Keeping steadfast

Life, in our modern times, has become a curse for many, particularly in the areas of morality, ethics and good principles. Morality has become, somehow, a misnomer while ethical values hardly attract any credence. Living with principles or ideals is seen as a thing of the past and ‘the casual life’ is increasingly becoming the norm.

Here I am directing my comments towards those seeking to enjoy a life that is religious and spiritual and where one's purposes cannot be achieved without abiding by the rules and obeying the laws.

The argument, by those who seek a life without God, leads, inevitably, to the loss of a solid moral and spiritual foundation and life becomes unsustainable in terms of purpose and direction.

This is an ever present danger to any individual who lives by any religious or philosophical teachings, and is why it is also a matter of utmost concern to Islam.  Our attention is drawn towards it in the Quran and by the teachings and guidance of the Prophet Muhammad.

Abu Amrah Sufyan bin Abdullah al-Thaqafy, a companion of the Prophet, peace and mercy of Allah be upon him, approached him and said: 'O Prophet of Allah! Teach me a word in Islam so that I would never again need to ask anyone after you about it'. The Prophet replied saying: ‘say: I believed in Allah and then keep steadfast on it’.

All Islamic beliefs are summed up by this belief in Allah. This is the most important and basic belief in Islam, and if ignored or dismissed, then nothing can save the rest of our beliefs from becoming corrupt.

An uncorrupted belief  in Allah, as mentioned in the hadith above, epitomises a belief that is most correct, recognising and accepting the deserved attributes  of Allah the Almighty, and that the Prophet's teachings  on  belief in God, as on all matters of morality, ethics and principles, should continue to guide us throughout our lives.

If a believer can retain his belief in God then all his other practices will fall into their correct place and attract rewards.

The Prophet Mohammad also guided us in another hadith saying: ‘Keep steadfast and you would never be able to count its rewards, and know that the best of your deeds is Salaah (the obligatory prayers), and no one would safeguard his wudu but a truly believing person’.

The life of a Muslim must not be influenced by his lust, desires and covert intentions. His loyalty must always be to God and its resulting principles, morality and ethics. He must never act to arrive at a result purely because of his desires, but strive to achieve a result that is not in contravention to God’s principles of morality and ethics: itself an act of obedience that will be rewarded. If he acts regardless of the divine principles of morality and ethics, then that person has not kept himself steadfast on the path of Allah.

Keeping steadfast in belief in Allah is a pure state of mind and brings one closer to God with its glad tiding of blessed Paradise by angels. The Quran describes it beautifully and in a most comforting way for the believers. It says: ‘Indeed to those who proclaimed, saying our Lord is Allah, and then kept steadfast on it, angels descend upon them (saying) 'do not fear and do not sorrow, and have the glad tidings of the Paradise that you were being promised'. 'We are your Guardian in the worldly life and in the Hereafter, and therein is everything for you that your selves may desire and everything that you may ask for, a hospitable gift from the One Most Forgiving and Most Merciful’. S41 V30-31

The rewards lie in toeing the lines of correct belief and in never deviating from them. The anarchy, lawlessness, stagnant life, and the crying voices and screams of the oppressed that are being witnessed throughout the Muslim lands, are the results of deviating from the Path of Allah. The sooner that Muslims realise that their good fortune lies in being humble servants of God and not in being amongst those who violate every principle of morality and ethics that God had laid down in His Book, the better.

Good and just rules are a divine call to mankind, but attaining  one's ends by any means cannot, and must not, be justified. Enough of brutality and enough of oppression. That is not the God’s way, and only leads to evil and away from God's path. We all need to reflect on our acts, whether they are acceptable in the light of God’s teachings and will we be accountable for them by God?

To conclude I would like to mention another hadith of the Prophet Mohammad, peace and mercy of Allah be upon him, in which he says: ‘He has indeed became successful, who has sincerely surrendered his heart in belief, and turned his heart clear (of all wrongdoing and sins) ,made his tongue truthful, his soul tranquil and blissful, and his character steadfast’. (Ibn Hibban)