What are you missing?
What are you missing?
The life history of previous generations contains many amazing facts and instructive examples. Understanding them, and then comparing them with what we have, is the key to solving and understanding many problems.
The Holy Koran is filled to the brim with wise stories. Take, for example, events from the life of the prophets (peace be upon them).
The wife of the prophet Lut (biblical Lot), peace be upon him, betrayed him by telling about the guests who came to him to his depraved neighbors, whom God the Almighty later destroyed. And then, when the prophet Lut, peace be upon him, received a command from the Lord to leave these lands, she disobeyed and paid for everything: she was destroyed with those who were mired in debauchery.
What was she missing? After all, she was married to one of the best people that ever lived on earth, perhaps the best man of his time - the prophet Lut, peace be upon him.
Did he harass her? Did he infringe on her in some manner or offend her? Or maybe he deprived her of what was due to her? No. Prophets, peace be upon them, are freed from any negative character traits and protected from sins. They are perfect people. This means that the matter was not in the prophet Lut, peace be upon him, but in her herself.
Let us remember the prophet Nuh (biblical Noah), peace be upon him. He lived on earth for a long time, calling his fellow tribesmen to faith in God, to truth, morality and life in justice.
And yet, seeing all this, one of his sons refused to go up to the Ark with his father. Did Prophet Nuh, peace be upon him, raise his children badly? Maybe he was a rude father? What shortcomings did prophet Nuh, peace be upon him, have that his own son did not support him?
There were none. Prophet Nuh, peace be upon him, was pure from shortcomings, protected from them by the Almighty himself.
What is the lesson for us in these stories?
What if we are one of those who every day sees vicegerents of the prophets (scholars, righteous people) and does not follow them? May God the Most-High protect us from this!
What if we believe only in words and yet the slightest test of our faith through small difficulties leads us to be ready to give up, complain and whine?
What if we are not grateful to our Lord? What if we are deceived by the blessings He has given us and lead a careless lifestyle? What if we made our self an object of worship?
After we sincerely answer the above and other questions that arise regarding our relationship with God, all that remains is to decide how to behave with the people around us. And therein lies our second lesson.
Should we respond with rudeness to a rude person, gossip about a gossiper, envy an envious person, argue with a fool, and so on in this spirit?
In fact, I have one answer for each of those we just mentioned. And that is:
My answer to the oppressor is the Lord.
My answer to the detractor is the Lord.
My answer to the envious person is the Lord.
My answer is the Lord.
And if Lord is with you, then what difference does it make who is against you?
Hamid Asadulin
As-Salam correspondent