The above verse highlights 8 different types of loves that a person deals with in life. We'll try to look into each one of them and how in daily life one can cross the limits of those love.
1. Love of parents
Everyone loves their parent and its a natural feeling. We are ordered in Quran to love our parents and to care for them. However, sometimes we can accept things just for the sake of our parents that are not what Islam teaches. Like for example, when someone who has been raised in a modern and broad minded environment and tries to follow Islam the first reaction comes from family. Parents with that type of view of life will try to make their children understand that he should be moderate and walk alongside the world as of today. They would tell their children that Islam is not such a strict religion to that makes one move away from the pleasures of life. However, as per islam there is no concept of keeping a balance between religious life and worldly life because as per Islam the life style has to be as per the way taught by Quran and Islam. Sometimes parents can even resort to emotional blackmailing in order to prevent their children from becoming religious because as per their view it is backward or too extreme. But how can following the teachings of our Quran and Prophet S.A.W be extreme? If they are extreme then does that mean those teachings need to be modified? Do we believe that there are flaws in those teachings and they are not applicable for all times?
2. Love of children
This love can make a person do things just for the sake of keeping his children happy which would be against Islam. Parents sometimes resort to taking loans on interest in order to give their children a good education, to get them married in a good way or to get them things that they like. They might also ignore the disobedience of their children just because they simply love them too much and hate to see them sad. A child might want to wear dress not approved by Islam, go to places that cause fitnah, have friendship with na-mahram which is not allowed as per Islam, try to choose a career that results in fitnah, or simply wants a life style that is luxurious and wants to show off. He/she might wanna got to concerts and clubs which are a major place of mingling of the opposite sex, might want to get things that are not necessary like an expensive car or an expensive mobile phone, etc.
3. Love for Siblings
Siblings can have much closer bonds than one can have with parents and sometimes siblings cover for each other for wrong things. They keep many secrets of each other and in doing so expect the same from others. They might cover unethical relations of each other, cover the acts which are against islamic teachings and also agaisnt teachings of their parents, and again might spend their money for each other on things which are not necessary for them and hence fall in the category of "spending excessively."
4. Love for Spouse
This is one of the most tempting love and can make a person do acts which he would not do otherwise. A husband in order to make his wife happy may accept her wrong kind of demands like that of maintaining a high standard of living, of accepting all her modern life style and way of dressing, her social gatherings which can lead to many fitnah. Similary, a wife may also accept the worng acts of her husband, might not object on his haram way of earning livelihood, might not object if he deals in interest or other things not allowed by Islam.
5. Love for Tribe / community / family / country
When a person lives in a particular tribe/community/family/country, he gets accustomed to the culture and norms of it which with the passage of time move away from the teachings of Islam. The elders of it might have wrong views and concept and just because of that they might be followed in the family, the country might be goverend by rulers who don't follow the teachings of Islam and their orders may go against the teachings, the tribe might have developed traditions for worship, social events which are against the teachings of Islam. All these lead a person to disobey the teachings of Islam.
6. Love for wealth
This might lead a person to keep on saving his money and not to help the others in needy. He would only be concerned with increasing his wealth from whichever way possible and in he is faced with the situation where he has to choose between haram and halal way, he might choose the haram way becuase it will give him more wealth while in halal way he feared the loss of wealth.
7. Love for business/profession
When a person establishes a business or has a well paid job he will divert all his attention in keeping that business or job and will forget his religious duties. He might forget offering prayers just becuase there was a meeting scheduled at that time or that performing wudu will ruin his well ironed clothes. Also, in order to survive in busienss/profession in might adopt tactics that are unethical and clearly against the teachings of Islam. He might prefer to take loan from bank rather than finding a islamic mode of financing, adopt marketing strategies that promote fitnah in order to get promotion, revert to bribes and dishonest means.
8. Property
This might lead a person from supporting such elements in the society which go against the principles of islamic society in order to save his properties. In every country there is a small minority of elite class that owns the majority of resources in the country. Their interests are directly linked with the present economica, social and political system and a change in it woud effect their properties. Hence, in order to save them they revert to means of supporting such elements.
All the above 8 type of love are to be kept within limit becuase our DEEN has given us guidance for every step of life. It teaches us to what limit to love parents and obey them, to what limits to spend from our wealth, to what limits to accept the demands of our children, siblings, spouse and family. Lets see what are the limits we need to adhered to.
- We should obey parents as long as their order or advice is not against Quran and Hadith, if it goes to that limit we are not required to obey them. Doing so would make us guilty of committing shirk against ALLAH as we have made obedience of parents a bigger priority than ALLAH.
- Wrong demands of family, siblings, children and spouse is not to be accepted. We should remember that it is more important to keep ALLAH happy than those relations. ALLAH has told the limits of how much they are to be loved. If there is some just demand that we have to fulfill then we are required as per Islam to do it. We have a social responsibility towards our family to provide the food, clothing and shelter. However, we should not corss the limit and do excess in that which is more than necessary for than. For example getting each one of then his own car whereby only one car is required for use in family, or buying them expensive items when a normal one was enough for their need.
- We should keep in mind that we should listen to advice of elders and obey them if they are within Islamic principles. Old traditions often belong to unislamic civilization and has got nothing to do with the teachings of Islam. Traditions of marriage, of dowry, birth, death, have to be as per the Sunnah of Prophet S.A.W.
- Our property, wealth, business is all given to us by ALLAH and ALLAH can take this away from us if we don't obey them. We cannot get anything if ALLAH does not give us. If ALLAH has decided some loss for us then no one can stop it and if ALLAH has decided some good for us then no one can prevent us from getting it. This should be the basic belief of a muslim. Good and bad is in the hands of ALLAH and sometimes we think something is good for us but infact it is bad for us though due to our limited knowledge we don't know and hence might start feeling ungrateful for what we had been given. Our wealth and property should be used in the way prescribed by ALLAH; excess wealth should be used for charity and to pay zakat, an idle property can be used to give shelter to the homeless, the busienss can be run with the aim of helping people as well as earning a living, our job should be done with honest means without looking at the temporary rewards of bribes or dishonest means.
Our DEEN Islam is a complete way of life so there is no room for any additions or deletions for the rules. As part of being a muslim we have to believe that Quran is the final book of ALLAH and Islam the final complete DEEN. Making any alterations means we don't have that faith that DEEN is complete or perfect. It would mean that we feel there are somethings that we can formulate better than what ALLAH has told or that they were applicable for particular time and needs amendment as per new time. All such things can make us a disbeliever after we accepted Islam and in the eyes of ALLAH we won't remain a muslim no matter what the world says.
For all the people crossing those limits, ALLAH says to them to wait for the judgement of ALLAH. ALLAH dislikes people who cross the limits prescribed by ALLAH and there will be no one to save them on the day of judgement. Anyone who still keeps his tyrant behaviour will not be given any guidance and will suffer the most painful punishment on the day of judgement. As this is the decision of ALLAH to punish those people, no Prophet can save those people from the wrath of ALLAH. We should keep in mind that even though ALLAH is merciful, he is ALLAH the most strict in punishment.
May ALLAH guide us to follow his commandments in its entirety and give us the courage to fight against the fitnah of this world.
AMEEN
1 comment:
Salam,
Read the tafsir of this verse brother. Its a jihad verse. The word jihad in the verse refers to fighting in the way of allah. not "striving". It is specific not general.
Wa salam.
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