God - Mindedness
"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful."
Holy Qur'an
This phrase occurs at the beginning of every surah of the Qur'an except one. It is used by Muslims before starting every work - before reading, before eating, before starting their work, before sleeping. Islam teaches man to start every good effort with the holy name of God Who is Beneficent and Merciful, invoking His mercy to bless his efforts with success.
The goal of Islam is to make a man "God-minded"; it wants him to realize that he, by himself, is nothing that all his efforts are fruitless unless rewarded by God with success. And that realization is combined with the satisfaction that God is Beneficent and Merciful, who will not disappoint him in his hope and belief.
It is very amusing to note that the common image of Islam, in the eyes of non-Muslims, is that of a religion whose god is wrathful one, like the god of the Old Testament, inflicting punishment on the spur of the moment. Do a mistake and you get a jolly good bang on your head!
They fail to realize that the very first sentence of the Qur'an describes God as Beneficent and Merciful. And that formula is used by every Muslim hundreds of times every day. Ant the Muslims believe that by involving the mercy of God they get limitless blessings of God in this world as in the world hereafter.
Once, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) while passing a graveyard, ordered his companions to get out of it in haste. On the return journey, he asked them to walk slowly. On being asked the reason of his first order and then of its change next time, the Prophet (s.a.w.) informed them that there was a man being chastised in one of these graves, on account of wickedness. "I did not like to remain in a place where a human-being was being punished, though he was a wrongdoer" Fortunately, at that moment the child of that dead person was taken to a teacher to start his education. The teacher told him to recite, "In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful." As soon as the innocent child invoked the Mercy of Allah, the command came to the angels to change the punishment into the Blessing of God. Reason: "It is not becoming to My mercy to punish the parent while his son calls Me the beneficent and merciful." So in the return journey the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) walked in that grave-yard with comfort, glorifying Mercy and Benevolence of the Almighty God.
Let us turn towards God every time we begin a work. The word "Bismillah" (In the name of Allah) may mean also "For the sake of God" and "To the service of God". Thus this formula, if comprehended fully, will serve also to save us from wrong action and misdeed. Certainty, it will be illogical to commit a mischief "For the sake of God" and "To His service". Let us remember God; and we will become free of sins and errors.
Trust in God
"And put thy trust in God and enough is God as a disposer of affairs."
Holy Qur'an (4:18)
The word used in Qur'an is "Tawakkal" which is derived from "Tawakkul". This is not an excuse for idleness. "Tawakkul" means that you should bind the camel with its rope, then say that you have trust in God that He will protect your camel. You should not have confidence in the rope only, because many camels have been stolen together with their ropes; and, likewise, you should not neglect the rope, because binding with the rope is a part of "Tawakkul."
So this is the spirit of Tawakkul. We are to try our best; and then we should have trust in God that He will make our work succeed. It is a sheer nonsense to sit idle and say that Allah will do all our work for us.
He says in Qur'an:
"And that man can have nothing but what he strives for." (53:39)
A high standard of Tawakkul was set when Amir al Mu’mineen ‘Ali (a.s.) asked some idle persons who they were. "We are those who have confidence in Allah", came the answer. Ali asked: "How is you confidence in Allah?" They said: "We eat when we get food; and we have patience when we do not get it." Ali retorted: "Yes! That was the very nature of a dog." Stunned, they asked him to explain the true meaning of Tawakkul in contrast to their own belief. Ali (a.s.) said: "When we get, we give to others; when we do not get, we thank Allah."
It means that you are to try your best to improve your condition; but you should not trust your own power and wisdom. Have confidence in Allah that he will make your efforts fruitful. Then, if you succeed, try to help your fellow brethren with the fruits of our labor; and if you fail; then also be thankful to Allah. But why should you thank Allah even when you do not succeed? Because or failure is not your responsibility. You were expected to do your best - and you did it. Be thankful to Allah that you were able to perform what was expected from you. It is your efforts which matter. Success or failure is not your province.
Thankfulness to Allah
"And be thankful to Me; and do not be ungrateful."
Holy Qur'an (2:152)
Thankfulness of God is one of the highest virtues which a man could aspire for. It is easy to be thankful when one had an easy life, a prospering business, a respectful job and a happy family. It is a different story when things are not going as desired. Most of us, in such situations, remain obsessed with sorrow, forgetting countless bounties of God which we are bestowed with, even at the time of that tragedy. Perhaps it is this tendency which is mentioned in the Qur'an in these words: "And few amongst my servants are grateful."
It is even more difficult to be grateful in such heart-breaking situations which a man of God has to face in his struggle to lead his people on the right path (like the condition which our Holy Prophet ‘s.a.w.’ had to contend with). He faced abuse of the community, wrath of big tribal heads. Children used to throw stones on him, women scattered thorny bushes in his path. And he remained cheerful and thankful to God. When a man asked him why did he pray whole nights and fasted almost continuously, when he had so much work to do every day, the Prophet simply asked: "Should I not be a thankful servant of Allah?" Many examples can be found of men of God bearing the burdens of almost inevitable persecutions with great patience; Muhammad faced them with cheerfulness and thankfulness. The difference between these two attitude is clear enough.
Not only this. His closest people also thought of these hardships as a sign of the grace of God. Had not God chosen them to bear such heavy burden in His cause? Was it not a sign of His pleasure with them? It was this thought which make them face cheerfully all kind of persecutions inflicted by the enemies of God. It was this feeling which made Imam Ali (a.s.) Not only ‘patient’ but ‘thankful’ when he was asked by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) to sleep in his (Prophet's) bed, so that the Prophet (s.a.w.) could leave Mecca while his would-be killer (who ringed his house) thought that he was sleeping in his bed. His only question was: "Will your life be saved if I sleep in this bed?" When assured that it was the promise of God, he prostrated to God, thanking Him that He made his (Ali's) life a ransom for the life of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.).
Be with God
"And God is with you where so ever you may be."
Holy Qur'an (57:4)
God is everywhere. No space or time is without Him; yet He is independent of time and space. He is Omnipresent; and His love protects us from harm in this world as in the life hereafter.
But this relationship with God should not be one-sided. No doubt, God is with us. The vital question is: "Are we with God?" If a grown up son misbehaves and still demands the same parental affection which is enjoyed by his courteous and obedient brother, he is just deceiving himself. Likewise, some people fail to realize that there is no such thing as "one-sided companionship". And if we want to be sure that God is with us, we must be sure that we are with God. It means that we have to prove our love towards God, if we want to be worthy of the love of God. In other words, we must also know our responsibilities towards God and His creatures, and try to fulfill them.
As a first step to reach this goal, we must realize that we are too much entangled in our worldly affairs to spare a moment to remember God. We are not preparing ourselves to meet God at all. Shaykh as Sadiq, one of the greatest Muslim scholars, has given a very good parable to throw light on this facet of our life.
A man slipped down from the brink of a deep well. Fortunately, a plant had grown in the wall of the well, and while falling down his hands clutched a branch of that plant. After the initial shock, he began looking up and down. What he saw, was enough to make him scared. A huge serpent, in the depth of the well, was waiting for him to fall down. Desperately, he decided to remain where he was and then saw, to his horror, that two mice - one black, another white - were busy cutting the root of that plant. He lost his hope. Then he looked up, and his heart was full of hope. He was not very far from the rim of the well and, by a little judicious effort could reach to safety very easily. Then he saw a beehive in that plant. And forgetting his tragic position, he began eating the honey. Of course, the bees did not like it and began stinging him, but he remained oblivious of all the troubles. A short time after, the mice succeeded in cutting the plant down and he fell in the mouth of the serpent.
We are that man; this world is that well; the plant in midway is our life; which is being coded away by every passing night and day - the black and white mice; death is the serpent waiting for us. The honey represents the pleasantries of this world, for which we quarrel with other people- the bees, and are bitten by them. What makes our plight more tragic is the fact that rescue is never very far. It just requires a little effort on our path to reach the safety and security provided by the loving care of Allah. We may easily reach to God and be safe forever. Or, on the other hand, we may be destroyed by death. The choice is ours.
