I will tell you about something which is neither a part of imagination nor a claim without evidence. Rather, it is a real life story whose hero enjoys unmatchable morals and a resplendent biography. The fragrance of his life diffused because he honored the sacred Ordinances of His Lord. Therefore, Allah The Almighty Exalted his degree. He is Ibn Seereen . It is narrated that he said, "I never had sex with a woman either while awake or sleeping but with Umm ‘Abdullaah (his wife)." "Whenever I see a woman in a dream and realize that she is not lawful to me, I turn my eyes from her." [Taareekh Dimishq by Ibn ‘Asaakir]
We have yet another star, ‘Ali ibn Al-Husayn who gave a wonderful example in honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah. It is narrated that whenever he performed ablution, his face would turn pale. When his family asked him about the reason, he said: “Do you know between Whose Hands I will stand?” (meaning Allah The Almighty)? [Sifat As-Safwah by Ibn Al-Jawzi]
Honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah
The question which rises now -- and perhaps some of you extracted the answer from the introduction -- is how did such people and many others reach this degree of fearing Allah The Almighty and humbleness to Him? The answer is not difficult and the road is not impossible to be attained. Rather, it is easy for those for whom Allah The Almighty made it easy. You will find the answer in one definite verse in the Quran: Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {That [has been commanded], and whoever honors the sacred Ordinances of Allah - it is best for him in the Sight of his Lord.} [Quran 22: 30]
The true believer honors the sacred Ordinances of Allah, is in awe of Him, surrenders to His Majesty and respects His Jealousy when His sacred Ordinances are violated. In a Hadeeth (narration), the Prophet said to the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them: "Are you surprised at Sa‘d's jealousy? By Allah, I am more jealous than he, and Allah is more Jealous than me. Because He is Jealous, He forbade immorality -- what is apparent of them and what is concealed." [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {That [has been commanded], and whoever honors the sacred ordinances of Allah - it is best for him in the Sight of his Lord.} [Quran 22: 30]
Commenting on the verse, Ibn Katheer said, "Whoever avoids disobeying Him and does not transgress that which is sacred, and regards committing sin as a very serious matter, will attain much good and a great reward for doing that. Just as the one who does acts of obedience will earn a great reward, so too, the one who avoids sin will earn a great reward." [Tafseer Ibn Katheer]
When honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah was firmly established in their hearts, their hearts became pure and their souls became sublime. Exalting Allah The Almighty necessitates honoring His sacred Ordinances which include everything that must be respected, safeguarded and cared for. This includes everything that Allah The Almighty commanded to be exalted and performed. Honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah means knowing that they are obligatory, bearing testimony to this and fulfilling the relevant rights.
Renew your faith
Here we stop and ask: does not every one of us want to boost the degree of faith in his heart? Does not every one of us suffer from sins and look for the remedy? Undoubtedly, all of us suffer from the same problem. The successful and effective solution is in this dose of remedy. Honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah is one of the means which renews faith in the hearts. In the Quran, Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {That [is so]. And whoever honors the sacred Ordinances of Allah - indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.} [Quran 22: 32]
The sacred Ordinances of Allah mean the rights of Allah The Almighty. This is achieved when one fulfills the commands of His Lord and avoids what is made prohibited by Allah The Almighty. Therefore, the Prophet was careful to build a strong barrier between us and sins. In a Hadeeth (narration), he warned us saying: "Beware of sins that are seen as insignificant, for they will keep accumulating until they destroy a man." [Al-Albaani: Saheeh]
The Messenger of Allah explained this by comparing them to people who stop to camp in the wilderness and decide to build a fire, so one man goes out and brings back a stick, and another man brings a stick, until they have gathered enough, then they light a fire and cook whatever they throw onto it.
The way of salvation
Undoubtedly we know that the danger of violating the sacred Ordinances of Allah The Almighty is a very serious matter. Ibn ‘Abbaas, may Allah be pleased with him, taught us about this the day he said,
O doer of sins, you are not safe from the bad consequences of your sin. The consequences of your sin are greater than the sin itself. When you are not bashful of the guarding angels on your right and left as you commit the sin, this is greater than the sin itself. When you laugh while you do not know what will be done with you, this is greater than the sin itself. When you feel joy for committing a sin, this is greater than the sin itself. When you do not feel sad for committing the sin, this is greater than the sin itself. When you are afraid that the wind removes the curtain on your door while you are committing the sin and your heart is not disturbed because Allah is Watching you, this is greater than the sin itself. [Al-Jawaab Al-Kaaafi by Ibn Al-Qayyim]
Consequently, the way that one should resort to in order to attain this position, honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah, is that one appraises Allah The Almighty with true appraisal and becomes acquainted with His greatness as well as the signs of His omnipotence. Then he should resort to the way of piety and seek the characteristics of the pious people.
Those who are righteous greatly honor the sacred ordinances of Allah The Almighty more than others.
Here is the clarification in detail:
The way of piety
Briefly, piety is the way that you should resort to if you seek the honor of this great position; honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah The Almighty. Undoubtedly, if you want to be one of the sincere servants of Allah The Almighty who honor His sacred Ordinances, the way is neither easy nor spread with flowers and roses; rather, it is full of acts of obedience and obligatory acts of worship. A young man could be tempted to neglect such matters because he is busy with this worldly life, let alone the evil companions who entice him and beautify evils for him. There are also acts of disobedience and desires which glitter and shine before the young man's eyes and entice him to deviate from the righteous path. Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {Know that the life of this world is but amusement and diversion and adornment and boasting to one another and competition in increase of wealth and children…} [Quran 57: 20]
Therefore, you need patience, perseverance, seriousness and hard work. You need patience and perseverance in the face of disobedience and desires, and seriousness and hard work in doing acts of obedience and struggling against oneself. Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked about the meaning of piety and he responded by asking the questioner, "Have you ever taken a thorny road?" He replied, "Yes." "What did you do?," Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, asked. The man replied, "Whenever I saw a thorn, I would move away from it, cross over it or hold back from it." Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, replied, "This is the meaning of piety." [Jaami‘ Al-‘Uloom wal-Hikam by Ibn Rajab]
So, dear brother, hasten to piety.
They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal
Here is another stop with the second dose of the remedy. In the Quran, Allah The Almighty Says (what means): {They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right Hand. Exalted is He and High above what they associate with Him.} [Quran 39: 67]
When a person does not appraise Allah The Almighty with true appraisal, this is one of the greatest reasons which prevents the servant from honoring the sacred Ordinances of his Lord and encourages him to disobey Allah The Almighty and turn away from faith. Had one truly appraised Allah The Almighty with true appraisal, he would have honored the sacred Ordinances of Allah, The Sovereign, The Omnipotent.
Consequently, the second dose of the remedy reveals that having knowledge about Allah The Almighty is a door to honor His sacred Ordinances. When the servant appraises Allah The Almighty with true appraisal, he recognizes the greatness of the Rights of Allah The Almighty. This motivates him to exert his utmost in obeying Allah The Almighty. He realizes that he will not fulfill even an atom of the great Rights of Allah over him no matter how many good deeds he does. On the contrary, when a person does not appraise Allah The Almighty with true appraisal, inevitably there will be negligence and nonobservance and transgression against oneself by sinning and disobedience. This leads him to turn away from preparing for the day when no father will avail his son, nor will a son avail his father at all.
Therefore, it is necessary that the servant knows the greatness of His Lord and feels awe of The Creator and The Great, so that he lives in this world following the commands of his Lord, not the commands of his self and passion. This is why Bilaal ibn Sa‘d used to say, "Do not look to the littleness of your disobedience, but look to the greatness of the One Whom you disobeyed." [Sifat As-Safwah by Ibn Al-Jawzi]
Peace and tranquility
When a young man is raised on piety and honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah The Almighty, this promotes an internal sense of self awareness, which is unparalleled by either a governmental or legal observance. As such, one grows up while his standards of right and wrong are subject to the thermometer of the internal awareness which he received from honoring the sacred ordinances of Allah The Almighty. Thus, one enjoys a high degree of psychological consistency. Because of the great number of desires which the young man finds day and night on one hand and the turning away of many young people from obedience to Allah The Almighty and honoring His sacred Ordinances on the other hand, you find the young person ever looking for an opportunity where he feels that he is able to climb the wall of disobedience without anyone seeing him to commit that act of disobedience.
As such, when that young man is at work, for example, he awaits the moments when he is not watched in order to violate the rules of efficiency and dedication. That is because he realizes that he will not be judged because he is not watched. Undoubtedly, you can feel that such a person suffers from great psychological disturbance.
Young men who are brought up on piety and honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah The Almighty, are the farthest of all people from that because they realize that Allah The Almighty watches them, not the eyes of people, and they do so out of piety and fear of Allah, not for the sake of satisfying people. Therefore, you find that such people enjoy the greatest degree of psychological stability as peace and tranquility are deeply rooted in their hearts and minds.
A grave responsibility
Parents should never forget their grave responsibility before Allah The Exalted, as He Says (what means): {O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He Commands them but do what they are commanded.} [Quran 66: 6]
One of the greatest principles that parents are required to raise their children on, is honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah The Almighty. This principle could be implanted in the youths' hearts through the following:
First: The parents should be a true role model for their children in giving precedence to the commands of Allah The Almighty in all walks of life and honoring the sacred Ordinances of Allah The Almighty through practical situations which they face in daily life.
Second: The parents should get their children used to refer all their matters to the Sharee‘ah (Islamic legislation) of Allah The Almighty. For example, they should say, "Wait until we know whether such a matter is lawful under Sharee‘ah or not, we can not do this because it is impermissible under Sharee‘ah, a person who gives up a certain matter for the Sake of Allah, Allah will replace him with something better than it, I will help you in this matter as much as I can because it pleases Allah, and so on."
In conclusion
In order to start your journey to achieve piety, you should prepare a paper and divide it into two parts. On one part, write down the acts of disobedience which you do and promise your Lord to avoid them. On the other part, write down the acts of obedience as well as the obligatory acts of worship which you perform with negligence and start to regularly observe them.
