Reflection 33 – Allah DOES NOT Belittle Your Efforts

Let us imagine this hypothetical example together. You’re called for a job interview at Google. As the interviewer skims through your CV, they ask you whether you got a master’s degree or not. You answer back by saying that you have put in hundreds of hours of work but unfortunately never got that #Stanford degree you wished for. Then, when asked about other online activities, you gave the same answer! Do you think you would land this job? (actually at #Google, there might be a percentage of still getting that job!). But broadly speaking, human beings are accustomed to assess others by their achievements rather than their efforts. If a student comes up to their teacher asking to get an A despite failing the course because of their hard work attitude, they will definitely not get what they are asking for! It is very difficult to evaluate others by the efforts they put in, and it is very common that someone puts a lot of effort and doesn’t end up getting decent results and vice versa. Fortunately, this is NOT how #Allah assesses our deeds. We are held accountable for our efforts and actions but not by results. And that is a HUGE #mercy.
In one of the most beautiful ayat in Quran (Surat Alnajm, verse 39), Allah says that human being will not get except for which he/she strives for. So, take it easy. Allah will not ask you and me about why the world didn’t change during our times or why we didn‘t make the world a better place. Rather, each one of us is given certain gifts and talents that they are supposed to use in the most efficient way. Then, we are going to be asked about our actions given our capabilities. I believe thinking in this action-oriented theme reduces the pressure off our systems and makes us less concerned with results in general. I would like to end my reflection with this relatively short story.
I used to teach a course about #climate change at Qatar University. Being a fond of how #Islam deals with environment and sustainability issues, I used to dedicate one of the weeks about that specific topic. At that time, I was pretty ignorant on this whole issue, but I did some basic research and found out some very interesting stuff. Of what I found out, one specific hadeeth became very dear to my #heart. It basically says that if the day of judgment arrives, and one of you has a shoot of a plant, then they should plant it! A careful look at this hadeeth reveals the following. First, we are asked to work until our last breath. Second, we are not responsible for the results rather only our actions (it is clear from the hadeeth that no results are expected of course). Third, it has always intrigued me why out of ALL the actions one can do before the world vanishes, is planting a tree?! Though I have no definitive answer, I like to see it in vein of environmental #sustainability as well as doing an action with a huge and a multiplying value added for everything around you be it birds, animals, or human beings.
Finally REMEMBER:
People might put you down or belittle your efforts because there is no way for them to assess your full effort; Allah WON’T. You are NOT responsible for any type of results but only your actions given your talents. Finally, do as much good as you can in your life because nothing goes unnoticed or unaccounted for in Allah’s scale but instead good deeds get both magnified and amplified both in this life and the hereafter!