In The Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful

Millions of Muslims gathered this week on the plain of Arafat as part of the Pilgrimage to Mecca. The rite of Arafat is a foretaste of Judgment Day. It is a reminder of one's destiny to stand alone, but among all humanity, before the Creator, to account for one's life, and to await judgment. However, the lifelong preparation for Judgment Day is to overcome heedlessness and conduct our daily lives in an "awakened station."

Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) says to us, "Allah (God) the Most Praised and Most High, has hidden His liking and His pleasure in the good deeds that you are doing." This means, he is hiding the good deed that will earn his pleasure among all your good actions. Is Allah going to be pleased because you pray a lot, or is he going to be pleased because you move a stone aside in the street so that no one trips on it? You don't know. You don't know which action is going to please Allah and cause him to be happy with you.

That is why Holy Prophet is saying that Allah is hiding his favor. Whenever a good action comes in front of the believer, he is going to run to do it. "Maybe in this action Allah is going to be pleased with me." You will always be looking for the key opportunity, because it is hidden and you are not going to know. Until the Angel of Death comes, you are going to run, moving and doing good things. The more things you do for the sake of Allah, the more pleasure you are going to feel in your heart. More satisfaction is going to come, and your faith is going to grow stronger.

Laziness is going to run away from you; weakness is going to run away from you; foolishness is going to run away from you. Finally, Shaytan is going to pull himself and his army away from you, because now every deed that you do brings you closer to Rahman (Allah, the Most Beneficent).

Prophet is also saying, "He is hiding His anger inside the sins that you are committing." You do not know which sin you are going to commit that will arouse the anger of Allah. You may say to yourself, "I committed all these bad actions and I got away with it." Just then, maybe you are going to turn your head to look at something forbidden to you, and you may attract his anger. So you learn to control yourself. You have to try not to do anything wrong, because the anger of Allah is not like the anger of your buddy. If you get your Lord angry with you, you may find yourself requiring extensive cleaning in the afterlife. So that is also hidden. An intelligent person cannot say, "Oh, let me do this and say 'I am sorry' later." You may not have the chance to say "sorry" later.

And Prophet is saying, "He has hidden His waliullah, His friends, among the people." They may appear like one of us, but they are not. They do not have to be religious clerics. They may not speak much or attract attention; but they might be the friends of Allah. So you have to be careful. It is dangerous to anger that one; but if you please him or her with good actions, you raise yourself. The prayers of the friends of Allah are always accepted.

A person has no value until he reaches the awakened station and his faith is growing. Allah is saying, "What are you? Your value is only as much faith as you have in Me. As much as you believe in Me, that much value you have. If you are not believing in Me, and if you are not accepting what I am sending to you, then you have no value." Worldly people may put you on top of the list; but if Allah puts you on the bottom, what are you going to do?

Who is the most valuable one in the Divine Presence? The Habibullah: Muhammad, Beloved of Allah. When he came, only a handful of people followed him. The foolish majority insulted him, just like today. But Allah put his name on the top of the list with a condition: "You want to become beloved to Me, you must love this one. If you do not love this one, you cannot come near Me, and I am not accepting anything that you are doing."

So if we take this and apply it to our lives everyday, and if we try to live with awareness, are we going to enter wrong situations? No, we will be in the awakened station. Waking up, we will observe everything around us clearly and will conduct our life with awareness that pleases the Lord.

[Daily Star - 1/22/2005]