Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
The Twelve Qualities of the True Ulama - Eighth Quality
8. Always remaining Concerned About One’s Imaan and Yaqeen
The eighth quality of the true Ulama of the Aakhirah is that they have great yaqeen and imaan (having strong belief and conviction) in Allah Ta‘ala. Similarly, at all times, they are deeply concerned about increasing this quality, as they believe that this is the most valuable asset and the main capital of a believer.
Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) said, “Yaqeen (having strong belief and conviction in Allah Ta‘ala) is part of having complete imaan.” Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) also said, “Learn yaqeen (to have strong belief and conviction in Allah Ta‘ala).” This Hadith means that we should try to always remain in the company of those people who have yaqeen and we should try to follow their example. Through the goodness of remaining in their company, we will also learn yaqeen.
A true Aalim should have such yaqeen in the Absolute Power of Allah Ta‘ala and His qualities, just as he has a firm belief in the existence of the sun and the moon. He should have perfect belief that Allah Ta‘ala Alone is the Doer of all things. All the different material and worldly means of this world are under His divine control. All the things of this world are as helpless in His Hands as a stick in the hands of a person who beats someone with it. Nobody blames or holds the stick responsible for this.
When this belief and faith gets firmly rooted in the heart, it will become easy for one to learn the qualities of ‘tawakkul’ (trusting in Allah Ta‘ala alone), ‘ridhaa’ (always being happy with Allah Ta‘ala’s decisions) and ‘tasleem’ (completely submitting to the Will and Decree of Allah Ta‘ala).
A true Aalim should also have the firm belief that Allah Ta‘ala Alone is responsible for providing rizq (sustenance) to all living things. Every creature will get what has been apportioned and decreed for him. Similarly, no one can get what has not been written for him. When this belief is firmly rooted in his heart, a person will make a moderate effort to earn his money. Such yaqeen in Allah Ta‘ala being the Provider removes greed and a person does not feel sad if he did not acquire something.
A true Aalim should also have firm belief that at all times, Allah Ta‘ala is watching all his deeds, whether good or bad. He should believe that Allah Ta‘ala has full knowledge of even a small good or bad action that he has done. He will get rewarded or punished for it. He should strongly believe that all good actions will be rewarded, just as he has full belief and conviction that eating removes his hunger. Similarly, he should firmly believe that evil will result in punishment, just as he believes and has full conviction in the effect of the venom from a snake bite. (In short, he should be attracted towards good deeds as a hungry person is attracted to food, and he should fear comitting sins just as he is scared of a snake or a scorpion.)
When this yaqeen is firmly entrenched in the heart, then he will be motivated to carry out all good deeds, and he will ensure that he refrains from all evils and sins.
(Fazaa’ile-e-Sadaqaat [English] pg. 448-449, [Urdu] pg. 492-493)
