Creator vs. Creation

   Human beings have an innate need or desire to care about what people think about them. It is part of what makes human beings human. Even if we do not mean to do things for the sake of other people, we might still unconsciously just do so. We dress nicely, we think before we speak, we keep track of our actions in public, and so on. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but it becomes a disease when we start to care more about what people think rather than what Allah thinks of us.

   In a few ayat from the beginning of Suratul Baqarah; ayat 3 and 4, Allah S.W.T. describes the characteristics of the Mukminun:

ٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقۡنَـٰهُمۡ يُنفِقُونَ (٣)وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡمِنُونَ بِمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ مِن قَبۡلِكَ وَبِٱلۡأَخِرَةِ هُمۡ يُوقِنُونَ (٤

   “Those who believe in the unseen (ghaib) and perform as-salat (prayers) and spend out of what we have provided for them <3> And who believe in the revelation sent to you (Muhammad), and sent before you, and (in their hearts) have the assurance of the Hereafter <4>

   It is indeed one thing to be a Muslim, but is another thing altogether to be a Mukmin. If you are a Muslim, it does not necessarily mean that you are a Mukmin. Therefore, as Muslims we must always strive to become Mukminun, and in order to feel worthy of bearing the name, we must try our best to care more for what Allah thinks of us rather than what people think of us.

   For example, in the ayat mentioned above, it is described that believers are those who perform their prayers. Now, if we truly care about what Allah thinks of us, and if we truly care about our responsibilities of making prayer to Him especially the 5-times daily prayer, we would not only pray when people can see us or when people remind us. .We would feel that great need to do it on our own, without being told by anyone, and without caring whether people can see us, or what they think of us when they do.

   Allah S.W.T. is the Creator of the Universe, and who are we, His creations, compared to our Lord Creator?

   So think about it. Do you care more about what the Creator thinks of you or what His creations think of you? We are only specks of dust, or even smaller in size, in the great wide universe created by Allah.

   If you think more about what your friends would say when you put on your hijab rather than what Allah thinks of you when you don’t, you may want to sit back and think about it for a bit. The Munafiqun, who are people who call themselves Muslims in front of some people but say otherwise in front of others, do so because they care more about what the creations think than what the Creator thinks.

What matters more, what Allah thinks of you, or what your friends think of you?

   If you are a Muslim, do you want to be included as one of the Munafiqun? Of course you don’t.

   Remember the story of Masyitah. She was a court maid to one of Fir'aun's daughters. After it was that she was a Muslim, she chose to be sentenced to death in a pot of boiling water, rather than forsake her iman. (I'll find a detailed version of the story and add it in later).

The story of Masyitah reminds us of how important it is to stand strong for our iman

   So let’s brush up on our iman. Let’s increase our ibadah so that we may be worthy of being Allah’s servants.

   Allah is the Almighty Creator, and we are only his humble creations.

   Source: Creator vs. Creation, by Brother Abdel Rahman Murphy, Quran Weekly.

   This is more or less based on a  video from Quran Weekly's channels. Do visit and take a look at the videos available. They're really good.

   You can watch the video here and also visit Quran Weekly’s site here.