Khutbah Reflections: Preserving Justice in the Daily Lives of Insan
The khutbah on 28th December 2012 spoke of 3 main points in preserving justice in our everyday lives namely,
Just in enriching our souls.
Just in our actions and balanced in seeking knowledge.
Just in helping the people around us.
In our efforts to sustain ourselves, we can sometimes lose focus. We work so hard to enrich our bodies and our minds that we are not giving our very soul its dues. One of the ways of being just with our souls is to maintain a relationship with our Creator, Allah SWT. A Formula One (F1) car makes several pit stops to change tires, refuel and make adjustments in a race. We too have “pit stops” in our everyday lives. In fact, we have five obligatory ones in each day in the form of salah. It’s a time where we take a break from our hectic lives to surrender ourselves to Allah and to “refuel” our souls.
Have you ever wondered why salah is spread throughout the day instead of all five in one go? Imagine an F1 car making many pit stops during the first lap of a race and none after that. The tires get worn out and the car runs out of fuel. That’s not good now is it? They are planned and spread throughout the duration of the race to ensure the car can complete the race. The salah has been prescribed to us at specific time periods in each day for our own benefit.
We need to be reminded of Allah throughout the day and whether we realize it or not, our souls get damaged when we are heedless. It is in our salah that we fix it; when we are in a state of khushu’ in supplication. After all, what better “pit crew” can we ask for to help us get through this world and the next other than Allah SWT?
How do we become just people?
A just person is one who is not only fair in his actions but also fair in the pursuit of knowledge. Fair in the sense that while seeking knowledge of Dunya, knowledge for the hereafter should not be put aside. Many of us including myself want the best in life. If we could, we’d want to further our education as much as we can. We’d want to get our Dunya degrees and masters but let’s check ourselves for a bit here.
Should I be satisfied with my knowledge of Islam, of the hereafter?
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I really know. That’s how vast Islam really is. I’m not saying we should stop pursuing higher education but merely that we elevate our knowledge of Dunya and the hereafter in tandem. Actions are taken based on knowledge and when we strive to seek a balance in knowledge, the actions we take would be a just one, InshaAllah. We would weigh things more carefully not only for all the parties involved but also the repercussions in this world and the next.
To be just in helping people means giving aid to those who need it. It’s as simple as that. We don’t give preferential treatment or discriminate someone of a particular background. We don’t even need to look far to find people in need. While I share the sadness and the willingness to help after seeing the plight of our brothers and sisters abroad, let’s not forget the people here who may need our aid as well. They may come in the form of family, friends or neighbours. Just because it doesn’t appear in television or the newspapers, that doesn’t make it any less important.
[divider]Fadhuli Taufek
Fadhuli is an aspiring writer and believes in putting in the time and effort into meaningful causes. He strives to improve himself as a person and as a Muslim.
