The Importance of Religious Obligations
It is essential
for every individual to acquire a comprehensive understanding of his religious
obligations. If a person is ignorant of the duties assigned to him by Allah
(SWT) through His Deen (the
comprehensive code of life), he will be unable to perform his obligations in
true spirit. Similarly, if one's concept of the duties incumbent upon him is
deficient in any way, he can only partially carry out his religious
responsibilities. In such a case he is likely to meet with failure on the Day
of Judgment no matter how sincerely committed he might have been to his religion
in his opinion.
Another aspect of
this problem is equally important that concerns women in special. There is a
possibility that a person might take upon himself certain responsibilities that
his religion has not imposed on him. This is bound to lead to disastrous
consequences because even the desire to do good, when it exceeds the prescribed
boundaries, gets channelized to completely undesirable directions. Monasticism,
for instance, is the result of human extremism in trying to be pious. It was
the desire to do good that led to the concept of celibacy in Christianity which
later became the breeding ground for vice and immorality. Hence, negative and
undesirable consequences are bound to follow if anyone overburdens his
responsibilities.
Therefore we must learn and understand our true religious
duties and must not burden ourselves with the duties that have not been imposed
upon us. When an individual begins to assign certain duties to himself other
than the ones Allah (SWT) has imposed on him, he exposes himself to the danger
of the Qur'anic indictment stated in Surah Al-Nisa:
"We
appoint for him that unto which he himself has turned and expose him unto Hell,
a hapless journey's end.” [Al-Qur’an 4:115]
In other words
Allah (SWT) lets him opt for the way he himself has chosen and withdraws His
support and help.
Therefore, with
respect to the obligations we owe to Allah (SWT), we must have a comprehensive consciousness
regarding the rights of Allah (SWT) that we have to fulfill, the rights of our 'self
upon us and the rights regarding our fellow human beings. We have to learn to distinguish
between legitimate and illegitimate, legal and illegal as ordained by Allah
(SWT).
If we blindly
follow our wayward desires, we are bound to cross our limits into the forbidden (Haram). Similarly
we have to perform our duty towards people, and mankind in general, according to
the tenets set by Allah (SWT). If this principle is duly followed, our vision
will remain clear and our target defined. If, on the other hand, we follow our
own whims and desires, we will deviate from the divinely prescribed path.
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