Concept of Deen

 There is a concept that all sayings and acts of our Nabi ﷺ are not compulsorily to be followed; only such sayings and acts of our Nabi ﷺ are compulsorily to be followed which, if not followed, implicate the defaulter into sin. If no sin is the result, our Nabi’s ﷺ  acts/sayings are not to be followed compulsorily. According to this concept, Deen consists of following only such sayings/deeds of our Nabi ﷺ, which have been commanded for by our Nabi ﷺ and which, if not followed, inflict the defaulter with sin. This concept of ‘Deen’ is erroneous. Deen is not basically about calculating the number of sins and pious deeds. Deen is a way to cultivate Allah’s love in our hearts; Deen is a way to live our lives with consultation with Allah; Deen is the way to get closer and closer to Allah. Sins are those acts which pull us back on the way to Allah; pious deeds are those acts which push us forward on the way to Allah. In other words, it is not enough to avoid sins on the way to Allah; by avoiding sins we stay where we are on the way to Allah; it is the pious deeds which push us forward on the way to Allah. It means it is not advisable to follow our Nabi ﷺ  to avoid only sins; such a approach is not in line with what Deen stands for i.e. to cultivate Allah’s love more and more. That is why human beings are advised by Allah to follow our Nabi ﷺ in his ﷺ acts and sayings, whether or not non-following of such acts/sayings involves sins. Allah says:

“Say, [ Muhammad ﷺ ] "If you should love Allah , then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful” (al-imran-31)."

This verse defines what is nature of Deen; it implies spirit of Deen is to cultivate Allah’s love and to get Love from Allah in return. Secondly this verse describes the way to cultivate Allah’s love and get Love from Allah is to follow our Nabi ﷺ. The word ‘itba,a’ used in this verse means to follow every act/saying of our Nabi ﷺ whether or not it has been commanded for (for details https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2016/10/itbaa-e-nabi-second-name-of-deen-1.html). In other words, what ever we do to cultivate Allah’s love in our hearts and to get Allah’s Love in return is pious deed and as such is part of Deen, if such deed is done following our Nabi ﷺ.

In short, Deen is not only following such acts/sayings of our Nabi ﷺ  which, if not followed, implicate the defaulter into sin but also Deen consists of our Nabi’s ﷺ all acts/sayings whether or not non-following of such acts/sayings involves sin, and whether or not such acts/sayings have been commanded by our Nabi ﷺ.  

‘Tawaqqal’ vs Effort

                           

The two concepts i.e. ‘tawaqqul’ and effort’, presented by Islam are usually not understood with clarity and properly, and this lack of clarity lead many people adopt these two concepts in the wrong manner. Actually this lack of clarity emerges from the perception that these two concepts relate to the same conditions; whereas actually these two concepts relate to two different conditions. ‘Tawaqqal’ is related to one’s DESIRE; whereas ‘Effort’ is related to Objective.   There is a difference between ‘Desire’ and ‘Objective’. ‘Desire’ is nourished when there are no ‘conditions’ to achieve it; objective is such desire which is developed when there are conditions to achieve it.

We nourish many desires in our lives. ‘Tawaqqal’ is the name of surrendering our desires to Allah’s Will. In other words, ‘Tawaqqal’ is not to nourish any desire and to entrust himself to Allah’s Will. ‘Effort’ is to undertake action when conditions are available to achieve any objective. It may be appreciated ‘conditions’ are always formulated by Allah. When a person is put into some conditions, he is under obligation to take such conditions as Allah’s Will. If conditions presented to a person may lead him to achieve any objective, any action undertaken by such person to achieve such objective is completely in line with ‘tawaqqal’.  It may also be appreciated that ‘Conditions’ do not mean ‘Opportunity’; opportunity is such ‘conditions’ which may help in achieving objective, but ‘Conditions’ mean such resources with which one can act whether or not there are chances of success.

Quran states about Hazrat Shoaib (as): “ I only intend reform as much as I have power. And my success is not but through Allah. Upon him I have relied, and to Him I return (hud-88).  In this verse, Hazrat Shuaib (as) is stating about his tawakkal/ reliance on Allah along-with his effort  to achieve reforms/objective. Hazrat Shoaib’s (a.s) ‘tawaqqal’ is related to his Desire- he (a.s) had submitted his desires to Allah’s Will; whereas his ‘effort’ to reform is related to his objective, when he was put into the conditions to effectuate such reforms.  A person has to undertake action to achieve his objective- if he has been put into the conditions to undertake such action- whether or not he is likely to succeed in his objective (plz also see  https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2012/04/jabr-o-qadr-and-freedom-of-choice.html).

In this article mentioned above, we have already seen   “Allah determines every event to be faced by a person in life, sometimes on the basis of that person’s action/inaction, and sometimes NOT on the basis of that person’s action/inaction. In both cases, what should be the shape of event to be faced by a person is wholly solely Allah’s Will, but the concerned person is bound to utilize his intellect to formulate his action/inaction to shape that event according to his/her choice. A person is enforced by Allah to utilize his/her intellect in the face of any event he/she faces with; this is what has been determined by Allah; this is what is fate of every person whose intellectual faculties are working properly. Only mad people are exempted from this fate. In short, a person is not exempted from responsibility to shape events according to his own choice/intellect, whether or not, result occurs according to his choice. Barring a few exceptions, all events experienced by a person in his/her life fall under this category of events which the person has to shape according to his/her own choice/intellect through action/inaction; all such events relate to ‘Qadr’- in which Allah determines events but assigns responsibility to the person concerned to shape the events according to his/her own choice/intellect through action/inaction, and it is in the nature of every person to assume such responsibility.

There is another category of events which are determined by Allah without attaching any responsibility to the person concerned to shape the events according to his/her choice/intellect; such events are only a few in a person’s life, and relate to ‘Jabr’.  In such cases the person has no choice to shape the events, and is exempted from responsibility to shape events according to his/her choice/intellect”. 

We may conclude that 'tawaqqal' and 'effort' can be adopted simultaneously because these two concepts relate to two different things/situations a person may get into simultaneously. Tawaqqal is relating to 'Desire' which is developed when no conditions/ resources are available to actualize it- 'tawaqal' is to surrender our desires to Allah's Will ; 'effort' is relating to objective which is a type of desire developed when conditions/ resources to actualize the objective are available. As conditions to a person are always presented by Allah and the conditions presented are to be taken as Allah's Will, so if such conditions lead the person to pursue his objective, such effort to achieve the objective is completely in line with 'tawaqqal'. In other words, 'tawaqqal' and 'effort' are not contradictory things; both may be adopted at the same time.It does not mean every objective to be pursued in conducive conditions is right; only such  objectives which are in line with obedience to Allah would be termed as right ones though the person has freedom to set a right or wrong objective.