2:5 Ula-ika AAala hudan minrabbihim waola-ika humu almuflihoon
Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and those are the successful ones.
When you can make all decisions in life based on sound ideology, it just takes the pressure off. To navigate through life and always wonder if you made the right decision, is difficult. But if the answers are all given to you, then you know what will be potentially difficult for you.
You will also know what won’t based on how you decided. And that’s the point.
Sound Ideology
Remember, the ONLY place to get your sound ideology is from the Quran. It is the only remaining source of truth on this planet. How do you know, you say? Well, the litmus test is easy. Every single creation on this planet is capable of lying, misleading, making mistakes, or being erroneous in their thinking.
So all of creation is tricky, if you plan to follow any one person or thing…be prepared to be disappointed. The ONLY One who knows the absolute truth is Allah. That’s where we get our sound ideology from.
He gave you this absolute truth in plain and simple, easy to understand words. In the Quran. Why can’t we see how HUGE that is?
Unfortunately, the truth is not entirely in the Bible, the Torah, the Gita, nor any other source you believe to be pure. They all have been amended and tampered with by man. As soon as people come into the equation of telling you what God wants you to do and what He to believe, run the other way.
It is pure trouble for you.
How to decide
So, if you want to decide on what to eat, for example – turn to the Quran for sound ideology on this topic…or any other topic, for that matter. Allah says clearly in Surah Baqarah, verse 61 that plants based food is inferior.
Now just go up a couple of verses, He tells you that He sent you manna and salwa to eat. Salwa is clearly meat and manna, it was deciphered by my husband’s research, can very well be considered animal fat.
And you know what, since I have been eating fatty red meat in my diet, I have become immensely healthier…not to mention happier (it really improves your mental health).
What about other things that we need sound ideology for? Like deciding on who to hang out with? Where to go? How to invest? Where to travel? How to deal with conflicts in family, friends, relationships in general? It’s all there. Yes, we have all the answers. It’s all there!
Another example of generating answers from sound ideology. You are invited to dinner by a new friend. You just learned that though she is a Muslim, she has invested in a new Champagne brand that she thinks is really going to take off. It’s a red flag to you in principal, but you don’t want to be rude.
Not to mention, you are intrigued.
Cool People
She’s considered cool and is very popular by the people you want to hang out with. She’s beautiful, fun, funny, well traveled. A really fun friend from anyone’s perspective. You go to dinner with her, and she gets into her passion about the new venture and how it’s going to make so much money and how the product will reach all types of affluent people.
She mentions how exciting this new world of people and money is for her. You get impressed. You start hanging with her more. She invites you to the launch party, where everyone is expected to sample her new product.
And it just keeps spiralling down from there. Before you know it, you are doing more things with her and you know they are questionable and will lead to no good, but you’ve convinced yourself it’s “harmless” because you’re just going along with the fun, you aren’t instigating anything.
Sound ideology leaves you and you keep saying that, because you have your values in tact, you will never waiver. So just meet everyone and stay clean yourself, you say.
Sound ideology, more fun?
You start increasing the fun, the nights get later and later. You can’t wake up for Fajr anymore, but that’s ok because you do a make up for it as soon as you wake up. To you, that will have to do for now. Soon, you don’t have any time left.
No time to read the Quran, no time for your mother your family, your other prayers, your work. You just don’t have the time, you’re so important now, “too busy”.
But who cares, they’ll all understand. Because you are popular now. Everyone loves you. You are running a fast and fun life. You meet wealthy people, which means potential success for your own business.
You meet well connected people, which means better privileges at restaurants, shows, and events, the best tickets, the best spots. You are on top of the world as far as you and anyone around you can see it. Bravo, you say…a simple person like me has hit it big. All because I know the right people.
That becomes your own constructed sound ideology, not so sound.
Have it all
You get increasingly beautiful, because after all, you must keep up with the way rich people look and have perfect bodies. So you do what it takes, expensive procedures, spas, fat farms, yep you got this. From this new circle of friends, you find someone wealthy to marry.
You don’t question his values too much, because it all looks like it is in tact to you. He is smooth, suave, smart, funny, well that’s all worth signing up for.
So now you have the popularity, you’re viewed as an influencer, and now you married a good catch. You’ve got the big house, the cars, the staff, the travel, the fun! What can possibly go wrong? All because you were smart enough to surround yourself with cool people that were going places.
You need not ask if they practice Islamic faith based principles. Remember how this principles lead to a life with sound ideology? Why? That’s a personal journey, we don’t need to know if they embrace the truth in the way it is expected of us to embrace, as it is written in the Quran.
Come on, you say, that’s just old fashioned..and it’s none of my business, you say. As long as they’re “good people”. We don’t need sound ideology principles to guide us. Look how smart I am. Look how lucky I am. I have it all, you say.
How quickly it turns
Soon you see challenges creep up in your life, and more, and more at a pace that just makes you feel like you are targeted. “Why”, you say. “Why do these things always happen to me?”. Whether it’s misunderstandings, struggles with your spouse, insincere friends, trouble with the government, being targeted in the business world or the media or social circles, it just keeps happening to you.
And you claim you are simply a victim. You didn’t ask for this. You’re such a good person. So why is this happening to me, you ask?
Why me?
I’ll tell you why. It’s because you don’t make the connection between the choices you make in life and what happens to you. If you really did pray your salat, five times a day, you would not have such opportunities even come and tempt you. You’d be living by sound ideology, which saves you and keeps you happy.
You would somehow turn a corner and miss the opportunity to meet this person all together. But because you think “you got this” and you don’t need to pray, which means asking for guidance 17 times per day, this is your lot that awaits you. All that good stuff you come across, turns into a test for you.
Allah tells us that salat is a protection and develops you / your character. Let that sink in. You missed out on being developed. In other words, this new billion dollar life has set you back in reality. You have remained on a downward spiral ever since.
And now, it’s so hard for you to let it all go. How will you live without the parties, the social acceptance, the popularity? What will people say?
Real sound ideology
Living by sound ideology is easy. It pours heart, soul, peace, and harmony into your life in ways you never imagined. And guess what, you can have all the material stuff too. Yes, the big life, the popularity and love from friends and admirers all around, the world can still be at your feet.
But this time, on your values based terms. Don’t compromise that for something that will only beat you down. There’s a way to have it all and be able to keep it all, to increase the good and ward off the bad. It can all be yours, if only you understood the value of living by sound ideology.
If only you trusted in God. Be willing to understand what He wants you to know in the Quran. Once you start learning this stuff, you won’t believe how good life can get!
