quran) and his Messenger (Muhammad) s.a.w. he now put us on test so that only the most sincere and the most obedient among us will enter his jannah.
Allah will test his slaves, (not so much as for him to know as) to find who deserve salvation and enjoy eternal live in the hereafter as against who shall be put to the torment of the fire.
And we have to know these tests, in order not to fall into the pitfalls of syaitan who has laid traps for us, for Shaitaan, he wants many of us to join him in the hellfire, because he was arrogant. But that is another story.
These tests are to differentiate between those rebellious and the obedient ones from among us, and thus we must have the required ilm (knowledge) to overcome the trials and tribulations that we will face.
(وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنْفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ)
[Surat Al-Baqarah 155]
"And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient,"
I will not indulge in the tests of fear, hunger, wealth, and fruits, as these, I presume, are understood, but I will explain وَالْأَنْفُسِ (nafs, conscience, hawa nafsu) like death of a loved one but cannot accept such a fate, then become ungrateful to our creator, or a test of choice of obedience/disobediance, eg. Our "hawa" (nafs) tells us that making tahlil on the 7th, 14th ..100th of death of a dear relative is good, while there is no evidence from the quran and hadiths to suggest the validity of such an 'amal. Would one choose to do it which is a bid'ah and a form of disobedience, we choose not to do bid'ah for fear of Allah?
You can see that Islam is one straight path, but obviously, many from among us have strayed. We are disunited, fragmented, that many of us are prepared to kill one another despite being brothers to one another.
That's why Muslims today are the least respected people in the world, for Allah had promised such a fate to befall us if we disobeyed him. Our fate will only change if each and every Muslim revert back to the Islam as practiced by Rasulallah s.a.w, his companions, and the generation of the salaf (pious predecessors up to the second generation after the sahabah who had been described in the quran as the best generation.
Thats about it for now and I Pray that you read this humble effort of mine, benefitfrom it, and wherever there is good is due only to Allah, and any mistakes and errors are due to my weaknesses as a weak servant of Allah..
Wallahu a'lam
In surah al mulk ayat 2 Allah says:
(الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْغَفُورُ)
[Surat Al-Mulk 2]
[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed - and He is the Exalted in Might, the Forgiving -
So in short, first, we must be sincere in our worship i.e. for Allah alone. And secondly, we must ensure that ALL worship that had been ordained via the Prophet s.a.w. in order for our worship to be accepted.
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