Why were we Created?

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Not just Muslims, but every single human being has to answer the most fundamental question at some point in his or her lifetime: "Why was I created? Why am I here? What am I doing in this world? Why did God create me?"
These questions are questions which each and everyone of us reflects on at some point during their life. We have some answers, which are given generally but usually these answers don't satisfy us - seeming somewhat simplistic. So, we still wonder: "Why me? Why here?". I know all of you (Muslims), are saying, "To worship Allah, khallas (finish). What more is there to say? Why do we need to have a big long talk on why we were created when we all know it is to worship Allah?!"
But wait. If this is presented to a non-Muslim, the next logical question would be, "Why does Allah want us to worship Him?" Then your stuck, which can only mean that in our own minds it is not really clear. Why did Allah create us to worship Him?
Addressing the question, "Why did Allah create us?", we have to understand how to deal with those people we live with (in the West). Those who don't consider there to be any purpose in man's creation, firmly believing that they are just a product of evolution and that the forces of nature. Just as we don't have apes, dogs or cows thinking about why they are here, then we also don't have to think about it either. Following from this belief being the basis of the philosophy of Western society (that man is without purpose), the whole issue of government, morality, etc. has no basis for them in Revelation. The product of this attitude is, of course, the corruption that we are living in.
When a Muslim addresses this topic, we have to find our understanding from Divine Revelation and not human speculation. Because human speculation has no bounds; we can imagine all kinds of things and if any of you has studied philosophy of religion, you will know how many opinions there are about the creation of man and existence. Because of the variety of philosophies which are out there, no one can say this one is correct or that one is incorrect, because there is no guidance behind it. No Divine Revelation. It is only from Divine Revelation that we can determine the reality of our creation, because it is Allah who has created us and so He knows the purpose of our creation. We can hardly understand it ourselves, much less trying to understand the essence of things. So it is for Allah to inform us through the revelation in the Qur'an and the Sunnah (the Prophetic traditions) which were brought to us by His Last Messenger and the Messengers before him.
Now if we are to look initially into revelation, to determine why was man created, there is a deeper question that we should be asking before that: "Why did God create?". This before we even get to man because man is not the greatest act of creation. Allah says:

"The creation of the Heavens and the Earth is indeed greater then the creation of mankind; yet, most of mankind know not." [Surah Ghafir, verse 57]

Man is not the greatest act of creation, this universe is far more complex and far more magnificent than man. So the issue of creation should then go to, "Why did God create?", as opposed to simply, "Why create man?".
Fundamentally, we can say that the creation is the natural consequence of the attribute of creator. Allah is the creator. That is one of his attributes. That is what he has informed us. That being his attribute, the creator, the natural consequence or the product of this attribute is his creation.
A painter, if we are to draw a similitude on a lower level, who tells you that he is a painter, if you ask him where are his paintings and he replies I don’t have any. What kind of painter is this? The concept of a painter who doesn’t paint, there is some thing not quite gelling together here, of course Allah is beyond this. But if we are to understand on the simplest level, the two go together. The perfection of a painter lies in his paintings. His quality and his ability to paint, is manifest in his paintings. And Allah, beyond all that, as creator, this quality of creation is manifest in the creation itself. Allah didn’t create out of a need. No, the fact that he is the creator, is manifest in the creation.
Furthermore, consider the act of creation, this act, with regards to Allah is unique. Though we use the term i.e. So and so created a table etc, actually it is in a limited sense. Human beings don’t really create, they manipulate, because they can only "create" what already exists. When we make a chair or a table, we didn’t create the wood, we had to take it from a tree, we didn’t create the metal, which makes the screws etc, we had to melt down rocks and take the metal out. So we are not creating from nothing. We are manipulating things which Allah has already created in to different shapes and forms which are useful to us. We call it "creation" but the real act of creation, is creation from nothing, and this is unique to Allah alone.
This is a concept, which many people in ignorance, because they couldn’t grasp the idea of creation from nothingness, it lead them to conclude that the world is Allah. Those who say "inside of each and every atom is Allah." And you have people, who call themselves Muslims saying this. Non-Muslims have said this before and there are Muslims who claim this. That Allah is inside each and everything, because Allah is the reality and everything else is fake in their interpretation. That means then, that the creation is Allah, and Allah is the creation. Very, very dangerous concept, which leads some of those who make this claim to say that you don’t have to worship outside of yourself. Ibn Arabi, was famous for this statement, he is considered to be one of the saints, amongst the so called Sufi religion. Ibn Arabi said "There is no need to worship one outside yourself, you are Allah. It is sufficient to worship yourself." This is Shirk.
This concept of Allah being within his creation, no distinction the creation and Allah, it leads them to this shirk. Because they are unable to accept the uniqueness of Allah’s creation, they compare the act of creation by Allah to human creation. That is, just as we manipulate, Allah took pieces of himself and made the earth and the universe. Others will say that all human beings have inside of themselves Allah, that there is a part of Allah inside each and everyone of us. The whole essence, the purpose of life is for us to realize that we have part of Allah inside of ourselves, remove the material blocks which keep us from Allah and again become one with Allah in what they call "fana". This is again a teaching of the Sufi religion.
Becoming one with Allah, returning back to Allah in this sense. But this is in fact part of the teachings of shirk. Shaytan (Satan) has deluded man into this imagination. It is part of the belief of the Hindus. Nirvana, the concept that when you die, you are reborn again, and you move up in stages, each time, if you are a good boy or good girl, you go up higher and higher, until you get to the top. You know you have reached the peak, because when you die the next time you become one with the universal soul, Nirvana. That is the end of rebirth. So your whole purpose is to return and become one with God again. This is all, as I said, a product of the inability to understand the concept of creation from nothingness, which is unique to Allah. Allah says:

"There is nothing like him, and he is the hearer and seer of all."

So when we try to interpret Allah’s creation like the way we create, then we have made Him like his creation and it leads us ultimately to those aspects of shirk which I have mentioned. This is quite common amongst the Muslim world today, because when you look into the various branches of the Sufi religion, where they have prescribed various acts of purification, they call it dhikr, exercises to torture the body through spinning and dancing. What is the purpose of this? They will tell you, to liberate the soul from this earthly body and to achieve that state of "fana" or "itihad", a variety of names they have for it.
It is this concept, which lead al-Hallaj, many centuries ago, when he was promoting this idea, and he was put before a panel of judges questioning these concepts, which he was expressing. When they asked him to recant, to take this stuff back, he stood up, opened up his cloak and said "There is nothing inside this cloak except Allah". So they executed him. And of course, those in the Sufi religion, they have stories that when they cut his head off, it rolled around saying "Allah, Allah, Allahu Akbar etc". It might have, that is Shaytan may have entered and said these things, as happened with the calf of the Isrealites, when the Prophet Musa (Moses) let Egypt and the people, after crossing the red sea, had a desire to have a god that they could see, so they made a golden calf which they began to worship. This calf was saying "moo" like the calves do. This is what convinced them that this was the real thing. We know it wasn’t the calf saying this. The evil jinn can enter the in to physical entities, make sounds and give these impressions. So there is no problem for us to say ok, maybe when they cut of al-Hallaj’s head that it said these things, because this was part of a test. If we are clear in terms of creator and creation, this is no problem for us.

Allah is the creator and everything besides Him is His creation, which He created from nothing. It is not Him, nor is He it. This is the pure concept as taught by the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam, his companions, and the early generations of righteous scholars, the students of the companions and those who came after them. The best of generations. That is how they understood this matter. There was no confusion in their minds. It wasn’t until Islam spread to areas like Egypt, India and Persia, areas where the Christians had already gotten into deep philosophies, trying to explain how Jesus was a man and god at the same time. When they came in to Islam they brought it with them. This is the reality. It is not something we should necessarily condemn them for or feel is unusual. It is natural, when a person reverts to Islam, that they will carry with them what they believed before. What has been clarified for them, of the basic principles, they accept, and they reject things, which obviously contradict. But it doesn’t mean that every last thought that they have, and everything that was wrong in their philosophies, ideology and concepts will be erased. They will carry these things in with them. This is why in the later part of the Prophet's sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam life, prior to his death, when he was coming back from one of the battles, his companions asked him to set aside a tree for them, that they could hang their weapons on, like the way the pagans would hang their weapons on trees, believing that when they hung the weapons, it became super-powerful, as if some power was coming from the tree, that their shields would now block steel and their swords would cut through the enemy. Some of the companions who had newly accepted Islam, asked the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam to designate one for them, a special one, an Islamic one. They understood that what the pagans had, this was wrong. These were the companions of the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam and he had to clarify it for them. He said: You are like the companions of Musa who asked to have the calf built. And he clarified for them that all of this is shirk and there is no place for it in Islam. So if it could happen to some of the companions, then we cannot blame the generations who have come after them, who come into Islam and carry with them some of their old ideas. What it is for us to do is to clarify.

So what we have in front of us then, is that Allah created this universe out of nothing, and everything that is in it was created. For example:

"Allah created all things, and he is the agent, upon which, all things depend." [Surah 39, verse 62]

This is the reality. This is stressed for us, in order for us to realize that ultimately, all good, all evil, that takes place in the world, only takes place by the permission of Allah. Therefore we should not seek any other channels to protect ourselves from evil, or to gather for ourselves good, as people commonly do today. They will go to fortunetellers, this is big business today, all the magazines have various forms of fortunetellers like dial a horoscope etc. in a society that has lost touch with Allah, this is what is open to them. Allah has stressed for us that no calamity will befall us except by Allah’s permission;
"Nothing is taking place in this world except by the permission of Allah."
And the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam further emphasized this principle by saying;

"If the whole of mankind gathered to do some thing to help us, they could not help in anything which Allah had not already written for us. And if the whole of mankind gathered together to harm us, then they would not be able to harm with anything which Allah had not already written for us."

Therefore what is required of us is to depend on Allah, put our trust in Allah. This is what we have to draw out of this attribute of Allah being the creator. This creation exists because of that attribute. Its practical significance to us lies in putting our trust in Allah.
There is another aspect, besides the fact that the creation exists because Allah is the creator. We can also see from what the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam has informed us, that in the creation there is manifestation of Allah’s attributes of mercy, forgiveness, kindness etc etc. Allah created man in paradise, they disobeyed Allah, but Allah had taught them how to repent, how to turn back to him and seek his forgiveness, then he would forgive them. Having done that, they were forgiven, Adam became the first prophet, and mankind was absolved of that sin. The story of Adam and Eve is the story of human existence. Human beings are given a consciousness of Allah. When Allah created all human beings, as he states in the Qur'an, he took from Adam (Adam) all of his descendents, and made them all bear witness that Allah is their Lord. So we are all born with that consciousness. He has also given us a consciousness of what is right and what is wrong.
"We have inspired each and every soul to an awareness of corruption and righteousness."
Allah gave revelation through his commandments, not to eat of the tree. However, human beings forget. And when they forget Allah then they fall into sin. We can absolve ourselves of that sin by means of repentance, and Allah forgives us when we repent sincerely. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said;

"The one who repents is like the one without sin." "If you did not commit sins and turn to Allah seeking his forgiveness, then he would replace you with another people who would sin, ask Allah’s forgiveness and he would forgive them."

So in our sinning and asking Allah’s forgiveness, the attribute of Allah’s mercy and forgiveness becomes manifest. Allah knew what we were going to do before he created us, he knew that he was creating a species who would sin. If he didn’t wan t them to sin, if it was not his intention to permit them to sin, then he could have created angels, more angels. But the had already created angels, so he chose to create a being, that would disobey his commandments through forgetfulness or just simple disobedience, but would turn back to him in repentance, and his attribute of forgiveness would become manifest. Similarly, his mercy;
The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam is quoted as saying that when Allah created the universe, He made an obligation on Himself, recorded in a document, kept by Him, that "My mercy precedes my wrath." He sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam also was reported as saying;

"Allah created mercy with a hundred parts. One of which was sent down upon the jinn and human beings and other living creatures. It is out of this one part that they love each other, show kindness to one another, and even the animals treat their offspring with affection. Allah has reserved the remaining ninety-nine parts for his true worshippers on the Day of Judgment."

This is the mercy of Allah manifest in his creation. What is also manifest in creation, in the act of creation, the creation of man, is his attribute of justice, fairness, which comes out as the judgment at the end of this world. I am sure we have all read the ahadith in which the Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:

"Allah created some people for hell and some people for paradise."

For allot of people, this is something very heavy. And the companions, they asked the prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam then what is the point in doing good deeds? If Allah created some for heaven and some for hell then what is the pin in doing anything? It has already been decided. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said:
"Each one of you will find it easy to do what he was created for." So if you choose the evil way, you find it easy and you carry on in that way, then that was what you were created for. But ultimately it is your choice. You choose hell. The fact hat Allah has recorded, before anything was created, who would be in hell and who would be in heaven does not change the fact that it is we who choose. The judgment is only to manifest to those who go to hell, that they deserve to be in hell. It is only for them basically. Because if Allah created you, and put you in paradise, with all that is in paradise, and you see those people in hell suffering, are you going to ask Allah, why did you put me in paradise? No. your going to say "all praise be to Allah!" you don’t want to question or to wonder, all you will be is ecstatic that you are of those in paradise. So the judgment is not for you, it is for those who are going to hell. If you happen to be amongst those who were created for and put in hell, you would say, why me? Why did you put me in hell? And Allah would say; because you would have done so and so in your life. But you would say; no, no I wouldn’t. If you give me a chance I would do good deeds. You would not give up arguing. So Allah has allowed us to live out our lives. So when we stand before him, our book of deeds is spread before us, we know without a shadow of a doubt, that we chose hell. That Allah’s judgment is just. There is no injustice in it, in any way shape or form. Allah says he oppresses no one. We will know that we chose hell. And the only thing that remains for us, and I pray that it is not in fact us, who are going to hell, is to beg Allah for another chance. Allah says;

"If you could only see when the sinners will bow their heads before their lord, saying; O Lord, we have now seen and heard, so send us back and we will do righteous deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty."

This is the only response, which will be left for them. Or as Allah said;

"And those whose light scales of good deeds, they ruined themselves and they will be in hell eternally. The fire will burn their faces, and they will grin with disfigured lips, I will say to them; Were My Verses not recited to you, and you rejected them? They will reply; Our Lord, our misery overcame us and we were a people astray. Our Lord, bring us out of this, and if we ever return we will truly be unjust."

When we die, there remains behind us a barrier, the Barzakh, none of us will come back, it is a one-way ticket. Those poor individuals who think they will get another chance, this is the new age religion, they think it is new, but it is just plain old Hindu delusion, that when you die, you get another chance to come back again. The effects of this actually, among Hindus, where I am in the UAE, there are a lot of Hindus here, everyday in the news paper you read about a Hindu man or woman who ties a rope to a ceiling fan, which is found in many of the homes, put it around their neck, kicked away the chair and passed out of this world. Suicide is common amongst them. Why? Because they think they have another chance. It will be a rude awakening for them when they meet the angel of death and find themselves in the next life, realizing that there is no coming back. In the creation of man is manifest the grace of Allah. This is a particular point which all of us should reflect on and be thankful to Allah for. His grace, and Christians, they like to refer to us Muslims as those who don’t believe in the grace of God, we are those who look at God’s judgment and it is just about deeds, you do good then you go to heaven, you do bad and you go to hell, that is it, no grace there at all. For them the grace of God is there for all those who accept that he became a man, and was crucified by man, to provide salvation for human beings who’s sins had become so great that they could not remove that sin through any act themselves. So it was with the spilling of the "Blood of God" that we could be absolved of our sins. For them, if you accept that God spilt his blood for mankind’s salvation, then you have earned the grace of God. Does not matter what you do as long as you have accepted this belief in the grace of God. Muslims also believe in the grace of God. Actually it plays a major and significant role. Often it is not stressed but it is important for us to realize how the grace of Allah is manifest in our creation. The Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said;

"Observe moderation, but if you fail, try to do as much as you can moderately and be happy. For none of you will enter Paradise only because of his deeds." Of course when the companions heard that they said; "O messenger of Allah, not even you? And the prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam said, not even me. Were it not that Allah wrapped me in his mercy. And bear in mind that the deed most loved by Allah is one done constantly even if it is small"

What does this mean? It means that God’s grace is manifest in our lives in that were He to call us to account, one good deed, one evil deed, equal to each other, then we would not enter paradise, not even the prophets of Allah. But Allah through his grace and mercy has multiplied the value of the good deeds. Allah says;

"Whoever brings a good deed, shall the value of ten like it. And whoever brings an evil deed will be punished with one like it. And they will not be wronged."

[Surah Al-'Imran, verse 160] This is Allah’s grace. Good deeds erase evil deeds. One good deed will erase at least ten evil deeds. Allah’s grace is not arbitrary, simply because you say I believe you have his grace, no matter what you do, no. The more good you do, the more of his grace is manifest in you. If you chose evil and reject the good, then you don’t receive His grace, it doesn’t matter what you say. If you say, I am a Muslim, I believe, but really you don’t believe, it is just some words you are saying, them you will not be subject to the grace of Allah. So the creation is a manifestation of Allah’s attribute of being the creator. In the creation of man within the scheme of things, there is manifest Allah’s attribute of mercy, his attribute of justice and this is the reason for the creation of man from the point of view of Allah. From human perspective, why did God create man in terms of for what purpose? Then this is the one we all know and are familiar with;

"We did not create the jinn and men except to worship us" [Surah adh-Dhariyyat, verse 56)

So relative to Allah, we were created in a means or a way in which Allah has chosen to manifest his attributes of creation, mercy, grace etc and he could have chosen another one. But relative to us as human beings, we know that our purpose is to worship Allah. As we said, Allah does not need our worship, a Allah didn’t need to create. When he created us to worship him, he didn’t create us, out of a need for our worship, because Allah has no needs. In a famous hadith qudsi in which Allah says; If all of you, jinn and mankind, were to worship like the most righteous amongst you, it would not increase the dominion of Allah in any way shape or form. And if all of us, jinn and mankind ... Therefore when we look for the purpose of worship, we have to look into man. Allah created us to worship him, because we need to worship him. It is something he has given us as a means of benefiting ourselves. We are the ones who benefit from it. Worship has been established, fundamentally for the growth, the spiritual growth of man. This growth takes place through the remembrance of Allah. When you look at all the different aspects of worship, you will see the core of it is focused on the remembrance of Allah. "Establish the prayer for My remembrance." This is the essence for the consciousness of God. Allah says that he has: "…prescribed for us fasting, as he prescribed it for those before us, so that we may fear him." Worship is there for us to remember Allah. And it is in the remembrance of Allah, that we achieve that consciousness. Because it is when we forget Allah, that Shaytan causes us to disobey Allah and fall into sin. So it is only in His remembrance that we can attain salvation. All of the various acts of worship from saying "Bismillah" when we eat is to help us remember Allah in order to grow spiritually. Allah has said that he has created us to test us, to see which of us is best in deeds. He is not testing us to know, in the sense that he doesn’t already know, but this world is a test for us in order again that we can grow spiritually. We cannot develop this spiritual characteristic of generosity unless some of us have more then others and then we are required to give of the wealth we have. When we give, we grow. Similarly, if we were not in a position where others had more then us then we wouldn’t have the ability to develop the higher spiritual quality of contentment, patience, satisfaction in what Allah has given us. So it is all there in order to bring out the higher spiritual qualities, which enable us to attain the state, which makes us suitable and eligible to return to paradise. The paradise from which we were created, we were created in paradise and for paradise. Through our choices we have left, in this life, a field of testing, where we can grow to a state where we deserve paradise. The purpose of this life is the worship of Allah, this life is a test. A test for us, will we worship Allah, or will we forget Him. This is where our focus has to begin.

The Difference Between the Creator and the Creation and the Concept of Fana’

Ibrahim and his believing family, i.e. the Prophets and those who believed in them, knew that there had to be a difference between the Creator and His creation, and between obedience and sin. The more the slave realises this difference, the more he increases in love and servitude towards Allâh, so he turns further away from worshipping, loving and obeying anything except Allâh. Those misguided mushrikin, on the other hand, view Allâh and His creation as equal. Ibrahim said:

“Do you then see whom you have been worshipping – you and your fathers before you? For they are enemies to me; not so the Lord and Cherisher of the Worlds.”[Sûrah Al Shu’ara: Ayah 75-77]

But they use as evidence the ambiguous words of their shaykhs, just as the Christians did the words of their priest.

An example of this is the concept of fana’ (extinction of individual consciousness, recedence of the ego, obliteration of the self). Fana’ is of three types:

The fana’ of the Prophets and awliya’ who have attained perfection.

The fana’ of the awliya’ and righteous people who are striving in the right direction even though they are not perfect.

The fana’ of the hypocrites and heretics who liken Allâh to his creation.

The first type of fana’ means the obliteration of the desire for anything except Allâh, so that a person does not love anyone or anything except Allâh, he does not worship anything except Him, he does not rely on anyone except Him, and he does not ask from anyone except Him. This is the sense, which should be understood from the words of Shaykh Abu Yazid:

I want not to want anything except what He wants what pleases the Beloved (i.e. Allâh)

This is what is meant by the religious will of Allâh. Perfection means that a man does not want, love or like anything except what Allâh wants, loves and likes, which is what He has commanded and made waajib or mustahabb. He only loves those whom Allâh loves, such as the angels, Prophets and righteous people. This is what is meant by their interpretation of the ayah:

But only he (will prosper) who brings to Allâh a sound heart. [Sûrah Al Shu’ara: Ayah 89]

They said: it is sound and safe from everything except being a slave to Allâh, or everything except wanting what Allâh wants, or everything except loving Allâh. The meaning is the same and whether it is called fana’ or not, it is the beginning and end of Islam, the focus of the entire religion.

The second type of fana’ is oblivion towards others, which is attained by many of those who follow the path, because their hearts are strongly attracted to remembering, worshipping and loving Allâh, and distracted from noticing anyone or anything else. Nothing crosses their minds except thoughts of Allâh; they are not even aware of anything else, as was said in the interpretation of the ayah:

But there came to be a void in the heart of the mother of Musa: she was going almost to disclose his (case), had We not strengthened her heart (with faith) … [Sûrah Al Qasas: Ayah 10]

They said: Her heart was oblivious to everything except thoughts of Musa, which is a kind of thing that often happens to those who are overwhelmed with some concern, whether it be love or hope or fear, the heart is distracted from everything except that which is loved or hoped fro or feared, so that it is unaware of anything else.

If this kind of fana’ overwhelms a person, his focus on Allâh becomes so intense that he is no longer aware of anything else, not his own existence or the dhikr he is doing, and everything diminishes in his senses, every created being, the person himself and everyone else, and there remains only the Lord. What is meant is that everything is diminished in a person’s perception, so that he no longer notices or remembers anything, and is quite oblivious to what is going on around him. If this feeling becomes so strong that the person becomes confuse and can no longer make proper distinctions, he may think that he is his beloved, as it was said that a man fell into the water, and the one who loved him himself in after him. The former said, “ I fell by accident: what made you fall?” and the later replied, “ I was so overwhelmed with love for you that I thought I was you.”

This idea has caused many people to stumble, so that they thought in terms of physical unity whereby there is no longer any difference between a person and the object of his love. This is incorrect, for the Creator cannot be united with anything at all. Indeed, nothing can be totally united with anything else without becoming something else altogether; the essence of two things is lost when they unite, and they become a third thing, neither this not that, as is the case when water and milk are mixed together, or water and wine, and so on. But what is loved and wanted by both becomes one, and what is hated and loathed by both becomes one, so they love and hate the same things. One loves what the other loves, hates what the other hates, befriends those whom the other befriends and takes as enemies those whom the other takes as enemies.

This kind of fana’ is far from perfect.

The greatest awliya’, like Abu Bakr and Umar, and the earliest muhaajireen and ansaar, let alone the Prophets who are above them in status, did not experience this kind of fana’. This emerged after the time of the Sahabah.

The Sahabah never experienced this type of fana’ or any loss of their faculties because of the strength of their eemaan in their hearts. The Sahabah, may Allâh be please with them, were too strong and firm in their faith to loos their minds in this fashion, or to experience any kind of swooning, loss of consciousness, intoxication, oblivion, rapture or ecstasy.

These things began to emerge at the time of the Tabi’in, among the worshippers of al-Basra, among whom were some who would swoon or even die when they heard the Qur'ân, such as Abu Juhayr al Darir and Zararah Ibn Awfa, the qadi (judge) of al-Basrah.

Some of the Sufi shaykhs experience a kind of oblivion and intoxication where they are unable to make proper distinctions, and when they are in this state, they may say words which, when they come round, they realise are wrong. Such stories are reported about (ascetics such as) Abu Yazid, Abu’l Hasan al-Nuri and Abu Bakr al-Shibli, and so on and so on, unlike Abu Sulayman al-Darini, Ma’ruf al-Karkhi, and Fudayl ibn Ayyad, let alone al-Junayd and so on, who remained of sound mind through out all their experiences and who never fell into states of oblivion or intoxication etc. those who have reached a level of perfection have nothing in their hearts except love for Allâh and the desire to worship Him alone. They have vast knowledge and proper discretion, so they see things as they really are, and they see that created beings exist only by the command of Allâh, and are controlled by Him, submitting to His will and turning to Him. This increases their faith and insight, and whatever they see of His creation supports and enhances the sincerity and submission of their worship of Him alone, with no partners or associates.

This is the reality to which the Qur'ân calls. This is the basis of the perfect faith of those who truly know Allâh, of whom our Prophet (saaw) is the leader and most perfect. Hence when he was taken up into the heavens (the mi’raj), and saw the signs and wanders that he saw, and received Revelation there, the next morning no trace of his experience could be seen on him, and he did not look any different, unlike Musa who had lost consciousness (when he spoke to Allâh). May the peace and blessings of Allâh be upon them both.

The third type, which may be called fana’, is where a person affirms that nothing exists except Allâh, and that the existence of the Creator and the existence of His creation are one and the same, so there is no difference between the Lord and the slave. This is the fana’ of misguided heretics who think that Allâh is part of the universe. This ides was disowned by the shaykhs, one of who said: “I do not see anything except Allâh” or “I do not look at anything except Allâh” and so on. What was meant by this was: I do not see any Lord except Allâh, or any Creator or Controller except Him, or any God except Him, and I do not look to anyone but Him with love and fear and hope. For the eye looks towards that to which the heart is attached.   Whoever loves a thing, or has hope in it or fears it, will turn towards it. If there is no love for it in the heart, or hope or fear or hatred, or any other emotion that ties the heart to it, then the heart will not turn deliberately towards it or look towards it. If it accidentally glances at it, it will be like a man who happens to glance at a wall or anything else that means nothing to him.

The righteous shaykhs, may Allâh be pleased with them, mentioned something about true Tawhid and sincere submission, whereby the slave does not turn to anything except Allâh and does not look to anything other then Him, whether in love, fear or hope; the heart is empty of every created being and does not look at them except with the light of Allâh.

So he hears with the truth, sees with the truth, strikes with the truth and walks with the truth. He loves that which Allâh loves and hates that which Allâh hates; he takes as friends those whom Allâh takes as friends, and regards as enemies those whom Allâh regards as enemies. He fears Allâh with regard to His creation, but he does not fear created beings with regard to his duties towards Allâh. He places his hope in Allâh with regard to His creation, but he does not place his hope in created beings with regard to his duties toward Allâh. This is the sound, believing Muslim heart, which has perfect faith in Allâh alone and truly understands the message of the Prophets and Messengers.

This third type of fana’, which believes that Allâh is what one can see (pantheism), is the idea, belief and “Tawhid” of the people of Pharaoh, and of other similar types such as the Qaramitah (“Karmathians”) and so on.

On the other hand, the kind of fana’ experienced by the followers of the Prophets is the praiseworthy kind of fana’, and the one who experiences it is one of those whom Allâh praised by calling them His pious friends (awliya’), successful supporter and victorious troops.

These shaykhs and righteous people did not mean “what I see of the created beings is the Lord of the heaven and earth.” No one would say such a thing except those who are totally misguided and corrupt, whether the fault is in their way of thinking or in their beliefs. Such people are in a state between madness and heresy.

All the trustworthy shaykhs agree with the consensus of the early generations and imams of this ummah, which is that the Creator, may He be glorified, is distinct from His creation; there is nothing of His essences in His creation, and nothing of His creation in His essence. It is essential to distinguish the Ancient and Eternal One Who has no beginning from the finite event of existence, and to distinguish the Creator from His creation. The shaykhs have said much more on this topic then we can discuss here.

They have spoken about the diseases and doubts that may affect people’s hearts and minds. Someone may see creation, and think that it is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, because he cannot distinguish between them in his mind. This is like the one who sees a ray of sunlight and imagines this to be the sun itself.

Does Quran Say "We & He" in Quran when referring to God (Allah)??

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This is a good question and one that Bible readers have also asked about. The term "We" in the Bible and in the Quran is the royal "We" - as an example when the king says, "We decree the following declaration, etc." or, "We are not amused." It does not indicate plural; rather it displays the highest position in the language. English, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic and many languages provide for the usage of "We" for the royal figure. It is helpful to note the same dignity is given to the person being spoken to in English. We say to someone, "You ARE my friend." Yet the person is only one person standing there. Why did we say "ARE" instead of "IS"? The noun "you" is singular and should therefore be associated with a singular verb for the state of being, yet we say, "are." The same is true for the speaker when referring to himself or herself. We say, "I am" and this is also in the royal plural, instead of saying, "I is."

When Allah uses the term "HE" in Quran it is similar to the above answer. The word "He" is used when referring to Allah out of respect, dignity and high status. It would be totally inappropriate to use the word "it" and would not convey the proper understanding of Allah being who Allah is; Alive, Compassionate, Forgiving, Patient, Loving, etc. It is not correct to associate the word "He" with gender, as this would be comparing Allah to the creation, something totally against the teaching of Quran.

Why Muslims Teaches To Cover Their Body "Burqa"?

\Bismillahir Rehmanir Raheem

Assalam Alaikum Wa Rehmath Ullahi Wa Barkatahu....

 

A Mufti Sat Next To a Reverend On A Flight.

The Rev Asked The Mufti:

 What is Your Occupation ????

 

Mufti:  I'm into Big Business

Reverend:  But What Business  Exactly ????

 

Mufti:  I Deal  With  Allah

 

Reverend:  So You're A Muslim Religious Leader.. I Have One Problem With You Muslims:

 You Oppress  Your  Women.

 

Mufti:  How Do  We  Oppress  Women ???

Reverend:  You Make Your Women  Cover Up Completely  And  You  Keep  Them in  The  Homes.

 

Mufti: I Have A  Problem  With  You  People:  You  Oppress MONEY.

Rev:  What ????  How  Can  One  Oppress  Money ?????

 

Mufti: You Keep Your Money Hidden Away,

in  Wallets,  Banks  And  Safes.

You Keep It  Covered Up.

 Why  Don't  You  Display  It  In  Public  If  It's  A  Beautiful  Thing

Rev:  It  Will  Get  Stolen, Obviously.

 

Mufti:  You  Keep  Your  Money  Hidden  Because  It  Is  So  Valuable.

We  Value  The  True  Worth  Of Women Far,  Far More.

 Therefore,  These  Precious Jewels  Are  Not  On  Display  To  One  And  All.

They  Are  Kept  In  Honour  And  Dignity.

 

Thanks Allah You Makes Us Muslims

 

Please 'O' sister save yourself and save our

name. 

Knowledge in Islam

Question: To what extent is Islam concerned with knowledge?
Answer: Praise be to Allaah.
Allaah created man and provided him with the tools for acqruiring knowledge, namely hearing, sigh tand wisdom. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And Allâh has brought you out from the wombs of your mothers while you know nothing. And He gave you hearing, sight, and hearts that you might give thanks (to Allâh)" [al-Nahl 16:78]
Islam is the religion of knowledge. The first aayah of the Qur’aan to be revealed enjoined reading which is the key to knowledge. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Read! In the Name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists).
He has created man from a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood).
Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous.
Who has taught (the writing) by the pen.
He has taught man that which he knew not” [al-‘Alaq 96:1-5]
In Islam, knowledge comes before action; there can be no action without knowledge, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“So know (O Muhammad) that Laa ilaaha ill-Allâh (none has the right to be worshipped but Allâh), and ask forgiveness for your sin, and also for (the sin of) believing men and believing women” [Muhammad 47:19]
Allaah warns every Muslim against speaking without knowledge, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And follow not (O man, i.e., say not, or do not, or witness not) that of which you have no knowledge. Verily, the hearing, and the sight, and the heart of each of those ones will be questioned (by Allâh)” [al-Israa’ 17:36]
Emphasizing the status of knowledge and the scholars, Allaah calls upon the scholars to bear witness to His Oneness, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allâh bears witness that Lâ ilâha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), and the angels, and those having knowledge (also give this witness); (He always) maintains His creation in justice. Laa ilaaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the All‑Mighty, the All-Wise” [Aal ‘Imraan 3:18]

Knowledge and fear of Allaah may be attained by knowing His signs and creation. The knowledgeable are those who know that, hence Allaah praises them by saying (interpretation of the meaning):
“It is only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allâh” [Faatir 35:28]
The scholars occupy a noble status in Islam, and which is higher than the position of others in this world and in the Hereafter. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allâh will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge” [al-Mujaadilah 58:11]
Because of the importance of knowledge, Allaah commanded His Messenger to seek more of it. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“and say: ‘My Lord! Increase me in knowledge’” [Ta-Ha 20:114]
Allaah praises the scholars, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Say: ‘Are those who know equal to those who know not?’ It is only men of understanding who will remember (i.e. get a lesson from Allâh’s Signs and Verses)” [al-Zumar 39:9]
Those who have knowledge are the quickest of people to understand the truth and believe in it:

“And that those who have been given knowledge may know that it (this Qur’aan) is the truth from your Lord, so that they may believe therein, and their hearts may submit to it with humility”
[al-Hajj 22:54 – interpretation of the meaning]
Islam calls us to seek knowledge. The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) made seeking knowledge an obligation upon every Muslim, and he explained that the superiority of the one who has knowledge over the one who merely worships is like the superiority of the moon over every other heavenly body. He said that the scholars are the heirs of the Prophets and that the Prophets did not leave behind dinars and dirhams (i.e., money), rather their inheritance was knowledge, so whoever acquires it has gained a great share. And he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said that seeking knowledge is a way to Paradise. He (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever follows a path in the pursuit of knowledge, Allaah will make a path to Paradise easy for him.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-‘Ilm, 10)
Islam calls us to learn all kinds of beneficial knowledge. Branches of knowledge vary in status, the highest of which is knowledge of sharee’ah, then knowledge of medicine, then the other fields of knowledge.
The best of all branches of knowledge are the sciences of sharee’ah through which man comes to know his Lord, and his [His?} Prophet and religion. This is the knowledge with which Allaah honoured His Messenger; He taught it to him so that he might teach it to mankind:
“Indeed, Allâh conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Qur’ân), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur’aan) and Al‑Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet (i.e. his legal ways, statements and acts of worship)], while before that they had been in manifest error”
[Aal ‘Imraan 3:164 – interpretation of the meaning]
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When Allaah wishes good for a person, He makes him understand the religion.” (Agreed upon. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 69)
Concerning the matter of paying attention to the Qur’aan and learning and teaching it, the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The best of you is the one who learns the Qur’aan and teaches it.” (Agreed upon. Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 4639)
There is no goodness in knowledge which is not confirmed by action, or words which are not confirmed by deeds:
“O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do?
Most hateful it is with Allâh that you say that which you do not do”
[al-Saff :2-3]
The ummah needs knowledgeable people at all times and in all places. A nation without knowledge and scholars will live in illusions and sink in darkness. If a person knows what Allaah has prescribed ..?? {where does this go?} Whoever conceals this knowledge and deprives the ummah of it, Allaah will place on him a bridle of fire on the Day of Resurrection, and he will deserve to be cursed, except for the one who repents. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Verily, those who conceal the clear proofs, evidences and the guidance, which We have sent down, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allâh and cursed by the cursers.
Except those who repent and do righteous deeds, and openly declare (the truth which they concealed). These, I will accept their repentance. And I am the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful”
[al-Baqarah 2:159-160]

Knowledge brings a great reward. The one who points the way to something good is like the one who does it. When the knowledgeable person dies, his reward with Allaah does not cease when he dies, rather it continues to increase so long as people benefit from his knowledge. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When a man dies, all his deeds come to an end except for three – an ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge or a righteous son who will pray for him.” (Narrated by Muslim, 1631)
If the scholar spreads his knowledge among the people, he will have a reward like that of those who follow him. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Whoever calls people to right guidance will have a reward like that of those who follow him, without it detracting from their reward in the slightest, and whoever calls people to misguidance will have a burden of sin like that of those who follow him, without it detracting from their burden in the slightest.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2674)
Proper understanding of Islam is one of the best of good characteristics with which a Muslim may be honoured, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When Allaah wishes good for a person, He makes him understand the religion.” (Agreed upon).
Reading Qur’aan, learning it and teaching it, are among the best deeds, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There should be no envy (hasad) except between two people, a man to whom Allaah has given (knowledge of?) the Qur’aan, so he recites it night and day, and a man to whom Allaah has given wealth, so he spends it (in good deeds) night and day.” (narrated by Muslim, 815)

From Usool al-Deen al-Islami by Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ibraaheem al-Tuwayjri

Serving Our Faith in Our Daily Lives

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How can I serve my faith in the course of my daily life? What contribution can I make as I go about my normal business? This is a question that many of us ask ourselves and it is a very good question. The Prophet (peace be upon him said): “Every person goes forth in the morning trading in his own self. He either earns its freedom or consigns it to perdition.�
Therefore, we ask ourselves: Should I focus on enjoining people to what is right? Should I forbid them from what is wrong? Is it best for me to gather together the children and help them to commit the Qur’ân to memory? Should I rather get involved in some charity work?
The ways that we as Muslims can serve our faith are too numerous to count. If each one of us only tries to count that ways that he or she can personally serve Islam, the possibilities will still be endless.
Each of us must take into account his individual abilities as well as his inclinations and his personality in deciding what he should do. Nevertheless, there are some general guidelines that apply to everyone and some contributions that we can all start making immediately.
To begin with, we can try to set a good example for others. We can do this in our worship, in our dealings with others, and in our moral conduct. We can strive to always be considerate and just. We can give priority to the rights of others even if it means doing so at the expense of our own. This is the starting point of all of our service and indeed it is the most critical.
The next level of activity concerns our dealings with our family and with those who are close to us. We must nurture our good relationships with our relatives by honoring them doing good for them. It is our duty to call our family to Islam and to encourage them to do what is right. This duty starts with our parents and children, then with our siblings and spouses, and extends outwards.
Allah says, addressing the Prophet (peace be upon him): “And admonish your nearest kinsmen.� [Sûrah al-Shu`arâ’: 214]
After this verse was revealed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) gathered his kinfolk together and said:

“O assembly of Quraysh! Purchase your own souls, for I can avail you naught with Allah. O Banû `Abd Manâf! I can avail you naught with Allah! O Safiyyah, aunt of Allah’s Messenger! I can avail you naught with Allah! O Fâtimah, daughter of Muhammad! I can avail you naught with Allah. Ask me of my wealth what you wish, but I can avail you naught with Allah!�

We must then turn our attentions to our colleagues and our classmates. We should always be willing to lend them our assistance. By letting them know that they can count on us, we win their friendship and their trust. In turn, we can reach out to them and even get them involved with us in our good works. They will be more responsive to us when we offer them literature or a cassette or ask them to go with us to a lecture.
We must also attend to our neighbors and the communities in which we live. Our neighbors have rights over us simply by virtue of their being our neighbors. We must honor those rights. We should cultivate goodwill between ourselves and those who live in our neighborhood. This makes it easier for us to reach out to them in matters of faith.
Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should honor his neighbor.�
He also said: “By Allah, he does not believe. By Allah, he does not believe.� When someone asked him whom he was talking about, he replied: “He whose neighbor is not safe from his abuse.�
The Prophet (peace be upon him) took great pains in defining the neighbor’s rights. He said: “If he falls ill, visit him. If he has good fortune, congratulate him. If ill fortune befalls him, console him. Do not build your building in a way that would keep the breeze from reaching his dwelling except with his permission. Do not annoy him with the aroma of your cooking pot unless you serve him some of your food. If you buy some fruit, them give him a gift from it, and if you do not do so, then bring it into your home discreetly, and do not let your child take it outside to taunt his child with it.�
Concern for our neighborhood also means involvement in our local mosque. We should, of course, be regular in our prayers. We should also spend some time in the mosques. We should make sure to attend mosque activities, if only occasionally.
It is then important for us to broaden our perspectives and look at the broader issues facing the Muslim world. Each one of us can at get actively involved in at least one of these concerns. This might mean working to draw media attention to some matter of importance to the Muslims or to garner sympathy for the suffering of Muslims in some part of the world. It can mean encouraging those who have been blessed with wealth and prosperity to spend on those in need. It can mean helping to get some useful Islamic literature published and disseminated.
May Allah bless us to serve him in all aspects of our lives.

Muslim College Life: Dating, Drinking and Deen???

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Freedom

Young people live for the day when they can move out of the house and go to college and finally be free. Freedom from their parents, from restrictions on their lifestyle, from everyone telling them what to do.
This is why in college you find a whole generation that does what they want. Life's short they say, let's enjoy ourselves while we can.
So it goes for Muslims. In college you find the most amazing things, Muslims who don't pray, Muslims who date , go out to parties and drink.

Why is this happening? For one, when students go off to university they finally realize that what they believed in was blind. Religion becomes like a fairytale, when they got old enough, they knew better than to believe in it.
Most have little knowledge about Islam and have maybe memorized the right rituals to get by. Why believe something on faith, they ask. After all we cannot see heaven or hell.   
How do we know Islam is right anyway? Islamic culture to them means marrying someone they never knew. It means arranged marriages and never hanging out or having fun.
For girls Islamic culture has even less to offer. It would mean double standards or having to serve a husband the rest of her life.
The western alternative to this looks alot more attractive.
In western culture "  
love and romance" are supposedly everywhere. Everyone is out looking for love freely. Meeting someone, going out, seeking pleasure sounds alot better. But what about the downside? For love at first sight, you need to have the right image, the right hair, the right clothes.
Girls have to aspire to be like the latest supermodels, they have to hold back age. Who's going out with who, what are my friends thinking, what will happen if I don't get the right girl or guy, what is my girlfriend or boyfriend thinking, all become important.  
Frustration, desperation, and unhappiness become the norm.
Imagine all the heartache youth would save if they followed the Islamic alternative. In true Islam, unlike culture, there is no game playing. If two people wish to be involved they are both straight with one another.
Unlike what goes on today amongst some Muslims, they both meet each other and make a contract to marry. Women are treated with respect, there is no sexual bombardment like there is in western society. Sex in western culture is also often seen as a vice or a sin of the flesh. But even in religious Islam, sex is seen as natural. As long as it is in the right circumstances, when the two are committed to one another in marriage.
Drinking in college is also the norm unfortunately. If you don't drink or party you're seen as weird. Drinking is cool and a way for people to socialize, meet and have fun. The one who doesn't is less of a person and 'misses out'. Drinking and all the harms that come with it is cut off at the root in Islam. So many problems are avoided, accidents, pregnancy, violence and even rape for example.
In college and in the world, success in life is not seen in terms of religion. It is seen as what other people think, one's careers, how much money they make. If you are religious you must have failed at life. But why do we have this seperation? and this blindness in religion? The Quran tells us again and again not to have blind faith, not to follow the religion of our forefathers. Yet, we as Muslims have stopped thinking. We may think about what our friends or other people will say, but we avoid thinking about the real issues. We spend so much time on the opposite sex, thinking about careers, money etc, but we forget to think about death and how much of this we will really be able to take with us?

"Every soul shall have a taste of death and only on the Day of Judgement shall you be paid your full recompense...for the life of this world is but goods and chattels of deception"
(Quran 3:185)

Shouldn't we take the time to contemplate what will happen to us after we hit the grave? After all, what is the point of life if we are not accountable for our actions? If there is no creator, what is the point of being honest or good.
If we really look at our life we see that everything is indefinate, getting a job, even living until tomorrow. In fact we could die anytime, this is a definate, the _only_ dead certain thing in our life.
Most of us believe we can make up for our actions later or we can be religious later. We are gambling.
The chances of our dying today are little, but the stakes are high. Allah reminds us of the importance of this,

"O you who believe, obey Allah as he should be obeyed, and die not except in a state of Islam" (Qu'ran 3:102)

Each of us needs to decide.
On the Day of Judgment it will be us alone who will be asked about our actions.

"Verily We have revealed the Book to thee in truth, for (instructing) mankind. He, then that receives guidance benefits his own soul: but he that strays injurs his own soul..."
(Quran 39:41)

This is the true definition of freedom. To learn about Islam and the world openly. To contemplate about life and death. And after learning the truth, obeying the word of God.

"Those on whom knowledge has been bestowed may learn that the (Quran) is the truth from your Lord, and that they believe therein, and their hearts may be made humbly (open)to it..."
(Quran 22:54)

Once students have this rock-solid intellectual belief in Islam, the corruptness and falseness of the people around them is clear. The beauty and wisdom of the islamic way, the best alternative is clear. What others do is of less importance. If others think they were weird to pray or weird to be honest, they would still pray and still be honest because they know their deen.
Our Quran's are left on the top shelves, gathering dust. Sometimes the most it is read is when someone dies. How is this to help, when the guidance comes too late.  The Quran is for the living. The path to understanding and following Islam comes from learning first. How many of us are Muslim, yet have never read the Quran in our native language?
How many of us are Muslim, yet have yet to open a book on hadith or sunnah?
How many of us defend Islam to non-Muslims, but do not follow it ourselves?
May Allah forgive and lead us and all those lost to the straight path. InshaAllah. Ameen.