Heedlessness

The imam referenced the following passages from the Quran in regards to todays reminder. The first is from Sura Yunus, ayat 7 which is translated to say:

 

Indeed, those who do not expect the meeting with Us and are satisfied with the life of this world and feel secure therein are those who are heedless of Our signs

And Sura Al Anbiya, ayat 1 which is translated to say:

[The time of] their account has approached for the people, while they are in heedlessness turning away.

Dear brothers and sisters, the heedless person wants to live only for the purpose to fulfil his desires, and not to tire his body except only for his desires, not to spend money except only for his enjoyments, not to miss a moment from his life except only his in his taste –  even if it affects his religion.

People who are heedless have a spiritual illness that no money, desire or wordly act can replace. This is why you see even the so-called idols of this world suffering in their lives with substance abuse and other scandals. For these people, this is the sleep of their heart, because the heart that is aware knows it was not created in this world to go deep into it at the cost of their hereafter

Dear brothers and sisters, before we go into the practical solutions to heedlessness, we need to have some means by which we can identify it within ourselves.

Some measures of identifying this are being lazy with prayers. This isn’t just missing the prayers only but leaving them to the last minute to pray or avoiding going to the masjid for no other reason that being lazy. Another measure is the attitude to disobedience. We live in a society where disobedience has the cloak of terms such as “rebellion” or “freedom” or “independence”. Disobedience is interwoven into so much of what we experience that often it is enjoyed with people increasingly being unashamed of it. We need to remind ourselves that disobedience, whether it be to parents, elders or people worthy of it, has a wordly cost to it as well as being a sign of heedlessness.

And speaking of the time and place we live in, another sign of heedlessness is the waste of time with no benefit. Each time and place has had its distraction. In our time and place it is so acutely present in our lives that we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the sheer options for this. The most common these days is the smart phone or internet-enabled devices. This religion isn’t strict in saying you cannot have time for leisure, but with everything in Islam, it is about finding that correct balance for the mind, body and soul.

We need to remind ourselves that the single biggest asset we possess isn’t money or wealth, it is our time. Nobody is going to live forever and so we need to think of time as a quantifiable and limited resource.

The reminder concludes with 7 reminders on how to cure heedlessness in ourselves.

  1. Look beyond this world. Understand not the literal events and times you are living through, but get your mind thinking in the mindset of “How is what I am going through, a blessing, a test or a lesson?” “Is this a temptation being put in front of me?” “How can I feel my soul through this?” “How can I worship Allah SWT by living through this?” By doing this, your change your vision from the here and now, to the next life and thus are able to live this life avoiding heedlessness.
  2. Understand your Creator. From the detailed explanation of the first ayat of the Quran to the 99 attributes of Allah SWT, we have a lifetime to understand our Creator before we are returned to Him. This is a great step in the cure.
  3. Asking for forgiveness. That means taking ownership of your faults and addressing them. Only by asking Allah SWT for forgiveness can we aim to avoid repeating them in the future.
  4. Avoid bad company. It’s a lot easier to be heedless when people around you are behaving the same way. There is a saying that we are the company we keep so bear that in mind so that we don’t fall into this trap. One method is pray as often as you can in masjid for congregational prayers. Not only is that a cure for heedlessness but it will also assist in avoiding bad company.
  5. Avoid putting off good deeds till later. Remember, putting things off is a strategy of Shaytaan. We don’t know how long we have to do the right thing so take advantage of the present.
  6. Don’t fall into the topic of death being taboo. This society avoids talking about it and yet it is the only certainty for us all. Remind yourself of this so that to keep you motivated to strive for the best of the next life.
  7. Read Quran and do Dua. Ask of your Lord, ask to not be amongst the heedless and use it also to pray for others around the world that are in need of the help and mercy of Allah SWT.

And on a side note with this point, for those who don’t have alternative news sources, there is a group of Muslims that are going through, what can only be described as a living hell and a genocide. The Muslims in Burma are suffering hard testing times. May Allah SWT give them ease, give them mercy and give them sabr alongside all the oppressed Muslims in the world.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us take a moment to reflect on the reminder today and use it to reset our thinking and our attitude so that we are not of those who are forgotten by Allah SWT as warned by Allah SWT in the Glorious Quran.

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Unjust and Ignorant Nature of Man

Allah SWT has revealed to us the religion of Islam. And we have record of it through the Final Testament – Al Quran and through it’s practical application, i.e. the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammed SAWS.

Our success and failure is dependant upon how much of our religion we adhere to. We are commanded to act in accordance with it and Allah SWT informs of the dangers of being heedless in it.

Allah SWT says in Sura Al-Ahzab, ayat 72:

Truly, We did offer “Al Amanah” (which translates to the trust or moral responsibility or honesty and all the duties which Allah has ordained) to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it (i.e. afraid of Allah’s Torment).

But man bore it. Verily, he was unjust (to himself) and ignorant (of its results).

Dear brothers and sisters, there is so much to digest from this single ayat and this khutba could never do it justice but in order to give an idea of how important and heavy this “trust” (amanat) is, Allah says that the heavens and the earth, in spite of their glory and greatness, and the mountains, in spite of their size and firmness, could not have the power and courage to bear it. But man, the weak and frail man, has borne this heavy burden on his tiny self.

In order to give an idea of the extraordinary importance of the matter, try to imagine a scene as if the earth and the heavens and the mountains like the Himalayas were present before Allah SWT on one side and a 5 to 6 foot man, on the other.

Then Allah SWT is saying at this point to His creation that he wants to invest someone of His creation with the power that it may acknowledge His Supremacy and obey His commands of its own free will.

He wants it to also have the power to deny Him, even rebel against Him. After giving the creation this freedom Allah SWT will conceal Himself as if He did not exist at all.

And to exercise this freedom, Allah SWT shall give His creation vast powers, great capabilities, and shall give it dominion over countless of His other creations so that it may raise any storm that it may.

And then finally Allah SWT will call His creation to account. The one who will have misused the freedom granted by Him, will be made to suffer a most terrible punishment; and the one who will have adopted His obedience in spite of all chances and opportunities for disobedience, will be raised to such high ranks as no creation of His has ever been able to attain.

And Allah SWT offers this to the mightiest of his creation by asking which of them is ready to undergo this test?

Dear brothers and sisters, now imagine that for a second, a test such as this is resulting in one huge creation after the other submitting that it should be excused from the severe test.

And then, at last, this frail creation, in comparison to the mountains and the earth, declares that it is ready to undergo this test. That it will brave all the dangers inherent in the freedom and independence only in the hope that it will be blessed with the highest office in Allah SWT’s kingdom if it passes the test.

Dear brothers and sisters, by imagining this scene through one’s mind’s eye can we judge exactly what delicate position we hold in the universe.

Allah in this verse has called mankind unjust and ignorant, who lives a carefree life in the place of test, and has no feeling at all of how great a responsibility he is shouldering, and what consequences he will encounter of the right or wrong decisions that he makes in choosing and adopting an attitude for himself in the life of the world.

He is ignorant because the fool holds himself as responsible to no one; he is unjust because he is preparing for his doom and is also preparing the doom of many others along with him.

Be under no illusion, we have had a great trust placed upon each and every single one of us by Allah SWT.

To perform worship and to perform our duties as Muslims to the best of our ability is the trust placed on us by Allah SWT. But alongside that we are entrusted to be just to one another in business, family affairs and in all walks of life.

Dear brothers and sisters, one cannot over-emphasise the weight of expectation and responsibility placed on us via this trust. But Allah SWT’s wisdom prevails over all and we should remind ourselves that this is a trust we can honour with the right actions in this life.

May Allah SWT enable us to honour this Trust. May Allah SWT exclude us from the unjust and the ignorant and may Allah SWT reward us for honouring this Trust.

Ameen wa Alhamdullilahi Rabil-alameen.

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