ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Al-Siraj: The Lantern on the Path To Allah Almighty Chapter 10: Beyond Resignation to Destiny. Reliance on Allah, Submission to Him, Total Surrender to His Will Be informed that unless one looks into these venues and takes his share of them, he shall never taste the sweetness of conviction, even if such believer already has in them degrees and stations [reserved for him] according to the degree of his nearness to Allah.

Allah, the most Exalted and the most Great, has said, ‘Allah will raise to (suitable) ranks (and degrees) those of you who believe and who have been granted knowledge.’ (Qur’an, 58:11). A poet did well when he said, Lord! A group wept out of fear of You, Yet those who wept had no sin of their own, But in order to seek nearness to You, They weep hoping for such nearness. Conviction ( iman ) is a higher degree than belief (Islam) when you compare such stations.

The Arab bedouins lied when they claimed to have attained iman as we are told by the Almighty in this verse: ‘The desert Arabs say, ‘We believe.’ Say: ‘You have not (yet fully) believed; therefore, you should only say, ‘We have submitted our wills to Allah,’ for faith has not yet entered your hearts. But if you obey Allah and His Prophet, He will not diminish any of your deeds, for Allah is oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’ What an embarrassment!

What a scandal will afflict those who will lie on that Day, claiming to have iman , calling themselves mu’min s, deceiving only their own selves when making such a claim! They ought to repeat what another poet has said: Your nafs deceived you; Not among those who truly love Him are you, For those who are in love have many a mark and a clue. We also ought to pay notice to one who says, If you love certain people, walk on their path, None reached there except those who severed ties except theirs.

We should also listen to the verse of the Almighty wherein He says, ‘Put your trust in Allah if you have faith.’ (Qur’an, 5:26) and also this: ‘No, by your Lord! They can have no (real) faith until they make you judge in all disputes between them and find in their souls no resistance to your decisions, but accept them [such decisions] with the fullest conviction.’ (Qur’an, 4:65).

If iman is achieved when one relies on Allah and surrenders to His will, realizing their full implications, one must also exert his effort in strengthening anything upon which iman relies and upon whose axis it revolves.