We don’t always think about the repercussions of our actions. In fact, when you read the word “repercussion”, you probably think of someone going to jail for murder or something severe. Small actions that we do daily tend to be overlooked and oftentimes completely forgotten in the torrent of daily actions. It’s my belief (which probably counts for nothing) that the student of knowledge shouldn’t operate in such a fashion. Our every action has a metaphysical and physical side-effect on us, those side-effects have to be taken into consideration or it may hinder our studies. In reality, this isn’t my belief but the belief of my teachers and those righteous men and women that have passed on this beautiful way of life to us.
commit a sin
Take for example myself and my own studies. If I wake up on time for Fajr and spend the next hour or so after prayer doing homework and preparing for class then I will be on par for class that day. It usually takes me about two hours each day to do my homework and study in order to be prepared for class, but if I choose to spend my time engaging in other things then I’ll be sacrificing my study time. What if those “other things” aren’t just mundane actions but actual sins? Not only do I literally lose time but metaphysically my conscious has lost the ability to concentrate on what it should and a little more of the light of God that I should have in my life has been erased and replaced with a black dot on my heart. Repercussions are real.
Worship in Islam
Now say, for example, that I wake up for prayer prior to Fajr (tahajjud) and I pray for 30 minutes to an hour. Immediately after prayer, I begin work on my Arabic homework until the time for pre-dawn prayers (Fajr) comes in. Once I complete fajr, I sit in the masjid and complete my morning litanies (adhkar) and do a bit of Quran before going back to bed. I’ve avoided sins and successfully accomplished a significant amount of work that might have taken me much longer throughout the day. Not only that, but I have increased in my own worship, which is only going to help me with my relationship with God and hopefully be a means for receiving His divine aid in my studies.
How to get away from sin
This is probably the greatest lesson I am learning right now. As my classes increase and I’m studying in various places in addition to Studio Arabiya and I now have a number of friends to keep up with, the only thing that is standing between me and my success are my own sins and my lack of worship. My job is to ensure I am doing my utmost best to repent for my shortcomings so that the help of God remains ever near.
Sometimes I forget this lesson, my hope is that I become more aware of my sins. I should get to a point where I can count my sins on my hands at the end of the day, I should reach a point where I can remember them and take the time to repent for each of them. I desperately need to keep pleasing God because He is the One that bestows knowledge. All of my learning is for no other reason than to draw closer to Him.
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