Concept of Taqwa (Piety)

Taqwa means: to cleanse or purify the heart and the soul. Some Aayaat in Sort ush-Shams in which Allah says proves this fact:

 

و الشمس وضحها . والقمر اذا تلها . والنهار اذ ا جلها . والليل اذا يغشها . والسماء وما بنها . والا رض وما طحها . ونفس وما سوها . فالهمها فجورها وتقوها . قد ا فلح من زكها . و قد خاب من د سها .        (سورة الشمس آيت 1 تا 10 )

 

" By the sun and its rising sunshine, and by the moon when it comes after the sun, and by the day when it brightens, it, and by the night when it enshrouds it, and by the heaven and as He made it, and by the earth and as he extended (outspread) it, and by the soul and as He shaped it, then He inspired it understanding of licentiousness and warding off! Verily prospered he who purified it, and failed he who threw it into dust

[91:1-10]

 

Among the missions of the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) Allah sent him with the command to purify the souls of the Muslims in particular, and of mankind in general.

Allah (T) says:

 

هو الذي بعث في الامين رسولا منهم يتلوا عليهم آيا ته ويز كيهم ويعلمهم الكتب والحكمة . (سورة الجمعة آيت 2 )

 

"It is he who raised up from among the illiterate a Messenger from among them, recites to them His verses and Book and the Wisdom and before that they had been lying in manifest forgetfulness." (62-2)

 

In this ayah the word Hikmah is often translated as wisdom. Imam Shafi', one of the greatest scholars of Islam, said that when Allah mentions Hikmah in the Qur'an it refers to the Sunnah of the Prophet ( صلي الله عليه وسلم) In addition to this ayah, we see that the Prophet ( صلي الله عليه وسلم) was sent with three tasks:

1) To teach the Qur'an.

2) To teach the Sunnah.

3) To show the means of purifying the soul.

    This purification is obtained by doing the proper acts of 'ibaadah and by avoiding sins and disobedience.

 

Conditions for Attaining Taqwa

 

How does a person know that his acts of 'ibaadah are helping him to achieve Taqwa? To develop Taqwa, one must fulfill the following conditions:-
1) Ikhlaas, sincere intention that the act is performed purely for the pleasure of Allah, out of love for Him, while hoping for His reward and mercy, as well as fearing His anger and punishment if He is disobeyed.

2) To do the deed in accordance with the authentic Sunnah. To have the necessary knowledge of the 'ibaadah, that is being performed. To know how the Prophet ...performed the action and proper times for the performance of that action.

Concerning Ikhlaas, it must be present both before and after performing the deed, with no riyaa or sum'ah (doing things to be seen or heard by people). For instance, after doing a good deed, someone tells others, " Look at all the good I have been doing ", or " I'm such a marvelous person because I do such and such".

This formula, if used to achieve Taqwa, is scientific, in that if you follow it, while fulfilling all of its conditions and their rights, you will achieve Taqwa Insha'a Allah.