Self Introspection

 

God says,

يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍۢ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ خَبِيرٌۢ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ 

وَلَا تَكُونُوا۟ كَٱلَّذِينَ نَسُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَأَنسَىٰهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْفَـٰسِقُونَ  

لَا يَسْتَوِىٓ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلنَّارِ وَأَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ ۚ أَصْحَـٰبُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ هُمُ ٱلْفَآئِزُونَ  

[Surah Hashr, ayaat 18-20]

In these ayaat, God has instructed us to fear Him, and check what have invested for the hereawefter. He has also warned us not to be negligent of Him, lest He makes us negligent of our own selves, and it is such people that are defiantly disobedient. He has also made it clear that the ways and attitude of those who would enter Hell and those who would enter Paradise are not alike, and that it is the latter who would attain true success.

In short, God has asked us to self-introspect.

The question is WHY? Why should we introspect?

Because we would be held accountable for our deeds in the hereafter.

اِقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَابُهُمْ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍۢ مُّعْرِضُونَ

[Surah Anbiya, ayat 1]

We can revise and correct our answer paper now, before the examiner corrects it later. As Umar bin Khattabؓ used to put it:

حاسِبوا أنفسكم قبل أن تُحاسبوا

And, man is indeed capable of evaluating himself.

اِقْرَأْ كِتَـٰبَكَ كَفَىٰ بِنَفْسِكَ ٱلْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا

[Surah Bani Israil, ayat 14]

بَلِ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ عَلَىٰ نَفْسِهِۦ بَصِيرَةٌ

وَلَوْ أَلْقَىٰ مَعَاذِيرَهُ

[Surah Qiyamah, ayaat 14,15]

Why would we be held accountable?

Because we have been entrusted with the amanah.

اِنَّا عَرَضۡنَا الۡاَمَانَةَ عَلَى السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ وَالۡجِبَالِ فَاَبَيۡنَ اَنۡ يَّحۡمِلۡنَهَا وَاَشۡفَقۡنَ مِنۡهَا وَ حَمَلَهَا الۡاِنۡسَانُؕ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ ظَلُوۡمًا جَهُوۡلًا ۙ‏ لِّيُعَذِّبَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُنَـٰفِقِينَ وَٱلْمُنَـٰفِقَـٰتِ وَٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَٱلْمُشْرِكَـٰتِ وَيَتُوبَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَـٰتِ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۢا

[Surah Ahzab: ayaat 72,73]

So, what is this amanat? Scholars have described this ‘amanat’ as takleef e Shriah - i.e., the responsibility that has been placed upon man to fulfil God's will on earth, to abide by His commands and refrain from the things He has forbidden. 

It is for this reason that Abu Bakr Siddiq used to say, I wish I had been a sparrow or a twig or blade of grass, and thus, not held accountable.

And Umar bin Khattab used to worry if he would ever get into Jannah, and if his name is in the list of munafiqeen handed down to Huzaifah bin Yaman.

The first article of introspection is the condition of the heart.

Since it is the heart that is the locus and crucible (مظہر) of this amanat, it can well be said that man's heart is an amanat from God, which has been entrusted to him. The test is whether he can fulfil that trust, and keep that heart pure and intact. A person who returns this heart, this amanat, in its original form, fulfils the right of amanat and thus passes this test.

یَوۡمَ لَا یَنۡفَعُ مَالٌ وَّ لَا بَنُوۡنَ

اِلَّا مَنۡ اَتَی اللّٰہَ بِقَلۡبٍ سَلِیۡمٍ

[Surah Shuara: ayaat 88,89]

But this heart gets corrupted by our sins. This is a dynamic process. The heart gathers stains and it keeps getting cleansed.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ once said: “Verily, when the slave (of Allah) commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. When he refrains from it, seeks forgiveness and repents, his heart is polished clean. But if he returns, it increases until it covers his entire heart. And that is the ‘Raan’ which Allah mentioned: ‘Nay, but on their hearts is the Raan which they used to earn.’”

[Abu Hurairah ؓ, Jami` at-Tirmidhi]

This is why continuous introspection is required. We need to keep checking the condition of our heart, lest it gathers stains, and rusts beyond repair.

Now you know why diseases of the heart are so dangerous. There are several ayaat and ahadith that tell us that a person would never pass this test if he harbours diseases like hypocrisy, arrogance and jealousy in his heart.

In fact, diseases of the heart cover a much larger canvas. In his book, Hujjatullah alBaligah, Shah Waliullah Muhaddis Dehlvi avers that all forms of huqooqullah and huqooq ul ibaad are actually huqooq ul nafs. Whatever good that we do, we do it for our own selves, and whatever bad that we do, we ultimately do it against our own selves, staining our own heart.

 لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا ٱكْتَسَبَتْ

This heart can be cleansed in two ways. One is taubah and astaghfaar, as mentioned in the above Hadith. Another method is to perform good deeds.

اِنَّ الۡحَسَنٰتِ يُذۡهِبۡنَ السَّيِّاٰتِ

[Surah Hud: ayat 114]

The second method of keeping the heart clean is to protect it from those stains, to save oneself from committing sins. This is the essence of Taqwa, and an extensive system of Ibadaat has been laid down to achieve this. 

یٰۤاَیُّہَا النَّاسُ اعۡبُدُوۡا رَبَّکُمُ الَّذِیۡ خَلَقَکُمۡ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِکُمۡ لَعَلَّکُمۡ تَتَّقُوۡنَ

[Baqarah: 21]

Since taqwa (protecting the heart from sins) is so essential to achieving qalb-e-saleem, and since developing qalb-e-saleem is the ultimate purpose of man's life on earth, God has called Ibadaat the very objective of man's creation.

God says:

وَ مَا خَلَقۡتُ الۡجِنَّ وَ الۡاِنۡسَ اِلَّا لِیَعۡبُدُوۡنِ 

[Surah Zariyat: ayat 56]

The third step in keeping the heart clean (after cleaning it with astaghfar and good deeds, and protecting it from sins with ibadaat) is to purge one’s surroundings. Imagine walking down a lane which is full of puddles, mud and filth. The first step is akin to washing our clothes and removing the stains. The second step is akin to saving our clothes from getting splattered by mud or getting enangled in the thorns (precisely what Ubayy bin Kaab ؓ had told Caliph Umar ؓ ). The third step is akin to cleaning the road itself, so that there are no puddles and thorns to blemish your clothes.

Collective acts of worship like Jihad fi sabilillah, Amr bil Maroof and nahi anil munkar, and the struggle to establish Islam on earth, are all done so that the external environment is also clean and pure, helping us in keeping our hearts unblemished.

This is ijtimai work, and whatever responsibility the Jamaat entrusts us with in this regard, needs to be introspected upon.

Hence, we need to keep checking the condition of our hearts on all these parameters:

1. The sins we commit

2. The astaghfaar and good deeds we perform.

3. The status of its protective guard (our ibadaat)

4. The efforts we are putting in to keep the society clean.

Next, let us ponder over some ahadith to help is in our endeavour 

Muhaddiseen like Imam Abu Dawood, Imam Ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani, and Imam al-Nawawi highlight four ahadith that practically encompasses our entire lives, and we can hence introspect on those lines.

إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ، وَإِنَّمَا لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مَا نَوَى

[Bukhari, Muslim]

إِنَّ الْحَلاَلَ بَيِّنٌ وَإِنَّ الْحَرَامَ بَيِّنٌ وَبَيْنَهُمَا مُشْتَبِهَاتٌ لاَ يَعْلَمُهُنَّ كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ

[Bukhari, Muslim]

مِنْ حُسْنِ إِسْلَامِ الْمَرْءِ تَرْكُهُ مَا لَا يَعْنِيهِ

[Tirmizi]

لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ

[Bukhari, Muslim]

Imam Abu Haneefah substitutes the fourth hadith with the following one:

الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ

[Bukhari, Muslim]

These ahadith invite us to:

1. Check our intentions. The very first people to be thrown into hell would be ulema, martyrs and philanthropists, who were not sincere in their intentions.

2. Check our attitude with grey areas. How much do we stay away from ambiguous things.

3. Check whether whatever we say or do are beneficial for our duniya or akhirat. Wallazina hum anil laghwi murizoon.

4. Check whether we are sincere in what we wish for others.

4'. Check whether other Muslims are safe from our words and deeds.

Before I leave, let me remind you of the following Hadith from Tirmizi, which speaks of 5 question papers.

عَنْ ابْنِ مَسْعُودٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:

لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمُ ابْنِ آدَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّهِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ خَمْسٍ: عَنْ عُمُرِهِ فِيمَ أَفْنَاهُ، وَعَنْ شَبَابِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ، وَمَالِهِ مِنْ أَيْنَ اكْتَسَبَهُ وَفِيمَ أَنْفَقَهُ، وَمَاذَا عَمِلَ فِيمَا عَلِمَ

And, for those over the age of 40, one of those papers - شَبَابِهِ فِيمَ أَبْلَاهُ - has already been taken away. When I was turning 40 two years ago, I felt as if I was in an examination hall, frantically trying yo finish my paper, and the bell had rung, and the invigilator was snatching way my paper from my hand. There was so much I could have written, so much I could have corrected... but my time was up, and I couldn't do anything about it.

While we cannot make amends in that paper - except relying upon God's grace and mercy - we still have an opportunity to answer the remaining four papers well and make necessary corrections therein.

Hence, let us make self introspection a daily habit. Let us pause and reflect before doing or saying anything, and evaluate our words and deeds afterwards.

May God allow us to enter Paradise without taking any account whatsoever.

اللَّهُمَّ حَاسِبْنِي حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا

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