Orland Park Prayer Center

The Prayer Center of Orland Park

As-Sami’. The All-Hearing. Al-Baseer. The All-Seeing. Al-Alim. The All-Knowing One. We get these names, try to memorize them, and know the essence behind them. Why is that not enough? We’re told from the moment we start learning about Allah (swt) that He knows all, but do we believe it? Right here is where I know we all get defensive. “Of course, I believe it” or “Obviously: I am Muslim after all.” That doesn’t answer the question though. Why is that not enough? We know it, claim to believe it, and yet we live our lives in constant sin and ignorance of it. If only we could picture what it’ll be like when we are standing in front of Allah (swt) on the Day of judgment. If only we could feel that emotion of dread and regret as we flip through our book of deeds, having to testify for each one.

Right now, as we live on this Earth, it is easy for a lot of us to hide our downfalls. It is easy to pretend that we are never going to have to testify about them. When a human accuses us of a wrongdoing, it is so easy for us to deny it, for our tongues to utter the lie. However, when we are given descriptions of the Day of Judgement, Allah (swt) tells us “That day, We will seal over their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will testify about what they used to earn” (Quran 36:65). We believe that we have such “control” over our bodies, and it gets to the point that we forget and ignore the fact that it does not even belong to us. He (swt) created it and His creations will only give what is demanded of them that day; the truth. If your own body will go against you that day, imagine what else could and would.

In Surat An-Naml, we are given a story of our Prophet Suleiman (as) while he is using his gift of talking to animals. Within that story, we also get to witness the fact that the bird spoke back to him, giving us an animal’s point of view of people. The great detail that the bird relayed to Suleiman (as) is truly mind blowing. Speaking about the sun-worshippers and their queen, the bird says “I found her and her people prostrating to the sun instead of Allah, and Satan has made their deeds pleasing to them and averted them from [His] way, so they are not guided, [And] so they do not prostrate to Allah, who brings forth what is hidden within the heavens and the earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare-Allah-there is no deity except Him, Lord of the Great Throne” (Quran 27:24-26). There are many amazing things about these ayat, but I think we often overlook one major lesson we can take from it. Yes, we have angels on our shoulders writing down our deeds, and yes our bodies are going to testify against us on the Day of Judgment. However, these few ayat show us that we have more than just that to be conscious of. We don’t think about the fact that every bird that flies over us and every little fly on our wall becomes a witness against us on the Day of Judgment. That bird did not just see people prostrating, but it saw the meaning behind the prostration and the consequences of it. SubhanAllah.

Is that enough for us to at least try to take a step back from our thoughtless sins? I ask that Allah (swt) makes this the reminder we needed to get back on the straight path and stay on it. Ameen.

By Aydah Nofal

 

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