How 'Muslim' are we?!

We are Muslims Alhamdulillah but most of us do not realize that being a Muslim requires a nicely disciplined life. It is not made difficult for us rather easier for us to be 'true Muslims'. Our Lord, Allah does not want His creatures to be harsh on themselves. He asks them to simply follow the duties which He has revealed in the Quran through His last Messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

Let us first see what the words 'Islam' and 'Muslim' convey to us because these are the words which state our Faith and identity. Islam is a way of life in which there is total submission to Allah's will. This way of life has been shown to us in our Prophet's life (Peace be upon him). 

Allah has shown to us how we should live in this world and prepare for the Hereafter, through His messenger. Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was a human being like us and he followed whatever his Lord ordered him to do. He was indeed the most blessed human being. He showed us how a Muslim should live and prepare for life after death. 

A 'Muslim' is, thus, a person who follows #Islam, a way of life in which he submits himself fully to Allah's Will. A 'Muslim' is, thus, someone who obeys and performs all his duties sincerely toward his Lord. A 'Muslim' believes in Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon him) and follows his footsteps to please Allah the Almighty.

The most basic duties that are a must for a Muslim include praying 5 times a day, fasting in the month of Ramadan, paying the poor's due and performing Haj once. Those Muslims who are capable of doing these duties by all means and still do not do because of carelessness or any other unacceptable excuse are answerable to Allah.

Reciting the Noble Quran is also among the important requirements in fulfilling these duties properly. The Quran has the explanation for each and every aspect of our life and the traditions and life account of our Prophet shed light on the various matters that need further elaborations on any matter for deeper understanding.

We should understand that if a person only prays regularly and reads the Quran with meaning, trying to understand what it says, the other things automatically come into his life. This is because if one comes to know the teachings of the Quran all the duties will be understood by him.

It is said that the prayer forms the pillar of Islam. Pillar means that which holds up or supports a structure; so prayers are a must if one wants to hold up his Faith. If prayers are neglected then what can be said about one's Faith or Islam?

Thus, we as 'Muslims' must ponder over our lives as 'Muslims'. We should think about our daily routine. We must at least start by guarding our prayers first. In the Quran it is mentioned several times to guard the prayers. The 'must-do' things in our daily life should be the 5 daily prayers and reading the Noble Quran. Just reading it is rewarding but if we are reading it with meaning it is much better as we will come to know what it is telling us.

Today, most of us have made ourselves too busy with our worldly affairs. Job, business, home-affairs, friendships, world-news, relationships etc, are also important but we should not indulge too much into them-and that too at the cost of our prayers!

We seek the knowledge from every source we can get our hands on but do not reach out to the most handy source of the Highest and Deepest Knowledge which is there with us all the time. The Quran is called the Wisdom, the guide, the Book...Allah is All Knowing and Most Wise...so His Words will indeed be full of wisdom, truth and knowledge...even if we get a little from it we will feel fresh!

Why do we forget that we are from our Lord and to Him is our return...sooner or later...but certain.

How can we forget our origin and end and live so irresponsibly?

Once we die, this world and its affairs will be of no use to us unless we have done some good deeds that will help us in our life after death. 

How can we forget in our daily lives, the One, Who has created us?

He does not need anything from us. We need Him all the time.

He is All Powerful and Most Merciful. 

He does not ask us to shun the worldly affairs and worship Him sitting in one corner. 

Why has He sent us in this world then? 

The fact that our Lord has sent us to this world itself makes it understood that we have to perform our worldly affairs and duties toward others and our own self along with our duties toward Allah. The whole point is we have to remember Him in all our affairs. The point is to live life according to His Commands. The Mission is to Please Him alone.

We can surely do these simultaneously and easily as well just as our Prophet (peace be upon him) did. We can give a try and keep trying as much as we are capable. Allah only sees our intention and trying He does not burden us beyond our strength.

It is not as hard as it seems.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) set for us and example of a Muslim's life-a true Muslim's life. 

We can try our best to adhere to his sunnah and perform all our obligatory duties to Allah consciously and sincerely...especially the prayers.

Praying, reading the Quran, greeting people cheerfully, doing little acts of kindness, doing good deeds, exchanging gifts, helping the poor relatives and others, controlling anger, eating and drinking wisely, following the manners of sitting, meeting people and many more daily activities which will earn us the reward of following the sunnah and pleasing Allah at the same time.

It is certain that we will soon come to enjoy this purely ' Muslim' life and leave our kids as the future 'Muslims',once we make it our habit that all our actions, deeds and words and all our targets in life will ultimately focus on making our Lord the Supreme happy and they be in accordance with the teachings of Quran and Sunnah. 

May Allah help us in our endeavors and have mercy on us. aameen.