”Kan man vara religiös utan att vara andlig?”

I ett forum jag är med i ställde en syster, för länge sedan, frågan ”Kan man vara religiös utan att vara andlig?”. Jag har inte svarat på hennes fråga, men den satte igång ett spännande tankearbete hos mig. Jag vet vad jag tycker i den frågan, MEN jag har aldrig riktigt funderat över den, och över varför jag tycker det jag tycker, och vad jag har haft för grund till min uppfattning.

Jag tror att man kan vara religiös utan att vara andlig, och andlig utan att vara religiös. Men när det kommer till min underbara religion, då anser jag att det är ett måste att sträva efter att vara andlig. Andlighet är en del av religionens innersta väsen. Vad menar jag då med andlighet? Jag tror att jag nämnt det i andra inlägg, fast utan att nämna ordet andlighet i samband med det. Andlighet är, för mig, när man strävar efter att ständigt vara medveten om Allaahs närvaro. Genom att påminna sig själv om Allaah. ”… Är det inte så att då Guds namn nämns blir människohjärtat stilla” (Soorah ar-Ra’d: 28) Att minnas Allaahs ord, där Han förklarar skapelsens mening ”Jag har skapat de osynliga väsendena och människorna enbart för att de skall [känna Mig och] dyrka Mig” (Soorah adh-Dhaariyaat: 56). Det betyder att den enda anledningen till att vi finns, är för att vi ska dyrka och tillbedja Allaah.

Denna Gudsmedvetenhet är för mig oerhört andlig. Det handlar inte så mycket om ritualer eller specifika handlingar utan mer om ett förhållningsätt till sitt liv, sig själv, sin omgivning och framförallt till Allaah, Skaparen, Försörjaren, Den Barmhärtige, Den Förlåtande, Den Generöse.

Du’aa och tawhid!

 

By making du’aa to Allaah, azza wa jall, we are able to draw closer to Allaah. It means that we completely submit to Allaah, we confirm that only He has the right to be worshipped and we assure that we are nothing but a poor servant to Allaah, subhano wata’ala. A created thing, that has no power nor any control over things. Rather it is we who are controlled. By making du’aa we also confirm that we are in need of Allaah, in every part of our lives, but that Allaah doesn’t need anything from us. Just as it says in soorah adh-Dhaariyat. First Allaah says, as we already mentioned, that He created man and jinn except that they should worship Him. Then He continues by saying: 

I seek not any provision from them (i.e. provision for themselves or for My creatures) nor do I ask that they should feed Me (i.e. feed themselves or My creatures). Verily, Allâh is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong. (51:57-58)

In another ayah, Allaah also mentiones du’aa (well he mentiones this in many ayaat of course) but in this specific ayah, Allaah calls du’aa deen. This is in soorah al-Ghafir, ayah 65 

هُوَ ٱلۡحَىُّ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَٱدۡعُوهُ مُخۡلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَۗ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ

 He is the Ever Living (al-Hayy), none has the right to be worshipped but He, so make du’aa to Him, to Him is the deen (40:65)

 Du’aa is the only thing, the only act, that ever has been compared to or equated to the entire deen, or connected to the entire concept of worship.

Du’aa is strongly connected to aqeedah and tawheed. By making du’aa we acknowledge that there is a God, that Allaah exists and that there is only one Creator, one Lord. We acknowledge that Allaah has the all the power and He is controlling everything. Otherwise, what would be the point in turning to Him. Allaah is the only one that can hear our du’aa and can answer our du’aa. By making du’aa we also acknowledge that only Allaah, azza wa jall, deserves our worship. Because if He is the one and only God, the one and only Creator, and the one that controls the world and the entire creation, the surely he is the only one that deserves our worship. By making du’aa we also acknowledge that Allaah subhano wata’ala, has the most perfect names and attributes, for only He can hear the du’aa from His servants no matter where we are, no matter how quiet or loud we call upon Him. And only Allaah knows whats in our hearts and knows completely what situation we are in. He has knowledge about all things. This proves that du’aa affirms all three aspects of tawheed,  tawheed arrubbobiyyah, tawheed al ulohiyyah, tawheed al asmaa wa sifaat.

Du’aa är dyrkan! (översättning till svenska kommer)

Allaah says

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ

And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone). (51:56)

 So clearly we are all here for one purpose and one purpose only. And that is to worship Allaah, and Allaah alone. One of  the greatest and most noble forms of worship is du’aa. What is du’aa?  It is a call from the heart of the believer directed to The Hearer of all things, the Knower of all secrets, Allaah. By making du’aa we believers confess that we are nothing but weak and helpless and that what we need is Allaah and that we can’t do anything without His will,help and permission. It is also an affirmation of the perfect names and attributes of Allaah, asmaa wa sifaat. Because it affirms that Allaah is al-Khaliq (the Creator), al-Muqeet (the Sustainer), al-Mudhaabeer (the Controller of all affairs), al-‘Aleem (the All-Knowing), as-Sami’ (the All-Hearer), al-Baseer (the All-Seer), Ar-Rahmaan (the Most Merciful), al-Kareem (the Most Generous), al-Ghaffoor (the Most Forgiving) and so on. Linguistically du’aa means to call out, to cry, to say something out loud. In shari’ah, du’aa means to ask Allaah, to ask Allaah about something that will be of benefit for us in this life and in next, or to ask that something evil will be removed or prevented from coming to us. In it self, du’aa is an act of worship. Du’aa is ibadah. Allaah says in soorah al-Gahfir, ayah 60.

وَقَالَ رَبُّڪُمُ ٱدۡعُونِىٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِى سَيَدۡخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ 

 And your Lord says: ”Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): But those who are too arrogant to worship Me will surely find themselves in Hell in humiliation!” (40:60)

Allaah says make du’aa to me. And then He says “I will respond to you”. Then He continues saying, but those who are too arrogant to worship Me, (yastakbiroona ‘an ‘ibaadatee). Allaah first mentiones to make du’aa to Him, and then mentiones those who are too arrogant to worship Him, they will be in Hell. So those who do not ask Him, who do not make du’aa to Him, Allaah counts them as those who are to arrogant to worship Him, and this shows that du’aa is worship, Du’aa is the essence of worship. To not make du’aa, means to leave worship, ibadah. And this is why the Messenger of Allaah, aleyhi salato wasalaam, said:

Du’a is worship!

Ibn ul-Qayyim about du’aa

Bismillahi arrahmaan arraheem

Ibnul Qayyim said: ”Du’a and the seeking of protection from Allah are like weapons, but the sharpness of a weapon is not sufficient for it to cause effect, for the person that handles it also plays a role. So whenever the weapon is a perfect one, having no flaw in it, and the forearm is strong, and there are no preventing factors, then it will cause and effect on the enemy…”

The status of du’aa

وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ

And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone). (soorah adh-Dhaariyaat: 56)

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وَقَالَ رَبُّڪُمُ ٱدۡعُونِىٓ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِى سَيَدۡخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِينَ 

And your Lord says: ”Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer): But those who are too arrogant to worship Me will surely find themselves in Hell in humiliation!” (Soorah al-Ghafir:60)

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The Prophet, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, said: Du’aa is worship!

One of my favourites at the moment

Tawbah part 3

We have now been going through two of the benefits of repentance. It wipes away our sins and it admits us to Paradise. The third benefit is that it renews our faith, our iman. You know, the Prophet, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, he said that our iman wears out just like clothes wears out, so we should renew our iman. And if we are sincere about our tawbah we will see and feel how our hearts will start to thaw, to become soft again. Our hearts will be alive again. When we reflect to ourselves about what we did, or didn’t do, we will begin to feel the wounds from that disobedience. It can be minor sins, or major sins, or a small sin that we are constantly doing. The sins we do are in level with our iman. If our iman is low, we don’t care much about what we do, we might even like the sins we do and don’t refrain or regret doing them. Or we do them openly. Our iman and our sins are in a direct relationship. Every time we commit a sin, our iman diminishes, it gets lower. When we leave the sins, leave the things that displeases Allaah subhano wata’ala, our iman will rise. There are many ayat, verses in the Koran about this and also ahadeeth. For example the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, said, ”The one who commits illegal sexual intercourse is not a believer at the time of committing illegal sexual intercourse, and a thief is not a believer at the time of committing theft, and a drinker of alcoholic drink is not a believer at the time of drinking. Yet, (the gate of) repentance is open thereafter” (Al-Bukhari 8, 801). At the time we are doing these actions, our iman isn’t completely cancelled, but it in such a low level that we are able to commit these wrong actions, these sins. When our iman is high, we do not commit these mistakes or these sins. In an another hadeeth, the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, says: “When an adulturer commits adultery, the iman leaves him.”

Tawbah part 2

 

Tawbah to the believer is more important than air is to a human being. Imagine that. How can we live without air? It’s impossible, right. So how can we not do tawbah? We must strive to do tawbah regularly. And as being one of those who regularly repents, we can gain it’s benefits. Because you know, there are several benefits from doing tawbah.

The first one is that Allaah subhano wata’ala wipes away our sins! I already mentioned the hadeeth where the Prophet, aleyhi salaato wasalaam, says that the one who repents from sin is like the one without sin. It could be a specific sin or more in general, the way we lead our life before that was not according to islam.

Tawbah part 1

  

The word tawbah litterally means ’to return’. For us muslims it means to leave that what Allaah, subhanu wa ta’ala, has forbidden and to return to Him and to what He has commanded. To return to Allaah, to make tawbah, is a very important part of our islam, our submission to Allaah. In soorah al-Baqarah it says:
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلتَّوَّٲبِينَ
“Truly, Allâh loves those who turn unto Him in repentance” (2:222)

and this tawbah, is so important, because our destination in the hereafter is dependant on it, just as Allaah says in soorah An-Noor:
وَتُوبُوٓاْ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تُفۡلِحُونَ
“And all of you beg Allâh to forgive you all, O believers, that you may be successful.”  (24:31)

Which of course means being successful in the next life. To return back to Allaah in repentance, tawbah, is one of the greatest acts of ibadah, worship. This also shows how pleased Allaah is with our repentance. To explain this, the Prophet, aleyhi salato wasalaam, said in a hadeeth: ”Allaah is more delighted with the repentance of His servant than one of you would be, who suddenly finds his camel laden with supplies after losing it in a barren land” (Narrated by Anas and collected in the hadeeth collection of al-Bukhaaree (eng. trans. vol.8 p.214 no.321) & Muslim (eng. trans. vol.4 p.1434 no.6611))
Wouldn’t we be very happy, like extremely happy, if we lost everything we had and then “miraculously” got it all back? That joy and happiness is NOTHING, nothing, compared to how pleased Allaah subhano wata’ala is with our repentance. And does He gain anything from that? No, astaghfirullaah, Allah doesn’t need anything from us. But we need everything from Him.

MashaAllaah!