Caution against apathy - I

All praise be to Allaah The Almighty, Who created and proportioned,
Who destined and guided; and may prayers and peace be upon the Prophet
of guidance,, and those who are guided by him.
Success is the goal of those who work hard; and, Allaah The Almighty
has made it contingent on purifying, disciplining and refining the
soul, as He Says (what means):
·{He has certainly succeeded whopurifies himself.}[Quran 87:14]
·{He has succeeded who purifies it, and he has failed who instills
it[with corruption].}[Quran 91:9-10]
Furthermore, Allaah The Almightysent His Prophet,, as a teacher and a
mentor, as He Says (what means):{It is He Who Has Sent among the
unlettered a Messenger from themselves reciting to them His verses and
purifying them and teaching them the Book and wisdom - although they
were before in clear error.}[Quran 62:2] Hence, the Prophet,, was
careful to elevate and cleanse the souls of his Companions.
And such is the practice of all those who seek to draw close to Allaah
The Almighty. The Prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention, and their
followers, all reformed and purified their souls.The Prophet,, endured
much hardship in calling his people to Allaah The Almighty. Every
night, he used to stand before his Lord, bowing and prostrating,
supplicating to Him and seeking His help, in full submission and
humility to Him. And so, for an entire year, this practice became
obligatory on all Muslims becauseof its great effect in reforming
their hearts, motivating them and keeping them steadfast. Therefore,
even today, though it is no longer mandatory, praying at night is
indispensable.
Thus, all Muslims, particularly those who seek religious knowledge and
those who call others to Allaah The Almighty, are required to
prioritize the reform and discipline of their souls, maintain their
relationship with Allaah The Almighty and take care of their manners
toward others. This should be the starting point for inviting other
people toward the faith and rectifying them.
Purification, beautification and striving
Among the most important guidelines in reforming the soul, is to
purify it from following its desires, which bring about countless
diseases. Since the source of an illness can only be treated by
countering its effects, the heart can be cured by acting in a way that
contradicts one's whims. Allaah The Almighty concisely mentioned this,
when He Said (what means),{But as for he who feared the position of
his Lord and prevented the soul from[unlawful] inclination, Then
indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.}[Quran 79:40-41]
The other requisite to the rectification of the self, is to truly
struggle for it, to be among those Allaah The Almighty mentions, when
He Says (what means):{And those who strive forUs - We will surely
guide them to Our ways. And indeed, Allaah is with the doers of
good.}[Quran 29:69] An important aspect of striving is to be resolute;
so, when one forsakes a certain desire and Allaah The Almighty tests
him or her by facilitating its causes, he or she must be patientand
determined. Otherwise, if thesoul is irresolute, it will become
accustomed to being that way and be prone to corruption.
The third step in reforming the soul is to beautify it, by instructing
it to do righteous deeds until it gets used to them and doing them
becomes an inherent characteristic. The Prophet,, said:"Knowledge and
forbearance are obtained by training for, and perseverance in
attaining, them. The one who earnestly seeks goodness will be granted
it and the one who avoids evil, will be protected against it."There is
no doubt thatone's deeds have a correlation to the heart. Every
quality that is in the heart is reflected on one's body; equally,
every deed that is performed by the limbs, influences the heart. This
is only one aspect that showcases the wonderful link between the
heartand the body.
Caution against apathy
When the soul is purified from following its base desires and is
beautified by its righteous deeds and virtues, a person is required to
then shift his or her focus to the manner of his or her performance of
religious duties and favorable acts, and refrainingfrom prohibitions
and disliked deeds.
Thus, even when a person is doing what is permissible, it is essential
to ensure having a pure intention, because laziness and negligence are
part of human nature. The Prophet,, said:"Every act of worship and
obedience witnesses a primary surge followed by a state of slackness.
A person who remains within the boundaries of my Sunnah, even at times
of slackness, will prosper. Otherwise, he [or she] would be on the
path towards ruin."
In his book,Madaarij As-Saalikeen, Ibn Al-Qayyimsaid:"It is inevitable
that worshippers become dispassionate. Yet, even during such a phase,
if a man adheres to what is right and remains steadfast without
neglecting obligations or committing unlawful acts, he is expected to
eventually return to a state that is perhaps even better than his
former one."
Degrees of apathy
Based on the above, it is inevitable that everyone will experience a
period of listlessness and apathy. However,it may be of either of
these types:
1.General: this impacts all acts of worship and instills an intense
dislike toward them; it is the most dangerous kind and is a state of
the hypocrites.
2.Specific: this is characterized bya sense of lassitude regarding
certain acts of obedience, along with undesirability, but not hatred;
such is what many immoral Muslims are mired in.
3.Physical: sometimes, there is a desire to perform good deeds, but
there is a feeling of weariness and disinterest; and this is how many
Muslims are. The danger here lies in the fact that one's time passes
by, and hisor her life is wasted without having done anything
beneficial. What is even more dangerous is if he or she deteriorates
to a worse level and ends up being like the hypocrites in their
neglect of obligations and other good deeds.
Hence, even the Prophet,, used to seek refuge with Allaah The Almighty
from weakness andlaziness every morning and evening, and teach his
Companionsto do the same. Moreover, when the believers were slow in
their response to the call forJihaad(fighting or struggling), Allaah
The Almighty reproached them for it and urgedthem to race each other
and hasten in doing righteous deeds, and motivated them by describing
the reward of such forerunners in faith.
Apathy and the caller to Islam
Listlessness is a disease that afflicts everyone, regardless of their
degrees of faith. However, itis particularly alarming if it affects
the callers to Allaah The Almighty and those who seek knowledge.
Therefore, it is necessary to evade it by all meansand immediately
treat it if one does fall prey to it.
Since prevention is better than cure, one should make a habit of being
attentive so as to steer clear of any symptoms of apathy that may
gradually lead to ruin. Ifthat happens, the remedy and cure would be
very difficult. The diseases of the heart are like a plant, easy to
uproot in its early stages; however, if it grows and becomes firm in
the earth, removing it requires strong men and tools.
Moreover, an ill heart presents with simple symptoms, but, if left
untreated, will choke a person in its grip and turn into a chronic and
incurable problem. Therefore, as callers to Allaah TheAlmighty, we are
required to examine ourselves and ponder our condition. If there is
any sign of apathy, we are immediately obliged to look for the cause
and seek treatment.
Aspects of apathy
Apathy manifests itself in many ways, some of which are as follows:
·Sense of lethargy and disinterestin performing acts of obedience
·NeglectingThikr(remembrance of Allaah The Almighty) and recitation of the Quran
·Hardness of the heart, such that it is not moved by Quranic verses or sermons
·Indifference toward committingacts of disobedience and letting that
become a habit
·Lack of responsibility and realization of being entrusted with a great trust
·Lack of eagerness in performingDa'wah(propagation to Islam)
·Weakness of the bonds of brotherhood among those who should love each
other for the sake of Allaah The Almighty
·An intense concern with this worldly life and indulging oneselfin its
pleasures at the expense of doing righteous deeds
·Idle talk, increasingly engaging in disputes and self-praise
·Creating problems
·Bothering oneself with petty issues and neglecting serious
andbeneficial work that serves the Ummah
·Weakness of faith and an indifference toward violations of the
commands of Allaah The Almighty
·Wasting time
·Exhibiting no readiness to handle responsibility and avoiding serious
work, instead indulging in actions with no objectives
·Demonstrating a chaotic demeanor in one's work
·Criticizing every positive act
·Postponing good deeds
·Possessing excessive wishes.