Sometimes I work hard to be a good person, but many times I realise I am not good enough.
Do you feel the same? A lot of people in the world try very hard to please Allah by working hard at being a good person. I don’t know about you, but more often than not I realise I am not working hard enough.
Is this really the will of Allah? To see me struggle like a poor creature pathetically trying to do a little good so that He will be pleased with me? No, I believe Allah would never want to see us suffer like this. I am learning by reading about the life of Isa ibn-Maryam that Allah is not pleased by my good actions, but that Allah delights in my heart being completely submitted to Him. I believe Allah wants us to realise that we cannot do good in our own strength but that we humans need the power of Allah to work good in us. At this point, when I become aware that I cannot be good enough and submit my life to Allah for Him to work in me and make me good, then Allah is pleased.
‘You do not delight in good works, or I would do it…
That which Allah delights in are a broken spirit;
a broken and repentant heart.
These O Allah you will not ignore.’ – Zabur
There was a certain young man who was deeply religious. He prayed five times a day, gave 2.5% of his wealth to the poor without fail, had visited the Holy City several times already, and he made sure to raise up his many children to fear Allah. He was also extremely wealthy, for Allah had blessed him greatly.
One day he walked up to Isa al Masih and said, ‘you are most certainly a messenger from Allah, for no-one has said and done the things you have done. I have one question for which I have been searching an answer for a long time. What must I do to be assured of a place in Paradise?’
Isa al Masih replied, ‘if you want to enter life, obey the commandments (in the Taurat).’
The man said, ‘this I have done all my life from being a young child, what do I still lack?’
Isa said to him, ‘if you want to be perfect, go, sell all your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me.’
The religious man walked away in great sadness, for he was also very wealthy.
If you want to be assured a place in Paradise there is only one thing you must do. Laying aside all your own ambitions you must follow Isa al Masih.
One evening I was returning home after a party. It wasn’t too late and the streets were filled with people looking for a meaning to the evening. I walked alone minding my own business, as one does, when I sensed some people approaching me from in front. ‘We’re doing an interview for MTV’ the guy with a silly baseball cap says. I mumbled something along the lines of no thanks and kept on walking. Now he was standing right in front of me. ‘You’re on MTV’ he said. Right then, I sensed something coming at me from the right. Turning my face, I felt a fist land into my nose. Blood started to drip. What just happened? Shock. Laughter. Are they laughing at me? The guy is holding up a mobile, getting their recording for ‘MTV’. ‘What are you gonna do now?’ he sneers. I look around: 5 youths surround me but outside our bubble life seems to be going on as normal. People walking along minding their own business. I turn to continue walking home when suddenly I find myself saying these words, ‘Isa al Masih is my saviour. He tells me to love my enemies so I will try to love you.’ Shock. What did I just say? If I’m gonna die now, I might as well go out with a bang, I think to myself, and walk straight through them. What did he just say? It seems the famous five gang are just as shocked as me. From behind me I can hear the guy with the silly baseball cap saying ‘he’s a believer’ as I continue making my way home.
I have known Isa for a long time now, ever since I was a young child. I remember clearly the first time he spoke to me. I was about to sit some examinations in order to get into a good school; the school that my parents wanted me to go to. I was nervous. A week or so before my exam someone told me the story of when Isa calmed the storm…
Isa and his followers were in a boat on the sea. Suddenly such an enormous storm broke out that his followers, all experienced fishermen, feared for their lives. Isa, however, was fast asleep on a pillow. His followers woke him up shouting angrily, ‘how can you sleep? Aren’t you afraid that we will all drown?’ Isa got up, rebuked his followers, saying ‘where is your faith?’ and turned towards the wind and the rain. ‘Be Quiet!’ he commanded. Immediately, the sea was still and the storm was gone.
I sensed that Isa was speaking to me. Just like he calmed the storm on the sea he was going to get me through the storm of the examinations.
