Back then...
>> Sunday, October 28, 2012
Sometimes I feel like it's too hard to practice Islam correctly now. Everywhere we look- the movies, the magazines, the t.v., the Internet, everything is stocked with sinful things. If you look at the people before, like in the 1st and 6th centuries, they led such pure lives. So many times, I wish I was born back then when it was easier to be Muslim. Those people were so lucky. I sometimes wonder why Allah made me live in this time. Why couldn’t I have lived when they did and led a pure life like them?
Dearest Sis,
I'm sure all of us have had that thought cross our minds before. If only we could have lived with the Companions...If only we could have lived at the time with the Messenger Sallah Allahoo alyhee wa salam or the early generations. Everything would have been perfect then. We would have been perfect Muslims.
Would everything
really have been that easy?
Let's step back a
moment and really picture what life was like back then. People back then didn't
have running water or air condition. They didn't have paved roads, either. Imagine
fasting in the desert with temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (40+ Celsius)
and not having air condition. Imagine trying to just make wudu for the 5 prayers with no
running water. Imagine walking on rocks/sand/mountains without proper shoes. There weren't any supermarkets, either…so getting food was a
difficult process, too. Our beloved prophet, sallah Allahoo alyhee wa salam
certainly didn't eat the way we eat today:
Narrated 'Aisha:
The family of
Muhammad did not eat two meals on one day, but one of the two was of dates.
What else? Well, getting from one place to another took months…..And what
about giving birth back then?
The concept that we have today of "freedom
of religion" did not exist back then. People
fought for the right to believe with their lives...And, they fought for the
protection of Islam WITH their lives.
Among
the believers are men true to what they promised Allah. Among them is he who
has fulfilled his vow [to the death], and among them is he who awaits [his
chance]. And they did not alter [the terms of their commitment] by any
alteration - (Surat Al Ahzab 23)
Abu 'Abdullah Khabbab ibn al-Aratt, said "We complained to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, while he was using his cloak as a pillow in the shade of the Ka'ba, saying, 'Why do you not ask for victory for us? Why do you not make supplication for us?' He replied, 'Among those before you there was a man who was seized and put in a hole in the ground which was dug for him. Then a saw was brought, put to his head and he was sawed in half. Then he was raked with metal teeth through his flesh and bones. None of that turned him from his religion. Allah will complete this business so that a rider will be able to travel from San'a' to Hadramawt fearing none but Allah and wolves against his sheep, but you want to make things happen too quickly." [al-Bukhari]
It was narrated that
Ibn Abbas radiAllaah anhu- said: The Messenger of Allaah -
sallAllaahu alayhi wa
sallam said: On the night on which I was taken on the Night
Journey, a beautiful
fragrance came to me. I said: O Jibreel, what is this
beautiful fragrance?
He said: This is the fragrance of the hairdresser of
Pharaoh's daughter
and her children. I said: What is their story? He said:
Whilst she was
combing the hair of Pharaoh's daughter one day, the iron
comb fell from her
hand and she said, Bismillaah (in the name of Allaah).
The daughter of
Pharaoh said: You mean my father? She said: No. My Lord
and the Lord of your
father is Allaah. She said: I will tell him about that. She
said: Yes.
So she told him and
he summoned her and said: O So and so, do you have a
Lord other than me?
She said: Yes, my Lord and your Lord is Allaah. He
ordered that a cow
made of copper be heated up, then he ordered that she
and her children be
thrown into it. She said: I have a request to make of
you. He said: What is
your request? She said: I would like my bones and my
children's bones to
be gathered together in one cloth and buried. He said:
This will be done for
you.
He ordered that her
children be thrown into it in front of her, one by one,
until they came to
the last one who was an infant boy who was still being
breastfed. It was as
if she wavered because of him, but he said: O mother,
go ahead, for the
punishment of this world is easier to bear than the
punishment of the
hereafter. So she went ahead.
Can you honestly even
picture that?
The truth is that
back then people sacrificed their lives, wealth, children, money....everything
to raise the flag of La ilaha illah Allah. Women woke up in the morning and
buried their husbands, sons, and brothers in the afternoon.
You see, sister, the
purpose of this life is to be a test. It was a test for them. And it was a test
for us.
The Qur'an says:
-
"We will test you until We know the true fighters among you and those who are steadfast" (W47:30; H47:31)
- "We will test you with a certain amount of fear and hunger and loss of wealth and life and fruits. But give good news to the steadfast," (W2:154; H2:155)
- Blessed be He in whose Hand is the Kingdom, He is powerful over all things, (1) who created death and life that He might examine which of you is best in deeds, and He is the Almighty, the Forgiving, (2) (Surat Al Mulk)
The truth is Allah
subhanoo Wa' Tala chose the "best" time for each of us. Perhaps if we
had been living in that time, we would have deserted the Prophet sallah Allahoo
alyhee wa salam in Uhud, for example .
The other thing to
consider is that that just as we have many opportunities to sin now, we also
have equal opportunities to do good. These days, we can turn on the television
and catch a lecture on an Islamic t.v. channel or website. We can search the
whole of Sahih Bukhari with a click of our fingertips (Compare that to back
then when they had to cross thousands of miles to learn what one scholar
thought of a particular hadith). With our ipods, we can listen to the Qur'an wherever
we go. With our cars, we can drive to a nearby mosque and pray Fajr/ Isha
within minutes. We can start our days with an Islamic reminder on Facebook.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Ahead of you are days of patience, during which being patient will be like grasping a hot coal. The one who does good deeds then will have a reward like that of fifty people who do such deeds.” And, someone else added, they said: O Messenger of Allah, the reward of fifty of them? He said: “The reward of fifty of you (Companions)!” (Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidh).
I don't know if we made it to that time or not, but the fact still remains that Allah is Just and He rewards us according to the difficulty of the tests we are given. (The greatness of the reward is related to the greatness of the trial…) Never ever forget that!
I also want to say one more thing. Even if you've lived a "not so pure life", or made a mistake, the
door of repentance is open for you just as it was open for the people before
us. Allah is All Merciful and Forgiving, and He doesn't expect
"perfection" from you but that you do your best and turn back to Him.
So just turn back to Him :)
With love,