Living With Dichotomy

It is a blatant dichotomy that we have complete faith in Islam (Abrahamic faith) but it is seldom reflected in our day-to-day lives. When you pose this question to any Muslim, his or her spontaneous response would be that they completely follow Islam. But at the back of their minds, they know they are complacent and not following Islam in the letter and spirit. ?

In this short analysis, I will attempt to find the reasons of the prevailing situation. Let us begin with understanding the role of an individual and the Ulema in this regard. Though it is hard to distinguish between true Alim and a pseudo one nor I intend to put such tags on anyone. Let us focus on an Alim, what is his or her role. Allah’s last prophet pbuh in his last sermon at the Hajj congregation said, “Convey my words to the forthcoming people, so they may understand it more.” From this it is established that the role of an Alim is of a disseminator of Islamic teachings in verbatim. However, an Alim is not a police man to enforce Islam in the lives of Muslims nor he or she is the role-model – the role model is only Prophet Muhammad pbuh.. Here comes the responsibility of every Muslim individual to seek knowledge about Islam; reflect upon it; visualize its implications in his or her life; and follow it the? letter and spirit.

With a view to exemplify the dichotomy in our faith and practices, I refer to the following verses [Ayat] though the entire Quran is about it.

·???????? ?Some of? the nomadic Arabs say, “We believe.” Say, ?O Prophet,? “You have not believed. But say, ‘We have submitted,’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts.?But if you obey Allah and His Messenger ?wholeheartedly?, He will not discount anything from ?the reward of? your deeds. Allah is truly All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Noble Quran 49:14

·???????? “Allah has indeed purchased from the believers [believers trade for an eternal reward] their lives and wealth in exchange for Paradise. They fight in the cause of Allah and kill or are killed. This is a true promise binding on Him in the Torah, the Gospel, and the Quran. And whose promise is truer than Allah’s? So rejoice in the exchange you have made with Him. That is ?truly? the ultimate triumph.” Noble Quran 9:111

·???????? “Competition for more and more ?gains? diverts you ?from Allah?,” Noble Quran 102:1

·???????? “Indeed, before this ?torment? they were spoiled by luxury, and persisted in the worst of sin.” Noble Quran 56:45/46

In my humble opinion, a number of reasons can be cited for the above dichotomy.

First, we are complacent about our faith and day of judgement. We usually take this position that so long we give Shahadah with our tongue, perform prayers regularly, fast during Ramazan, pay zakat and perform as many Umrah and Hajj, it will suffice to avail Allah’s pardon and go to paradise. Allah knows better. However, it is clear that Allah expects much more from His followers as reflected in the above verses and whole of the Noble Quran.

Simply speaking, Shahadah and ibadaat referred above definitely bring Allah’s pleasure but we should remember Allah has made us follow these rules for saving our lives in this world too. Meaning, Allah has designed these ibadaat to bring improvement in our behaviors and to protect us from our sinful nafs. Such as:

·???????? Shahadah reinforces fear of Allah and the day of judgement. If it is not doing so, then we need to see if we are pronouncing Shahadah with the right intention [neat]. ????

·???????? Allah says, Prayers will keep you away from sinful and vulgar activities. If we are praying regularly but we are still indulged in sinful and vulgar activities then again, we need to see if we are performing prayers with the right intention [neat]. ????

·???????? Allah says, Fasting is made incumbent upon you so that you may attain self-regulation [Taqwah]. If we fast regularly but still we are not able to say No to our impulses and sinful instincts then again, we need to see if we are fasting with the right intention [neat]. ????

·???????? Allah has made it necessary to pay Zakat of whatever is in excess of our needs in the path of Allah. If we are paying Zakat religiously yet our longing for more and more wealth is still there then again, we need to see if we are paying Zakat with the right intention [neat]. ????

·???????? Allah has mandated attending Hajj congregation once in a lifetime to those who can afford it. These days we see Alhamdolillah people perform multiple Umrah and Hajj. However, if we do not detach our selves from the word as we do during Hajj and Umrah and our lives do not revolve around Allah as we do symbolically when we circle Kaba then we need to reconsider if we are performing Hajj and Umrah with the right intention [neat]. ????

If you are facing similar dichotomy, it means you are also into a compartmented living, where you keep your religion (Allah and Akhrat) separate from your conduct in this life. In other words, you are following you are performing Shahadah and ibadaat to directly earn rewards in eternal life and living a totally disconnect life. We can identify many reasons to this

·???????? It could be a manifestation of complacency.

·???????? It may be the influence of the secular mindset.

·???????? It could be the longing for this life and wealth (Higher living standard) that eclipses the permissible “Halal” and prohibited “Haram”.

Conclusion: It is the lack of faith (hope and fear) entered into the heart because Nafs e Ammara or longing for this life is eclipsing it and fear or guilt (Nafs e Lawama) and contentment (Nafs e Mutmaina) have gone dormant. In other words, the heart is hijacked. Solution lies in liberating or cleansing the heart from longing for this life over the next life, which means taming the Nafs e Ammara and strengthening Nafs e Lawama and Nafs e Mutmaina – In religion it is referred to as “Tazkia e Nafs.”

What do you think of this analysis, please let me know in your comments. ???

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