WE MUST ALWAYS ASSESS OURSELVES

By 

Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

We are now in a world where we should always assess ourselves on daily basis in order to know whether or not we are still in the fold of Islaam. Is this not the era in respect of which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said a Muslim would wake up like a believer and before the sunset, he becomes a kaafir; a time when a believer would sleep in a state of eeman; but before the dawn, he becomes a kafir

In our world, there are many ways by which people sell their faiths cheaply for the adornments of this ephemeral world. We are in a society where many Muslims take laws of the deen into their hands. A lot of people now pick anything they like in the commandments of Allaah and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم and reject anyone they do not like. The reasons why people wake up as believers and become kafir later in the day is obvious. It is also obvious why someone would sleep with his eeman fully intact and wake up kaafir. 

Many Muslims wake up in the morning; say their adhkaar and perform fajr prayer, but by the time they get out, they perpetrates some acts of disbelief by action or words of mouth. An example of this is the case of someone who visit the soothsayers, place his or her affairs in their hands and believe whatever they say. This particular act is very common among our women. And when you try to correct them; they would say: Olohun o ko aajo (Allaah does not forbid us from striving). They use this statement to justify all kinds of kufr. There is virtually nothing some women cannot do just to ensure that their husbands do not marry another wife or more wives. Some women don't even care if that would cost them sleeping with the one who prepares the juju for them. All they are after is to prevent their husbands from marrying more.

Apart from this, some women perpetrate acts of kufr under the disguise of trying to protect their children from the evils of enemies. Are there no prayers prescribed in the Qur'an and Sunnah for this purpose or we don't just believe in them? It is pitiable, the condition of someone who wakes up in the morning, performs his fajr prayers and later went to sacrifice an animal based on the prescription of an herbalist or Alufa. Is this not what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم warned us about? Abu Hurairah رضي الله عنه narrated from the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم,

"Start to do all the good deeds! There will be many tests…a man will wake up in the morning a believer and go to sleep a disbeliever; or he may go to sleep as a believer and awake disbeliever. He will sell his Deen by any offer of the world" [Sahih Muslim Volume 1, page 110]

Some people would perform the 'Ishaa' prayer and the nawaafil before going to bed, but before the dawn, they have become something else. They would wake up in the midnight to attend cult meetings and perpetrate several acts of disbelief. This is common among the politicians and those who wants to get fame at all cost. 

The case of those who uses rings, wear amulets, pictures of human beings on their necks or hang any objects in their houses as means of protection is not different. They are all captured in this scenario. Those who utter careless statements of kufr are also captured. Those who hate the sunnah or those who feel bad whenever the words of Allaah and Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم is mentioned to them or when they are corrected are also involved. Those who do da'wah for show off or praise or worldly reward are also captured in this. 

A Muslim must beware of all acts that can lead to bid'ah and kufr. Muslims must move away from sins of grievous nature and must not look down upon any sin. Even the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم used to pray to Allaah to prevent him from committing acts of shirk which he may not notice. If the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم could be mindful of this; who are we to play with it? Allaah says:

كَيْفَ تَكْفُرُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَكُنْتُمْ أَمْوَاتًا فَأَحْيَاكُمْ ۖ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُحْيِيكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

"How can you disbelieve in Allah when you were lifeless and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you [back] to life, and then to Him you will be returned" [Q2:28]

May Allah protect us against the fitnah of this era and the future.