When You Truly Submit?

 - by Asma bint Shameem ●|●

Ever wonder why it is that most of us are 'born and raised' Muslims yet most new Muslims are better practicing and more devout than us?

And why is it that millions of people go for hajj yet most of them come back unchanged, unaffected?

And why is it that we listen to khutbahs and lectures and duroos all the time, yet it does not influence us. It does not make us change for the better. It does not make us give up those bad habits, those sins that we commit?

Why, we even wash and shroud and bury the dead with our own two hands, yet we come back from the graveyard as if nothing happened. We go right back to our daily lives... unaffected... unmoved. Don't we know that soon we will be joining them? Don't we believe in the Aakhirah?

Don't we fear Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala??? Sure we do.

Then why is it that we keep doing those sins that we commit, although we know very well that it is wrong? Why don't we change our ways? Why don't we worship Allaah the way we are supposed to?

The answer to all those questions is that we have not yet truly submitted ourselves to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'ala. In fact, the ugly, blunt truth is that we are not truly "Muslim".

Sure we all know that the word “Islam” means “submission”, and the word “Muslim” means “ the one who submits to Allaah”. But what does it really mean to 'submit' to Allaah? Have we ever thought about that?

Submission means to surrender to Allaah.

......to put Allaah's Will before your own, even if it means letting go of the things you love.
..... to put your heart, your soul, your desires, your very being, behind and put what Allaah has decreed above all else. And to 'erase' your logic and what your mind says and replace that with the Orders of Allaah, even if you don't understand the 'reasons' behind them.

That is true submission and that is truly being a Muslim.

Allaah told Ibraaheem (Alayhi Salaam) to surrender his will to Him. "When his Lord said to him: 'Submit...' (Surah Baqarah:131)

And what did Ibraaheem do?

"He answered: 'I submit to the Lord of the Worlds." (Baqarah:131)

Utter submission, right then and there...no ifs...no buts.....no questions asked.

Similarly, Allaah has ordered me and you: "But your Allah is One Allah. Submit then, your wills to Him (in Islaam): and give the good news to those who humble themselves.." (Surah Hajj:34)

But what did you and I do? Did we submit??

Yes, Alhamdulillaah, we are Muslim. But, there comes a point in every Muslim's life when he decides to enter into Islaam. Let me say it again, one more time. And read it slowly this time....

There comes a point in every Muslim's life when he decides to enter into Islaam.

O Muslim, ask yourself this.....Have I entered Islaam? Have I submitted?

The day that you truly realize that Allaah is your Master, your Creator, your Owner, that's the day you will submit. The day you realize that worship means to obey, that's the day you will submit. The day that you lower that gaze just because it is Allaah's order, the day that you stop selling that alcohol, the day you put on that hijaab, that's the day you will submit.

When it doesn't matter what you look like. It doesn't matter what others will say. It doesn't matter what your 'friends' think. All that matters is what Allaah is pleased with. That's the day you will submit.

When you stop lying and cheating and backbiting and hurting people, even though you may be praying five times a day and fasting.

It doesn't matter if you have a Muslim name; you might be Muhammad or Fatima. What matters is whether you are Muslim on the inside. That's what counts.

When you fear Allaah in private as much as you fear Him in public, when His Orders become your top most priority and His Displeasure your biggest fear, that's the day you will submit.
The day you actually wait for the prayer, the day when you can't wait to meet Allaah, the day when you truly believe in the Day of Judgment, when you fear to stand in front of Him and give account of all that you did, that's the day you will submit.

The day when you love to read the Qur'aan....when every ayaah comes alive and seems like it is speaking about you, to you.

When every sentence you say in the prayer becomes a conversation with your Rabb.... the Day when HE will become your Beloved....When all else ceases to exist except Allaah's Pleasure, when nothing else matters but His Will, that's the day you will submit.

When you stop belittling your sins and consider them as mountains ready to fall on top of your head....

when the very thought of your evil deeds makes you quiver and shiver, and causes your heart to shake... when your skin trembles and your eyes shed tears....
when you cannot help but fall down into sajda and ask Allaah to forgive you, the day you truly repent; that's the day you will submit.

The day, O Muslim, when following the Sunnah of the Prophet (sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa sallam) and the way of the Sahaabah becomes more important to you than the way of your Imaam, your Shaikh, your parents, or culture, THAT'S THE DAY YOU WILL SUBMIT. That is supreme dedication.