This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Ramadan Reflections. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15, Episode 16, Episode 17, Episode 18, Episode 19, Episode 20, Episode 21, Episode 24, Episode 25, Episode 26, Episode 27, Episode 28,

Transcript

In this episode, I wanted to share some reflections on the second verse of Surah Al-Mulk where Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says the following:   

ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًۭا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٢ 

˹He is the One˺ Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And He is the Almighty, All-Forgiving. (Quran 67:2) 

Meaning, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is the one who has created death and life so you may be tested as to who does the best of actions and He is the Almighty and All-Forgiving. In this ayah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala very simply and clearly lays out the purpose of our existence, which is to earn His mercy, His appreciation, and His love through our actions. Thus, our actions are to be the most beautiful actions that we can do.    

Note that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala did not say “the one who does the most deeds”, “the one who does the grandest of deeds”, or “the one who spends the most money” because to earn the mercy of Allah is easy. Allah is always waiting to forgive His servants. Allah’s mercy does not discriminate, it even goes to the people that who do not believe in Him in this world. People who reject His very existence are still able to breathe, eat, and drink because Allah’s mercy is for all in this world.  

Now what would be beautiful or what would be defined as the most beautiful of actions? How can we think about this? The Prophet ﷺ was asked by Jibreel, peace and blessings be upon him, the definition of ihsaan and the Prophet ﷺ replied and defined ihsaan as worshipping Allah as if you can see Allah. But if you cannot see Him then you should know that He is seeing you.   

This particular definition speaks to human psychology of how we immediately tailor fit our actions and how we are very much aware of the fact of what we are doing when we know we are being observed. For example, if a person is in a room where he might be taking an exam and they know they are being observed or when doing a task and they know a supervisor is observing them, then they will ensure that they don’t do anything in a wrong way. They will ensure that they are doing it as well as possible because that is the power of being observed.  

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is always watching us. And for us to worship Allah should be with the mindset as if we are also witnessing Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, even though that’s not a possibility in this world; and inshaAllah it will be a possibility in Jannah. 

But when we know Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is watching us, this should immediately have the effect of us elevating our level of worship, of us elevating everything that we do to the best of our ability. It’s not about quantity, but about quality. It’s not about fitting into our daily routines as many things as we can but doing one or two things beyond our base obligations that will allow us to make the most of it. When the month of Ramadan is concluded, and we have alhamdulillah fasted many days and stood for taraweeh many nights. And when the month of Ramadan is over, the biggest question that everyone has is how can I try to capture some of the beauty of the month of Ramadan in my day-to-day routine? 

 Ramadan is no doubt a very special month in which we are able to do so much in so little of a time with little energy. Yet, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala does not expect us to keep ourselves at that level throughout the entire year. However, what we can do is choose one or two things that we can do consistently and as well as possible beyond our base obligations. And this is something that we can try to incorporate into our daily lives. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala wants our best effort. Our best effort is going to be what we present to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala on the Day of Judgment when we are petitioning for his mercy and forgiveness. 

 Imagine standing in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and presenting your effort that you know you had put your all into it, or something that you had really, really dedicated yourself to. Compare that to an act of worship that may not have your best effort, that may have been just done half-aware or not with your best effort, not as well as you could have made it. Which would you feel more comfortable presenting to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us very plainly that your purpose of life is to do the best of deeds, and the best of deeds are the ones that you do as perfectly as possible.  

 May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala guide us, protect us, give us knowledge that benefits us, and give us the ability to do all that we can, as best as we can, so that we are not ashamed to present them in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala on the Day of Judgment. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala guide, bless and protect us all. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. 

والله أعلم وبالله التوفيق