The Best Among Us

Assalamualaikum.

“Oh mankind, indeed We have created you from male and female and made you peoples and tribes that you may know one another. Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the one with the strongest taqwa. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted.”

(Surah Al-Hujurat:13)

Everyone wants to be the best. We want to be the best student, the best child, the best employee, the best spouse, the best parent, the best writer, the best speaker and so on.

Everyone wants to have the best.

We want the highest GPA, the gold medal in sports, the job with the biggest paycheck, the best spouse for our children, the best food, the best car, the best clothes, the best house,the best gadgets, and the list goes on.

However, in the grand scheme of things, what can be nobler than being the best relation to Allah? What possession is better than having His Pleasure?

It is indeed interesting that in the verse quote above, God is addressing not just to the Muslims, but all of mankind.

He is singling out taqwa as the single criterion or nobility for all of mankind -  not wealth, not physical beauty, not race, not status, or anything else of value we can think of.

Taqwa is up for grabs, and anyone who is willing to fight attain the strongest taqwa is eligible to be the best in the sight of Allah.

But, what is “taqwa”??

Ustaz Nouman Ali Khan, the founder of Bayyinah Institute, explained that the root meaning of the word taqwa is a shield. So, the one with the strongest taqwa, by this definition, is the one with the strongest shield.

A shield, naturally, is used to protect oneself from harm. With taqwa one protects the spiritual heart from anything that might harm it.

Just like the physical heart is harmed when distanced from its source of strength i.e. healthy and balanced of food, the spiritual heart is also harmed when distanced from its source of strenght. The source of strength for the spiritual heart is God.

One with the strongest taqwa shields his or her spiritual heart against anything that distances it from God.

But it can be difficult at times to get a grip of the shield while we are under attack.

Most of the time, we ourselves become our strongest enemy and we might need to shield ourselves from our self.

“By the nafs and He who proportioned it. And inspired it (with discernment of) its wickedness and its righteousness. He has succeeded who purifies it. And he has failed who instills it (with corruption).”

(Surah ash-Shams:7-10)

There are two choices : doing the wrong thing or doing the right thing. The self is always in a dilemma between this two choices.

Should I cheat on the exam or should I not?

Should I date with that boy or should I not?

The list goes on.

Having these two choices implies that we are in a constant conflict wit our self. Which one do I choose?

Sometimes it is easy to choose. For example, if I travel somewhere and there are no halal restaurants around, then I will go for vegetarian or seafood.

I wouldn’t shut one eye and grab a non-halal whopper, even though I know that having a whopper would be amazing. I know better- I know that is not the right thing to do.

That is an easy choice. However, I consider that to be an easy choice for me but I am not saying that will be an easy choice for everyone because we have our own battles.

Most of the time, it is not an easy choice to make. For example, should I cheat on the exam or should I not? It seems like an easy choice-of course you shouldn’t cheat.

However, what if you are desperate and you really need that A on your exam. Otherwise, you won’t get into that program that you really, really wanted. It is make or break time.

At that moment, is it still an easy choice?

Life is like a battlefield. Only those with the strongest shield can survive and excel.

sincerely,

kusyi