The perfect model

You have given a contractor a construction plan. You expect him to build your house according to your plan. However, if the contractor builds the house according to another plan, will you agree to pay him? Will you be satisfied with what he did? Definitely this will not please you and you will not agree to pay him. You can even sue him. It goes without saying how angry you will be if a hairstylist has to spoil your haircut or a tailor has to spoil your clothes. This is especially so when you have to attend a very important invitation.

This is the very same mistake and the very same blunder that we are making in our life. Allah Ta'ala has granted us life and has sent us a perfect model in the person of our beloved Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam). Now, we have to live our life in accordance to this beautiful model which Allah Ta’ala has granted us. But in vain! Our life is not corresponding to this model at all. Our head, our face, our clothes and our outfit does not resemble this model at all. We are proceeding with our life just like how the contractor proceeded with our house and the tailor proceeded with our clothes. We are living in a manner as though we have sworn not to follow this model.

Allaahu Akbar! Despite all this, Allah Ta'ala is still granting us our necessities. He is not depriving us of the oxygen that we are breathing. How good is our Allah Ta'ala! How much pity does our Allah Ta'ala have! Will we still not show gratitude to our Rabb? Will we still not think of following this perfect model?

Outwardly, it appears that we do not know what well-being is in reality. We do not know true and complete success. Our concept of success and well-being is a materialistic conception which is restricted to this worldly life. But after this life also, there is another life which appears to have been forgotten by us completely. So long as we do not think of success in the other life, our success in this world will not be a complete success. Success becomes success when it does not ultimately turn into failure. Thus, without success in the Aakhirah, all success in this world is a failure.

Success in Aakhirah depends on Imaan and on following the perfect model of Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam). Thus, there is no real success without Imaan and without following the perfect model of Nabi (Sallallaahu Alaihi Wasallam).

[English version of "Le model parfait" – Al Jamiat – Vol.5 No.3]