We all know that the one message
emphasized throughout the entire
Quran is to devote our life and
worship to the One God. This
infallible scripture also lays
out for us the many concepts
that we must adhere to in order
to achieve God's eternal bliss
of Paradise (6:51.)One Concept
worthy of reflecting on is
"awareness." As sincere students
of the Quran, we can easily
relate to the concept of
awareness which is defined as
the degree or the extent of
being informed, alert,
cognizant, or knowledgeable.
Each individual has a certain
level of awareness. However, a
true submitter to God alone
tends to be able to develop a
deeper and more profound level
of this awareness. This
includes both self awareness,
and being cognizant of all
surroundings and existing
entities, seen and unseen.
Therefore, truthful submitters
are fully aware of the basic
means of sustenance for both the
soul and the body. Their
cognizance of God's eternal
existence, His creations, and
the very intricate and precise
control of even the tiniest of
the tiniest atom in His seven
universes is a consequence of
their spiritual journey with the
Quran.
It should be a goal for each one
of us to increase our level of
awareness through our
meditation, commemoration, and
reflection. The following are
just a few verses to boast our
recognition of God almighty and
ourselves (souls and bodies):
[91:7]
The soul and Him who created it.
[91:8]
Then showed it what is evil and
what is good.
[91:9]
Successful is one who redeems
it.
[91:10]
Failing is one who neglects it.
[7:32]
Say, "Who prohibited the nice
things GOD has created for His
creatures, and the good
provisions?" Say,
"Such provisions are to be
enjoyed in this life by those
who believe.
Moreover, the good provisions
will be exclusively theirs on
the Day of Resurrection."
We thus explain the revelations
for people who know.
[2:255]
GOD: there is no other
god besides Him, the Living, the
Eternal. Never a moment of
unawareness or slumber overtakes
Him. To Him belongs everything
in the heavens and everything on
earth. Who could intercede with
Him, except in accordance with
His will? He knows their past,
and their future. No one attains
any knowledge, except as He
wills. His dominion encompasses
the heavens and the earth, and
ruling them never burdens Him.
He is the Most High, the Great.
[6:59]
With Him are the keys to
all secrets; none knows them
except He. He knows everything
on land and in the sea. Not a
leaf falls without His
knowledge. Nor is there a grain
in the depths of the soil. Nor
is there anything wet or dry,
that is not recorded in a
profound record.
[10:61]
You do not
get into any situation, nor do
you recite any Quran, nor do you
do anything, without us being
witnesses thereof as you do it.
Not even an atom's weight is out
of your Lord's control, be it in
the heavens or the earth. Nor is
there anything smaller than an
atom, or larger, that is not
recorded in a profound record.
[16:4] He
created the human from a
tiny drop,
then he turns into an ardent
opponent.
[16:5]
And He created the
livestock for you,
to provide you with warmth, and
many other benefits, as well as
food.
[16:6]
They also provide you with
luxury during your leisure, and
when you travel.
[16:7]
And they carry your loads to
lands that you could not reach
without a great hardship.
Surely, your Lord is
Compassionate, Most Merciful.
[16:8]
And (He created) the
horses,
the mules, and
the donkeys
for you to ride, and for luxury.
Additionally, He creates what
you do not know.
[56:63]
Have you noted the
crops you reap?
[56:64]
Did you grow them, or did we?
[56:65]
If we will, we can turn it into
hay. Then you will lament:
[56:66] "We lost.
[56:67]
"We are deprived."
[56:68]
Have you noted the
water you drink?
[56:69]
Did you send it down from the
clouds, or did we?
[56:70]
If we will, we can make it
salty. You should be thankful.
[56:71]
Have you noted the
fire you ignite?
[56:72]
Did you initiate its tree, or
did we?
[56:73]
We rendered it a reminder, and a
useful tool for the users.
[56:74]
You shall glorify the name of
your Lord, the Great.
For the sake of our souls, the
Quran provides us with a perfect
set of elements to be fully
aware of. One of these
elements is the
full consciousness of our
utterances. The only route of
uttering the correct utterances
is the constant and persistent
awareness of all the standards
of righteousness according to
God, making sure that our egos,
and personal opinions and
feelings are not overcasting our
words.
[33:70] O
you who believe,
reverence GOD and
utter only the
correct utterances.
[33:71]
He will then fix your works, and
forgive your sins.
Those who obey GOD and His
messenger have triumphed a great
triumph.
Since our thoughts greatly
dictate our actions and
utterances, another basic
element we must be fully
cognizant of is the
righteousness of our thoughts.
If God is absolutely aware of of
our innermost thoughts, would
not this be an enough of a
reason to be extremely
self-conscious about them?
[2:284]
To GOD belongs everything in the
heavens and the earth.
Whether you declare your
innermost thoughts, or keep them
hidden,
GOD holds you responsible for
them. He forgives
whomever He wills, and punishes
whomever He wills. GOD is
Omnipotent.
A third element, that we must
fully recognize and always keep
in the forefront is the fact
that each one of us is assigned
a jinn companion that will keep
presenting Satan's point of
views, and will constantly try
to influence our thoughts,
actions, and words. It is
through our awareness of this
companion, we can recognize the
malice and seek refuge in God to
guard for our souls:
[7:200]
When the devil
whispers to you any
whisper, seek refuge
in GOD; He is Hearer,
Omniscient.
[7:201]
Those who are righteous,
whenever the devil approaches
them with an idea, they
remember, whereupon they become
seers.
Prophet Joseph was almost
seduced by his companion to
commit evil, but because of his
awareness as a righteous
submitter to God, he averted
from such behavior and sought
refuge in God from Satan the
rejected:
[12:23]
The lady of the house where he
lived tried to seduce him. She
closed the doors and said, "I am
all yours." He said,
"May GOD protect me.
He is my Lord, who gave me a
good home.* The transgressors
never succeed."
It is only through our full
awareness of God and all the
unseen attributed with Him, that
we value Him, reverence Him, and
observe Him the way it should
be. We thus practice our
submission and evolve from stage
to another towards our
certainty. To the contrary, the
moment we lose our awareness, we
become more vulnerable to
deviate and commit sins. No one
is immune from temporarily
losing the sense of awareness of
God. In fact, the Quran, states
few examples of certain prophets
who have lost their awareness,
thus sinned, but later on
returned to God, repented, and
reformed. Muhammad (80:1-12,
33:37,) and Jonah (21:87) are
only two examples, among many
others, for the believers to
learn how to always strive in
maintaining their awareness of
God and meeting Him on the Last
Day.
[3:102] O
you who believe, you
shall observe GOD as He should
be observed, and do
not die except as Submitters.
[22:32] Indeed,
those who reverence the
rites decreed by GOD
demonstrate the
righteousness of their
hearts.
[64:16] Therefore,
you shall reverence GOD
as much as you can,
and listen,
and obey,
and give
(to charity) for
your own good.
Anyone who is protected from
his own stinginess, these
are the successful ones.
The following verses illustrate
the depth of prophet Abraham's
awareness of how awesome God is,
and how He is the One and only
Provider of all things and all
blessings:
[26:77]
"I am against them, for I am
devoted only to the Lord of the
universe.
[26:78]
"The One who created
me, and
guided me.
[26:79]
"The One who feeds me
and waters me.
[26:80]
"And when I get sick, He
heals me.
[26:81]
"The One who puts me
to death, then
brings me back to
life.
[26:82]
"The One who hopefully will
forgive my sins
on the Day of Judgment.
This is another group of verses
that truly reflect how
our cognizance/awareness of God
almighty would help us enjoy our
sense of belonging to God and
His kingdom:
[6:161]
Say, "My Lord has
guided me in a
straight path - the perfect
religion of Abraham, monotheism.
He never was an idol worshiper."
[6:162]
Say, "My Contact Prayers
(Salat), my worship
practices, my
life and my
death, are
all devoted absolutely to GOD
alone, the Lord of the universe.
[6:163]
"He has no partner. This is what
I am commanded to believe, and I
am the first to submit."
[6:164]
Say, "Shall I seek
other than GOD as a lord, when
He is the Lord of all things?
No soul benefits except from its
own works, and none bears the
burden of another. Ultimately,
you return to your Lord, then He
informs you regarding all your
disputes."
[6:165]
He is the One who
made you inheritors of the
earth, and He raised some of you
above others in rank, in order
to test you in accordance with
what He has given you.
Surely, your Lord is efficient
in enforcing retribution, and He
is Forgiver, Most Merciful.
With no doubt, being fully
aware of returning to God
and meeting Him in the
Hereafter, and being aware
of our accountability on
that day directly affect the
consciousness of righteous
believers. It dramatically
change their style of
thoughts, actions, and
words. Indeed, this blessing
belongs to the true
believers, and was
acknowledged by God
almighty in the Quran:
[38:45]
Remember also our
servants Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. They
were resourceful, and
possessed vision.
[38:46] We
bestowed upon them a
great blessing:
awareness of the
Hereafter.
[38:47] They were
chosen, for they were
among the most
righteous.
Three
Categories of People
(1) The Righteous
[2:3] who believe in
the unseen, observe the
Contact Prayers (Salat),*
and from our**
provisions to them, they
give to charity.
[2:4] And they believe
in what was revealed to
you, and in what was
revealed before you,*
and with
regard to the Hereafter,
they are absolutely
certain.
Believers
Versus Disbelievers
(1) The Believers
[13:19] Is one who
recognizes that your
Lord's revelations to
you are the truth equal
to one who is blind?
Only those who possess
intelligence will take
heed.
[13:20] They are the
ones who fulfill their
pledge to GOD, and do
not violate the
covenant.
[13:21] They
join what GOD has
commanded to be joined,
reverence their Lord,
and fear the
dreadful reckoning.
[21:49] The
ones who reverence their
Lord, even when alone in
their privacy, and
they worry about the
Hour.
[70:26] They
believe in the Day of
Judgment.
[70:27] They
reverence their Lord's
requital.
[70:28]
Their Lord's requital is
not taken for granted.
[76:7] They fulfill
their pledges,
and reverence a
day that is extremely
difficult.
Hopefully, God willing, as
submitters to God alone, our
awareness will positively
lead our souls on God 's
straight path. God willing,
we can be among those
who will utter the
following statement on the
Day of Judgment:
[69:20] "I did
believe that I was going to
be held accountable."
Peaceful Friday, salaam, and
God bless.
