Say No !!!

   

 
       

       
       

by Sobia Asrar

        
Sometimes, I wonder: what if I never knew what a TV was? What if I never watched a movie? What if the concept of cyberdating or Internet chatrooms was foreign to me? What if I didn’t ever hear any music? Or read novels and fiction stories? Or know the latest color trends or stylish dresses? Or live in luxurious homes with big swimming pools? Or have lots of money? What if I was a girl living in a remote area with my family, with no connection to what the rest of us call the real world? You know, see no evil, hear no evil… do no evil, I guess. Heck, if you don’t know what wrong things are, you won’t do them, right? There’d be no temptation, no harm done. Easy as that.

But, the fact is, I have seen these things and more, just like anyone else who doesn’t fit that description. There is temptation around me in all its grandeur, so much so that the line of distinction between good and bad has been blurred to the extent that evil is no longer evil and righteousness has all but vanished. This has become a world in which Satan reigns supreme in most lands; in fact, that remote place probably doesn’t even exist.

It’s occurred to me often that perhaps those of our Ummah who have come before us were so righteous and God-fearing, because these sort of contemporary ills were not present at their time. I consoled myself thinking that there was hardly any vice then, thus they were able to reach such a level of piety. But, who was I kidding? I failed to ask myself why there was no such prevalence of evil, the reason why hardly anybody took to the path of the immoral. I mean, come on, was I saying there was no adultery, drugs, homosexuality, music, corruption in the old times? That people didn’t know what it was? Of course not; everyone knew, but most, if not all, had the ability.. the spirit to say NO. I will not do wrong, I will not be tempted by Satan. And so, when evil is shunned, it ebbs away.

That’s what we need today, to not just jump on the bandwagon and say ‘no’ to drugs, but all that accompanies it of vice. It’s when we take a stand, remember Allah and resist temptation that He is pleased with us and rewards us accordingly. Consider that one of the seven types of people whom Allah will shade on the Day of Judgment is “a man who, when approached by a beautiful woman (for fornication), abstains and says ‘I fear Allah’”; not a man who has never seen a beautiful woman, but a man who, in the face of temptation, remembers his Lord, fears Him and says, ‘No, I will not be enticed’.

Now that I think of it, that’s exactly the point of being a monk, priest or rabbi. Seclusion provides them with peace and tranquility; not seeing the outside world gives them a desire to remain in a constant state of devotion to their beliefs. It becomes easier to worship when Satan is out and you’re in, oblivious to his mischief.

But, is that the Islamic way? Our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, never cut themselves off from the rest of the world. They were not ascetic in their worship, yet are the best of Muslims and mankind, to boot.

This is not to say that we should immerse ourselves in this world, practically daring our souls to know its limits and abstain from evil. It doesn’t work that way either. We all know that each of us has a Satan with him. Who knows when he’ll dominate our heart and sway us from the right path? The willpower to say no to iniquity can only be achieved by building up our Iman so that our satans can no longer beautify evil for us; by constantly remembering Allah, crying to Him in repentance, reading the Quran, comprehending the reality of this fleeting world, recalling the devout lives of our Prophet sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam and His Companions, anticipating death, keeping the company of righteous people, attending religious gatherings and most of all, by beseeching Allah to grant us the resolve in faith needed to be able to defy Satan and his ways, supplicating with the oft-repeated dua of our Prophet sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam: “O turner of hearts, make my heart steadfast on Your faith”.

To have it all and yet do the right thing – that, my brothers and sisters, is rare. To have cable TV and not surf lewd channels in spare time, to hear lovely voices singing with music and yet cover your ears, trying your best to get away, to own intriguing novels and not read romantic stories buried in the plot, to have a shapely body and not show it off with figure-hugging outfits, to have a gorgeous face and keep it covered with a veil, to have friends smoking, listening to music, following outrageous clothing fads and still stay as an outcast among them with pride in your Islamic ideals, to have an overfilled wallet and not squander it away – it is all rare indeed, but all the more beloved to Allah.

 

The questions I had remain. But, maybe I’ve found a partial answer: Lock Satan out, not necessarily by locking yourself in, but mentally and spiritually. That’s the key to bolting the gate of temptation.

 

Written By,

 Sobia Asrar

(19 years old)

E-mail: sobiaasrar@hotmail.com

Website URL: http://thelightofislam.netfirms.com/hijab.htm