The concept of Taqwa, and some of its aspects (Part 1)

A-úthú billáhi minash shaytánir rajím. Bismilláhir Rahmánir Rahím!

[Arabic du’á]

“O Ye who Believe! Fear Alláh. And let every soul look to what he has prepared tomorrow. Fear Alláh, for Alláh is well acquainted with all that you do.

And do not be like those who forgot Alláh, and He made them forget their own souls. Such are the rebellious transgressors.” Súra 59/v18-19

Dear brothers and sisters in Islám, today’s khutbah is about Taqwa. What is Taqwa?

Taqwa is one of the fundamental principles in Islam. It is usually translated as: “fear of Alláh, piety, righteousness, or being conscious of Alláh, aware of His attributes, His Might and power”. It implies self-restraint, guarding oneself from all sin, wrong deeds, and injustice. Taqwa is not a passive idea. It is not merely a feeling or an emotion. Taqwa is an active concept. It is about action, doing of good deeds, positive actions in preparation for the Hereafter, the next life. Taqwa comes from an Arabic verb, waqa…a yaqee, which means to protect oneself. A shield is a wiqaayah coming from the same verb, something to protect yourself with. Taqwa is also the only basis by which people are considered superior to others in Islam.

“O mankind! We have created you from a single pair of male and female, And made you into nations and tribes that you may know each other. The Most Honoured of you is he who is the most Righteous of you” .Súra 49/v13

We know from the Qur’án that Alláh has favoured some people over others. Sustenance is an example. Alláh says:

“Alláh has favoured some of you over others in sustenance.” Súra 16/v71

This is in fact, how things are. It is simple reality. People are not all equal in this life. Alláh has favoured some over others in a variety of different capacities. Some of us enjoy a greater measure than others, of money, children, fortune, health, knowledge, fame, and so on and so forth. However these favours not there for us to do as we please. They are part of the tests of this life.

We should always be grateful and thankful to Alláh for His favours. But these favours should not make us feel superior, arrogant or proud to the extent of (Kibr). Arrogance or Kibr is something hated in Islam. As the Prophet has said,

“Whoever has a mustard seed worth of kibr [arrogant pride]in his heart will never enter paradise.”

Kibr is something, which is particularly despised in Islam. It is always identified with the attitude of Shaytán, who rejected the command of Alláh when he was ordered to bow to Adam. Shaytán believed that he was superior to Adam, he said:

“I am better than him, because you made me from fire and you made him from clay.”

When we look at issues of racism and nationalism, we see similar feelings. People feel they are better than others because they belong to a particular race, or because they belong to a particular nationality. These feelings are fundamentally opposed to the teachings of Islam. Alláh created mankind from a single soul, dividing them into various tribes and nations, so that those human beings may know each other, Súra 49:v13,and this implies treating each other with respect.

In that verse, Alláh says that the most honoured or noble of persons in the sight of Alláh are those who have greater Taqwa.

It is obvious from the verse that Taqwa is considered as factor, which elevates people over others. Alláh gives one person much money and he gives another person less money, but Taqwa is something which we earn by an act of faith and obedience. When the Prophet talked about Taqwa he said that Taqwa is here and pointed to his heart. Taqwa is in the heart. It is not something, which one can measure. I cannot measure your level of Taqwa, you cannot measure my level of Taqwa. We may judge in general by the outer actions of people, but we cannot judge the heart.

You may say that someone does not seem to have very much Taqwa because they are doing a lot of things, which are displeasing to Alláh.

Or you may say that another person seems to have more Taqwa because he or she seems to be doing a lot of things which are pleasing to Alláh. We judge by the outer appearance, by what we see.

But our judgements are not perfect. They are superficial judgements because we really do not know what is going on inside the heart of a person.

Normally we would assume that the person, who gives his life for the sake of Alláh, is a martyr. However, this individual could have fought for something else. His act, on the outside, led others to judge him as a martyr. But in reality Alláh knows best whether he is a martyr or not.

Taqwa is not something that we can ultimately judge from outside. Taqwa is invisible, it is a state of mind and heart. It emanates from remembering Alláh and being conscious of Him. A person who seeks to please Alláh, and protect himself from His wrath can only do so if he or she is conscious of Alláh. This is why the term Taqwa is also expressed in English as God-consciousness.

For example Alláh says regarding Salát :

“Establish the prayer for my remembrance.”

So salaat, and virtually all aspects of ‘ibadaah, or worship serve to keep us in a state of consciousness of Alláh.

When a person is conscious of Alláh, aware that He is watching, then that person would not do the things that are displeasing to Alláh. It is when we forget Alláh that Satan finds the opportunity to approach us, to misguide us, to suggest evil and we then fall into sin.

Throughout our lives, we are in that state of constant struggle between the remembrance and the forgetfulness of Alláh.

Remembrance of Alláh ensures righteousness, forgetfulness of Alláh opens the door for sin.

Taqwa is therefore a concept having to do with the remembrance of Alláh, fearing Alláh, protecting ourselves form His wrath of Alláh. All of this is related to Taqwa, and all of it represents the goal or the basic principle, which Islam seeks to develop in us and which, ultimately, is the foundation of righteousness.

If you persevere in your efforts to remember Alláh and strive constantly to develop your Taqwa at all times passionately and sincerely you may then achieve a special status of being nearer and close to Alláh and be, a (waliy) a friend of Alláh. This is the term used by Alláh in the Qur’án and the Prophet in his Sunnah. A friend of Alláh is one who has developed Taqwa. As Alláh said in Surah Yunus,

“Behold certainly no fear and no grief shall overcome the awliyaa of Alláh, the friends of Alláh, those who believe and have Taqwa.” 10:63,

Alláh says through the words of the Prophet in a hadith qudsi:

“My servant does not come closer to Me by anything more beloved to Me than the things which I have made compulsory for him.”

Therefore, to come closer to Alláh, to achieve the status of friendship, of being a friend of Alláh, is through the basic compulsory things, which Alláh has prescribed.

Anyone who has not established this can never be a friend of Alláh. In other words, there are no shortcuts to Taqwa. There are some people who offer shortcuts. You do this, if you say that, and you will be there.

But Alláh explains that the only way to become close to Him, is through observing the compulsory things (Al Fara’ed).

The hadith goes on to say that after doing the compulsory things, the believer continues to come closer to Alláh by doing voluntary acts of worship until Alláh loves him. Each and every one of the compulsory acts of worship has a voluntary aspect to it. The compulsory is supposed to develop in us a desire to do the voluntary, because when a person is completing the voluntary aspects of worship, then these acts of worship are transformed from mere ritual into a way of life. They become part and parcel of a person s lifestyle.

Salát is compulsory five times daily, but then we have what we call Sunnah prayers (An Nawafel) before and after the Fard or the compulsory. There are also a variety of others prayers like Salát ul Istkhara, salaat ul Haja (prayer of need) and salát ul Istisqa (prayer for rain).

All of the different voluntary acts, when made a part of our life, allow Salát to take on a living quality. It is shifted from the level of ritual to the level of lifestyle.

Similarly with fasting, We fast the month of Ramadan because it is compulsory. The goal is not just that we fast Ramadán every year, but that fasting becomes a way of life for us.

The Prophet encouraged us to fast six days in Shawwal. Combine that with Ramadán and you get the reward of fasting the whole year. This still leaves us with the middle three days of every lunar month, the 13th, 14th, 15th;. Also he used to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, as he said, “The gates of paradise are open on Mondays and Thursdays”. These are some of the voluntary fasts that we are encouraged to complete.

What we are trying to develop therefore, is a consistent attitude towards fasting, where fasting is something that we are doing on a regular basis. Fasting is about developing self-restraint, personal control over desires, whether for food, or for sexual relations, or control over our tongues.

This control is not something that we need only one month in a year, it is something that we need throughout the year. Our desire for self-control will not become a reality until fasting becomes a way of life for us.

Similarly zakát is compulsory on a yearly basis, once a year. However, again, zakát is there to develop in us an attitude towards sadaqa, develop in us generosity, where it is something, which is automatic. Whenever we have an opportunity to share with others, to help others, we reach out and help generously.

To summarise, Taqwa or Alláh-consciousness is not simply a passive idea. It is an active concept that must underpin everything we do. When we remember Alláh and try to please him in every big and small way every day, then living the way of Taqwa, becomes a way of life.

[du’á in Arabic]

Ameen! Aqeemus Salaah!