A quarter of Ramadan has passed by, and here we are hoping Allah will be pleased with our fasting, Taraweeh, Tilawah of Qur’an, Sadaqah, and every khair we have done so far in Ramadan and in return redeem our neck from hellfire this Ramadan. With every passing moment we are constantly striving that Allah is pleased with everything we do.
As I was listening to the Imam recite the concluding ayahs of Surah at-Tawbah yesterday in Taraweeh, I thought to myself we are so concerned with whether Allah is pleased with us or not, seldom we pay attention to the fact, “are we pleased with Allah in the first place”?
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Allah says: 'I am just as My slave thinks I am ( Sahih al-Bukhari 405,Book 97, Hadith 34). Allah is with us as we think of Him, If we are content with Him, He will be content with us; and if we are discontent with Allah, so will He be with us. This is profound, yet embarrassing at the same time to realize where we yearn for His contentment, we are so discontent with Him Subhan Allah.
What brings discontentment in us are our desires. Every time we plan things and it doesn't go according to plan at that moment, things unfold against our desire, all we end up saying, “ I love this, i want this, this isn’t happening’. We start to have a feeling that if this didn’t happen then we are at loss. This is not from being pleased with Allah, not acknowledging the fact His choosing is better than ours. How many times have we wished for something and really wanted it, and when we got it, it became a trial for us and has led us away from the straight path.
Another thing that has filled every inch of our soul making it so flawed is ingratitude. We often forget all the blessings we have and we focus on what's missing. So forgetfulness of blessing leads to ingratitude and ingratitude leads to discontent with al-Mannan (The Bestower). The problem is we always look at the glass half empty rather than half full and this is not from being pleased with Allah
And the height of discontent is that we magnify what we didn’t receive and it dominates our thoughts night and day, constantly talking negatively without giving a weight to the fact that if Allah didn't decree this for me then it's best for me.
All we realize is how much we are in need of Ramadan, to fix ourselves so that we attain the contentment of Allah, because our affairs day in and out at suhoor, iftar and in-between are filled with being discontent with Allah.
Some people will go to Jannah not because they are fasting so much and praying so much, they will be admitted in Jannah because they are pleased with Allah and in return Allah is pleased with them. The journey to Allah is not about our strength and power and how much we do, it’s about the quality and truthfulness of our heart.
As humans no matter what, our souls will always have flaws and our journey on this earth is about fixing them one at a time and advancing towards contentment of Allah until we meet him. Let's strive harder to be pleased with Allah in the smallest of smallest matters to the greater ones. Where we are striving to maximize our deeds, let's not overlook the fact of being pleased with Allah in every situation.
May Allah make us among those who because of being pleased with Allah, Allah will be pleased with them in the world and in the hereafter and those who enter Jannah because of this. Ameen.
