GenN
09-08-04, 03:51 PM
Self-Justification: The Whispers of Shaytaan
A Muslim who grows up in Western society learns how to
think and act in a way alien to Islam. Although often brought
up in a Muslim household some Muslim youth are
unfortunately swayed by the rotten fruits of Western society including
drugs, alcohol and illicit relationships. They are tempted by these
rotten fruits and end up in a downward spiral growing further away
from Islam every day.
Initially the salah is performed now and again, then restricted to
Friday and then only to ‘Eid. The degrees to which people go into
committing haram differ and everyone knows someone who they
perceive as worse than themselves and better than themselves. One of
the worst intellectual diseases that people have is that of selfjustification,
it is one of the key issues that allows people to drift away
from Islam justifying this to themselves every step of the way. Initially
they may have the occasional joint, then it becomes a regular habit and
they move on to harder substances to increase the high. Even though
Muslims feel guilty when committing overtly haram actions like
drinking alcohol, taking drugs or engaging in haram relationships with
the opposite sex, eventually the guilt wears off and they begin to
justify these actions to themselves.
We must realise that self-justifying an action will not make it halal
and doesn’t remove the inevitable reality of standing in front of Allah on the Day of Judgement, with nothing except our deeds. It is the
Western concept of individualism that breeds the mentality of pure
greed and selfishness where people even steal and backstab their own
families to achieve their sick version of enjoyment.
TYPES OF SELF-JUSTIFICATION
There are different types of excuses or self–justifications which
individuals carry. People normally carry a combination of them. Some
of the most common types of self-justifications that people hold are
the following:
- “At least I’m better than others”
- “I will change in the future”
- “I’m not ready for it yet, its too difficult to change”
- “As long as I’m pure inside, Allah will forgive me”
“AT LEAST I’M BETTER THAN OTHERS”
The individual who holds this idea looks at the extreme actions of
people which they consider as ‘bad” such as stealing from Muslims,
rape or eating pork and compare their own actions to them. They
feel reassured that they are better than those who undertake those
actions.When they commit haram or neglect the Islamic duties (fara’id)
they think to themselves that at least they are not like others, at least
they perform some actions of Islam. If they take drugs they say, “at
least I don’t drink alcohol”. If they have haram relations with the
opposite sex they say, “at least I have the intention of marriage”.
When involving in haram contracts they say, “at least I don’t steal”. If
they miss the obligatory salah they justify it to themselves by thinking,
‘at least I pray on Friday’.
By extending their logic you could say, ‘at least a homosexual isn’t a
rapist’ and ‘at least an alcoholic doesn’t eat pork’. The problem with
this argument is, who defines what type of behaviour is bad and what
is good? Allah (swt) is the one who defines the good actions from the
bad actions. Allah (swt) views the halal actions as good and all the haram
actions as evil. So in the sight of Allah (swt missing salah, being rebellious to your parents, eating pork, rape, socialising with nonrelated members of the opposite sex, homosexuality, taking intoxicating drugs, drinking alcohol and adultery are all haram and from the munkaraat (evil) actions that lead to the hellfire.
“I WILL CHANGE IN THE FUTURE”
This notion is commonly held by many youth. They believe that
they will change in the future when they become older, they will settle
down, get married, have children, go to Hajj and begin practising
Islam. This excuse allows them to justify the haram to themselves.
If it was as simple as that, everyone can act as they please with the
hope of changing someday in the future. How many of us know of
young people who have died? How many of us know of cases where
boyfriend and girlfriend have died in car accidents?
Muslims and non-Muslims alike can agree that the most definite
thing in life is death. If this is the case, how can we act as if we are
going to live forever?
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (ra),
“If you awoke in the morning, do not speak to yourself of the
evening, and if you reach the evening, do not speak to yourself
of the morning. Take from your life for your death, and from
your health for your illness, as you do not know what your name
will be tomorrow.” [Bukhari]
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
“The clever one is he who disciplined himself and worked for
what is after death, and the feeble one is he who followed his
desires, then made (vain) prayers to Allah.”
Allah (swt) said,
“Say: The death from which you flee will truly overtake you: then will you be sent back to the Knower of all things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth of) the things that you did!” [TMQ Al-Jumu’a: 8]
Besides the inevitable reality of death, do we believe that Allah (swt)
will accept our good deeds in the future whilst we committed haram
during our youth? Do we think that performing salah and avoiding
the evil temptations in our old age when it is easier to do so will grant
us Jannah?
“Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: ‘O my Lord! Send me back
(to life), in order that I may do good in that which I have left behind!’ - No! It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is a Partition until the Day they are raised up. Then when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no more kinship among them that day, nor will they ask of one another! Then those whose scales (of good deeds) are heavy, they are the successful. And those whose scales (of good deeds) are light, they are those who lose their own selves; in Hell will they abide.” [TMQ Al-Mu’minun: 99-103]
“I’M NOT READY FOR IT YET, IT’S TOO DIFFICULT TO CHANGE”
The true meaning behind this excuse is that people don’t want to
leave the haram they’re committing. They have got so used to their
lifestyle that they can’t perceive it any other way. The thought of
waking up for fajr salah, having to continuously study Islam or not
‘chilling’ with the opposite sex is too much for them. There are
obvious contradictions in their behaviour; many of them will spend
a lot of time on things they enjoy whether its playing computer games,
physical training, sports or ‘looking good’. In reality these people are
lazy when it comes to Islam, they may spend so much effort in fitting
in with the crowd and keeping up with the latest trend yet they are not
willing to spend effort in staying away from the fire of hell and
attempting to gain Jannah and the pleasure of Allah (swt).
We need to realise that in order to become Islamic personalities we
have to live our life according to the objective that Allah (swt) has set for
us. Why is it that many work hard when it comes to their exams, yet
pay little attention to the true exam of life? Allah (swt) didn’t create us
for play.
Life is not all about ease and acting like spoilt teenagers who have
everything done for them. All of us have the capacity to become
Islamic personalities. Islam wasn’t revealed for angels, it was revealed
for human beings. Allah (swt) says,
“Allah does not place a burden upon a person except that which he is capable
of.” [TMQ al-Baqarah: 282]
How can one then argue that following Islam is too difficult?
Whoever believes this should look at the example of converts to Islam
who completely transform their behaviour and may even face hardship
from their families. If they can change why can’t we? If we look to the
example of many of the Sahabah (ra) they used to be the worst of
people and then became the best. Take the example of ‘Umar ibn al-
Khattab (ra). He was a man that wanted to kill the Messenger of Allah (saw) and who had even buried his two daughters alive. When he embraced Islam he became the best of people.
‘Umar (ra) was neither a prophet nor angel; he was a person like us.
This type of complete transformation of personalities is not restricted
to the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw). There are many
examples from Muslims in our own communities in the West who
used to be notorious criminals, drug dealers and alcoholics and who
became active Islamic personalities working for the return of Islam
when they received the Islamic da’wah (call).
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
“People are like mines of silver and gold; the best of them in
the days of Ignorance (jahilliyah) are the best of them in Islam
when they attain knowledge.” [Muslim]
This hadith means that no matter how far away from Islam we are,
we all have the potential to change and become the best of people.
“AS LONG AS I’M PURE FROM INSIDE, ALLAH WILL FORGIVE ME”
The fact that someone has this delusion proves that they are not
pure from inside because they carry this corrupt notion, which
contradicts Islam. Being ‘pure inside’ not only means believing in
Islam, it also means practising it. What is the point of the Qur’an and
the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saw) if Allah (swt) is going to enter
everyone into Jannah without accounting them for their deeds?
Believing in this idea allows people to gamble their life away. It will be
too late to change on the Day of Judgement, when everyone will be
worried about themselves to the extent that even the Prophets of
Allah like Adam (as), Musa (as) and ‘Isa (as) will be worried about
themselves.When the earth will narrate the actions that we performed
on it and our own body will speak to Allah (swt) about what we did
whilst alive. Every single action small or large will be accounted on that
day.
“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. And
whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it.” [TMQ Al-
Zalzalah: 7]
The forgiveness of Allah (swt) is not achieved with false prayers, whilst
continuing to disobey His commands. Allah (swt) says,
“Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds, until
death faces one of them, and he says: ‘Now I repent’ nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them have we prepared a painful torment.” [TMQ Al-Nisa: 18]
SELF-JUSTIFICATIONS: WHISPERS OF SHAYTAN
Even though many don’t realise it, using self-justifications to follow
our own desires instead of following the commands of Allah (swt) is
directly following the footsteps of Shaytan. As Allah (swt) said,
“Did I not enjoin on you O you children of Adam that you should not worship
Shaytan; for that he was to you an enemy avowed?” [TMQ Ya-Seen: 60]
“O you who believe! Follow not the footsteps of the Shaytan (devil).” [TMQ
Al-Nur: 21]
How can we be believers in Islam if we abandon its rules and follow
the Shaytan instead? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
“No one of has real Iman (belief) until his desires conform to
what I came with.”
We must avoid the whispers of Shaytan. So every time we feel lazy
in praying the salah, we should know that this is from the Shaytan.
Every time we are about to answer back in a rebellious way to our
parents, we should know this is from the Shaytan. Every time we get
the temptation of committing haram with the opposite sex, we should
know that this is from Shaytan. Every time we are about to neglect our
duty to Allah or perform an action that will anger Him (swt), we
should know that this is from the Shaytan. The Messenger of Allah (saw)
said,
“Shaytan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it.”
“Shaytan only seeks to breed animosity and spite among you by means of
intoxicants and gambling and to keep you from the remembrance of Allah and from salah (prayer); will you not then desist?” [TMQ Al-Ma’idah: 91]
We should seek refuge from these whispers of Shaytan as Allah
taught us in the Qur’an,
“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of Mankind. The King of mankind. The
God of mankind. From the evil of the sneaking whisperer. Who whispers in the
breasts of mankind. From amongst the Jinn and the men.” [TMQ Al-Nas: 1-
6]
Many of the youth would not undertake some of their haram actions
in front of their parents due to embarrassment or fear, then how can
they perform these actions whilst Allah sees everything they do? We
should fear Allah and be embarrassed in front of Him .
It was reported in sahih (authenticated) narrations that when Jibraeel
(as) asked the Messenger about ihsan (perfection), he said,
“To worship Allah as if you see him, and if you do not see
him, then he surely sees you.”
BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
Self-justifications allow people to continue living their lives like
animals, even though they know deep down that the path they are
following is incorrect. Even after all the late night parties, relationships,
drugs, fast cars, music and alcohol many feel an inevitable uneasiness
or discontent. This feeling doesn’t easily go away, some learn to live with it while it eats away at their conscience while others decide to use
their mind and start thinking about Islam; the only thinking man’s
belief that provides tranquillity.
A Muslim who grows up in Western society learns how to
think and act in a way alien to Islam. Although often brought
up in a Muslim household some Muslim youth are
unfortunately swayed by the rotten fruits of Western society including
drugs, alcohol and illicit relationships. They are tempted by these
rotten fruits and end up in a downward spiral growing further away
from Islam every day.
Initially the salah is performed now and again, then restricted to
Friday and then only to ‘Eid. The degrees to which people go into
committing haram differ and everyone knows someone who they
perceive as worse than themselves and better than themselves. One of
the worst intellectual diseases that people have is that of selfjustification,
it is one of the key issues that allows people to drift away
from Islam justifying this to themselves every step of the way. Initially
they may have the occasional joint, then it becomes a regular habit and
they move on to harder substances to increase the high. Even though
Muslims feel guilty when committing overtly haram actions like
drinking alcohol, taking drugs or engaging in haram relationships with
the opposite sex, eventually the guilt wears off and they begin to
justify these actions to themselves.
We must realise that self-justifying an action will not make it halal
and doesn’t remove the inevitable reality of standing in front of Allah on the Day of Judgement, with nothing except our deeds. It is the
Western concept of individualism that breeds the mentality of pure
greed and selfishness where people even steal and backstab their own
families to achieve their sick version of enjoyment.
TYPES OF SELF-JUSTIFICATION
There are different types of excuses or self–justifications which
individuals carry. People normally carry a combination of them. Some
of the most common types of self-justifications that people hold are
the following:
- “At least I’m better than others”
- “I will change in the future”
- “I’m not ready for it yet, its too difficult to change”
- “As long as I’m pure inside, Allah will forgive me”
“AT LEAST I’M BETTER THAN OTHERS”
The individual who holds this idea looks at the extreme actions of
people which they consider as ‘bad” such as stealing from Muslims,
rape or eating pork and compare their own actions to them. They
feel reassured that they are better than those who undertake those
actions.When they commit haram or neglect the Islamic duties (fara’id)
they think to themselves that at least they are not like others, at least
they perform some actions of Islam. If they take drugs they say, “at
least I don’t drink alcohol”. If they have haram relations with the
opposite sex they say, “at least I have the intention of marriage”.
When involving in haram contracts they say, “at least I don’t steal”. If
they miss the obligatory salah they justify it to themselves by thinking,
‘at least I pray on Friday’.
By extending their logic you could say, ‘at least a homosexual isn’t a
rapist’ and ‘at least an alcoholic doesn’t eat pork’. The problem with
this argument is, who defines what type of behaviour is bad and what
is good? Allah (swt) is the one who defines the good actions from the
bad actions. Allah (swt) views the halal actions as good and all the haram
actions as evil. So in the sight of Allah (swt missing salah, being rebellious to your parents, eating pork, rape, socialising with nonrelated members of the opposite sex, homosexuality, taking intoxicating drugs, drinking alcohol and adultery are all haram and from the munkaraat (evil) actions that lead to the hellfire.
“I WILL CHANGE IN THE FUTURE”
This notion is commonly held by many youth. They believe that
they will change in the future when they become older, they will settle
down, get married, have children, go to Hajj and begin practising
Islam. This excuse allows them to justify the haram to themselves.
If it was as simple as that, everyone can act as they please with the
hope of changing someday in the future. How many of us know of
young people who have died? How many of us know of cases where
boyfriend and girlfriend have died in car accidents?
Muslims and non-Muslims alike can agree that the most definite
thing in life is death. If this is the case, how can we act as if we are
going to live forever?
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said to ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (ra),
“If you awoke in the morning, do not speak to yourself of the
evening, and if you reach the evening, do not speak to yourself
of the morning. Take from your life for your death, and from
your health for your illness, as you do not know what your name
will be tomorrow.” [Bukhari]
The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
“The clever one is he who disciplined himself and worked for
what is after death, and the feeble one is he who followed his
desires, then made (vain) prayers to Allah.”
Allah (swt) said,
“Say: The death from which you flee will truly overtake you: then will you be sent back to the Knower of all things secret and open: and He will tell you (the truth of) the things that you did!” [TMQ Al-Jumu’a: 8]
Besides the inevitable reality of death, do we believe that Allah (swt)
will accept our good deeds in the future whilst we committed haram
during our youth? Do we think that performing salah and avoiding
the evil temptations in our old age when it is easier to do so will grant
us Jannah?
“Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: ‘O my Lord! Send me back
(to life), in order that I may do good in that which I have left behind!’ - No! It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is a Partition until the Day they are raised up. Then when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no more kinship among them that day, nor will they ask of one another! Then those whose scales (of good deeds) are heavy, they are the successful. And those whose scales (of good deeds) are light, they are those who lose their own selves; in Hell will they abide.” [TMQ Al-Mu’minun: 99-103]
“I’M NOT READY FOR IT YET, IT’S TOO DIFFICULT TO CHANGE”
The true meaning behind this excuse is that people don’t want to
leave the haram they’re committing. They have got so used to their
lifestyle that they can’t perceive it any other way. The thought of
waking up for fajr salah, having to continuously study Islam or not
‘chilling’ with the opposite sex is too much for them. There are
obvious contradictions in their behaviour; many of them will spend
a lot of time on things they enjoy whether its playing computer games,
physical training, sports or ‘looking good’. In reality these people are
lazy when it comes to Islam, they may spend so much effort in fitting
in with the crowd and keeping up with the latest trend yet they are not
willing to spend effort in staying away from the fire of hell and
attempting to gain Jannah and the pleasure of Allah (swt).
We need to realise that in order to become Islamic personalities we
have to live our life according to the objective that Allah (swt) has set for
us. Why is it that many work hard when it comes to their exams, yet
pay little attention to the true exam of life? Allah (swt) didn’t create us
for play.
Life is not all about ease and acting like spoilt teenagers who have
everything done for them. All of us have the capacity to become
Islamic personalities. Islam wasn’t revealed for angels, it was revealed
for human beings. Allah (swt) says,
“Allah does not place a burden upon a person except that which he is capable
of.” [TMQ al-Baqarah: 282]
How can one then argue that following Islam is too difficult?
Whoever believes this should look at the example of converts to Islam
who completely transform their behaviour and may even face hardship
from their families. If they can change why can’t we? If we look to the
example of many of the Sahabah (ra) they used to be the worst of
people and then became the best. Take the example of ‘Umar ibn al-
Khattab (ra). He was a man that wanted to kill the Messenger of Allah (saw) and who had even buried his two daughters alive. When he embraced Islam he became the best of people.
‘Umar (ra) was neither a prophet nor angel; he was a person like us.
This type of complete transformation of personalities is not restricted
to the companions of the Messenger of Allah (saw). There are many
examples from Muslims in our own communities in the West who
used to be notorious criminals, drug dealers and alcoholics and who
became active Islamic personalities working for the return of Islam
when they received the Islamic da’wah (call).
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
“People are like mines of silver and gold; the best of them in
the days of Ignorance (jahilliyah) are the best of them in Islam
when they attain knowledge.” [Muslim]
This hadith means that no matter how far away from Islam we are,
we all have the potential to change and become the best of people.
“AS LONG AS I’M PURE FROM INSIDE, ALLAH WILL FORGIVE ME”
The fact that someone has this delusion proves that they are not
pure from inside because they carry this corrupt notion, which
contradicts Islam. Being ‘pure inside’ not only means believing in
Islam, it also means practising it. What is the point of the Qur’an and
the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saw) if Allah (swt) is going to enter
everyone into Jannah without accounting them for their deeds?
Believing in this idea allows people to gamble their life away. It will be
too late to change on the Day of Judgement, when everyone will be
worried about themselves to the extent that even the Prophets of
Allah like Adam (as), Musa (as) and ‘Isa (as) will be worried about
themselves.When the earth will narrate the actions that we performed
on it and our own body will speak to Allah (swt) about what we did
whilst alive. Every single action small or large will be accounted on that
day.
“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it. And
whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it.” [TMQ Al-
Zalzalah: 7]
The forgiveness of Allah (swt) is not achieved with false prayers, whilst
continuing to disobey His commands. Allah (swt) says,
“Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds, until
death faces one of them, and he says: ‘Now I repent’ nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them have we prepared a painful torment.” [TMQ Al-Nisa: 18]
SELF-JUSTIFICATIONS: WHISPERS OF SHAYTAN
Even though many don’t realise it, using self-justifications to follow
our own desires instead of following the commands of Allah (swt) is
directly following the footsteps of Shaytan. As Allah (swt) said,
“Did I not enjoin on you O you children of Adam that you should not worship
Shaytan; for that he was to you an enemy avowed?” [TMQ Ya-Seen: 60]
“O you who believe! Follow not the footsteps of the Shaytan (devil).” [TMQ
Al-Nur: 21]
How can we be believers in Islam if we abandon its rules and follow
the Shaytan instead? The Messenger of Allah (saw) said,
“No one of has real Iman (belief) until his desires conform to
what I came with.”
We must avoid the whispers of Shaytan. So every time we feel lazy
in praying the salah, we should know that this is from the Shaytan.
Every time we are about to answer back in a rebellious way to our
parents, we should know this is from the Shaytan. Every time we get
the temptation of committing haram with the opposite sex, we should
know that this is from Shaytan. Every time we are about to neglect our
duty to Allah or perform an action that will anger Him (swt), we
should know that this is from the Shaytan. The Messenger of Allah (saw)
said,
“Shaytan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it.”
“Shaytan only seeks to breed animosity and spite among you by means of
intoxicants and gambling and to keep you from the remembrance of Allah and from salah (prayer); will you not then desist?” [TMQ Al-Ma’idah: 91]
We should seek refuge from these whispers of Shaytan as Allah
taught us in the Qur’an,
“Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of Mankind. The King of mankind. The
God of mankind. From the evil of the sneaking whisperer. Who whispers in the
breasts of mankind. From amongst the Jinn and the men.” [TMQ Al-Nas: 1-
6]
Many of the youth would not undertake some of their haram actions
in front of their parents due to embarrassment or fear, then how can
they perform these actions whilst Allah sees everything they do? We
should fear Allah and be embarrassed in front of Him .
It was reported in sahih (authenticated) narrations that when Jibraeel
(as) asked the Messenger about ihsan (perfection), he said,
“To worship Allah as if you see him, and if you do not see
him, then he surely sees you.”
BE TRUE TO YOURSELF
Self-justifications allow people to continue living their lives like
animals, even though they know deep down that the path they are
following is incorrect. Even after all the late night parties, relationships,
drugs, fast cars, music and alcohol many feel an inevitable uneasiness
or discontent. This feeling doesn’t easily go away, some learn to live with it while it eats away at their conscience while others decide to use
their mind and start thinking about Islam; the only thinking man’s
belief that provides tranquillity.