Most Muslims find it rather odd that their religion, which strikes a beautiful balance between faith and action, could be accused of being “fatalistic”. Perhaps this misconception came about because Muslims are taught to say “Praise be to God!” whenever anything good or bad happens. This is because Muslims know that everything comes from Almighty Allah, who is the All-Knowing Sustainer of the Universe, and that since a Muslim should rely completely on Allah, whatever happened must have been for the better. However, this does not mean that Muslims are not taught to take action in life — just the opposite is true. Islam requires not only faith but action — such as regular prayer, fasting, and charity. To be more precise, in Islam actions are part of one’s faith. Islam totally rejects the extreme beliefs of some religions that teach that you shouldn’t go to a doctor when sick, but only pray for God to heal you. Islam’s outlook is very positive since it teaches that human beings can take positive action in this life. This was certainly what was taught by Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, to his followers — since they obviously took the action of spreading Islam from Spain to Morocco in a very short period of time. Even though Islam teaches that Allah knows what human beings will do before they do it, human beings still have free will. Certainly, Allah, who is All-Knowing and All-Wise, knows what is going to happen to everyone before it happens — to deny this would be a denial of Allah Himself. However, if human beings did not have free will, it would be ridiculous and unjust for Allah to demand that they do certain things and believe certain things. Far from being “fatalistic”, Islam teaches that a human being’s main purpose in life is to be God-conscious. Due to this, Muslims worry less about material matters and view their earthly life from a proper perspective. This is due to the fact that Islam clearly teaches that if people worship and depend on Almighty Allah alone, then they have nothing to worry about – since Allah wants what is best for them. True freedom, from the Islamic perspective, does not mean aimlessly following all of your human desires for food, drink, wealth, and sex. On the contrary, freedom means being able to control one’s base desires and fulfilling them in a proper and legal way. This brings one’s desires in tune with what God wants for us — only then is a person truly free!
TAG: action
A Word Of Advice To Seekers Of Knowledge
We give thanks to Allah, the One free of all defects, for having inspired us. And we ask Him to grant us the ability to act upon what He has given us knowledge of. Indeed, goodness cannot be attained, except by His granting and His assistance. Whomsoever Allah leads astray, there is no one from His creation that can guide him. May Allah send His blessings upon Muhammad, the chief of the first and the last (of people), and upon his brothers from among the prophets and messengers. And upon those who follow the light ( i.e. the Qur’an) that was revealed to him until the Day of Recompense.
To proceed, I advise you O seeker of knowledge to have a sincere and pure intention in your search for knowledge. And that you exert yourself in acting upon what it necessitates (from action). For indeed knowledge is a tree and action is its fruit. And one can never be considered knowledgeable so long as he doesn’t act upon what he has knowledge of.
It has also been stated: “Knowledge is a parent and action is its offspring.” And “Knowledge comes with action, while narrating comes with investigating.”
So do not feel satisfied with your actions so long as you are lacking in knowledge. Nor feel satisfied with knowledge so long as you fall short of producing actions. Rather, combine them both, even if your share of the two is small.
And there is nothing worse than a scholar, whose knowledge the people abandon because of the corruption of his ways, nor an ignorant person whose ignorance the people accept because of what they see from his worship.
So a little of this (knowledge) along with a little of that (action) is what is most likely to save you in the end, when Allah bestows His mercy upon His servant and completes his favor upon him. But as for laziness and negligence, love for ease and comfort, preferring the easy life and showing indifference, inclining towards leisure and relaxation, then the results of these characteristics are blameworthy, detestable, and disastrous.
Knowledge leads to action, just as action leads to salvation. So if the action falls short of the knowledge, then the knowledge becomes a burden upon the one who possesses that knowledge. And we seek Allah’s refuge from knowledge that turns into a burden, is the cause of humiliation, and becomes a shackle on the neck of the one who possesses it.