Love is the flame which, when it blazes,
consumes everything other than the Beloved.
The lover wields the sword of Nothingness
in order to dispatch all but God:
consider what remains after Nothing.
There remains but God: all the rest is gone.
Praise to you, O mighty Love, destroyer of all other "gods."
-Rumi, Mathnawi [V, 588-590]
I love this piece by Rumi, for it speaks so much to the contemporary world where so many of us spend our days and nights trying to fill ourselves with 'stuff'. We use music, entertainment, work, family, and endless mental chatter to fill that spiritual void we feel inside. What we fail to realize is that the more we try to fill that void with worldliness, the deeper the void grows. Its a temporary salve that fails to reach the goal, and in fact, only increases our attachment to the temporal. What Rumi is saying (at least to me) is that 'la ilaha illallah' becomes truly actualized only when we arrive at a state of total peace with nothingness, for it is in nothingness that everything -- every possible distraction, including even our own thoughts - is stripped away. Only presence remains and only then does God reign supreme in our hearts. Rather than trying to fill the inner void with more 'stuff', we should seek surrender and peace with it -- sit with it, if you will, and learn to just be.
Saalam.
ReplyDeletevery happy to discover your site. peace be with you.
Assalamualaikum,
ReplyDeleteDear Dr,
Why Allah give us challenges in life and why we are the one who has been chosen? hmmmm....
I know that Allah loves us very much. Beside that, what are the reasons of all this happen?
Arifah,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading my blog!! That's a great question you asked. Many of us at one time or another ask the same question.
Let me ask you this. Why do lecturers at UPM give you exams and assignments that cause you all kinds of hardship, stress and frustration? Is it not because we care about your development and growth? Do we not want to see you smart, successful and in the end -- happy?
Yes, Allah may have chosen us, but the question is for what? We have been chosen to worship and glorify Him and to carry His message. Challenges in life force us to return to Allah for help, support, trust and ultimately, faith.
In this process, we can come to realize that everything is from Allah. This was one of the first lessons I learned in Islam prior to my conversion six years ago. It is the peak of tawhid; simple, yet so important and powerful.
EVERYTHING is from Allah. When we attempt to understand our lives in this way, through the eyes of tawhid, with Allah as the ultimate cause of everything (“Such is Allah, your Lord, the Creator of all things…” [40:62]), quite naturally we will seek understanding in our lives. We know Allah creates everything, we know Allah is the primary cause behind everything and we know that Allah is the Most Merciful and ultimate good. Thus, with everything that occurs in our lives, might we ask, “what are we to learn, oh Lord, and how should we respond to that which you have willed?” From this vantage point, we will naturally yearn to know what Allah wants us to do, which, in fact, we already have the answer – to know Him, as according to the Hadith Qudsi, “I was a hidden treasure that loved to be known, so I created creation so that I could be known.” Thus, Allah creates and manifests so that he can be known.
If it is the knowing of Him that Allah wants from us, does it not make sense that the manifestation of challenges is Allah’s way of calling us back to Him and His mercy and goodness? Could it be that this ‘whip’ of severity is the Creator’s way of reminding us of our ultimate purpose here? The Qur’an teaches us that there are three ways to know Allah: through revelation (i.e. the Qur’an and hadith), through creation, and through the Self.
One of the important roles that hardship plays in life is to facilitate introspection, to look toward the inside and better understanding of our innermost selves and heart. When we experience tragedy or calamity, often the first thing we do is go inside ourselves, seeking understanding and solace. It is an important soulful activity that must be done in order to fully realize our humanness. Part of the true self-surrendering to Allah (Al-Islam) must be to accept all of the Names of Allah, and to embrace all of the ways that He chooses to manifest Himself in our lives, including those perceived as severe or harsh. Not being appreciative of the mercy of Allah in our lives and merciful in our interactions with others will inevitably result in the experience of Allah’s wrath. For, to be neglectful in our role as the community of the ‘mercy to all the worlds’ (i.e. Prophet Muhammad (SAW)), is deserving of a Divine wake-up call.
So, does this help to answer your question??
Assalamualaikum.
ReplyDeleteDear Dr.,
Thank you for a very supportive comment and answers. It help me a lot. I've asked few comment towards this question and i get feedback that really help me evethough different people different point of view but the basic content of the question is still there. :>
Thanks again.