This is the case with every ‘justified evil’. If you indulge in a ‘justified evil’, you cannot save yourself from its bad effects. That is why it is very important that you engage in introspection every day. In this way, you may realise the ‘justified evils’ (in addition to ‘unjustified’ ones) that you may, consciously or unconsciously, be indulging in, and then you can cease to do so. Only through regular introspection can you come to know your weaknesses, your evil habits, your mistakes, and your sins, including the ones that you do not think are bad. Without this introspection, this is not possible.
Introspection thus works like a mirror for you. It shows you to yourself as you really are. When you know yourself and learn about the wrongs you are engaged in, you can try to correct yourself.
Introspection, or self-observation, is thus an integral and necessary aspect of self-correction. Self-analysis is a daily requirement of a Muslim’s life. Without it, one flounders about like a blind man.
Umar ibn Khattab RA once said:
“Reckon with yourselves before you are reckoned with; weigh up your own actions before they are weighed up; and prepare for the Great Summons.”
This is a very instructive saying with regard to introspection. It contains the whole philosophy of introspection.
The following verse from the Quran also underlines the importance of introspection:
“When any evil suggestion from Satan touches those who fear God, they are instantly alerted and become watchful.”
(7:201)
Introspection, therefore, is related to the fear of Allah SWT. When you discover Allah, you discover the greatest being in the world. You discover Allah as Almighty, as Creator, as Lord of the Day of Judgment. This discovery makes you very cautious of yourself, based on the realization that one day you will be brought before Allah SWT.
Allah has created this world as a testing-ground. Every human being in this world is put on test. When you read the Quran, the Book of Allah, you learn that with every person are two angels as Divine watchers, who, at every moment, are busy maintaining a record of your actions and intentions. This record will be presented to Allah, and you will be rewarded or punished according to it.
The whole philosophy of Divine reward and punishment is based on this angelic recording. When you learn about this, you become deeply concerned about your every intention and action. This acts as a major inspiration for you to engage in constant introspection. It becomes an incentive to do good and to prevent yourself from deviating from the Divine path. It serves as an incentive to make you stay away from evil, from both ‘justified’ and ‘unjustified’ evil.
This understanding of life in this world being a test and the realization that our eternal life after death depends on how we conduct ourselves in this world are an incentive to make us engage in constant introspection. Our faith gives us this realization, and this realization makes us alert and leads us to engage in regular introspection so that we may save ourselves from God’s punishment. Without this firm conviction, one will not be able to sustain one’s commitment to introspection.
As the well-known saying goes, ‘To err is human’. According to a Hadith report, Rasulullah SAW said,
“All of the children of Adam make mistakes, and the best of those who make mistakes are the ones who repent.”
(Tirmidhi)
It is in human nature to commit mistakes. But if you have the spirit of introspection, you will readily admit your mistakes. You will not hesitate to say that you were wrong. You will not try to cover up your mistakes, as many people do. Those who have inculcated the spirit of introspection simply cannot afford to engage in this ‘Operation Cover-Up’. Everyone, from ‘ordinary’ individuals to senior government officials, is engaged in some sort of cover-up or the other, but one who has the spirit of introspection cannot afford this kind of policy. He will readily admit that he was wrong. And when he does this, his correction process begins.
*credit - newageislam/Maulana wadudin
