The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, 'Verily, a man may finish performing the Salah having only a tenth, a ninth, an eighth, a seventh, a sixth, a fifth, a fourth, a third or a half of it accepted'- Abu Dawood at Tarmidzi
As a student, assignment marks, exam grades mean the life to me. After all, these are the indicators that tell me how far I need to go to achieve my goals and in the end graduate with a degree.
So it was to my complete bewilderment that the thought of keeping score of my prayers did not cross my mind until I flipped through this tiny little book I got from my uni mosque about Taharah and Salah with the above saying of the Prophet (p.b.u.h) staring up at me from the pages.
Immediately this analogy popped into my head:
Imagine that every time we pray, Allah S.W.T. is evaluating our performance.
And in the end, we get marked. Is it always a 90% or always a 10%? What if we get no marks at all?
Na'uzubilla hi min zalik.
What a contradiction then, that I feel like it's the end of the world if I don't get marks above 70% for an assignment or a major exam, which are marked by mere mortals, but I never spare even a single thought about how my prayers are assessed by the Almighty, Great Lord of the Earth and Heavens above.
Astaghfirullahal'azeem
In my quest to obtain a worldly degree, I have forgotten the ultimate qualification that will allow me to enter His Jannah.
Chasing after akhirat bestows us the world, but chasing the world avails us no akhirat.
Post a Comment