Qur'anic Reflections

Dua #5 Dangers of the Tongue

Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu!

Dua #5 on its way! :)

So just a heads up Surah Mu'minun is absolutely bae and you should totally recite it and study its tafsir because it's like a precise handbook for those who want to succeed in this world and the next.

The reflection comes from the same Surah too and frankly this one scared me a lot.

Let's divide this into 2 parts.

First part is :
Allah says, " When you encounter evil, repel that with good."

While of course this could mean in any life scenario, but speaks more in the context of the hostility Muslims faced in Makkah since this Surah was revealed there.

All of us are aware of the extreme physical, mental and social hostility that the Muslims had to face in Makkah and while yes, many Muslims came from the lower sections of society and they were in no position to retaliate, there were still some others who were strong and brave enough to fight.

A few among those would be Hamza RA, Ali RA and Umar RA who possessed the strength and courage to give the Makkans a humiliating comeback.

But that was not the aim of the Makkan phase of the Muslims. The aim was to teach them Sabr and Jihad Un Nafs (struggle against oneself)

For them during that moment, when their faith was ridiculed and they were physically hurt, retaliation was not an option. It was to repel that evil with good.

That's an amazing tactic for dawah. Imagine the wonders this can do if we apply this to our lives! When some one makes fun of our faith in real life or on social media, we are quick to retort, in the most un-Islamic way possible, with cuss words and ridiculing their faith and what not.

Imagine the impact silence would make, or rather a good word in the face of that argument?

I truly believe that hate is something that is manufactured, it is not inherent, nobody is born with it, nobody wakes up in the morning and thinks "Oh let's pick up a fight today" and surely nobody wins in this game of hatred.

Sadly, it's the way we have been made to view the world. Like us v/s them. The media and tons of other resources go into making people hate a certain group.

What Allah is saying, is that don't become one of them. Don't become another resource to fuel the anger. Don't become another tool to spread hatred.

Instead, respond with love. It is the most basic instinct, to feel ashamed when the other doesn't retaliate. It shows them who the bad guy is. It breaks the wall around their heart and touches them.

May Allah give us the insight and forbearance to deal with hate. Ameen.

Now let's get closer to home; in the Muslim community, when you start working for Allah's cause, people will object.

They will find faults in you, question your intentions and hold you accountable for the littlest of things. Your own parents or siblings or spouse or relatives start to dislike how much time you spend working in Allah's cause.

All this is going to happen, without a doubt. You will struggle in Allah's path, there is no way without it.

But does that mean you start arguing with your family and friends?

That's only natural! But Allah says beware. Do not spoil your streak of goodness by smearing it with anger and resentment.

Second part:

"We are most knowing of what they describe. "

This is so beautiful because Allah says that He knows what His slaves are struggling with. He doesn't say "Face It" instead He acknowledges our pain, that if no one appreciates it, He does.

When the Lord of the Worlds, for whose sake we are struggling knows what we are doing, then why do we need someone else to console us?

This is where the hard parts begins, because in the rush of the moment, in a hurry to please Allah, we do good deeds, strive in His path, work hard and get things done but after that we tend to talk about it in front of people about how much work we have done.

Or further, when we meet a lot of obstacles, we tend to lose it and say something out of character. A word of anger, a word of annoyance and that's sometimes the tiny catalyst that burns out all the good we had done.

So it's very important for us to guard our tongues when we work in Allah's path. Astagfirullah it shouldn't come off as if we're doing Allah a favour while He is Selfsufficient. All the good that we do, we do it for ourselves.

One wrong word and it can cost us all our hard earned deeds. That would be the greatest loss, May Allah save us!

This happens usually out of anger, when the last straw breaks, our tongues go out of our control and then no-one can take back the damage that is done.

Anger is from the incitements of Shaytan and when one goes on to work in Allah's cause, the efforts of Shaytan also increase, therefore it is important we stay alert but along with that, we need to seek refuge with Allah as well. That brings us to dua #5!

And what more, this dua immediately follows the above verse.

SubhanAllah. In 3 small verses, Allah has conveyed so much! Precisely placing the Verses in a way that encourages us to reflect and read in between the lines.

May Allah grant us the wisdom to understand His book and May He help us guard our tongues and make it easy for us when we set out to struggle in His path. Ameen !