Reviving our Relationships

When you think of it, our lives are a series of relationships. From the moment we are born, there is an instant relationship with our mothers and it is indeed one of the most beautiful relationships.  In Islam, the relationship between us and Allah (SwT) is also instantly commenced when the Athan (the call to prayer) was softly made in our ears shortly after our birth.  Then we start to form relationships with other close relatives, friends, neighbours, teachers, and employers. And then, in sha Allah, we form one of the most important relationships in our lives, which can be the basis for a healthy and strong family and society – and that is the relationship with our spouses and children.

Allah (SwT) beautifully describes the relationship between spouses in the Quran by stating: “And among His signs is this that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts); verily in that are signs for those who reflect.” (30: 21).  He (SwT) also describes a beautiful vision for one’s spouse and offspring in the following verse: “And those who say, ‘Our Lord, grant us from among our spouses and offspring comfort to our eyes and make us an example for the righteous’” (25:74).

Imagine, if we were all able to find and live that love, mercy, and comfort that Allah (SwT) so beautifully describes to us in the Quran, what our families, societies and the world would be like.  I strongly believe that we would have much happier, stronger families and therefore a healthier, safer society and a better world in sha Allah.  This may sound simplistic, but sometimes the truth really is simple.

Seeing how our relationships are so important to our happiness and success, and knowing that we didn’t have ‘relationship skills class’ like math and English when we were in school,  I strongly believe in the need for personal development and continuous education in important relationship success principles such as effective communication, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence.

Many of us may not realize how important these skills are until we start to have problems in our relationships.  And at that point, sometimes it’s difficult to pull ourselves away from the situation to acquire an understanding of the important relationship skills that will allow us to resolve the situation.  So, unfortunately, in these cases, the situation may become worse and reach a point where it becomes increasingly difficult to find a resolution.  This in turn can affect our health, our productivity, and even our faith, God forbid.

We may have all heard the saying: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. And I am a strong believer in that – we can not only be more prepared to deal with any difficult situations by equipping ourselves with important relationship success principles, but we can indeed have more fulfilling and satisfying relationships with those who matter most to us.

After all, we all know of people who have acquired wealth, fame, status, power but forgot to invest in that which matters most – their relationships.  And the result is, they are alone, and deep inside, they are unhappy.

I believe that time has come to revive our relationships in sha Allah.  The time has come to turn our lives around and have a truly satisfying and fulfilling relationship with our loved ones.  After all, there are so many revolutions around the world and ultimately, I believe one of the most critical reasons for these life changing events is that people want to be happier and more fulfilled.

Let us remember that when we die, those who will remember us fondly and make duaa for us will likely be those whom we had the most positive relationships with – those whose lives we made better, touched, or changed through simple, yet profound actions that were based on relationship success principles.

For more information, please visit www.findingloveandmercy.com.