The 56th Syarah of Wisdom – Syarah al-Hikam

 

56th WISDOM OF WISDOM, AL-HIKAM

 

"Don't be happy for an obedient act because you feel you can carry it out, but rejoice over an obedient act because it is a gift and taufiq from Allah to you"

We will talk about the attitude that needs to be taken when God ordained us to always do obedience. What has happened so far is that when we finish worshiping/doing good, we are very happy. Happy, some are even proud. At first glance, there are no problems, people are just happy, what's wrong, there is nothing right? But it's actually not like that. Happiness after doing worship/obedience has knowledge, not just being happy.

Al-Buthi provides a very good analysis in this matter, with a tendency to the words of wisdom earlier. That is, there are two models of happy people when they succeed in doing obedience/good work/worship.

[1] People who are happy because of Allah.

[2] People are happy because of themselves.

The first is happiness that is recommended and bears rewards. He is happy because God has destined him to be obedient. After praying for example, he is very happy, why? Because Allah has given him the strength to worship Allah. He is grateful that Allah has given him taufiq to be close to Him and grateful to quell the feeling of laziness in worship.

He is also grateful that Allah has spared him from immoral acts that can bring punishment. When finished doing obedience and we are happy with this happy model, the effect is that he will be more grateful to Allah.

Just because you have done good/successful in doing worship that is difficult for many people to do, you become arrogant and arrogant. Do not!   Indeed, all obedient actions are taufiq and gifts from God, so we should be grateful for them. Not even showing off!

How to be grateful for our worship/good deeds? By continuing to do good, not easily satisfied, keep doing good and keep doing good. When all these stages are passed, our good deeds/worship will produce rewards that will never let up. The reward goes on and on and on. Why is that? Because we should be grateful for our good deeds, we should also be grateful for our gratitude, and so on. All of these are meritorious deeds.

Next, let's discuss the second person model who is happy because he has done good / worshiped because of himself. Not because of God. That is, this person when he finishes doing good, he is proud of himself and happy with it. He forgot that actually everything is from God.

This second model person thinks that he is a great person because he has always been able to do good to everyone / can always worship. He is easily amazed by his good work, because not everyone can do like him. This is a big problem and very dangerous .

The most vulnerable danger is underestimating other people who are not as good as themselves in worshiping/doing good. Especially when he succeeds in doing something that requires great effort and energy, if not controlled properly, he is easily arrogant.

According to al-Buthi, this kind of attitude is categorized as vague shirk . That is, associating partners with Allah with other things. Why is that so? Because, in fact all good work/success that he achieves is a gift from Allah. Not him. she should thank him.

So, shirk is not only worshiping idols/images, associating partners with Allah from the rights that belong to him can also be said to be shirk. Shirk like this, is categorized as shirk khofi/samar, the consequences of which do not necessarily cause disbelievers/apostates, but only sin.

This verse can explain the problem of the vague shirk earlier.

And most of them do not believe in Allah, except in a state of associating partners with Allah (with other idols). [QS. Yusuf: 106]

So shirk khofi/sama is a person who considers himself to be the source of greatness in every step and his work. Not God. This attitude will destroy the good deeds we do. Even though his true worship is empty, his worship is in vain and has no merit.

Rasulullah taught us to always say with the sentence:

"There is no power to avoid disobedience and no power to do good except from Allah, the Most High."

So in conclusion, if we are destined to do good then be happy because it is a gift from God, not from him. This conclusion is based on the following verses of the Qur'an.

Say: "By the bounty of Allah and His mercy, let them rejoice. The bounty of Allah and His mercy is better than what they collect". [Surah Yunus: 58]

Hopefully useful and along with guidance from Allah.