False Reliance
فَاتَّقُوا اللّٰہَ مَا اسۡتَطَعۡتُمۡ وَ اسۡمَعُوۡا وَ اَطِیۡعُوۡا وَ اَنۡفِقُوۡا خَیۡرًا
لِّاَنۡفُسِکُمۡ ؕ وَ مَنۡ یُّوۡقَ شُحَّ نَفۡسِہٖ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الۡمُفۡلِحُوۡنَ ۱
The sun rises everyday like a lantern in the huge blue sky, lighting up everything and warming every corner of the earth without discrimination. The moon, the stars and everything in the sky lights up Allah's creation without holding back anything. It's their job and they perform it without restraining anyone's right.
However man doesn't act the same way. Greed is what beholds the mindset of a human being. It isn't in his nature. His nature is as pure as that of the sun and the moon. It's the first breech in its pure nature which evokes him to do further crimes.
Greed is just a rough translation of the word used in this ayah شح نفس . Let's dig deeper into it.
Imagine a caravan of people traveling in the middle of a desert in harsh summer. The temperature is almost near melting point and their water supply has run out. After a long distance of a dehydrating journey, they found a well with some water in it. Every single person in the caravan tries to quench his thirst and also to save water for himself for the journey ahead, not caring for anyone around. This behavior is what Arabic visualizes as شُحّ or تَشَاحَحَا الْمَاءَ۔.
This is the picture not only of selfishness, greed, cruelty, hardened hearts, blind eyes and tight chests but also a picture of the fact that in order to get ahead, they tried to stop others from doing so; not being able to see anyone's happiness except yours. شح نفس means to cease the rights of others and also not to give others what is yours but others are in need of it.
We might think that this is an ancient term used in prehistoric times, when people used to travel in deserts like the above mentioned example. No! This is more common in our daily lives than you think of.
We don't appreciate others in their qualities. Either we feel jealous or it is too hard for us to spell out a few words of appreciation. We don't give others their rights. Just remember that Allah has made everyone different and unique. Every person has his own set of qualities, capabilities and strengths. This is the diversity in Allah's creation. Try to appreciate it and find your own qualities.
Telling your mother that I cannot do daily chores or serve guests today as I have a load of assignments and tests scheduled or yelling at your siblings in frustration because of your work is also a picture of شح نفس. Try to internalize the thought that you do not own time so you don't have all the right to spend it as you wish to. You also have rights of others which you have to fulfill in the same given time.
Sadness and anger overwhelm us when we see our friend giving a gift to someone knowing that she has never given us any gift. Or when one of our siblings is getting more attention due to his illness or exams. This is also a picture of شح نفس. Another picture of شح نفس from our daily routine is the fact that we share our belongings with our classmates and friends but when it comes to our siblings, we are reluctant to give them; as if they have no other intention but to damage our things.
Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said,"Iman and شح نفس can never reside together in a heart." What's the cause of this disease? It's false reliance. Let's understand it in the words of Ayesha (r.a). Once a beggar came to the house of Ayesha (r.a) at the time of Asr, the afternoon prayer. Her slave Barirah (r.a) opened the door. Ayesha (r.a) asked,"Who is it?" Barirah replied, "It is a beggar and all we have is a handful of barley for you to break your fast with." Ayesha (r.a) said,"Give it. Allah will provide us." So Barirah (r.a) gave the barley to the beggar. Meghrib, the evening prayer was called and Ayesha (r.a) broke her fast with some water and began performing her salah. Barirah (r.a) sat nearby, sarcastically saying to herself,"Oh! Allah will provide us!" Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a man came and offered a goat as a gift. Ayesha (r.a) asked,"Who is it?" Barirah (r.a) replied,"It's a man who lives in this area and by Allah, he has never given us anything before." Ayesha (r.a) said; "O' Barirah! Isn't a goat better than a hand full of barley? I swear by Allah! None of you can be a true believer until his trust in Allah is stronger than that which he has in the palm of his hand."
We believe what we have is all that we can have and we forget Allah; the one who is the Maker of all creation, Provider of everything. Build your trust in Allah. Internalize that 'Allah will provide me. He can give me beyond my imagination and from those places where I cannot even think of'. Learn to spend your time, abilities, money, belongings and trivial things, your mood and your patience for others. Learn to rely on Allah, the one who is مسبب الاسباب. Learn to focus on Him and ask Him for everything. Pray to Allah to save you from this disease of heart; for according to this ayah, no one can get rid of this disease on his own. It is Allah who saves us from it. Most of all, learn patience.
My favorite thing about this ayah is its structure. In the beginning, Allah tells us 4 ways to rely on Him: Allah's fear, listening to Allah's word, Quran; obeying it, spending in His path (whatever abilities, time money, things and knowledge we have). In the middle, Allah tells us about the biggest obstacle in the way of true reliance, شح نفس. And in the end of the ayah, He is saying that 'the one who is saved from this disease is the one who is successful'.
This is what Islam wants from us. If we really want to succeed in this world and the hereafter; if we want our good deeds, morals and character to flourish, then we have to quench the thirst of others in the scorching heat.
Qanita Maryam
Batch of 2020
لِّاَنۡفُسِکُمۡ ؕ وَ مَنۡ یُّوۡقَ شُحَّ نَفۡسِہٖ فَاُولٰٓئِکَ ہُمُ الۡمُفۡلِحُوۡنَ ۱
Surah Taghabun :16
The sun rises everyday like a lantern in the huge blue sky, lighting up everything and warming every corner of the earth without discrimination. The moon, the stars and everything in the sky lights up Allah's creation without holding back anything. It's their job and they perform it without restraining anyone's right.
However man doesn't act the same way. Greed is what beholds the mindset of a human being. It isn't in his nature. His nature is as pure as that of the sun and the moon. It's the first breech in its pure nature which evokes him to do further crimes.
Greed is just a rough translation of the word used in this ayah شح نفس . Let's dig deeper into it.
Imagine a caravan of people traveling in the middle of a desert in harsh summer. The temperature is almost near melting point and their water supply has run out. After a long distance of a dehydrating journey, they found a well with some water in it. Every single person in the caravan tries to quench his thirst and also to save water for himself for the journey ahead, not caring for anyone around. This behavior is what Arabic visualizes as شُحّ or تَشَاحَحَا الْمَاءَ۔.
This is the picture not only of selfishness, greed, cruelty, hardened hearts, blind eyes and tight chests but also a picture of the fact that in order to get ahead, they tried to stop others from doing so; not being able to see anyone's happiness except yours. شح نفس means to cease the rights of others and also not to give others what is yours but others are in need of it.
We might think that this is an ancient term used in prehistoric times, when people used to travel in deserts like the above mentioned example. No! This is more common in our daily lives than you think of.
We don't appreciate others in their qualities. Either we feel jealous or it is too hard for us to spell out a few words of appreciation. We don't give others their rights. Just remember that Allah has made everyone different and unique. Every person has his own set of qualities, capabilities and strengths. This is the diversity in Allah's creation. Try to appreciate it and find your own qualities.
Telling your mother that I cannot do daily chores or serve guests today as I have a load of assignments and tests scheduled or yelling at your siblings in frustration because of your work is also a picture of شح نفس. Try to internalize the thought that you do not own time so you don't have all the right to spend it as you wish to. You also have rights of others which you have to fulfill in the same given time.
Sadness and anger overwhelm us when we see our friend giving a gift to someone knowing that she has never given us any gift. Or when one of our siblings is getting more attention due to his illness or exams. This is also a picture of شح نفس. Another picture of شح نفس from our daily routine is the fact that we share our belongings with our classmates and friends but when it comes to our siblings, we are reluctant to give them; as if they have no other intention but to damage our things.
Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said,"Iman and شح نفس can never reside together in a heart." What's the cause of this disease? It's false reliance. Let's understand it in the words of Ayesha (r.a). Once a beggar came to the house of Ayesha (r.a) at the time of Asr, the afternoon prayer. Her slave Barirah (r.a) opened the door. Ayesha (r.a) asked,"Who is it?" Barirah replied, "It is a beggar and all we have is a handful of barley for you to break your fast with." Ayesha (r.a) said,"Give it. Allah will provide us." So Barirah (r.a) gave the barley to the beggar. Meghrib, the evening prayer was called and Ayesha (r.a) broke her fast with some water and began performing her salah. Barirah (r.a) sat nearby, sarcastically saying to herself,"Oh! Allah will provide us!" Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a man came and offered a goat as a gift. Ayesha (r.a) asked,"Who is it?" Barirah (r.a) replied,"It's a man who lives in this area and by Allah, he has never given us anything before." Ayesha (r.a) said; "O' Barirah! Isn't a goat better than a hand full of barley? I swear by Allah! None of you can be a true believer until his trust in Allah is stronger than that which he has in the palm of his hand."
We believe what we have is all that we can have and we forget Allah; the one who is the Maker of all creation, Provider of everything. Build your trust in Allah. Internalize that 'Allah will provide me. He can give me beyond my imagination and from those places where I cannot even think of'. Learn to spend your time, abilities, money, belongings and trivial things, your mood and your patience for others. Learn to rely on Allah, the one who is مسبب الاسباب. Learn to focus on Him and ask Him for everything. Pray to Allah to save you from this disease of heart; for according to this ayah, no one can get rid of this disease on his own. It is Allah who saves us from it. Most of all, learn patience.
My favorite thing about this ayah is its structure. In the beginning, Allah tells us 4 ways to rely on Him: Allah's fear, listening to Allah's word, Quran; obeying it, spending in His path (whatever abilities, time money, things and knowledge we have). In the middle, Allah tells us about the biggest obstacle in the way of true reliance, شح نفس. And in the end of the ayah, He is saying that 'the one who is saved from this disease is the one who is successful'.
This is what Islam wants from us. If we really want to succeed in this world and the hereafter; if we want our good deeds, morals and character to flourish, then we have to quench the thirst of others in the scorching heat.
Qanita Maryam
Batch of 2020
Comments
Post a Comment