Inspired by the Quran

Ever since I heard it, this part of an ayah in the Quran echoed in my heart:  إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ Certainly, God loves the Muhsineen (those who strive to achieve excellence in faith and good deeds). (Quran 2:195) My heart yearned to be one of those. One of those that God loves, and those that God Himself says are the doer of good. One of those that get that elusive Ihsan . In the journey to learn more about the Arabic language and the Quran, the word " Ihsan " keeps revealing its new dimensions. In fact, a popular hadith (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ) mentions various levels of faith: Islam is that you must not associate anything with Allah, and establish prayer, pay the poor-rate (Zakat) and observe (the fasts) of Ramadan. Al-Iman (the faith) is that you affirm your faith in Allah, His angels, His Books, His meeting, His Apostles, and that you believe in Resurrection and that you believe in Qadr (Divine Decree) in all its e...

Common, what's the big deal? Some say they do believe in One God, but it helps to enhance piety by putting a face on God (astaghfirullah) or to call on a deity. They believe that imagining a form for God enlightens the spirituality in them.   Others say - what is the harm in it anyway? As long as someone is being a “good human being” i.e. doing nice things for people, other life forms, and environment around them, they are being a pious person and perhaps being loved by God. To begin with, let us look at a couple of silly examples to present a perspective: A person whose aging mom lives say an hour drive away – this person never goes to visit her mom. But is super kind, caring, loving and helpful to other old ladies who live in neighbourhood- saying in my mind these ladies are just like my mom. Does it fulfill his responsibilities as a son? A married man ignores his wife and rarely takes care of her needs. But he flirts and romances with other women, b...

Allah ﷻ says in Surah Al-Baqarah 2:2, ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ ۛ فِيهِ ۛ هُدًى لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt, a guidance to those who are Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah much (abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds which He has forbidden) and love Allah much (perform all kinds of good deeds which He has ordained)] The Book of God towards the very onset teaches us to have be Muttaqi, to have Taqwa - i.e. to worship God out of love for Him but with a healthy balance of fear and hope. What does it mean to have a balance of fear and hope?  Could fear really be a positive institutional force? Many times we see fear being used as one of the strongest force in regulating behaviour and actions of people institutionally. No doubt that fear is a valid and necessary emotion for stopping injustice to self or others. But I guess it shows how much each system is abused these days, for them to have...