Protecting Faith In The Age of Denigrating Faith
By
Kaniz Fatma, New Age Islam
12 July
2023
For A Muslim,
Islam Is The Greatest Gift And Most Valuable Blessing
Main
Points
1. Each Muslim
is responsible for protecting his or her faith.
2. Muslims
should not be hopeless about their sins; they must repent and seek forgiveness
while holding on to their faith.
3. The
Prophet's companions safeguarded their faith at a very trying time.
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Islam is
the greatest gift and most precious possession in the world for a Muslim. It is
necessary for both worldly and eternal success. This faith relates to honour
and glory on the earth, as well as comfort and tranquilly in eternal life in
the Hereafter and freedom from unfathomable punishment. The Quran and Hadith
make it clear that those who died with their faith intact and upheld Islamic
beliefs are successful.
According
to Islamic studies, Muslims who have committed major sins shouldn't feel
hopeless about them because, despite the fact that they may briefly inhabit
hell, they will eventually be let out and allowed to reach heaven, where they
will spend all of eternity. However, Allah will pardon their faults if they
repent in this world. As a result, one should never compromise their beliefs.
Muslims should be concerned about protecting their faith and beliefs and hold
on to it no matter what the circumstances, whether they are favourable or
unfavourable, happy or unhappy, poor or in good health.
Allah
commanded His servants to live and die in line with their beliefs in the Holy
Qur'an.
“O
believers! Be mindful of Allah in the way He deserves, and do not die except in
a state of being Muslims” (3:102)
Allah is in
charge of everything, including life and death, honour and shame, wealth and
poverty. The belief that Allah is the only God should guide all of our actions.
A Muslim must live by this belief and die by it.
In order to
protect a small blessing, we guard and care for it day and night. Even if our
slippers have no status or value, we care about them when going to the mosque
or anywhere else. We also secure our home and automobile. Can you imagine how
much a Muslim needs to care about and consider his faith when there is so much
concern about such an unimportant matter in the world?
The Holy
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has informed about some
temptations in various hadiths and has warned the Muslims to protect their
faith from them.
Abu Hurairah
(may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him)
said: "Hasten to good deeds before being overtaken by tribulations that
are like parts of the dark night. A man would be a believer in the morning and
turn to a disbeliever in the evening, or he would be a believer in the evening
and turn to a disbeliever in the morning. He sells his religion for worldly
gain.” (Sahih Muslim)
This Hadith
encourages performing good deeds prior to being forcibly stopped from doing so.
There will be trials that are as dark as night, and no one will be able to see
the light of the truth through them. As a result, one will change from a
believer to a nonbeliever as the hours of the day and night change, selling his
religion in exchange for anything materialistic, such as money, power, women,
or another benefit. Some will begin to attribute their sicknesses, food
shortages, and other issues to God, and they'll say things that will cause
others to lose faith. Others will become dissatisfied with their Lord and their
religion as a result of the many challenges. People will treat their faith with
such carelessness that its importance will vanish from their hearts.
It appears
that the Prophet (peace be upon him) has instructed his Ummah to maintain their
faith in all circumstances, to put up with some difficulty in this life, and of
course to keep the Hereafter in mind. This is a key time for them to remain
alert and watchful. Faith is unbeatable. The treasure of faith is more
important than everything in this world. Even the treasure of Qarun
cannot compete with the treasure in the form of the faith of Islam.
Although it
is certain that the temptations and situations that the Holy Prophet (PBUH)
forewarned about must have happened in the past and will happen in the future
as well, it can be said with certainty given the current circumstances that
this era is also a real example of them, and this Hadith fits perfectly with
the current situation. Some imaginary officials believe that Muslims and Islam
are losing ground. Some ruffians are actively working to eradicate Muslims,
mistreat them, demean them, and remove their links to Islamic values. False
concept propagandists want Muslims to forget their identity and their faith in
order to deprive them of it and future generations.
There are
seemingly continual attempts to destroy Muslims and Islam. The protection of Muslims'
nationality, trade, employment, economy, wealth, and honour is a problem. The
biggest issue facing Muslim religious people is how to safeguard both their own
and future generations' religious beliefs. If we desire to leave this world
with faith, live a better and happier life beyond death, and be able to
confront our Lord and loving Master (peace be upon him), we must decide to
defend our religion and the faith of our children at any costs. For faith, we
are willing to forgo life, fortune, honour, and a thousand other benefits of
this world, but we will not permit faith to be exchanged.
We must be
aware that the Prophet's companions safeguarded their faith at a very trying
time. They had to endure harsh and unfriendly weather while being persecuted and
subjected to a mound of suffering that made them sob. They remained steadfast
in their beliefs and gave up everything, and when they arrived in Madinah, they
were still persecuted. Until their last breath, they upheld Islamic principles.
These are the most prosperous and fortunate individuals, for whom Allah
revealed Paradise in the Quran.
Saints,
Sufis, and righteous people still praise and recount how the holy companions
had a high position and a firm belief. Their faith was untarnished by terrible
treatment or excruciating suffering, so no amount of worldly avarice or power
here could shake it. I wish we had taken some advice from them on how to guard
our beliefs.
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Kaniz Fatma is a classic Islamic scholar and a
regular columnist for New Age Islam.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-society/faith-age-denigrating-faith/d/130194