FROM HASTE TO HARMONY
‘Yet man prays for harm, just as he prays for good: man is ever hasty’ [17:11].
This dissonance in prayer is symptomatic of a muddled mind that may whelm the human being.
Not only do we pray for harm, but we also hasten towards it.
Many would view it counterintuitive for someone to pray for the bestowal of injury. The answer is simple. We are ignorant, and our 2D perspective severely limits our understanding. Hence, we may petition Allah for something that, if He answered, would lead to our ruin.
The verse elucidates our inherent weakness: ‘Man is ever hasty’. We may remedy this defect by enculturating ourselves with the Quran: ‘We send down the Quran as a healing and mercy for those who believe’ [17:82].
Allah repeatedly calls us to patience: ‘And be patient. Indeed, God is with the patient’ [8:46].
When we embody the Book with patience, we can set aside ego, self-interest, jealousy, and insecurity and migrate from self-turbulence to a more harmonious state with Allah’s plan.
INDIFFERENCE
When we become indifferent to the suffering of others, we betray our humanity.
Indifference is not the same as minding your own business. We all too often meddle in the affairs of others but remain aloof to the injustices we see daily.
Some might want us to believe we should leave all affairs to its presiding leadership. We should emphatically reject this absurd notion.
Turning from inequities was not the way of the Prophet Muhammad (s).
The Prophet (s) recovered the balance that was upset by evil and falsehood during his time.
We, too, must do as he did. If we don’t, our failure and desertion in the fight for justice will result in an upended world. But the battle is not only an external one. The Prophet (s) reminded his Companions that the greater war was not on the battlefield but the struggle (jihad) for balance within.
The Day of Destruction looms, and we, too, are doomed if we do not cast out the evil and falsehood within us.
Fear not the sophist in his sophistication.
When you sharpen your words
And your quills become swords.
You can brandish your sentences
Against lies and inferences.
But first, you must read.
p.s. Understanding the media machine (5min video)
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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