Salam semua. This is
another piece of info from the couse I went to. Sharing is caring
katenye. May we benefit from it insya Allah.
So, what is Ibadah? I’d like to share Ibn Taymiyyah’s definition on this:
“ A comprehensive term, encompassing all apparent and hidden acts and statements that are beloved to Allah.”
The requirements for an ‘ibadah to be accepted by Allah are two:
1) It is done solely for Allah (sincerity)
2) It follows the sunnah (conformity) i.e. not bid’ah
That’s why the first pillar of Islam is the kalimah. By testifying that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, we are telling ourselves that the requirements for any deed to be accepted are as mentioned above.
As with all things, Ibadah too has pillars and the pillars of Ibadah are three, namely love, fear and hope. Before that, let’s talk a bit about the division of actions. Simply put actions can be divided into ritual and natural actions.
Ritual actions are ibadah which must be done for Allah like prayer, fasting, zakah, hajj, umrah, everything rasulullah SAW tells us to do like eating with the right hand etc.Ritual actions must be done with sincerity and conformity for them to be accepted by Allah. It is a well known axiom amongst scholars that all ritual actions are haram until proven otherwise by the sacred texts.
Natural actions are neutral i.e. doing or leaving them does not constitute a sin. But if we change our intention to do the natural actions like eating, sleeping, drinking, working, procreating etc for Allah, then we gain a reward for it. This is really important because most of our life is spent doing natural actions, not ritual ones. So it is a great loss if we don’t niat for Allah. Take sleep for example. 8 hours can be a source of reward for us if we make proper niat that is for Allah, or it can be a complete waste of time and count for nothing on the scales on the Day of Judgment. Now when all natural actions become ritual actions because we make proper niat for Allah, then we have achieved ihsan. And what is the definition of ihsan? I’ll let you find that our yourselves but it can be summed in a single term as God-consciousness. Another point to note is that in this category of action, all things are halal until proven otherwise.
Now back to the pillars. The same concept can be applied for the pillars of ibadah as well. The Love of Allah is the most important pillar of the three and the more love we have of Allah, the more we will love others for Allah. If we love others for Allah, then it becomes a blessing and is worthy of reward. One of the seven categories of people to receive the shade of Allah on Judgment Day is 2 people who meet and part from each other for Allah. It is also one of the criteria to taste halawatul iman (the sweetness of iman). The signs of love of Allah are:
1) to love what Allah loves ( love of the prophets, the believers etc.)
2) to prefer the love of Allah over the love of other than Allah
3) to avoid any act that will distance one from the love of Allah
Now let’s move on to fear. Fear of Allah is fearing His punishment if we disobey Him. Natural fear is like fear of snakes, bombs, failing an exam, etc. They are not a problem unless they take control of our fear of Allah. And this is problem when it comes to hantu/jinn. Our fear of jinns are so intense sometimes that we fear them more than Allah, and this can be a problem. The more fear of Allah we have, the less our natural fears because we will realize that nothing can harm us unless Allah wills!
And the last pillar is hope. Hope in Allah means to hope the best and to expect our deeds to be accepted by Allah and our sins forgiven. Let us not follow the famous words of the famous sufi lady, rabi’atul adawiyah who used to make dua’ so Allah throws her in Hell if she worshipped in hope of His mercy rather than for love per se. Even Rasulullah used to pray for Jannah and for his sins to be forgiven and that Allah saves him from the fire. And you know what? NOBODY is better than rasulullah SAW.
Now natural hope is the most problematic of the 3 emotions (pillars)because it interferes with tawakkul. Hoping in technology is a big problem for us nowadays. We hope to find our destination using GPS, depending on it completely, to the point of forgetting to make dua’ to Allah to make easy our journey. The same with placing our trusts in a doctor to cure us of our illness. It is imperative to see a doctor, to seek treatment, but the hope must be placed in Allah, not the doctor. And that’s why natural hope is the least desirable of all because it makes us lose our dependence on Allah and hence we forget Him. One way to reduce this is to make dua’ for everything we need big or small before seeking the means to fulfill the need. We usually do this only for exams, but it is important for all things even if it is just about buying a new watch because the old one is not working anymore, or before catching a bus so we’re not late and all other things which may seem trivial but will nonetheless train our hearts to depend on the Owner of the heavens and the earth, Allah ‘azza wa jalla.
So, to summarise, in the case of love, if it is not associated with God consciousness, it is not sinful (provided the love on it’s own is halal like love between husband and wife, NOT bf and gf!) but not rewarded. The same with fear. In the case of hope however, it is bad because it interfers with tawakkul and there is potential for sin. There are many amongst us who love to be in the company of important people like ministers and pengarah of this and that so we can gain favours from them. This is VERY unhealthy because it can corrupt our hearts terribly so as to depend on them and forget Allah completely. As mentioned above, it’s okay to ask for help and in fact it is encouraged, but the final hope must be placed in Allah alone because it is only by His will that something will or will not come to pass. Tawakkul does not mean sit down and hope for things to come to us. Remember the hadith about the tying the camel? We must put in our effort first and then place our hope in Allah. Ini kalau dah bangun lambat sebab tengok bola lepas tu mintak kat Allah supaya tak lambat sampai kelas… harosla kene sambar dgn petir kan!
Ape-ape pun, tawakkul is not easy. Especially in our time when everything is so easily obtainable, it really does make us lose our dependence on Allah. And that’s why it’s important to take steps from now to train our hearts to place our hope in Allah. The more hope we have in Allah, the less anxious we will become because we know Allah will provide for us. I will end with a hadtih and verse from surah at-Talaq famously known as ayat seribu dinar (people always put this in homes and offices with the hope of becoming rich just by putting the ayat up the wall. This is wrong! It is with following what the ayat says that we will be enriched by Allah from all aspects):
From Umar ibn Al-Khattab from the Prophet (saw) who said:
"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."
Ahmad, An-Nasaa’I, Ibn Majah, Al-Hakim and At-Tirmidhi who said: "Hassan sahih"
“And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allâh, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allâh will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allâh has set a measure for all things.” At-Talaq verses 2-3
(originally posted on facebook on the 18th of march 2012)
So, what is Ibadah? I’d like to share Ibn Taymiyyah’s definition on this:
“ A comprehensive term, encompassing all apparent and hidden acts and statements that are beloved to Allah.”
The requirements for an ‘ibadah to be accepted by Allah are two:
1) It is done solely for Allah (sincerity)
2) It follows the sunnah (conformity) i.e. not bid’ah
That’s why the first pillar of Islam is the kalimah. By testifying that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, we are telling ourselves that the requirements for any deed to be accepted are as mentioned above.
As with all things, Ibadah too has pillars and the pillars of Ibadah are three, namely love, fear and hope. Before that, let’s talk a bit about the division of actions. Simply put actions can be divided into ritual and natural actions.
Ritual actions are ibadah which must be done for Allah like prayer, fasting, zakah, hajj, umrah, everything rasulullah SAW tells us to do like eating with the right hand etc.Ritual actions must be done with sincerity and conformity for them to be accepted by Allah. It is a well known axiom amongst scholars that all ritual actions are haram until proven otherwise by the sacred texts.
Natural actions are neutral i.e. doing or leaving them does not constitute a sin. But if we change our intention to do the natural actions like eating, sleeping, drinking, working, procreating etc for Allah, then we gain a reward for it. This is really important because most of our life is spent doing natural actions, not ritual ones. So it is a great loss if we don’t niat for Allah. Take sleep for example. 8 hours can be a source of reward for us if we make proper niat that is for Allah, or it can be a complete waste of time and count for nothing on the scales on the Day of Judgment. Now when all natural actions become ritual actions because we make proper niat for Allah, then we have achieved ihsan. And what is the definition of ihsan? I’ll let you find that our yourselves but it can be summed in a single term as God-consciousness. Another point to note is that in this category of action, all things are halal until proven otherwise.
Now back to the pillars. The same concept can be applied for the pillars of ibadah as well. The Love of Allah is the most important pillar of the three and the more love we have of Allah, the more we will love others for Allah. If we love others for Allah, then it becomes a blessing and is worthy of reward. One of the seven categories of people to receive the shade of Allah on Judgment Day is 2 people who meet and part from each other for Allah. It is also one of the criteria to taste halawatul iman (the sweetness of iman). The signs of love of Allah are:
1) to love what Allah loves ( love of the prophets, the believers etc.)
2) to prefer the love of Allah over the love of other than Allah
3) to avoid any act that will distance one from the love of Allah
Now let’s move on to fear. Fear of Allah is fearing His punishment if we disobey Him. Natural fear is like fear of snakes, bombs, failing an exam, etc. They are not a problem unless they take control of our fear of Allah. And this is problem when it comes to hantu/jinn. Our fear of jinns are so intense sometimes that we fear them more than Allah, and this can be a problem. The more fear of Allah we have, the less our natural fears because we will realize that nothing can harm us unless Allah wills!
And the last pillar is hope. Hope in Allah means to hope the best and to expect our deeds to be accepted by Allah and our sins forgiven. Let us not follow the famous words of the famous sufi lady, rabi’atul adawiyah who used to make dua’ so Allah throws her in Hell if she worshipped in hope of His mercy rather than for love per se. Even Rasulullah used to pray for Jannah and for his sins to be forgiven and that Allah saves him from the fire. And you know what? NOBODY is better than rasulullah SAW.
Now natural hope is the most problematic of the 3 emotions (pillars)because it interferes with tawakkul. Hoping in technology is a big problem for us nowadays. We hope to find our destination using GPS, depending on it completely, to the point of forgetting to make dua’ to Allah to make easy our journey. The same with placing our trusts in a doctor to cure us of our illness. It is imperative to see a doctor, to seek treatment, but the hope must be placed in Allah, not the doctor. And that’s why natural hope is the least desirable of all because it makes us lose our dependence on Allah and hence we forget Him. One way to reduce this is to make dua’ for everything we need big or small before seeking the means to fulfill the need. We usually do this only for exams, but it is important for all things even if it is just about buying a new watch because the old one is not working anymore, or before catching a bus so we’re not late and all other things which may seem trivial but will nonetheless train our hearts to depend on the Owner of the heavens and the earth, Allah ‘azza wa jalla.
So, to summarise, in the case of love, if it is not associated with God consciousness, it is not sinful (provided the love on it’s own is halal like love between husband and wife, NOT bf and gf!) but not rewarded. The same with fear. In the case of hope however, it is bad because it interfers with tawakkul and there is potential for sin. There are many amongst us who love to be in the company of important people like ministers and pengarah of this and that so we can gain favours from them. This is VERY unhealthy because it can corrupt our hearts terribly so as to depend on them and forget Allah completely. As mentioned above, it’s okay to ask for help and in fact it is encouraged, but the final hope must be placed in Allah alone because it is only by His will that something will or will not come to pass. Tawakkul does not mean sit down and hope for things to come to us. Remember the hadith about the tying the camel? We must put in our effort first and then place our hope in Allah. Ini kalau dah bangun lambat sebab tengok bola lepas tu mintak kat Allah supaya tak lambat sampai kelas… harosla kene sambar dgn petir kan!
Ape-ape pun, tawakkul is not easy. Especially in our time when everything is so easily obtainable, it really does make us lose our dependence on Allah. And that’s why it’s important to take steps from now to train our hearts to place our hope in Allah. The more hope we have in Allah, the less anxious we will become because we know Allah will provide for us. I will end with a hadtih and verse from surah at-Talaq famously known as ayat seribu dinar (people always put this in homes and offices with the hope of becoming rich just by putting the ayat up the wall. This is wrong! It is with following what the ayat says that we will be enriched by Allah from all aspects):
From Umar ibn Al-Khattab from the Prophet (saw) who said:
"If only you relied on Allah a true reliance, He would provide sustenance for you just as He does the birds: They fly out in the morning empty and return in the afternoon with full stomachs."
Ahmad, An-Nasaa’I, Ibn Majah, Al-Hakim and At-Tirmidhi who said: "Hassan sahih"
“And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine. And whosoever puts his trust in Allâh, then He will suffice him. Verily, Allâh will accomplish his purpose. Indeed Allâh has set a measure for all things.” At-Talaq verses 2-3
(originally posted on facebook on the 18th of march 2012)
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