"I seek Refuge with You O Allah from Deficiency and Laziness."
Reflect on the statement of the Prophet ﷺ in Bukhari:
"I seek refuge with you O Allah from deficiency and laziness."
Deficiency ('ajz) and laziness (kasal) equates to a lack of ability and a lack of will. It doesn't get worse than this, indeed Ibn al-Qayyim stated that 'ajz and kasal is the key to all major problems in the dunya and akhirah - and I wholeheartedly agree.
I notice two clear things when I meet many Muslims:
- how poor quality some of them are in their knowledge, presentation, and ability and yet they still repeatedly rush forward into positions or situations that they should refrain from, without waiting for their time and earning their stripes, thus embarrassing themselves and embarrassing us as well. "Learn before you lead" as Sayyidina 'Umar said, and he wasn't talking about just getting an Islamic Sciences degree. Worse, such folks might even speak about Allah without knowledge which is nothing short of catastrophic. This doesn't mean people shouldn't advise, remind and benefit others when the opportunity presents itself even with very little knowledge whilst sticking to their limits, but this is wholly different to making definitive statements on religious issues, putting your ideas forward for public dissemination, accepting invites on to media, standing in front of the masses and lecturing them, and any other possible manifestation of this, when clearly you are completely out of your depth. This is 'ajz.
- how those who have great potential in a plethora of areas, be it charitable work, establishing community initiatives, utilising their specific skills and experience in specialist areas to the benefit of the wider community, or even the opposite of the above i.e. highly qualified scholars and teachers, and yet they lack the motivation, willpower and ignore the divine imperative to work for their and our future by strengthening our foothold collectively and bringing light and guidance to those who need it. Others might be struggling to take the first step to start studying their Deen seriously, or to getting fit, or to start turning more attention to educating their kids as opposed to missing out on TV and their desires; others might even be more content on just focusing on themselves religiously in detriment to others, or far worse, they might be utterly ambivalent to the crying need for help and activism out there. This is kasal.
Achieving the right balance to move forward is difficult and the huge temptation to put yourself in front of the people when you are deficient, and the fact that you lack the will and thus you sit back, chill and not be bothered is no less a fitnah and temptation.
Thus we ask Allah jalla wa 'ala protect us all from a lack of ability and a lack of will, in our du'as daily, morning and evening at least. Allahumma Ameen.
"I seek refuge with you O Allah from deficiency and laziness."
Deficiency ('ajz) and laziness (kasal) equates to a lack of ability and a lack of will. It doesn't get worse than this, indeed Ibn al-Qayyim stated that 'ajz and kasal is the key to all major problems in the dunya and akhirah - and I wholeheartedly agree.
I notice two clear things when I meet many Muslims:
- how poor quality some of them are in their knowledge, presentation, and ability and yet they still repeatedly rush forward into positions or situations that they should refrain from, without waiting for their time and earning their stripes, thus embarrassing themselves and embarrassing us as well. "Learn before you lead" as Sayyidina 'Umar said, and he wasn't talking about just getting an Islamic Sciences degree. Worse, such folks might even speak about Allah without knowledge which is nothing short of catastrophic. This doesn't mean people shouldn't advise, remind and benefit others when the opportunity presents itself even with very little knowledge whilst sticking to their limits, but this is wholly different to making definitive statements on religious issues, putting your ideas forward for public dissemination, accepting invites on to media, standing in front of the masses and lecturing them, and any other possible manifestation of this, when clearly you are completely out of your depth. This is 'ajz.
- how those who have great potential in a plethora of areas, be it charitable work, establishing community initiatives, utilising their specific skills and experience in specialist areas to the benefit of the wider community, or even the opposite of the above i.e. highly qualified scholars and teachers, and yet they lack the motivation, willpower and ignore the divine imperative to work for their and our future by strengthening our foothold collectively and bringing light and guidance to those who need it. Others might be struggling to take the first step to start studying their Deen seriously, or to getting fit, or to start turning more attention to educating their kids as opposed to missing out on TV and their desires; others might even be more content on just focusing on themselves religiously in detriment to others, or far worse, they might be utterly ambivalent to the crying need for help and activism out there. This is kasal.
Achieving the right balance to move forward is difficult and the huge temptation to put yourself in front of the people when you are deficient, and the fact that you lack the will and thus you sit back, chill and not be bothered is no less a fitnah and temptation.
Thus we ask Allah jalla wa 'ala protect us all from a lack of ability and a lack of will, in our du'as daily, morning and evening at least. Allahumma Ameen.