How to Believe in Allah

How to Believe in Allah

by Abdul Nasir Jangda - Quran Weekly

Introduction: The Ayah That Teaches True Iman

This ayah at the end of Surah Al-Baqarah teaches us how to properly believe in Allah. It teaches us iman in Allah. How are we supposed to believe in Allah? We all know we're supposed to believe in Allah, and we know we should believe in Allah. But how are you supposed to believe in Allah? What is iman in Allah?

Allah's Ownership of Everything

The ayah tells us:

"To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth."

What does (لِلَّهِ - lillah) mean? You guys know this by now. J is harf of what? It means "for." It shows possession, shows ownership. The other thing I want you to note about (لِلَّهِ - lillah) - this normally should be at the end of the sentence, but it's at the beginning. So it means "for Allah alone. To Allah alone."

For Allah alone is the ownership of all that which is in the heavens, and all that which is in the earth. Basically, if you were to put it into our own words, it said everything belongs to Allah.

Understanding True Ownership

Everything belongs to Allah. And I know that's easy to say. I know kids in Sunday school are taught to say that. You know, I teach my daughter how to say that. Who does the sun belong to? Allah. Who does everything belong to? Allah. But sometimes we got to come to terms with what that really means.

It means Allah owns everything. And that automatically means that we own nothing. We do not own anything.

So when I say my house, my car, my job, my money, my family - who does everything belong to? That means that Allah is allowing me to benefit from these things. So I need to be grateful to Allah.

The Reality of Entitlement

I have no entitlement. You know ownership leads to entitlement. "This is mine." So if this is your notebook, and someone starts taking notes in it, you say, "Yo, bro, what are you doing? You can't write in my notebook." Then he says, "Why can't I?" And what does he say in response? "Because it's my notebook. Because it's mine. It belongs to me."

That's ownership. Think about that for a second. Everything belongs to Allah. We don't own anything. We're not entitled to anything. Everything belongs to Him.

The Result: Gratitude for Everything

That's the first thing. That automatically means we need to be grateful for everything. Every little thing. We need to be grateful for our ability to see, for our ability to hear, for the ability to walk. Because I don't own this. I'm not entitled to this. This belongs to Allah. He gave it to me. And what if He took it? Could I complain tomorrow? No. Because it belongs to Allah. He took it back because He wanted to take it back.

It teaches you how to have iman, how to believe, how to view life. And this changes a person's entire perspective on everything.

Dealing with Hardships Through This Understanding

This also results in a little bit of a bitter pill to swallow. You know sometimes when bad things happen, it makes you ask the question, "Why me? Why would that happen?" Well, at the end of the day, if everything belongs to Allah, if this belongs to me, it doesn't matter how much it's worth, it doesn't matter how valuable it is, it's mine.

If I decided to throw it on the ground and start stomping and smashing on it, could somebody stop me? Nobody could stop me. It's mine. I would tell you to mind your own business. It's mine.

So similarly, when things happen with us, we really don't even have the right to ask, "Why?" And rather what I tell people to do in those moments is focus on the blessings of Allah that you do have in your life.

The Three Blessings Exercise

Whenever you feel like being ungrateful about anything, you wanna complain about anything at all, I always tell people: count three blessings of Allah, right then and there. And it doesn't have to be some huge profound blessing of Allah.

1. I can see
2. I can hear
3. I can talk

Done. I have no reason to be ungrateful now. I just took away my reason to complain. I got nothing to complain about. Right on top of my head like that, I can count three reasons why I'm grateful to Allah.

Allah's Complete Knowledge: Public and Private

How far-reaching is Allah's control and grasp of everything? That if we expose what is hidden inside of us, or we keep it private and secret - who knows everything that we do? Allah.

You have to understand, there is no hidden, no public, no private, no open, no closed when it comes to Allah. It's all equal.

The Reality of Allah's Knowledge

Allah hears what you say, and Allah knows what you think. If I think something bad about someone, but I don't say it, will that person ever know that I was thinking something bad about him? No. So I could smile at him, say, "Hey, how's it going brother?" In my head I'm thinking something else.

But when we deal with Allah, we have to come to terms with the fact: Allah knows everything. Public and private is for human beings, not with Allah. It's all the same.

True Taqwa: Synchronizing Public and Private

That is a real powerful reminder for true iman and taqwa. You know we talk about taqwa all the time. Taqwa is when you're able to synchronize your public and your private behavior.

Like in public I won't go around swearing and cussing, or I won't commit certain sins in public because it's not right. But what about when I'm all alone? Then will I commit those sins? Now I have a problem, something's inconsistent.

Synchronize your public awareness of yourself and your private awareness of yourself. Why? Because at the end of the day, even when you're in private and you're alone, who sees and who hears and who knows everything that you do? Allah.

Allah's Mercy in Accountability

The word يُحَاسِبْكُم - what does it mean? It's the present/future tense. He could hold you accountable for it. But the fact is He doesn't.

We know it's a gift from Allah. What we do quietly or what we do privately, or when we don't actually act on something - when you just think something bad, does Allah hold us accountable for that?

We know about the hadith: if somebody thinks something bad but they don't do it, they don't act on it, they make a bad intention but they don't act on it, do they get punished for that? But that's a blessing from Allah. (Reference to hadith about intentions - Bukhari and Muslim)

Not Taking Allah's Mercy for Granted

Again we can't feel entitled: "I didn't say it. Can't do nothing to me." No, that's not how things work with Allah. He could hold us accountable for it. He's the one that decided not to. Out of His generosity, His benevolence, His kindness, His mercy, His forgiveness, He said, "I won't hold you accountable for it."

But that doesn't mean we abuse that.

Allah's Ultimate Authority

And once you come to terms with the fact that Allah is the one in control, the only one in control of everything, everything belongs to Him, He knows and sees and hears everything, then He can forgive whomsoever He wills, and He can punish whomsoever He wills.

So what does that mean? At the end of the day, what do we need to focus on? We need to be focused on seeking the forgiveness of Allah. He can do with us as He wills, as He wishes, as He pleases. So we need to focus on seeking the forgiveness of Allah.

Conclusion: Allah's Complete Control

Why? Allah is in full control over each and every single thing, all the time, constantly. This ayah teaches us how to believe in Allah, and why we should believe in Allah, and how we should live a life of dedication to Allah.

Complete verse referenced:

To Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Whether you show what is within yourselves or conceal it, Allah will bring you to account for it. Then He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.