What is The Islamic View on
A Popular Lecture
by: Moulana Qari Muhammad Tayyib Qasimi (Rahmatullah Alayh) Late Rector Daml-Uloom Deoband
The Islamic view of worldly acts:
Things we do most of the lime in this world, such as sleeping, waking, eating, drinking, carrying out different chores of daily living and making a house, are things Allah Almighty has counted as blessings for us. And so He has declared in the Holy Qur'an:  Addressed to the noble Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam), it is being asked as to who is there to forbid the blessings of Allah on himself. He has given pure things to eat and good dresses to wear. Who can forbid them for people? This is a declaration, a prohibition: do not make them unlawful. But, of course, He has prescribed the limits. Thus is silk permissible for women, impermissible for men. Gold and silver in ornaments: Permissible for women, impermissible for men. The limit is the thing. We have been told about the limits. Just observe the limits and feel free to go on using them as you wish.
Now about the house, Allah Almighty points out that this is a favour from Him when he said:  , Allah has placed for you in your homes peace and rest. Make a house. Use it, A house is a house. A house in fabrics: a tent. A house in leather; a leather tent. A house in rocks, bricks, RCC, wood. Count many kinds and count the favours you have been shown. You do not talk about a favour unless what is given is a blessing. There is nothing like adverse favours. So, Allah says the houses are a blessing. Now who is there to reject the blessing of Allah'. Use them freely but do so by staying within limits. Do not exaggerate. Do not commit excess. Articles of comfort that are universal in a way of life can he openly procured and used to one's benefit. 1 have been talking about the basic human needs of food and dress as indicators. It includes other things as well. In fact it was said in a Hadith: 
It means when Allah bestows on a servant of His some blessing, he also likes to see its effect on him. So, let man's food and dress be fair enough and living too, fair and normal - definitely not that he starts living in rags on him and around him, standing all surrounded by garbage in the name of a house, no cleaning, no maintenance. He is under the obligation to set up house, and keep it clean, organised.
Again, the Hadith orders: Keep the inside of the house clean, and the outside too, even the street around the house. Then, the order is to keep your dress nice and clean - cleanliness is a standard subject in Islam. Nobody has said that you get rid of all these things. But, yes, limits were prescribed and we were told not to cross them. So, you see that our Akhirah comes right out from this world - from this very body we all have.
Acts of Faith and their Fragrance
And for the body, there is a time to live and there is a time to die. When death comes, says the Hadith, the angels come to draw the soul Out and away. They smell hands and feet and other parts of the body for the fragrance of faith because going through acts of faith leaves behind its fragrance in the body. This you do not feel here. Your smell buds in your nostrils do not let you do that in this life - In Akhirah, yes, there you will reel it right.
It appears in Hadith:  Not eating when fasting leaves a certain smell in the mouth. This smell, it is being said here, is more fragrant than musk in the sight of Allah. So, what is smell here is fragrance there. .That fragrance is really that of fasting, and the fragrance in fasting comes from faith Iman. Without Iman fasting is nothing but some hunger-strike. So, it is this fragrance of faith or Iman which the angels try to smell out from the body. At times, came angels who take out the souls of disbelievers, when they, hands into the body, discover a good act sticking into the shin, then, the angels of mercy come forward and say: Move, the man was good, we shall take his soul out. So, good deeds come through this body of ours, from all its parts. The angels know where they belong, and they will find them. The angels of mercy handle good people. The angels of punishment cannot do that. So, your deeds and your body that helps you do then lead you to your Akhirah.
Before Allah: The first Appearance
And then, so is that the soul of the believer ascends through the heavens. The Hadith says: Archangel Gabra'il leading a retinue of seventy thousand angels receives him on the first heaven, then he passes through other heavens with full honour and reception, until he reaches the Throne. The soul prostrates there. The Lord of all creation says: Why did you come? What is it that you have come up with? If an observing religious man, he would say: I have brought the recitation of 150 Qur'ans' It will be said: 'Not accepted, not even one'. I observed so many fusts'. 'This too not accepted'. 'I offered so many late night prayers'. 'This too is not accepted'. All scared, the soul can't find a deed worth presenting before the Lord of all souls. Helpless, the soul submits: I fame with nothing but a hope in Your mercy'. The Lord says: 'This is accepted - on thee is My mercy'.
How did this come about'.'
Maybe, a good intention made in the mortal life which somehow worked in the
Hereafter,Keep Seeking
Allah's Forgiveness
So, let man always be sure that the orientation of his heart is correct. Who doesn't make a mistake? Everyone falters. Big or small, everyone walks with some or the other sin - except the blessed prophets who are innocent. Except them, no one is free of a false step. That is why the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: "0 my Lord, forgive all sins being the Forgiver You are for there is no servant of Yours who has never committed a sin - before You, everyone is a sinner".
And he also prayed:
The meaning of which is: O my Lord. Your forgiveness is more extensive than my sins (how long can I go on sinning? Even if I were to go on doing sins for a thousand years, they will not extend beyond Your mercy) and there is no limit to Your mercy. My sins are nothing before Your mercy. And limited are my doings, rather nothing in substance, but Your mercy; it is very extensive.
Never Abandon the Way of Repentance
No human being is free from sins, except the Prophets, may peace be upon them. Therefore, everything depends on the grace of Allah. Forgiveness will come only when He turns to us in mercy. What is needed is that one should have a strong and clear intention and place his trust in Allah. When you make a mistake, repent. When you sin, lose no time, repent. Keep the account clear all the time. Thus, the real thing is the niyyah, the intention. It keeps man oriented in the right direction. Says a Qudsi Hadith: O my servant, if you were to come to me with a stack of sins which hide the heavens and the earth behind them, I shall meet you with forgiveness that extends way beyond your sins, on condition that your heart pulsates with My greatness. So, Divine greatness is what man has to uphold. It is the touchstone of fidelity. For the faithful one - even if he makes a mistake - the Lord says that He can be forgiven. So, the moment a sin gets to be committed, waste no time, repent, do your taubah which is genuine, sincere, and is strengthened by a resolve not to do it again, because a sin might stick on the heart and might lead him into more and more sins, then, what happens is serious. The very taufiq (the ability given by Allah) of Taubah or repentance is taken away. But, by seeking forgiveness after a sin, the heart does not get rusted - the sin is washed off.
The Hadith says thai a man who commits a major sin, repents and says: 'O my Lord... without even uttering a word, 'forgive me', Allah Almighty instantly forgives him for he at least knows his Lord. If he does that again, Allah does what He did, once again The Holy Prophet (Sailallahu alayhi wasallam) says: 'O my people, you will tire sinning, but Allahh will not tire forgiving' So, repent in sin and stay clear. And never change course, keep to the straight path with all its ups and downs, never tiring, never deviating -the destination will be all yours.
The Power of Repentance
The Hadith account of hostility between Adam (Alaihis -Salaam) and the Satan, a wily enemy to him. Adam (Alaihis -Salaam) was made vice-regent and was promised Paradise. The Satan was concerned. He said: "O
Allah, now Adam (Alaihis -Salaam) is my enemy, and I am his. He has reason and revelation both He is going to shut me off. Grant me some power so that I can also overpower him".
Allah Almighty said: "We give you the. power of majority If Adam (Alaihis
Saltiam) has one son, you will have ten; if he has hundred, you will
have one thousand. You will always be in the majority. When he is 10
million, you will be 10 billion" But, Satan is smart, he realised that minority sometimes overrpowers a majority. So, he said: "O Allah, no doubt, I am in the majority, but a powerful minority may overwhelm a majority. Therefore, give me more power". It was said: "We give you the power to infuse into the body of Adam (Aiaihis-Salaam) like blood running through veins". The Satan said: "Now I can floor him down". He was thinking of how he could inject doubts into his heart, now he would monitor and control his brain, and once inside there, he would be free to do what he liked. So, with power in hand,he was satisfied.
Now Adam (Alaihis-salaam)
was worried - this devil has the power to be all over inside me but I do
not have power to find entry inside his body which means that he will always
be the winner dragging everybody into the Hell with him. So, he implored
that he too should be given some power (to counter him). Allah Almighty
said: "To Adam (Alaihis-Salaam) we give a unique power, a power which
will wipe out centuries after centuries of Satan's labours in an instant". That
power is Taubah, repentance. Take a disbeliever who gets repentance.
His disbelief will evaporate in a second. The Satan trained to disbelieve
for a hundred years, he came up with one genuine repentance- and zoom,
the handiwork of Satan is all finished. Repentance is so powerful a weapon
that it beats the Satan flat out. Therefore, let man never skip repentance.
Repent immediately after whatever bad happens. In fact, one should recite
Istighfar (the
prayer for Allah's forgiveness) regularly making it at least hundred times
everyday. Recite:  hundred
times. One will not be committing a hundred sins. But he would have sought
forgiveness a hundred times. His sins will go on receding into nothingness.
This is not such a big job. It will hardly take ten minutes. If one were to
recite Istighfar a hundred times after Fajr Salah, that is no
burden. Surely, one does not commit one hundred sins in a single day, but the
score of repentance does reach the figure of hundred - Insha'Allah all
sins will thus be effaced.
The point I have made is that one should keep the orientation of his heart correct, maintain moderation, repent when afflicted with sin - he will reach his destination.
In the end, let us all pray that Allah Almighty keeps our feet firm on the path of His pleasure, blesses us with the best of morals and manners, and bestows on us the best of parting from this mortal world. Ameen.
Published by:
The Young Men's Muslim Association
P.O. BOX 18594, ACTONVILLE 1506
Benoni South Africa
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