Only those who have knowledge among His slaves that fear Allh...

(Qurn 35:28) Allah bears witness that none has the right to be worshipped but He, and the ange ls, and those having knowledge (also bear witness to this); (He is always) maint aining His Creation in justice. None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Almighty the All-Wise. (Qurn 3:18) Abdullh ibn Amr (Radhiallahu anhu: meaning: May Allah be pleased with him) reporte d that Allhs Messenger (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, meaning: May the peace and ble ssing of Allah be upon him) said, Knowledge consists of three things: the decisiv e verses (Qurn), authentic Ahdth and prescriptions rightly deduced from the two. Wha t is beside them is superfluous. (Ibn Mjah 1/54) Attaining Success Through Authentic Knowledge of Islm By Dr. Norlain Dindang Mababaya Islm means the peaceful and complete submission to the Will of Allh [1] I[2] and o bedience to His Law (the Sharia which is based on the Qurn and the Sunnah[3] and th e right deductions from the two). It is the perfect religion (Qurn 5:3) and the be st way of life for all. It guides mankind in all aspects of life physical, econo mic, social, cultural, educational, political, legal, religious and spiritual. I t serves as the best solution to all sorts of problems no matter how perplexing they are. It provides rational answers to all kinds of questions that everyone i n the humanity may ask. One common question that needs to be seriously asked is: How can we attain success? People want to know how they can be successful in thei r studies, fields of specialization, works, businesses, marriages, family lives, and the like. In short, they aspire to be successful in almost all aspects of l ife. They, however, differ in the magnitude and quality of aspirations for succe ss. For instance, there are those who would aspire to successfully have sufficie nt income, a comfortable house or a decent life; and there are those who would w ish to become rich, and richer. There are those who aspire for the attainment of the highest quality of material life; and there are those who go for higher lea rning. There are those who go for fame and popularity by all means. Different people, therefore, aspire for different kinds and levels of success. S ome aspire for worldly success, while others for eternal success in the next wor ld. Islm is unique as it truly guides people to succeed both in this world and th e world hereafter. It teaches us the authentic knowledge of attaining real succe ss in the everlasting world to come a fruitful success indeed in terms of the un derlying eternal rewards. Allh the Almighty says in the Qurn: Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good (i.e., I slm), enjoining what is right (Islmic monotheism), and forbidding what is wrong (p olytheism, disbelief, etc.): they are the ones who are the successful. (3:104) But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness. We shall soon admit them to Gardens, with rivers flowing beneath, to dwell therein forever. Allhs promise is t he truth, and whose word can be truer than Allhs? (4:122) The believers, men and women, are protectors one of another: they enjoin what is just and forbid what is evil: they observe regular prayers practice regular char ity and obey Allh and His Messenger. On them will Allh pour His mercy: for Allh is Exalted in power Wise. Allh has promised the believers, men and women, gardens un der which rivers flow to dwell therein and beautiful mansions in gardens of ever lasting bliss. But the greatest bliss is the Good Pleasure of Allh: that is the s upreme success. (9:71-72) "Those who believe and whose hearts find in the remembrance of Allh: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allh do hearts find satisfaction. For those who belie ve and work righteousness is (every) blessedness and a beautiful place of (final ) return." (13:28-29)

The only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allh and His Me ssenger to judge between them is they say: We hear and we obey. And such are the s uccessful. And whoever obeys Allh and His Messenger, such are the successful. (24: 51-52) "Verily, the Righteous (they will be) in a position of Security, among Gardens a nd Springs; dressed in fine silk and in rich brocade they will face each other; and We shall join them to Companions with beautiful big and lustrous eyes. There can they call for every kind of fruit in peace and security; nor will they ther e taste death except the first death. And He will save them from the Torment of the Blazing Fire as a bounty from your Rabb! That will be the supreme success! (4 4: 51- 57) From the above Qurnic Ayt (Verses) we can conclude that the successful are those (m en and women) who believe and do righteous deeds. They are those who obey Allh I and His Messenger r. They are the righteous believers who call people to Islm (i. e., enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong). They will be saved from the torment of the Hell-Fire and dwell in Paradise forever. They will have the great est bliss to see Allh I. In line with the above Qurnic Ayat are the following authentic Ahdth that enlighten us further on the attainment of success: Abu Hurairah t narrated that the Prophet r said, "Whoever believes in Allh and Hi s Messenger r, offers prayers perfectly and fasts (the month of) Ramadan then it is incumbent upon Allh to admit him into Paradise, whether he emigrates for Allhs cause or stays in the land where he was born. They (the companions of the Prophet r) said, "O Allhs Messengerr! Should we not inform the people of that? He said, "T here are one-hundred degrees in Paradise which Allh has prepared for those who ca rry on Jihad in His Cause. The distance between every two degrees is like the di stance between the sky and the Earth. So if you ask Allh for anything, ask Him fo r the Firdaus, for it is the last part of Paradise and the highest part of Parad ise, and at its top there is the Throne of Beneficent, and from it gush forth th e rivers of Paradise. (Bukhari 9/519) It is narrated on the authority of Abu Ayyub t that a man came to the Prophetr a nd said: Direct me to a deed which draws me near to Paradise and takes me away fr om the Fire (of Hell). Upon this he (the Prophet r) said: You worship Allh and neve r associate anything with Him, establish prayer, and pay Zakat, and do good to y our kin. When he turned his back, the Messenger of Allh remarked: if he adheres t o what he has been ordered to do, he would enter Paradise. (Muslim 1/13) Ab Hurairaht (or Ab Said Al Khudrit) narrated that Allhs Messenger r remarked, I bear testimony that there is no god but Allh and I am the Messenger of Allh. The man w ho meets his Rabb without harboring any doubt about these two (truths) will neve r be kept away from Paradise. (Muslim 42) Abdullah ibn Amr ibn AlAs t narrated that Allhs Messenger r said: He is successful w ho has accepted Islm, who has been provided with sufficient for his want and been made contented by Allh with what He has given him. (Muslim 2293) Ab Dharr t narrated that Allhs Messenger r said, He has been successful whose heart Allh has made sincere towards faith, whose heart He has made free from unbelief, his tongue truthful, his soul calm, his nature straight, whose ear He has made a ttentive and his eye observant. The ear is a funnel and the eye is a repository for what the heart learns. He is successful whose heart is made retentive. (Tirmi dh 5200, Ahmad and Bayhaqi) The quoted Ahdth clearly tell us that the successful are those who sincerely belie ve in Allh I and His Messenger r and do righteous deeds. In other words, the succ

essful are those who faithfully follow Islm as a religion and a complete way of l ife. Thus, only authentic knowledge of the Qurn and the Sunnah provides explicit a nd perfect guidance to attaining eternal success. This is because Islm is the tru e religion from Allh, the Only God and Creator of the Worlds. Allh the Almighty te lls us in the Qurn: Truly the Religion before Allh is Islm (submission to His Will). Those who were giv en the Scripture (the Jews and the Christians) did not differ except out of mutu al jealousy, after knowledge had come to them. But if any denies the Signs of Al lh, Allh is swift in calling to account. (3:19) As the true religion, Islm tells us that the only true guidance is the guidance o f Allh I. It is Allh I Alone Who guides people to the Truth and the Right Way: ...Say: True guidance is the is the guidance of Allh ... All bounties are in the ha nds of Allh. He grants them to whom He pleases. And Allh cares for all and He know s all things. (3:73) This is the Guidance of Allh. He gives that guidance to whom He pleases, of His se rvants if they were to join other gods with Him, all that they did would be vain for them. (6:88) Those to whom Allh wills to guide, He opens their breast to Islm. Those whom He wil ls to leave straying, He makes their breast close and constricted, as if they ha d to climb up to the skies; thus does Allh lay abomination on those who refuse to believe. (6:125) Whom Allh does guide, he is on the right path. Whom He rejects from His guidance, such are the persons who lose. (7:178) Allhs Guidance, therefore is the key to success both in this world and the life He reafter. To be successful, we must know how to seek Allhs Guidance. This means to have authentic knowledge of Islm. We have to have sufficient knowledge of the Qurn and the Sunnah so that we know how to practice Islm wholeheartedly and share it t o others for the sole pleasure of Allh I and thus reward us supreme success.