Are We Who We Say We Are?

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Khadija Abdassalam

We all have different priorities, different opinions, and different goals. Some people want to be rich, others want to be popular, some love their own company, and a few are eager to fly to the moon. These are but a few things that people enjoy and dream about. Given the differences among people, how it is that we are all considered brothers and sisters?

Oh yes, Islam unites us all. It is the roof that covers our heads and makes us a complete family. The Qur'an and Sunnah will be our teachers. They will shape our lives as parents shape children's lives, plus a little more. Logically speaking though, we cannot expect the Qur'an to be a part of our lives if we don't even know what it says ? what Allah says.

Let's say that a person says, ?I love Allah and His Messenger. I am Muslim.? No doubt, that person has iman (faith) and that person is Muslim, but how many of us who say we love Allah and His Messenger actually know what Allah has said to us in His own words through the Qur'an? Do we love that which we do not know? This isn?t even to ask if we understand what the Qur'an speaks about, but simply to question if we are aware of what it says.

I have a sibling with whom I'm very close to. I know what she likes and dislikes. I know what?s typical of her to say and do. I feel at ease to know and feel both her happiness and her pain, lest she bear that pain alone. Her absence haunts me. She is as much a part of me as I am of myself. That?s all well and good, but when I put things into perspective I realize that that it doesn?t matter how good my relationship is with any person if my relationship with God is weak and struggling more than I think it should be. I need to know what pleases and displeases my Creator so that I may avoid the bad and strive for the good. I need to know my Lord better than I know my sister, for He created me and it is to Him I submit.

Here we are, all striving for our goals; our primary goal being to receive Allah's pleasure and to spend eternity in Heaven. We don?t actively do anything to find out what we should be doing to reach that goal and when we do learn something that will take us closer to where we say we want to be, we just never get around to doing it. More accurately, we never make the time nor the effort to do that thing that will earn us Allah's pleasure. Instead, we procrastinate and wait for it (our goal) to come to us and demand attention. It?s like a woman who says she'd like to become a doctor but she doesn't go to school, she doesn't learn about medicine, treatments, or anything to do with healthcare; yet she insists that she ?really, really, really wants to be a doctor. Would you believe that she does if you saw her. She will wait a long time (until death reaches her probably) before it registers to her that she cannot become a doctor, it's too late. The same goes for us and our love for Allah. We either become active in reaching our goal now, or we spend the rest of our lives as our chance passes us by.

Brothers and sisters, it's time to show our appreciation. There once lived three men; one of the three men is named Khaled. Khaled has two friends, both of whom he loves dearly. One day Khaled decided to buy each of his friends a gift. To one friend he gave a sweater and to the other friend he gave a jacket. His friends were shocked, surprised, and delighted by Khaled?s unexpected gift. ?Oh, thank you very much! I love it!?, they both exclaimed. The very next day, his one friend wore the sweater than Khaled gave him; the other friend hung his new coat in his closet. Days past and the one brother kept using his sweater almost as though it was the only one he owned while the other brother?s coat still hung in his closet. Khaled asked his friend, Don't you like the coat?? ?Oh yes! I love it very much!?, replied his friend. Weeks went by without the one man wearing his new coat and at last Khaled said, I guess he didn't really like it after all.

Time is precious. It?s the best gift that we have ever been given, yet we continue to keep it locked away (as in Khaled's friend's coat) only to use it for things that won?t help us reach our ultimate goal. I wonder, if it truly is our ultimate goal, wouldn?t we strive to reach it?

While it is much easier to sit and write about these things, I encourage both you and myself to put words into actions. Talk is cheap ? let?s display our appreciation.

Here are some suggestions for us to gradually implement into our lives with consistency. I warn you though, it requires us to use the love that we have for our Lord and the love we have in our faith. Only by doing so can we see the flowers bloom from that love. Remember to keep your intentions sincere.

1) Never allow yourself to miss your salat (daily prayers) without a valid, and extremely good reason. Also, take all means necessary to avoid delaying your salat.

2) Read at least one page of Qur'an (in Arabic) a day. Once you are consistent in this, increase it to two pages and so on. Be sure to take it slowly lest you lose your consistency and sincerity.

3) Read at least one page of the Qur'an translation in whichever language you?re most comfortable with. Gradually increase how much you read, but don?t read it when you?re not focused and prepared to absorb the secrets and beauty that it contains.

4) Attempt to pray in jamaat (congregation) more frequently or whenever you get the chance to. Brothers, especially try to go to the masjid (mosque) for salat.

5) Eat when you're hungry and stop eating when your hunger has been fulfilled. Make it a habit to say Bismillah (In the name of Allah) when you eat. Remember it?s due to Him alone that you have that halal (permissible) food in front of you.

6) Watch as little TV as possible. It is full of wasteful and indecent things (unless you watch something like the learning channel). The television has little goodness to offer your heart. Purifying our hearts is all part of reaching that ultimate goal, insha?Allah.

7) Listen to Qur'an recitation more often. You can download it easily.

8) Listen to people more than you speak to them. Hasan Al Basri once said, ?Be just to your ears for Allah has created us with two ears and one tongue so that we may listen more than we speak.?

9) Look for ways to help in your community. Any organization that helps the poor, feeds the needy, helps clothe people, etc. is a good way to go. You can also help in places such as The Diabetes Association, Heart and Stroke Foundation, an organization helping cancer patients, etc. Help in anything that interests you. These are all examples of causes that are for the good of people, therefore they are Islamic causes. Help where you can.

10) Learn to be tolerant of people's differences. You have to love people to help them and to work with them. You can?t love a person if you?re too busy finding things to dislike in him/her.

These are few, among many things, that you can do. Whatever good you can think of doing (including the suggestions above), do it with sincere intentions to please Allah, the Most High; otherwise your efforts could be in vain.

Know that Allah loves those who love Him. So if you love Him as you say you do, prove it!