38 Going on Forty

It's hard to believe that it's already been a whole year since my last birthday entry - 'Pondering 37.' Wow is time flying. By Allah's grace I have been kept around for another year. I must say that 38 sounds a lot closer to the big 4-0 than 37.  So maybe I should devote this entry to the meaning of 40, or, almost 40 but not quite. Forty is an amazing age. As a Muslim, of course, 40 is the age when Nabi (SAW) first started receiving revelation from Allah SWT. Based on this, many scholars talk about 40 as being a special age -- an age where wisdom and adulthood begin to really crystallize. From the perspective of Islam, therefore, 40 is a special age and not the dreaded 'four - O' that people often refer to. In Islam, 40 means that we may actually have finally earned the title 'adult,' and, moreover, that we need to start acting like one!

But I am not yet 40. I am only 38. Two years is an eternity in a world and at a time where change happens so fast. So much can happen in two years, I better not be presumptuous and talk too much about being 40 as of yet. As for now, I will be thankful and grateful that Allah has allowed me to reach 38, and as with every new birthday, look for the meaning associated with yet another year of being on this planet.

God truly is The Merciful, The Kind, The Compassionate, The Generous and The Forgiving. Everyday I must remind myself and even pinch myself at all the blessings I have. I need to keep reminding myself of Allah's words in the Qur'an:

"Know that your wealth and children are a trial and that there is an immense reward with Allah." (Surat al-Anfal: 28)

With every passing year I realize more and more that despite the worldly blessings we receive day in-day out, many of which we easily forget, the greatest blessing by far is the opportunities we are given to do good and to help others. Especially when those opportunities are in the form of 'small' deeds, or things that we typically don't think twice about, unless we are in a state of consciousness of God, and His teachings. I guess this is another way that Islam and the teachings of Sunnah are able to stay fresh and alive with us, no matter how old we get.

My teacher (Cikgu, if you are reading) always reminds me that one of the most important but frequently overlooked elements of Islamic education is that belief must always be supported by what he and the Sufis call 'tasting.' Experiential learning and true knowing go hand and hand, leading to higher levels of yaqin and iman. When the Book speak to us directly in the context of our daily lives, then Allah's word comes to life. Then, the religion is no longer 'ancient,' nor is it relegated to a book subject, as one Iranian graduate student commented to my wife after she asked him why he wasn't fasting during Ramadan, but it grows in us and we grow wiser as a result of it, insha-Allah.

This is what we must be always conscious of, and at 38 going on forty, what we must be doing with our own children, so that they too can see and taste the benefits of Islam in their lives, alhamdulillah.