Remember Me, I will remember you

Written by Waleed Wasti

Edited by Dania.

[فَاذْكُرُونِي أَذْكُرْكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لِي وَلَا تَكْفُرُونِ ]

So remember Me; I will remember you. And be grateful to Me and do not deny Me.

(Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 152)

The ayah itself should be enough for instilling the much needed faith back in us; yet we are so blind sighted that we overlook its significance and beauty while we are engrossed in this world of ‘ours’. It does not befit our heedless behavior, our stubborn attitude, and our immoral character that God Almighty should remember us, but that is what He has promised to do in return, IF ONLY we remember Him. How glorious an opportunity this is which we continue to overlook, to be remembered by the Creator of all, the Master of all, the Eternal, and the Ever-present Himself!  

And lo, He then says that if we go one step ahead and love Allah (S.W.T), then not only would Allah love us but He would also order Hazrat Jibrail (A.S) and all the angels of the heavens to love us as well. Yet the love of this world continues to hold a bigger place in our hearts rather than the “ishq-e-haqiqi”, i.e. the love for Allah (S.W.T). We live our lives in heedlessness and just turn a blind eye towards everything that invites us to a religious ‘good’.

We give up prayers, humility, modesty, and any other quality, all in the vain desire to get the recognition and the love of the people. It’s ultimately them who we aim to please, no matter what sphere of life we are in. Our advancement in career depends on how big a social network we have, our respect in the society depends on the social class that we belong to, and obviously keeping a beard, for men, and wearing a hijab, for women, would be a hindrance in our way up the corporate ladder! And the funny thing is that people never realize that no matter what they do, they will never be able to completely please other people and yet we so easily waste away our lives in doing just that. This real-life example is also mentioned in the Holy Quran, by Allah, Himself:

Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you Until you visit the graveyards.

(Surah At-Takasur, ayats 1 and 2)

The very notion of remembering the Almighty Lord is sufficient enough in keeping us on the right track. If we remember Him often then we are more likely to stay away from evil and chances are that we would add more good deeds to our accounts rather than bad deeds. This remembrance would redefine our lives and open up avenues that we never would have imagined otherwise. 

The Prophet (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “Allah the Most High said, ‘I am as My servant thinks (expects) I am. I am with him when he mentions Me. If he mentions Me to himself, I mention him to Myself; and if he mentions Me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly greater than it. If he draws near to Me a hand’s length, I draw near to him an arm’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’”

[Sahih Al-Bukhari]

SubhanAllah!

A person only remembers someone often whom he or she loves. Often if the love is too great, it will even start defining a person’s life e.g. mothers often end up telling their friends or relatives about the stories of their kids, they often plan out their entire routines in accordance to the need of their kids and so on and so forth. This should be the case in our remembrance of Allah (S.W.T), we should remember Him throughout our lives.

All we need to do is get out of our comfort zones and develop a longing for Allah (S.W.T). We should realize the fact that ‘everything’ in this world that we have gotten has been due to the favors and blessings of Allah (S.W.T). Had God Almighty not been this generous then we could have been born in a poorer family, we could have been deprived of education, we could have not had the luxuries that we enjoy in our lives, and yes we could have been born in a Christian/Jewish/Hindu/Atheist family! We should take absolutely nothing for granted. 

فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?

(Surah Rahman)