A Wave of Sweetness of Faith

Subhana’Allah, sometimes we find in life that we are facing a challenging time in one particular area or situation, but then without any indications or pointers, we’re given a wave of something so beautiful, so relieving, so profound.  Something that allows us to truly feel that Allah (SwT) is with us, every step of the way, seeing, hearing, and knowing all that we are experiencing without us having to even utter a word.

That wave can be a moment of tasting the sweetness of faith – a moment where we truly feel that our hearts have humbled themselves to Allah (swt).  One of those moments can come as we sit after prayer and ask Him for His blessings, both in this world and in the hereafter.

That meaning of uboodiyah – a true state of worship – where we are not just performing rituals, but we are putting forth our entire selves as we try to draw nearer to our Lord – The All-Merciful, The Sustainer, The Creator, The One Who holds the dominion in the heavens and the earth.  Life these days is so ‘busy’ – we run from one task to the next and one event to the next, as if it’s a rat race.  Yes, as Allah (swt) says tells us in the Quran, He wants us to compete in doing good – we should have our times filled with that which brings us closer to Allah (SwT) and brings goodness to our communities and to humanity at large.  But we should never be too ‘busy’ to take a few minutes each day and pour our heart out to Allah (SwT) – for only He (SwT) knows how much we need it.

North American societies, and many around the world, are more recently starting to realize the importance of ‘meditation’ because it helps us centre ourselves, focus, and feel at peace.  Allah (SwT) ensured that we have this opportunity with Him, one on One, every day, five times a day, for life.  What better could we ask for?

To achieve the true meaning of uboodiyah – to feel that we know and love Allah (SwT) and to be so humbled that we are blessed to submit our will to Him, and only to Him, there are some steps we can all take.

  • The long term step is to know the attributes of Allah (SwT). Allah (SwT) has 99 attributes – each of which is a sea of knowledge on its own for how can we worship if we do not love and how can we love if we do not know? Let us make it a resolution to read, ponder, reflect upon, and use in our duaa, the 99 attributes of Allah (SwT) over the coming months.

 

  • The short term steps we can take include repeating “La Illaha illa Allah” as much as we can every day for this is the thikr (remembrance) that brings our heart together – such that we do not have conflicting interests and struggles in our hearts – our hearts belong to Allah, our bodies belong to Allah, and our souls belong to Allah.  All that we do in life should be for Allah and our focal point for making any decision is the pleasure of Allah.

 

  • The next short term step is to take the time to make duaa every day after each prayer – even if it is only for a few minutes for our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, tells us: “Duaa is the essence of worship” – if we do not ask Allah (swt) for His favours, for His mercy, for His guidance, then how do we claim that He is Our Lord and that we need His care with us every step of the way?

 

  • The final step is to have the time to know what Allah (SwT) asks of us each day, by reading the Quran, even if it is a few verses.  When we love someone,  we want to know what they love and brings them happiness, do we not? Allah tells us what He loves, what He asks of us, what He wants us to stay away from, in the Quran.

When we start to practice these simple, but powerful steps, subhana’Allah, sometimes it is just a matter of days until we start to experience the true meaning of uboodiyah and taste that ever so beautiful sweetness of faith.  A feeling that is rare and thus so precious and much needed in our lives today.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Suffering in Silence...No More...

I had a sister recently email me with a situation that I hear and have seen often yet don’t see very much done about.  She’s a sister who moved to a new city after being married,  became pregnant soon thereafter and was blessed to become a mother, yet she is struggling in her marriage, she feels lonely and she wants to get her life back in order. I feel many sisters will suffer in silence and subhana’Allah, although to some it may seem like there is really nothing to complain about when a sister these days has even had the opportunity of being married and was blessed again with the gift of children.  Yes, we should be thankful in times of goodness and patient in times of tribulation and always turn to Allah (SwT) first and foremost, yet we know Allah (swt) says: ““And the human being was created weak” (Surat al-Nisa, 4:28).  Although our faith in Allah (swt) should give us tremendous strength and perseverance, at the end of the day we are human beings and we will...
Read more

Living on Purpose and with Purpose

Alhamdullilah, as Muslims, we are given the gift of understanding our purpose on earth, which people will spend a lifetime searching for, in the Quran in the following verses: “I have not created mankind and jinn except to worship Me” (51:56) “When your Lord said to the angels: ‘I am placing on the earth a caliph” (2:30) These two verses would need pages and chapters written to reveal their full depth and meaning.  Very briefly though, ‘worship’ in the first verse is not limited to our prayers and fasting for example but can truly encompass everything we do in our lives when we do it with the intention of drawing nearer to Allah.  So it can include our eating, sleeping, spending time with our loved ones, studying, working, etc. As for the meaning of ‘caliph’ – this term is used to define the one who will take care of this earth, help build it, make a positive difference and fulfill the role of leadership that Allah (Swt) has placed them in – whatever that role may be – from a Hea...
Read more

The Story of "Mrs. Normal"

Many people will spend years or even an entire lifetime not living the life they really want – one that is filled with  success, happiness, and fulfillment .  They will settle for mediocrity and live a ‘normal’ life. Have you heard the story of  “Mrs. Normal”?   Mrs. Normal grew up in a ‘normal’ family, received a ‘normal’ education, married a ‘normal’ man, had ‘normal’ children, and then, died. The story of “Mrs. Normal” is probably the story of 95% of people and some may ask,  but what is the problem with being ‘normal’ ? Normal is fine alhamdullilah and growing up with a family, receiving an education, being married and blessed with children are all in deed good things in theory. But is solely achieving these series of steps considered  amazing or outstanding ? Is it living our life with true   ihsan  (excellence) as Allah (Swt) asked of us? Is it fulfilling the role Allah (Swt) assigned as in the Quran as caretakers ( khulufa’a)  of this earth whose responsibility is to make a posi...
Read more