We worship something, one way or another

 As a Muslim, I try my best to put God my number one priority of worship. But frankly, I never find this easy. It is a constant struggle. The rivers of life have strong currents, and I often get drowned or washed away to places where I’m not supposed to be.

A Muslim’s basic belief is that there is nothing worthy of worship but God. Every Muslim knows this. But many, like myself, struggle to implement this consistently with no compromise in their actions. 

Idolatry, the worship of anything other than God,  is prohibited in Islam. It is usually understood as direct worship, in the traditional sense, when a person prays or conducts religious rituals for pleasing a deity. However, worshiping other than God has many different levels and forms. In a general sense, it can mean prioritizing anything other than God.

We put things ahead of God all of the time. We put work ahead of God. We put people ahead of God. We put fame ahead of God. We put wealth ahead of God. We even put play ahead of God. The most subtle, but equally dangerous is putting our ego and desires ahead of God. We put in so much dedication to those things as if we worship them.

In the end, we are all worshipers of something, at many different levels. We decide what we choose to worship, and is something that we need to think deeply about. We need to be critical of ourselves. Forget about judging others, as everyone is struggling with different issues. Life is short, and we are responsible to to make sense of it as best as we can. What is our purpose? What is our end game? We need to strive and put in the effort to answer these difficult questions. And we should do so before our time runs out.

God knows best.

Reflection of An Nisa verse 116

#quran #worship #idolatry #struggle #islam

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Divine punishment

We are sometimes mistaken about how Divine Punishment needs to be understood in the Islamic tradition. Condemning other people without understanding the whole picture, or seeing the Islamic creed as harsh and unforgiving, while the truth is far from it.

According to the Islamic tradition, people who will receive Divine punishment are those who fully understand the truth but choose to reject it because of his/her love for other things. If a person is given a wrong version of the truth, resulting in a wrong understanding of it, or does not have the ability to comprehend what the truth is (people who are mentally challenged or those who have not yet developed their intellectual and mental faculties), their fate is with God, and God is just.

At the time of the Prophet Muhammad PBUH, many of his opponents understood that his message was the truth but chose to reject it due to their egos and worldly interests. This is a recurring theme in the Quran. People who know the truth but choose to reject it.

Anyway, the truth of the matter is, we should not focus on other people’s divine decree. We should not be quick to condemn other people to be in hellfire, as in reality, it is God’s secret alone. We don’t know what will happen to anyone, including ourselves. 

What we should focus on is being the best versions of ourselves and having hope (and good estimation) that God has mercy on us when it really matters. 

God knows best.

Reflections from surah An Nisa verse 115

#islam #divinepunishment #mercy #intellect #selfawareness #truth

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Useless negotiations

When people commune, interaction is inevitable. Even the introvert inside of me recognizes the value and importance of interacting with other people in society. 

One such interaction that is quite common in society is negotiations with its many forms, which are usually carried out in a closed setting with limited attendees. The more advanced societies are, the more diversified the interests of everyone involved are, depending on the scale of the negotiation, negotiations become more complex, as each party will have different agendas and expectations from the outcomes of the negotiation. And the more complex negotiations are, the more effort, time, and energy will be needed to agree on something. 

There are many difficulties in reaching a consensus in negotiations, but the biggest hurdle is the ego and individual interests. Perhaps it is in our egotistical nature to plot for getting the best out of negotiations based on our personal interests, even though we know that there is a greater good. 

Anyway, when we talk about negotiations and secret talks, according to the Islamic tradition, all of those long hours and energy wasted can be useless, having no benefit whatsoever (from a spiritual perspective, which will be the default from hereon), if they are missing certain criteria and have mistaken orientation/purpose.

Every secret talk or negotiation, in order to be beneficial (in the spiritual sense, which is the only thing that really matters), needs to be for the purpose of establishing justice, enjoining charity, enjoining what is good, preventing evil, or establishing peace. Negotiations for anything other than those purposes, whether for money, power, or influence, among other things, will render negotiations useless.

So whenever we find ourselves being involved in negotiations in society, we need to ask ourselves whether the negotiation corresponds to one or more of the purposes mentioned. If it’s not for establishing justice, enjoining charity, enjoining goodness, preventing evil, or establishing peace, we should refrain from any sort of participation, as it will just be useless talk. 

On the other hand, whenever other people are indulged in useless negotiations, even when their purpose is to harm us, we need to understand that in reality, their plots have no benefit in the spiritual sense. Their plots have no weight whatsoever with God, and whatever effect that the results of such negotiations have, no one will truly benefit from them. 

God knows best.

Reflections from Surah An Nisa verse 114

#negotiations, #secret talks, #plots, #islam, #quran, #reflection, #society, #life 

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Why we sin and why we should refrain from it

Every human being is a sinner. We all sin, one way or another. A person who says that he/she is 100% pure and free from sinning is 100% a liar. So we should never judge other people and assume that we are better than others. 

But why do we sin?

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Well, basically we do it because we mistakenly perceive that there is benefit in it. People steal because they think that the additional wealth will bring joy, people lie because they think that it could help them in life, people oppress others because they feel that power could help them, and so on. We sin because the ego feeds off the sins, mistakenly seeing the sins as beneficial, while it’s actually the opposite. Metaphysically, we are actually harming ourselves with the sins that we do, that there are consequences of the sins that we do toward our souls. 

You might have realized that human beings are easily deceived and have limited ability to process information. For most people, we act based on our egos, based on how we understand the world around us. Not how it’s supposed to be understood. This is the main reason why we sin. Because of our mistaken understanding of how the world works.

In the spectrum of consciousness mentioned by Wilber (1977), the ego is the lowest form of consciousness. The higher forms of consciousness are the existential consciousness (based on an estimation of how the world is supposed to be understood, an ethical worldview), and a non dualistic consciousness, pure consciousness (full realization of the mind, body, and soul that we are part of the cosmos, and we act accordingly). 

What we should try to achieve is what Wilber defined as a non dualistic consciousness, which in the Islamic tradition can be achieved by constant purification of the soul through tasawwuf. In Imam Al Ghazali’s categorization, it is the state of the peaceful soul, nafs al muthmainah, when the soul is fully aware of its true nature, permeates all levels of a person’s being, and he/she acts accordingly. 

But for all of us, whenever the ego is still in charge, we will always be prone to sinning. Throughout our lives, no matter how hard we try, elements of the ego will always remain with us, which means that we will most likely never be free from sinning. However, with knowledge, hard work, and dedication, we can at least try to minimize its occurrence, and live a more ethical and tranquil life. 

As Prophet Muhammad mentioned, everyone is a sinner, the best of the sons of Adam are the ones who repent the most (paraphrased).

Having remorse whenever we commit a sin is a sign of a healthy heart. A heart that knows what is right and wrong. Even though it continuously struggles in doing what is right.

God knows best.

Reflection of An Nisa verse 111

#islam #sin #tasawwuf #tasawuf #purification #ego #peace

Don’t worry, be happy... with everything

1st day of Ramadhan 1432 Hijriah (2011)

Obviously, we as human beings will often find ourselves being disappointed whenever things aren’t going our way. We may have worked tirelessly to achieve a goal, yet we didn’t get what we wanted. We may get hurt and twisted our ankle even though we tried to be as careful as possible, and all kinds of other mishaps. At these times, we might feel restless and disappointed with what happened.

As a medicine for this restlessness, an ayah from the Quran (Surah Hadid, 20-21) mentions about this scenario. The truth is, whatever we get, and whatever we don’t get, is already pre-destined. So everything that happens is supposed to happen, and they happen for a reason. For the believer, we have certainty that whatever God wants is what is best. And our ability to perceive what is good and what is bad is so very limited. Who knows, maybe through a calamity we face, we might learn good and noble characters that outweigh the harm of the calamity.

So if we miss good opportunities, lost our wealth, got injured, or even face death. We should know that it was supposed to happen and we wouldn’t be able to escape it no matter what we do. And we should face whatever calamity we face with patience and forbearance. Likewise, whatever good that happens to us, all of our success was supposed to happen inevitably. So we shouldn’t be arrogant with our achievements and be grateful instead.

Wrapping it up in one sentence, quoting a sentence from Ibn Kathir’s explanation of the Qur’an, "Every one of us feels happiness and grief. However, make your joy with gratitude and endure your grief with patience.''

Being Reminded Through Nature

We are living in an artificial age. An age where our interaction with the natural world is somewhat limited or cut off all together. The objects that we interact with are mostly artificial. We interact with our computers, our mobile phones, our cars, etc. And in many cases, these artificial objects become a barrier for us to truly appreciate the natural world around us.

We become unaware of the sky because of the tall buildings and the air pollution that blocks our views, we become unaware of the grass and soil because of them being covered the streets and roads, and other instances. In fact, the small patch of grass that comes out from the pavement, the only thing natural, often looks unnatural to us.

Each time we see the sky, the sun, whenever the wind blow on our faces, too often do we look at them just as common things that have no significance. We find nothing special about the natural phenomenon due to our disconnectedness with the natural world. We don’t realize that all around us are actually immense blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The sun which gives us light and warmth, the wind that brings water and pollinates the flowers, the air that we breathe as our source of Oxygen, and the many other countless blessings that He has given us.

We even find time to complain about these blessings that He has given us. One example is when we are given rain. Many times we complain about getting wet. While the truth is, we ourselves are water creatures. 80% of our body is made out of water. Yet we fail to show gratitude towards this blessing due to our hardened hearts.

Despite our disconnectedness from them, the truth is, the creations of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala have the potential to be powerful reminders for us. They serve as reminders about His Greatness, and furthermore, reminders about our true destination as human beings.

In the Qur’an, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala makes oaths (swears) by His creations. The sky is one example of this. He swears many times by the sky, indicating that the sky is an amazing and profound creation. The sky is also used as a reminder for the arrogant ones of humanity, where He subhanahu wa ta’ala asks a rhetorical question comparing the immense creation of the sky to the insignificant creation of the human being.

This same sky is also used as a reminder about the true destination of humanity. So where do you think you’re going? “Fa ayna tadzhabuun?” The sky is used to give a vivid description of yaumul qiyaamah, the Day of Judgment. The day when the sky will be torn, will be ripped beyond repair, and will be opened like doors. The day where everyone will harvest the fruits of everything they worked for in life, the good and the bad. It is the day where no one will be cheated and treated unfairly. This day in truth is humanity's REAL destination, despite of all the distractions that we’re immersed in (school, hobbies, careers, and almost everything else).

These powerful reminders that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has given to us in the Qur’an should totally change our perception towards the sky. This immense creation that He has placed above us should always make us think and be connected to the reality of things. Every time we see the sky, we should always remember the One who created it. Every time we see the sky, we should always remember that no matter how immense and great it may seem, a day will come where it will be torn and ripped beyond repair. What should even worry us more is the fact that we will have to take responsibility on every single action that we did.

In our nature, we human beings are forgetful creatures. In the Qur’an, one of the names that is used for human beings is al insan. Al insan comes from the word nasia, which literally means to forget. Thus, we need to be constantly reminded about everything, including the most essential things, such as who we really are, what our purpose in life is, and where we will end up (our final destination).

I would like to remind myself first and foremost to raise the awareness towards the amazing natural world. Besides creating a sense of awe and humbleness, thinking and pondering upon the creations through a Qur’anic perspective can serve as powerful everyday reminders that will insyaAllah be beneficial for all of us.

When the slaughtered babies testify

Killing, in its many forms, has always been a major concern of humanity. This is true especially when it involves the killing of innocent civilians, including women and children (which is an act of cowardliness). I believe that everyone with a healthy mind and heart will condemn these acts of cowardliness, no matter what justification the culprits use. The way the media treats killings as a hot commodity shows how corrupt and sick our civilization has become. The loss of human lives has become a source of income, and in many ways entertainment. Nevertheless, it can be a testification on how interesting this subject is for people.

Human beings are given the natural instinct to honor life. For Muslims, this natural inclination is further strengthened by faith. The Qur’an honors life of human beings with very strong words (5:32), stating that the one who kills a person without any strong reasons is as if he has killed all of humanity. Of course killing has existed since the beginning of the history of mankind, way back to the killing of Habil by his own twin brother Qabil (the story of Cain and Abel, Prophet Adam’s sons).

In the pre-Islamic period, the ignorant Arabs were used to do many horrible things. One of the most horrific of all is probably how they used to bury their baby girls alive. This tradition was based on the belief that men are superior to women, thus it was a disgrace to have a daughter. Regarding this, God the Almighty said in the Qur’an that these babies will one day be asked about their killing, and the killers will have to be responsible for what they did (Surah At Takwir ayah 8-9). “And when the female (infant) buried alive (as the pagan Arabs used to do) shall be questioned. For what sin she was killed?” This ignorant practice of the Arabs was banished by the Messenger of God, and was not practiced anymore.

Nowadays, it may seem barbaric if we hear people killing their babies, but the sad truth is, it still exists, at very alarming rates. These killings are manifested in a disgusting practice called child abortion. As much as 3700 abortions take place in the US in ONE DAY (this statistic is from the 90s, it might be worse now). Most of the reasons are said to be social reasons (93%). So as with the ancient Arabs, these so called “modern people” also do it for social reasons (free sex, the baby isn’t wanted, etc). Times may change, but the ignorance doesn’t. This “modern era” (age of ignorance would be better) we live in is said to condemn innocent killings, but at the same time legalized genocide of millions of innocent souls.

Nevertheless, those millions of innocent souls that have been slaughtered will get a chance to talk in front of their Lord. And on that day, everyone (including the murderers) will taste the fruit of what they did.

This is an age that DEMANDS us to seek for Devine Guidance to keep our humanity, to prevent corruption in our hearts. All the disgusting practices and corruption that we see all around us is a manifest from how distant we are from Guidance. May we all be among those who are guided and can value life the way that it should be valued.