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Should He not know what He created? He is the Sublime, Most Cognizant. (67:14)
God reveals in the Quran, as He did in the Bible and Torah, the secret of attaining perfect happiness in this life and forever. We learn from God’s scriptures that happiness is an exclusive quality of the soul, not the body which is our external garment for this temporary life. Our soul is the real person or “self” that does not expire.
Our happiness depends totally on the degree of growth and development attained by the soul. Thus, a body that attains all the material successes it longs for is not a happy person within unless he or she is a submitter. The Quran, God’s Final Testament to humanity, provides a detailed map towards perfect happiness for both body and soul, both in this world and in the eternal Hereafter.
Happiness is Submission to God Alone has been a motto of the Submitters. This is not wishful thinking. It is a promise from God for those who worship Him alone and submit to His will. In many verses throughout the Quran, God personally guarantees the believers’ happiness, now and forever:
Absolutely, God’s allies
will have nothing to fear,
nor will they grieve.
They are those who believe
and lead a righteous life.
For them, joy and happiness in this world,
as well as in the Hereafter.
This is GOD's unchangeable law.
Such is the greatest triumph. (10:62-64)
Most people do not give God priority in this life. They are preoccupied with material things, business, family and children, and so on. Their lives revolve around whatever is preoccupying them. God might be in their mind occasionally at the church, mosque or a temple; when they need something from Him or when they are in trouble. But they easily forget God or put Him at the back of their worldly plans.
The submitters, on the other hand, try to live a “Godcentric” life. This simply means that God is the central focus of our lives. We are cognizant of the transparency of our intention and mindful of the accountability of our actions. As a result, our mind, emotions, body, and soul are fully engaged in praise, adoration, remembrance, and worship of the Almighty God, to the best of our ability.
God reminds us in the Quran we should avoid treating the religion as a social function and giving priority to this life, for our own good. Otherwise we suffer the consequences:
You shall disregard those who take their religion in vain, as if it is a social function, and are totally absorbed in this worldly life. Remind with this (Quran), lest a soul may suffer the consequences of its evil earnings. It has none beside GOD as a Lord and Master, nor an intercessor. If it could offer any kind of ransom, it would not be accepted. They suffer the consequences of the evil works they earn; they have incurred hellish drinks, and a painful retribution because of their disbelief. (6:70)
If we love God the most, the number one priority in our lives should be to please God.
No one or nothing else should take priority before God. Otherwise we may fall into idol worship without realizing.
Yet, some people set up idols to rival GOD, and love them as if they are GOD. Those who believe LOVE GOD the most…. (2:165)
Our idols could be money, business, property, our children, the saints and messengers etc.—anything that rivals God in worshiping Him alone.
We know that God is watching over us and knows what we are trying to do. God is not pleased by our mere utterances, but by our actual intentions or actions to carry out His commandments. When pleasing God through our righteousness becomes the most important aspect of our life, God promises us that wonderful things will happen in our lives:
God promises those among you who believe and lead righteous life, that He will make them sovereigns on earth, as He did for those before them, and will establish for them the religion He has chosen for them, and will substitute peace and security for them in place of fear. All this because they worship Me alone, without setting up any idols besides Me. Those who disbelieve after this are the truly wicked" (24:55).
The First commandment in all scriptures of God makes it very clear that our devotion to God should be indivisible. In the Old Testament we read:
Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is One God!
Therefore you shall adore the Lord your God
with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
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