The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

Words bear heavy on the heart,

like the weight of mountains do on the land.

Words give hearts a fixed stability, just as mountains,

like giant stakes, they give the earth stability,

Words are the pegs of the heart. Allah says:

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَمِهَادًا

وَالْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا

Have We not made the earth as a wide expanse,
And the mountains as pegs?”
(Qur’an, an-Naba 78:6-7)

Words and Mountains

And there is no other time when the weight of words is felt more acutely than during Ramadan. And no other month more befitting than this blessed month to speak of the weight and influence of words than the month during which that most perspicious Book of Words was first revealed with a single, and yet strikingly simple command, “Read!” But when Allah commanded mankind to Read, He did not simply mean one ought to pick up a book and start reading for at the time of the revelation the only books as such that existed consisted of parchment belonging to the Christian monks and Jewish Rabbis. The Muslims were to be given an entirely new book of laws, ethics, codes of conduct, principles and ideas by which to live their lives – laws which contained the same spirit as that contained in those books of the belief in One God, but this time this Book was to be preserved by God to prevent His laws from being altered, as Allah says in the Qur’an:

إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ

فِي كِتَابٍ مَّكْنُونٍ

لَّا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

“Most surely it is an honored Quran,
In a book that is protected ,
Which none shall touch but those who are clean”
(Qur’an, al-Wakiah 56:77-79)

The book is protected because its meanings are protected which means that meanings are not derived from reading paper but are conveyed directly to the heart, and this is true because the next verse reads, “which none shall touch but those who are clean (purified). Again this is not reference to simply an external cleanliness which is required but the cleanliness of ones heart in desiring the Truth, and desiring only Allah. Hence because Allah is pure, in order to contain Allah in ones heart as a desire, ones heart must also be pure and free from wordly desires. Thus the meanings of words change according to the purity of the heart, felt more acutely to hearts more pure. It is this purity of heart which the above verse refers to, through which meanings are conveyed by Allah, not by external form, but by internal state, as the Messenger of Allah said, “God does not regard your externals or your riches, but you hearts and your deeds”. (Muslim). The reason I mention these two points about the weight of words and maintaining purity is that when ones heart is pure the words of the Qur’an weigh very heavily upon it because these words are no ordinary words, they are words of great import and significance, weightier than the greatest mountain on earth, as Allah says:

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ عَلَى جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُ خَاشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ اللَّهِ وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

“Had We sent down this Qur’an on a mountain, verily,
thou wouldst have seen it humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah.
Such are the similitudes which We propound to men, that they may reflect”.
(Qur’an, al-Hashr 59:21)

And yet our hearts are able to withstand the words of Allah, but the degree to which they are felt and heard by us internally, that is to say , the extent to which they are impact us internally depends entirely on the purity of our hearts in maintaining them free from worldly desires. Thus we can clearly see from the above verse  the significance of the words of the Qur’an as not only being metaphysically weighty, but also possessing a physical weight, so powerful in fact that we are told the mountains would have crumbled if those words were to have landed upon them. These similitudes Allah has mentioned so that we may understand the significance of these words in terms of their might, power and majesty when we compare them to a mountain. The prophet (s) also mentioned the weight of the Qur’an when he received revelation from Allah, in that he said, it would be very difficult on him for he would feel an immense weight in his heart. If he was riding his camel and revelation came to him, his camel would literally be forced to sit under the weight of the Words of Allah. When the revelation passed the camel was able to stand again and commence its journey. Thus the significance of words is that when understood properly with a sound heart, even the slightest word of the Qur’an has the potential to have a powerful effect on the heart. The heart physically feels its significance, feels its power, and feels the burden of containing the meaning contained in those words. In this respect I liked what James Watkins mentions about words in his poem, “Words”, that aptly fits the Qur’an, when he says:

“There are words above all others-
that fix themselves like stars-
bright beacons in the darkness-
heights hidden in the heart”.

There are words above all others, for not all words are the same, and although the Qur’an is composed of twenty-eight Arabic letters, the words they form are not words that humans can produce, in not only its prose, and eloquence of language, but of the meanings contained in them, of visions and principles not drawn from this world. They do fix themselves like stars, which do indeed  fix themselves like stars, like bright beacons in the darkness, for what else is a beacon but a guide towards light. And as such, these words when inspired by the stars, become transposed in the heart, hidden away from sight, for whatever meaning one draws from words that are outside of oneself, are hidden in the heart and yet visible at the same time. Then he goes onto say in the second verse, which I love even more:

“They alone take awesome stand-
against the tides of life-
in armed array of power-
an army clothed in might”.

It is not us that take stand when we stand for what is right, but we only stand for what is right because of the meaning conveyed to us by words.  We are compelled to take stand, but not just any stand, but awesome stand, because awesome words inspire awe, and inspire us to take awesome stand because our actions reflect the words we choose to stand by. The tides of life continually draws us down and seeks to overcome us, and yet it is only those words that are able to subdue even the power of the sea just in the same way that Allah commanded the sea to part for the Children of Israel and Musa (as), that hold us firm. Again, as an armed array of power and an army clothed in might, we are but a mere screen for the power of God. It is actually His Words that fight when we stand to fight, and His words that are clothed in might when our hearts they strike. I wanted to mention these two verses of this poem because both verses are written extreamely well, short and yet powerful, emphasising the idea of the power of words in themselves when used correctly, and they can only be used correctly when they are understood correctly, and when they are understood correctly they appear as towering mountains, an analogy of which Allah takes many times in the Qur’an, no less when He says:

وَالطُّورِ

“I swear by the Mountain”
(Qur’an, at-Tur 52:1)

Allah does not give His word to such things lightly, thus He is drawing our attention to pay attention to the idea of the mountain, of its significance of the meaning it contains particularly if compared to words, which are as powerful, indeed even more powerful than mountains. It was on a mountain that Allah revealed the first word of the Qur’an to the Prophet Muhammad, “Read”. It was on a mountain that Allah gave Musa (as) the Ten Commandments. It was upon a mountain that Allah did manifest His Light when Musa (as) asked to see Him. It was a mountain that protected the prophet (s) when he needed protection at the Battle of Uhud. If mountains represent power, and words are analogous to mountains then what is being alluded to is that power is not actually to be found in matter, or in the material, but in words which have no weight to speak of, and yet are heavier and more weightier than mountains.

Words are to mountains, as reading is to reflection

Thus as we are returned back to the point with which we began, of the very first word, “Read”, its aduration not just to read, but to seek to understand what this existence means in relation to matter. Is existence about matter, or is it about something else deeper and more significant? Because if it were about matter then matter would have been able to withstand the Light of Allah or His Words, but it could not. If this existence was about matter then this matter would have continued to exist forever, but it will not, for the universe will be destroyed by Allah one day, and all those material pursuits will be destroyed with them. The only thing to endure eternity will be hearts and the deeds that emanates from them. It is only the heart and not anything else of God’s creation that has been honoured to withold the Words of Allah, about which the prophet (s), “There is a lump of flesh in the breast, if sound the whole body is sound, and if corrupt the whole body is corrupt, is it not the heart?”

Thus we learn from this that Allah is inviting us to know Him by developing a sound heart through the command to read, which refers to understanding, which relates to understanding the idea that the power we as human beings all seek is not to be found in “things”, in “matter”, and neither in wealth, possession, culture or progeny.  But instead  through reflection we learn that true power, same as that awesome power given to the mountain comes only from Allah, and is only contained in His words. And thus it is only through reflecting on those words like mountains filled with power and meaning that our own hearts can become strengthened, no longer seek power through matter, but gain their soundness through reflection.

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”
(Qur’an, ash-Shuara 26:88-89)

Words and the Sensitive Heart

And so it is, that when we read, we are not only reading, but we reflect, when we read we are not only reading but understanding, thinking, pondering, investigating, contemplating, evaluating, deducing, allowing to infiltrate, examining, absorbing, taking stand, fighting, struggling, walking, and conveying. All of these meanings contained in that single word “Read”, which if understood  just in itself, we would find contains meanings that keep opening. Through understanding this one word alone, one is able to decipher many of the meanings contained in other words of the Quran. Thus reflection is the path to Allah through the medium of words of meaning, there is no other meaning to be found anywhere else in the universe, for all meaning relates to Allah. Thus we are finally lead on this journey of words and meanings to the single most important point about words, about why Allah gave us words in the first place. Why do words exist? What is their purpose? The single most important purpose of words is to create a sensitive heart. This is the entire purpose of the reason why we have been given words. What is the proof of this? One very simple proof of this is that words have little meaning to hearts that are not sensitive because they are unable to percieve the beauty of meaning, or the meaning contained in those words. Hence we know that some of the Quraysh responded to the words of the Quran because of their open and sensitive hearts, whereas others whose hearts were closed and did not want to hear the Quran opposed it. When Abu Bakr accepted Islam it was easy for him to do so immediately because his heart was already so finely tuned to subtlety and was already sensitive to change. Thus when a momentus change appeared with the prophet Muhammad declaring his prophecy, Abu Bakr (ra) had no hesitation in accepting him as a prophet because his heart was so sensitive, and hence sensitive to the truth. Conversely, when the best of words are spoken to some people, even that of the Quran and Sunnah, one see that it has little affect on them, and in many cases actualy increases their aversion of it. The reason is that their hearts are not all sensitive to the fine and eloquent meanings of the Quran, and that is not so because Allah has made their hearts in this way, but because they never sought to use their hearts for the purpose for which it was created which is to think and reflect. Thus the degree to which words impact us, that is good words, is a direct indication of how sensitive and in-tune our hearts are. And if we find that good words barely have any impact on us, do not affect any long term change, do not incline us towards speaking good, speaking the truth – then there is much work to be done.

•26 Ramadan 1429•

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

““Ya Sin”

By the Qur’an, full of Wisdom,
Thou art indeed one of the messengers,
On a Straight Way.
It is a Revelation sent down by (Him), the Exalted in Might, Most Merciful.

In order that thou mayest admonish a people, whose fathers had received no admonition, and who therefore remain heedless (of the Signs of Allah).
The Word is proved true against the greater part of them: for they do not believe.
We have put yokes round their necks right up to their chins, so that their heads are forced up (and they cannot see).
And We have put a bar in front of them and a bar behind them, and further, We have covered them up; so that they cannot see.

The same is it to them whether thou admonish them or thou do not admonish them: they will not believe.
Thou canst but admonish such a one as follows the Message and fears the (Lord) Most Gracious, unseen: give such a one, therefore, good tidings, of Forgiveness and a Reward most generous.
Verily We shall give life to the dead, and We record that which they send before and that which they leave behind, and of all things have We taken account in a clear Book (of evidence).

Set forth to them, by way of a parable, the (story of) the Companions of the City. Behold!, there came messengers to it.
When We (first) sent to them two messengers, they rejected them: But We strengthened them with a third: they said, “Truly, we have been sent on a mission to you.”
The (people) said: “Ye are only men like ourselves; and (Allah) Most Gracious sends no sort of revelation: ye do nothing but lie.”
They said: “Our Lord doth know that we have been sent on a mission to you:
And our duty is only to proclaim the clear Message.”

The (people) said: “for us, we augur an evil omen from you: if ye desist not, we will certainly stone you. And a grievous punishment indeed will be inflicted on you by us.”
They said: “Your evil omens are with yourselves: (deem ye this an evil omen). If ye are admonished? Nay, but ye are a people transgressing all bounds!”

(Qur’an, Ya Sin 36:1-19)

•25 Ramadan 1429•

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

Experiences emanate from the desert of longing,

and ideas form like clouds.

It rains in the desert,

the writer soaks in those ideas,

lets it absorb into his skin and heart.

Then sail in analogies weighing heavy on treasure-laden ships,

to those shores requiring sustenance;

Perhaps it is the poverty of love,

or the deprivation of justice,

perhaps it is the wrong-doer,

or the wronged.

For each, has his Lord prepared a carefully crafted gift,

contained in the treasure of Words,

Words as ideas from this ship carefully unpacked,

taking care not to damage that precious cargo,

One that does not belong to the writer,

but one that has been placed in his trust.

And so he does,

marked ‘precious – handle with care’;-

are Words that decend from upon high from the Most-High.

handle with care is that precious cargo,

as precious as the heart, to which they are meticulously intended,

intended to bring them the warmth of His love and the Light of His guidance.

The wind blows and guides those Words,

to their rightful places on those pages,

the parchments of the heart,

upon which He has permitted to be written.

The sun appears to dry the ink,

no earlier or sooner than intended,

and the pen writes no more,

and another wind comes to carry those pages far and wide.

Perhaps to lands the writer himself has never been,

nor to its people has he ever spoken,

and yet he knows their speech,

because the One that taught him the use of the pen,

was also the One that taught him the use of Words.

Words which came only from His Lord,

to whom they belong and from Whom they originate.

And that they did,

for when He spoke to His creation,

He spoke but a single Word, “Read!”,

and the best of them did.

For they knew, these Words were no ordinary Words,

they were Words of a precious nature,

entrusted only to the heart of His most beloved.

Who, when he spoke,

spoke a single truth,

“Use your Words wisely”, for,

Words like deeds,

find themselves permenantly marked.

And this is so,

because Words, like people, are precious,

they both belong to God,

and to Him will they both return.

So take care of your Words,

and your Words will take care of you,

neglect your Words ,

and one day your Words will abandon you.

قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنسَى

“Allah will say: “So [it must be]. Our revelations

came to you but you disregarded them;

so will you this day be disregarded”

(Qur’an, Ta Ha 20:126)

•24 Ramadan 1429•

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

Introduction

In June I was writing a series of posts that came under the heading of La illa ha il’lal la, there is no god but Allah. In the last of those June posts I wrote, “What does it mean to believe?” (http://khushu.wordpress.com/2008/06/18/la-il-laha-il-lal%E2%80%99la/), which was written from the perspective of tawheed, or the belief in the Oneness of Allah. And hence what I presented was a series of arguments against ourselves, against Muslims that have been overcome by self-righteousness through their ignorance of what it actually means to be Muslim. The same problems afflicted both the Jews and  Christians who eventually grew arrogant as a result of the pre-eminent position granted them by God.  In that article I presented three main arguments in which I compared Muslims to non-Muslims. And I stated that according to the criteria  given to us by Allah and His messenger, the non-Muslims would actually be appear to be adhereing to the Quran and Sunnah more than the Muslims. These three arguments were Charity, the Environment, and Good Manners, in each regard I argued that given these principles are continually enjoined in the Quran and Sunnah, we as Muslims still consider ourselves to be better than everyone else, even though they are actually out-performing us in all three things. So how can we possibly consider ourselves to be better?

In response one may respond by saying that its his belief in Allah and His Messenger that actually defines wohether one is or is not a Muslim, the fact that he say La illa ha ill’ lal la Muhammadun Rasool Allah, makes him different from non-Muslims. This is true but then we also know that hypocrites, whom Allah does not mention in too favourable terms, are also able to say the Basmallah. So what makes us different from a disbeliever who might observe the inwards forms of religion though good character but not the outward forms of worship, or the hypocrite who obeserves the outward forms of worship but not the inward?

In the post I refer to, I argued that the only tangible difference between the Muslim and non-Muslim can only be in consistent observance of the Quran and Sunnah, tthrough which the possibilitiy of ones disbelief and hypocrisy residing in either ones actions or character, as limited in a person. Note that it limited, and not removed, because not until the final day will one know for sure whether he he was sincere in his actions and intentions or not. As Imam Shafi’i once said:

“All humans are dead except those who have knowledge, and,
All those who have knowledge are asleep,
Except those who do good deeds, and
Those who do good deeds are decieved,
Except those who are sincere, and,
Those who are sincere are in a constant state of worry”.

It is the last line that is the most important here in relation to sincerity because Imam Shafi’i is categorically stating that sincerity, like emaan, is something that Allah has veiled from people, it is only Allah that knows which of His servants is truly sincere. This means that one is constantly guarding oneself against conplacency and arrogance by constantly reflecting on ones actions and intentions and seeking to continually improve and refine them, as Allah says:

أَلا إِنَّ أَوْلِيَاء اللّهِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَكَانُواْ يَتَّقُونَ

“Behold! verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve;
Those who believe and (constantly) guard against evil” (Qur’an, Yunus 10:62-63)

A person is entirely unable to improve himself and guard against evil if he already considers himself better than those outside of his faith, or better than other believers. This is not the defintion of a Muslim that the prophet (s) taught us, who said of arrogance, “A person will not enter paradise even if they possess an atom’s worth of arrogance in the heart”.

The Purpose of Meaning

Thus to return to the question of what it means to believe. In my last post, the short note I wrote, I stated I would discuss with you the ‘meaning of meaning’. The question of what it means to believe is perhaps one of the most questions to seek to understand in this age, and it one aspect One meaning behind the purpose of meaning as a believer, is to consider what it means to believe. For example, the greatest of all meanings for human beings from a worldly perspective is the prophet (s), about whom Allah said:

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ

“We have sent you but as a mercy to the worlds” (Qur’an, al-Anbiya 21:107)

Thus all of meaning is contained in the Messenger of Allah (s), and hence meaning itself relates itself through him to Allah, and hence meaning relates to the existence of God. If this is true, and it is, then the entire purpose of meaning is related to the meaning of belief, or in other words, as we have stated, what does it mean to believe. One such example of what it means to believe may be found in the words of the Messenger of Allah when he said, “None of you believe until you want for your brother what you want for yourself”. In other words the prophet (s) is unequivocally telling us that we are disbelievers if we do not at least want the same for other believers as we do for ourselves. And yet it is not at all uncommon to find amongst us people that would quite happily place themselves before others, and would, as Allah says, “bite off the very tips of their fingers”, at the thought of you having then same. So one can say for definite that to consistently observe the Quran and Sunnah through observing its outward commands, and inward characteristics, is one definition of what it means to believe.

What does it mean to believe?

Now that we understand sincerity and consistency are key components of what it means to believe, as well as of course applying the Qur’an and Sunnah, and as well as proclaiming the Shahada, we will now seek to define what is at the heart of what it means to believe. The question of belief may be approached from many different perspectives, and each will give the same answer from a different aspect. However, Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala has given us one way in which we may possess greater certainty of our sincerity through emulatning those he refers to in Surah Wakiah, as:

“those Foremost (in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter),
These will be those Nearest to Allah,
In Gardens of Bliss” (Qur’an, al-Wakiah 56:10-12)

Who are those that are of the foremost in faith? They are those that have not only remembered Allah through words, or those that have fulfilled their minimum obligations of worship, but those that have striven with their goods and persons for the sake of Allah. Those that have sacrified for their deen, as a sign of their emaan, and of their sincerity, are the people of the foremost, about whom Allah said:

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ وَهَاجَرُواْ وَجَاهَدُواْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَواْ وَّنَصَرُواْ أُولَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا لَّهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ

“Those who believed and left their home and strove for the cause of Allah, and those who took them in and helped them, these are the believers in truth. For them is forgiveness and a generous provision”. (Qur’an, al-Anfal 8:74).

In other words, the proof of ones emaan and the strength of ones conviction is not to be found in words alone, but is measured by Allah directly according to what they did with what they possessed. How did they use the gifts and blessings of Allah, for themselves, or for His cause? One of the reasons for writing this post, especially during the sacred month of Ramadan, is so that we are honest with ourselves about who we are.  Allah does not need our false claims, and nor does He need us to save the world, but whats more important than everything else we do is our honesty with ourselves and with Allah. When we pray to Allah to show us the straight way, one of those paths to the straight way is honesty before Allah and honesty with His servants. Thus it is for this reason that Allah has provided for us the opportunity to rid ourselves of false claims and pretenses of being good, or possessing a sound heart, or being sincere when in actual fact our actions belie this. The only sure way to test our claims of sincerity on our faith is that if we have the ability to do so, then Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala expects nothing less of us than our striving with our goods and persons, foresaking our homes, and if need be, our families, for His sake and His sake alone. And in this you will find no difference than what Allah asked of the prophet (s). As Allah says:

أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ

“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, “We believe”, and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and Allah will certainly know those who are true from those who are false”. (Quran, al-Ankaboot 29:2-3)

Thus as we can see, Allah does not want us to be pretentious by claiming piety and sincerity when in actual factHe has clearly defined what it means to truly believe, which is to sacrifice the gifts Allah has bestowed on us for His sake. And this means foregoing our dunya for the sake of the akhira. It is only when we have given up all those things we love so dearly, and place nothing else before Allah that we may consider  ourselves as posessing a degree of sincerity, and may claim ourselves to be true believers, not by anyone else’s standards but by the criteria given to us by the prophet (s).

ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

Insha’Allah continuing our series of posts on perception, related to the idea of perception is meaning, and the meaning of meaning. In other words perception relates not to what we see by how we see it. Thus no matter how much wealth a person possesses, wealth with which he is able to purchase his experiences, not one bit of that wealth or the experiences bought will enable him to see what Allah has caused to remain hidden from his eyes.Thus perception, insight, understanding and wisdom, are all granted directly from Allah conveyed to ones heart and intellect. Thus related to this, what I would like to discuss with you , is something if understood and mediated and reflected upon will have a radical and profound way in which we percieve our existence and percieve existence itself. In understanding meaning is contained the path that takes one from the material abode to the spiritual world, from the world of ‘things’ to the world of deep meaning. It is this path and how we bring ourselves onto it which we will discuss insha’Allah in the next post.

“Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of mankind; in the rain which Allah Sends down from the skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the clouds which they Trail like their slaves between the sky and the earth;- (Here) indeed are Signs for a people that are wise.” (Qur’an al-Baqarah 2:164)