"Still waiting for hidayah, bro", “I have not been guided yet”, “Belum sampai seru”, etcetera.
These are common excuses people give behind to justify why they are not performing obligatory righteous deeds: why they are not praying, not covering up their awrah, or not quitting sinful habits.
Interestingly, many people have a similar approach when it comes to any motivation in general: motivation to workout, to read, to eat healthy, to sign up for that awesome course, or enlist as a volunteer for that amazing cause. They simply wait for something (or someone) to motivate THEM before they take action themselves. As a result, they paralyze themselves into inaction from taking the first step, on the grounds that “I don’t have motivation.”
But that’s not really how motivation works.
“Action leads to motivation, and not the other way around. Any action is better than no action at all. Stop waiting for motivation, and start motivating yourself.” (Dean Bokhari)
Ponder upon the words of Allah surah Al-Kahf ayah #13:
نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ نبَأَهُم بِالْحَقِّ إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ ءَامَنُواْ بِرَبِّهِمْ وَزِدْنَـهُمْ هُدًى
“We narrate unto you their story with truth: Truly, they were young men who believed in their Lord (Allah), and We increased them in guidance.”
The young men of the cave took the conscious choice of "iman" (belief) first – and as a result, Allah increased His huda (guidance) for them.
Righteous deeds lead to more guidance. And the more guidance one has, the higher one’s iman, hence more motivation to do more righteous deeds. When done consistently with the correct direction and sincere intent, it becomes a self-reinforcing mechanism that keeps building continuous, ever-growing momentum.
In the tafsir book “Adwaa ul Bayan”, Sheikh Ash-Shanqiti commented on this verse, “What is understood from this noble verse is that whoever believes in his Lord and obeys Him, His Lord will increase his state of guidance, because obedience is a cause for the increase of guidance and faith. This understanding from this noble verse appears clearly in other places [in the Qur’aan]. For example, in the Almighty’s statement:
وَالَّذِينَ اهْتَدَوْاْ زَادَهُمْ هُدًى وَءَاتَـهُمْ تَقُوَاهُمْ
“As for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their piety.” (Surah Muhammad, 47: 17)
What this verse tells us is that people have got the cause-and-effect principle of hidayah (guidance from Allah), all wrong. Firstly, Allah’s guidance isn’t random or arbitrary, like a proverbial light from the heavens as we tend to think of.
Secondly, and more importantly: You don’t WAIT for hidayah to come before you perform righteous deeds. It’s the other way around. YOU take the conscious decision to do righteous deeds, and Allah will add to that guidance. Hidayah is bestowed as a gift to positively reinforce your actions.
This is further reinforced in the following ayah:
وَرَبَطْنَا عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ إِذْ قَامُواْ فَقَالُواْ رَبُّنَا رَبُّ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ
“And We made their hearts firm and strong when they stood up and said: "Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth..” (Surah Al-Kahf, 18:14)
Observe the structure of these words of Allah: This ayah tells us then WHEN they stood up and declared their faith to their transgressing mushrik community – an undoubtedly difficult task, considering the risks of negative consequences that may occur as a result – THEN Allah strengthened their hearts to keep their hearts firm.
They don’t “wait” until Allah strengthens their heart to summon the courage to stand up.
Another food for thought: Generally speaking, assuming everything else is constant, who has more guidance – a person who prays his five times a day solah or a person who doesn’t pray at all?
No, it’s not a trick question. (And no, I’m not referring to someone in menses)
The person who prays, makes the following du’aa seventeen times a day, every day in surah Al-Fatihah:
اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
“GUIDE US to the Straight Path”
Think about it this way: the person who prays – i.e. the one who is relatively “more guided” – that person ASKS Allah for guidance much more than the person who doesn’t pray or prays less (who is actually more in need of guidance!)
To rephrase the earlier statement, in light of hidayah:
Action >> hidayah >> more action >> more hidayah >> (infinite loop)
#theBarakahEffect #lessonsFromAlKahf #Hidayah #BelumSampaiSeru #otw
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