The absence of impurity

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Allah mentions in the Quran;

‘So set thou thy face steadily and truly to the faith: (establish) Allah’s handiwork according to the pattern on which He has made mankind: no change (let there be) in the work (wrought) by Allah’. (30:30)

Some scholars are of the view that ‘in the work (wrought) by Allah’ refers to His creation. So if we apply this to the ayat it will translate as ‘the creation of God will not change’.

If we narrow it down to man it will mean that the human species will remain as is. They will not be subject to change just as Adam (as) came and then his progeny came in the same mould and fashion; centuries after Adam (as).

If Allah says that He will not cause change to come on His creation, what then will happen to us on our onward journey. Will we change or evolve into new creatures? No, we will remain as we are and regardless of place or time we will not be subjected to change.

When you are resurrected, you will be resurrected as you were, except that each person will be resurrected with a complete and perfect body. The difference will be the condition in which you are resurrected. For example, just as how physical ailments may have an adverse effect on a person's physical appearance; when the soul re-enters the body on the Day of Judgement; depending on the condition of the soul, the body will either be bright and shinning or dark and ugly. So if a person took the time to polish the soul in this world, it will help brighten his countenance on that Day.

Even after the entry into Paradise, life continues as it was on earth. The main exception is that there will be no impurities. According to some scholars what Adam (as) and Eve (as) consumed from the forbidden tree was in fact wheat; and after they ate it they needed to excrete. And because no impurity is allowed in the Garden they were expelled. The point is that there will be no impurities in paradise. The support of this is found in Surah Baqarah;

Gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with Fruits there from, they say: ‘Why, this is what we were fed with before’, for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein (for ever). (2:25)

The fruits, milk, honey, etc. will remain the same, except that it will never contain impurities, or become impure. There will be no disturbance around you; only peace and tranquillity. For example, if you have a bunch of mangoes; some are ripe and good for eating and some are a bit spoilt. When you separate the good from bad both groups remain mangoes but one is free form impurity whilst the other contains impurity. Since Allah created all the creatures, their categories remain the same, regardless of time and place. The birds, fishes, fruits all remained the same.

We need to understand that on our onward journey the environment, substance, etc. will remain the same except; it will all be free form impurities. The challenges around us will not be present in the Garden of Bliss. This is the life we are working towards. Who wouldn’t want this?

And rest assured that Satan will try his utmost to corrupt you. We all know a flame can be seen from far; but black mud, from which man was made, cannot be seen on a dark night, like the fire. The problem with Satan’s perception is that this insignificant piece of mud which has the potential to attain such greatness is more advanced than him, even though, according to his reasoning, fire is far superior to mud. So the conflict remains. We have to tolerate it and continue to persevere in order to qualify ourselves to attain the life of purity.

We beg Allah to help us to understand and to resist the attacks from Satan and to enable us to work towards our goal, insha Allah.

The best from among mankind

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّ حِيْمِ

Allah tells us about ourselves in the Quran,

‘Ye are the best of peoples, evolved for mankind, enjoining what is right, forbidding what is wrong, and believing in Allah’ (3:110)

What a great honour Allah has bestowed upon us.

If you look at history you will see that before the coming of Prophet Muhammad (pboh) Allah was very kind and generous materially, to the tribes and their people. For example, the Israelites received immense material blessings from Allah. Their food and drink came down from the sky. They had next to nothing to do except glorify their Lord but they, instead tried to ‘scheme’ Allah. They wanted Allah to be ‘their servant’. They didn’t understand and were blinded by the fact that they were bringing harm and eventual destruction to themselves.

When the Israelite Messengers came and attempted to give guidance that didn’t suit their desires; they took the necessary measures to get rid of them. For example, Jesus came to them and began preaching; and they got offended. When he invited them to join him in giving da’wah they placed conditions (they wanted food to come to them from the sky). Yet Allah continued to take care of them.

In contrast to the treatment Allah gave to them, look at how different Islam started. The blessed Companions of Prophet silently bore hunger, so much so, that they used to tie stones to their stomach to ease the pangs of hunger. Look at the difference between them and the favoured ones before them. When the Muslims were faced with the boycott and had to retreat to the nearby mountains some of them ate stones. They could have easily denounced Islam and return to luxury, but they didn’t give up. They persevered even when death faced them.

Allah gives us the recipe for being categorised as the ‘best of people’ in the ayat quoted above. Firstly, believe in Allah. As we know this is the ‘password’ to enter Paradise. Then we should enjoin good and forbid evil.

If someone believes in Allah and limits the good and engages in rampant evil it is possible that he can be categorised as a hypocrite. In order to expound this let us look at the attitude of Hazrat Umar . Prophet made a special dua for one of his Companions who thereafter possessed the ability of identifying a hypocrite. So gifted was he that whenever there was a Janaza of a hypocrite he wound not attend and this led Hazrat Umar to scan the crowd to see if this particular Companion was present. If he was not present Umar would refrain from leading the Janaza, because he knew the deceased was a hypocrite. Everyday Umar would visit this blessed companion and ask, “am I a hypocrite?”

Why make mention of this? Sometimes people can do lots of good but they do it with an ulterior motive. So we need to purify our intentions in order to safeguard ourselves from falling into the category of hypocrites.

Maulana Abdul Aleem Sidiquie use to say “examine yourself”. Everyday take a look at yourself and see what condition your faith is in. Prophet (pboh) is reported to have said “faith can increase or decrease”. Today you may feel highly spiritual but always remember tomorrow is a different day. What if you are faced with a trial, how will you react? Guard your faith and strengthen it by adhering to the good Allah has prescribed and forbidding the evil, He has warned us about. If you apply this insha Allah you will be classified among the ‘best of mankind’. Regardless of a person's wealth, power and status the recipe is universal. It is very easy to say, but it requires some effort to put in practice.

We beg Allah to bless us with the determination to infuse this principle in our daily lives so that on that Day we will rise among the best and be among the inhabitants of Janatul Firdus, insha Allah.