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The blame is not on the one who does not accept advice. Rather, it is on the one who presents it inappropriately

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Monday 17 October 2011

The Fruit Is Not Sweet Until You Taste It


In the middle of the desert when the scorching sun had pierced through the sand dunes, appeared a cloud laden with raindrops whose bubbles have cold breeze enclosed within them waiting to be unleashed in to the atmosphere. The thirst and the heat was unbearable and people together with their animals needed  an environmental rescue, so Allah in His infinite mercy commanded the rain to drop and the whole desert was jubilant. The animals could move easily on the soil and a new atmosphere of calmness, peace and tranquility soon prevailed.  Had the rain not fall, the desert will still be the same and its inhabitants will only wish it falls so that a difference will be made. The hot desert is the heat of ignorance, the cloud is the hope of knowledge and the rain drop is the action that cools off the heat of ignorance by making a difference.

Is it possible to promote an idea without having an insight into it? Is it possible to explain how sweet a fruit is without having to taste it? Or is it possible for a man to feel the pain of a woman in labor? Of course the answer to these set of questions is undoubtedly, NO. If that be the case, then it is not possible for ANY MUSLIM to enjoy Islam without practicing what it teaches. This might sound strange or even normal depending on our intellectual levels but the fact still remains. What good is knowledge if it can’t be put into practice? Someone said  it so beautifully that: “it is better not to know Allah, than to know Allah, believe in Him and then openly disobey His orders”. In like manner, it is better not to have applied for a job, than to apply for a job and then break all the rules and eventually get fired.

It so amazing today  that we’ve been exposed to almost all the necessary knowledge we need to become better Muslims both in our words and deeds but wittingly or unwittingly, we are the least when it comes to practicing what we preach. You and I can conveniently pronounce deeds that are Haram (prohibited) but let’s all ask ourselves sincerely, how many of those harams have we eschewed or are even planning to abandon?. I’m afraid the answer will be discouraging. We always claim that Islam is the most beautiful religion but it has never occurred to us why a non-Muslim has never asked us on how to become a Muslim. We are best when it comes to talk shows but worst when it comes to workshop. People will debate about religious issues and when facts are given, nobody cares to implement them. If we can practice up to 30% of what we know, I swear the world around us will be a better place.
The giant Ibn Mas’ud (RA) said: “True knowledge is not measured in relationship to how much you memorized and then narrate, but rather, true knowledge is an expression of piety (protecting oneself from what Allah prohibited by acting upon what he mandated)”. Also, as related by Ibn Rajab that Sufyan Ath-Thawree, said: “the excellence of knowledge is due only to the fact that it causes a person to fear Allah and obey Allah otherwise it is just like anything else”. 

We are suffering from a disease called ‘spiritual arrogance and personal invulnerability ‘and that is part of the reasons why we constantly fail to put simple things into practice. Who doesn’t know that fornication, music, clubbing, drinking, smoking, not praying on time, believing in talisman and fortune telling, appearing in nude and tight clothing by our womenfolk, putting up crazy hair styles, shaving of the beard and sagging of the pants  by the men folk are all haram? Almost everybody knows but how many of us have made a conscious effort to detach ourselves from these satanic ways. Innalillahi wa inna ilahi raji’un’. Until and unless we start acting  based on our knowledge, we will shout till the cows come home and will still win no arguments and will convince no one on the beauty of Islam.

In several places in the Glorious Qur’an, Allah has reiterated the importance of believe and its corresponding deeds as the only way to salvation. For example Allah says; “Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, they are the best of creations” Surat Al-Baiyyinah 98:7. Similarly, Allah says: “Then We reduced him (man) to the lowest of the low. Except those who believe and do righteous deeds. Then they shall have a reward without end (Paradise).” Surat At-Tin 95:5-6. In another place Allah says: “Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). That is the great success.” Surat Al-Buruj 85:11.
Oh my humble Muslim brothers and sisters! It is worthy for us to be oft reminded that, our Islamic knowledge will either be a proof FOR or AGAINST us. It really doesn’t matter how much we claim to know what really matters is how much of our knowledge did we practice. Where there is Allah, there is Hope. Let’s all make a willing resolution that the time for us to act on the true knowledge is NOW! Because knowledge is meant to be disseminated through proper practice. May Allah give us the strength and the wisdom to practice what we preach. Echoes of actions from penabdul.



2 comments:

  1. i love reading this blog, :)

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  2. Jazakallah khayran for all the timely reminders! I love reading this too!

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