Good Deeds. Part 2.

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the previous post we talked about how for a Muslim, the furqan (criteria) of "good" and "bad" should be the Qur'an, and the Prophet ( ﷺ).  And we asked the question, what about deeds that are not explicitly mentioned in the furqan?

Commonly held views in Islamic sciences calls for various approaches such as  ijmā' (consensus of scholars), Qiyas (analogical reasoning) etc. However, the topic of this post does not render itself suitable for mundane jurisprudential issues. So we shall open a more metaphysical line of thought, to do with niyyah (intention).

Is blogging a good deed? Or writing a book? Eating a burger?  Is it like the great bard said : ".....for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so"

There is an endless list of deeds that could be debated upon as whether being good, evil, or a third category that I call "neutral" or the appropriate Islamic term مباح mubah (permissible)......I call these kinds of deeds "neutral", which means, they are not inherently good or bad by themselves. Mubah acts are those actions that neither have any stated positive or negative consequences in the Hereafter. Performing or abandoning the mubah is the same, hence the word "neutral".

If you blog about evil things, then blogging is bad....
If you blog about good things, then blogging should be good....
If you blog about the weather, is it good or bad? I call it mubah..

If you write an evil book, then it is bad....
If you write a book about good and pious things, then it should be good..
If you write a cook book, is it good or bad? I call it mubah..

I hold the view that barring explicitly evil deeds, all deeds are either good, or mubah (that may be classified as good under certain circumstances).

The circumstance that is most compelling, is preceding the act with the right niyyah (intention). With the right niyyah, Mubah may become a Mandub (preferred act or an act with certain reward). 

There is a famous and oft-quoted statement narrated by Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) in context of the emigration, states that he reportedly heard Allah's Messenger (sallallau alayhi wasallam) say: "Actions are but by intentions and every one will have only what they intended. So whoever emigrated for Allah and His Messenger, then his emigration was for Allah and His Messenger. And whoever emigrated to attain something of this world or to marry a woman, then his emigration was for whatever reason he emigrated." [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim]

 عن عمر بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه قال: سمعت رسول الله ﷺ يقول: "إنما الأعمال بالنيات. وإنما لكل امرئ ما نوى فمن كانت هجرته إلى الله ورسوله فهجرته إلى الله ورسوله. ومن كانت هجرته لدنيا يصيبها أو امرأة ينكحها. فهجرته إلى ما هاجر إليه"     
متفق عليه

This statement is often generalized (not without reason) to a whole array of deeds, which I would classify as mubah. If the deed is apparently neutral, then the right intention will make it good. And if a deed is apparently good, intention is still extremely important, in order to let it remain good, otherwise a good deed with a polluted intention is still a big no no.... As for evil deeds, right intentions cannot make them good.

What constitutes a good intention? In my opinion the right intention should only be rida (satisfaction/pleasure?) of Allah.


In this present day and age, the amount of time we spend in sinning is significant, and the amount in doing good deeds proportionately insignificant.  And most of our time we spend in pursuit of mubah or neutral activities. Most of our lives are spent in school, university and then later in the workplace. By the time we are done with school and workplace, we have retired, and left with pretty much the fag end of our lives, and our healths. Not much to do good deeds with.


I would like to postulate, albeit controversially, that both schooling and working comes under mubah. Although many would argue that schooling is about gaining knowledge, and Islam encourages/asks us to strive in the pursuit of knowledge as a good action, I would counter by saying that spending 15-20 years of your lives institutionalized in the pursuit of this or that degree or career is not the pursuit of knowledge, unless it is preceded with the right intention. After all, how many of us thought that going to our classes regularly is a Divinely Ordained command...?

In the same way some would argue that working is essential in the pursuit of sustenance for us and our families, which again is encouraged by Islam. I would also counter that by saying how many of us work for the right intentions? I mean is getting a good salary, or a good career really the right intention?

I would like to conclude by saying that we should spend our time on earth wisely. Minimize or eradicate evil deeds, maximize good deeds, and try to convert all our mubah deeds into good, by choosing the right intention, which is "rida" of Allah.

After all, we don't want to be the ones on the Day of Judgement saying:

يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي قَدَّمْتُ لِحَيَاتِي

He will say: "Ah! Would that I had sent forth (good deeds) for (this) my (Future) Life!"  (Al Fajr, 89:24)

May Allah bless us with His rida in whatever we do, and help us to prepare for the Certainty that will come upon us, unannounced, and instead of meeting it in a state of "good-deed penury", we should strive to send some good deeds forward that will meet us when we are there. At the very least, we should convert our "neutral" deeds, by precluding them with the right intentions, so that they may be accepted.......

Wallahu a3lam.

Nobody is Perfect

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Yes, that's right.... Nobody is.... and before we start arguing about how Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasallam) was perfect, or how Jesus Christ was, or how so and so was perfect. Let me stop you right there..... I don't want to be drawn into that debate (I do believe that Prophets and pious people can stake claim to perfection, or character par excellence)....

Instead, let me repeat : "Nobody IS perfect"... None of us ordinary non-Prophet/non-Saint/non-Divine people 7 odd billion folk are perfect..

So let us just admit it, and get it out of the way so we can move on......

That brings us to the next question, if we are not perfect... are we imperfect? That's a stretch right there. If something is not perfect, it has to be imperfect ?...

Well, IMHO, it doesn't have to be. Human beings are not a binary system of either 1 or 0. We are a bit more fuzzy logic - ordinary human beings who have sinned, every now and then, and perhaps are sinning right now ... :) who stake no claim to perfection, and at the same time refuse to be cast as imperfect...

That technically should create sympathy for each other (the spirit of brotherhood of "#AllPrettyMuchInTheSameBoat"). Unfortunately, it doesn't.... It makes us more judgmental, and we believe that somehow "my sin is better or more acceptable than yours".


Let us look at a few scenarios:
Those who do not smoke/drink/do drugs etc, look down upon those who do..
Those who have claim to morality, look down upon their licentious brethren with disgust...
Those who are "good" Muslims look down with surprising disdain upon those who,  in their myopic vision, do not fit the profile of "good" Muslims.


And the list could go on and on....

And yet, these very same people of category one, are not perfect inasmuch as they have their own share of sins/misdeeds. But interestingly, in their self-opinion, their own personal sins are somehow transformed into miniscule mistakes as opposed to appalling abominations wrought upon the world by the others.

To illustrate it, let me share a point that I have used before in my lectures:
Part of the reasons why some (many :(  !!!) Muslims consider non-Muslims as unclean(and hence somehow inferior) is because of the non-Muslims' love for bacon. Muslims dislike pigs to the extent that if they see one on TV, they would close their eyes in disgust.... So you can imagine if I ask the Muslim audience if they would like some juicy pork-chops or pork-dumplings, or pork hot-dogs etc, what kind of response I would get.....

And yet the very same audience were to look deep inside there heart regarding gossiping/back-biting/slander, they would discover that they frequently do it, and with relish, and sometimes a dash of kicap. Even though many of them know what Allah (subhana hu wa ta'ala) has said about it:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِّنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَب بَّعْضُكُم بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَّحِيمٌ (49:12)

49:12 O ye who believe! Avoid suspicion as much (as possible): for suspicion in some cases is a sin: And spy not on each other behind their backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, ye would abhor it...But fear Allah. For Allah is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.

The translation "spy not on each other behind their backs" doesn't actually explain the full substance of the ayat, which is actually about back-biting, having a negative opinion about people etc. There is a narration that clarifies some aspects of slander/backbiting:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (salallahu alayhi wasallam) as saying: “Do you know what backbiting is? They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “It is to mention about your brother something that he would dislike having mentioned about him.”

The Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasallam) reportedly goes on in the same narration to explain the difference between backbiting and slander. He said: “It is to mention about your brother something that he would dislike having mentioned about him.”

Someone asked: “O Messenger of Allah! How do you see it if what I said about him is true?” He replied: “If what you said about him is true, then you have backbitten him. If what you said about him is false, then you have slandered him.” [Sahîh Muslim (Kitab Al-Birr was-Salat-I-wal-Adab)')]

You would think someone who dislikes pork would dislike "eating the flesh of your dead brother" even more. We may never have tasted pork in our life and yet how often, and without even a slightest tinge of regret or even hesitation, do we say things about our brethren which constitute backbiting or slander?


The point of course is not that we should start eating pork (hehe), nor that eating pork is a lesser sin than backbiting (that should be an interesting discussion), but rather.......

Should we treat other peoples sins/mistakes are somehow worse than ours? Is it not better for us to look inwards with honest introspection and from there on work to remove our own sins and mistakes ?

In words of one of my favorite mystic poets, Kabir:
बुरा जो देखण मैं चला , बुरा  ना  मिलया  कोए
जो  मन  खोजा  अपणा , तो  मुझसे  बुरा  ना  कोए

Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Naa Milya Koye
Jo Mann Khoja Apnaa, To Mujhse Bura Naa Koye

When I looked for the evil in others, I could not find any
Then I searched inside my own self, and I realized that there is no one worse than me.

Ramadhan

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah the Beneficent, the Merciful

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ (2:183)

“O you who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might attain Taqwa” (Al-baqarah 2:183)

Allah (subhana Hu wa ta’ala ) reminds us in this ayat that the raison d'être of fasting is to achieve taqwa (piety/God-consciousness).  The discipline of Ramadhan enables us to exercise a systematic restraint on the base carnal soul, the nafsul ammarah, and in the process trains the human soul to achieve a desired sense of disconnect with this world.  Fasting with pure intention and complete faith enables us to understand that we have a higher purpose beyond this ephemeral material existence, as we deliberately choose to side with God instead of choosing to give in to our carnal desires. If done right, this is thus one of the core elements pertaining to the attainment of taqwa. It is no surprise therefore that according to several traditions, the Prophet Muhammad (salallahu alayhi wasallam) loved fasting very much. 

As we welcome this month, we must keep this objective foremost in our minds so that we can protect ourselves from unfortunate Ramadan solecisms that habitually crop up in our societies like binge eating, edacity, luxurious and elaborate meals, reduced performance of our duties, excessive sleeping, general malaise, lethargy and the like, which are in direct contravention of the principles laid down for this month.  Let us also resist with tenacity the desire to offer our patronage to the shopping centers and malls, and instead frequent our place of ibadah, be it in the masjid or be it in the corner of our house/office. Let us refuse to waste our time with frivolous activities and instead engage with the Qur’an.  

Just imagine that we struggle 8 to 10 hours to restrain a wild and dangerous beast, and then after iftar we let it run amok, not only risking losing everything that we achieved during the fasting period but also endangering both our physical and spiritual well-being.

Moving on from restraining the nafsul ammarah, to a more collective and social objective, this month should also enable Muslims to be harbingers of kindness and mercy to others. There is a narration in which the Prophet (salallahu alayhi wasallam) has reportedly said:

“O Muslims! A noble and generous month has come to you. A month in which a night is better than one thousand months, and this month is the month of charity, patience, and mercy. In this month the gates of Paradise become wide open and the gates of Hell are shut, and the devils are chained” (Sunan Al Nasai, Classified as Sahih by Albani). 

Let us resolve, in the spirit of charity and kindness mentioned above, to show solidarity with the underprivileged, the orphans and the needy.  Let us reject filling the coffers of restaurateurs with over-the-top Ramadan buffets (even if such iftar parties are in vogue), and let us focus instead on diverting as much of our wealth and time to charitable efforts as possible. 

Let us take great care that we do not waste this opportunity, for like some of our loved ones who have departed from us, we may not live to see Ramadhan the next year.