The Light On Sirat

Imagine being stranded on a bridge, without a light, under which there is a bottomless pit and you are dead sure there is a fire ablaze down there. The bridge would sound familiar to anyone who has read the Quran, or was paying attention while an elder or a scholar was speaking, and has come across the word Sirat. It is the very bridge that each human being has to cross on the Day of Judgement. There's a catch to it, a deal, which like any other has a profit and loss scenario. If you've been a Believer, a brilliant one, you shall pass. If you have been anything otherwise, your chances are slim. As I moved on with reading the tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah I discovered the meanings of the verses that expose the traits of hypocrites and how they would be the ones stranded on the Sirat without a light. Conclusion: doom!

Allah (swt) has spoken of the strength of faith and belief as a light for those who believe and as a fierce thunderclap for hypocrites who turn a deaf ear and give a blind eye to guidance when it comes to them. Hypocrites, unfortunately, come from within Muslims themselves and they are all around. They can be identified from their deviant deeds. Words of faith do not effect them, they will listen to goodness for hours and days but remain unchanged, and furthermore they will manipulate the words of goodness to create doubts, conspiracies, innovations, and confusions. 

"Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind." - 22:46

A strong faith, a powerful Islamic lifestyle, and a knowledgeable voice are characteristics of a believer. One can develop them and use them to counter the confusions such as sectarianism, innovation, manipulation of Islamic meanings, and etc. created by hypocrites. A powerful Muslim's words and deeds shock the hypocrites because faith stuns disbelief. It strikes like a powerful bolt of lightning that blinds the deviant sights of disbelievers and hypocrites with which they see the world. It mutes the words of conspiracy and innovation. 

Hypocrites, therefore, are folks at a loss.

For such folk there is serious bad news because they will either have no light with them on the Sirat because they were staunch disbelievers, or their light will be very small and would go off if they have been hypocrites with faulty beliefs. Poof!

"They (the believers) will pass on the Sirat according to their deeds. The light that some people have will be as big as a mountain, while the light of others will be as big as a date tree. The people who will have the least light are those whose index fingers will sometimes be lit and extinguished at other times." - At-Tabari 23:3179

"Rabbana Atmim-lana Noorana"

"Our Lord! Keep perfect our Light for us."

Al-Hakim 2:495

Make sure it is the mountain you head for and not just the date tree.