Things

Let's say I aspire to a certain material thing and let's call this thing A. I will do anything within my means to achieve A. I now have A but now B seems quite appealing to me. What do I do? I chase B. When I achieve B, something tells me I want C. This chain of events is dangerous because in the process of getting from A to C we have not considered any other factor, we have't considered how I may achieve getting these things, what impact it will have on myself and my health nor what impact it will have those surrounding me and that is exactly what reality becomes. When our only aspirations become limited to material goods, we become sidelined and become awfully one-track minded. Contentment, self-fulillfment and validation is what we are looking for from these things but really can an inanimate object determine your value or your happiness? 

I realise everyone knows this in principle but I am speaking from experience, I used to be someone that sought approval and validation through things. I just thought that the bigger the better, the more expensive the better, the more designer the better. It's a status thing and it's an ego thing, I guess thats just the normal human predisposition. By no means am I trying to say that aspiring to materialistic things is a wrong practise but when the mind becomes consumed by such, it is then it becomes a danger. As we gain these things, we start to feel entitled, like we are better than the people that don't have any of this and we forget where all of our wealth and our belongings came from. Our wealth, our health, our bodies and our "belongings" belong not to us, but belong to the One who gave us everything we have. Our wealth in this world is a gift and it is also a test, will we use our wealth for good? Or will we be proud, wasteful and miserly? Sometimes, I feel money and power is more of a test to a human than poverty is. Money and power, albeit may seem very glamorous, it is the very thing that is the most dangerous to a persons faith because one loses sight of the Allah that gave you the ability to get you thus far. How can we feel pride and ownership of something that never belonged to us in the first place even when we know someone who is the slightest bit proud will never get near the gates of heaven? Islam is very clear on the fact that no man is better than another except in terms of faith, the person who has absolutely nothing will be considered better than the man who has everything if his belief in God is stronger and none of your belongings will come with you to the grave, only your good and bad deeds. We should aim to beautify our deeds and strive to be wealthy and rich in our faith as well as seeking comfort and pleasure from worldly materialistic things. Money and possessions were given to us so that we may have a comfortable life and it's our duty to exercise this privilege but striking a balance is what is imperative. 

Hardship

A human being is a fantastic creation, we are able to bear more pain than we, ourselves think we are capable of. When a calamity befalls us, our world stops for a while and we think time stops but has time stopped? No. Has anyone else on the other side of the world that was sat there drinking their coffee stopped doing what they're doing? No. You are the centre of your own universe and your world has ended temporarily, but no one else's has;  people are all over the world living their lives simultaneously to you. Slowly, our world starts moving again, we strive to find happiness in the smaller things and we do our best to achieve internal peace because even though we swore we will never be happy again, that's essentially the only thing we want in this world. We will fight to feel happy and to feel complete and that is the beauty and also the downfall of a human. We strive to find perfection and fulfilment in a world where perfection does not exist. I've heard many people tell me that if I'm looking for happiness in this dunya then I'm in the wrong place and I testify by that statement. Life is so strange in the way that even the thing that was unthinkable happens but you survive, granted with a few battle scars but find comfort in that what was meant for you will never miss you. Every trail and every tribulation that has fallen in your track was put there by Allah SWT for a reason, to teach you a lesson and to test your faith. These lessons are probably the hardest to learn but they shape you into the person you are and help you to evolve into something even greater so that you may improve your character. A very difficult lesson to learn in this life is that if you place your happiness in anything other than God then your heart will be broken very quickly because humans are imperfect but the Divine is not. With that in mind, do not let this world change you and make your heart hard- strive to keep your heart soft because after all, darkness is just the absence of light. 

And, behold, with every hardship comes ease: - 94:5

Kindness

Truly there is no compulsion within Islam, it is progressive, it is modern, it encompasses all issues that we could possibly face. Admittedly, there are some grey areas within Islam but that is why we are given the capacity to make a decision and think logically. Islam is a not just a day- to day, i'll do what I feel like, kind of religion, it's a deen, a way of life, a way of thinking. The Qur'an has no flaw and no contradiction and one of the biggest beliefs in Islam, after Tawheed (belief in one God) is the treatment of other humans whether they be Muslims or the contrary. So why is it that Muslims feel its acceptable to mock and make fun of other Muslims and what they believe? Are you disobeying your God in the way of God? Does that make sense? I see Muslims all the time, poking fun and mocking other people for thinking differently. We are all judged by our intentions and as humans we do not have the capacity to see what is in the hearts of other people and so we should leave the judgement to Allah. Although it may be considered our  job to advise other Muslims albeit it should be done in private, it is certainly not our place to mock or even force our own ideologies upon a person. Islam is not force, Islam is not compulsion and everything that has been decreed, has been decreed for us by the Almighty in our best interests. Allah SWT is Al-Adl (The just), He is Al-Ghafur( The forgiver and hider of faults), He is Al Wali ( a protecting friend) and He is Al Wadud (the loving one.) If Allah SWT is gentle with his creation, should we not take heed and be gentle towards his creation? If a person is not kind and is not gentle in his character then people will not want to listen to anything you have to say even if it is the truth. The manner in which you speak is equally, if not more important than the content of your speech. Don't be too harsh with others, it is not our place to condemn them and we'll end up pushing people away from Islam, so speak with kindness and try to understand different points of view. We should endeavour to broaden our minds and not be harsh on viewpoints we simply do not understand. Our kindness towards other people is one of the best acts of Da'wah we can do because if Islam was truly within us, we would be soft- hearted towards the creation of Allah and not aggressive or forceful. However, one should not be kind and expect reward from the creation, only Allah can reward you for that. If you set out looking from redemption and acceptance from humans you will never find it.

Anas (ra) narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “Verily there are chambers in Paradise; their insides and outsides can be seen – for him who spoke kindly and fed (the hungry).” (al-Tirmidhi)

In the name of Islam

The image of Islam is becoming more and more distorted as the years go on, more atrocities happen in the "name of Islam" and consequentially the entirety of the religion and its  following are to blame. I'm not sure entirely how this distortion of Islam came about but I am certain about one thing, that the religion teaches nothing but peace and nothing but love. Islam is the second biggest religion in the whole world and it's following is growing rapidly-if Islam was exactly what the media portrayed then why would the statistics suggest otherwise? A lot of people fail to understand that in the 21st century religion is often politicalised and used as a justification to do wrong- the logic being- this is my religion and how can your argue with God? People use religion, not to please their creator but for a secondary goal for their own sake-which is not what religion is about. Before religion and Islam especially was politicalised and manipulated to achieve the goals of certain sick minded individuals there was hardly any uproar about it. If the religion was indeed as violent as the media insist then I wonder why this was the case. 

Secondly, we have reached a point of religious illiteracy whereby people do not understand their scriptures and take things out of context without understanding of the correct meaning. After all the Quran is a book and there are many many ways one could potentially interpret that. That is why Allah has made it our duty to know our religion and to gain knowledge but sadly the state of the Ummah is such that google has become our trusty sheikh. The extremists take things from the Quran out of context with no real understanding of the key principles of the faith and use it as an excuse to do as they please. These are not Muslims. By definition, a Muslim is someone who submits to the will of Allah and in the Quran it says "“…if any one killed a person, it would be as if he killed the whole of mankind;" 5:32  so I can assure you these people are not Muslims.  When people knew their religion and were educated, Islam thrived and produced the most civilised and advanced societies history has ever seen and now when people do not know their own religion look at the calamities we are facing.

What Islam does promote is tolerance and compassion towards everyone whether they are Muslims or non-muslims. It is our duty to be gentle and compassionate with everyone and it is our duty to show what Islam is about through our actions and they way we live. This is the only way we can get rid of the stigma attached to the our beautiful religion. We must be kind and gentle in our words and we must portray Islam like it is meant to be portrayed. Islam is a simple religion, which is sweet and gentle but it is not weak. We must educate ourselves in the Deen and we must disassociate religion with politics and culture. Politics and culture are all man-made concepts where is Islam is a concept from the Divine. When practised purely for His sake it is the only solace you will find in this Dunya and it breaks my heart to see how it is being corrupted but this is a massive test for all of us- so enjoin in good and forbid evil.

"Thus do We reward those who do good"(Al Quran 37:111)