Would you keep your promise?

Would you keep your promise?

A set of ayaat that struck me and stuck with me this Ramazan was the 14th-15th of Surah alAhzab:

وَ لَوۡ دُخِلَتۡ عَلَیۡہِمۡ مِّنۡ اَقۡطَارِہَا ثُمَّ سُئِلُوا الۡفِتۡنَۃَ  لَاٰتَوۡہَا وَ مَا تَلَبَّثُوۡا بِہَاۤ   اِلَّا  یَسِیۡرًا

وَ لَقَدۡ کَانُوۡا عَاہَدُوا اللّٰہَ مِنۡ قَبۡلُ لَا یُوَلُّوۡنَ الۡاَدۡبَارَ ؕ وَ کَانَ عَہۡدُ اللّٰہِ مَسۡئُوۡلًا 

“And if they had been invaded from all sides, and fitnah (i.e. disobedience/ betrayal) had been demanded of them, they would certainly have obliged without much hesitation. And they had already promised Allah that they would never turn their backs and flee. And a promise made to Allah would certainly be accounted for.”

[Surah alAhzab, ayaat 14 and 15]

Since the Qur’an is all about introspection, I kept wondering where I stand vis-a-vis these two ayaat. These ayaat speak about those Muslims who reside in Muslim societies and follow Islam in their routine lives, but they falter when their faith is tested under challenging situations. These ayaat were revealed in the midst of a siege where inevitable death or defeat stared them in the face. It is in times such as these that our faith is truly put to test. Do we stand firm or do we falter? Do we keep the promise we have made Allah, or do we turn our backs to Him?

You see, delivering academic lectures and eloquent speeches on Islamic values before an attentive audience is quite easy. What is rather difficult is to put those things into practice when it is truly time. The proof of the pudding lies in the eating!

For instance, we all know that Muslims ought to stand firmly for Allah, testifying to justice even if our testimony happens to sabotage our own interests or those of our dear ones, or even if our testimony favours our enemies. I'm sure many of us can speak at length enumerating the merits of this pristine standard of justice enshrined in Surah anNisa and Surah alMaidah. But how many of us would actually act upon these teachings when the situation so demands of us? Would you stand before the police and testify against your own family members? Would you step ahead and seek to absolve those people against whom you hold a grudge? Would you? Would I?

Likewise, writing Facebook posts on making weddings simple, following the Islamic code of conduct in divorces, abiding by the Islamic law of inheritance and keeping away from all avenues of zina is cakewalk for many of us. But all those posts are written from a third-person perspective; very much like backseat driving. What would be our attitude when the ball is actually in our court, when the steering wheel is in our own hands? We often get but one opportunity in our entire lives to act upon each of these teachings. It is always a make or break situation. That one single moment would determine whether we are true to our word or are easily carried away to fitnah.

The questions we need to ask ourselves are:

• If someone tempts me to zina (in any measure or form), would I refrain and say ma’az-Allah like Prophet Yusufؑ had said, or would I allow my desires to obscure my sense of taqwa?

• Would I gladly give my sister her rightful share of inheritance or would I choose to deprive her under one pretext or another? (And believe me, one can easily procure scores of dalail and excuses if he has decided to act against Islamic law)

• Would I hold my ground when the marriage at stake is that of my own daughter/son? Or would I buckle under ‘family pressure’?

Such situations usually come out of the blue, and that is when our mantle is truly being tested. Our dedication and commitment to Islamic values would not be judged by the speeches we deliver or the posts we write, but by our conduct when we actually face that situation in real life.

May Allah keep us all steadfast. May He make us practise what we preach. Otherwise, simply making hollow claims and not acting upon them would cause us to stand in the same rows of those hypocrites who showed much eagerness to serve in the cause of Allah but flinched when the time to act arrived:

یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لِمَ تَقُوۡلُوۡنَ مَا لَا تَفۡعَلُوۡنَ 

کَبُرَ مَقۡتًا عِنۡدَ اللّٰہِ اَنۡ تَقُوۡلُوۡا مَا لَا تَفۡعَلُوۡنَ 

[Surah Saff, ayaat 2 and 3]

- Dr. Parvez Mandviwala