Class 1-Goals of a Muslim

Class 1
‘Goals of a Muslim’

Islam is the final religion, and one of the most important characteristics of this religion is that it is a religion that regulates all aspects of life. Islam is the religion of this world and the Hereafter. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Say (O Muhammad): Verily, my Salaah (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allaah, the Lord of the ‘Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists)” [al-An’aam 6:162]

In our du’aa’s we Muslims frequently say,

  رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ RABBANAA ATINA FID-DUNIYA HASANTAN WA FIL ÁKHIRATI HASANTAN WAQINA ÁDHABAN-NAR   “Our Lord, give us in this world that which is good and in the Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire” (al-Baqarah 2:201).   

This is the complete, perfect and comprehensive religion of Allaah, which combines the rights of Allaah and the rights of people, and explains matters of this world and matters of the Hereafter.

Islam does not ask for us to live in isolation, to cut ourselves off from society, or to completely deprive ourselves of what Allah Ta’ala has made halaal (permissible). Our religion is not one of extremes – we shouldn’t be excessive in our eating, we eat to sustain ourselves; we shouldn’t be excessive in our spending, but we are not tight-fisted or miserly..

Islam is middle path, simple, and balanced. This Deen encompasses all the aspects of our life, including financial, social issues, political matters, health, spirituality, manners, and human rights. It’s a legislation that preserves the order of our life. Due to its moderation, it asks us to interconnect them both for our lives to be successful and worthy of Paradise.

There’s no Dunya without Deen, and there’s no Deen without Dunya. They’re inseparable. They’re attached like your body and soul; the Dunya being the body and the Deen being your soul.

The key is to always have akhirah on top of our mind and list of priorities; we can (and should) have families, but they shouldn’t distract us from our Islamic duties; we can seek lawful means of living, but we leave and turn our back on it when prayer or Jum’uah comes. (Note: Keep in mind activities like working can turn into good deeds by changing our intentions to be independent and to provide for our families, etc. Now, we should know that we can get reward by putting food in your wife’s mouth. If you change your intention to please Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala, then you’ve unlocked the key to gaining good deeds through the daily acts you do).

So, just as a person dies when his soul leaves his body, a person metaphorically dies when his Deen and Dunya separate. That’s why those who think they should focus on Deen alone if they want the Akhira, and those who are absorbed in Dunya and are too busy to improve their Deen because they’re taking care of their worldly needs, have got it all wrong and don’t truly understand the reason of their existence.

Even your Dunya matters can be rewarded in Deen if you make your intention to serve Allah (swt) with it. Let’s say you’re a student. You’ll be regularly busy studying lectures, doing projects, preparing for exams, researching to increase your knowledge, and that sort of stuff. Hence, you have minimal time for developing your Deen a bit more. But, if you intend to do that for the sake of Allah (swt), you’ll be rewarded for that in shaa Allah. So, take the decision that you’re going to accomplish your studies and attain higher education in order to benefit muslims in specific, and humanity in general, and you will be rewarded for that intention in shaa Allah. And if you’re a mother, you’ll also be able to get rewarded for your duties if you seek Allah’s pleasure with them. Teaching your kids, cleaning your house, cooking for your husband and children, taking care of certain errands, and other responsibilities, can all be rewarded by Allah (swt) even if you think they they’re not Deen related.

LIFE AND GOALS OF A MUSLIM

Peace of mind, contentment, happiness and freedom from worries and anxiety… these are what everyone wants, and these are the ways in which people can have a good life and find complete happiness and joy.

Now if we ask anyone how do we achieve that, the common answer would be to have financial security and a good family to go back to, what they miss out on is the religious part and hence we see that the western world although having so much of wealth and their so called freedom suffer the most from stress, anxiety and depression. There are religious means of achieving this, and natural and practical means, but no one can combine all of them except the believers; although other people may achieve some of them, they will miss out on others. And so it is the religious aspect that needs to be added to this to make it a complete package which gives the required effect.

There is a similar pattern in setting goals for their lives for every human being (whether Muslim or not), that is to study while they are young so that they can earn their provisions. But as a Muslim there is one goal on top of both of these, which is to prepare for the Aakhirah and for that we need to perform Deeds to please our Lord, Allah S.W.T. This is what gives us complete peace of mind, contentment, happiness and freedom from worries.

There is one Dua that the Prophet ﷺ which covers all these aspect, he used to recite this in his Adhkar every morning and evening

اَللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْأَلُكَ عِلْمًا نَافِعًا , وَ رِزْقًا طَيَّبًا , وَ عَمَلاً مُتَقَبَّلاً                                                                                       ALLAHUMMA INNI ASÁLUKA ÍLMAN NAAFIÁN WA RIZQAN TAYYIBAN WA ÁMALAN MUTAQABBALAN
O Allah! I ask You for knowledge that is of benefit, a good provision and deeds that will be accepted.

SubhaanAllah what a comprehensive dua, verily in the Prophet ﷺ is the perfect role model. The dua covers all the goals of a Muslim: –

1. Knowledge that is of Benefit, the best knowledge is that of the deen, but the worldly knowledge can also be beneficial depending on the intention.
2. Good Provision, how many times do we see that people have money, have a good looking family but internally they are all broken, whether that is because of lack of respect or connection with in the family, they despise each other and hence even having all the provisions is of no good, so it is a blessing from Allah to have a healthy and happy family along with enough money to survive nicely.
3. Deeds that will be accepted, in today’s age of Fitnah, we see people doing deeds thinking they are going to get great rewards for it, but in fact they perform acts of Shirk or bidah which are all rejected, so it is of utmost that we perform deeds that are accepted by Allah and verily the Hidayat to do so is only from Allah.

In this course we will study about each of these three aspects i.e. Knowledge that is of Benefit – its virtues, the etiquette to gain it, its rights and working on increasing it, Good Provision – the blessings and tests, our duties towards it and how to increase provisions, about Deeds that will be accepted – the conditions of deeds being accepted or rejected, day to day sunnahs, deeds that can lead one to Jannah and finally how we can try and balance the Deen & Duniya.