“How do we promote religiosity?”
A. Abdullah bin Salah Al-Shehri
There are some means that should be taken care of in order for a person to reach and maintain the level of religiosity, including:
First: Taking care of the actions of the heart. Hearts are the engine of the body, and taking care of them continuously helps a person to continue on this path, including: honesty, sincerity, and reverence. Subconscious beliefs are the first issue that contributes to maintaining religiosity.
Second: Meditating on the Holy Qur’an. Meditating on the Qur’an contributes to a person’s continuation of religiosity, contributes to infusing religiosity with continuous concepts, and addresses the problems that a person may face on his path.
Third: Do not underestimate small things; Because minor ones are like arrows that wound, and with time this wound grows bigger, so you do not feel it. The Prophet said: “Beware of degrading sins, for they gather together against a man until they destroy him.” And the Messenger of God, may God bless him and grant him peace, gave them an example: Like a people who settled in a desert land, and the people’s customs were attended to, and He did A man goes and brings a harp, and another man brings a harp, until they gathered blackness, kindled a fire, and cooked what they had thrown into it” ( [1] ) .
Fourth: Providing advice and listening to it, in a gentle manner. In the hadith about Tamim al-Dari, the Prophet said: “Religion is advice.” We said: To whom? He said: “To God, to His Book, to His Messenger, to the leaders of the Muslims, and to their common people” ( [2] ) . Advice strengthens and keeps a person away from mistakes and anything that undermines his religiosity.
Fifth: Lowering one’s gaze. This is one of the thorny issues today. God Almighty said: (Tell the believers to lower their gazes and guard their private parts. That is purer for them. Indeed, God is aware of what they make ) (An-Nour: 30). Lowering one's gaze takes precedence over preserving one's chastity. Because letting go of one's gaze is the path to adultery, so whenever a person lets go of his gaze, he commits something forbidden, and this is one of the insinuations that condemn him.
Lowering one's gaze is not limited to the fact that the man does not look at the woman, or that the woman does not look at the man; Rather, the more comprehensive meaning is included in what we mean, i.e.: releasing the sight to the curiosity of things. God Almighty said to the Prophet: (Do not extend your eyes to that with which We have entertained a couple of them) (Al-Hijr: 88).
Sixth: Not to do too much of what is permissible. If a person expands into what is permissible, he will drift towards what is disliked, then to what is forbidden. Because religiosity will be in a state of deficiency and decline, as a person restricts the permissible things to what he needs only, then increases the voluntary acts that protect him from sliding to the bottom.
Seventh: Not surrendering to emptiness. Many young people face problems in their religiosity because of emptiness. In this regard, the poet says:
Youth, emptiness and novelty
Corrupting a person, i.e. corrupting
Filling time with obedience or permissible acts is one of the means that helps in this, so that a person does not surrender to this emptiness that kills many people, causing him delusions and obsessions, and may lead to thoughts and ideas. Being distracted by thoughts or sight causes problems for young men and women, and this is one of the actions that weakens religiosity. . Ibn al-Qayyim said: (Gaze is the root of most of the events that befall a person. A look generates danger, then danger generates a thought, then a thought generates desire. Then desire generates a will, then it strengthens and becomes a firm resolve, so the action inevitably takes place, unless something prevents it. ) [3] ) .
All events have their beginning from sight.
Most of the fire is from the smallest sparks.
How many times has it reached in the heart of its owner?
Like the distance of an arrow between the bow and the string.
And the servant as long as he has the ability to turn it
In the eyes of the eye, alert to danger
His speech pleases as long as his tone harms him.
No joy is welcomed that brings harm.)
The means of communication are like a raging wave for many young people in terms of releasing sight, and this sight leads to thoughts, and as long as a person is distracted by these thoughts, problems arise for him. That is why it was said: Whoever memorizes four things will achieve his religion, which are: thoughts, words, looks, and steps. These four things may lead a person to many dangers.
([1]) Narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad No. (3818).
([2]) Narrated by Muslim No. (55).
([3]) Ibn al-Qayyim, Disease and Medicine, p. 153.
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