The Certainty of Faith in the Lives of the God-Fearing Servants
Dialogues
“Hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous.”
(Al-Imran 133)
O servants of God, the righteous are those who fear God in secret and in public. They fully comply, to the best of their human capacity, with His commands and prohibitions. They are those who give others their due over themselves, and who are passionate about speaking and doing good. This is especially true for those whose hearts firmly believe that a person’s piety, his constant striving to please his Lord, exalted be He, seeking His forgiveness, and his “trade” with God will appropriately guarantee him a complete worldly life, and perhaps an eternal Garden of Bliss, by the will of the Lord, exalted is His status. Among what I consider to be certainties in the lives of God’s righteous servants are the following:
- Remembrance of God ensures psychological stability: God’s righteous servants link the constant remembrance of God, their seeking of forgiveness, and their turning to repentance with the events that occur in their daily lives. The more they seek forgiveness and strive for sincere repentance, the more balanced their souls become, and the more their hearts are freed from worldly worries. They begin to truly believe that their constant seeking of forgiveness and their supplication for pardon and mercy from their Lord will purify their hearts and minds from the whispers, anxieties, and sorrows generated by their own base selves—the favored vehicle of the accursed Satan.
- Blessings in the sustenance of God’s righteous servants: The sustenance of the righteous is not merely material; it also includes moral and psychological sustenance that bears fruit. They are blessed in their children, spouses, relatives, friends, and neighbors. The Lord of Might subjugates all people for them. The certainty in the lives of God’s righteous servants is that goodness, growth, increase, and God’s favors come to them from every direction: “And whoever fears God, He will make for him a way out and provide for him from where he does not expect.” (At-Talaq 2–3)
- Righteous deeds are rewarded in this life and the Hereafter: Righteous deeds are any words or actions by which a pious servant draws near to God, exalted be He. For him, purifying his intention, sincerity in speech and action, refraining from backbiting, refusing to listen to gossip, wishing well for all Muslims, giving charity, and loving goodness are righteous deeds whose positive results manifest in his life. They increase his hope of attaining the Garden of Bliss, and God, exalted be He, knows best.
A Kuwaiti writer
