The Life’s Journey

                               “O God! You are the Companion

                                in the journey!”

                                (Prophet Muhammad’s supplication)

Abu Dawud, one of the famous collectors of the sayings of Prophet Muhammad (peace and God’s blessings be upon him) and also Imam Muslim reported that Abu Hurairah narrated that whenever the Prophet went on a journey used to supplicate God: “O God! You are the Companion in the journey!”

On such journeys, which were short and limited, and where he used to bring with him material provision, the Prophet always needed the companionship of God, the Almighty. Consequently, it would be even more relevant to the long life’s journey: we do not know how long it will be nor its limits.

Like our beloved prophet, for our short journeys not only do we need material provision, but also the company of one or more persons whom we can rely on to be the helper in need, and yet the companionship of God is indispensable, and more so in our life’s journey: we need God’s companionship, which is none other than our being conscious of Him in all our thoughts and deeds.

How can we get the companionship of God, the Almighty? That cannot be only by remembering Him: “So remember Me, I will remember you; and be thankful to Me, and be not ungrateful towards Me” (2:152). Remembering God means be thankful to Him, and to be thankful to Him can only be achieved by our efforts to obey His guidance. God also says: “And as for those who strive for Our sake, We shall assuredly guide them to Our ways, and truly God is with the virtuous” (29:69).

To have the companionship of God a person has to strive for God’s sake in his life’s journey. We need to strive because God has put us in an arena of trial. God says in the Qur’an: “.. and We cause you (human being) to be a means of testing one another: are you able to endure (this test) with patience, for your Lord is truly all seeing” (25:0). “Verily, We have created man in travail” (90:4).

To have the companionship of God means to endure this TEST with patience: “God is with those who patiently persevere” (2:153; 2:249; 8:46; 8:66). “God loves those who patiently persevere” (3:146). During our life we need to endure patiently, while doing positive and good deeds as much as possible.

It is expected from us is to make the effort to exploit intensively all our energy and natural resources, which were created by God for us to benefit from, in developing social life justly.

God says in the Qur’an: “And He (= God) it is Who has made you inherit the earth, and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you. Verily, Your Lord is swift in retribution, yet, behold, He is indeed much forgiving, a Dispenser of grace” (6:165).

We can understand from this decree that the differential between people in their quality of intelligence, strength, capability etc. should not create jealousy, on the contrary, it is to cover the needs of the society. This is why nobody can claim not to need others, and lethargy causes trouble and can therefore be considered a sin.

We see in the Qur’an a very nice admonition: “O you who believe, no men shall deride (other) men: it may well be that those (whom they deride) are better than themselves; and no women (shall deride other) women: it may well be that those (whom they deride) are better than themselves. And neither shall you defame one another, nor insult one another by (opprobrious) epithets: evil is all imputation of iniquity after (one has attained to) faith; and they who (become guilty thereof and) do not repent – it is they, they who are evildoers” (49:185).

All human deeds in this worldly life are observed and recorded by God and every person will be requited in the Day of Judgment with a just balance: “And, verily, to each and all will your Lord give their full due for whatever (good or evil) they may have done: behold, He is aware of all that they do” (11:111).

To understand how important the companionship of God for human being is in this worldly life, we must see the frequency with which the Hereafter and its sequences are featured in the Qur’an to remind the readers of its inevitability. Most chapters of the Qur’an are full of references to the Day of Resurrection, and sometimes with long details about what will happen therein. Nobody will escape the rigorous questionings on that Day. Those who used to live without the companionship of God will meet a very difficult situation: “That very Day shall be a day of anguish, not at all easy for the disbelievers” (74:9-10).

While those who used to live with the companionship of God will be at peace: “Truly those who say: our Lord is God, and then remain upright, the angels descend upon them (saying to them): Do not fear, nor grieve, and rejoice in the good tidings of the Paradise which you were promised” (41:30).

Beware, Not To Be Engulfed!

                     “Truly those who do evil and by their sinfulness

                      are engulfed – they are destined for the Fire,

                      therein to abide; whereas those who attain to

                      faith and do righteous deeds – they are

                      destined for Paradise, therein to abide”

                                                                              (Qur’an, 2:81-82).

The Qur’an teaches that human beings are given the special gift of thinking and understanding, more than any other creation. They are also given a certain freedom to act, discover, innovate in so many areas in nature (in the land, in the sea, and even in other planets in the universe), but they should be careful not to transgress the bounds that God has shown through His ordinances, and not to create disorder.

Any unjust action against human beings or other creation is considered a sin to be accounted for by God in the Hereafter.

God says in the Qur’an: “(On the Day of Judgment,) every human being will be held in pledge for whatever he has worked” (74:38). “So, he who shall have done an atom’s weight of good, shall behold it; and he who shall have done an atom’s weight of evil, shall behold it” (99:7-8).

Nobody can escape from accountability on the Day of Judgment.

This assertion – of the Qur’an – that all sins can surround the doer and engulf him/her, draws indeed a very expressive and illustrative portrait of those who during this life are addicted to commit sins without refrain. Not only in Chapter 2, but also in Chapter 83, in which every sinful action is illustrated as a black stain marked on the heart and recorded in a special record called “sijjin” (= sealed record): “Nay, verily, the record of the wicked is in Sijjin; and what would tell you what Sijjin is? It is a sealed Record” (83:7-9).

Philologically the word “sijjin” comes from “sijn” (= prison), meaning those persons who used to be in the sealed prison of addiction to sins in this worldly life, will also have no way to escape in the Hereafter and their deeds will be in a sealed, unavoidable record. The illustration continues: “Nay, but their hearts are covered with stains caused by (the evil) that they want to do. Nay, verily, on that Day they shall be certainly screened off from their Lord” (83:14-15).

Dr Salman Al-Odah calls Chapter 83 of the Qur’an “a war against people who are addicted to sins” (in his book “Zinzanah”, 2014).

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of God (Peace and God’s blessings be upon him) said: “Verily when the servant of God commits a sin, a black stain immediately appears on his heart; when he refrains from it, by asking forgiveness from God and repents to Him, his heart will be cleanly polished. But if he returns (to his addiction) the black stain will increase until it covers his entire heart. That is the black stain, which is mentioned in the Qur’an (Chapter 83:14)” (Recorded by Tirmidhi).

As a great example for Muslims, the Prophet (peace and God’s blessings be upon him) said about himself, (according to one of his companions, Al-Agharr Al-Muzani): “Sometimes I perceive a veil over my heart. And indeed (that’s why) I supplicate God for forgiveness about one hundred times a day”  (Recorded by Muslim in his Collection of Hadith). 

The reason why he exposed this truth was to teach his followers to beware of being engulfed by sins.

Who Are The Terrorists?

Today we witness terrorism spreading all over the world. Many unjust treatments and cruel oppressions occur in every corner. So many helpless and innocent people are suffering and have become victims. When seeing all these evil deeds, it is normal that we condemn the criminals whoever they are, whether they pretend to be Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhists or even irreligious. However, it is ridiculous to link Islam or any other religion to terrorism.

A group of criminals have proclaimed themselves as an “Islamic State” in an area in Iraq and Syria. This group managed to attract thousands of blinded minds from the Muslim youth. They are financed and equipped with arms by some foreign powers with the purpose of creating disorder in the world political fighting arena. According to Corbett Report: “All of the military action that’s going on is foreign supplied, foreign-backed, foreign-trained, foreign-armed, foreign-equipped (with) foreign money greasing the skids of this war” (see: Website fktv.is). The report even said that many ISIS fighters were trained in Jordan (of course by a big power) couple of years ago, through a then-covert operation. And this disorder, which is spreading in the world, today, is certainly what has been predicted and named “creative chaos” by Condoleezza Rice while she was the Secretary of State of the USA.

Most world media, however, focus only on the so-called “islamists”, “jihadists”, “ISIS”, ignoring the cruelty of the tyrants in Syria (Assad’s regime and its allies: The Russian invader and the militias brought by Iran from Iraq and Lebanon), who have devastated half of the country and are still continuing, causing the fleeing of eleven million from their homes. World media ignore the Tyrant of Egypt, who has killed thousands and tortured tens of thousands in prisons and caused thousands to flee from the country. World media do not accuse Israel to be a terrorist state, although it is killing Palestinians continuously and treats them inhumanly and expulse many of them from their homes, etc. Big powers support this violence to make their arms factories flourish and to multiply their sales. And although propagating democracy, those Big Powers support tyrants in many countries, even though the latter treat people inhumanly.

As a Muslim I admit that some people among the Muslims (whether a tyrant, or ignorant, or poor and helpless, or narrow-minded) are trapped and exploited and in connivance with the big tyrants and the big wicked-politicians from different countries whatever religion they belong to. But it is unfair that many world media accuse Islam to be the origin of this chaos and the damages caused by criminals, while Islam condemns rigorously violence and all wrongdoings.

The Qur’an warns people: “And do not think that God is unaware of what the evildoers are doing. He but gives them respite until a day when eyes shall stare (wide-open) in horror (in the Hereafter), as they come hastening with their heads turned upwards, their gaze returning unable to look away from what they shall behold; and their hearts shall be hollow” (14:42-43).

Islam forbids people to do anything, which may hurt or aggravate others, and whatever small the damage caused by a person he will be responsible for it in the Hereafter and will be requited accordingly.