Imagine this. You are speeding on the road. The police officer catches you, pulls you over and gives you a speeding ticket. What would your reaction be, next time you are driving especially driving through the same road. You would naturally slow down! Or you are stealing from your prayer (i.e. racing through it), you glance over and it seems like your friends might be looking at you. Your reaction…. In these and in countless other situations, we refrain from doing bad because we fear that we might be caught or someone might be looking at us. Most of the times, we are not even full 100% sure and yet we change our behavior. But how about Allah, the ever watchful, who we know with certainty is always watching us. How much are we aware of Him? Lets look at some examples:
While the khaleefah of the Muslims, Umar (RA) passed by a home where a girl and her mother were differing over whether to mix water in with the milk they intended to sell to the Muslims. The mother said to mix water with the milk so that they may sell more and the daughter reminded her that even if the Khaleefah couldn’t see them committing wrong, Allah is Al-Baseer (Always All-Watching). Umar (RA) was soo taken by the vigilance of this girl he married her to his son who later produced righteous offspring.
A man who was successful wealthy man Nooh ibn Mariam, had
a beautiful daughter and had a slave (Mubarak). He called his
slave and told him to take care of his garden. One day he went
to visit the garden and ordered Mubarak to get him a cluster of
grapes. He brought the grapes they turned out to be bitter and
he did this 3 times and each time they were bitter. Nooh
became upset and said to Mubarak that don’t you know the
difference between bitter and sweet grapes. He said By Allah I
have never tasted a single grape because you ordered me to
take care of your garden. Nooh was impressed and proposed
that he marry his daughter. The result of that marriage was
‘Abdullah ibn Mubarak.
Luqman, the wise, when he advised his son, he said: “[And Luqman said], “O my son, indeed if wrong should be the weight of a mustard seed and should be within a rock or [anywhere] in the heavens or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Indeed, Allah is Subtle and Acquainted [31:16] This advise came even before he advised his son about salah, enjoining good and forbidding evil. This shows the importance of being vigilant. This is a very good lesson for parents as well. They can’t be with their kids all the time so they need to cultivate this feeling of consciousness into the young minds. This way no matter wherever they are, they will always remember that Allah is watching over them.
Action Steps:
- Check out the verses: 50: 16 – 18 and post the translation in the comments. Be the first one to post!
- Any time you think about committing some sin, remind yourself that Allah, the AlRaqeeb is watching over you.
- If you are trying to get rid of some bad habit, copy the verse 96:14 on a piece of paper and stick it in the place of temptation (TV, computer, mp3 player…..)
- Watch this video and find out which of the 5 advices relates closely to our topic (post in the comments)
- Make dua that Allah makes us among these people who are always aware of His presence.
- Pray for me
References:
- Sheikh Riad. Lecture. AlMaghrib. A Heart Serene. August 2008