Innamal A’amaalu Binniyyaat!
Allah Owns the World
This world is owned by Allah, fully and completely. No one shares in that ownership. There is not one thing anyone else owns.
In the language of Islam, to believe this and live by it is Tawuheed. To deny it and affirm the opposite is Shirk.
Yet, the way the world operates, many people in this world would appear to own many things, including wealth, power and resources.
A Test for Believers
Those things have been placed in their hands by Allah for a reason: to test them; and also to some degree to tempt the Believers.
And, at the same time, to create a challenge for the Believers.
And by “Believers” here we mean the real Believers whose Belief in Allah is rock-solid. We mean people whose Belief has gone past words and clichés and penetrated the core of the Believers’ hearts, minds, souls and beings.
They are the real believers.
The Qur’an: U-laa-ika Humul Mu’minoona Haqqaa!
They are the ones who are the salt of this earth. And it is for them the world really works – of this later.
Bad Guys Seem to Have It All
So, there are times when to a believer – and to others – it may appear that the Bad Guys own the bulk of the wealth and resources of this world and the Good Guys have practically nothing.
Here is a small hint to help the Believers out in their moments of despair – in some of their darker moments of doubt and despondency, that is, because a Believer is never a prey to “Despair.”
Allah Gives What He Wants to Whom He Wants
First of all, renew your belief that Allah is the Owner and Master of Everything. And that he gives of his possessions and bounties and gifts to Whom He Pleases.
And there are no two ways about it.
Second, tell yourself that even though you may appear to have very little or nothing in this world, you actually have everything, because you have Allah.
And they don’t.
You Have Allah, They Don’t
Allahu Mawulaanaa Wa Laa Mawulaa Lakum!
“Allah is our Friend, and our Master and Helper and Ally, and you have None!” That is what those beautiful words say.
That is how it was announced on the occasion of Uhud, the battle in which the Muslims first won and then lost the day, and which ended in a painful standoff between the Believers and the Non-Believers.
You Don’t See Allah, but You See His Signs
Of course you don’t see Allah. But you see Allah’s signs. That is the way of this world. And that is how Allah wants it.
And you see the Signs of Allah all the time and everywhere.
A Believer is one who has trained himself to see the signs of Allah – both in him- or herself and around him.
It is the clear and unbreakable promise of Allah that he shall indeed show them his signs.
Sa-Nureehim Aayaatinaa Fil Aafaaq Wa-fi anfusihim.
And It Shall All Become Manifest – And Pretty Quickly Too
And it shall indeed be so till it becomes clear and manifest to them that this is indeed the Truth. Or as the Qur’an puts it: Hatta Yatabayyana Lahum Annahul Haqq.
And this shall happen quite close to their embarking on the path of Iman – firm and unshakable Belief in Allah.
This is indicated by the use of the letter “Sa” in Sa-Nureehim.
And, as Allah says in the Qur’an, isn’t Allah’s testimony and his vouching for this enough?
A-Walam Yakfi Bi-Rabbika Annahoo 'Ala Kulli Shaiy-in Shaheed?
Allah’s Blessings Not Just for Believers
And Allah’s blessings are not just for the Believers, but for all: Believers as well as Non-Believers.
For, Allah is everyone’s Allah and the blessings of Allah are open and available to all. They are for all takers.
So, looking at the world and feeling that, somehow, others have it all, and the Believers don’t, is not an uncommon feeling.
At times, it can even be quite discouraging and disheartening.
Looking for Something More Tangible?
And even though knowing and believing that Allah is with you, and on your side, give the Believers a great deal of hope and courage, there is still a hankering in many hearts for something a bit more concrete, a bit more tangible as it were – something you can see and feel – and control in your own physical and mortal way.
Something the Believers can possess and call it their own.
That Tangible Something Is Their Niyyat
And that tangible “something” is their Niyyat – their Intention and Motivation, no matter how intangible, murky and fluid these inner psychological states may be in their own right.
But they are all there and we know them.
That is because practically everyone understands, to one extent or another, their own motivations and intentions. And, to a very large extent, everyone can control them and try to make them what they want.
In other words, people – all people – own their Motivations and Intentions. That means people – all people – can make their Motivations and Intentions what they want them to be.
And try to act on them.
And it is this profound human phenomenon that the Hadith refers to as “Niyyat” – plural being “Niyaat.”
Deep Down, We All Know Our Intentions
And no matter what people represent to the outside world, deep down inside their hearts, people mostly know and understand what their true Motivations and Intentions – what their Niyaats – are.
So, what the Believers need to do is to take hold of their Niyyaats – their Intentions and Motivations – and try to make them what they really want them to be.
That is the part of life that they own and that is entirely theirs – to see, to hold and to take full ownership of in this world.
Thereafter, life and its outcomes will be largely a consequence of their Niyyats.
It Is a Strand of Allah’s Rope in Human Hands
That is part, a strand if you will, of the Rope of Allah that Allah has placed in human hands. It is human beings’ visible and worldly Access Code to Allah, whom they do not and cannot see.
Now go and read – very, very carefully – that Hadith of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, that says:
Innamal A’amaalu Binniyyaati, wa Innaamaa Li kullimri-in Maa Nawaa.
Allahu Akbar, What a Perfect Hadith!
Allahu Akbar, what a Perfect Hadith it is!
And what a perfect analysis it provides of human predicament of Life-on-Earth and what a powerful formula it supplies for human beings to negotiate that predicament successfully with.
It basically says: You may or may not control anything else in this life, but there is one thing that no one can take away from you. And that is your total mastery and control of the internal world of your Motivations and Intentions.
Take Control of Your Inner World
So go and conquer that world, go take control of that Inner World, the Hadith seems to say, and all Outside Doors will open for you.
In other words, submit the internal world of your own thoughts, Motivations and Intentions totally and completely to Allah and Allah will bring the entire external world to its knees in front of you.
That world will come groveling to you.
Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!
Decades of Working and a Search for People
I have been looking for and working on this for decades. And now I wander the earth looking for people to share some of this with.
And I tell the Muslims – the serious ones – I meet along the way, go, get your Motivations and Intentions in shape. Everything else will fall in place.
The Qur’an Program a Decade Ago
We started our Qur’an Program nearly a decade ago with this requirement: The first and most important thing we want is for you to fix your Motivations and Intentions.
Why do you want to come to the Qur’an Program, we asked?
What do you want out of it, we wanted to know?
Not Babysitters for Your Kids
We were clear, at times even to the point of being blunt. We said if you are looking for a Babysitter or Qur’an Teacher for your children, then go look elsewhere, for, you are not likely to have enough money to be able to pay us.
And we said if it is Arabic Language you want to learn, then maybe you should go and knock at the doors of some obliging Arab Embassy and Mission.
But If It Is Qur’an You Want, Then This Is the Place
But, we said, if it is the Qur’an you want, then welcome home. You are in the right place.
But what took you so long, for, the Qur’an has been waiting for you forever.
We said if you are here to learn the Qur’an; teach it to everyone else in the world; and Take It To Every Home and Heart that Needs It, and Which One Does Not? then you are in the right place.
Welcome home, wanderer. Welcome back to your Lord – and His Book, the Qur’an.
Nothing Is Easier than the Qur’an
And we told them, right at the outset, nothing is easier than the Qur’an. Nothing is easier to read; and nothing is easier to learn or to understand.
And nothing, we said, is easier to practice and nothing is easier to implement and establish in this world.
And we said to them you have our guarantee if you will – with the help and blessings of Allah and based on the clear and firm testimony of the Qur’an – that you shall learn it in three months or less, God Almighty Willing.
So go work on your Motivations and Intentions, we told them, and then come back.
People I Work With
And I have repeatedly requested the people I work with: Don’t just repeat like Robots “Allah, Please Make My Intentions Pure!” but actively and diligently work on making your Motivations and Intentions pure.
Train yourself to do it on your own.
You are responsible for your Niyyats, so, go and work on them. Allah will take care of the rest.
That means if you have the right Niyyat, you will have everything else that Allah wants. But if you don’t have the right Niyyat, you shall have nothing.
Why Are You Doing What You Are Doing?
So, before every action – as you are about to do anything: anything at all – just take a moment and ask yourself this question: Why do you want to do it?
In other words, Why are you doing what you are doing?
This simple question will light up heaven and earth for you. It will tell you whether what you are doing is right or wrong and whether it is good or bad.
Are You Doing It for Allah or for Some Other Reason?
Ask yourself: Am I doing it for Allah or for anyone or anything else? In other words, are you doing it for the right or the wrong reasons?
And then ask yourself: What means and methods am I using for the accomplishment of my ends? Are they the right or the wrong means?
If your motivations and intentions are not pure and good, then back off – and go and do something else.
So also, if your means and methods are not the right and the best ones then slow down, take a break and search for doing better what you have set out to do – using better means and methods.
This is Islam in a nutshell: Doing things for the best and the right reasons – and doing them using the best means and methods possible.
With this method, there is no way you can go wrong. And with this method, our world will be a much better place than it is.
Problem of Niyyat among Muslims
While Muslims of today have a billion problems of all kinds that they deal with, one of their most serious and urgent problems is the Problem of Niyyat.
If you carefully analyze some of the big issues and problems Muslims face, and then try and understand the Motivations and Intentions (Niyyats) of the people involved, you can begin to see quite clearly why things turn out the way they do.
Given the Motivations and Intentions of the movers and shakers, and given also the general confusion and muddle-headedness of the masses, things could not be other than what they are.
Therefore, Go Fix Your Motivations and Intentions
Therefore Muslims, go and straighten out your Niyyat. That is the first thing you need to do. Everything else will follow.
Muslims must, therefore, learn to deal with their Motivations and Intentions openly and squarely and learn to bring them under control.
They will then see how the world of Allah changes to fit their needs.
END
© 2013 Syed Husain Pasha
Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.
