Thursday 29 May 2008

Itminan

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ



Peace and Tranquillity

The ideal life one can attain is a life of peace and tranquillity. This is however, to some extent impossible, because an “ideal life” is the best life a person can achieve. Therefore it will be reserved for the hereafter.

Allah in His infinite mercy wants us to cultivate and achieve peace within ourselves. However we are faced with two challenges in this world, viz.

1. Satan:
Allah has given satan the freedom of trying to mislead us from the straight path. If you are opened to attacks, you cannot live in peace. E.g. If one is trying to meditate and is being bothered by mosquitoes, it will be difficult to concentrate and maintain focus due to the constant distraction.

2. Allah says in Quran “We will constantly try you”. Therefore, if one is undergoing trials it will be impossible to live in peace.

Allah has prescribed Zikir as a form for the believers to achieve Itminan (peace/tranquillity in our heart). Therefore our mission in this life is to develop Itminan in our qalb

Prophet Muhammad (saw) has shown this quality of Itminan throughout his life, even though he was constantly faced with trials and tribulations from:
His wives
The attack from the unbelievers
The lack of the culture/etiquette of the Arabs

Yet he was the most humble person because his qalb was at peace at all times.

Itminan is one quality that makes Islam different from the other religions’. The only way of attaining Itminan is engaging in the remembrance of Allah with your heart

We have seen the manifestation of this characteristic in some personalities in Islamic history.
E.g. - the martyrdom of Hazrat Uthman (ra) and Imam Hussian (ra). They were both fully aware that there were plots to have them killed, however they did not panic nor did they act frantic because they knew that whatever Allah decrees will come to pass.

Inshallah one will attain Itminan, but not in this world. It will come in the hereafter as Allah has indicated that on the Day of Judgement the angels will welcome the believers, saying to them: Peace!