Reflections From The Qur’ān (9): If Allāh Were To Impose Blame On Us For Our Actions

Alhamdulillāh… All praise and thanks are due to the Almighty Allāh. I send peace and blessings upon Ḥabībī Muḥammad, his household, his companions and all those who follow his guided path, till the Day of Judgement.

This is part 9 of the ‘Reflections from the Qur'an’ series, which is posted here on GSalam.Net, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, throughout the holy month of Ramaḍān 2014. I pray that Allāh grants us more understanding of His book and religion.

This piece is a reflection on the Mercy of Allah upon us, and the abundant chances He continuously grants us, in order to revert to Him and realize our main purpose in this life, despite our continuous rebel and mischief. In the beginning, let me share with you a short story, followed by the reflection of this article.

The Story

My friend’s wife had a mild contraction in her 36th week of pregnancy. That was one month ahead of her due date. She was admitted at the hospital for observation. After spending two nights, and to ensure her safety and the safety of her baby doctors needed to observe her for another 24 hours, upon which she will be discharged, if her oval remained at the same width of centimetres.

The 24 hours period had elapsed. Another doctor came and reset the waiting time to another 24 hours. When enquired, the anxious couple was told: it’s a safety measure. The problem was, in every 24 hours, there was a change of the minimum of two different doctors, who attended to her.

Due to the inconsistency of the handling of our sister, she and her husband decided to appeal for her to be discharged. After all, they stay just 15 to 20-minute driving distance from the hospital. It took another 12 hours to get this request granted, and 3 different doctors (on different shifts) had to come in.

Eventually, the last doctor, who had no choice but to grant the request, requested that my friend signed the consent documents, for his wife to be discharged, at their own risk. We were aware of that, and were prepared for it. This is the practice, almost everywhere.

However, what drew my attention are the wordings of the consent document which my friend had to sign. Some phrases contained statements like: “The patient declined the service offered by the doctors.” “The patient rejected the facilities of the hospital.” “The patient refused to be given treatment at the hospital.” The list of “the patient declined… at the hospital” continued

My friend’s wife was discharged… She went back and continued to enjoy her nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk 🙂 ) and has safely given birth to a healthy child in her 42^nd week, after induction.  End of the Story.

Moral of the story

This is a hospital where you are given treatment at a cost. Yet, they refuse to let you go when you choose to go. In other words, they are unhappy that you are going. They’ve clearly shown their displeasure in the signed consent document. They tried to give the impression that, to some extent, if you don’t care about your own safety, we do. This is although they were actually trying to protect themselves should any legal issues arises. There were no mention, anywhere, in the document, that the patient were attended to, by various doctors with inconsistent information, and that had made the couple more eager to request for the discharge of the sister.

This being, it’s worth mentioning, that I have no doubt a bit, that they really cared and were lovely. This was even more so, during her delivery.

As much as we certain of doctors’ love and care for their patients (clients), we are more certain of Allah’s love and care for us. And despite our certainty of His abundant love and care for us, we have the boldness in rejecting His command and guidance more than the boldness we may have, sometimes, to “decline services and treatment” from our fellow human beings.

How often do we displease Allah, despite our knowledge that we do displease him? In the last verse of Sūrah Fāṭir, 35:45, Allāh says:

وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللَّـهُ النَّاسَ بِمَا كَسَبُوا مَا تَرَكَ عَلَىٰ ظَهْرِهَا مِن دَابَّةٍ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى، فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ فَإِنَّ اللَّـهَ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِ بَصِيرًا

“And if Allah were to impose blame on the people for what they have earned, He would not leave upon the earth any creature. But He defers them for a specified term. And when their time comes, then indeed Allah has ever been, of His servants, Seeing.”

In the same context, Allah says in Sūrah al-Naḥl, 16:61:

وَلَوْ يُؤَاخِذُ اللَّـهُ النَّاسَ بِظُلْمِهِم مَّا تَرَكَ عَلَيْهَا مِن دَابَّةٍ وَلَـٰكِن يُؤَخِّرُهُمْ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى، فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَجَلُهُمْ لَا يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً، وَلَا يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ

“And if Allah were to impose blame on the people for their wrongdoing, He would not have left upon the earth any creature, but He defers them for a specified term. And when their term has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it].”

There’s no disappointment to the heart of the people who love you dearly, greater than rejecting their offer to help you and care for you. I’m talking about those who offer help and are sincere in their love for you, not those who pretentiously offer help, in the hope that you reject it. The former gets disappointed deeply, and the later becomes happy for making “legacy” at no expense.

The injustice of the unjust which is committed against innocents, today, shall not escape the punishment of Allah. However, that punishment has a specified term for everyone, and all shall be rewarded for their deeds accordingly. Some may be punished for their wrongdoing in this life, but the majority of wrongdoers are given the chance to repent, to revert back to Allah, to knock on His Doors, and to reconcile with themselves.

Let us do ourselves justice, by being total submissive to His will, so we will qualify for his Ultimate Pleasure, in this life, and the next life. If a doctor (a fellow human being) can go to that extent of displaying his displeasure for “declining his care for us”, just because he loves us, how then would be the displeasure of our creator and our most love One?

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Allāh knows best.
Allāhu Ḥāfiẓ 🙂