Another Benefit of Believing in the Unseen
The goal of our fasting is to be a righteous person, as what Allah promised to us in the Qur’an. It is also stated in the beginning of chapter Al Baqara/The Cow, that the first characteristic of a righteous person is, to believe in the unseen, such as believing in Allah, the angels, the last day, the divine will. Etc.
In this article, we’re not going to discuss the basic tenets of faith; rather, we’re going to uncover another benefit of believing in the unseen, that is, believing in the reward from Allah the Exalted.
Essentially, this topic is closely related to the belief in the last day, because the point is that reward means entering the paradise, and the paradise will be entered later in the hereafter.
Therefore, we see that there are plenty of hadith that motivate us to do good, starting the Prophet’s saying, “Whoever believes in Allah the Exalted and the last day, do such and such,,,”
Now lets discuss several benefits of believing in the existence of reward.
Wiping away riya’ and sum’ah
By believing in the existence of reward, riya’ and sum’ah will be wiped away, since both these attitudes stemmed from the desire of worldly reward in the form of people’s praise. Whereas The true reward will only come later in the hereafter, where none of the worldly wealth worth anymore.
The ultimate goal, that is what distinct us from the disbelievers.
Allah the Exalted decreed, revealing the characteristics of disbelievers,
يَعْلَمُونَ ظَاهِرًا مِنَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ عَنِ الآخِرَةِ هُمْ غَافِلُونَ
People simply know the outward aspect of the worldly life but are utterly heedless of the Hereafter. (Ar Ruum/The Romans:7)
Boosting spirit
Believing in the existence of reward is one of the booster to do good. People who are in despair in this world are those who feel that it is impossible to fulfill their hopes. It might be due to their lateness and thus the time has run out, or the wealth that they pursue are gone, or simply because there are too many competitors. But in the matter of reward, there’s no such thing as despair. Before the death comes to us, we’re never late to attain reward; reward will never run out of stock, since it comes from the generosity of The Wealthiest One, Lord of the Universe. Thus, even though we feel that we’re unable to gain success in this world, keep doing good, because there are still rewards that await us in the hereafter.
Lacking of Anger even in harassment
Believing in the existence of reward will not make the person feel ashamed or inferior, because usually, inferiority resulted from mocking or insult. However, people who believe that there will be reward for him later will not be bothered by the insult, because he believes that Allah the Exalted will reward him with the reward of people who insult him, or remove his sin to that perpetrator. later in the hereafter;
Thus, why shall we feel angry towards people who insult us? Because of him, we’ll get free reward, or reduction of our sins. We may even visit him and present him with a gift, saying, “I heard that you’ve insulted me, thus, I’m grateful to you because you’ve gifted me with your reward. I’m sorry that this is the only thing that I could give for now, to repay your kindness.”
As a matter of fact, we are only entitled to be angry when Islam is being violated, when Allah the Exalted and His messenger are being ridiculed. Because this kind of anger brings reward to us. Whereas our anger due to other people’s insult toward us, is just a kind of self-defense, and not religious-defense.
Brother muslims,
Please make our fasting, that is based on faith and hoping of attaining rewards, as a lesson to apply on all of our activities in this world, thus we can obtain plenty of rewards later in the hereafter.
Author: Ustadz Muhammad Yassir, Lc (Lecturer of STDI Imam Syafi’i Jember)
Article of www.whatisquran.com