But speak of the gracious bounty of your Rabb Quran 93:11
Hassan's reflection
Allah has done so much good for us, we need to be grateful and declare how well Allah has treated us. It’s like a teacher or parent who knows exactly the right blend of instruction, quizzes and mentoring that is needed to get us ready for our final exam. As much as it is difficult, it hurts much of the time, and we don’t feel “lucky” to be getting so much attention, in the end we will understand how Allah has truly given us so much and cared for us enough that we were not allowed to just live our life any way we wanted like so many of our friends.
Suriya's reflection:
This phrase comes from the surah Al Duha:
SURAH 93: AL DUHA (The Glorious Morning Light).
In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful
1 By the glorious morning light,
2 And by the night when it is still,
3 Your guardian Lord has not forsaken you, nor is he displeased.
4 And truly the hereafter will be better for you than the present.
5 And soon will your guardian Lord give you what shall please you.
6 Did he not find you an orphan and give you shelter?
7 And he found you wandering, and he gave you guidance.
8 And he found you in need, and made you independent.
9 Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness,
10 Nor repulse the petitioner;
11 But rehearse and proclaim the bounty of your Lord!
How does one proclaim the bounty of our Lord? Some of us are prone to feel like the victim and are fond of having a ' poor me' attitude that makes us ungrateful for whatever blessings we have in our lives. We also have an English phrase that asks us to " Count your Blessings" I am not sure where it came from but it is probably a Christian phrase from the Prophet Isa Alaihisalam and brings us to the same direction as proclaiming the bounty of our Lord. It is far easier for us to look to see what the other person has that we do not have and far more difficult to see how there are people less fortunate than us . A friend who visited Delhi said to me that there are so many poor people there and he said it was sad . This is what I saw when I was in India. I saw a naked child covered with dust and grime , asking for food from a tourist . He looked well nourished and healthy and he was cheerful , not noticing that he did not have a stitch of clothing on him , no slippers, and slept at night on the pavement . One would wonder when he grew up , what would he have in order to proclaim the bounty of his Lord? Yet , the paradox is that he also will have blessings in his life as will even the most wretched of humans . The balance of nature , the bountiful food that exists in abundance in the earth are all bounties of the Lord. It is humankind who then goes on to destroy this balance by their activities and, by their lack of consideration for their fellow human , allowing people to live in poverty and distress and refusing to help those less fortunate than them . Declaring the bounty of our Lord to us is done by our active collective effort to right the wrongs wrought by human hands, to help the weak and oppressed and wronged and to use the bounties we have not for our own selves only but for those in need. There is enough wealth and enough food and enough provisions for every human being on this earth , if only it was distributed equitably. It is for this reason that humankind was made Khalifah, vicegerent on Earth and has to do God's work on earth. Writing this has made me feel a lot of regret over my own heedlessness and selfishness and I pray that I will in the future be better at fulfilling my role as a human and vicegerent.
" The one who diverts his self from vain desires will attain a place in the Garden" Quran 79:40-41
Hassan's reflection
In just a short period of time we will be standing before Allah at the Day of Judgment. We need to stop worrying about the small things and understand the truly important things in life. As much as it is so very easy to get caught up in the small things, we must if we are to take our place in the Garden. It is always said, fear Allah. Not sure how I feel about that. A saying of the saint Rabi’a sticks with me, when she says that if she is doing something to gain paradise then keep her from paradise, if she is doing something to stay away from hell then send her to hell. Accept her good deeds if she is doing something purely for love of Allah (something like that). That doesn’t imply fear, that implies pure love, but it also implies such love that we wouldn’t even think of committing sin. Like her phrase: May God steal from you all that steals you from Him. Can we really live up to that? Are we ready to have all the things we hold dearly taken from us? The good deeds we do in Ramadan sounds nice and feel good, but what if Allah took everything else away? Would we still be able to do the good deeds? Would we be angry with Allah? It is frightening sometimes, when you know what the pure straight path is, but also know the sacrifices which must be made. Are we really ready for that? Everyone loves their parents when they are being given chocolates and sweets, but what about when we are being punished and pushed hard if it’s in our best interests? Well, I need to go salat or something, tons of excess energy still inside
Suriya's reflection:
I seem to have reflected on this phrase already while doing the previous reflection!
Rabia does not have a perspective of fear. She has gone beyond fear to a perspective of pure love and is willing to undergo any suffering or sacrifice for love of Allah. This is something to think about in bringing up our children either as parents or teachers. Which will work better for them Love or Fear? Or are both needed ? In what proportions if we were to say both were needed? I would say tons of love with a small sprinkling of fear.
What are vain desires? Yes in a way it is the small things we worry about without seeing the big picture. In my work as a doctor , homeopath and energy psychologist , I have noted that the one thing that makes people suffer and unable to function is when they focus on their own selves. Their thoughts are all related to their own needs and their own misfortunes aches and pains. They hardly ever focus on the task they need to do or what is present to them at any point in time. They are totally distracted by their thoughts and do not live in the Now , they live either in the past, counting their past misfortunes or they live in the future , anxious over what will happen to them.
Another perspective of vain desires is the thirst of humankind for wealth and power. These are the two things that seem to motivate people. The quest for wealth is something quite obvious but the quest for power is more subtle and harder to trace . A person driven by higher principles inherent in being an upright human does not quest for wealth and power but attain wealth and power and use them as tools and does not allow them to become their masters. This is the difference we need to know .
Your reflections on the 'what if things were taken away and all' is one that actually happens to people . For some, it made them into better people , for others, it destroyed them. It is not that bad things happen to good people . It is bad things happen to every one and is part and parcel of being human. It is what we do when it happens that distinguishes us. It is at this point that we can see who are the ones who have grown in spirit and who have not. Ya Rabbi! Do not give me trials too hard for me !
