Tazkiyyah

Allah says in the Qur’an, in Surah Ibrahim:

Translation: Have you not seen how Allah has given the parable of a beautiful kalimah, like a beautiful tree whose roots are firmly established, and whose branches tower in the sky? It gives its fruits at all times by the permission of it’s Lord, and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember. (Surah Ibrahim, verse 24-25)¹

‘Ibadah. We hear the word all the time. But what does it mean?

Linguistically, ‘ibadah means to show subserviance, or to be subserviant to.

From a shar’ee perspective, ‘ibadah has two meanings:

1. The spiritual conscience of the worshipper–what constitutes worship spiritually.
2. The actions–what consitutes worship in action.

And Ibn Tamiyyah says: “‘Ibadah includes all hidden and shown actions, statements, and beliefs beloved to Allah.”

Of actions, there are two types: natural and religious.

Imagine that your time is water. Every day, you get 24 liters to use as you wish. You keep it in one giant metal bucket and carry it around with you. The bucket leaks–if you don’t pour your time into buckets and use it effectively, most of it will end up spilled on the ground, lost.

Each day, you pass by some plants, and you have to stop and water them, or they die–the big, thick bush of family. The tall, massive oak tree of Allah. The smaller tree of yourself. Each plant represents obligations you must pay. If you don’t water these plants, they dry up, wilt, and eventually die.

In the Qur’an, surah Nisaa, Allah says:

Translation: Then fight in Allah’s cause – you are responsible only for yourself – and rouse the believers. It may be that Allah will restrain the fury of the Unbelievers; for Allah is the strongest in might and in punishment (Surah Nisaa, 4:84)¹

All of us, and especially those of us in educational institutes, run into tests and projects and assignments. And often–too often–we aim merely for a pass. A 60% or 50%, and we’re good to go.

But, imagine if you will, an archer shooting at a target. High above his head is 100%. Somewhere level with him is 50%–a pass. And below, lesser marks.

He draws back his arrow. He aims. 50%? No problem! He fires. Woosh! It flies forward forward forward forward, then downward slightly. Not quite right. 45%.

Salaah is the springboard of eman. Everytime you perform salaah, your eman should go up.

In Surah Baqarah, Allah says: “And seek help in patience and prayer. Indeed it is difficult, except for those with kushu“.

Here are some tips inshaAllah to help you achieve awesome salaah:

• Pray as if it is your last prayer. We hear imams say this a lot. But what does it mean? How would your salaah be if you knew it was your last salaah before you returned to Allah, Lord of the Worlds? It would be pretty awesome inshaAllah. Get that feeling.

There are six stages of knowledge.

1. Knowledge of Facts: know the information (eg. what year did ‘Umar (radiallahu ‘an) become the Khalifa?)
2. Comprehension: think about the information and understand it (eg. the khalifa is in charge of the entire Muslim ummah)
3. Application: learn and apply the knowledge–it helps you remember. Apply it to your context. What does it mean for you and me, here, today?
4. Analysis: Analyze the information critically. Get a deeper understanding of the meaning.
5. Synthesis: Link the information to other information you know.
6. Evaluation: recognize more authentic information over other information.

If you study at a university in Canada, you may notice that most of what they teach you doesn’t go beyond the Comprehension stage. Some may reach the Application stage, depending on your field–or it may not.

Imagine you are a boat, and the dunya is the sea. Far off in the distance, is land — the akhira.

“You are a boat. You sail the waters of the dunya towards the lands of Jannah.” –Abdur-Rahman

What happens if the sea floods into the boat? You sink.

So be like the best Muslim leaders: they ditched the dunya for the akhira.

In particular, I refer to the governers in the time of the Khulafa Rashideen (i.e. in the first 30 years after the death of the Prophet, (صلي الله عليه وسلم).

The king asked the boy to renounce his religion, to which the boy refused. The king said “take him to the highest mountain and if he doesn’t renounce by the time you reach the top, throw him off.”

Why not saw him in half? Because the boy’s useful. He has influence among the poeple. People love him, and if he joins the king, many will follow his example.

So they took him up, and the boy said “O Allah, suffice me against them in whatever way You please”. So the mountain rumbled, and everyone fell off and died. Except the boy.

We often make empty du’as–they lack in sincerity, but hey, we don’t expect them to be answered. But why do it? Are you just testing Allah?

Think with certiny that Allah will answer your du’a. Make the most sincere, heart-felt du’a of your existance. And have hope that Allah will answer it.

Before Islam, there was a man named Jurayj, a worshipper of Allah. The people around him had intense jealousy of him for this.