Submitting to Allah

Submitting to Allah’s will


Islam means total submission to Allah , and we have seen submission coming down from Father Abraham (as). He demonstrated total submission with his wealth, his family and even his life. Through his submission he was very successful. To this day he is remembered as Allah has made the Sunnah of Abraham (as) obligatory upon the believers; for example the performance of Hajj.

In contrast to Abraham (as) we see another personality that Allah has made as an example for mankind. That person is Pharaoh. When Moses (as) began preaching about the Oneness of God to Pharaoh he was beginning to become inclined to Moses was telling him. However, Pharaoh’s advisor, Haman, presented Pharaoh with a simple question; “do you wish to be the king of mankind or the slave of Allah ”?

Pharaoh chose the former. He could not come to terms with the fact that he had people submitting to him without reservation, and if he should accept the God of Moses then he will be equal to even his subjects who are worshipping that God. He wanted to remain, in the eyes of the people their god. He forgot one thing however, that all creatures will have to submit to the will of Allah at the time of their death, whether they want to or not. Allah has preserved his body as a lesson for man, which is for all those who believe that the material world and body means every thing to them. Allah mentions about this in Surah Yunus. He says:

        •   ••    
"This Day shall We save Thee in the body, that Thou mayest be a Sign to those who come after Thee! But, verily, many among Mankind are heedless of Our signs!" (10:92)

The Israelites received a lot of physical blessings from Allah . They actually saw how Allah was helping Moses; in spite of that they never had true conviction that they need to submit fully to His divine Will. They were too self-centred to think about inconveniencing themselves to please Allah. This attitude of theirs can still be seen today in Israel, as, their concern is not for the well being of the Palestinians, but only their material benefit. What was lacking in them was the willingness to submit humbly to Allah . This is where Islam is different and where it became a real success for humanity.

Muslims are taught by the teachings contained in the Holy Qur’an and by the model of Prophet Muhammad to submit humbly to Allah and not to any other person or thing. Allah is The One Who provides help or He allows others to help. This is why believers say “Sami'na wa at'ana” - “We hear, and we obey:”

Allah has shown us in the Holy Qur’an the end result of the arrogant versus the humble; the materialist versus those who think about Allah in many places. He makes it known to mankind that He has knowledge of all things, and nothing can happen except with His permission.

Whatever is happening is out of Allah’s permission. We may hope and pray for something but the final say is in Allah’s hands. This is why at this particular time we remember Abraham (as) and his family. The animals we sacrifice for Qurbanni is the physical lesson of submission. Just as how the animal submits to your every command so too we must submit to Allah . Willingly or un-willingly we have no other choice

Look at the different endings both Abraham (as) and Pharaoh had. Even up to today we remember Abraham (as) in our Salaat, in our sacrifice and in Hajj. Pharaoh on the other hand was so powerful and mighty materially and today he is lying helplessly in a box in a museum.

Prophet Muhammad submitted in such a way that it is recorded in the Qur'an that he never said anything out of his own desire. If we can live like this for the sake of Allah He would bless us and take us closer to Him.

Remember the trials are not a form of punishment; it is there to strengthen our faith in Allah . So whenever it comes don’t give up or lose hope, continue to pray to Him and trust in Him and insha Allah, He would take care of all your affairs.

We beg Allah to bless us with the understanding of true submission in Him and to make the trials and difficulties He has decreed bearable and easy.