Alhamdulillah, habis jugak Aqidah essay aku. 1,189 words beb! And erm, two days late opps! Alar paham2 jelar, dah sampai last 10 days of Ramadhan tu nak buat asyik ada je tugas lain nak kena buat. Kalau tak pon, dah terlalu penat buat tugas, nak tidur aje... Kesian eh? Haha. Anyway, kita nak share sekali lah ape yang panjang lebar aku tulis tu. Mudah-mudahan kawan2 sekalian bantu lah ana ye. ;)


Personal reflection on the duty of obeying Rasulullah and the other Muslim leaders in my life.

We are taught in madrasah classes or in syarahan and such to obey Rasulullah and the other Muslim leaders in our lives. Along with it, we are taught on how to go about it (adab-adab). However, it is ‘natural’ for normal humans like myself to disobey, even without reason. We simply do not practice what we learn.

First things first, what does it mean to obey someone? Well, according to dictionary.com, to obey someone is to comply with or to follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions of someone. Ok, let’s delve deeper. What then does it mean to obey Rasulullah (and the other Muslim leaders)? Well, since Rasulullah brought the teachings of Islam, to obey him would be to comply with or to follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, or instructions in Islam, also meaning to comply or follow what is stated in the holy Qur’an and Rasulullah’s sunnah.

I know I must obey, but it is just hard sometimes. Is it due to godaan syaitan and that sometimes my level of iman is low such that it bows down to the devils’ snare? Hmm, perhaps that may be the reason in other months, but what about in the month of Ramadhan when syaitan dibelenggu?

I think those whom I find hardest to obey are my parents, whom I consider the Muslim leaders in my life apart from my religious teachers. I see them everyday, and they give me commands, restrictions, wishes and instructions. Everyday. I don’t know why, the more they want me to do something or the more they do not want me to do something, the more I shall do the opposite. For example, the more they ask me to clean my room, the more I will avoid doing it or the more they remind me not to delay my prayers, the more I shall do so. Perhaps it is because of their tone of command. Perhaps also it is because I want to do things out of my own accord, just as when I started to pray or to wear tudung. Either way, I know I must obey, yet I do not, and not to obey my parents (the Muslim leaders) means not to obey Rasulullah which eventually means not to obey Allah. Brr, I do not dare to even think of it! Yet…

We just left the month of Ramadhan behind. Everyone hopes that all their amalan are accepted by the One and Almighty. Myself included. I have this habit of leaving my prayers till the last minute, causing me to miss my prayers sometimes, especially Zohor and Isya’ prayers. I hope Ramadhan has improved my habits. I have yet to see. I went to the mosque for terawih prayers whenever I can during Ramadhan, and since terawih prayers are done right after Isya’ prayers, I have to perform my Isya’ prayers on time. Also, since I have to break fast at home with my family and thus have to rush to the mosque, I cannot afford to delay my Maghrib prayers as well. Alhamdulillah I have friends that normally urge me to perform my prayers as soon as possible, especially during school hours. InsyaAllah this bad habit of delaying my prayers will cease. Of course, I have to put in more effort as well! By remembering Allah instead of the ‘earthly’ things that I need to complete first.

On another note, while I try to go for terawih and night prayers as well as help out with Ramadhan activities by Muslim organizations during Ramadhan, I got too busy and tired such that I forgot my duties at home. This is definitely a challenge. While I try to obtain mardhatillah through those efforts, I anger my parents because I do not do my duties at home such as bake kuih raya, wipe the kitchen cabinets, clean my room and so on. Initially, I could juggle both but as time went by, the balance was disturbed and I became inclined to only one side.

How is this? Obeying Rasulullah comes first before obeying the Muslim leaders but isn’t keredhaan Allah placed on the keredhaan of our parents? There was a certain riwayat also regarding one of His servants who wanted to go to war for jihad. His parents however were old and required him to take care of them. Rasulullah then told him that to care for his parents too is jihad and should come first before going to war, even when it is done in the name of Allah. I suppose then that I should have stayed at home to complete my duties rather or before I go for the activities outside. Of course this is easier said than done since I enjoy doing those activities more than my duties at home. I guess that is what I should keep in mind in future. Importantly my niat is right, that is to obtain mardhatillah in whatever I do.

There are other examples of disobeying Rasulullah such as talking behind people’s back and to raise voice towards the Muslim leaders, whether purposely or not. I also remember someone whom I met at a carnival. My friend and I were having fun singing and dancing while on the job there. We did it rather quietly and thought no one was looking. This person advised us that it’s not right for young girls to do that when there is a crowd there. We were taken aback by her remarks and retorted that everyone was busy and would not notice us. I thought about it and remembered something. Someone is always watching us, and He knows what we do at all times even when we are alone and we will be accounted for our actions in the hereafter. That person was right to advice us and I’m glad she reminded us.

We are humans, and we will remain humans for as long as we live, insyaAllah, and as humans, we tend to disobey. But we know that humans cannot live alone individually, we live in communities and as a community, it is easier to do good things together. A form of motivation more or less. I think peers play an important part in helping us change. If we have friends that remind us to do good, insyaAllah, we will change for the better. Afterall, we listen to our peers more than to our parents right? I understand that this wrong, yes, but why not use it to advantage? Why don’t we listen to our peers to obey Rasulullah and the Muslim leaders in our lives? I suppose this concept is a bit distorted, but why not? We should remind each other towards amar ma’ruf nahi mungkar! To overcome the challenge of nafsu and godaan syaitan and whatnots that leads us to disobey Rasulullah and the Muslim leades, do it with peers. As the saying goes, two heads are better than one… So, should not ‘two person’s iman are better than one’ be true too? This is my plan to overcome the challenges I face in staying obedient so that I can be a better follower in the future!