Not That Hard

2 Cont. Thoughts

The beauty of it all is that what we need is not so much. We don’t need mountains of gold or expensive foods to make us whole. Nor do we need luxurious homes and priceless furniture to fill the gap. All we need are certain rites any person can perform.

Many virtues promoted in Islam are fundamental in supporting the process of building self-esteem and expanding our potential and completing our identity.

In being asked by Allah to wish for others what we wish for ourselves, to keep one’s word, to be honest, to give charity, to help others in need, to take responsibility for our actions, to respect others, etc...We are actually being given checklists to do in order to reach our goal, our better self.

Now, many people would say: “You don’t have to be a Muslim to do all that.”  That is true, but one cannot be a true Muslim if he or she fails to do them.

I have always thought that these things we do for Allah and others. I rarely thought about what these things add to me, as a human being. Remember the point mentioned earlier about the three relations, well this is how I have come to see the importance of these deeds and practices for myself.  

When I used to try to make my children understand why they have to follow Allah’s rules, I always emphasized the point of doing them because we love Allah, because He is our creator, we should be grateful to Him, and so on. Now I add to it that Allah wants the best for us and by obeying Him we are helping ourselves, we are shaping our inner self to what Allah initially made us by fitra, we are achieving self-acceptance, self-direction, self-confidence, and self-control.

To end with, our relationship with Allah; our Islamic duties, are requirements to move on and elaborate on the next in line, our social relations. When we perform them, we are training ourselves to behave appropriately in diverse situations as they follow. For example, when I am required to perform my prayers in time, in addition to showing obedience, it also carries out training me to be disciplined and responsible. When I am asked by Allah to control my temper and forgive my brothers and sisters for their cruelty or unkindness, I am being taught etiquettes of civility. This consequentially serves as means to improve my relationship with others, hence the space I am in becomes better and if everybody acts similarly, eventually the world.
Continue...Living The Tenets