The Wrappings of Gratitude

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

I am often asked asked about where I draw my inspiration to write about such a diversity of topics and the descriptions that flow from those inspirations. The truth is that there is no secret to this, there are two main sources that feed into the heart like tributaries feeding to the main river, sources that provide endless inspiration. These are, “the desire to know the truth” and “the desire that people should care for one another”. Each time I witness an injustice, or witness people acting selfishly it only reaffirms the idea of the commitment that one needs towards caring and the truth. But knowing the truth is not easy, the truth simply does not present itself but requires an ability to deduce and understand it. To be able to decipher it and to select if from what is not true. In truth this is a very difficult process to undertake but an absolutely essential ability to learn if one is at all serious about knowing God and knowing ones place here on earth. We are containually challenged by Allah to search for the truth, to impove our understanding, to humble ourselves with those that know, and to always act as students whose desire is simply to want to know more and to please God through attempting to gain more knowledge. Consistency of practice is perhaps one of the greatest roots of success in terms of developing the ability to discern between what is true and what is not, and between the different levels of truth. This second part is much more difficult to achieve as a result of which most people tend to ignore it and hence always fail to assign the correct level of importance to the right situations. In other words it is not simply enough to know what is or is not true but to possess the ability to assign the right weight to that truth whereby a persons ability to see reality in perspective begins to improve.

Conversely, if a person thinks that he will be able to stand on an equal footing with those that know and yet he is unwilling to put in any work and commitment then he is sorely mistaken. Allah does not ever grant a person anything greater than the station they deserve, but that station is also liable to change according to the effort a person puts into, above all else, knowing the truth and acting upon it. Both the desire to know the truth and the desire to help others is a selfless act that accords with the statement of the Prophet (s) when he said, “The best of you are those that are of most benefit to others”.

Insha’Allah what we want to discuss in this post is something that I have been bearing witness for a long time but something that seems to be increasing amongst Muslims which is the onset of cynicism which is at best a mild form of disbelief and at worst a facade that hides the true nature of a person, of the existence of disbelief in the heart. The way that Allah describes Kufr in the Qur’an is through the example of the farmer that is referred to as a kafir because he covers up something (i.e. the seed he is plants). The idea here is of covering up the truth with false ideas, hence as I mentioned in the last post, cynics do actually believe but because they have not continued to strengthen their belief, their emaan has weakened to such an extent that many true ideas have begun to appear false to them, or that they have stopped believing in them. One of the reasons for this is the false understanding people have that they have a right to specific goods, such as a good life, happiness, wealth, education, family and so on. But Allah continually mentions in the Qur’an that these things are not to be taken for granted, that the more a person recieves the more he will be tested. This is confirmed by the prophet (s) who said, “The poor will enter Paradise 500 years before the wealthy”. An even greater proof of the deficiency of the life spent in the pursuit of wealth and material goods is confirmed by the life and death of the Messenger of Allah (s), who could have had the greatest of riches and yet lived a very simple and humble life. And who when he died neither owed any money, nor left any wealth behind. This emphasised that the greatest treasure he was leaving were his words of wisdom, his deeds of purity and the eternal Words and guidance of Allah.

What cynicism seeks to establish is the idea that there is no goodness, that there are only bad intentions and bad motivations, that goodness does not exist, that people always act for some selfish motive. What many Muslims that have begun to believe in such pagan ideas do not realise is that these are the ideas prevalent amongst non-Muslim societies,  the very ideas that destroyed the Christians and Jews and they did so because their faith weakened to the point where these destructive ideas were able to take root. And once they take root in the heart it is very dificult to eradicate them. One very important observance of these times is that many of the ideas that Muslims are beginnning to live by are not actually from Islam even though people think they are. The reason for this is because people are so subsumed by the material culture they are surrounded by that they begin to draw many ideas and inferences from that culture even without their realisation. What helps them to internalise those ideas is that they continue to practice their Islam and hence they think they are following their religion and yet their practice contains many non-Islamic principles. In other words, Islam becomes a mask they begin to wear to cover up a host of problem regarding their belief and a host of incorrect practices they are either aware or unaware of.

One such idea that Muslims have become transfixed with is seeking success in the dunya which is what the title of this post refers to. Building sandcastles on the shores of dunya is what people are doing when they pour all their life’s efforts into achieving success in this life and hence neglect the next. The tide that is ever reaching nearer with every moment is not only ones impending death but also yawm al-akhir, the final day. Nothing can stop that tide, and when it reaches the shores of these magnificent castles built from the sand of dunya each and everyone of them will dissolve, will cease to exist as though they never had. Hence it is only the intelligent that do not pour all of their efforts into something that will come to an end but they believe in the words of Allah when He said to them:

A Home in the Hereafter

وَابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا وَأَحْسِن كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ وَلَا تَبْغِ الْفَسَادَ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُفْسِدِينَ

“But seek, with the (wealth) which Allah has bestowed on thee, the Home of the Hereafter, nor forget thy portion in this world: but do thou good, as Allah has been good to thee, and seek not (occasions for) mischief in the land: for Allah loves not those who do mischief.” (Qur’an, al-Qasas 28:77)

This is an extraordinary verse of the Qur’an that in itself describes the entire purpose for seeking wealth and what to do with it which is to build for oneself a home in the hereafter. But in order to understand it better let us examine it in greater detail insha’Allah. Firstly Allah begins with a command which is intended to capture our attention immediately because Allah is not only speaking to us but is commanding us to do something. And when Allah commands us to something it is always good and always for our benefit. To ignore it would be to act against it. The command is to use our wealth only for the purposes of creating for ourselves a home in the hereafter. If we analyse this further we are able to draw out much more knowledge. Firstly, this is a conditional sentence in which Allah is stating that “if” you do this then then “this” will happen. So Allah is indicating to us an insight into how wealth operates. Allah does not say spend your wealth for the sucess of your dunya and more success will come to you which is what many Muslims have begun to believe, but instead He directs our attention upwards. Allah also very purposefully states His name in the verse by saying, “Seek with the wealth Allah has bestowed on you”. In other words even before you become adulated with your success remember Who gave you that wealth and Who could take it away from you. Then Allah goes onto say, “nor forget the portion of this world”, in other words, do not seek the next world exclusively of this world but remember this world is the means through which one attains the next. Hence there is work to do in this world, which is confirmed by Allah saying, “but do good”. In other words now that you have understood this idea of seeking a home in the hereafter for yourself how are you going to apply it? Allah says, this is a very powerful idea that could cause you to forget all else, and hence He reminds us not to forget what He has given us in this world and where He has placed us. Then the very next point Allah mentions is doing good by chanelling all that energy and passion for the next world through seeking to do good deeds in this world. Allah then makes an extraordinary statement that is intended to further bring us to our senses by impressing on us the fact that were it not for Him we would not be here and nor would we be able to do anything. Hence, if one seeks to do anything then it should be to do good, for the only purpose for which our minds, hearts and limbs have been created has been to do good. Conversely, one breaks ones covenant with Allah seeking to do mischief. Hence, Allah is reminding us that there are always these two route available to us, we can either take the goodness Allah has given us and show our gratitude by using them wisely for His sake, or we can misuse those gifts. The misuse of those gifts not only brings harm to us but also has the potential to cause mischief. Hence, Allah warns us away from even the possibility of following that path by telling us that anything other than seeking to do good will lead to mischief and He, “loves not those who do mischief”.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

Introduction

In our previous post we presented the first three keys to interminable success of reading, writing and forming connections which were all directed towards the development of understanding. In this post we would like to take our discussion further by enriching our understanding of what has already been said through learning about the fourth and fifth keys to achieving success both in this life and the next. The cornerstone of success in the history of Islam, of countless generations of past Muslims has been based predominantly on one idea, that of open-mindedness. Muslims neither discounted people that did not accord with their own beliefs, and nor did they discount any ideas, no matter who they were from or what they were as long as they bore witness to the single truth of the Oneness of God. Even if other people did not testify to this truth Muslims have always been open-minded enough about other people to let them hold to their beliefs and practices as long as they did not prevent the Muslims from adhering to their religion. Such open-mindedness and tolerance are hallmarks of this religion based on love, truth, understanding, forgiveness, patience and tolerence – and the greatest proof of this is that the founder of this religion, the prophet Muhammad (s) embodied all of these principles. It was he that gave rise to the tolerance and open-mindedness of Islam and the Muslims, so that wherever the Muslims travelled, whether China or Indonesia, Andalusia or India they carried the same message of peace and diversity, prosperity and equality.

The question we want to examine here is how exactly was this model of open-mindedness and tolerance replicated by later generations of Muslims and how can we again follow this same model? Muslims might be inclined to answer this question by saying that it was the Qur’an, and the Sunnah of the prophet Muhammad (s) that gave rise to the intellectual and cultural development of the Muslims that enabled them to become so open-minded and hence become pioneers in so many branches of learning. This is of course true but in order to understand specifically how that success of the development of being open-minded was achieved we have to examine this question in greater detail through firstly beginning with the relationship between the Prayer (as-Salah) and the Qur’an.

The attainment of open-mindedness through the Qur’an and Prayer

As we have mentioned several times previously the Qur’an is not simply a book of laws but it is predominantly a book of principles, based on ideas and concepts. Essentially it is a book of ideas. However, those ideas cannot simply be understood through reading about them, they require the dual effort of prayer as well as practice. Hence the person that merely studies those ideas from an intellectual perspective will not be given the openings of understanding by God with regards to their true meanings which will remain hidden to him. To gain access to those meanings require both physical exertion through the prayer, sincerity of devotion, and consistency of practice. What happens in the prescribed prayer is that when it is undertake with effort and sincerity it has the effect of opening the heart in order to recieve ideas from the Qur’an, and in turn those ideas, those verses of the Qur’an are repeated in the prayer which leads to the potential of understanding those verses.  To give one particular example Imam Malik read the entire Qur’an three-hundred times before he was granted access to the meaning of one particular verse of the Qur’an he wanted to understand. His efforts were not only limited to reciting the Qur’an but the meaning behind this is that he had to acquire a certain state of mind through constant devotion which he would have continued even when not reciting the Qur’an and seeking to understand it.  This is essentially how the dual relationship between the Qur’an and Salah works, which limits it according to the degree of sincerity of the individual characterised by the level of effort he is prepared to offer in wanting to understand the Qur’an and follow the example of the prophet Muhammad (s). Hence, through this constant practice of seeking to understand the Qur’an through intellectual exertion as well as praying with Khushu or presence of mind to achieve a still heart, places a person in the best position of being granted understanding directly from Allah. The greater the effort, the greater the possible attainable understanding.

In other words the root to attaining a mind open, to people, possibilities, ideas, analogies, concepts and principles requires reading the Qur’an and praying, which is our indication to God that we are serious and sincere about knowing His Words. The idea, or indeed this dual relationship is not by any means limited to the times of prayer or the times of reading the Qur’an, but is intended to demonstrate that it is a continuous effort, both day and night in every activity undertaken, which essentially refers to Taqwa, or God-consciouness which is the highest form of worship. Hence, it would stand to reason that only the highest effort, and highest form of worship could give access to the highest meanings available to human beings. Thus it is, that through the perfection of prayer and through maintaining a constant presence of mind in the remeberance of God, through stilling the heart, the heart and mind becomes receptive enough for ideas of breadth and depth.

Now that we have mentioned something about the means by which open-mindedness may be attained we need to go to the next level of specificity in defining exactly how within the bounds of sincerity and consistency of practice we may attain open-mindedness, two of these methods are what we are referring to here as the fourth and fifth keys of interminable success which are Holding a Good Opinion of Allah and Perfection.

The Fourth and Fifth Keys: Holding a Good Opinion of Allah and Perfection

Holding a good opinion of Allah and the idea of perfection are related in that Allah is perfect. Thus whenever we find imperfection, either in ourselves, in our experiences or in the actions of others – is not to be taken as a sign that God does not exist. The sub-consious mind is very powerful and operates at a much quicker and deeper level than the conscious mind, it is constantly searching for connections and meaning because it is much more directly connected to the Ruh (soul). In other words the Ruh, represents the fitra or the natural state of the soul inclining towards God, and the subconscious mind is the internal intelligence of the mind associated with the soul. The two directly speak to one another, but the two also require the operation of the conscious mind that possesses knowledge to inform them of what they intuitively understand but do not yet know in terms of knowledge. The natural inclination of the sub-conscious mind is to form connections, to piece together ideas from creation which form the whole which represents the Oneness of God, that represents His existence. If it is unable to do this because there is insufficient input to remind it of God it will become distraught and disheartened and will eventually fall prey to other ideas or simply stop searching for its Creator. This is not because it wants to but because of a lack of explanation offered to it, or the lack of external ideas which it can at least use itself to attempt to gaze upon a picture that represents its memory of its Creator before Whom it once stood.

The reason for discussing the sub-conscious mind and the soul is that contained within both of them is the innate understanding of the perfection of God. But when we witness the imperfection of society it is easy to fall victim to sub-consciously questioning the existence of God. In other words there is an internal conflict between the intuitive idea that God exists and with the external actions of others that may challenge that idea. For example let us take energy consumption as a common global policy that illustrates this idea. When we witness the use of unsustainable forms of energy such as the use of wood from tropical rainforests, or highly polluting fossils fuels, and when we examine this in the context of the environmental dangers the earth is facing, this challenges ones internal belief in the perfection of God. In other words if God was perfect then His perfection would be manifest in His creation and in the availibility of lifestyles that reflect that perfection. If we continue to consume energy in the way we are through unsustainable means and continue to pollute the planet as we are, will eventually lead to the earth becoming uninhabitable. At this stage of internal questioning there are two possible routes for a person to take. Either he can conceed defeat and allow himself to believe in imperfection, or he can continue to believe in perfection and seek a solution to this problem. In other words in our example the existence of renewable technology, or the ability for human beings to harness energy from the power of nature without causing any pollution is a sign of the existence of God because He allowed human beings the ability to discover the technology as well as of course providing the wind, rain, earth and sun from which clean energy may be derived.

To take another example when a person suffers some calamity it is common for them to blame God for its occurance and hence it is a sign that they hold a bad opinion of Him irrespective of whether they have done so knowingly or not. In other words if one believes in the perfection of God one cannot hold a bad opinion of Him. If anything testing occurs then we ascribe that to either our lack of understanding or to the actions of people possessing freewill. The perfection of Allah contains within it everything that relates to perfection within a persons life and within society. For example it is possible to create a society that gains all its energy from sustainable means, a society where the design of buildings reflect the attributes of God, of perfection and beauty. As Imam al-Ghazali says:

“It is not a secret to you, nor to a scholar who has developed even a little above the level of the common scholar, that existing things are divided into perfect and imperfect, and that the perfect are nobler than the imperfect, that no matter how different the degrees of perfection may be, ultimate perfection may be limited to One – so that no one is simply perfect but He. Other things do not have perfection simply, but different perfections belong to them in relation [to Him]; for there is no doubt that a thing is more perfect the closer it is to He Who has perfection simply – closer, that is, in degree and in level, not in perfection tout court.” (The ninety-nine beautiful Names of God, Burrell, Daher, 2007:33)

As Imam al-Ghazali goes onto say that one can only know God, or more precisely know His attributes through possessing those attributes themselves such that the greatest living example of the attributes of God was the prophet (s) in whom, as a human being, His attributes were perfected. In the same way in relation to perfection as one of the attributes of God, one cannot know the perfection of God unless one also possesses a degree of perfection in oneself. If we thus link this to the idea of always holding a good opinion of God we realise that without holding this opinion we cannot arrive at knowing the idea of perfection, for if God is perfect then there are no flaws in His creation. Thus we attribute flaws to ourselves and good to Him because His essential attribute is perfection, and in doing this we cannot ascribe to Him anything less than perfection, which means that even when ones emaan is sorely tested one does not incline to hold any other opinion of God but perfection. Once this idea becomes instilled in a person, once he continues to practice this idea of holding a high opinion of God, even through adversity, he develops in himself the attribute of perfection whereby he is gifted with the [better] understanding of perfection of God.

Finally, in conclusion when we assess these five keys as a logical progresssion, from reading-writing-forming connections-and holding a good opinion, they all lead towards understanding that singular idea of the perfection of God through inculcating the idea of perfection in the self – thereby placing oneself in the  best position to know oneself and ones Lord. There are many aspects of perfection such as contained in the ideas of love and compassion, tolerance and patience, each of which we have examined previously, but will insha’Allah re-examine again in the next post in the context of one of the most testing modern challenges facing the Muslims today, that of cynicism.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

Introduction

It stands to reason that if we as Muslims are seeking success in this life and in the next then we must possess the pre-requisite understanding of how to attain that success. Of course we are all aware of our primary legal and moral obligations entailed in our religious duties through following the Qur’an and Sunnah. However, we also know that this idea can be understood just as well by a child as an adult which prompts us to question what specifically distinguishes us as adults as opposed to when we were children? In other words one can teach a child to pray and read the Qur’an, to apply hadith and even to do so with a certain level of contextualisation. We also know that children can become hafiz of the Qur’an, can memorise the entire Qur’an and possess a level of understanding, thus prompting us to ponder the question of how we as adults distinguish ourselves from children. Indeed we may even go so far as to say that children, especially when under the age of moral accountability possess both innocence and hence sincerity both of which become diminished in adulthood. So rather than progressing we have in fact regressed from our natural state, the state of fitra where the ruh was in a high state of bearing witness to the truth of the Oneness of God.

The question I would like to explore today insha’Allah is that if regression is one essential test, given to us by Allah as adult Muslims, then, if this being the case, it stands to reason that it is imperative for us to understand how we not only, on one hand prevent that regression, but on the other, initiate progression. Drawing this argument full circle it is not enough to say that implementation of our basic obligations is enough. The distinguishing factor we are seeking to derive through comparing children and adults is understanding. That whilst children may be taught all the basic precepts of Islam and can follow them with a degree of accuracy and sincerity they will not do so on the basis of understanding, or at least not in the same way open to an adult. Thus if we say that developing understanding is the lock that resides at the heart of success in this life and the next then what are the keys that grant us interminable access to the success contained within that which is protected by the lock?

Unlike learning during the modern period of human history, classical and traditional learning in Islam has always simultaneously provided the questions and well as its answers or at least the methodology for attaining the answers. Hence, we are well versed in the idea – that proceeding each enquiry is an answer. The reason I mention this is that whilst intellectual enquiry exists in modern learning what is significantly absent is the ability to recognise when we have arrived at the station of the answer to the question we sought to know. In other words as believers we are not on a perpetual journey of seeking knowledge unless that journey has an end, where that end is recognised through knowing we have arrived at our journey’s end rather than simply seeking without end. It is necessary to lay these contextual foundations prior to presenting the three keys we are referring to because whilst these keys may seem simple they are quite extraordinary and are the journey’s end of the seekers of true knowledge. The three keys we speak of are Reading, Writing and Forming Connections- about each of which we will say something.

خَلَقَ
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ

“Read! in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher, Who created,
Created man from a clot,
Read! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful.” (Qur’an, al-Alaq 96:1-3)

Reading

It may seem extraordinary that we are referring the interminable keys of our entire success in this life and the next (fid dunya wal akhira) resting on our ability to read, write and form connections, and yet I would contend with you without hesitation that it requires no more than developing these three components to develop an extraordinary level of understanding and hence intelligence. For us to place this idea in further context all we need to consider is that single word revealed in the Qur’an, that very first word, that very first command issued by Allah to “Read”. However, before going onto discuss what this means we have to consider that this command was given to the prophet (saw) first and foremost as someone that could not read nor write. Knowing this to be true, to what was Allah alluding in asking the prophet (saw) to “read”? The command to read did not literally mean to “read” but rather to its associative meanings – to reflect, understand deduce, deduct, ponder, evaluate, investigate, calculate, research, explore and discover. Hence the first injunction was to think for the purpose of developing understanding, which could not be the case if that injunction was anything else. In other words the command to think as the primary injunction meant that knowledge existed both internally and externally of the human mind, it just existed, and through reflection that knowledge could be deduced and discovered. Hence, believers were from the outset being told are not the authors of knowledge but rather its noble discoverers directed and guided by the Book that was given to guide human minds to the places where that knowledge may be found. Hence the point we are driving at here is that if human beings were not the authors of knowledge then it stands to reason that the first injunction could not literally have been to read words on a page but rather to think. This idea is further reinforced by the fact that when the prophet (saw) was commanded to “read” the Qur’an had yet to be revealed so what exactly was he being asked to read. Again, the injunction was to think from which knowledge would be discovered.

Taking this idea further, and in order to be able to be brought to the position of being able to literally read or in other words understand, required the freeing of ones mind which could only be initiated through the freewill and moral consent of the individual to want to learn. Freeing the mind in this case means the ability to break the mind’s attachment to basic held assumptions that prevent its access to higher learning, through for example prejudice or arrogance. That first desire must come from the individual himself, only after which he is in a position to be able to develop understanding. Understanding cannot be developed through literally reading, but in sacred knowledge is granted directly to the hearts of those that sincerely seek it. That is not to say understanding cannot be acquired through the medium of books, but what resides behind that medium is the intention whose power is contained in the heart’s desire to want to know.

الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ

“He Who taught (the use of) the pen,
Taught man that which he knew not”.
(Quran, al-Alaq, 96:4-5)

Writing

Much in the same way as we have established the meaning of the word “read”, in order to understand what the word “write” refers to we have to begin with a dynamic interpretation before the literal interpretation. Writing essentially refers to the ability to “express”. In other words one cannot write without the ability to express and expression cannot emerge without possessing a certain understanding – which in this case refers to connected ideas that form part of an overall whole. The whole are the ideas contained within the creation of God, anything from the placement of the stars to the social structure of an ant colony. Contained with all of these and much more are ideas, which all combine and refer to the existence of One Creator. Hence, the root to expression and its success is contained in being able to understand and connect a diverse range of ideas and relate them to the existence of God. The greater number of ideas and the greater number of connections means that our overall expression, and hence our expression of our understanding of God, becomes that much richer and profound. The key to expression is understanding a breadth of ideas at depth, combined with a good vocabulary and sound articulation.

Reading and Writing ( combined with thinking)

In combining the two what we see is an evident first and second stage, the first being reflection and the second being expression which cycles back to reflection and outputs to understanding, and it is understanding that reading and writing both combine to effect and it is understanding that we are ultimately seeking to develop, which is that single distinguishing factor between children and adults. Although the two essential keys are reading and writing, there is also an overlap of thinking in both reading and writing as a separate entity which is undertaken without any external output. Writing as expression is an obvious output, but reading is also an output because what we choose to read is an outward expression based on internal self-reflection and internal understanding. But the process of arriving at that decision of what to read, and what to express is best understood through understanding thinking as something that may not at stages have any evident output. It is for this reason that I have not mentioned thinking under a separate heading but have referred to it through the keys of reading and writing.

Forming Connection

The most important consideration here is our non-literal dynamic interpretation of the words “read” and “write”, which on greater reflection mean almost something entirely different to their literal interpretations. The reason why this is so very important is that even for students of sacred knowledge that have spent several years studying with scholars, or are considering embarking on studies, are limited in their understanding, proportional to their ability to approach knowledge from a non-literal abstract perspective. From either taking a tangible approach or a metaphysical conceptual and ideas based approach – the Qur’an in this case is not a literal book of laws – where those laws comprise less than one tenth of the Qur’an, but is in fact a book of universal ideas and concepts not limited by time, space, culture or any other barrier. Hence, it would stand to reason that in order to understand a book whose core meaning is that there are no barriers, that there are literally no partners to God, that God is One, means that the words that comprise the ideas that make up the whole must also be understood without barriers. Or in other words our understanding of the whole is proportionally limited to the extent to which we are able to break down words and ideas to a point where we see the whole in the parts. We stop seeing the constituent parts and only see the whole which is One God. But this idea cannot be impressed upon the mind restricted by a structure which does not readily see connections. Connections then become the bridge that literally connects reading, which relates to reflecting, and writing, which related to expression to understanding. Understanding is an island that cannot be traversed without the ability to form connections which means that reading and writing are only as effective as ones ability to know the purpose for which these are undertaken. It may well be possible to form limited connections, but without referring all knowledge to the existence of One God it is clear to see how easy it is to attribute the power of God to something that has no power of its own such as those that fall into the error of polytheism – those that worship the created rather than the Creator.

Thus to conclude we may say that the tripartite keys to interminable success both in this life and the next is the ability to take a non-literal dynamic approach with reference to reading and writing which are both informed by the ability to connect the parts to the whole through understanding their connectivity – all of which lead to the development of understanding. Understanding in this case may be defined as a level of knowing beyond possessing knowledge, but knowledge which is combined with certainty and sincerity rewarded through the sincere desire to want to know ones Lord and Creator, and through ones exertions to this end – for which one cannot expect but the highest reward. Ameen.

In the next post insha’Allah I want to place much of this conceptual knowledge into the context of how it relates to a dua’a whose timeline bears testimony to the truth that “those who sincerely seek will acquire”.

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

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

On our journey of discovery towards the stars insha’Allah we need to traverse the seven lower heavens beyond which lie endless fields of shimmering stars amongst countless galaxies formed billions of years ago from light and energy, from the power and creativity of Allah. What we spoke about in our last post was how Allah veils people from The Truth by varying degrees according primarily to their standing with Him, but also according to the effort a person exerts in seeking The Truth. “The Truth” in this case is capitalised because it is a noun, an object, a name – and names belong to something, which alludes to the point that The Truth is something to be discovered through discovering the thing to which it belongs. One of those things, or one of the mediums through which this Truth may be discovered is through the world of meaning. Or in other words understanding the meaning that Allah has placed in the world He has created, a world beyond boundaries and atoms, a world where the sky is not just a sky or a tree not just a tree, but all of these creations tell their own story of being part of a much greater tapestry.

I remember waking up one day several years ago from a long sleep, from a sleep that I did not know in was in, which caused me to ponder if I could truly be sure whether or not i was still sleeping? Well what I did know for sure was that my eyes were open, but is that enough of sign that we are not, at least metaphorically speaking, still asleep? Imam Ali (ra) certainly thought so when he said, “Humans are asleep, they die and then they wake up”. In other words it is almost impossible for most human beings to determine by themselves whether they are asleep or awake which means that whilst we may think we are awake and alive, we are in fact living in a dream, a dream where we choose its components and assign each one of them meanings of our own choosing. Those meanings do not have to mean anything to anyone else, just as long as they mean something to us. Hence, it may be that we assign a high level of meaning to our families and loved ones, but to someone else they may mean very little. In much the same way we may assign great importance to our work, job, hobbies and interest, our talents and abilities. To others they may mean nothing at all but to us they are the most important things in life. Hence our dreams may be defined as a time where we assign arbitrary and subjective meaning that does not refer to any specific and overall unifying frame of reference. Whereas conversely we are defining reality as a time of objective non-artibrary meanings assiged according to an unified objective. In other words even though our most precious belongings that mean the world to us, if the meaning we assign to them does not concord with the highest Truth of the existence of One God – then all those things and meanings count for very little on a day when only what is real and substantial will be considered. As Allah stated:

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)

In other words no matter how much we assign meanings to these material things they will count for nothing on the final day unless the meaning those things were given were according to the highest Truth which is al-Haqq, one of the names of Allah. If we loved the things we loved, even if they were good deeds, simply for themselves, then this is vanity and pride, of being boastful and conceited. Thus returning back to our original question of whether we know if we are awake or asleep, dreaming or not dreaming, is very difficult to tell for the person that assigns arbitrary meanings to things Allah did not assign the same meaning to will not have crecourse to means by which he can objectively evaluate himself, for every face needs a mirror to see itself. Hence in the case of our family and wealth, Allah is telling us that even the most important and precious of our possessions to which we have important legal and moral obligations, in the end, count for very little if not approached with sincerity. And that is what we are talking about this evening, about sincerity, because what we find when we are sincere or at least seeking to be sincere is that our pursuit for The Truth and our desire to live a truthful and honest life becomes purer. We are neither cheating others, nor ourselves. “You may ask, “Cheat ourselves of what”? “Of life”, would be my simple reply. In this respect we find amongst people as a whole and also amongst believers as a whole, two groups of people. Those that are asleep and those that are awake, those that are dreaming and those that are seeking a higher meaning, those that conform to the standards of the unjust, and those that seek to be just to themselves and just to others. The latter have always found themselves numbered amongst the few because it is much more diffiucult to stand up for the truth for the reason that it invariably involves standing on ones own. But these people are also always the highest people in terms of their standing with their Lord, characterised by their pursuit for a higher meaning and the higher Truth that comes with this endevour. But what does all this really mean? What is this Truth of which we speak, of which we claim that without its knowledge, we would not know what to seek. And yet we ask this question as though we did not know its answer, but we all know its meaning except that we do not choose to pursue its meaning. Its meaning is that – only the most beautiful things in life, in God’s creation – hold any real meaning, and it is within those things that we ought to find meaning, that we should find meaning within what is essentially the blackness of space, of nothingness. It cannot be more evident than the fact that we are literally surrounded by the blackness of space and nothingness, that we ought to seek the higher meaning towards which we are being directed, beyond this world of matter and to a world in which matter counts for nothing.

Hence just as a miner digging deep for precious stones, is forced to uncover mounds of earth in pursuit for that one precious gem, in much the same way Allah is teaching us to have the same approach with regards to seeking knowledge because unlike a precious stone, whose worth will end with our existence, our knowledge like our good deeds is eternal. Furthermore without knowledge even if we were to acquire this precious stone we would not know what to do with it and most likely squander it, but knowledge would teach us of its true worth and purpose. But that kind of knowledge does not come easy and hence is the reason why so many Muslims today avoid deliving deeper into seeking this higher meaning even though  Allah has made its acquiring easy through granting us numerous tools such as reading, writing comprehension, reflection, the ability to form connections, analysis, abstract thinking, love and compassion, the innate desire for truth and right, insight and foresight, and much more besides – all of which are there for the one single purpose of knowing the truth. But that Truth will not literally be granted to us on a plate, the simple proof of this is the tremdous struggle the early Muslims went through to be granted this knowledge and understanding. And yet what was available to them is also available to us, – the knowledge that if we look hard enough, dig deep enough, are patient enough and strive enough, we will find this earth resplendent with meaning, and that meaning may be found in absolutely anything that Allah and His Messenger have already told us about. We might find it in good manners, in kind gestures, in warm hearts and acts of generosity, in selfless acts, in love and compassion, in honesty and charity, in forgiveness and teaching, in the patience of others with our mistakes, in tolerance and creativity, in their efforts to help us and improve us, and in much more besides. Conversely we have been told that meaning is not to be found in popularity, or seeking fame or notariety, wealth, or seeking good deeds for the praise of others.

When we begin to see this world from the perspective of meaning, it is only then do we wake up to reality instead of a world of meaningless material ‘things’ which Allah will destroy anyway. So to acquire wealth or position, to strive towards great ambitions and the accumulation of ‘more’ is a futile exercise, an exercise for those finding it difficult to wake up to reality. But just as our eyes take a few moments to adjust to the bright light of the day when we wake up and open the curtains, so those few moments of waking up from the slumber of our existence is difficult until our eyes and hearts grow accustomed to a different world of different meanings where we do not see the same things in the same ways as others.

بَلْ هُوَ آيَاتٌ بَيِّنَاتٌ فِي صُدُورِ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ وَمَا يَجْحَدُ بِآيَاتِنَا إِلَّا الظَّالِمُونَ

“But it is clear signs in the hearts of those who have been given knowledge, and none deny Our signs save the unjust” (Qur’an, al-Ankabut 29:49)

How do we become a part of this world? The first step is always internal and always begins with the desire to want to know The Truth, without this desire, without the conviction of heart we may as well not begin the journey. But once we do want to know then we must begin by wanting to leave this world of possessions and things behind by breaking our attachments to them, for in reality they hold no meaning whatsoever. When all those material possessions will melt away like sand on the beach into the sea of God’s endless Truth, what will remain will be our good deeds, good manners and good intentions. All else will disappear into the night, into the silence of the space in which we used to once exist. That day Allah will ask humanity, “Where are you now?” There will be no reply!

قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ
اللَّهُ الصَّمَدُ
لَمْ يَلِدْ وَلَمْ يُولَدْ
وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُ كُفُوًاأَحَدٌ

“Say: He is Allah, the One!
Allah, the Eternal, Absolute;
He begets not, nor is He begotten;
And there is none like unto Him”. (Ikhlas 112:1-4)