Every occurrence in the universe happens through Allah's power and will. There is no power other than Allah. In the Qur'an, Allah reveals this truth as follows:
Allah, there is no deity but Him, the Living, the Self-Sustaining. He is not subject to drowsiness or sleep. Everything in the heavens and the Earth belongs to Him.
Who can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them but they cannot grasp any of His knowledge save what He wills. His Footstool encompasses the heavens and the Earth, and their preservation does not tire Him. He is the Most High, the Magnificent. (Surat al-Baqara: 255)
Despite this fact, the vast majority fail to believe in Allah with a pure faith. As Allah tells us in the verse:
If you ask them, "Who created the heavens and the Earth?" they will say, "Allah." Say: "So what do you think? If Allah desires harm for me, can those you call upon besides Allah remove His harm? Or if He desires mercy for me, can they withhold His mercy?" Say: "Allah is enough for me. All those who truly trust put their trust in Him." (Surat az-Zumar: 38)
Some accept the power of Allah, but also adopt deities other than Him. But these deities that people exalt and whose goodwill they try to earn are nothing but creations which have no power to do anything and cannot even bring themselves any benefit. In the Qur'an, Allah tells the impotence of deities other than Him as follows:
But they have adopted deities apart from Him which do not create anything but are themselves created. They have no power to harm or help themselves. They have no power over death or life or resurrection. (Surat al-Furqan: 3)
Those you call on besides Allah are servants just like yourselves. Call on them and let them respond to you if you are telling the truth. (Surat al-A'raf: 194)
But keep in mind that when asked, most people never refer to these beings they exalt as deities and do not accept that they regard them as such. Yet all their behaviors reveal that they do so.
While they need only to ask for help from Allah and be grateful to Him, these people seek help and assistance from the false deities they believe to have power. One needs to fear only Him and seek only His approval, but they set the goodwill of these false deities above His approval.
Some, on the other hand, make deities of themselves—as we are told in the verse, "Have you seen him who has taken his whims and desires to be his deity? Will you then be his guardian?" (Surat al-Furqan: 43).
Despite their total impotence in the face of Allah's power, these people believe they are independent beings. Their accomplishments, they believe, are of their own making, and their failures are the result of their own mistakes.
Of course, this is the result of people's failure to appreciate Allah's power as they should. The fact is that, there is no deity but Allah. As is the case with every occurrence in the universe, only by Allah's will and His order do these events take place.
Only Allah can answer people's prayers, grant their aspirations, ease their troubles, bring peace and security to hearts and ensure them beautiful lives. As Allah tells us in the Qur'an, "... All might belongs to Allah..." (Surah Yunus: 65).
Some people's heedlessness on this subject prevents them from living the peace of faith as they should and cause them trouble in a number of ways. From others they expect love, respect, affection, friendship, self-sacrifice, patience, forgiveness and many other blessings. Likewise, they believe that they will achieve them by their own acts, efforts and their own will.
However, only Allah can make an individual be loved, respected and admired. No matter how hard he tries, a person can never affect the hearts of others. Allah places love in a person's heart as a blessing resulting from his observance of the morality of the Qur'an.
Likewise, no one can create love for another in his own heart. It is Allah Who gives him this emotion. Whatever people acquire materially or spiritually is created by Allah. Allah tells us this in the Qur'an:
... Say, "All favor is in Allah's Hand, and He gives it to whoever He wills. Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing." He picks out for His mercy whoever He wills. Allah's favor is indeed immense. (Surah Al 'Imran: 73-74)
If Allah helps you, no one can vanquish you. If He forsakes you, who can help you after that? So the believers should put their trust in Allah. (Surah Al 'Imran: 160)
Setting the approval of others above Allah's approval causes considerable trouble. Living according to others' rules and ideas rather than those of the Qur'an also has the same effect, for no one can please a large number of people at the same time.
When a particular behavior pleases one person, it angers somebody else. This is a vicious circle, and such an individual is doomed to live an uneasy life. In the Qur'an, Allah reveals the following about people of this kind:
Allah has made a metaphor for them of a man owned by several partners in dispute with one another and another man wholly owned by a single man. Are they the same? Praise be to Allah! The fact is that most of them do not know. (Surat az-Zumar: 29)
For a person who seeks only Allah's approval, everything is easy. The Qur'an informs him of all the deeds to which he should conform, and which he should avoid, during his life. What others think and how they behave towards him is of no importance.
As long as he conforms to Allah's will, a sincere Muslim lives in the hope of finding salvation both in this world and the next. Consequently, he lives out a far more tranquil, simple and beautiful life than those who feel compelled to judge themselves against those around them and seek the approval of others.
Allah describes the situation of people who seek the approval of others in this verse: "Most of them do not believe in Allah without associating others with Him" (Surah Yusuf: 106). For this reason, without excepting himself, everyone should think carefully on the subject of idolatry and regulate his beliefs and his life according to this truth.
As Allah tells us:
Allah does not forgive anything being associated with Him, but He forgives whoever He wills for anything other than that. Anyone who associates something with Allah has committed a terrible crime. (Surat an-Nisa': 48)
Everybody should take a warning from this important truth which Allah reveals to us in the verse:
That is part of the wisdom your Lord has revealed to you. Do not set up another deity together with Allah and so be thrown into Hell, blamed and driven out. (Surat al-Isra': 39)
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment