S1 Alma Ata Islamic Religious Education – As humans, we are never free from wrong and right. In deeds, words, whether intentional or unintentional, we often do not realise that we can offend others without doing self-introspection first. Another bad deed that can offend others is talking about other people, especially if we know their bad behaviour. The importance of self-introspection is so that we can avoid actions that are disliked by Allah.
Self-introspection or called Muhasabah is one way of evaluating and correcting oneself from mistakes that have been made. Doing self-muhasabah means paying attention and reflecting on the good and bad things that have been done before. In muhasabah, the intention and purpose of the actions that have been carried out are also considered, as well as calculating the profit and loss in an action.
Muhasabah is synonymous with self-assessment, evaluation, or introspection by referring to the Quran and Prophetic traditionst, not based on one’s own desires. Muhasabah is also a form of repairing the heart and training oneself to always think first before saying or acting.
Every Muslim is guided to always do muhasabah based on the word of Allah in surah Al-Hashr: 18 which means: “O believers! Be mindful of Allah and let every soul look to what ˹deeds˺ it has sent forth for tomorrow.1 And fear Allah, ˹for˺ certainly Allah is All-Aware of what you do.” (Al-Hashr: 18)
As we know in general, muhasabah is counting our actions every year, every month, every day, even every moment. Therefore, doing muhasabah does not have to be done at the end of the year or the end of the month, it’s even better if we do muhasabah at every moment. Every time we have done something or are going to do something.
Muhasabah is also mentioned in many hadiths, one of the Prophet’s hadiths is: “Narrated from Umar bin Khattab, the Prophet said: Hishab (account for) yourselves before you are accounted for, and reward yourselves (with good deeds), because there is something broader and greater, and something that lightens the account on the Day of Judgment, namely those who account for themselves while in the world.” (H.R. Tirmidhi).
In conclusion, we are not competing to always be the best but we try to always be good in every step. Life, wherever we are, whatever we are doing, is never separated from Allah’s supervision and we have always remembered Allah in every aspect of our lives. The importance of self-muhasabah is so that we can be more careful, not easily talk about other people, offend and hurt other people’s feelings.
