Friday, 19 Ramadan 1445 | 2024/03/29
Time now: (M.M.T)
Menu
Main menu
Main menu

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

 Nafsiya Reflections: Only for the Sake of Allah (swt)

Assalamu Alaykum wa Rahmathuallah hee wa Barakathu, Welcome to today's Nafsiya Reflections episode: Only for the Sake of Allah (swt)

Life can be tough sometimes. We expect things... we want and desire things. And we can be... pretty, impatient to say the least. We move and act in life to get these desires and wants. We crave benefits, humanitarian benefits, material benefits, moral and spiritual benefits, to name a few. We give money to a cause to see a tangible outcome. For example, giving money to build a masjid... the masjid is the outcome. We smile at someone and in return we see our desired tangible outcome, feeling admirable instantly. But what happens when we don’t see that visible outcome? What happens to us when we don’t get that instant desire?

See at times it feels as if we are running in life... on a treadmill. We run after our kids, trying to give them the best life we can, yet feel they are ungrateful. We run after the jobs we have to do, but sometimes feel like we aren’t getting anywhere. We don’t eat that piece of cheesecake or bag of chips but see no immediate results. Sometimes those tangible outcomes, feel distant and non-existent.

Living in the benefit orientated secular systems, from the east to the west, we start to find our intentions behind our actions get foggy... blurry... and unintentionally impure. People around us telling us things such as “Give and Take”, “Don’t be a doormat”, “Show some Backbone” or “Do to others as they do to you”. So we get frustrated when we loan someone money but see them on vacation just a while later, or seeing them on social media having a good time, questioning if we should have given them that money to begin with. Or disappointed and frustrated when we try our best to please our spouse but don’t sense the effort in return. Sometimes we suppose our duaa have not been answered... we start to feel worse, like we don’t deserve it. Our vision becomes distorted.

Let me ask you this, how do we know we have clear, undistorted vision? Or how can we be sure to have sincere intent?

As Muslims we live life for the sake of Allah. We as they say... “drink, eat, sleep” and I may add “breathe” for the sake of Allah. So when we look at life from this perspective, that fog suddenly turns into clear skies. Suddenly the straight path becomes visible. Life becomes clearer, more content. When we do something for others, we don’t expect anything from them in return. We don’t expect a tangible human outcome. Rather we anticipate our more than tangible reward that Allah will surely bestow on us, either in this life or the next. Knowing that Allah has seen what we have done for His sake and THAT, in return fills our spirits with comfort and warmth, comfort and warmth that no one can give but Him. So when I babysit my sister in law’s kids, and in turn she doesn’t do the same, I don’t regret, I don’t react with anger, I did it for the sake of Allah, for Him. I don’t get discouraged from acting that way again even if they don’t reciprocate in the same way or show ingratitude.
We brought joy to the hearts of others, for His sake. And that brings joy to ours.

Being this way doesn’t mean we let people “walk all over us” or become naïve. It only means that when we take any step to pleasing Allah through his slaves, we don’t get discouraged or upset when they don’t react in the way we would see to be fit. Expecting reactions from others can sometimes take us into a downward spiral, a spiral that may take our reward with it. When we look at human reactions as the bases for our good deeds, it takes us to a dark demeaning place. We may spend most of our lives protecting and caring for our children, yet when they grow older, they never bother to call or visit. That is when it spirals. We start to question why we did it to begin with. We forget that we only raised them for the sake of Allah, and the rest is up to Him. The rest we leave in His hands. Or we may act virtuous towards our coworker, always looking out for them, then realize that they don’t do the same. We feel hurt, so then start talking about them behind their backs. Backbiting then becomes our downward spiral. We become negative and thus lose our reward.

Allah says:

(اۨلَّذِىۡ خَلَقَ الۡمَوۡتَ وَالۡحَيٰوةَ لِيَبۡلُوَكُمۡ اَيُّكُمۡ اَحۡسَنُ عَمَلًا ؕ وَهُوَ الۡعَزِيۡزُ الۡغَفُوۡرُۙ‏)

“[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." [Surah Al-Mulk:2]

Once we realize that we do all deeds only for Allah we will we be content. Only then will we have confidence and stand strong emotionally. It is a challenge... a test, a test to see who is best in deeds. A trial that will hit us right in our ego, testing us to see if our judgmental attitude will take over or if our pride will seize power.

We must remember that Allah has put people in our lives as a test for us. Thus, we need to rise to the challenge and show Allah (SWT) that we are only concerned in His pleasure. That the response by the other person is a matter between them and Allah and is not linked to the original good deed in and of itself. Advising through guidance, yes, but the action if it is only for Allah has to be left after it is done and not used as a carrot or stick for the behavior of others.

Jazāk Allāhu Khayran for joining us, till next time!

Ummah Voice Podcast

https://soundcloud.com/alummahvoicepodcast/nafsiya-reflections-only-for?in=alummahvoicepodcast/sets/podcast-thursday-23-01-2020

Media

Leave a comment

Make sure you enter the (*) required information where indicated. HTML code is not allowed.

back to top

Site Categories

Links

West

Muslim Lands

Muslim Lands