It makes me sad you know - how people talk about Islam like it is maths. Its not maths. Islam is not an equation that you need to balance. Its a way of being, that comes from an intention and a love for God.
People ask: what is the ruling on this? What is the ruling on that? Islam has become a matter of five pillars - its this plus this plus this equals heaven and this plus this plus this equals hell.
Sample equation: "I do not show love to my parents, I con people out of money, I overcharge them, I do nothing for free, I am trying to get my neighbours evicted because I dont like them, I ha vent spoken to my brother in a year now - but its OK. Once a year I go to Hadj and it clears me of my sins and I start again."
Whats the matter with you? Where did you go wrong?
Maybe you havent read in detail about the Prophet peace be upon him, about Aysha, Khadijah, Fatima, and Ali. Maybe you have not read the history and the people and got a clear grasp of their characters and who they were being.
These people did not follow a formula, they did not do this plus this plus that. They WERE Muslim. They could be no other way. Aysha could not hold on to any wealth without feeling guilty, Ali captured Aysha in battle and returned her without a a shred of damage to her, he forgave her. On his deathbed, he insisted that no war be started - that only the men responsible for the damage be taken to account for their actions.
Can't you see that these people did not follow formulas? Their faith was so powerful that their hearts and minds could not stand to do a bad deed - they did not have a bad thought. They were being a certain kind of person, they had a certain kind of thought process, a certain type of behaviour. They did not think "Oh, I will just live this corrupt life for a few years - once I get rich I will do Hadj and it will all be OK." No. They did not do that.
Who exactly are you trying to fool with your equations?
Islam is like a martial art, you train yourself and educate yourself until you ears, your eyes, your very limbs - your conscious and subsconsious mind responds to every stimulation with a good action and begins to steer away from bad actions and bad thoughts - you ARE MUSLIM, you embody a character that can create no badness, no injustice no inequality in this world - you cannot do it. You are a Muslim. A Submitter. A believer.
You follow the masters of the art that went before you. The Prophet (peace be upon him) and his greatest students. The ones he was most proud of, the ones that he was closest to. You look at their CHARACTERS, their motivations, their thoughts and feelings - you look at their attitudes. Not the sum total of their actions. Their actions were different: Ali and Uthmans actions were not the same, Fatima and Aysha's actions were not the same, Yusuf and Moses's actions were not the same. Look at how they were! Look at their hearts and minds - we, like them, we are all different. We share one belief, one faith, one heart one mind and that drives us - we cannot all be the same - we can be guided in the same direction with many different skill sets, many different life circumstances, many different situations - we are Muslims.
A Muslim is a way-of-being, an essence, a character - not a set of rules. Not a set of judgements and rulings and step by step instructions. When you heart is set, and I mean SET on God, when you are committed to living a life of good deeds and good actions, when you devote yourself to being the best daughter you can be, the best granddaughter you can be, the best friend, mother, neighbour, colleague, worker you can be: the best human being you can be - you should not need to ask - is this obligatory or is this makruh or is this fard. Your conscious should tell you automatically. The Quran will tell you what you need to know. The histories will tell you what you need to know.
And being the best human being you can be is not about how much money you make, its not about what you do in the confines of your home its not about how many times you say elhadulilah, or how many good thoughts you have when no one else can see you. It is in what you give to the world around you - a smile? a helping hand? forgiveness? understanding? a shoulder to cry on? a tip for a tired waitress? A hand to guide a car out of a parking spot? a call to your mother? a pat on the back for a hard worker? some change for the homeless? a signature on a petition? Good advice?
We serve everyone around us all of the time and this is the good life that we lead, because we trust in Allah, we trust that to pursue his reward is to pursue the greatest reward. We see ourselves as above or better than no one, our tongue does not permit us to say something we do not know to be true, our heart does not let us hold a grudge, we do not turn our backs on our friends, brothers and sisters no matter how big a shit they are. We give good and heartfelt advice without judging each other. We love God, we love the right path, and we are set upon that path and that path will not hurt us.
We ARE BY OUR ESSENCE a Muslim. That is our character.
Its HARD to be that good. Its a life's work - a passion, that you pursue with zest and heart and energy day in and day out - its a life's work to accomplish the kind of being that is so dedicated to God that they get to the stage where they actually cannot do a wrong.
And it's not achieved through maths.
The character of the Prophet and his students were not the result of a formulaic set of equations they systematically followed. No.
It was sincere, deep faith. Sincere, deep love. Sincere and deep good intention. It was their life's work - their life's work, their sole desire.
Not lazy maths.
Think about that.
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