"…Remember your Lord much and glorify Him in the evening and after dawn…” (Surah Al ‘Imran, 41)

"Remember your Lord in yourself humbly and fearfully, without loudness of voice, morning and evening …" (Surat al-A‘raf, 205)

"Only in the remembrance of Allah can the heart find peace..." (Surat ar-Ra'd, 28)

Being a believer means having genuine faith in the truths revealed by Allah in the Qur’an and living one’s entire life in the light of those truths. A believer has concluded that there is no deity but Allah, that destiny, the Day of Judgment, paradise and hell are all true, that this world is a place of testing and that everyone has a responsibility to abide by the moral values of the Qur'an in the finest manner possible. As a result of that faith, every human being will spend his entire life in the awareness of all these truths revealed in the Qur'an.

The believer spends every moment in the light of these truths and displays the virtues that Allah will find most pleasing. In addition, a person must never cease thinking deeply about these issues by saying “I already know all these facts and believe in them wholeheartedly.” Spending every hour, every minute of one’s life, from the moment one first awakens in the morning, reviewing all the truths of faith endows one with a moral perfection. He must constantly renew his love and fear of Allah and his submission that stems from the knowledge that all things are under Allah’s control, and every minute he must review the facts that Allah created him, that he is a helpless and needy subject of Allah’s, and that he consists solely of an image created by Him. He must frequently remind himself that the life of this world is very short and soon will be over, that human beings age very fast, that death can strike at any moment making no allowances for age, that all events are intended to test human beings, and how his aim is to gain the love of God, our Lord, for all eternity, of the Hereafter, and of his aim of living alongside Muslims in an eternal brotherhood. It is of great importance that he should consider why Allah loves Muslims, which is because they are like parts of one single body, as revealed in the verse “Allah loves those who fight in His Way in ranks like well-built walls.” (Surat as-Saff, 4), and how they are one another’s closest friends and guardians. Knowing and believing in all these truths and frequently reflecting on and repeating them is a responsibility incumbent upon all Muslims and a means whereby they may attain greater moral virtue.

Oct 20, 2008

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