What most people don’t understand is that Muslims are people. And in that sense, speaking generally, Muslims are no more or less, and no better or worse, than most other people in this world.
And what do most people want out of life? Simple: All kinds of security – personal, economic, emotional and all else.
That means most people want a safe, secure and comfortable place to live; good jobs, careers and businesses; excellent health; education for themselves and their children; and so on and so forth, as they say.
As a result, and in hot pursuit of these goals, Muslims, just like all the other people in the world, tend to cut corners and do things one way when they think God is watching, and another way when they seem to somehow convince themselves that maybe God is not really watching.
Even though Muslims, especially good Muslims, know full well that they are on God Almighty’s unfailing and unerring radar all the time, every second of their life.
Isn’t there a beautiful Hadith – and to me all Hadith Sharif are most beautiful – that seems to suggest that believers who commit violations of God’s Law are not really believers when they are actually committing those violations?
Sins as some people might call them.
So, Muslims often seem to carry a priority list in their pockets: father, mother, children, jobs, businesses, and so many other things, and then after all that, God and his work.
So, Muslims, it seems to me, tend to practice different kinds of Islam, depending on their needs and circumstances, such as the following for example:
Safe Islam; Convenient Islam; Installment Islam; Slow Islam; and so on.
Allah, however, seems to take a very different view in the matter. Here is what Allah says in the Qur’an in Surah 9 (At-Taubah), Aayah 24, regarding this matter:
“Say:
If your mothers and fathers,
And your sons and daughters,
And your brothers and sisters,
And your wives and husbands,
And your close relatives and family,
And the wealth you have amassed,
And the business whose decline you fear,
And the homes and residences you love —
Were dearer to you than Allah,
And his Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam,
And Jihad in his path,
Then just wait,
Until Allah brings about his decision.
(9:24)
What commentary or explanation or Tafsir can anyone offer on this Aayat?
END
