Podcast
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Continuing from the previous episode about purifying the soul, this episode will be more specific, explaining the relationship between belief and purifying the soul. What is faith? Why do people need faith?
In the dictionary’s definition, “faith” is a firm belief or trust in some people, things, or ideology. And Islam clearly helps us conceptualize and understading the word “faith”, and clearly tells human beings the meaning of existence on earth. The “faith” of Islam is not only the firm belief and trust of the Lord, but also to live according to its guidance, a way of life and an attitude towards others, in order to show loyalty to Allah.
No matter how intelligent human beings are, there will always be errors, misjudgments, mistakes and misunderstandings. People generally only see things through their own personality, perspective and experience, but it does not mean that people can fully see the whole truth of things. Because we usually only start from our own perspective and only see the reality around us to make comments and judgments. In any case, no one can truly discern the ultimate truth and see the ultimate truth by relying on their own observation or wisdom alone.
Humans are intelligent – we can rationalize and follow the scientific method – but we have limits to where our minds can reach, to the extent the mind can grasp. These limitations make it necessary for us to have a framework to guide us on our journey here, which is precisely why having faith is so important.
Therefore, Islam urges and encourages asking questions, but at the same time, it also inspires that sometimes, it is also necessary to fully understand and accept that many things are still beyond the limited capacity of human mind. For example, the word “unseen” is used in the Qur’an, that is, things that cannot be seen or known with the naked eye, such as when a person is born, when he dies, what will happen in the next minute, and where he will be tomorrow , what will eat, when or where there will suddenly be natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, tornadoes, landslides, etc. Even if they know the coming of natural disasters, no one knows who will be injured or dead or intact due to natural disasters, and when the end of the world will be, etc.
These are the “unseen” knowledge that can only belong to Allah, and no one or any creature can pry into or know it. If someone says that he can see his whole life (destiny) from his “horoscope destiny graph”, it is just taking advantage of human curiosity and superstition, or to satisfy the dissatisfied with his own status quo. Many times, it’s like you allow someone to incorporate the outline of the story they made up into your subconscious mind. Eventually, people act according to this subconsciousness intentionally or unintentionally. If it really happens, it makes people more superstitious. If it doesn’t happen, it will be an excuse such as “people are not sincere enough, or the time has not yet come”, etc.
The belief in Islam is very direct and clear, that is, there is only one God to believe. No one can know what will happen in the next second. These are only the “unseen” knowledge belonging to Allah. All things happen or not happen, only Allah knows. And all things must be allowed by Him before they can happen or not happen. Therefore, when people realize that only Allah knows these “unseen” knowledge and that He is the ultimate Master of destiny, no matter how deceivingly intelligent others are, they will not fall into the trap of superstition easily and not be led by the grabbing of noses (Chinese proverb: a cow with a ring on their nose that people can hold the ring and make them walk wherever the people want them to move to.)
At the same time, Muslims do not need any lucky charms or amulets. Even if the name of Allah, or a verse from the Qur’an is written on a picture frame, necklace, or body, these will not have any protective effect, because if one want to really get the protection of Allah, it’s required the person to live according to the teachings of Allah and His Messenger, as well as reading and understanding His Qur’an directly. The most important thing is to remember, to ponder, and to think of Allah all the time.
Just like having the right amount of rice and water, you can make a good rice or porridge. Another example, you can make a good bread or cake with the right amount of flour, butter, milk or water. What kind of success is desired in this world and in the hereafter, depends on knowing what materials, quantities, steps and recipes, and the Qur’an and Hadith are the complete life manuals for human beings.
To the skeptic, faith may be a restriction or a form of blind trust that gives people the permission not to think critically or rationalize. For them, faith is more like a convenient solution to prevent people from asking uncomfortable and harsh questions, or from antagonizing those in power. Indeed, throughout history, a small number of religious leaders abused their power, bent the law for personal gain, and oppressed the weak. Because of them, many lost trust in religion and only saw the hypocrisy of religious figures.
(7:180) …keep away from those who abuse His (Allah’s) Names. They will be punished for what they used to do.
And this verse clearly points out that those who use the name of Allah to deceive people should be ignored, because they will be rewarded by their actions directly from Allah. All we need to do is to keep asking and learning.
Islam is a religion that emphasizes asking questions. According to many hadith records, men and women believers would keep asking questions, so that they can learn how to get closer to Allah. Not blindly obeying orders and teachings, especially blindly obeying the teachings of people other than the Prophet. No matter how noble the person is, how educated they are, or how many followers they have, in the end it’s Qur’an and Hadith that are the foundation to make any decision and actions. So that can avoid being used by those who are taking advantage in the name of religion. Then will not cause people to lose trust in religion. Meanwhile, the most important thing is to know clearly what rights and responsibilities Allah has given to men and women. Only by understanding the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith, people can protect their God-given rights.
At the same time, humans are naturally inclined to believe in a higher power, which leads them on a quest for deeper meaning of their existence. As such, Islam encourages people to tap into this natural inclination so that they think and seek to comprehend, as evident from the countless references to “those who reflect” and “people of understanding” in the Quran.
As mentioned in Chapter 4, verse 28 of the Qur’an, people are made to be weak, and weak means that when faced with temptation, those who find it difficult to control themselves and become powerless to resist. Due to weakness, people often follow their desires and commit sins. And Sins are like flat tires, people with them go nowhere if not changed at the right time.
The worst scenario is when sin becomes a habit, or even any sin that is often committed, becomes a culture that we cannot abandon. It becomes more difficult to change or to go against this so-called new culture. No wonder many sins, in the eyes of the general public, are no longer felt and regarded as sins. On the contrary, any opposing voices become backward, out of date, out of touch with society, old-fashioned, and strict, etc. And many sins sound or seem very tempting and irresistible, so the Qur’an is that boundary that guards our sanity and the distinction between right and wrong.
Only by constantly living according to the teachings of the Qur’an and the Hadith, can we constantly reflect, repent to Allah, and purify our hearts. Our mind is like a window covered with dust, and the whole process of purifying the mind is like removing the dust bit by bit until the whole window is bright and clean again, so that we can see through the facts clearly and distinguish right from wrong. And also able to muster the courage to resist temptation, and face all kinds of shocks and difficulties unswervingly.
Here are some general suggestions for practicing and maintaining the purification of the mind:
1) Tauba means repenting for a sin, promising Allah to not repeat the same evil again and returning to Him alone. Repentance is the beginning in the life of a person who intends to walk in the path of religion. It is the first step of discipline, the key to guidance to the straight path, the weapon of purification of those who wish to come close to Allah and is a dear thing to all prophets. If we only knew our actual worth, we would never humiliate ourselves by doing sins. While we know our actual purpose in this life is to worship Allah and not to please ourselves.
“Allah says: And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, “There is no deity except Me, so worship Me”.” (21:25)
Allah increases or gives sustenance to the repentant from such places which he would have never ever thought he would get from; his sustenance is made easy and comfortable.
2) Reflect often and ask yourself what your intentions and motives are, are they correct? Is it in accordance with the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah? Does Allah like or dislike these things, etc.?
3) Getting rid of all the impure and bad thoughts in your mind. It’s not easy at all, especially the influence of the physical environment, people and things around, TV, movies and the Internet. Therefore, it is necessary to (Confucius’ quote) see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, and do no evil. In fact, it is easy to say, but very difficult to do. The word Jihad is often translated as holy war, but it is more appropriate to translate it as struggle. In this case, the word Jihad is more appropriate to describe as constant inner struggle for Allah against the temptations and overcoming desires.
4) Make it a habit to do good deeds by reflecting on the teachings of the Qur’an to do good.
5) Treat every sin as a major sin, don’t think the sin is small, and will be forgiven by Allah so thinking it doesn’t matter. Chinese proverb says small things accumulate will become big. When does it accumulate to become big? Many simply overlook and cannot perceive it.
6) Be willing and humbly accept your own mistakes, shortcomings and disadvantages, and accept warnings and teachings with patience and tolerance. Only in this way one can have an open mind to receive Allah’s guidance.
7) Take responsible for your own.
(58:7) “Have you not considered that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth? There is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them – and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, of all things, Knowing.”
From this verse, we know that nothing can be hidden from Allah, and it is best to take responsibility for what needs to be done in your lifetime. Take responsibility for your own soul before your account holds you responsible, because the reckoning in the hereafter is more terrible and more severe.
8) Be consistent, for example, to keep doing small acts of kindness every day rather than suddenly do a lot of good deeds in one day and then stop doing any good deeds for the rest of the year.
9) Choose the right friend, as the Chinese saying goes, “if you are close to Cinnabar, you will become red; if you are close to ink, you will become black.” Another saying, “know a person, know his friend.” If you want to get close to Allah, you need like-minded friends, remind each other, encourage each other, and help each other, not friends who only seek desires and momentary pleasure.
10) The last point is not to lose hope, and not to be discouraged. If a mother’s love for her children is calculated as a unit of “one share”, then Allah’s love is 99 more shares. From this we can see that Allah is merciful, His love and forgiveness no way can be measured and unfathomable.
(39:53-55) “Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.” And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you; then you will not be helped. And follow the best of what was revealed to you from your Lord before the punishment comes upon you suddenly while you do not perceive.”
Next episode continues, thanks for listening.