First Post: Interweaving the Part with the Present

Assalamu'alaikum,

The intention of this blog iA is to provide a space in which to have intellectual and enlightening discussions. Though I may center on 3 main topics - mainly Islam, medicine and literature - I sincerely wish to open this to all forms of musings, provided that they are respectful. With that I'd like to share one of my older writings that I submitted to the Stony Brook MSA's newsletter the Minaret in 2009. As a heads up I would be doing this a lot, for two reasons: 1) so the reader gets an idea of my personal view of Islam, without me having to reiterate through other means, and 2) with the hopes of readers benefiting from them, iA:

The Art of Evading Punishment

Usually whenever we read the Qur’an the message we get is of how incredibly torturous of a place Hell is, and that Allah would only send people there who He wills to punish. The logical follow-up question would be, “why does Allah torture us in the first place?” and “how do we avoid being thrown into Hell?” Yes, Allah created us, and He undeniably has the power to punish us whenever He so wills, so is that all there is to punishment? But Allah is Most Merciful, and He punishes people who do not appreciate His gifts: “For each person there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the Command of Allah. Verily! Allah will not change the good condition of a people as long as they do not change their state of goodness themselves. But when Allah wills a people’s punishment, there can be no turning back of it, and they will find beside Him no protector (Surat arR’ad, 11).” Based on what this ayah says, upon our birth Allah blesses us with angels to guard us from front and back – what a wonderful gift! This is indeed a good condition, for this shows Allah’s love of us. And this ayah guarantees that we may keep this gift so long as we do not violate Allah’s laws and defile our selves. Allah also gives us other gifts, – including the biggest one of all, a life– all of which makes up our good condition.  If someone gives another a gift, and the person receiving it destroys the gift in the giver’s face or backstabs this person in return, will not the person who gave the gift be justified in displaying some anger, or break the bond of friendship as punishment? And Allah is so much mightier than a mere human friend.

Obviously we always fear punishment – this is why most people, Muslim or not, avoid doing “bad” things. But while we always fear the idea of being punished, this fear does not always dictate our actions. You know what I’m talking about. That thing you do at night in front of the computer, or even out in the daylight with friends. We are not constantly conscious of just how badly we will get smite in return of what we do: “Did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our Punishment by night while they are asleep? Or, did the people of the towns then feel secure against the coming of Our Punishment in the forenoon while they play?(Al A’raf 97-99).” It’s often hard for this to get through our heads, especially with long summer vacations. Just because the sun is up and people are around us are alive and well doesn’t mean we won’t get punished then and there, and just because we’re sleeping doesn’t mean God and His angels are. The angels around us protect us, but they also record every deed of ours, and Allah is All Knowing.

So how do we avoid getting thrown like coals into the Hellfire? The most important way is first and foremost to repent:  “Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His slave than anyone of you is pleased with finding his camel which he had lost in a desert (Sahih Al-Bukhari, vol. 8, hadith No.321).” More pleased than someone finding his lost camel in the desert. If I lost my camel, with no trains or buses around, I’d be pretty ecstatic finding it. So you can just imagine how our repentance – for something we shouldn’t be doing anyway – pleases Allah SWT. Mashallah!

An additional way would be to heed others’ advice, or if you have repented, help spread the word of good. Allah describes an advice so effectively in the Qur’an:“See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? – A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches reach to the sky (Surat Ibrahim, 24).” When an advice takes root in us and grows, we are kept sturdy and we are being kept on the straight path, the path that goes on to the heavens to Allah, not down to Hell. That is why Da’wah is so important. Da’wah doesn’t have to take the form of stuffing pamphlets into the hands of non-Muslims. Or staging an interaction between Muslims in front of a target nonMuslim, hoping the performance would miraculously open the latter’s eyes. Da’wah needs to start with our private interactions, both with Muslims and nonMuslims. A personal example is when this kind, older sister at Stony Brook gave me a wonderful gift at the end of my freshman year  - the Fortress of the Muslim booklet. When I asked why she said it was because it was my first year wearing the hijab, and it was a congratulatory gift. I cannot describe how touched I was; though this might seem a small gesture to some, the impact is far larger than the gesture. When Allah has given us a gift, shouldn’t we be fervent in sharing our blessings? This is a way to keep our “state of goodness.”

Just as there are numerable methods of how to receive punishment from Allah, there are just as many methods of how to evade it. Even if we have fallen into the pitfalls, we still can evade it by repenting. We are in charge of our good condition, and we must do whatever it takes to maintain it – before the times comes when Allah will take no more effort from us and begins His call of Judgment.