“Be not like those who forgot Allah, as a result Allah caused them to forget themselves, it is they who are the transgressors”
– Surah Hashr V.19
A very powerful ayah in the Qur’an, very powerful indeed for those who ponder and reflect upon the words of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). This one ayah speaks to many amongst our ummah in this day and age at the same time shows us the results of their doings.
The one question I ask all of you reading this, is this not the situation the world is in right now? Do we not see this ayah evident throughout the ummah? Do we not see those students who are so crammed in their books that they forget to nurture their souls with true remembrance of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)? Do we not see those parents who are so worried about money and wealth that they have taken their jobs to be greater than the remembrance of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)? This list goes on and on and unfortunately it is the state of our ummah and it is Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) at work; they forgot Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) so He caused them to forget themselves and their own souls. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has made these people so busy within the useless aspects of this duniya that they are oblivious of the damage that they are doing to themselves.
You can remind these people over and over again, but Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has made them blind to the reality of the world and has made them ultimately forget themselves. So how do you remind someone of something that he/she doesn’t know he/she has forgotten? This is something to ponder about.
Ask yourself, look through your life, and you will surely notice that if there was any point that you forgot Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) — by neglecting His commands — you were caused to forget yourself. You decided to intentionally miss the obligatory salaah once, and then again, and again, and ultimately over time not only did you miss your salaah but you started committing sins. Then over some more time, instead of the words of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) on your tongue the words of the kuffar took over. At this point, you’ve forgotten Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and He has surely caused you to forget yourself by letting you harm yourself and your soul by doing such sins.
When in this condition only du’a can bring us back. Pleading to our Lord, pleading to Ar-Rahman for forgiveness and guidance inshallah ta’ala.
May Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) keep us all on the Straight Path, may He NEVER let us forget Him and may He grant us with the blessing of keeping our hearts and tongues in remembrance of Him, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).