As-salamu `alaykum wa rahmatullah
Something to ponder over:
Dhul-Nun once made this powerful statement: “Do not argue with your Lord on behalf of your soul, rather argue with your soul on behalf of your Lord.”
There’s a lot to take away from this, but what I wanted us to focus on is the tarbiyyah aspect of it. In our societies today, we are never taught such a concept of ‘arguing with one’s self’, and we are never trained to go against the call of our nafs (soul), or practising patience or striving to do the opposite of what we feel like doing (and I’m talking about anything and everything from issues like not praying/laziness in worshipping Allah, social ills such as smoking, backbiting, disobeying parents, or pitfalls in da’wah, bad character, you name it). It’s always a case of ‘Do what you feel like’ and ‘You’re your own boss!’ etc. It’s horrendous the amount of times I’ve heard teens scream at their mothers in the street, ‘Don’t tell me what to do! It’s my life!’ … Subhan’Allah. It’s as if we are being pushed to become our own gods, never bowing to a higher authority, and so in the process, we’re being made to lose all concept of obedience and accountability. In the process, I believe we also lose the principle of ‘strong will’ and ‘determination’ – since all we seem to be doing is giving in to our soul.
Sometimes, we really do give ourselves too many excuses. Dhul-Nun sums it up so beautifully here when he turns the tables slightly to give us a greater view. The issue at hand is not what we want or even what we deserve; rather it’s always a case of what does Allah `azza wa jall want from us?
Instead of making excuses for ourselves (e.g. ‘my nafs is weak’, or ‘I’m a layman and hence ignorant’, or ‘it’s a habit and habits die hard’), we should contend with ourselves and persist against this pitfall of excuses. Next time you find yourself giving an excuse to your bad actions, stop and challenge yourself and challenge the situation. Instead of arguing with your Lord on behalf of your soul, turn the table and actually argue with your soul (heavily!) on behalf of your Lord, the Most High.
That is when we shall be granted authority over our souls, allowing us to lead them to Paradise bi`awnillah…
Beautiful
Subhan Allah! This is a powerful insight. Jazakallahu Khairan for bringing this up.
Jazakillahu khairaan kaseera .This is one of the best advice I ever received..Once a student asked the teacher what to do ?I always get lost in my salah.The teacher said ,”Take control of your nafs.Repeat the prayer again.Always do deals with your nafs.I will drink a cup of coffee ,then lets pray 2 rakat nafil.”We not only practice it but also teach to our kids and to others.
Salaam.
mashAllah, subhanAllah what a great advise. we fight with everyone but not ourselves. we feel we are always innocent. May Allah make it easy to argue our own nafs for the sake and pleasure of Allah(SWT) ameen
MashAllah, thank you sis. JazakAllah Khair
AA,
[Quote] “It’s as if we are being pushed to become our own gods.”
That is quite a profound statement. Its almost like the whole notion of the western concept of freedom is to push us to become our own gods, where a person is taught from a very young age and throughout life to challenge and resist anything which may seem as an intrusion into their personal space, or a restriction of their deluded freedom.
May Allah free us from our nafs. Ameen
Jak sister
wasslam
A short and sweet, nice reminder !!! I got this through an e mail.. JAZAKALLAHU KHAIR for sharing this.. I wish many more people would read this, insha Allah..
🙂
Jazakillah khairan for that statement and it’s explanation. What a beautiful Pear of Wisdom Masha’Allah.
wassalaam warahmatullaahi wa barakaatuh
Too often we get sucked into the ‘poor me’ mode of today’s world and start being ungrateful…Very nice reminder.
Masha’Allah, my first time stopping by at your blog & I am loving it! Just what I needed to read, by the way. JAK for the reminder & may Allah accept from you your work.
And just a note: Are you a fellow AlMaghrib student, and if so, from which Qabeelah to be exact?
I send you my salams from Minnesota’s Qabeelat Madinatayn. Allah ma3ak!
Wa iyyakum
Dailyreminders, that is very true subhan’Allah. May Allah save us. آميـــــــن
No Rania, I don’t belong to a Qabilah 🙂
Reblogged this on theamatullah.