On the authority of Abu Huraira: The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) once addressed us saying, "O people, Allaah has made the Hajj obligatory upon you." A man said, "Every year, O Messenger of Allaah? The Prophet remained quiet. The man repeated the question three times. Finally, the Prophet said, "If I were to say, 'Yes', it would become obligatory upon you and you would not be able to do it." Then he said,
"Leave me with what I have left you with. Verily, the people before you were destroyed because of their excessive questioning and their opposition to their prophets. If I order you to do something, do what you can. If I prohibit you something, leave it." (Muslim)
Excessive questioning is a sure destroyer; but was the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) asking us not to ask questions? As was clearly demonstrated in the famous hadith where Jibreel (alayhi salaam) came and asked the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) about Islam, Eeman and Ihsan; not all questioning is bad.
Jibreel came and asked important and beneficial questions. Indeed there are some questions that are considered fardhain or an obligation upon the individual. Those are the questions that one needs to ask in order to understand and practice the religion correctly, such as how to pray, how to fast and so forth.
Clearly, the excessive questioning that is censured concerns questions for which answers are not needed. They are in relation, for example, to hypothetical questions, questions just for fun and ridicule, and question due to obstinacy. These kinds of questions are not allowed.
Umar (RA), the second Caliph, would curse those who would ask about situations that had not occurred. Same was reported of Zaid ibn Thaabit (RA), the foremost scribe of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam). Now that we have explained the kind of questions we should keep away from, let us discuss questions that could bring significant changes to the way we live and conduct our lives.
WHY ASK QUESTIONS?
Simple, every business manager or professional knows that business success revolves on a three-step sequence:
PLAN, ACT & EVALUATE. Continuous success depends on constant evaluation of where we are against where we were to be, what we have against what we should have had and how we act against how we should have acted.
Evaluations are nothing but questions. In fact, thinking is nothing but the process of asking and answering questions. As it is with business, so it is applicable for an individual's everyday life. It is not only the questions you ask but also the questions that you fail to ask that shape your evaluation of how well you are doing in life.
We need to realize that most of what we do, day in and day out, is asked and answer questions. So if we want to change the quality of our lives, we should change our habitual questions. Those questions direct our focus, and therefore how we think and how we feel.
The masters of question asking are kids. How many millions of questions do they constantly bombard us with as they are growing up? They do not ask those questions to drive their parents crazy. No, far from that! Rather, they are constantly making evaluations as to what things mean, how they should react to situations and what they should do.
The main difference between people who seemed to be successful in any area! and those who were not, was that successful people asked better questions, and as a result, they got better answers. They got answers that empowered them to know exactly what to do in any situation to produce the desired results.
QUALITY QUESTIONS CREATE A QUALITY LIFE
Businesses succeed when those who make the decisions ask the right questions about markets or strategies or product lines. Relationships, which are required for the success of the business team, flourish when people ask the right questions about where potential conflicts exist and how to support each other instead of tearing each other down.
Several of such life-changing quality questions are asked in the Qur'an:
"Or do ye think that you shall enter the Garden (of Bliss) without such (trials) as came to those who passed away before you? They encountered suffering and adversity and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried: "When (will come) the help of Allah?" Ah! Verily the help of Allah is (always) near!" (Q2[Baqarah]:214)
There are others such as:
"They ask thee what they should spend (in charity)." Then Allah provides the answer: "Say: Whatever ye spend that is good is for parents and kindred and orphans and those in want and for wayfarers. And whatever ye do that is good Allah knows it well." (Q2[Baqarah]:215)
They ask thee how much they are to spend; say: "What is beyond your needs." Thus doth Allah make clear to you His Signs: in order that ye may consider." (Q2[Baqarah]:219);
and other similar verses.
PROPER FOCUS
When you ask good quality questions, they provide proper focus for your life. Take the following example of the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhis sail am) as narrated by Allah:
"And (remember) when Ibrahim said, "My Lord! Show me how You give life to the dead." He (Allah) said: "Do you not believe?" he (Ibrahim) said: "Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in faith." He said: "Take four birds, then cause them to incline towards you (then slaughter them, cut them into pieces) and then put a portion of them on every hill, and call them, they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise" (Q2 [Baqarah]:260)
Questions of immense benefit came from one Arab who came to the Messenger of Allaah (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) and asked him, "Teach me a word that I can say". The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) told him, "Say: la ilaaha ilia AIlaah wahdahu laa shareeka lahu, Allaahu Akbar, lahul mulk wa lahul hamd wa huwa alaa kulli shay'in Qadeer. Alhamdulillah was subhaanallaah wa laa hawla wa laa quwatta ilia billa al-Adheem al- Hakeem. There is no God but Allah, He has no partner, Allah is Most Great, praise be to Him greatly, glory to Allah, Lord of the worlds. There is no power and no might but by Allah, the Mighty, the Wise." The Arab did not stop there, he asked further, "That is for my Lord, but what about me?"
The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) obliged him and said:
"Say: Allaahumma-gfirlee wa-rhamnee wa-hdinee wa-rzuqnee" 'O Allah forgive me, and have mercy O me, and guide me, and provide for me.'" And when the Arab left, the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa salaam) said: 'His hands have been filled with goodness.' (Abu Dawud)
You too can habitually fill your hands with goodness. Note that questions are never too many, they are not wrong by number but they may be wrong by the type of questions you ask. If you ask a terrible question, then you will get a terrible answer. When misfortune occurs, as it will sometime, the questions you ask could decide how you deal with it.
If you keep asking, 'Why me? How could Allah do this to me? Why is life so unfair?" you may continue to wallow in the misery. The right attitude to misfortune will be to accept it, say
"Truly, to Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return" (Q2[Baqarah]:156),
and then move on by asking, "How can I use this?"
HOW QUESTIONS WORK?
Questions immediately change what we are focusing on and therefore how we feel. If you keep asking questions like, "How come I'm so depressed?; you will always come up with answers as to why you are in that state. However, if you were to ask instead, "How can I change my state so that I am feeling happy?" then you will begin to focus on solutions.
"Verily, Allah will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves." (Q 13[ar-Raad]:11).
The reverse is equally true for those who are forever despondent.
Questions change what we delete. There are so many things that are happening around us but there are so many things we are also deleting without trying to find out whether they are useful to our life. If you are feeling really sad, it is probably because you are deleting all the reasons you could be feeling good. For instance, if you are angry, one of the best things you could ask yourself is, "How can I learn from this problem so that this never happens again?
Questions also change the resources available to us, particularly if we constantly ask that good question: "How can I turn this around?" So ask questions, keep on asking the truly beneficial questions. The key is to develop a pattern of consistent questions that can empower you. When problems occur, try asking this checklist of questions and observe the tremendous change in you situation, insha Allah:
WHAT IS GREAT ABOUT THIS PROBLEM?
WHAT IS NOT PERFECT YET?
WHAT AM I WILLING TO DO TO MAKE ITTHEWAYI WANT?
WHAT AM I WILLING TO NO LONGER DO IN ORDER TO MAKE IT THE WAY I WANT IT?
HOW CAN I ENJOY THE PROCESS WHILE I AM TRYING TO MAKE IT THE WAY I WANT?
Ask yourself some empowering questions right now. What are you truly happy about in you life right now? What is really great in your life today? What are you truly grateful for?
Take a moment to think about the answers and notice how good it feels to know that you have good reasons for you to feel great now. You will feel even better, no doubt, if your answer to these three questions is the same: ISLAM!
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited