“Allah has combined together every advise, direction guidance, instruction, teaching, and rectification in that one advice (Taqwa). You also know by that fact that this one characteristic combines together all of the good of this life and the Hereafter.”
“Does not Allah have more knowledge than anyone concerning what’s best for the human? Is He not their most sincere adviser and the more merciful and compassionate than anyone?
“If there were any characteristic that is better for a human, more comprehensive in its goodness, greater in its reward, more important for worship, weightier in its measure, more important in its substance, more rescuing in the long-run than this characteristic of Taqwa, then Allah would have ordered His servants to have that other characteristic. Allah has advised His most dear servants to have this characteristic out of His Perfect Wisdom and Encompassing Mercy.
“When He advised this one characteristic, and combined together His previous and later servants upon that characteristic only, you then know that it is the final goal beyond which there is none other and for which there is no other purpose.
“Allah has combined together every advise, direction guidance, instruction, teaching, and rectification in that one advice (Taqwa). And you also know by that fact that this one characteristic combines together all of the good of this life and the Hereafter, that which is sufficient for all the important matters that lead one to the highest ranks [in Paradise]. This foundation cannot be increased upon. It is sufficient for the one who sees the light, to be guided and act upon that light.”
These words by al-Ghazzali were intended to comment on Surah al Nisa’, verse 131, highlighting one prime characteristic of righteousness, that is Taqwa, or fear of Allah.
“To Allah belongs all that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth. We have advised the people of the Scripture before you and you also [O Muslims] to have Taqwa of Allah [fear Allah and keep your duty to Him]”
Taqwa, which naturally adjusts one’s mental and behavioral acts, instills in one’s heart an matchless sense of serenity and solemnity that cannot be forsaken or compromised.
With the spiritual burden people now suffer getting increasingly unbearable; a revisiting of one’s Taqwa and fear of Allah becomes an intriguing necessity, to attain salvation in this life and the hereafter.
Muslim scholars and Imams have diagnosed spiritual ailment as the prime instigator of people’s modern aches, repeatedly warning against an aggravation of communal, mental and spiritual quandaries if people didn’t opt for infusing in their souls a well-needed tranquility, and that through reviving their fear of Allah and the divine bond with Him.
It’s never too late for applying that which may earn us a place in Paradise, in this life and the Hereafter.
Wassalaam
The Muslim Tribune Staff
