The Fiqh Of Chilling
Sheikh Saad
Tasleem
For full notes: click here
Introduction
All of us reach a point in our lives when we realise that
this Dunya is just not enough, that there is more to life than just chasing
after a good job or house or car or going to school or meeting the perfect
spouse and so on. Some of us have already had that realisation. For some it may
come tonight or tomorrow or next month or maybe next year.
One of the worst times to have the realisation is on our death beds. And The worst time to come to this realisation is on the day of judgement, when we no longer would have the chance to repent and we ask Allah ‘send me back so I can do some good’.
One of the worst times to have the realisation is on our death beds. And The worst time to come to this realisation is on the day of judgement, when we no longer would have the chance to repent and we ask Allah ‘send me back so I can do some good’.
When a person comes to this realisation and his NAFS cries
out to his Lord and tries to get close to Allah (SWT), Shaitan is on alert.
*He tries his best to discourage us with excuses and a lot of the misconceptions we have are tricks of Shaitan*
*He tries his best to discourage us with excuses and a lot of the misconceptions we have are tricks of Shaitan*
Let’s take a look at some of these misconceptions:-
1) If I become
religious, my life will no longer be fun, I am going to be always frowning
One of the first places that Shaitan attacks is our social
life.
Shaitan’s excuse:
- My life is fun and
I want to live a happy,enjoyable life and if I were to become religious, my
life would no longer be fun.
- If I were to totally submit to Allah or become religious,
I would have to be very serious and I'm always going to be frowning.
Reality check:
Yes, Sometimes the
image certain people with hijab or beard give is such that we feel they must
always be frowning. However this goes completely against the Sunnah of prophet
(SAW). Indeed, the companions said the Prophet (saw) was never seen not smiling.
One of the most outstanding things about the Prophet’s (saw) character was his jovial
attitude and his interest in what little kids had to do.
This is beautifully illustrated in the following hadiths:
This is beautifully illustrated in the following hadiths:
Abu Tayyah reported that he heard Anas ibn Malik say, "The Prophet (saw) used to mix with us. He grew so close to us that he once said to my little brother, "Ya Abu Umair! Ma Fa'ala Nughayr*?"
*This is a play on words (Umayr and Nughayr). First for the Prophet (saw) to call a child "Abu" anyone, is a way of being playful. Second, it seems that the boy had a pet bird named Nughayr and was rarely seen without it. Thus, when the Propeht (saw) did not see the bird he asked him the question.
[ reported in Sahih Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Ibn Majah, Nas'i, and Tirmidhi]
He even joked around with his companions and in turn they
joked around with him too. However he (saw) was moderate in his playfulness and
never resorted to any extremes. He was serious and firm when the situation
needed it. This is the balance in Islam. This is the Sunnah of our prophet (saw) that
we need to aspire to follow.
And the Prophet (saw) has said - The one who goes away from
my Sunnah is not from me (Prophet SAW)
2) If I become
religious, I will never have time to chill and if I were ever to chill, people
would say ‘Astaghfiullah’.
Shaitan’s excuses in your head
Why would I want to give up all that fun?
Why would I bring such difficulty upon myself?
Reality:
Prophet (saw) told his companions “there is a time for
this and a time for that”, meaning there is a time for chilling and a time
for Ibadah.For the proper application of the Sunnah, we need to see and
learn from the Sahabas,the best of generations.
Bakr ibn Abdullah reported that "The Companions of the
Prophet (saw) used to throw watermelon rinds at each other. But when it was
time to be serious, they were men."
3) I will just hangout less
Shaitan’s excuse:
I will have less time to do the things I enjoy.
I have to devote all my time to Ibadah
Reality:
This is not what Islam came to do. Islam did not come to
tell you that there is no time for relaxation or no time to chill. All Islam
came to do is tell you how to live within the boundaries that Allah, the one
who created you, has set for you, And in turn, benefit you. You would find most
peace and happiness by living within the boundaries of those Shariah.
4) If I become
religious, I’ll have to give up my friends
Shaitan’s excuse:
If I come to be known as a religious person, I will have to loose my
friends.
Reality:
Maybe part of it is true. When you try to get closer to Allah, your soul
desires friends that are better for you. If they are not right for you, your nafs would tell you these friends aren't right for you, if they do not bring you closer to Allah or they will
make it difficult for you to maintain Taqwa.
So this is in turn a blessing from Allah (swt) that you are able to look at
your friends and realise which of them are bringing you closer to Allah and
which of them may be harming your Akhira/afterlife.
5) If I become
religious, my life will become complicated
This is a another trick of Shaitan. He wants to make you feel Islam
will make your life more complicated
Shaitan’s excuse
-For every little
thing, I’ll have to find the fatwa
- Is this halal,
is this water halal, is this meat halal?
- Am I allowed to
wear this jacket..
Reality:
When it comes to matters other than Ibadah, the default ruling is-
“Everything is permissible except where there is proof to show otherwise”
“Everything is permissible except where there is proof to show otherwise”
For instance if someone tells you wearing this red shirt is Haram, ask them if there is a clear proof to say it is not permitted. Indeed, it is permissible, unless there is an authentic proof to say it is not permissible. That’s how simple Islam is!
However, when it comes to Ibadah, the rule flips- “everything is impermissible, except what
Allah has legislated”. For instance if you start dancing on the mossalah, and someone asks you what you
are doing and you say “I am praying maghrib”.
This is impermissible, unless there is an authentic proof to prove it is
permissible.
6)If I become
religious, people will ask me questions and I will need to know all the answers
Shaitan’s excuse
-
I will need to know all the
rulings on this or the rulings on that
-
I will need to answer all why I do
this or why I do that
Reality:
Allah (swt) is not going to hold you accountable for not being a
scholar. Meaning you need not have an opinion about every single thing out
there. Allah does not expect everyone in the community to be an A’lim (scholar). Indeed if we take the
example of the Sahaba ,if they needed
an answer to any question, they simply went up to the Prophet(saw) .
Similarly, we do not know the answer to a question, simply refer the person to someone more knowledgeable or whose advice you trust. And, that is your responsibility.
Similarly, we do not know the answer to a question, simply refer the person to someone more knowledgeable or whose advice you trust. And, that is your responsibility.
And We did not send before you except men, towards whom We sent divine revelations - so O people, ask the people of knowledge if you do not know.[16:43]
7) I don’t want my religious crowd judging me based on my non-religious friends
Shaitan’s excuse:
-
The religious people will judge me
if I hang out with my non religious friends.
-
How would it be if I happen to run
into my non religious friends and they see me changed?
-
How can I keep separate my
religious and non religious friends?
Reality:
These are very trivial reasons for not wanting to practice
Islam.
Indeed what we need instead is to have izza/pride in our Deen. We need to take pride in our Deen. If we do, then
we would be happy to meet non-religious friends(during Jahil/Ignorant Days) and even explain to them how our Deen has
changed us for the better. Be grateful to Allah, and say , Alhamdulillah! as Allah took you away from the Jahiliyah/Ignorant times and
brought you back to Islam.
8) I don’t want to
be known as a hypocrite
Shaitan’s excuse:
-
If I give out the image that I'm religious and I commit a sin, then I would be a hypocrite.
-
I ask people to do good but I sin
my self
-
Either I be perfect in my Deen or
don’t bother practicing.
Reality:
None of us are perfect. If we live with the ideal of
perfection, we can never keep up the impossible standards and we would set
ourselves up for failure.
As the prophet (saw) said:
‘All the sons of Adam are sinners and the best among the sinners are
those who repent.’ (Ahmad and others)
So Allah (swt) does not expect us to be perfect Muslims. All
Allah (swt) asks of us it that we try and keep trying our best until the angel
of death comes upon us.
9) Why even bother
being religious when I commit all these sins
Shaitan’s excuse:
-
I want to go to the masjid but I
sometimes drink alcohol
-
I just don’t feel worthy of going
to the masjid.
-
I don’t feel clean
Reality:
If you cut your connection with Allah (swt), if you cut your
Salah, how are you even going to improve? Just because a person sins, doesn't mean they shouldn't do any of the good actions.
Of course we should correct our sins, but we shouldn't let our sin stop us from our good deeds.
Of course we should correct our sins, but we shouldn't let our sin stop us from our good deeds.
The Messenger of Allaah (SAW) said, ‘By He in whose hand is my soul, if you did
not sin, Allah would wipe you out and bring into existence people who
did sin, ask Allah for forgiveness - and He would forgive them.’ (Muslim)
The scholars say, ‘if we regret after a sin, it’s a rahmath/mercy from Allah (swt)”
Use that regret to repent and return to Allah (swt) with the intention of not repeating it. And, this is a good regret.
Anas (radhiallahu anhu) said that
he heard the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wa-sallam) say:
“Allah the Exalted said: “O son of Adam! As long as you invoke Me and plead to Me, I will forgive you whatever you have committed, and I will not make much of it. O son of Adam! If your evil deeds reach the borders of the sky, and then you ask Me for forgiveness, I will forgive you. O son of Adam! If you bring forth the earth full of errors, then you meet Me while you do not associate anything (or anyone) with Me, I will bring forth for you its full of forgiveness.” [At-Tirmidhee (Shaikh Albanee rendered it as Hasan)]
“Allah the Exalted said: “O son of Adam! As long as you invoke Me and plead to Me, I will forgive you whatever you have committed, and I will not make much of it. O son of Adam! If your evil deeds reach the borders of the sky, and then you ask Me for forgiveness, I will forgive you. O son of Adam! If you bring forth the earth full of errors, then you meet Me while you do not associate anything (or anyone) with Me, I will bring forth for you its full of forgiveness.” [At-Tirmidhee (Shaikh Albanee rendered it as Hasan)]
10) The deen is
too difficult, I cant do this anymore
Sometimes a practising brother or sister, in their zeal to practice the Deen, give their 150%- that is, they research every fatwa for everything and follow the most toughest ruling on it, assuming the toughest has to be the right one . They end up doing this in all matter of the Deen and finally they will become overwhelmed. They overload themselves and in the end, and they go back to the other extreme and give up practising the Deen altogether. And, this is a sad status that a person can go through.
Instead, what we need to do is
always follow the middle path. That is true Islam.
“And thus we have made you a middle nation….” The Noble Quran 2:143
The main problem that causes people to have these
misconceptions is a lack of knowledge (ilm).
So the most important thing we need to do for saving ourselves and others
from falling into these traps of Shaitan is to educate ourselves and learn to
follow the middle path.
References:
Masha'allah! Very nice post. I shall try to be a better Muslim. In Shaa Allah!
ReplyDeleteJazakillah Khayr Sister Saadia. Yes, In Shaa Allah :D
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