Reflections on Suratul Asr: Love & Knowledge

A few years ago, I listened to the Tafseer (Exegesis) of Suratul Asr. The lessons from this surah are, as the shaykh said, sufficient to help us succeed in this life and the next if only we can internalize and implement them in our lives. 

In the third Ayah, where Allaah describes the attributes of those who are exempted from being at a loss, He says 

"...and they counsel each other towards the truth (and truthfully), and they counsel each other towards patience (and patiently)". 

I remembered this Ayah today, while reflecting on friendship, how to identify a good friend, and how to be one myself. I thought of giving good/honest advice as a criteria for being a good friend. Surely, a good friend cares about you enough to offer sincere advice to you, that would benefit and not harm you. And a good friend also, does not give up very easily, on you. Rather they would patiently continue to guide you to what they know as good. 

But then I thought, what if they do not KNOW what is good, or bad? I've had well-meaning friends who have given me the wrong advice because they truly didn't know any better. I may have also given the wrong advice to someone at some point ignorantly, thinking I was being of help. 

So is it enough to be sincere, to love and to care? is a good intention enough to prevent harm? 

This Ayah mentions a connection between all the things that are important. All the things that go hand in hand, that are all connected and are all requisites to success. But today's reflection is focused on the last two. 

"To Counsel towards truth (and truthfully) and to counsel towards patience (and patiently)". 

Al-Haqq - Truth. And we cannot know the truth without seeking knowledge. 

As-Sabr - Patience. And this is the fruit of love and care. 

And Allah connects these two with regards to our relationship with others. 

It goes to say that our love is not complete, until we have sought knowledge on the best way to manifest it. We must seek knowledge in order to offer the best advice, in order to love people in the best way, to care for them in the right way, to guide them to the correct paths. We must seek knowledge in order to not harm. 

And surely this transcends to all other kinds of relationships. we ought to be people who care not just about themselves but about others too. But it is not enough to care, we must seek knowledge on how to make a positive difference. we must seek knowledge on how to be emotionally and socially intelligent, how best to deal with the different kinds of people and the different challenges life brings. We must seek knowledge on what it means to be patient, forgiving, kind, generous, just, compassionate, and why it is important. we must seek knowledge and guidance from the Qur'an and Sunnah on how to purify our hearts and protect ourselves from the evil of our Nafs and the Shaytaan. 

Wherever love is involved, there must then be knowledge. We must not relax in just having the feeling, we must strive to back it up with correct actions. 

Ultimately, even in our love for Allaah. we cannot love Allaah without learning about the best way to worship Him, to avoid His anger, to earn His pleasure and mercy. 

This is a call to myself and anyone reading this. As the shaykh said, it's a matter of urgency. This is the path we should all strive to be on. The path of seeking knowledge. and the goal is, as it is said, not to reach the end of it (for that is not possible for us as humans), but to remain on the path, till our very last breath. 

May Allaah make it easy for us and make us among those who die with Imaan in their hearts, having done good deeds and having earned His love, mercy and pleasure. Aameeen.