How to be guided to the path of the Creator?

  How to be guided to the path of the Creator?

 Allah has created man and given him the reason, and He has sent down to him Revelation and sent to him Messengers to call him to the truth and warn him against falsehood. Then He has left him to make his own choice. 

“And say: ‘The truth is from your Lord.’ Then whosoever wills, let him believe, and whosoever wills, let him disbelieve.”

[al-Kahf 18:29 – interpretation of the meaning] 

Allah commanded His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) to convey the truth to all of mankind. Then they have the choice to do as they wish. If a person obeys, he benefits himself, and if he disobeys, he harms himself, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Say: ‘O you mankind! Now truth (i.e. the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad), has come to you from your Lord. So whosoever receives guidance, he does so for the good of his own self; and whosoever goes astray, he does so to his own loss; and I am not (set) over you as a Wakeel (disposer of affairs to oblige you for guidance).’”

[Yoonus 10:108] 

Islam is the religion of the natural state of man (fitrah), the religion of reason and thought. Allah has distinguished the truth from falsehood. He has enjoined all that is good and forbidden all that is evil. He has permitted good things and forbidden evil things. There is no compulsion in religion because the benefits or harms come back upon the created being, not upon the Creator. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the Right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in taghoot (false gods) and believes in Allah, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break.”

[al-Baqarah 2:256]  

And Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Whosoever does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself; and whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself. And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves.”

[Fussilat 41:46] 

Guidance is in the hand of Allah. If Allah willed, He could guide all of mankind, for there is nothing that He cannot do on this earth or in the heavens. Nothing happens in His Dominion except that which He wills. 

“Say: ‘With Allah is the perfect proof and argument, (i.e. the Oneness of Allah, the sending of His Messengers and His Holy Books, to mankind); had He so willed, He would indeed have guided you all.

[al-An’am 6:149 – interpretation of the meaning] 

But in His Wisdom, Allah has created us with the ability to choose, and He has sent down to us guidance and the Criterion. So whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will enter Paradise and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger will enter Hell, as Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, proofs have come to you from your Lord, so whosoever sees, will do so for (the good of) his ownself, and whosoever blinds himself, will do so to his own harm, and I (Muhammad) am not a watcher over you.”

[al-An’am 6:104] 

The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has no part in guidance; all that he and the Muslims have to do is to explain and convey the message, and show them guidance but they cannot force people to follow it, as Allah said to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning): 

Guidance to the truth is in the hand of Allah alone and no human being has any share in that, as Allah said to His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, you (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills. And He knows best those who are the guided.”

[al-Qasas 28:56]  

Allah guides whomsoever He wills and sends astray whomsoever He wills. He has told us that He guides those who obey Him and turn to Him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“While as for those who accept guidance, He increases their guidance and bestows on them their piety.”

[Muhammad 47:17] 

But whoever disobeys Allah and turns away from Him, Allah will not guide him, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Truly, Allah guides not him who is a liar, and a disbeliever.”

[al-Zumar 39:3] 

Allah has created man with the ability to choose, and He has created him able to do both, either believe or disbelieve, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, We showed him the way, whether he be grateful or ungrateful.”

[al-Insan 76:3] 

Man has the choice in terms of his reason only; if he loses his reason by which he is able to distinguish between the alternatives of good and evil, truth and falsehood, then he is not accountable. Hence according to Islamic sharee’ah (law), the pen is lifted from the insane person (i.e., he is not accountable) until he recovers his senses, and from the child until he reaches the age of understanding, and from the sleeper until he wakes up. None of these people are accountable until they gain or recover the reason by which they may distinguish between the alternatives of faith and disbelief, truth and falsehood, and so on. 

Whatever direction a person takes, there will be reward and punishment. If he obeys, there will be Paradise: 

The choice of one of these two ways is something about which a person will be questioned by the Lord of the Worlds. Hence it is clear that faith or disbelief, obedience or disobedience, is a matter of personal choice. Allah has made reward and punishment dependent upon this choice: 

“Whosoever does righteous good deeds, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself; and whosoever does evil, it is against his ownself. And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) slaves.”

[Fussilat 41:46] 

Whoever loves Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and desires good in this world and in the Hereafter, let him enter Islam, and whoever turns away from that and is content with this world and has no interest in the Hereafter and does not submit, then his abode will be Hell. The individual is the one who will benefit or harm himself. There is no compulsion to choose either.  Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): 

“Verily, this (Verses of the Quran) is an admonition, so whosoever wills, let him take a Path to his Lord (Allah).”

[al-Insan 76:29] 

Success and guidance are in the hand of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted. Whomever Allah wills to guide, He guides him, and whomever He wills to leave astray, He leaves him astray. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

The Muslim says in his prayer: “Ihdina as-siraat al-mustaqeem (Guide us to the straight path) [al-Faatihah 1:6], because he knows that guidance is in the hand of Allah, may He be exalted, yet at the same time the individual is required to take measures that lead to guidance; he is required to be patient and steadfast, and to take the initiative in adhering to the path of righteousness.

 Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has given him sound reason and free will, by means of which he may choose good instead of evil, guidance instead of misguidance. If he takes proper measures and is keen for Allah to bless him with perfect guidance, then help and guidance will come to him from Allah, may He be exalted. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And thus We have tried some of them through others that the disbelievers might say, ‘Is it these whom Allah has favored among us?’ Is not Allah most knowing of those who are grateful?”

[al-An‘aam 6:53].

Thus Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, explains that the reason why He sends astray those whom He sends astray stems from the individual himself. The individual does not know what Allah, may He be exalted, has decreed for him, because he only comes to know of the decree after what is decreed has come to pass. So he does not know whether Allah has decreed that he will be misguided or guided.

In fact, man has power and he has the freedom to choose; the gate of guidance is not more hidden than the gates of provision. As is well known to everyone, man has a divinely-allocated share of provision, yet despite that he strives to take measures to earn his provision, in his homeland or overseas, and he explores all avenues of achieving that; he does not sit in his house and say, If my provision is decreed for me, then it will come to me. Rather he strives to take measures to earn his provision, for his provision, is connected to effort, as is proven from the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him).

This provision is also decreed, just as deeds, good or bad, are decreed, so why do you go explore all avenues and travel throughout the land seeking worldly provision, but you do not strive to do righteous deeds, seeking provision for the hereafter and to attain paradise?

So why do you not strive for the sake of the hereafter and do righteous deeds just as you strive for worldly gain?

We have noted above that what is decreed is secret and hidden, and you cannot know about it.

Now you have the choice between two paths:

·       a path that will lead you to safety, victory, happiness and honour;

·       and a path that will lead you to doom, regret and shame.

Now you have the choice between these two paths. There is nothing to prevent you from following the path on the right or the path on the left. If you wish you can follow one, or if you wish you can follow the other.

Thus it becomes clear to us that man has freedom of will with regard to the options before him: just as he strives for worldly matters and uses his free will to choose what is appropriate, so too with regard to the hereafter, he should use his free will to choose what is appropriate. Moreover, with regard to the hereafter, the appropriate choices are much clearer than the choices with regard to worldly matters, because the one who explains the paths that lead to the hereafter is Allah, may He be exalted, as He has explained them in His Book and on the lips of His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). So the paths that lead to the hereafter must be clearer than the paths of this world. Yet despite that, man follows the paths of this world, which have no guaranteed outcome, but he neglects the paths that lead to the hereafter, of which the outcomes are known and guaranteed, because they are proven by the promise of Allah, and Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, does not break His promise.

One of the names of Allah, may He be exalted, is al-Hakeem (the Most Wise). In His wisdom, Allah, may He be exalted, decrees guidance for whomever He wills, for the one who He knows is seeking truth and whose heart is righteous. And He decrees misguidance for those who are not like that, for the one who, when Islam is presented to him, finds his heart constricted as if he is climbing up to heaven. The wisdom of Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, dictates that this person cannot be among the guided, unless Allah causes him to change his motives and intentions; Allah, may He be exalted, has the power to do all things, but the wisdom of Allah dictates that causes are

This is how the Muslim understands the issue of belief in the divine will and decree in connection with the deeds that man is required to do, on which his happiness or wretchedness depend. The cause of attaining guidance and admittance to Paradise is righteous deeds. Allah, may He be exalted, says of the people of Paradise (interpretation of the meaning):

“And they will be called, ‘This is Paradise, which you have been made to inherit for what you used to do’”

[al-A‘raaf 7:43]

“Enter Paradise for what you used to do”

[an-Nahl 16:32].

The cause of misguidance and admittance to hell is disobeying Allah and turning away from obedience to Him. Allah, may He be exalted, says concerning the people of hell (interpretation of the meaning):

“Then it will be said to those who had wronged, ‘Taste the punishment of eternity; are you being recompensed except for what you used to earn?’”

[Yoonus 10:52]

“And taste the punishment of eternity for what you used to do”

[as-Sajdah 32:14].

SOURCE:  islamqa.com