Dan’s thinking box….

In the name of God, The Gracious, The Merciful.
Praise be to God, peace and blessings be upon the prophet of God.
Also, peace be upon those follow true guidance.

As usual, I am writing this in response to a lecturer’s remark that touches Islam and its teaching. So, what happened was that I was asked by this lecturer (whose name will NOT be revealed) if I would further studies and get a PHd on this course. Before I got to answer the question, he interfered and said, "Don’t say Insha-Allah. Say YES, SIR!".  I was a bit stunned by his remark. Nevertheless, I managed to crack a smile and just be silent. So, what happened here? Has he misunderstood Islam or did he try to insult Islam? As a muslim, we should always think positive of a person (Unless, of course, it is clear that he’s guilty of charge). So, I told myself that he doesn’t understand Islam very well, that’s all. But then, another question stems from this positive thinking of this lecturer: Who’s at fault for his misunderstanding? Is it because he’s never learned Islam, or have Malaysian Muslims contributed to this misunderstanding? So, I decided to go with the second one because, if I choose the first, then I would have nothing to write about.

Ladies and gentlemen (especially brothers and sisters in Islam), the phrase "Insha-Allah" is an Arabic phrase which means "if God wills". This phrase is important for every Muslim. It MUST be used by all Muslims to express a condition of whether or not one can do something by depending fully on the will of God. This signifies our role as Muslims to surrender and submit completely to God; a total submission to God. God says in the holy book of Quran which means:

"Never say of anything "I will certainly do it tomorrow". Without adding: "If Allah wills!"…" - Surah Al-Kahf (23-24)

According to this verse, the phrase insha-Allah is not only recommended, but it is COMPULSORY or WAJIB for a Muslim to say insha-Allah after promising to do something. Without saying this, it can mean that we are arrogant and think we are self-sufficient (we don’t need God to fulfill the promise) and that we can see the future when the promise is fulfilled. All these thoughts are wrong and are against the teaching of Islam as we ARE NOT self-sufficient and we CANNOT see the future.

Now, let’s talk about the Malaysian Muslims’ way of using the phrase Insha-Allah. According to a research, Muslims use Insha-Allah when they do not want to make a commitment to doing something. This usually happens when they don’t want to do something that someone has requested them to do. Insha-Allah is also used as a euphemism of saying NO. Since they feel awkward saying NO directly, they use Insha-Allah instead. Now, this is not a correct way of using the phrase Insha-Allah. In fact, I personally think it’s wrong as this is an abuse of the command of God.

This is why non-muslims don’t want Muslims to say insha-Allah when promising; because it doesn’t give a sense of commitment. And how did he get this notion? From the muslims themselves. Actually, when we say "insha-Allah", we are promising to do our BEST to fulfill a commitment. If, on the other hand, something happens that prevents us from fulfilling the promise, despite our best laid plans, then it means God doesn’t will you to do it.

so, in conclusion there are two points that I meant to make it clear. First, whenever we promise to do something, that promise should come along with the saying "Insha-Allah". Second, when saying "insha-Allah", it means we ARE promising to fulfill what we promise and we MUST try our best to fulfill it. Before I end this article, I would like to share with you a hadith of the last Prophet of God, Muhammad (SAW):

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When Allah’s Messenger (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) declared Allah’s Oneness and proclaimed to be the Messenger of Allah (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) and revelation of Divine Message. The disbeliveers of Makkah sent some men to Jewish rabbis in al-Medina and said: "Ask them (the rabbis) about Muhammad (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam), and describe him to them, and tell them what he is saying.

They are the people of the first Book, and they have more knowledge of the Prophets than we do.’ So they set out for al-Medina, they asked the Jewish rabbis about the Messenger of Allah (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam). They described him to them and told them some of his teachings.

The rabbis said: ‘Ask him about three things which we will tell you to ask, if he answers them then he is a Prophet who has been sent (by Allah); if he does not, then he is saying things that are not true, in which case how you will deal with him will be up to you. Ask him about some young men in ancient times, what was their story? For there is a strange and wondrous tale. Ask him about a man who traveled a great deal and reached the east and the west of the earth. What was his story? And ask him about he Ruh (soul or spirit) what is it?

If he tells you about these things, then he is a Prophet, so follow him, but if he does not tell you, then he is a man who is making things up, so deal with him as you see fit.’ So, the men came back to Makkah and said: ‘O people! We have come to you with a decisive solution which will put an end to the problem between you and Muhammad (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam). The Jewish rabbis told us to ask him about some matters,’ and they told them what they were. Then they came to the Messenger of Allah (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) and said: ‘O Muhammad (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) tell us,’ and they asked him about the things they had been told to ask.

The Messenger of Allah (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) said: "I will tell you tomorrow about what you have asked me." But he (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) did not say, ‘If Allah Wills.’

Allah Messenger (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) never spoke anything except with revelation. So, he waited for the revelation from Allah but fifteen days passed away without any revelation concerning those matter which the disbelievers asked, neither did Jibreel (alaihis-salaam) come to him. The people of Makkah started to doubt him and said: ‘Muhammad (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) promised to tell us the next day and now fifteen days have gone by and he has not told us anything in response to the questions we asked.’

The Messenger of Allah (sallalahu alaihe wa-sallam) felt sad because of the delay in revelation and was grieved by what the people of Makkah were saying about him.

Then Jibreel (alaihis-salaam) came with the revelation of Soorah al-Kahf, which contained answers to the questions and also the above mentioned verse explaining the correct etiquette when determining to do something in the future.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 19th, 2007 at 5:26 am and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.