Muslim = ?

In the name of Allah,
Most Gracious, Most Merciful,
Praise be to Allah,
the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds,
and Peace and Prayer be upon the Final Prophet and Messenger. Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Quran

There's this one thought that came to mind lately, about why human needed trade system.
Back then, people used barter to trade things.
But it was not effective because sometimes the values of the things they're trading is not equal.

For example, I wanted a bag of wheat to make some bread and I came to know one of my neighbours have extras, but that particular neighbour wanted my cattle in return.

Get what I mean?
So I guessed that is why people don't barter anymore and so they decided to use something as a standard to trade things more efficiently, and that thing is money but it's not real money.

For example, a cattle is worth 3 seashells so yeah, if you wanna have them, you've gotta have 3 seashells. But this too is not effective since seashells are abundant and you can easily get them anywhere.
So they came up with usage if gold and silver coins as they are hard to obtain and you literally need to dig for it in order to make one freaking coin.

 Allah has narrated in the Quran that gold and silver are limited items.
And this has a profound meaning because of course, as we all know, Allah knows best of His creation.
Things were going pretty smoothly using gold and silver coins since the value of things are standardized and you never have to pay more than you should because well, it's limited.

Now, some people thinks that this whole usage of gold and silver coins aren't bringing them anywhere, especially in terms of bringing up their own kind. [Hint: The J people]
So, they came up with introducing paper money into the circulation to manipulate the economy to their own advantage.
It worked since paper money is much easier to carry around and much easier to produce.
But usage of paper money came to show its ugly side when it turns out that it aren't helping with the economy at all.

Hence, the inflation.

But the J's keep on collecting all the golds they can get their hands on, so that when it comes to a time when paper money can no longer be used, people will get desperate and that is the time to run their plan.
This is exactly why Muslims are told to start saving their money in gold form, as soon as possible.


But whatever, I'm not gonna talk about this in detail.
Just leave it to the economists.
Translation: If you wanna hammer me about what I wrote about money, it will not be responded to, cause uh, I'm just saying what I know. (trollface)


Anyway, what I was wondering was actually why human even needed a trading system to begin with.
I mean, back then people simply take what they want and not pay for it(what a dream).
So there must be a reason why people started bartering to begin with.

I was racking my brains- well, not exactly, actually this thought came when I was lying down while waiting for Zuhur earlier.
So I came up with one word that makes sense.


Control.


Imagine if people keep on taking things and maybe, just maybe, some of them got a little greedy and started hogging all the fruits for example, to keep for their own, leaving none for others.
So someone must have seen what is becoming of the society and hence, the barter system.

For illustration purpose.

And then I tried relating this to Islam, our deen itself.
Islam is the perfect example of the religion that is composed of a plethora of rules.
Why all the rulings?

So I tried imagining a world void of Islam and subhanAllah, it ain't pretty.
People can murder others at a whim.
Women oppressed by men.
Kids unattended.
Gambling.
Drinking.
Deteriorating society.
It was chaos.
Like back in the jahilliyah/pre-Islamic era of the Arabs again.
Not good. Not good.

So I guess it was to maintain peace amongst humankind, externally.
Internally, Islam acts as a control to our nafs(lower self), which in no doubt will be raging freely if it were to be left uncontrolled.
Simple example, what happens right after we break our fast?
Do we eat moderately just to fill ourselves only what we need or do we simply shove all the food in sight as long as it can fit into our tiny mouth?

Think.

Islam is indeed the way of life.
That, everyone knows.
They proclaimed that there is no God save for Allah and Muhammad is His messenger.
They totally agreed to that statement but then again, I guess we tend to forget why is it that Allah made the syahadah as the first of the 5 pillars of Islam.
The saying of total submission meant that we should agree, submit to whatever rulings that Allah has set out for us, simply because He is Our Creator and we are the Creation.

Some people may feel offended by this fact so they refuse to follow and abide to the rulings, because they keep on questioning the explanation behind each and every rules that have been decreed to us.
Hence, the scientific explanation etc so that these people will maybe submit wholeheartedly to Allah inshaAllah.

However it is important to know that it was not in order to attain good health that Allah has ordered us to pray 5 times a day.
The scientific explanations are merely hikmahs.
When people ask you why you pray 5 times a day, the answer is only one and it is applicable to every rulings that every Muslims have to follow.

No matter if they asked you why you wear the hijab, why you don't eat pork etc etc, the answer is only one and that answer will always be,

"Because Allah told me to." 

And that is what being a Muslim is about.
A Muslim is a person who submits to Allah, hence, submit to all the rulings that most people find oppressive and sometimes, they find it extreme.

Islam is a religion of obedience and so, you must obey.
No questioning.
But yeah, if knowing the hikmah behind every rules helps in strengthening your faith, I say, why not?
It's necessary for da'wah anyways.

The reason I am writing about this is so that you know that those explanations are merely hikmahs and not the real reason why Allah told us to do so and so.


So be a real Muslim and obey. It's not that hard, really.



But hey, I'm no preacher. Just a fellow sister reminding herself as well as others through her writing.

Salam alaik and peace out~





We must hurt in order to grow, fail in order to know, & lose in order to gain. Because some lessons in life, are best learnt through pain.