Got the Dunya. What About the Deen?



In Surah An Najm, Allah says

So turn away from whoever turns his back on Our message and desires not except the worldly life.


That is their sum of knowledge. Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who strays from His way, and He is most knowing of who is guided.

It is often worldly knowledge and achievements that give us honor, status, and prestige in the community. We become people of influence who make decisions. We are sought after for advice and financial support. This situation might be a trap if we are not careful. We may become complacent about our shortcomings and deficiencies. When we "make it" in the world, it does not mean that we know everything there is to know. It does not give us a license to become an authority in every subject.

This is especially true for the deen. People who have expertise in the dunya, as well as the deen, are exceedingly rare. There are many fields of study in which they ask us to leave the deen at the lecture room door. It is advisable to not enter such classroom or if we do we take our deen with us. Many "successful" people make it after compromising on their deen in some part of their journey which they may try to make up later. 

The fact that we do not understand a concept based on our religion and in fact see it as false, does not necessarily make it false, even if we are an authority in our non-Islamic career. Our expertise in medicine, law, or technology does not give us a carte blanche to make judgments on religion. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Divine Favors

Image
Busy with work... Busy with studies... Busy with family... We keep moving like clockwork from one task to the next, never pausing to sit down and reflect on higher issues that really matter. Just why am I doing what I am doing? What meaning will it give me in my life? How will that cause me to develop holistically? Try to stop and think about the significance of so many phenomena that are transpiring around you. It is a large jigsaw puzzle that we need to put together around our striving to understand our struggle in the proper context on the bigger canvas, Without attempting to do so, it is easy to stress out, living lives lacking meaning and wisdom.  If we realize that we worship Ar-Rahman -- the Most Merciful -- we will understand that whatever situation He puts us in, it is best for us. Regardless, if we lose that job, lose our spouse, or suffer financial loss, it is meant to be the best for us. Alhamdulillah ala kulli haal . There are no whys in life, there is only acceptin...
Read more

Rizq min Allah

Image
  Whatever is to be given to us / held back from us has already been preordained in the skies. When we used to visit Pakistan in summer vacations, our paternal aunt was very fond of bathing in the monsoon rain showers. We used to wait for the heavens to pour down the blessings so that we me become wet in the privacy of our courtyard. Indeed, the skies open up with blessings that are a source of our joy, sustenance and growth for mankind.  Prophet Ayob (AS) was sent a swarm of locusts, from Allah, made of gold when he recovered from his illness, which he eagerly collected as wealth. Allah asked him about this eagerness and he replied that should be not gather all the bounty from his Lord eagerly? In Abu Dhabi, I moved away from the department I had worked in for 8 years, but was officially tied to them. The next year, I received a salary increment due to my performance at the new position. The old department manager called me to his office and told me "Rizq min Allah" (provisi...
Read more