When a person gives up a
sin, he receives the satisfying
pleasure of pleasing his
Real Beloved by sacrificing
something very dear to him
for His sake.
a regular drinker of qahwah, and now
I find it to be a pleasant drink.
I went to Saudi Arabia for the first
time in 1963. In Jeddah, I found olives
in a shop, immaculately placed in a
platter with the juice dripping down.
I had read about olives in Quran but
had never seen or tasted them. I had
imagined them to be very sweet and
heard of their nutritional and health
benefits. So, I bought some olives and
placed one in my mouth, expecting
a delightful taste, but to my surprise,
it was so bitter that I found it difficult
to swallow it. Over the course of time,
eating olives became a habit and I
found them to be a delicious snack.
The bottom line is that it is wrong to
suppose that a habit can theoretically
be given up but cannot be abandoned
practically. We get this feeling because
we consider it a necessity of life and
beyond our ability to give it up. However,
if we make a firm determination
and utilize our utmost willpower in
giving it up, we would be able to let it
go and never think of going back to it.
Maulana Thanawi has given a beautiful
example, about a person who had
an itch over a part of his body. He
finds it very pleasant to scratch that
area. There is a famous saying that
one gets pleasure from two things:
khaj (scratching) and raj (authority).
Hazrat Thanawi continues that the
more that person scratches himself,
the more he hurts himself, and the
more the urge to scratch. The physician
advises him not to scratch, but he
says that he cannot resist the temptation.
The doctor persuades him to
stop scratching, and he finally musters
the strength to resist scratching the
wound. He perseveres and eventually
the wound heals. He now realizes
that the benefit he acquired from not
scratching is greater than the satisfaction
he derived from scratching
his body. The pleasure of scratching
is superficial, while the happiness
associated with good health is greater,
real, and long-lasting. Similarly, the
pleasure one derives from staring at
beautiful faces with desire is like the
pleasure derived from scratching. It
may appear to be painful to quit, but
once given up, the glance becomes
pure and the man becomes chaste. He
would derive the pleasure of taqwa
against the pleasure of a meaningless
and fruitless pursuit.
When a person gives up a sin, he
receives the satisfying pleasure of
pleasing his Real Beloved by sacrificing
something very dear to him for
His sake.
Seeking Allah’s help
Maulana Thanawi says, “A person
must do two things: first, he should
use his willpower and give up the sin.
Second, he should supplicate to Allah
to grant him strength to succeed in
his efforts.
He should say, “O Allah I do not have
enough willpower, but I resolve never
to cast an evil glance. But, O Allah,
what am I and what is my intention,
willpower and determination in front
of Your Power and Authority. O Allah,
let Your Mercy grant strength to my
intention and willpower, and help me
to be steadfast in my determination.
O Allah distance me from this evil.”
He should then make this supplication:
“And if You turn away their guile
from me, then I shall incline toward
them and become one of the ignorant
(12:33).”
When a person makes this supplication,
then Allah blesses him with
the willpower and inner strength to
emancipate himself from this sin.
It is narrated in a hadith, “He who
wishes to become chaste, Allah causes
him to be chaste.” This is a promise of
Allah. May He grant us the ability to
keep away from this sin. Ameen.
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