By Syazana Abdul Malik

رَضِيتُ باللهِ رَبَّاً، وَبِالْإِسْلَامِ دِيناً، وَبِمُحَمَّدٍ صَلَى اللهُ عَلِيهِ وَسَلَّمَ نَبِيَّاً

Raditu Billahi Rabban wa bil Islami dinan wa bi Muhammadin sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallama Nabiyyan.

I am content with Allah as my Lord, with Islam as my religion, and with Muhammad ﷺ as my Prophet.

This is our daily pledge that we should be reciting every morning and evening as inherited from our Beloved Prophet ﷺ. But do we truly understand the meaning of the words that we recite? Whether it’s our daily wirid or du’as in our solat, have we internalised what we are trying to proclaim? Have we invested trust and time to prepare ourselves to truthfully proclaim these statements when we will be called to answer the questions in our graves when our limited time in this world is up?

Raditu Billahi Rabba—I am content with Allah ﷻ as my Lord:

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ  

ٱلرَّحْمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

“All praise is for Allah—Lord of all worlds, the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful”

Quran 1:1-2

The BIGGEST blessing that we have attained is that Allah ﷻ is our Lord, and we beseech Him to accept us as His sincere servants.

But some probing questions to ask yourself as you read the first line of the supplication are:

Are we satisfied with Allah’s ﷻ Decree despite whatever we are going through in life, both the ups and downs? How do we ensure that we live our lives always satisfied to have Allah ﷻ as our Lord?

For example, if our phones were to crash and fail on us one of these days, would we enter into a state of frantic despair and confusion? The truth is, in this modern day of easy access to connectivity, we might probably enter a state of confusion if we lost that 24-hours connectivity. As we have become accustomed to dependence on technology, we cannot go a day without checking updates on our phones. The question is, do we feel the same loss and despair when we are disconnected from Allah ﷻ which unfortunately happens even during our routine prayers? Are we being truthful by radiating ‘Raditu Billahi Rabba’ at every moment of our lives? When we are in a situation that isn’t in our favour, we have to ask ourselves:

Have we been bringing ourselves closer to Allah ﷻ? Have we been slacking on our duties that Allah ﷻ has asked of us?

ARE WE SATISFIED WITH ALLAH ﷻ EVEN WHEN LIFE HITS US HARD? SOMETIMES, WHEN WE THINK THAT BAD THINGS HAPPEN IN OUR DAY, WE FORGET TO THINK THAT ALLAH ﷻ HAS MADE IT HAPPEN SO THAT WE WOULD BE REMINDED THAT HE ﷻ IS OUR CREATOR.

How do we train ourselves to believe strongly in ‘Raditu Billahi Rabba’?

1. Always continue to seek knowledge
2. Seek good companionship
3. Zikir (Remember Him)

Wa bil Islami dinan—I am content with Islam as my guiding way of Life:

يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ أَسْلَمُوا۟ ۖ قُل لَّا تَمُنُّوا۟ عَلَىَّ إِسْلَـٰمَكُم ۖ بَلِ ٱللَّهُ يَمُنُّ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ هَدَىٰكُمْ لِلْإِيمَـٰنِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَـٰدِقِينَ

“They regard their acceptance of Islam as a favour to you. Tell ˹them, O  Prophet˺, “Do not regard your Islam as a favour to me. Rather, it is Allah Who has done you a favour by guiding you to the faith, if ˹indeed˺ you are faithful.”

Quran 49: 17

Islam is one of the greatest blessings that Allah ﷻ has bestowed upon us to grant us protective boundaries to help us grow and reach our truest potential as human beings and as productive members of the community. The boundaries are out of Divine Care and Mercy so as to allow us to access organic and pure forms of sustenance, activities and goals.

Wa bi Muhammadin sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallama Nabiyyan—I am content with Muhammad ﷺ as my Prophet:

لَقَدْ جَآءَكُمْ رَسُولٌۭ مِّنْ أَنفُسِكُمْ عَزِيزٌ عَلَيْهِ مَا عَنِتُّمْ حَرِيصٌ عَلَيْكُم بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَءُوفٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ 

“There certainly has come to you a messenger from among yourselves. He is concerned by your suffering, anxious for your well-being, and gracious and merciful to the believers.”

Quran 9:128

By following the examples of our Beloved Prophet ﷺ, one will be able to achieve true success in both worlds. The question is: have we truthfully gained confidence and trust in the words of the Prophet ﷺ commissioned by the Creator of the Worlds, or do we still harbour doubts and inability to act on the instructions of our Prophet ﷺ? One of the ways to internalise and prepare our truthfulness in these three important statements is to seek knowledge and to act upon it. It is also important to keep calling people to bring them closer to Allah ﷻ and our Prophet ﷺ by encouraging others to attend classes together amidst other good acts too.

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Four States a Muslim is tried with:

1. Disobedience/Forgetfulness/Transgression

Seek Forgiveness and Repentance

According to our Prophet ﷺ, all the children of Adam AS are sinners, but those who continuously repent are the best amongst us. How do we overcome being in this state?

Understand that we are humans. Hence, we are naturally flawed (as much as we dislike admitting that) and tend to cave in to the nafs (beastly egoistic selves). Despite sinning, we must always remember that Allah ﷻ is the Most Merciful and Most Forgiving and we must never lose hope in the Mercy of Allah ﷻ. Turn to Allah ﷻ when you realise that you’ve sinned and repent sincerely. Repeat this over and over, even if you’re committing the sin repeatedly. Why does it feel like sometimes we are always sinning and repeating our sins? Allah ﷻ keeps putting us in this cycle because sometimes we have subtle arrogance and forget that we have a Creator. We must always be humble, remember Allah ﷻ and our purpose on this Earth and why we were created.

2. Obedience

Acknowledge His Favours

Here, you are in a state where you have repented from living the colourful life that you used to and have brought yourself closer to Allah ﷻ wishing to make amends with Him. You also start to practise more and seek knowledge to understand Him and Islam. It is important to remember that when you are in this state that you should not allow a sense of superiority or a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude to appear in your heart. Having thoughts such as “I am a good Muslim, all by myself, by my own accord” is absolutely wrong, as having the “I” attribute is similar to syaitan. You must always remember to be dependent on Allah ﷻ as He created all of us and He is the one we pray to from the start until the end of our lives. To continuously be in this state, always practise gratitude, observance, and vigilance. Constantly be thankful for all the blessings Allah ﷻ has given us, even the small ones that go unnoticed.

3. Trials and Tribulations

Be Patient and Content with His Decree

When you are in a state where you feel that Allah ﷻ is testing you or putting you through a challenge, He simply wants you to be patient. Never complain to anyone else other than Allah ﷻ. Don’t ever have the mentality of “Why is Allah ﷻ doing this to me?” because why can’t He? He created you! Being tested is Allah ﷻ’s way of reminding you to always turn to Him and as much as we think we are in control of our lives, the reality is that we are not!

4. Abundance

Be Thankful and Increase Generosity

When you feel that life is a breeze and everything seems easy, don’t forget Allah ﷻ. Always practise gratitude and generosity. When you have more, do share. There is a famous quote that goes, “When you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence.” This means that you should share what you have in excess, not hoard it and try to keep others in need from accessing your abundance. Sharing is caring!

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Come back to Allah ﷻ

Always remember that no matter how grievous you think your sins are, Allah ﷻ will ALWAYS have His doors open for you. Never ever doubt that He will forgive you but bearing this in mind, don’t take advantage of Allah ﷻ and repeat the sins because you know He is The Most Merciful. Do not depend on anyone else in life but Allah ﷻ and He will forgive you.

Seek for Allah ﷻ and the Importance of Seeking Knowledge

Seek companionship in Allah ﷻ whenever you feel lonely because remember that He would never abandon you. It is heart-warming to remember that He will never abandon you, since abandoning others is only a human trait.

Be thankful in ALL situations, constraints or abundance. Detach yourself from all things that are distracting and attach yourself to Allah ﷻ. To perform ibadah, you must have three elements of the heart—humility, humiliation, and destituteness to Allah ﷻ. The first 10 days of Zulhijjah are more blessed, like Laylatul Qadr so start preparing for it NOW!

Do You Believe in One God
& Ready to [Re]start your Journey of Faith & Gratitude as a Muslim?