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Salina Khan
One of my daughters
recently developed a satelliteish delay between my requests and her responses
that flirts dangerously close to my boiling point. Example: "Please take
your feet off the table." There was a very long pause before it was
followed by compliance with a huge thud!
Her lingering over such
slight orders thoroughly perplexed me until I started thinking about Allah (سبحانہ تعالیٰ) and my own on-and-off
obedience to Him in all matters of life. How many times do we procrastinate, if
not outright ignore, our Islamic obligations (both big and small) to the Lord
of the Universe?
We do this even though
Allah (سبحانہ تعالیٰ) demands
obedience for our own good, so we can purify ourselves to achieve nearness to
Him. Only by exchanging our own desires, wants and opinions for those of Allah
Almighty (سبحانہ تعالیٰ) can we achieve
the humility and eagerness needed to constantly rush to His conformity.
Allah (سبحانہ تعالیٰ) reminds us to obey Him
(as well as his Last Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ) and those legitimately vested with
authority) repeatedly in the Qur'an. While addressing Maryam (one of the four
perfect women of all time). Allah (سبحانہ تعالیٰ) says. "O
Maryam! Remain you truly devout to your Sustainer and humble yourself..."
(3:43). According to Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)،
"The true
slave of Allah Almighty is he for whom the obedience and love of Allah becomes
sweet."
In this blessed month of
Ramadan, the committed Muslims the world over dedicate themselves to yielding
to their Lord day and night through fasting, prayers, Qur'an recitations, etc.
While such prayers and devotional practices are highly recommended, "Ibadah
(Arabic word for conformity to the Almighty) also includes wholehearted
obedience.
After the Prophet (ﷺ) completed his sermon on
the month of Ramadan, 'Ali, the husband of Fatimah (another one of the four perfect women
of all times), says he stood up and asked "O Messenger of Allah! What is the best
deed of this month?” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, "O Abu al-Hasan! The
best deed of this month is abstinence from that which is forbidden by Allah,
the Mighty, the Glorious." (
Upon seeing the new
crescent of Ramadan, Zain al 'Abideen (whose epithet means Best of those who
yield to the Almighty), grandson of Fatimah and Ali (RA), would address the moon
as the "obedient creature"' that is "prompt toward His
will."
This Ramadan protestors in
Muslim countries are expected to pour into the streets as they do every year to
demand peace and justice as part of their social obligations to Allah (سبحانہ تعالیٰ). They will do so despite
ongoing repression, torture and the edicts of pseudo-scholars commanding obedience
to tyrants by misquoting the Qur'an.
"With obedience
there's love and with love there’s sacrifice," says lecturer Hanif
Mohammed. "And if you do these things you can never have success."
Activist, philosopher and poet Allama Muhammad Iqbal sums up the superiority of
obedience to Allah (سبحانہ تعالیٰ) in the following Urdu couplet
(with English translation).
Wo aik sajda jesay tu garan samajhta hai
وہ ایک سجدہ جسے توگراں سمجھتا ہے
(The bowing (before Allah) that you despise)
Hazar sajdun se deta hai aadmi ku najat
ہزار سجدوں سے دیتا ہے آدمی کو نجات
(Is such that will free from bowing down before thousands)
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