FAILING FORWARD
We struggle and feel shame. And with every blunder that follows, it deepens.
It’s not a spoken rule, but there’s an invisible societal pressure not to fail.
We interpret the cues driving this behaviour early in our childhood and feel the weight of it reinforced during every developmental phase into adulthood.
Not only must we not fail, but we believe we must succeed by ourselves.
When we reach adulthood, we are conditioned to live by the “no failure” maxim and believe we must be independent and self-sufficient.
This erroneous pedagogy creates resistance within the soul to hand over the affair to God. It also prejudices us against people we view as failures because it’s the same standard we use to judge ourselves.
The glorified “self-made” doctrine is a mythology rooted in pridefulness. It does not begin with pride but ends there through our fear-of-failure conditioning.
Allah reminds us: ‘O humanity! You are impoverished before Allah, but Allah (alone) is the Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy’ [35:15].
Failing is part of the human condition. Our ability to respond and learn from failure can transform and elevate our character. How well we do this depends on whether our instruction cultivated a “failing forward” mentality. This mindset allows us to view failure as containing crucial data to advance our next attempt.
The word sin is an archery term and means to miss the mark. Failure is just that, “missing the mark”, but can also be sinful in the theological sense. The beauty is that we can always aim again, and if our failing is iniquitous, we can edit through repentance.
Connect every endeavour with Allah, and if you seek help, seek it from Him. He alone is our Waliy (Guardian), Maula (Helper), and Wakeel (Protector): ‘Do you not know that control of the heavens and the earth belongs to Him? You [believers] have no protector or helper but God’ [2:107].
SURRENDER YOUR WILL
Mountains. They captivate. Their austereness draws us in. We use adjectives such as indestructible, magnificent, majestic, immovable, soaring, mythical, vast, unscalable, tranquil, grand and deadly when we gaze upon or describe them.
The upper reaches of mountains are the sources of most headwaters from which the world’s life-giving rivers spring forth. Big mountainous environments also create weather. The greater the range’s magnitude, the wilder the weather it generates.
For most, its aura is of might. For all, it’s essential to terrestrial life.
The Prophet (s) had a long history with mountains and had an affinity for them.
Allah established Muhammad’s prophethood and revealed the first verses of the Quran on Mount Hira. Aforetime, Allah revealed the Torah to Muhammad’s brother Moses (as) on Mount Tur. During the Divine flood, Allah settled Noah’s ark on Mount Judi. Mount Thawr was the peak of refuge for the Prophet (s) during the Hijrah. After the Muslims’ defeat at the Battle of Uhud, also the mountain’s namesake, the army retreated to its slopes.
Mountains are not just austere and integral to our biosphere; they are sacred. But despite its awesome power, mountains are subservient to their Lord.
Once, the Prophet (s) and three of his bosom companions, Abu Bakr (ra), Umar (ra), and Uthman (ra), stood on Mount Uhud, and it trembled. The Prophet (s) then stomped his foot and said to the mountain, ‘O Uhud! Be calm. For upon you, there are none but a Prophet, a Siddiq (one who is always truthful) and two martyrs’ [Bukhariy 3699].
The mountain heeded, for to follow the Prophet (s) is to obey Allah: ‘Whoever obeys the Messenger obeys God’ [4:80].
‘If writing these words yields no other outcome save to make you doubt your inherited beliefs, compelling you to inquire, then it is worth it—let alone profiting you. Doubt transports (you) to the truth. Whoever does not doubt fails to enquire. Whoever does not enquire fails to gain insight. Without insight, we remain blind and perplexed. So, we seek God’s protection from such an outcome.’ Al-Ghazālī, Mīzān al-ˋamal
Doubt also engenders humility, for we allow ourselves the possibility of being wrong.
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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