ALL OF ME
Not everything is what it seems. The perenniality of our woes is a symptom of homogeneity. Not only have we become conformists to the systems and constructs driving our world, but also to our whims.
We have become ahlul nā’imūn—a nation of sleepers.
We must break free. If we cannot or remain reticent, Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom and Mercy, will bless us with crises to deliver us from our slumber.
The word ‘crisis’ originally meant a turning point, which, depending on the response, meant life or death, or better or worse.
Semantically, it means intervention: an external force that interrupts us and calls to serious attention.
Responding with ‘woe is me’ will offer no benefit and leave us poorer.
When in the throes of a crisis, we must act soberly, and we do so by first recognising that within it exists the seeds for betterment.
Secondly, we fully accept where we are, the good and the bad: ‘In fact, any who direct themselves wholly (all of me, good and bad) to God and do good will have their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve’ [2:111].
We empower ourselves and open up to new possibilities when acknowledging our negative traits. By embracing this challenge, we will transform the crisis into an opportunity for growth. Consistently questioning ourselves this way will root us in the noble tradition of paideia—the way of progress, erudition, death and rebirth.
WAYFARER
We want to walk towards Allah. But also gravitate towards this world’s alluring nature. When this is so, we experience feelings of dis-ease. Most can relate to this feeling at some period in their lives. In the therapeutic vernacular, this division within us is called cognitive dissonance.
Islam, through its profound teachings and daily meaningful rituals, aims to make us wayfarers in this world. It desires to elevate us, rarefy us and unweight us from this world. It offers reminders that our life here is brief and that everlasting life is not designed for this transient world.
During December, our beautiful city of Cape Town is teeming with travellers. But soon enough, these unfamiliar visitors will return to their abodes.
The Prophet (s) taught us to be like those visiting Cape Town, travelling in but remaining strangers of our city: ‘Be in this world as if you were a stranger or a traveller’ [Sahih al-Bukhari 6416].
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (ra), a companion of the Prophet (s), embodied this pedagogy.
Once, a man visited Abu Dharr and found his house quite spartan. “Where are your belongings?” he asked. Abu Dharr replied: “I have a house yonder (meaning the afterlife) where I send the best of my possessions.”
Every day is opportune to get one’s nose in a book. But if you are, as I once were, unfamiliar with the smell of books, the December holidays are a good time to become a serious page sniffer and seek out the literary world’s best smells.
Sniff-sniff away.
Sherman Alexie, author of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, wrote: ‘I grabbed my book and opened it up. I wanted to smell it. Heck, I wanted to kiss it. Yes, kiss it. That’s right, I am a book kisser. Maybe that’s kind of perverted or maybe it’s just romantic and highly intelligent.’
Hey, Sherman, did you know, we kiss the Quran? Pretty intelligent, right?
Until next week, InshaAllah
Zaahied Sallie
Author of The Beloved Prophet – An Illustrated Biography in Rhyme
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