Don’t betray God in His oneness; don’t betray in His worship; and don’t betray God in His loyalty by being loyal to the wrongdoers.

The Responsibility in life:

Allah, the most exalted, says: {O believers, don’t betray Allah and the apostle, nor knowingly betray your trust. Know that your children and your worldly goods are but a temptation, and that Allah’s reward is great. Believers, if you fear Allah, He will give you discrimination and cleans you of your sins and forgive you. The bounty of Allah is great} [The spoils: 27-29].

These verses deal with the responsibility of life which one should comply with. They cast the light on man’s commitment towards his Creator, his commitment towards the messengers, and his commitment towards the people around him. These commitments are man’s covenant, a covenant that man should honestly uphold before God, the most exalted.

 Although man was born free, his freedom ought to be channeled since he has many responsibilities as a social being. Our existence in this universe is built on the responsibility we are carrying. Through His creation, Allah, the most exalted, aims at making us build a life as He envisages it.

 Accordingly, He sent His messengers in order that they would instruct and guide us. Furthermore, Allah, the most exalted, doesn’t bind us; He allows us to think, to create, and to be open to the Islamic legislations and conceptions, which are sent via His holy messengers. Every now and then, Allah, the most exalted, reminds us of our commitments towards Him.

The following verse, which is addressed to the children of Israel, shows the importance of responsibility which every person, not only the children of Israel, should abide with: {Keep your covenant; and I will be true to My covenant with you...} [2:40].

The mention of “covenant” has a particular signification. There is a covenant between Allah, the most exalted, the creator and man, the created. This covenant states that Allah would give man whatever he needs in this life to be rewarded according to his deeds: {Those who say: “Our Lord is Allah” and take the right path to Him}. [Fussilat: 30].

Dear ones have a look over this verse: {Keep your covenant, and I will be true to My covenant with you}. A thoughtful reading to it shows that Allah doesn’t only elevate man to a high rank of humanity but most importantly it shows that Allah, the most exalted, considers man a mindful being with free will and free choice in spite of the absolute truth that Allah gives man his existence and that He has the power to terminate this existence. Allah, the most exalted, doesn’t ignore man but guides him and to practice his humanity properly.

 Thus, we are God’s creation of an absolute humanity. For more clarification, we all know the difference between “slavery” and “subservience”. Slavery means the enslavement of a human to another human, where as subservience to God, the most exalted, is something different and absolute since Allah is the essence of our existence; we are His beings, and His existence is beyond our capacity. Although God, the most exalted, has made us from nothing, and although he is the generator of our existence, he doesn’t consider us his slaves but His beings. Therefore, he made a covenant with man, with us, and gave us the freedom to choose our relation with Him and to choose or destiny as well. This is mostly clarified in the following verse: {Say: This is the truth from your Lord. Let him who will believe in it and him who will deny it}. [The cave 29], and: {whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it also}. [Al –Zulzula 7-8].

Allah, the most exalted, calls upon us to behave in this life as we wish, but at the same time He states that our behaviors and attitudes would determine our destiny. For this reason, when God, the most exalted, says that he made a covenant with us, He means that He profoundly respects us and assures us our humanity. God orders us to be free beings provided that our freedom should be controlled against any possible deviation.

 Dear ones: freedom is neither a mere temperamental agitation nor a mere inclination to the desire of freedom. Freedom is a choice and choice means a thoughtful study. A thoughtful study means a comprehensive observation to all issues from all sides so that you could be able to choose the good ones.

Accordingly, whenever we attempt at seeing what we mean to Allah, the most exalted, we have to know Allah in all His greatness and blessing. We have also to be faithful to Him. Furthermore, we have to perceive that Allah, the most exalted, didn’t only give us everything, but he also facilitated to us all the means that open wide all the horizons of life. Upon realizing this fact, we can do nothing except loving Allah.

Dear ones, have you ever asked yourselves why you love someone? You might love him for his beauty, and God, the most exalted, creates all this beauty. Or you might love someone for his knowledge, and all his knowledge is just a drop in the ocean of God ’s knowledge: {He has the key of the unseen: none knows them but He}. [The Cattle: 59]. Or you might love someone for his might and strength, and: {that might is His alone}. [The Cow :165]. Similarly, you might love someone for his glory, and: {surely all glory belongs to Allah}. [Women: 139], or for his riches and wealth and: {Allah alone is self-sufficient and worthy of praise}. [Al-Mumtahana: 6]. and now after understanding this truth, you can do nothing except loving Allah. Unfortunately, some people misunderstand this fact; they consider Allah, the most exalted, just as they consider any other created object or being: {they have not justly estimated the might of Allah. But on the Day of Resurrection, He will have the entire earth in His grasp and fold up the heavens in His right hand}. [Al-Zumur: 67].

Faith in itself is awareness:

Dear brothers: be good believers for faith is awareness in the mind, a beat in the heart, a confession on the tongue, and a step in reality.

Dear ones: don’t betray Allah, the most exalted, the giver of your existence, whom you just gave your covenant. Some people believe that they don’t have a covenant with Allah since they don’t have a covenant with our Creator that has been made since we were born. It is through our mere existence that the covenant is issued: {when your Lord brought forth descendants from the loins of Adam’s children, and made them testify against themselves, (He said): Am I not your Lord? They replied: “We bear witness that you are”; This He did lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection: We had no knowledge of that}. [Al-Araf: 172].

We made Allah, the most exalted, a witness on us through ourselves and through our existence as well. We innately admit God’s oneness, in the same manner that we innately worship Him. He is the entity while we are the shadows.

In other words, He is the existence and we are the shadows. Obey and worship the only God, the most exalted. Don’t ever worship another human: {Keep your covenant, and I will be true to My covenant}. [The Cow: 40].

We all neglect love from one side because, we know that love is a passion expressed equally from and by people, so how we ask for God’s love without repaying in kind His love! Our prophet, Muhammad (p.) comments by saying: “I will give the flag to a man who loves both Allah and His prophet, and who in return is loved by both; Allah and His prophet.” If you seek God’s love, Love Him first, because God is always there loving you. But remember that loving God is neither mere mystical supplications nor mere spiritual or emotional melting: {Say: “If you love Allah, follow me, Allah will love you and forgive your sins}. [The Imrans: 31], the argument is rather wider. If you love and obey Allah, love and obey His messengers; Your love, obedience, and discipline will be the test of your faith. Avoid any temptation that might deviate you from the right path, the path of the Prophet, Muhammad (p) and say: {Say My prayers and my devotions, my life and death are all for Allah, Lord of the creation: He has no partner. Thus, I am commanded, being the first of the Muslims}. [The Cattle :163]. Observe that the Prophet has stated it before you: {I am commanded to be one of those who surrender themselves to Him}. [Younis :72]. Be faithful to your Islam, which is entrusted to you. Don’t betray either Allah, the most exalted, or the Prophet: {O believers, do not betray Allah and the Apostle, nor knowingly betray your trust}. [The spoils: 27], only in this way can we be saved.

Similarly, societal life is built on certain social ranks and recommends that every member has the freedom of practicing his own rights provided that he should take into consideration the others’ rights too.

Take, for instance, the rights of marriage in Islam. Islam considers and deals with marriage as a firm contract signed and agreed on between the spouses: {For how can you take it back when you have lain with each other and entered into a firm contract?}[Women: 21]. Each has certain rights and obligations towards the other.

Accordingly, marriage is not regarded as any other relation but rather it is a mutual agreement between two people held earnestly. It is a divine covenant, therefore, which you should abide by, since it is entrusted to you from heavens: {Women shall with justice have rights similar to those exercised against them, and men are a degree above women. Allah is mighty and wise}. [The Cow: 228] Likewise, keeping secrets is much more important than keeping money, for we all know that some secrets become destructive once they are revealed. How ridiculous it is that you confide to someone your secret because you yourself can’t hold it and you want that someone else to keep it hidden! How can it be?!

 The worst of all is that in our East, people are accustomed to confide to others and so those others would confide to others too until it becomes not a secret but an endless chronicle. Therefore, the Prophet, Muhammad (p), and the Members of the House (a.s) focus in their traditions on the illegality of not keeping other’s secrets as sacred issues. Thus, it is clearly understood that our meetings with others should be secretly held. For instance, it is reported that: “On the Day of Resurrection, the angels will come holding a bottle of blood and give it to a person whom they say he had participated in killing someone.

 This person would defend himself saying that he has never ever hurt even an ant throughout his life, and the angels will reply that he once heard the victim saying something and that he immediately stated it in front of the murderer who went ahead and performed his murder. Consequently, this person would have indirectly participated in murdering a man”. We infer that it is not necessary that we need a bullet to kill; our words and our spying would do, As a result, much care should be given to what we hear or to what we say without forgetting that we are Muslims; a Muslim must not live the feeling of individuality, a Muslim is a person responsible for all the members in his society.

All Muslims are like one body once an organ is diseased, all the other parts or organs should bear the responsibility of caring for it. Thus, you are a part of a nation, and accordingly this part must interact with the others, in their ambitions and in their pains as well. A careless person is considered a lame part in this nation, and we all know that a lame part doesn’t interact with other parts; it becomes dysfunctional and useless.

Dear ones, Muslims’ solidarity is entrusted to us; it is regarded as the secret of our power, of our progress, of our vitality and of our honor as well. Therefore, the words, which you utter, must be convenient to this solidarity. You should be aware that your words must neither deform Muslims’ solidarity nor must they help in its destruction. We all know that when both the arrogant and the infidels attempt at either destroying or usurping Muslims’ resources and freedom, they don’t usually differentiate between one sect and the other, or between one confession and the other; on the contrary, they direct all their power towards the strongest to weaken it, for they realize that once the strongest sect is conquered, all the others would be easily conquered too.

 So, don’t be overtaken by your sectarianism; it is equivalent to tribalism; let your sectarianism become an intellectual one. The intellectual sectarianism is so powerful that it enriches the concept of dialogue, the concept of understanding, the concept of openness, and the concept of knowledge as well. {O Believers, don’t betray Allah and the apostle, nor knowingly betray your trust}. [The Spoils :27].

{Know that your children and your worldly goods are but a temptation}. [The spoils :28]. They are not an honor to you as much as they are you greatest responsibility. {Do men think that once they say: We are believers, they will be left alone and not to be tried? We tested those who have gone before them?} [The Spider: 2].

This verse states that man is being tried, since the moment he is born. Allah, the most exalted, tests man in richness, in positions, in power, and in all the challenges he faces. Man must realize that whatever his condition might be, it is must a state of trial.

That is why Allah gives us some examples about some men who were put under trial: {Did you suppose that you would go to paradise untouched by (the suffering) which was endured by those before you? Reflection and adversity befell them; and so battered were they that each apostle, and those who shared his faith, cried out: “When will the help of Allah come?” His help is ever near}. (The Cow: 214). The challenges are sometimes so great that man would have been a cause of despair and an overwhelming feeling of helplessness hadn’t he had an innate belief and hope in Allah, and so: “His help is ever near”.

Dear loved ones: Both our wealth and our children are but a test through which Allah, the most exalted, wants to see how we are going to manage; how we are going to use our money, and how we are going to raise our children and to make them good and real believers in our Islamic society, because: {As for those who break Allah’s covenant after accepting it, who part what He has bidden to be united, and commit evil in the land, a curse shall be laid on them, and they shall have an evil abode in  Hell} (Thunder: 25). But if you are moderate in using your money and in raising your kids; if you follow the right path then: {They shall enter the Gardens of Eden, together with the righteous among their fathers, their wives and their descendants. From every gate the angels will come to them, (saying) peace be to you for all that you have steadfastly endured. Blessed is the final reward (of paradise)}. [Thunder :23]. And: {Know that your children and your worldly goods are but a temptation, and that Allah’s reward is great}. [The Spoils: 28].

In the end, Dear loved ones, if you fear Allah {He will give you discrimination, and cleans you of your sins and forgive you. The bounty of Allah is great}[The Spoils: 29].

A good and real belief would strengthen the path of goodness against that of evil. A real belief would enlighten your hearts and your minds; a real belief is so effective that it eliminates all our sins: {Allah will love you and forgive your sins, Allah is forgiving and merciful} [The Imrans: 31].

Let’s love and worship Allah, the most exalted, the only Creator, for worshiping any other being is similar to worshiping the devil.

Dear ones: love and follow God’s Apostles, followers, and believers; refrain from the enemies of God, the most exalted. I ask you to love just for God’s sake and to hate just for God’s sake: {For this let all men emulously strive} [Al –Muaffin: 28].