The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Referring to the Qadr of Allah the prophet (s) said, ‘take your precautions, and tie your camel down and then leave the rest in the Hands of Allah’. In other words seek the means Allah has given you, which here is the rope to tie down ones camel, but do not rely on the strength of the rope or on the power of your knot, nor on the sturdiness of the thing to which you have fastened the rope. Instead take the means and without relying on them, place your trust in Allah. If then our camel disappears we know it was the Qadr of Allah, and the reasons that follow this are varied. The purpose for mentioning this story is that many of us often either forget the means and seek to rely entirely on Allah, or we place our faith in the means and forget Allah. And both are blameworthy because whilst one is thinking that he is acting out of emaan, both conditions reflect a deficiency of the heart with regards to understanding and emaan. How does this deficiency manifest itself and how do our actions impact the lives of others?

One beautiful aspect of this religion is how Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala ties each and everyone of us together through our belief in Him, which ultimately for a Muslim is the core of his existence. If it were not then we would all have inhabited our own planet to live on our own. Fortunately we don’t and hence the beautiful aspect of the bond of relationships is our reliance on each other through Allah. Our religion grants us an insight into one aspect of the way people are bound to each other which is how our actions affect others. How? Well, in this regard the prophet (s) said, “None of you believe, until he wants for his brother what he wants for himself”. Who is the one that does not believe? He is the disbeliver, and the fate of the disbeliever is mentioned much in the Qur’an - the fire! Hence, even of the believers, the messenger of Allah is quite forthright in saying that those that do not want for others what they want for themselves cannot consider themselves as believers. This is an uneqivocal statement by the prophet (s), and one of the reasons why it is so is because of the severe impact ones lack of concern, care and the fulfillment of duties towards others, is a sign of two major diseases of the heart - injustice and lack of compassion. And both of these traits cause more harm to other people than anything else . Furthermore, these traits are not those of believers but disbelievers, as the prophet (s) alludes. Thus question is why has this injustice and lack of compassion become so prevalent amongst even practicing Muslims, who would quite easily neglect the Sunnah and claim immunity through invoking the Qadr of Allah as their defense? Its answers lies in the impact non-Islamic ideas have had on Muslims.

With the dual effect of the rise in power of non-Muslims coupled with the decline in the power of the Muslim world, the net effect has been that Muslims have adopted many unIslamic beliefs, be they Christian, Jewish or even pagan, whilst thinking that they stem from Islam. One of these most commonly found in the modern world is the belief that a person is completely independent of others and hence can live in his own isolated life without having an impact on anyone else. As though his existence is in a sphere which has no physical ties to his sourrounding environment and yet he drinks the same water, breathes the same air, wears clothes bound by the same fibres, eats the food grown by the same sun - as everyone else. No one is in this regard separate but are all equal before Allah. But where this belief has permeated into the hearts of Muslims is where they have stopped believing that their actions can and will affect the life of another - they say “whatever Allah wills”. In other words they assign everything to the Qadr of Allah, and yet the Qadr of Allah works through people. Hence it may have been the Qadr of Allah for us to help such and such a person but instead we chose not to, saying that ‘if Allah wills it’ then it will happen. Of course everything is in the power of Allah, and if we all took this idea literally then no one would do anything but he would say ‘I have no will and hence there is no point in doing such and such a thing’. But we do not say this because this argument doesn’t work and are warned by Allah against using this argument to abrogate ones duties. As Allah says:

“And when they are told, “Spend ye of (the bounties) with which Allah has provided you,” the Unbelievers say to those who believe: “Shall we then feed those whom, if Allah had so willed, He would have fed, (Himself)?- Ye are in nothing but manifest error.” (Quran, Yasin 36:47)

Unfortunately we as Muslims are using the same argument, and do so whilst actually believing that it is a sign of high emaan, which it is not. It emanates out of not wanting the same blessings for others as oneself because we don’t want to help others - so we seek to claim immunity through invoking the defence of the Qadr of Allah. But this is a false defense which not only neglects ones responsibility but also denies the very life-line of a person, their relationship with Allah. And that relationship only manifests itself through a persons good deeds. Hence the person that says, “If Allah so wills”, and yet has the means wherewith to help others is the one that has committed a grave error, is in ‘manifest error’, for he has not only denied himself the blessing of helping someone but has also denied that person the good Allah had in store for them.

The key point here is that our own destinies are inextricably linked to other believers. If we help someone else then we gain their dua’s and perhaps it was their dua’s we needed because they possessed a higher maqaam with Allah, as with the prophet (s). And hence that was the purpose of Allah placing them before us. However, when we look at people only according to their outward condition and judge them poorly on account of their needs, then it is not they that are poor but us because we have denied ourselves blessing of inner-sight which would have informed us of their true state through the signs they exhibited in their character. The blessings in helping others, and placing other before ourselves are immense, if only we but knew, if only we studied the prophetic character, and his Sunnah we would find it resplendent with example after example of a life lived only for the benefit of others.

The Prophet (s) and the Qadr of Allah

The greatest proof of the truth of how the Qadr of Allah operates is found in the life of the prophet (s), who could have gained his provisions directly from Allah, but instead he was placed by Allah in a postion of needing the help of others. Most people did not help him especially when he needed their help the most and we know this is true because it was at Ta’if that he was chased away by stones. And yet if those people had seen him with their inner-sight, they would have seen the excellence of his character and would have known he wasn’t seeking for himself, but was a blessing to them, if they only but knew. However, because of our self imposed impoverishment as Muslims today, we see the material poverty or need of others before the richness of their characters. But if we like the people of Ta’if, could see the richness of peoples characters we would know that they had already been blessed with wealth beyond measure. Our need to help those that need help is not an indication of their state but ours because it is a test from Allah of our character, in exactly the same way in which the Quraysh were tested in theirs. But like those Allah mentioned in the above verse we also look down upon those in need, any kind of need, even if it is to ask for the smallest atom. One question we must ask of ourselves is whether having foregone our powers of inner-sight, to not judge people externally - would we also have been one of those that stoned the prophet (s), or placed thorns along the path we knew he would take? Would we have been the ones to oppose him because we did not understand his inner character? His outward beauty was manifest for all to see, for he was more beautiful than Yusuf (as), but that was not enough for those that opposed him. Thus it was his inner-character that they were blinded to, for if they were not then they would have seen the treasure of all treasures and would not have opposed him. So we must also ask ourselves the same question, ‘would we too have opposed the prophet (s) because we were unable to see his character, and hence we refused to help him?’ We claim to love the prophet (s) and yet at the same time we contradict his sunnah and by doing so we do oppose him and everything he stood for and fought for. The prophet (s) said, ’speak the truth even if it is against yourselves’, and this is the truth, that unless we seek to help others before ourselves, unless we love for our brothers what we love for ourselves, we are not believers. And all of this is true, not because we say so, but because our prophet (s) said so.

Yusuf (as) and the Qadr of Allah

Another refutation of invoking the Qadr of Allah to avoid our responsibilities towards others may be found in the beautifully meaningful story of Yusuf (as). Yusuf (as) was unjustly imprisoned as a result of the improper designs of the wife of the Aziz towards him. He chose prison as a better abode for himself than the company of such people. But in that prison he found two of his fellow prisoners awaiting their sentence who asked him to interpret their dreams, in both cases he did so correctly. In the case of one man, he was to be crucified presumably for his crimes, but the other was to be released and placed at the service of the King. Of him Yusuf (as) asked:

“And of the two, to that one whom he consider about to be saved, he said: “Mention me to thy lord” (Quran, Yusuf 12:42)

What Allah is showing us here is that if Yusuf (as) was relying solely on the power of Allah then he would not have asked this man for his help, but he did which is a sign of the need to use the means as well as placing ones trust in Allah. Interestingly it is the second part of this verse that gives an even greater indication of how our duties affect the rights and freedoms of others. Having reminded the man to remember him to the King, the Qur’an states:

“But Satan made him forget to mention him to his lord: and (Joseph) lingered in prison a few (more) years” (Quran, Yusuf 12:42)

Again, had it been the will of Allah he would not have allowed his prophet to remain in prison, and had it been the will of Allah he would not have allowed the man to forget. And yet Allah is showing us through the example of prophet Yusuf (as) that because this other man simply forgot, as result Yusuf (as) remained in prison ‘a few more years’. This is an indication of the free-will with which Allah has created us and what makes us unique in God’s creation. Hence we must draw important lessons from these verses and examples when it comes to helping others, remembering others, placing others before ourselves, foregoing our rights for the rights of others, and placing our duties towards others before our own rights - are all the signs of true believers. All that I have said thus far does not negate the Qadr of Allah one bit for everything is in His power, and even if people either oppose us or choose not to help us, does not in anyway have a bearing on those that are patient and place their trust in Allah, for whatever good Allah has determined for them no one can change in the least. And this is one lesson we would all do well to remember because as the messenger of Allah once said, “The best of you are those that are of most benefit to others”. (at-Tabarani)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا وَجَعَلْنَا مِنَ الْمَاء كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَيٍّ أَفَلَا يُؤْمِنُونَ

“Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” (Quran, al-Anbiya 21:30)

Needing Allah like the desert needs water…

Water is indeed the source of life, this is undeniably true. But of the title I have chosen for this post, you may well question - that surely the desert is what it is, for that is how Allah has meant it to be, a place without water, or very little water. So why does the desert need water? One analogy here is that the desert in this case is the Hijaz which received the blessing of water, that water was the life giving Quran, that brought life where before there was none. Hence the desert did need water. From another perspective the desert was mankind prior to the Quran, which when it received that water transformed countless people, through countless generations, and countless civilisations. Even those that denied the very existence of the One true God that blessed them with that water, eve they benefited from that water. From yet another aspect this world itself, as watered as it is, is also a desert, one which is continually seeking its sustenance from somewhere. And to know this is true we only have to look at the earth from outer space to realise that this earth is indeed a miraculous oasis in the middle of the greatest expanse of desert we can and cannot imagine. Then is this earth not actually a desert, and are its inhabitants not in need of this blessed water? Thus everything in the universe is but dead except that which gains its sustenance from the One in whose Hands is all of life.

Reflecting on the Analogy of Water

The analogy of water is used many times in the Quran to encourage us to reflect on its wondrous properties, Allah says:

“It is He Who sendeth down rain from the skies: with it We produce vegetation of all kinds: from some We produce green (crops), out of which We produce grain, heaped up (at harvest); out of the date-palm and its sheaths (or spathes) (come) clusters of dates hanging low and near: and (then there are) gardens of grapes, and olives, and pomegranates, each similar (in kind) yet different (in variety): when they begin to bear fruit, feast your eyes with the fruit and the ripeness thereof. Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe”. (Quran, al-An’am 6:99)

Another perspective on this is that if the Quran uses the analogy of water then it stands to reason that the thing referring to life must itself be life, for how else could that knowledge be contained in this book? Thus the Quran’s reference to something being the source of life is actually an indication of the book itself being the source of life. Or in other words, the words contained therein not only give the indication of their Divine origin but that their reflection and their recitation, which is what Quran means in Arabic, is the very source that brings life to all those that recite it, all those that hear it, and all those that act upon it.

The same water used by the earth to grow its myriad of vegetation and fruits of varied tastes and textures - is the same water that sustains our own bodies. How is it that our living bodies are related to the earth? How else can it be but that the One that created the earth and caused life to grow from it, is the same Creator that created human beings - is one truth the existence of water points to.

Allah also mentions in the Quran of the rain-laden clouds that bring life even to the most lifeless of places:

“It is He Who sendeth the winds like heralds of glad tidings, going before His mercy: when they have carried the heavy-laden clouds, We drive them to a land that is dead, make rain to descend thereon, and produce every kind of harvest therewith: thus shall We raise up the dead: perchance ye may remember.” (Quran, al-Araf 7:57)

Thus Allah is showing us that without His mercy, without His power there is no life. It is only Allah that determines life and death, an analogy of which are those hearts that understand and those that do not - the difference between the two being the difference between the living and the dead. As Allah says at the end of the above verse, “perchance you may remember”, it is only the heart that remembers, and the heart only remembers what it loves and it tends to love those things that give it the greatest satisfaction:

“Those who believe, and whose hearts find satisfaction in the remembrance of Allah: for without doubt in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find satisfaction”. (Quran, ar-Rad 13:28)

Thus to reflect on the simple idea of the life giving nature of water is to be caused to think, and to be caused to think causes one to reflect, and that causes one to understand, and that causes one to remember, and that causes one to mediate on ones blessings, and that causes one to be grateful for them and that causes one to want to continually remember, and to remember is to love and to love, to find ones true love is to find true satisfaction - is to find Allah. Thus with reference to water when Allah says, ‘perchance you may remember’, it is an invitation to remember Him through reflecting on this one key blessing.

“Behold! in these things there are signs for people who believe” (Quran, al-Anam 6:99)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Water and Divine Unity

Now I would like to approach the analogy of water and gratitude for our blessings from another perspective which is the difference between the Creator and the created, for they are not the same as Allah reminds us.

“And there is none like unto Him” (Quran, Ikhlas 112:4)

“And from among mankind there are some who take for themselves (objects of worship as) rivals to Allah, loving them as they should (only) love Allah. And those who believe are stronger in their love for Allah.”
(Qur’an, Al-Baqarah 2:165)

One aspect, and indeed the singular and central message of the Quran is la illaha Ill’lal la - there is no god but Allah - which is presented through many different aspects, all repeating the same truth, ‘there is none comparable to Him’. He is the Creator and cannot be compared to His creation. In His creation He has placed signs of His existence but signs allude to something and are not in themselves to be taken as something endowed with the power of life. The sun does not cause to grow, and nor water bring to life, the soil does not feed and nor does wind drive the clouds - but all these elements are under the constant power of Allah. It is His power alone that controls every atom in the universe.

Needing Allah like we need water…

Whilst this reminder is poignant there is a serious underlying message in this discussion about the analogy of needing Allah and needing water taken from a dunya perspective. This is to say that when we needed Allah in order to achieve our dunya aspirations we turned to Him. We turned to Him the night before our exams, so that we might pass them and obtain our degrees. And when we wanted that job we turned to Him and beseeched His help, so He granted us that job we so cherished. When we sought our life’s companion again we turned to Him in need so that He may grant us His blessings which He did and blessed us with the one we sought. And when we had gained all that our hearts desired, all that we needed, we did not turn to Allah anymore. And yet Allah shows us by way of simple analogy that even if for a few hours we go without water we become thirsty. And we cannot concentrate on anything, all we can think about is water, of our need to drink, of how thirsty we are. And so the heart complains profusely, reminding us we need a drink, we need that cold soothing water to pass our lips, to quench our thirst. Just imagine that only after a relatively short time we are caused to think about our need for this simple substance, and yet Allah is much greater than water. Allah is much greater than water, but without reflection and gratitude we are much more likely to think about our need for water than our need for Allah, and yet Allah is much greater than water.

Our desire for Allah has to be pure, as pure as pure water. And we must desire Allah everyday as though we were thirsty travellers crossing searing deserts, whose lips had not tasted water for days. This is the longing and yearning we ought to possess of Allah, of needing Allah as the thirsty traveller needs water. He should be our daily preoccupation, our need, our desire, our want, our remembrance, the love of our hearts. We long for Him more than our stomachs long for food, and yet when we have not eaten for but a few hours our stomach reminds us of the poverty of its situation, of how it has not been fed, and its reminders do not relent until it is fed. And yet we may ask, do we need Allah every day in our lives just as our lips beg for water, or our stomach petitions us for food? No, and again no, the truth of our heart, its longing for Allah, its desperate need for Him everyday must exceed these material bounds. And when they do exceed these material shackles we are gifted with a gift without measure for we do indeed yearn for Allah as though we were unwatered deserts, as though we were weary travellers, who if they did not receive the analogy that we are really driving at here - of water being akin to the love of Allah - could not continue but for one more moment. And we should know this is the truth because we have the example directly from the one that was most beloved to Allah, our prophet (s). Who was most beloved because he loved Allah with all of his heart, and loved to be thankful to Him, and loved to want to be near Him, and loved him much much more than the desert loves water - for all that grows in the desert, as beautiful as it is, must one day die, but our love for Allah remains eternal and unbounded. As thirst quenching as is water, must again be consumed, for it is not like love that satisfies the purest thirst, desire of the heart, to remember Allah. Thus the water of the heart is our remembrance and our need of Allah, without which we cannot live.

Then let our hearts be those that seek none else but the love of Allah, which when once watered will forever be filled with springs and rivers of cool blessed water, fragranced by His remembrance, blessed with the joy of His presence in hearts that once and continually appraoched Him as deserts, and were forever filled with His love. Ameen.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

In a previous post I wrote about one aspect of la ill’aha ill’lal’la, which was related to the attribute of Allah, ar-Rahman, the Most-Compassionate. Today insha’Allah I want to write about how ar-Rahman relates to us in terms of our understanding of love. One of the major themes in these posts as you may have found is love, and that is because love is not only the highest virtue, it is the highest virtue and the combination of all the other virtues because love emanates from ar-Rahman. Without ar-Rahman and indeed ar-Rahim there would be no love on earth. Taking this idea further we can also see that without love, or without and adequate understanding of love human life becomes adversely affected. Just as we may use the analogy the darkness is merely the absence of light, that darkness in itself has no properties. In the same way those negative traits such as jealousy, envy and hatred only appear when there is an absence of love and compassion in the heart. One important point to make here, because many Muslims get confused at this point in terms of the meaning of love - thinking it as a whishy-washy kind of ‘tree-hugging’ love. This couldn’t be further from the truth because contained in the highest form of mercy from Allah to us is also justice. Thus whilst Allah is merciful, loving and compassionate - beginning with our creation and our continual forgiveness for our faults - He is also Just (al-Adl). Thus when we as Muslims understand love, that understanding comes from the Quran and Sunnah and is not taken from the Bible or Torah, where that love occupies two extreames, of either being completely merciful without being just, as with the Christians, or completely just without being merciful, as with the Jews. Our understanding of love is balanced between the two, but then when we have understood both attributes of Allah, He informs that whilst He could be, had He chosen, to be entirely just, He says, “My mercy overcomes my anger”.

Thus understanding that all the beautiful names of Allah fall in one of two categories of either ar-Rahman, or al-Adl, we begin to understand how the relationship between mercy and justice informs us of the love we ought to strive for and the love we ought to seek to possess. And this is important because love is that single factor whose understanding, or lack thereof, has a direct and corresponding effect on every other aspect of our life. Below is a short piece I wrote related to the same theme of striving to perfect our understanding of love.

The Shakur and the Shakir

So the idea of “I want to spend my lifetime loving you” is to say to Allah that we want to spend, devote and dedicate our lifetime loving Him. Thus, as in the title of the post, “Truly Beautiful”, what is truly beautiful is our desire to commit, devote and dedicate our lifetime to understanding love and thereby seeking to apply that understanding into loving Allah. And the way the truthfulness of our claims of devotion are tested is whether we continue to believe in the initial mercy bestowed on us, manifested through our creation, despite being posed with many tests designed to test our belief. Because if we stop believing in love, it is not love that we are rejecting, but we are rejecting the very mercy with which we were created. And conversely if we accept the mercy we were created with and continue to believe in it, then we will reflect that mercy, honour that blessing, by continuing to believe in the mercy of our creation, to continue to believe in love.

Thus “the beautiful struggle”, is indeed a struggle that is beautiful because if understood in the right way then existence is not seen as something to disdain because of our difficulties and challenges, it is to celebrate each night through our renewed gratitude to the mercy and love with which we were created. And the mercy appears ever so beautiful because the stuggle takes us to all those places where love is found, the places I mentioned in my last post, such as passion, certainty, wisdom, knowledge, absolute truths, and many more. If our struggles lead us to the door of such noble virtues, and knowledge, and whilst we continue to see and believe in the absoluteness of Allah, His Oneness, and the absoluteness of His attributes, then the struggle is something beautiful, a blessing that leads us to all that is beautiful, makes us more than those that give shukr, but those that become shakir. The one that is Shakir is one that is grateful for his adversities as well as his blessings because he sees them all as blessings emanting from the One from Whom only good comes. And in this recognition is opened up for him a never-ending source of knowledge, of being able to witness blessings where others can only witness suffering, to give gratitude to Allah, where others give themselves up to dispair, to see love where other see hate, and ultimately to see gardens where others see only deserts.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Mountain ranges after mountain ranges,
See our way home from the blessed City of Light,
The setting sun was our companion along the way,
The last we would see on our sojourn through the night.
Gradually and gradually did the light fade from the sky,
But forever lit in our hearts,
Engraved within us our memory of our beloved.

That piercing light of our treasured memories,
Memories we would never yield,
Of our time in the beloved city of our beloved,
Where we were made to feel so welcome.
A city we will forever yearn to return to,
A city we will forever call our home,
A city our beloved gifted us,
Gifted us to consider our own.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

To begin with the beginning of all beginnings, and as a follow up to my first post of those blessed experiences from the blessed cities, of Makkah and Medina, which I will revisit in words insha’Allah. I wanted to write something briefly, again by way of contextualisation which is the key to learning and knowledge, to begin with the command given by Allah to His noble servant (s), and to mankind - to “Read” - but not only to read but to read in the name of our Lord. Let us here examine this further and see how this commands pertains to our existence, and how it relates to the life of the prophet Muhammad. Thus we will learn what it means to us, for its meaning is profound, and one if reflected upon continually, can and does by the will of Allah, provide new openings in the pathways of ones mind and the arteries of ones heart.

The first injunction, the first command given by Allah to His creation, to the whole of mankind and to the noble prophet (s) was “Iqra” - “Read”. He, peace be upon him, most humbly replied, “I cannot”, the command was reissued but with greater intensity, “Read”, came back only truth from the lips of the prophet (s) for he could not, and again replied, “I cannot”. Yet for a third time issued the command “Read” and with that came an ever tightening embrace from Jibrael (as). Knowing that if that embrace were to tighten any further it would be too much, he (s) replied, “what shall I read”? And with that began the prophethood of our beloved prophet (s), and with that began our own story too - because orginating from that acceptance to learn came the nation to which we belong, Islam and thus without his (s) acceptance, without him asking for our sake, “What shall I read”?, we would not be here belonging to this great nation, his Ummah.

The prophet, peace be upon him, asked this question and in that questioning was an indication for us all to seek that question, “What shall I read”? This beginning in itself has much knowledge from which we can glean wisdom and learning. Allah knew that the prophet (s) could not read and yet the command was still given, not once but three times, why? One reason is related to the purpose of reading which is to understand, for one does not read unless it is to understand something, otherwise it cannot be termed reading. A child and an adult can both read, but what is the difference in the reading of a child and an adult, that difference is in their understanding. And in this regard none of us understand anything except what Allah has taught us. Thus same as the prophet (s), we did not know before knowledge came to us. This point is made in the same surah, when Allah says:

عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

“Taught man that which he knew not” (Iqra 96:3)

If reading is to gain understanding, and teaching is to impart understanding, then what is it that we are being commanded to understand? One main purpose is to understand the purpose of our existence, which the Ulama say is ‘ilm and ibadah’, knowledge and worship. And the purpose of this is to acquire the means by which we understand our existence and how it relates to Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala. Thus the purpose of reading is to understand, but how does understanding relate to Allah? The purpose of understanding is to know something and to know something is to act according to it, and to act is to move, both internally and externally. Thus reading provides the catalyst of movement both in the limbs and in the heart, and the purpose of that movement, the purpose for which those faculties of understanding, and those physical attributes of motion exist is to move toward Allah. Reading - leads to knowledge - leads to understanding - understanding is a map that forms in the heart and illuminates the intellect which provides a light whereby one is guided back to Allah - is one meaning behind the Quranic injuction to “Read”.

Movement of the Heart and Limbs Related to a Hijra

A large part of the prophetic story is related to movement, and phyical movement is akin to, and related to a movement of the heart and mind. Those who remain in one place for too long, their minds are prone to becoming stagnant. Hence part of the prophetic narrative was the Hijra to Medina, and its corresponding victory back to the place from where the Hira was made. The Hijra in the context of reading, knowledge and understanding, which we are referring to here, is related to how understanding causes motivation, which is a motor, a movement both internally in the heart, and externally in the limbs. Thus understanding causes movement, causes the heart to stir, and that movement is intended only for the purpose of providing the motivation, drive and energy to return back to Allah. Hence, just as the prophet (s) and his companions returned back to Makkah, returned to the House, where the House representes tawheed, the Oneness of Allah. That return was only initiated by reading in the first place, and it was reading that caused movement in the heart, that opened up its channels of communication with Allah, that initiated the Hijra and that ultimately returned them back to Allah. Had it not been for that first injunction to “read” then the Hijra would not have taken place, and nothing else that followed would have done so. We would have been none the wiser, would have remained in the dark, so to speak. But it did, alhamdulillah, and our journey began with the journey of the prophet (s), it began in Jabal al-Hira.

Iqra - Hijra & Provision

Related to Iqra is as we have stated the Hijra. But another perspective on the command Iqra is in terms of our provision. Thus we can say that if movement is related to our journey, our Hijra back to Allah then no one can undertake a journey without provision, thus to read also means to gather ones provision for our ultimate journey. A person with intellect will gather the most suitable provisions according to where he is going. Thus he will not waste his energies in amassing provisions that will be of no benefit to him on the final day. As Allah says:

يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَلَا بَنُونَ

إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ

“The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail,

But only he (will prosper) that brings to Allah a sound heart.”

(Shu’araa 26:88-89)

Iqra - Hijra & The Map of Guidance

Let’s take the command to “Read” from another perspective, for to read, as the Quran refers, does not literally mean read in its entirity but to read means to understand, to reflect, to evaluate, to percieve, to determine - and all for the purpose of determining meaning. What is the meaning of our journey? For one cannot undertake a journey without first knowing the meaning, the purpose for it. And neither can one undertake this journey without the knowledge of where one is going. In this regard Allah has provided us with knowledge of both, a map of the journey, and contained within that map are all the meanings we need to understand where we are and why, how we got here, where we are going and how we are to get there. That map is the Quran. But even moreso out of His compassion and wisdom and to make our journey easier, He has granted us a guide. Not just any guide but the perfect interpretor of that map, the perfect interpretor of the book of the words of Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala. Who, when asked about his character, A’isha (ra), replied, “His character is that of the Quran”. The perfection of character, the perfect embodiment of the attributes of Allah, Khuluq-Allah, is no less our guide, the noblest being, back to Allah - is the honour in which Allah holds His believers.

Thus it is, that to follow the prophet (s), to seek to follow his footsteps, to follow his (s) Sunnah, is to follow the best of creation on the straight path, the sirat-al-mustakeem, is to find our way back to our Lord, Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala. And so ends the journey which begins with the injunction to read, taken up by the noble messenger (s), guided by him we follow his commands, his noble footsteps and thus return in the best of states, insha’Allah back to Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala, Who first gave the command, “Iqra”.

READING -> UNDERSTANDING -> ALLAH

(reading is understanding which leads to Allah)

>>>>>>>>>HIJRA>>>>>>>>>

(All reading, hence understanding leads to making Hijra to Allah)

IQRA -> AYAH -> ALLAH

(Reading the signs of Allah leads to Allah)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

I wanted to begin these series of posts insha’Allah, post Makkah, and Medina the City of the prophet (s), with a reflection of my experiences in the sacred land, and thus try my to best convey those experiences in which I hope there is learning for all of us, not least of all me, insha’Allah.

The experiences of Makkah and Medina were distinctly different because those cities are distinctly different. Makkah, represents the beginning, that is to say, the beginning of the Abrahamic faiths, the establishment of the House of Allah, the beginning of the ancient rites of worship of that House and indeed the beginning of Islam. Allah is ever-present in this City, and one does indeed percieve His Lordship, power and might in the City as well as clearly emanating from the Ka’baa. Thus ones presence in the har’am also represents a type of cleansing through His light and power, and hence there is a certain edge felt by everyone. As a result, what is also felt is ones reduction, ones helplessness, and ones complete reliance on Allah for absolutely everything, for every drop of water. We arrived as parched deserts, the analogy of which is easier to concieve there because of the stifling heat. And so it is, that we realise in those moments of shear clarity, that unless our desert is watered, that upon it nothing will grow, toward it nothing will journey, and from it nothing will spring. Dry it will remain, until that is, Allah out of His mercy and generosity, sends rain laden clouds which bring their life giving, precious and blessed rain.

الرِّيَاحَ لَوَاقِحَ فَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاء مَاء فَأَسْقَيْنَاكُمُوهُ وَمَا أَنتُمْ لَهُ بِخَازِنِينَ

“And We send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance), though ye are not the guardians of its stores”. (Al Hijr 15:22)

It is the truth of this helplessness that the power of Allah, Al-Haqq, strips away our pretensions and veils of protection to give us the mearest glimpse of our true situation. We are humbled, and like everyone else there pulled by the magnetism of the House, we are transported into another realm of seeking and searching desparately for the right words, to ask for the right things, to seek forgiveness for faults past, present and future, and to hope upon hope, for His mercy. We are so in need of Him - is what Makkah reminds us of - that reality, which began with a desparate search for water by a mother frantic for the life of her beloved child, driven she was out of pure love, eventually turning to Allah, He answered her purest of dua’s and forever granted a spring that still to this day waters the children of the mothers of the believers. May Allah praise and reward our mothers. Ameen.

There is no where else on earth that ones soul can feel this true and this real, this humble and desiring of the acceptance and forgiveness of Allah. The reason I wanted to begin with this first is that everything begins and ends with Allah, and everything is placed in correct context with Him. Hence any discussion regarding ones gait, presence, countenance and face - the rectification of ones heart - must be in the context of how those changes have been permitted to occur and been allowed to be percieved by His grace and majesty, permeating our soul.

With that in place, let me then begin with the blessed and the most beautiful place in the world, the peaceful and majestic city of Medina, the home of the prophet (s). The city of the prophet (s), a city that can only be visited by an invitation by the prophet (s) himself, and then again only for as long as he (s) determines. What was felt most definately in that most blessed of cities was a much greater realisation than ever before of the extent to which ones countanance, ones face, manifests what is contained in ones heart. As one of the Shu’ukh mentioned, that just as iron is heated and its impurities are drawn out, in the same way Medina rejects the dross, the impure. In other words the purity of Medina, the purity of its most beautiful resident, his noble light draws out from each one of its inhabitants their true natures, whether good or bad. This is something that resounded considerably with me especially through seeing, five times a day, at Masjid an Nabawi, so many different faces, and each of those faces is a refection of what is contained in those hearts. Thus the heart that desires love, love manifests in his face and in his presence. If that love is for Allah and His messenger, then likewise that face reflects the light of that desire. But also similarly, the face that desires wealth or indeed other than Allah, his face is etched with the markings of that desire. The heart that seeks power or is desirous of the life of this world, that face is imprinted as such. Thus we see in the faces of the pious, the noble with Allah, the shu’ukh, those that remember Allah much - their hearts are imprinted with the message - their faces reflect that message, and shine with a light granted only by Allah. And so it is, for they desire nothing else other than the truth, Al-Haqq, nothing other than goodness, nothing other than Allah and His messenger (s) and hence Allah gifts those hearts, desires with a certain mark of sincerity and serenity contained in their gait, their countanance, their demeanor and all of this contained in the light given to the face. One need only be in the City of Medina for a short while to be bathed by the light of the prophet (s), for that light to begin to impact the heart, and transform a person from within.

This is just one glimpse, and one humble offering from the City of Light, insha’Allah I hope I may be permitted to share more of these glimpses with you. Wa Salaam.

As Salaamu Alaikum Dearest brothers and sisters,

This is just a short post to let you all know that I returned safely alhamdulillah from the sacred cities of Makkah and Medina from what proved to be truly a journey of a lifetime, full of blessed experiences, in the company of blessed souls, taught by blessed teachers and most importantly walking in the footsteps of the blessed prophet (s). Over the coming weeks insha’Allah, as time dictates, I will share some of these experiences with you, but for now I have to contend with life without the messenger of Allah (s), and outside of his beautiful mosque. But one thing is for sure is that whilst one may have returned to the old life, it is viewed with new eyes and hearts….

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

I pray you are all well insha’Allah and gaining blessings from Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala for your efforts to please Him, to live for Him insha’Allah. I wanted to let you all know that there will not be any new posts for a few weeks insha’Allah as I am leaving for Umrah insha’Allah in less than two days. I ask you all to make dua for me, and like wise I will do the same for you all insha’Allah. I hope and pray, that for the sake of Allah, you have found the knowledge within these posts beneficial for you. Indeed it has been a blessing and honour to have been given the opportunity to use these words for His sake, and I hope that I have conveyed them only truly for His sake alone. Please take care of yourselves and insha’Allah always remember Allah, live only for Him, give Allah victory and Allah will give you victory. Remember Him and He will remember you, go walking to Him and He will come running to you. And remember when all is said and done and the last of Bani Aadam is in his grave, and when all of creation has turned to dust, it is only Allah that will remain. Remember then always, La illaha ill’lal’la.

Adeeb

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ِ

In the Name of Allah Most-Compassionate, Most-Merciful

Why do we live? For what purpose do humans exist? What great thing is there on earth to compel us to want to continue our lives in the midst of the darkness of space. The light of this earth is just a comfort, a type of
illusion, because surrounded on all sides of it is the darkness and coldness of space. So if we are here on earth then why are we here? And if our time is only limited, only very short, then how should we spend it? If we are going to face the judgement of God then what do we need to take with us of our good deeds in order to stand a chance of being successful in the judgement? If we do attain good deeds then how do we really know whether they will be accepted by Allah? Although good deeds are the aim of believers, what is the purpose behind good deeds? It is pleasing Allah, but the degree with which Allah is pleased with us does not necessarily depend on the extent of our good deeds but the sincerity of those deeds. But what affects sincerity? If the sincerity of our heart cannot be known except by Allah, and not all the good deeds in the world can be taken as a sure sign of our sincerity then how do we improve on our sincerity, how do we know if we are on the path to improving our sincerity?

In order to understand our sincerity we must understand Surah al-Ikhlas. This verse of the Quran was revealed when one the of the companions of the prophet peace be upon him, asked ‘Who is Allah’? The answer was, “Say, He is One, the Eternal”. This verse unlike many others was not entitled by a particular story or message in the verse, but its association of Divine Unity was made with sincerity. In other words one cannot know Allah without sincerity, and sincerity is not only defined by our actions and intention, but also through consistency of observance of the Quran and Sunnah. But how do we know Allah? Allah is known to us through the means He has chosen to make Himself known to us, which are His noble attributes. Thus a test of our sincerity, which is indeed the purpose of our existence, is to be invited to know Allah through His attributes. Hence if a person seeks to know Allah that is one sign of his sincerity, if he seeks to know Allah through His attributes, that is another. But the greatest sign of sincerity is contained in a person that seeks to know Allah through His attributes, who is then tested, and perhaps severely so as were the Sahaba, but still continue to desire to know Allah. This is the truest test of a persons sincerity.

One aspect of the test of the sincerity is to be tested in love, that is to say to be tested to the degree to which we believe in ar-Rahman - the attribute of Allah that means the Most-Compassionate. If a person claimed to believe in love but when he was tested gave up that belief, he is not only giving up a belief in love and compassion but also in Allah the Creator and Originator of Love. Below is an excerpt of an article I wrote last year about the test of love. I hope you will find benefit in it insha’Allah.

The Test of Love

Love is something worth living for, love is the greatest virtue, indeed it is the highest of all virtues. And when I was in the depths of my mind searching for the answer when there appeared to be nothing left, it was love that appeared a shining light. Love is, I believe, the greatest of the gifts of Allah to His creation. It is love that a mother possesses for her child, it is love that protects her child from harm, it is love that believers possess for one another to care and look after one another even though there may not be any blood relation between them. It is love that compels a believer and even some disbelievers to care for complete strangers. It is love that compels to look after and protect animals, to feed them, to give them water and the warmth of shelter when they may not have any, or when they are injured. It is love that compels to care for the elderly, the young, the sick, the injured. It is love that compels to fight injustice. It is love that is placed between a husband and his wife, and between the wife and her husband that compels both to defend the honour of the other. To be loyal to each other, and to be patient with each other when one is being tried with difficulty. It is love that has been placed in the hearts of mankind, and more so in the hearts of the believers so that they may walk in the path of the noble messenger, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him. The one endowed with the greatest love for humanity in his heart, who never wavered, who never doubted the help and decree of Allah, who continued to strive for the goodness and wellbeing of others despite their rejection of him and his love. He cared only for others, that they may realised the best of themselves, that they may be witnesses to reality, so that they may ultimately stand before their Lord in the best of conditions and carry with them the best of their actions. It is love that compels, and it is for all these reasons that life is worth living with some meaning, for without possessing love, what meaning does life hold for a person? He may carry the most noble of intentions and perform the most worthy of deeds, his deeds would not be lessened in the slightest, but their reward cannot compare to the one who performs good deeds for the sake of love.

Ultimately, it is all for the sake of Allah, but we cannot know Allah directly. We can only know Allah through the divine attributes by which He has described Himself and the way in which He has praised Himself. But how do we know whether we are acting for the sake of love alone or for the sake of Allah? The proof for this is that if we act for the sake of Allah and seek to help others for the sake of love but our help is rejected, and
yet we continue to strive to help, then this is a proof that we are genuinely acting for the sake of Allah. The prophet, may the peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, acted for the sake of Allah and for the sake of love, because he continued to strive to help those even when they bitterly rejected his help and persecuted him for wanting only the best for them. Those that want to follow the prophetic example, can only know they are emulating the actions of the best of creation when they forgo everything for the sake of Allah and for the sake of love, continue to believe in Allah and in love, continue to strive to help people even in the face of rejection, and turn back to Allah continually for strength, guidance, wisdom and understanding when everyone else has turned against them. Then they are the ones that have purified their intentions and their hearts and know that they are truly striving for the sake of Allah, but only as long as they hold firmly to the Quran and Sunnah. One can still be deceived by endeavour and perseverance because he may think he is acting out of love, but the rejection of people has caused him to contradict the laws of Allah and thus such a person seeks to justify his actions towards others as the decree of Allah or justifying his actions of the sake of the people. But if those actions fall outside the Quran and Sunnah, and if ijtihad contradicts the principles of the Quran and Sunnah, then such a person is not acting for the sake of Allah. Allah is pure and all good, and true love within a person is pure and good, love is perhaps the greatest expression of the belief in God that a person can possess. Therefore love cannot lead to causing people harm and suffering. Love can of course punish because a lesser pain is better than a greater one, and that punishment can only be within the prescribed limits of faith. But love is a self-governing principle because out of true love cannot come hate, jealousy, envy, greed, insincerity, covetousness and so on. And that is why to be governed by love and love alone is the greatest human guide for the hearts of man, but when done only for the sake of the Lord of the worlds, One Who created the beautiful entity called love, gifted mankind with it and placed it in their hearts. Of all the love in the world it is yet only one part of a hundred, the other ninety-nine Allah has reserved for His creation on the day of judgement.

If true love is the closest experience of Allah within a human being then is it true to say that in the hearts of every human being has been placed the love of Allah. That is to say love, which is the highest of all virtues and the greatest of the divine attributes. Is it true to say that love itself means the love of Allah, but then how that love is interpreted depends on the individual, whether they choose to attribute that love to other than Allah or to Him through acting solely for His sake. To attribute love to other than Allah would be to love His creation for its own sake, for the sake of love alone, instead of for the sake of the creator of love. Allah is not love, but true love is indeed the closest that one can get to emulating a great virtue, which is closest to the highest divine attribute of Ar-Rahman. Therefore is it true to say that love in its purest form has been created ultimately to be directly solely for the love of Allah, that all other loves, as noble as they may be, are not as pure as the love for others for the sake of Allah.