Move On or Turn Back? (The Road to Righteousness)
by Shaheen Nawaz
Whenever I see someone in difficulties or suffering some crises in life, I want to remind them that Allah does not do things haphazardly or without any purpose. All He wants for us is success and more success!
Why Bad Things Happen to Good People
That is why sometimes great troubles are faced by his most beloved people— so that through their patience and perseverance Allah might raise their status in Paradise even more.
But how can we tell whether we are doing our best or not? Maybe on the outside we are good but there are some hidden sins which are only visible to Allah and He knows that if we persist in them then it will eat up all our goodness and deprive us of our place in Paradise.
When a problem comes we should ask forgiveness from Allah for all the sins we know we’ve done and even those we don’t know. And then we should also pray to Him to make us aware of our wrong ways so that we can put them right.
Taubah, or repentance, cannot be complete without correction, and correction can only be done through recognizing our errors.
Our Beloved Prophet (saws) said: The one who continuously asks forgiveness from Allah, then Allah will make a way out for him in all problems and will give him ease in all difficulties and will provide for him sustenance from where he could not even imagine. [Narrated by Abdullah bin Abbas]
To Sin is Inevitable, to Repent Essential
As humans we are prone to mistakes. To sin is inevitable, but Allah loves the sinner who takes account of his deeds and then repents sincerely and takes great care not to repeat his errors. Therefore to sin is not a problem in itself, but it becomes a serious problem when we start making excuses for ourselves and justify going against the wishes of Allah.
For example, two people could not wake up for fajr salah, yet when they did wake up, one of them is filled with guilt and a feeling of loss and tries to wash it away with wudhu and prays the compensatory salah, asking forgiveness from Allah and promising not to miss it ever again. Then he goes about his activities with a greater awareness of Allah, saying astaghfirullah whenever he remembers that he has not prayed on time because his heart is humbled by the realization of his own sin.
But the other person casually gets out of bed and replaces his guilt with excuses like oh I was so tired, I slept so late, my back hurts so much, or how could I get up so soon and then putting aside any further thought of what he has missed. He is taken over immediately by his worldly goals. He gets ready, has breakfast, and goes off to work, not even caring that He has sinned against the same lord who gave him this food and all the other luxuries of his life.
Who do you think will be more beloved in Allah’s eyes? It’s not that the first person will never sin again, but every time he makes a mistake he comes even more close to Allah and does even more good deeds to make up for his loss. How will anyone make up for the loss if they don’t even realize the loss?
Speed Bumps
Therefore it is by Allah’s extreme compassion and mercy that if the road we have taken in life does not lead us to success then He puts some speed-bump in the way or some other road-block in the form of an illness, financial crises, or other trials so that we slow down and read the huge sign posts warning us to turn back because this way leads to fire and destruction and a never ending torment.
But what happens most of the time? We just try to remove the obstruction so that we can move on with life, not caring about the clear warnings those signs telling us to take a u-turn.
Take That U-Turn!
As Allah warns us in the Quran: And surely we will make them taste the nearer/minor torment (of this world) besides the greater torment (of the hereafter) so that they might return. [Quran, 32:21]
May Allah enable us to turn back to the path that leads to success and happiness. Ameen.
Shaheen Nawaz is a housewife and mother of three. She blogs at theseekerspath.com where she wishes to spread the message of Allah to the world. Her writings are also being published by the Islam channel of helium.com, where she writes by the name of Umme Adil.
great article I am amazed that being a house wife u r doing such a great job ,I am really v inspired by u jazakallahu khair
Subhan’Allah!
subhan Allah!
subhanallah……..jazakallahu khair …
Jazakallah Khairun May Allah (swt) always be with you,subhanallah very helpful and encouraging.May we always do Istighfar .Ameen
Jezakellahu khair now it got to my head
all praise be to Allah azza wajal who surely wants the best for us all.I know what you are talking about I have experienced this time back.May Allah reward you.Very helpful.
Jazakallah for this inspiring article……. May allaha wash away all our sins this way and guide us to the straight path Ameen
JazakAllah khairan kaseeran to all the readers for the lovely comments. I pray that may Allah give me taufeeq to write consistently and to write what is most pleasing to Allah… ameen. You may visit my blog and share whatever you think is beneficial in spreading the message of Allah to the world.
Jazakallahu khaira …one of my best articles in my life …touches my soul …
I am a regular follower of your blog and as always you have highlighted some very important points for our guidance. jazak Allahoo Khayr and keep writing.
Mash Allah, inspirational writing, jazakallahu Khair
i really like and love the article most
If these articles can also be produced in Urdu so the people who do not know English (as most people of sun-continent do) will able to understand.
Alhamdulillah for these great articles and reminders for they keep us focussed and ponder. Jazaakallah khair.
Thanks for the article. This is a topic that have confused me for some time. The difficulties that we encounter can be a sign to turn back but Allah also mentions in the Quran that He will test the believers with difficulties. So, I’m often confused whether the difficulty is to turn back or to test my belief to stick to the right path. Here I might also add that in many cases distinguishing right from wrong is rather difficult and I sincerely don’t know if what I’m doing is right or wrong. Any help on how to resolve this would be appreciated.
supplication for the distressed
اللَّهُمَّ رَحْمَتَكَ أَرْجُو فَلَا تَكِلْنِي إِلَى نَفْسِي طَرْفَةَ عَيْنٍ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي شَأْنِي كُلَّهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَا أَنْتَ
Allahumma rahmataka arju fala takilni ila nafsi tarfata ‘aynin wa aslih li sha’ni kullahu la ilaha ila anta
O Allah, it is Your mercy that I hope for, so do not leave me in charge of my affairs even for a blink of an eye, and rectify for me all of my affairs. None has the right to be worshiped except You.
http://www.makedua.com/display_dua.php?sectionid=35
Dear Khansa, Assalamualaikum w r b
Yes I understand what you are talking about. Surely Allah has mentioned that He (SWT) is going to test us all with loss of things to make us alert and aware of the purpose of life. Like in any wordly exams we first analyse the question and then solve it. Similarly when we face problems in our lives we must analyse our way of life and see whether we are going on the right track or not. It is a believers lifetime duty to keep checking his errors and correct them. And definitely to know the difference between right and wrong we need the knowledge of Quran and Hadith. Allah (SWT) would not have tested us if He had not told us about right and wrong. But we have to do our part by seeking this knowledge and applying it in our lives.
Hope this helps. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. you can also contact me on email help.guidance@gmail.com
May Allah help us all to find the truth and stick to it… ameen