by H.E.Sayyed M.H.Fadlullah

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds and peace be on His Messenger, Muhammad, his purified family and his chosen companions, as well as all of Allah’s prophets.

Those who pray are neither terrified in evil times nor restrained in times of giving, simply because whoever lives in God and for God should never live any moment of hopelessness, despair or fear; this person shouldn’t fail, give up or even be greedy.

The Path of Stability

Hereby, we continue our discourse about the meaning of stability in Islam, stability in the person’s relationship with his God (S.W.T.) We confirm that there should be a spiritual attachment with God in times of distress as well as in times of happiness for the law of monotheism says: {What good you have is from Allah}[The Bee: 53].

We should understand that it is due to the laws, which God (S.W.T.) made that everything moves, but just as He blessed us with health, He blessed us with pain too. It should be clearly understood that it is God who blessed us with safety and fear, richness and poverty, and with all the advantages and disadvantages of life. You should believe that it is God who also facilitates things to you so that you could achieve your ambitions.

Indeed, God (S.W.T.) destines everything. Therefore, man should realize this fact and train himself to be in permanent attachment with his Creator. He should realize that he needs to remember God in all his deeds. God has the power to deny man his happiness whenever He wishes, in the same way that He has the power to provide him with relief in times of distress.

A Quranic view:

In the Holy Quran, we observe that God (S.W.T.) wants man to feel the greatness of creation in this vast and limitless universe. Man is advised not to take all the natural phenomena as ordinary events, which he got used to. On the contrary, man should be thoughtful, contemplating, and grateful to whatever around him. He has to think about the greatness of things even in times of loss; I mean that man should return everything to God’s will. For instance, the creation of the days and nights shouldn’t be taken as an ordinary natural phenomenon simply because man is familiar with them; they should show God’s greatness in His creation: {Think! If Allah should enshroud you in perpetual nights till the Day of Resurrection, what other god could give you light! Will you not hear?}[The Narrative ( Quasas): 71].

Accordingly, to think about the greatness of alternating days and nights, you have just to imagine life without either any of them: {Say: Think of Allah should give you perpetual day until the Resurrection, what other god could bring you the night to sleep in? will you not see?}[Al Quasars: 72]

Then think about those whom you consider your gods, could they bring or create you the days or the nights, which you have lost? And which are necessary for your life? {In His mercy he has given you the night that you rest in it, and the day that you may seek His bounty and render thanks?}[Ayah73]. God, indeed, blesses man with these two natural phenomena, just as He blessed us with many other ones, through which man could realize that it is God Who created everything, and that He creates things for man’s benefit. Thus, man needs just to have a look around and contemplate {and may seek His bounty and render thanks} [Ayah 73].

God appears in the greatness of His creation: In Sura Al -Waqiaa, God (S.W.T) urges us to contemplate and to think about His creation; He reminds us of the sperm that produces humans; of the plants and fruits of different colors, shapes, and tastes, and the fire which we put on. I ask you, who of you think about Allah, when he plants or when he is indulged in his sensual pleasures? We do not conceive such greatness in ordinary events because we got used to them. Therefore, God reminds us that {We created you: Will you not believe?}[The event, Al-Waqiaa: 57]

Have you ever thought that Allah (S.W.T) is the creator of your existence and that of the world, which you are enjoying?

{Behold the semen you emit}[Ayah58]. Have you ever thought of the sperm and of the greatness of its transformation into a human being {Did you create it, or did We?} Who has the power of transforming your blood into sperm and then into humans? Is it you? It is God’s will {It was We that ordained death among you} Allah (S.W.T) gives you life and Allah takes it again from you. Death shouldn’t be taken as an ordinary event. God created us with a well-organized system in our bodies that functions properly.

However, once this system functions improperly, then it is God’s will that has determined everything {Nothing can hinder Us from replacing you by others like yourselves or transforming you into beings you know nothing of}[Alwaqiaa, the Event: 60-61].

Careful study leads to monotheism:

{You have surely known of the first creation}[Al-Waqiaa, ( the Event) : 62] of course you know who gave you life: {Why then do you not reflect?}[Ayah 62] {Consider the seeds you grow. Is it you that give them growth or We?}[Ayah 63]. Who made the seeds grow into plants, which you think is due to your efforts? You have just planted the seed, watered it, and cared for it. Have you ever asked who made that seed alive and how is the seed transformed into seven spikes, which at the same time include hundreds? Who has made the earth a womb similar to the woman’s womb that embraces the semen? Who gave the earth the quality of having a womb that embraces the seed and donates it with the elements of growth, reproduction, and freshness?

 Who has given the seed you planted the ability to live and to grow, Is it you?! The answer is no. You have just taken the seed, which is created by God (S.W.T) and put it in the earth that is full of secrets; you are just talented in the art of farming, a talent that God (S.W.T) granted you with while God created the laws that govern its growing : {If We pleased We could turn your harvest into chaff}[Alwaqia :65]… Which means that God is able to ruin them all {So that, filled with wonderment, (you would exclaim): We are laden with debts! Surely we are deprived,”(Al-Waqiaa: 65), otherwise you would be leading a life filled with hopelessness, poverty, and despair, if it were not to God.

Generally speaking, I ask you all, whoever thinks of God, while drinking water? Whoever thinks of God, the Creator and the Source of this water? We are just accustomed to saying “Thanks God”. What we need, dear ones, is to live a state of contemplation with God while drinking water? You need to “see” God in this water. Indeed we are not living such states: {Consider the water which you drink, was it you that brought it down from the cloud or We?! Have you ever thought of the secrets and the laws that cause rain? If we wished, we could make it salty}[Al-Waqiaa : 64-68]. God has made the sea salty, and he could make all your water salty. {Why then do you not give thanks?} [Al-Waqiaa: 70].

 Why don’t you thank God for the abundance He has granted you with? God has facilitated things to you, so be grateful and thankful at the same time. Now, we turn to the meaning of fire. What about the trees that give you the wood which is apt to burning? {Observe the fire which you light. Is it you that create its wood, or We?} Al-Waqiaa:[71-72]

Who has created the tree and made its wood combustible?! Indeed, dear ones, the Holy Quran aims at making us live with God and for God in all our times, in distress as well as in happiness. We have to think about what might have happened had we been prevented from all these blessings that surround us. Could anybody give them back to us? We conclude that it is not philosophy that leads us to monotheism, but we are monotheist due to certain expressions, customs and behaviors we get used to all over our life. ”We have it a reminder for man, and a comfort for the wayfarer of the desert, praise them the name of your Lord, the Supreme One”. [Al-Waqiaa, 74,75]

Knowing God in Distress:

The Holy Quran confirms that man’s knowledge of God is a result of his fear and distress. Man prays and asks for God’s help in such miserable states, however if man’s distress is relieved, he will immediately forget not only what he has gone through but also his God. This state reminds us of the materialists’ law. The materialists believe that man’s fragility, fear, and ignorance of the mysteries that surround him are behind his attachment to God.

 They argue that once man discovers and finds answers to all secrets of life, he will neither need God nor know him. Of course, this is wrong, since it is God Who associated the effects with their causes, and it is God Who laid the law of causality in the universe. Allah assures in all His Ayahs that there is a law, a secret, reasonableness, a philosophy and a reason for every phenomenon.

 He has motivated us to discover all His secrets so that we would think about the source of these causes and about who might have created such laws and their causality. Our inquiries would have been endless hadn’t we realized that God is the essence of everything. Allah (S.W.T) is the essence of not only our existence and that of the universe, but He is also the interpreter of the meaning of this existence.

 Yet if we don’t believe in God (S.W.T), we will never understand the meaning of our existence; since it itself is understood through the existence of God. As a matter of fact, since man is susceptible to forgetfulness once he is no longer distressed, and since man easily follows the path of deviation the moment he is relieved {When misfortunes befalls man, he prays to us lying on his side, sitting or standing. But as soon as we relieve his affliction he pursues his former ways, as though he never prayed for our help} God reminds and warns him of this greatest danger in this Ayah: {Thus their foul deeds seem fair to the transgressors} [Younis: 122].

 God warns man of his deceitful plans and reminds him of his power in managing and controlling everything {And if We show mercy to a people after some misfortune has affiliated them, then they begin to scheme against our revelation say: more swift is Allah’s scheming}[Younis: 65] Most importantly, God reminds man of the Doomsday, a day when man is resurrected to witness his own deeds, and to be either rewarded or punished.

Nevertheless, man shouldn’t forget that his Creator is Merciful and Just. Imam Zain Al- Abideen (a.s.) assures this in his saying “I have realized that You are just in Your rule and that You are patient in Your punishment, but haste he is whosoever fears death”. Since death is inevitable, then there is no escape {And when the agony of death justly overtakes him}[Qaf, 19]

In that day of resurrection, the believers are separated from the disbelievers {Our messengers are recording what you scheme}[Yonis21, 22]

Furthermore, the Quranic Ayahs {It is He who guides you by land and sea until when you are in ships, and they sail with a favorable wind and they rejoice. Then comes, a violent wind which overtakes them and billows surge upon them from every side and they fear that they are being overwhelmed} [Younis 22-23] describe how a blessing turns out to be an indignation, and how man yields and asks for God’s rescue.

 Moreover, they describe how man behaves whenever he feels that his demands are achieved. Some immediately follow the path of deviation believing that it to be the right path; other feels proud of themselves thinking that it is due to the power they discovered in themselves: {Whatever good you have is from Allah and to Him you turn for help when misfortunes befalls you]. [The Bee: 53]

Man ought to be grateful to his Creator. Some people are characterized by such evil qualities that they are ungrateful to God in all their deeds {Yet no sooner does He remove your ills than some of you setup other gods besides Him giving no thanks for what We grant them} [The Bee: 54].

In addition, the Holy Quran confirms that man is instinctually a believer in God. He asks His followers about their feelings and thoughts if the latter face a shipwreck and death becomes inevitable, the followers assured that all their thoughts and hopes will be directed to one savior; it is God {When at sea a misfortune befalls you, all but He of those to whom you pray forsake you; Yet when He brings you safe to dry land, you turn your backs upon Him Truly man is ever thankless} [Al Israa: 67].

The worshippers are excluded:

Here, we raise a question: Why are the worshippers excluded? {Indeed man was created impatient when evil befalls him, he is despondent, but blessed with good fortune he grows niggardly, not so the worshippers}[Al-Maarij: 19-22], It is because praying makes you open up on God (S.W.T) with your whole soul and spirit. And when you say: “Allah is great”, you feel that everything is small compared to Allah. Similarly when you say that there is no god but Allah, you feel that all other gods, people assume, fall. Furthermore, when the worshipper says {Praise be to Allah Lord of the worlds; Master of the Day of judgment! You alone we Worship}[Al Hamad: 4] he is worshiping one God.

 In all the deeds and gestures while praying, man confesses his total belief in God. Consequently, he will neither yield to any evil deed nor prevent any good deed {As for man, when his Lord treats him by exalting him and bestowing favors on him, he says: My Lord is bountiful to me}. [The Dawn, Al Fajr, 15]. Thus, the worshippers are characterized by their thankfulness when they are blessed, but they feel humiliated when they are tested {But when He tests him by restricting his subsistence he says: My lord humiliates me} [The Dawn, Al Fajr, 15]. Indeed, when God gave him money; He aimed at afflicting and testing him. God tries man to check whether he is patient or impatient, grateful or ungrateful, {And those who after they have been oppressed… We will provide them with a good abode in this life}[The Bee 40].

Besides, God aims at testing whether man is going to exploit his wealth in what pleases God or in what displeases Him.

Instability in worshiping God:

Dear ones, in the end, we have to remind you that there are people who are not consistent in their belief. They worship God as long as they are away from experiences and sufferings. They don’t steal because they don’t need to; they are not deviated because they had no chance to; however, once they are tested, they immediately fall and stumble. They are shaken by the wind of temptations. Such people are shallow in their belief. There is no depth and stability {do men think that once they say: we are believers, they will be left alone and not be tried?} [Al - Ankabut 1-2].

Dear ones, we have to ask God to rescue us from the evil of disbelief and to empower us with the strong belief, a belief that is unshakeable in front of any worldly experience {we tested those who have gone before them, Allah Knows those who are truthful and those who are lying}. [Al Ankabout: 3]

Dear ones, the true belief is the belief that faces and confronts all life-challenges, so be fixed in your relation with God and in your belief in God in all your deeds.