IMAAN -
Between Hope and Fear
IMAAN IS A great and a wonderful treasure. It is the greatest Ni'mat bestowed by Allah Ta'ala to a person. There is nothing greater, nothing more valuable than the treasure of Imaan. only Allah Ta'ala decides who qualifies for Imaan. The Qur'aan-e-Hakeem declares emphatically: "We have created you. And from among you are Mu'min and from among you are kaafir." Why has Allah Ta'ala given the treasure of Imaan to only certain of His creation and withheld it from others. This is a question which cannever ever be satisfactorily answered. It is an issue linked with Taqdeer which in turn pertains to the eternal attributes of Allah Ta'ala. To bestow Imaan and to withhold Imaan belong exclusively to His prerogative powers.
Sometimes Allah Ta'ala gives a lesson of Hidaayat and Humility to His devotees, the Auliyaa, through the medium of children and even animals. once a dog said to Hadhrat Hasan Basri (rahmatullah alayh): "O Imaam of the Muslimeen! Why did Allah Ta'ala make you the Imaam of the Muslimeen and why did He make me an object of contempt to be despised and buffeted by everyone?" This statement of the dog set Hadhrat Hasan Basri (rahmatullah alayh) into a deep mood of contemplation. He realised that there was nothing in him - no excellence in him which qualified him for Imaan, and there was no defect in the dog which made contempt necessary for it. He realised that he was a Mu'min purely and only because of the Favour and Kindness of Allah Ta'ala. No man, therefore, has any right to hold another being - man or animal - in contempt. When someone is afflicted with takabbur or pride, he should reflect: "I have no control over my Imaan. If Allah Ta'ala wills, He can snatch away my Imaan in a second." In fact such calamities had befallen many great men who were overcome with pride. The best and the classical example of such a disaster is shaitaan who lost his Imaan on account of a moment's pride. His thousands of years of ibaadat did not avail him. His rank as the instructor of the Malaa-ikah did not save his Imaan.
Hadhrat Sufyaan Thauri (rahmatullah alayh) had developed a hunched back in his young age. People would ask him for the reason. He always avoided them. one day when they persisted, he said: "I had three Ustaadhs. one died as a Christian, one a Jew and one a Majoosi (Fire-Worshipper). When I observed this, fear hunched my back." Now what confidence and what pride can anyone have for any virtue or excellence which he may possess? Nothing is more virtuous, more excellent and more valuable than Imaan. When we are liable to loose it - to have it snatched away - then never can one be at ease and negligent while one is still living on earth. It is precisely for this reason that Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said: "Imaan is suspended between hope and fear." No one knows what tomorrow holds for him. In one Hadith, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said:
"When you rise in the morning and you find your Imaan intact; you have your health and sufficient food for that day, then consider yourself the king of the world."
There will come a time, Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said, that a man will rise in the morning a Mu'min, but by evening will become a kaafir. Another will sleep as a Mu'min and wake up a kaafir. May Allah Ta'ala protect our Imaan. The Qur'aan says:
"Only, the people of intelligence gain naseehat."
