A man with a strong personality,
A man with a prominent character,
A man with an impressive heart
who cared for the people, widows & the orphans!
A man
who was named as the
‘ Commander of the Believers! ‘
It was none other than
Omar Ibn Al Khattab! radiya’allahu anhu.
“A person should not ever stop praying to Allah s.w.t to provide him with bounties. It is known that heavens does not rain either gold or silver. Allah, be He exalted, supplies people from each other. (He then recited Allah’s word from the Quran). ‘ When you complete your prayers, go out in the land and work for earning your living from Allah’ favour. Remember Allah very much so that you may succeed.” – Surah Al Jumu’ah, Verse 10.”
[Extracted from the book “Al Farouk Omar Ibn Al Khattab – The Second caliph” by Mohammad Redha, New Edition, Chapter 3 : Speeches and Wisdom of Omar Ibn Al Khattab. ]
The above-mentioned words caught my attention as I felt that it was beautifully said by Sayyidina Omar Ibn Al Khattab (r.a.).
Let’s take each of us for instance. In our life, when calamity hits us, what we usually do or how we react is saying,”Why is this happening to me?”
“Why is God punishing me?”
“Does He hate me?”
“What have I done wrong…why me?!”
Endless complaints start running through our minds.
It is so easy to say such words and blame Allah s.w.t. We start feeling negative about everything after that. Our mind is filled by the whispers of shaytan. Just because of one thing that has happened unexpectedly, we allow ourselves to ‘welcome’ shaytan into our hearts and mind.
We fail to realise that both good and bad comes from Allah s.w.t. We simply forget about our Creator! We forget to make supplications (Du’a)!
We feel so angry, so frustrated, our iman falters so easily; not realising how much we have given in to shaytan to take control of us and deviate our mind from remembering our Lord. This is what happens to most of us.
We start pouring it out to our friends, families, strangers, social media etc. We do everything except to turn to Allah s.w.t immediately.
Brothers and sisters in Islam, if we forget about Allah s.w.t, then who else is going to guide us? Who else then is going to give us success in our life?
Has Allah s.w.t not said in the Quran that he is All-Hearing, All-Seeing? Take a look at the following verses:
“Our Lord! Accept this service from us: For You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing (Al-Baqarah 2: 127)”.
“But if I receive guidance, it is because of what my Lord reveals to me. He is All-Hearing, Ever-Near (Saba 34: 50)”.
It’s not only these two verses, but there are more instances in the Qur’an where He relates His Attributes to us. All these serves to point to one thing: that He is always with us.
Allah s.w.t. didn’t create this life for us to enjoy it only, but He tests us to see which of us will turn to Him, during both good and bad times. We ought to be thankful with whatever He has bestowed upon us.
” Had he not been of them who glorify Allah, he would have indeed remained inside its belly (the fish) till the Day of Resurrection. (Surah As-Saaffaat : 143-144)”
“And remember your Lord when you forget and say: “May be my Lord will guide me to a nearer course to the right than this” (Surah Al Khaf: 18:24).’
He also wants us to turn to Him alone!
“If Allah helps you, none can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there after Him that can help you? And in Allah (Alone) let believers put their trust. ( Surah Aal-e-Imran: 160)
Remembering Allah s.w.t at all times is the key to remove darkness from our hearts. Our hearts are only blinded because we allow shaytan’s whispers to creep in.
As the verse from Surah Al Baqarah dictates,
“Because when you remember Allah, He remembers you!” (2:152)
This shows that regardless what comes to us, when we turn to our beloved creator, Allah s.w.t is there!
Other ways to practice our remembrance of Him is through our daily prayers where we establish the ‘personal contact’ with our creator as Allah s.w.t has mentioned:
“Call upon Me, I will respond to you! ” (40:60).
___
Nasrin Shah
Currently pursuing a Degree in Counselling @ UniSIM and waiting to get a full-time job. I love cooking, sports, and photography. I started exploring more about Islam in my early 20s and am still continuing to seek knowledge. I am also currently teaching at Masjid Alkhair for tweens aLIVE 2 and it’s been a blessing in disguise. Alhamdulilah.
