[Al-Quran 50:6-8] Have they not looked at the heaven above them - how We structured it and adorned it and how it has no rifts? And the earth - We spread it out and cast therein firmly set mountains and made grow therein [something] of every beautiful kind, Giving insight and a reminder for every servant who turns [to Allah].

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

To Forget the Meeting with Allah

Abstract 
Identifying the causes, effects and consequences of forgetting The Reminder.  


Full Text 


وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللَّهَ فَأَنسَاهُمْ أَنفُسَهُمْ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْفَاسِقُونَ

And be not like those who forgot Allah , so He made them forget their Nafs. Those are the defiantly disobedient. 
[Al-Quran 59:19, Translation: Sahih International, edited]


Our Nafs is in pledge! The Quran continuously exhorts us to 'remember' - it seems that the memory is already somewhere deep inside us, and what we need to do is remember. There is emerging research that our history is in our DNA and/or RNA molecules and is inherited by subsequent generations. A number of factors, both within and without, cause us to be negligent to The Reminder, resulting in our forgetting it, eventually completely, dooming ourselves forever. The following are some ayaat identifying the causes, effects and consequences of forgetting The Reminder:   


Satan 
Satan is the sworn enemy of bani Adam. He is constantly trying to make us forget where we came from and where we are headed: 


اسْتَحْوَذَ عَلَيْهِمُ الشَّيْطَانُ فَأَنسَاهُمْ ذِكْرَ اللَّهِ أُولَٰئِكَ حِزْبُ الشَّيْطَانِ أَلَا إِنَّ حِزْبَ الشَّيْطَانِ هُمُ الْخَاسِرُونَ

Satan has overcome them and made them forget the remembrance of Allah . Those are the party of Satan. Unquestionably, the party of Satan - they will be the losers. 
[Al-Quran 58:19, Translation: Sahih International]


The Record 
Just because we forget doesn't mean that its erased from our memory or from our record of deeds. Allah remembers everything, and moreover its being recorded as well. 

يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا عَمِلُوا أَحْصَاهُ اللَّهُ وَنَسُوهُ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ

On the Day when Allah will resurrect them all and inform them of what they did. Allah had enumerated it, while they forgot it; and Allah is, over all things, Witness.
[Al-Quran 58:6, Translation: Sahih International]


Desires & Deeds 
The trouble is, we humans do not take the Day of Accountability seriously!  


يَا دَاوُودُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاكَ خَلِيفَةً فِي الْأَرْضِ فَاحْكُم بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَىٰ فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَضِلُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ بِمَا نَسُوا يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ

(And it was said unto him): O David! Lo! We have set thee as a viceroy in the earth; therefor judge aright between mankind, and follow not desire that it beguile thee from the way of Allah. Lo! those who wander from the way of Allah have an awful doom, forasmuch as they forgot the Day of Reckoning. 
[Al-Quran 38:26, Translation: Pickthall]


فَذُوقُوا بِمَا نَسِيتُمْ لِقَاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَٰذَا إِنَّا نَسِينَاكُمْ وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْخُلْدِ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

So taste (the evil of your deeds). Forasmuch as ye forgot the meeting of this your day, lo! We forget you. Taste the doom of immortality because of what ye used to do. 
[Al-Quran 32:14, Translation: Pickthall]


Worldly Comforts 
When people get comfortable, why do they forget their reminder? The poor keep praying for relief, while those who have plenty seem to get complacent, some taking it for granted, others claiming to be 'self-made', and yet many simply refusing to believe that they will ever have to account for everything. The situation gets even worse in the subsequent generation(s):    

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ مَا كَانَ يَنبَغِي لَنَا أَن نَّتَّخِذَ مِن دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاءَ وَلَٰكِن مَّتَّعْتَهُمْ وَآبَاءَهُمْ حَتَّىٰ نَسُوا الذِّكْرَ وَكَانُوا قَوْمًا بُورًا

They will say, "Exalted are You! It was not for us to take besides You any allies. But You provided comforts for them and their fathers until they forgot the message and became a people ruined." 
[Al-Quran 25:18, Translation: Sahih International]


Mocking 
It is so often that we see the believers being taken as a laughing stock for their faith; yet the joke is on those who make fun: 

فَاتَّخَذْتُمُوهُمْ سِخْرِيًّا حَتَّىٰ أَنسَوْكُمْ ذِكْرِي وَكُنتُم مِّنْهُمْ تَضْحَكُونَ

But you took them in mockery to the point that they made you forget My remembrance, and you used to laugh at them. 
[Al-Quran 23:101, Translation: Sahih International]


Defiant Disobedience of Allah's Commands
It is Allah who sends His commands, moreover He sustains each and every one of us, and He never forgets anything or anyone: 

 وَمَا نَتَنَزَّلُ إِلَّا بِأَمْرِ رَبِّكَ لَهُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِينَا وَمَا خَلْفَنَا وَمَا بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ وَمَا كَانَ رَبُّكَ نَسِيًّا

And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord; to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these, and your Lord is not forgetful. 
[Al-Quran 19:64, Translation: Shakir]


Defiant disobedience results when we neglect our reminder: 

فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ أَنجَيْنَا الَّذِينَ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ السُّوءِ وَأَخَذْنَا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا بِعَذَابٍ بَئِيسٍ بِمَا كَانُوا يَفْسُقُونَ

And when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We saved those who had forbidden evil and seized those who wronged, with a wretched punishment, because they were defiantly disobeying.
[Al-Quran 7:165, Translation: Sahih International]


Religion: Distraction & Amusement 
Religion must be taken seriously: 

الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا فَالْيَوْمَ نَنسَاهُمْ كَمَا نَسُوا لِقَاءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَٰذَا وَمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ

Who took their religion as distraction and amusement and whom the worldly life deluded." So today We will forget them just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs and for having rejected Our verses.
[Al-Quran 7:51, Translation: Sahih International]


from Everything 
This world is of no real value! When people forget their reminder, and choose the progress and prosperity of this world over the Hereafter, then they are given what they opted for:   

فَلَمَّا نَسُوا مَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهِ فَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَبْوَابَ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَرِحُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً فَإِذَا هُم مُّبْلِسُونَ

So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair.
[Al-Quran 6:44, Translation: Sahih International]


Forget and/or Err  
Surah alBaqarah concludes with a comprehensive prayer: 

لَا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لَا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِن نَّسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلَا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِنَا رَبَّنَا وَلَا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لَا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَانصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

Allah does not charge a Nafs except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
[Al-Quran 2:286, Translation: Sahih International, edited]





References & Links 

 External Links: 
http://corpus.quran.com
https://www.islamawakened.com  
Related posts in my blogs: 
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