Constantly and Consciously Seek ALLAH’S Grace

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin, MMNS

On those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, there is no blame for what they ate (in the past), when they guard themselves from evil, and believe, and do deeds of righteousness; (or) again, guard themselves from evil and believe – (or) again, guard themselves from evil and do good.  For ALLAH loveth those who do good.

Holy Qur’an  5:93

There is great meaning and a saving grace for us in these few words of Al Qur’an.  Some of us think that what we did in the past dooms us to a life of being on the bottom of the totem pole of humanity forever.  That since we were once in the mud – or if we are in a mud puddle now – that we’re undeserving of ALLAH’S Grace. Well, nothing could be further from the truth.  The most logical way to get mud off of you is to come to the soap and water.  Keep coming to the masjid to partake of the cool sweet waters of morality and spirituality.

We might have done some of anything in life – ate pork, drank whisky, beat up our wife, fornicate, or any number of sins.  All these are terrible sins to commit; but the good news is that the sin is not unforgivable.

All of us have done something wrong in our lives, and we all do some wrong things now.  None is perfect except ALLAH.  Some of us are a little worse than others, but all the sins are forgivable except shirk (knowingly putting another god next to ALLAH).  The idea is to consciously do what you know to be the right thing.

If you’re a man and you have children that you are responsible for – take care of your responsibility.  Don’t have the government tell you to take care of them – ALLAH already told you that men are the maintainers and protectors of women.

One of my favorite ayat in Qur’an says that – “If you think a wrong….and don’t do it, you get the credit for having done a good deed (and you have because you have consciously restrained yourself from a wrong action).  And if you think a good thought and do it, you get the blessings of having done 10 good deeds.  Seems like it pays to think and do good deeds.  That’s a wonderful blessing from ALLAH.  We as human beings are going to think to do wrong things sometimes.  Wrong is all around us in the form of TV, movies, vulgar music, bars, etc.

But the way we enhance our God-given humanity is to consciously not do that wrong thing.  It is very important for us to have that knowledge, both individually, and as a community, in order for our forward progress to continue to get better.

It is very important that you believe that ALLAH has forgiven you all your sins when you come to Him with a repentant heart.  Next, act like you believe it by being the very best human being you can be.  This is very important because if you don’t believe it, you will still feel dirty, sinful, and unclean.  But submission to ALLAH makes you whole and pure again.  Once you accept Islam, you’re like a brand new baby – now all you have to do is stay that way.

ALLAH has perfected His message to all mankind, took out all the flaws, and left perfect guidance to every soul of humanity….and that includes every human being on the face of the earth.  It’s so wonderful to know that ALLAH accepts our repentance and gives us a second chance.  Let’s believe it and get the benefits of His Goodness.

The Peace be on you, As-Salaam-Alaikum,
(Al Hajj) Imam Abdullah Bey El-Amin