When we want something, we generally try to do anything we can think of to get it. When I say that, I mean both in the sense of material things as well as “abstract” things - but namely, for the purpose of this article, I am talking about the “abstract” things - and even more specifically, I am referring to those such things, that we, as Muslims, are not supposed to have.
Maybe you want to listen to that new Justin Beiber album that came out. Maybe you really want to go to the prom this year - I mean come on, it’s your last year in high school and not to mention the whole school is going. Maybe you are really attracted to some guy and you really wish you could go out with him - even as “just friends”. Or maybe you just don’t feel like wearing hijab today. I will stop there, because I hope that you understand what I’m trying to get at here.
So when we have these desires - when we’re really wanting whatever it is that we are wanting... we tend to do what we can to try and get it. And one of the main ways we go about that is - Making excuses!!!
And that's exactly what I want to talk about in this post.
You know how many times I have been talking to a sister and she tells me how it is okay for her to be talking to brother so-and-so because he’s so religious and they only talk about religious stuff?
You know how many times we say there’s no problem with going to prom because we’re just going to be with friends - dancing and having fun but no guys or anything like that.
You know how many times we turn on some Justin Beiber or Chris Brown or whatever music people are listening to and say that it’s okay because we listen to Qur’an too?
You know how many times a sister has said that she doesn’t have to wear hijab because it doesn’t make her more religious or worse - that she won’t wear it because it makes her feel like a hypocrite because she doesn’t do everything else that she’s supposed to do?
---And many other similar stories---
WAY TOO OFTEN!!!
And these are real things. I didn’t make them up. I’ve really heard every single one of these before.
What I’m trying to say:
We need to wake up and smell a little bit of reality.
Yes temptation fills the air.
But we have to let our desire for Allah - our desire for paradise - overpower that.
We have to be strong.
I know that it’s hard sometimes. And I understand that it’s sometimes hard when you are trying to fit in and be cool and all of that - and still stick to the deen.
But you can’t make something that is haraam into something halal, just because it suites you.
These excuses aren’t fooling anyone - not even ourselves and especially not Allah.
We will still have to answer for these things on the day of judgement.
So I want to leave you with 3 small things for us to think about - and hopefully implement them in our lives.
1st - Allah is all-knowing, all-wise. Everything He does is out of His wisdom. So although we may not see wisdom behind a command, there is definitely wisdom in it - and if we follow it, it will definitely pay off. And if we don’t follow it, we will definitely see its consequences.
2nd - Nothing we do - whether it is something good or bad - it doesn't affect Allah. So His telling us to do this or not do that, it's not for His benefit, it is for our benefit. If we pray - it doesn’t benefit Allah - it benefits us. If we don’t pray - it doesn’t harm Allah - it harms us. If we smoke - it doesn’t harm Allah - it harms us. If we don’t wear hijab - it doesn’t harm Allah - it harms us.
3rd - Everything Allah tells us to do or not to do is to protect and preserve 5 inalienable, God given rights for our individual self as well as the whole of mankind and humanity. These 5 rights are - Religion, Life, Honor/Lineage, Intellect and Property. So when we think about the things we have to do or the things that we can’t do - we should bare in mind that all of these things we have to and can't do are, at the roots, there to preserve these 5 God given rights of every human being. So when you are about to do something - think, will it damage/take away any of these rights from myself or from anyone else: if the answer is no, than it is generally okay to do. If the answer is yes, than it is generally not okay to do.
So remember:
You cannot sweeten pepper just by adding a sprinkle of sugar.
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