In another famous hadith 40, the Prophet defined ad-deen as an-Nasihah. A translation of the hadith is provided below:-
On the authority of Tamim Al-Dari that the Prophet SAW, said:
"Ad-deen is an-Nasihah." We said: "To whom?" The Prophet SAW, said: "To Allah and His Book, and His messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk." [Muslim]
Now, what is the definition of an-Nasihah in that hadith? As evident from both hadiths the common denominator being the term ad-deen, what relationship does an-Nasihah has to 1-6-5 (definition of ad-deen) from the first hadith?
In Bahasa Malaysia, Nasihah (Nasihat) means to advise or to consult. In Arabic, the root word of Nasihah, which is Na-Sa-Ha, means being valid, sincere, or truthful. Essentially, what an-Nasihah means in the context of the hadith is developing a holistic character of truthfulness and sincerity in seeking and giving; in short, in driving our lives.
Our holistic ad-deen character is developed every time we "consult" or communicate with Allah (in the form of our seeking His blessings and forgiveness), "consult" the Book (in seeking hidayah), "consult" the Prophet SAW (seeking his syafaat and when extending our Salawat to him), "advise" to the muslim leaders (in demanding justice) and "advise" to our family and the Ummah (i.e. educating them in the form of glad tidings and warnings).
Combining these two great definitions of ad-deen, we should realise that our Spirituality, Faith and Action (1-6-5) as taught by the Prophet SAW through Jibril, must be truthfully upheld with consistency or istiqamah.
Being istiqamah in itself is a struggle to each of us, within and externally. This is mainly because istiqamah doesn't imply being constant throughout our lives. On the contrary, it demands that we consistently seek expansion, betterment or kaizen for our 1-6-5. The demonstration of the outer journey, of the 'expanding sky' (i.e. nebula and the spiraling galaxies) during ESQ trainings, comes to mind when describing the need to navigate our lives with an expanding notion of istiqamah.
Hence, 165 is correctly termed by Pak Ary as the best way of life. What he meant was probably the fact that whilst we must begin with a strong uplift to our spiritual relationship with the Creator of the Universe, which then fires our sense of faith and directs us towards ritual actions and Total Action, we must not remain static but instead must always be truthfully in a constant self-challenging mode to seek and provide.... to improve.
Improvement by way of Nasihah takes us from being merely satisfied of practicing Islam daily for its rituals, to making 165 as the best way of life.
How do we live up to such expectaion and be in such a mode of self-challenging improvement? The answer is for us to Go-Fight-Win. Alumni know Go-Fight-Win as the "official yell" in ESQ trainings which brings vibes of liveliness. But what do the 3 simple words mean in the context of 165?
As muslims who want to make 165 the best way of life, we need to GO out and increase our own knowledge of ad-deen. Simultaneously, we must perform actions which are ordained and encouraged upon us.
Having said that, it is not enough to focus on our actions alone. We need to go out into the society. There should be dakwah as well as a structure in the form of jama'ah for us to remind one another to stay on the right path, as we may forget even the most fundamental of matters.
Allah SWT promised in the Holy Qor'an that there will definitely exist resistance in internal and external forms which could slow down or even take us away from the right path. Therefore, we must strive to protect our deen and FIGHT away any negative forces.
Not only must we fight, but we must fight wholeheartedly with the objective to WIN. Even if we don't get to win certain battles, eventually our 165 vision is to meet Allah SWT in Heaven. This is the ultimate definition of success.
InsyaAllah.
* - (.... then the man said, "Inform me about Ihsan." The Prophet SAW answered, " It is that you should serve Allah as though you could see Him, for though you cannot see Him yet He sees you.")
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