Enigma of Guidance

Mail Box Letter Relevant to this Topic
 Letter 13: Why Will Quran Mislead You?

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اُردو ترجمے کے لئے یہاں جائیں

 

Fate versus free will has been a millennium old argument. Is my writing this article an outcome of my free will, or my destiny, is debatable, and I will not even go into that conflict.

Everything belongs to Allah, everything is controlled by Allah, everything is determined by Allah, then where does man come into the picture? What is the fault of man if his sins are the will of Allah? What is the fault of man, if his sin was his destiny? Was it, is the question!

I intend to write just what man has under his control. I will not speak with alot of references, it is a personal belief, which i believe i have experienced also, and this believe is my faith as well, open to arguments as usual.

Man is weak. Man cannot choose which family to be born into, man cannot choose when and how to die, man cannot choose the number of children he shall have. You may argue, that if i want one child only, i will work accordingly, but rest assured, everything is in the hands of Allah. If it is his will, you may get one child, if not, your child may not survive in this world (God forbid), or you may end up with twins.

Similarly, what you eat, when you eat cannot be controlled by men. You are rich and your kitchen is full with delicious food, but it is Allah who gave you this food in the first place. You are given finances, resources and time by God to be able to do what you think is under your control. But strictly speaking, if God withdraws his mercy from you, taking away the time, the resources through his magical and mysterious, ways, then man will not be able to do things under his own will, which he could with all the money and resources and energy.

Doing good might not be under my control in a way. I am rich and have been given treasures by Allah. With this money, i can choose to help the poor and do good this way. But if i am poor, i will never receive the reward from Allah, which is given to someone who gives alms to the poor. Thus i rely on God to give me the opportunity to do good and be good.

It is an historical fact, that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) couldn't guide everyone around him. His uncle, Abu Lahab (the cursed), died a wretched nonbeliever. Many companions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) innovated things in religion after his demise, and did things which they were not suppose to do. Even today, Islam is not the biggest religion yet, there are many disbelievers, and many many sects within Islam itself. Does this mean that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was a failure? No!

Quran states clearly that Muhammad (SAW) was not here to guide the people, but only to convey the message.

 But if they dispute with you, say: I have submitted myself entirely to Allah and (so) every one who follows me; and say to those who have been given the Book and the unlearned people: Do you submit yourselves? So if they submit then indeed they follow the right way; and if they turn back, then upon you is only the delivery of the message and Allah sees the servants.
Quran [3:20]

And We will either let you see part of what We threaten them with or cause you to die, for only the delivery of the message is (incumbent) on you, while calling (them) to account is Our (business).
Quran [13:40]

With the completion of the Quran, revealed and dictated as it was, the duty of Rasool (SAW) was over and he succeeded tremendously in his mission. But the question remains! Why wasn't everyone guided and who will guide the people?

Allah has revealed the best announcement, a book conformable in its various parts, repeating, whereat do shudder the skins of those who fear their Lord, then their skins and their hearts become pliant to the remembrance of Allah; this is Allah's guidance, He guides with it whom He pleases; and (as for) him whom Allah makes err, there is no guide for him.
Quran [39:23]

And they who reject Our communications are deaf and dumb, in utter darkness; whom Allah pleases He causes to err and whom He pleases He puts on the right way.
Quran [6:39]

Islam has scores of sects, all leading to and from the Quran. All contradict one another, hate each other, basing their beliefs from the same divine book. This is a proof in itself, that Quran alone does not guide you, guidance comes only if Allah wants man to be guided. Maybe, that is why we see men who learn Quran by heart, preach it to others, and themselves do not follow it. That is why, we see men like Zaakir Naik (who i respect alot for his efforts), who are well versed in ahadith and Quran, yet pray for God's blessings on Yazeed (the cursed), son of Mawiya (the cursed). That is why we see men, who blow themselves up killing innocents in the name of Allah.

And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement.
Quran [4:93]

For this reason did We prescribe to the children of Israel that whoever slays a soul, unless it be for manslaughter or for mischief in the land, it is as though he slew all men; and whoever keeps it alive, it is as though he kept alive all men; and certainly Our messengers came to them with clear arguments, but even after that many of them certainly act extravagantly in the land.
Quran [5:32]

Coming back to the point, guidance comes from Allah, who ever he wishes to be guided, will be guided miraculously, mysteriously or magically, which ever word you choose, because God works in his ways, and his ways can never be understood.

We have concluded, that life, death, food, money, children, family, opportunity to do good or bad, guidance etc, all comes from our owner, Allah. We have none of it in our control or authority.

The question rises, that why then will man be punished for not being guided, when it is Allah himself who did not guide us. Why will man be punished for not doing good, when it was Allah himself who did not give us the opportunity to do so?

To personify my example, we all know the pharoah, or firaun (the cursed). My question is, that if guidance comes from Allah (no doubt), then what is firaun's fault if he rejected the message of Musa (AS), when it was Allah himself who did not guide or wanted to guide firaun?

Similarly, i will want to talk about the example of Hz Hur ibn Rihayi, the commander of the army of Yazeed (the cursed). For those who do not know, Hur switched sides on the 10th of Muharam, and was one of the first martyr of Kerbala who laid his life for Imam Hussain (AS). Yazeed's army consisted of Muslim men, Hajis and Namazis, men like Hur, but why were only Hur and his sons guided by Allah as such that they chose paradise over hell fire? Why should the credit go to Hur for switching sides when it was Allah who willed it and made Hur do it? Why should the rest of Yazeed's army be cursed and hated by us, and punished by Allah, if it was Allah himself who did not wanted to guide them, or wanted them to kill Imam Hussain?

The answer to both the questions is simple, and i hope will make sense. To me, man has nothing in his authority, but one thing. And this is the thing which makes man accountable for everything else, this thing leads man to a cycle of interrelated interferences from God himself.

According to my understanding and set of principles, this thing, which is completely under my authority, is my intention. I cannot control the output of anything i do, any action i perform, that is Allah's will and decision. I can only control my intentions and my intentions will be the key to my success.

How you may ask! I will be guided by Allah, only if i really want to be guided. Everyone claims to want guidance and follow the path of Allah and his loved ones, but everyone is not doing so, which means that people lie. Ask yourself. Do you really want to be guided? If you really intend to, then why is your personal biasness, grudge, ways of your parents etc standing in your way? Why does your emotion rule over your intellectual abilities if you really wanted to be guided? Why does the fear of loosing an argument keeps you from accepting the truth when you have realized it?

Thus Allah will guide him only, who sincerely wants to be guided irrespective of what that guidance is, who is not afraid of this guidance which might prove the ways of his father or his forefathers wrong. It is my belief that if you really wish guidance in your heart, Allah will help you in your efforts, and open your heart and thought process, he will lead you to sources of wisdom and knowledge himself.

Before i proceed, i shall try to answer as to why Firaun (the cursed) was not guided by Allah and if it was Allah's decision, then was it Firaun's fault if he rejected Musa (AS).

In the Exodus account, the birth of Moses occurred at a time when the current Egyptian Pharaoh had commanded that all male Hebrew children born be killed by drowning in the river Nile. The Torah and Flavius Josephus leave the identity of this Pharaoh unstated.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses#Life_of_Moses

It is known, that when the astrologers notified Firaun (the cursed) of the birth of a Prophet who will cause his downfall, the pharaoh ordered all new born babies to be killed. In this process, Firaun (the cursed) was responsible for the murder of 40,000 new borns. This crime overshadows his arrogance and shirk. If Firaun (the cursed) had accepted the message of Prophet Musa (AS) and thus believed in his prophethood and recited "the Kalimah", it would mean that Allah would have to forgive all the past sins of Firaun (the cursed). Allah can forgive who ever, when ever he wants to, but Allah is Just.

This is for what your own hands have sent on before, and because Allah is not in the least unjust to the servants;
Quran [8:51]

This justice of Allah cannot accept the non-punished rewarding of some one who killed forty thousand innocent children. This maybe, and i believe, was the reason as to why Allah did not guide the Pharoah, because of his intentions and past record.

And thus have We made in every town the great ones to be its guilty ones, that they may plan therein; and they do not plan but against their own souls, and they do not perceive.
Quran [6:123]

Thus he who intends to be rich and strong, Allah gives him the time and the opportunity, so that he can oppress the weak and thus his punishment gets stronger.

As for the second question about Hz Hur, as to why did he switch sides, giving away his life for Imam Hussain (AS), the Prophet's grandson, and why not the rest of the Muslim Hajis and Namazis? As we have concluded that guidance comes from Allah, why did Allah want thirty thousand Muslim men, who prayed Namaz and performed the Hajj, to fight against the Ahlulbayt and thus ruin everything for themselves?

Before i answer it, story of iblees should be mentioned. Who can know that Allah exists, more than Iblees (the cursed), who was the teacher of tens of thousands of angels, for tens of thousands of years? But one rejection to one order, made him the Satan.

And when We said to the angels: Make obeisance to Adam they did obeisance, but Iblis (did it not). He refused and he was proud, and he was one of the unbelievers.
Quran [2:34]

Iblees was proud and arrogant, and this fault in intention of his overshadowed his worship for Allah. But as the worship of Iblees was in great amounts and it would be unjust for Allah to not reward him for his good deeds, Allah gave Iblees time and authority, using which Iblees started to oppose Allah and the mission of his messengers, which in turn burnt down Iblees' worship. The more Iblees is given the respite, the more time he has to disobey Allah and thus the more severe will be his punishment.

This is how Allah burns the deeds of men and jinn. If Allah does not like something in man and his intentions, he makes a Satan follow him.

And whoever turns himself away from the remembrance of the Beneficent Allah, We appoint for him a Shaitan, so he becomes his associate. And most surely they (shaitans) turn them away from the path, and they think that they are guided aright;
Quran [43:36-37]

This Satan can be in the form of a evil habit, committing of a major sin or even doubts regarding faith. Thus he whose intentions are not correct, Allah burns his previous deeds by letting a Satan follow him. This Satan forces this man to do things forbidden to him and thus results in burning of his good deeds, thus in the hereafter, his punishment would be severe.

So that He may make what the Shaitan casts a trial for those in whose hearts is disease and those whose hearts are hard; and most surely the unjust are in a great opposition;
Quran [22:53]

Take note, that nothing is in control of man, it is Allah who allows a Satan to follow man which leads to man's destruction, but the cause of this outcome is something which everyman has total control over, his intentions. You intend to remember Allah the way he is ought to remember and believe me, you will neither be misguided, nor will you commit any sin, not because you are good, but because Allah will make his mercy follow you.

I believe, that any man, atheist, polytheist, Christian, Hindu, Jew etc, who has one good quality in him which Allah loves the most and does not want to punish, Allah will guide this person to the right way himself, thus ensuring that this person does not loose his good work in the hereafter, and this good quality relies greatly on the depth and strength of the person's intentions.

If your heart is free from disease, and your intentions are unselfish, for a greater cause, which means you do not do good only because you will be rewarded for it but also because you fear Allah and follow him by doing so, and also, because your heart believes that doing good is the right thing to do, irrespective of whatever your religion is, Allah will help you in his ways.

Coming back to the question of Hur, I believe, that Hur had something in his intentions liked by Allah so much, that Allah accepted his prayers and his Hajjs and thus made him switch sides, while the others had something bad in them, some disease in their heart, some evil which overshadowed their good, which made Allah burn their worship and good acts by making them fight Hussain ibn Ali (AS).

It is time we all stop lying to ourselves and ask ourselves as to why do we believe what we believe. It is time, we all make sure that we all intend to find guidance and only then will Allah take our heart out of all the doubts. Guidance is not in Allah's hands but in our hands. Guidance is not in our hand's but Allah's hands. Why i wrote two conflicting statements? Because they do not oppose each other. Allah does not change anything for man, until man intends to do so.

For his sake there are angels following one another, before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah's commandment; surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition; and when Allah intends evil to a people, there is no averting it, and besides Him they have no protector.
Quran [13:11]

You cannot change your condition. Allah will change your condition. You can only purely intend to change your condition and strive for it, then stop worrying and let Allah do what he does best, help you.

In this time of utter chaos and hatred, i appeal to everyone, people from all sects and all religions, all humans, to be tolerant enough to listen to what the other has to say. It is time we kill our emotions and raise our intellectual prowess and the level of purity in our intentions. To accept our mistake when we are wrong, is the biggest sign of bravery and purity of intentions. If you want to win arguments, you will, if you want to earn fame, you will, but guidance will only come to you when you want to be guided in it's true essence.

So whenever you find yourself praying to Allah, thanking him for all what he has done to you, thank him again, for he gave you the opportunity to thank him and worship him. Many people do not have this opportunity, and their intentions are to be blamed for it.

Remember, that guidance is light. The quality of light is, that nothing can come over it and cover it. Anything which tries to do so, light automatically jumps over it and thus casts a shadow beneath it. Light will always remain on top. There is enough light for everyone to see, we just need to take off our sunglasses and try to focus our attention on our intentions and willingness to see.

(O Allah), Keep us on the right path. The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray.
Quran [1:6-7]

Who are those upon whom Allah has bestowed his favor? Whose path is it that we desire and pray to be kept upon? Whose path is better than the path of the Rasool Allah (SAW) and his blessed Ahlulbayt?

God willingly, if your intentions are true, you will definitely reach the house of Janab Fatima Zahra (AS), the leader of women of paradise, because it is this house in which you can find Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the man for whom this universe was created, and Mawla Ali (AS), the conqueror of Khyber, the gate of knowledge. It is this house, where you can find Imam Hassan (AS) and Imam Hussain (AS), the princes of paradise. It is this Hussain (AS), without whom Hur's worship would be rendered useless.

Peace be on Muhammad (SAW) and his blessed Progeny.

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The Précis

It is not in my authority to guide myself or anyone else. It is not in my authority, to do anything outside the will of Allah. Everything about me, around me is determined by the will of Allah, except one thing, which will hold me accountable on the day of judgement.