Simplicity – Vision and Light

I feel that I’m searching for something in life. Something to fulfill who I am as a person. I want to achieve the pinnacle of success where I am intune with both my passions and my talents. However, its hard to get somewhere if you don’t know where you are going. I think the first several months of this year are going to be some of the most important in my life because I’m searching within myself to find where I belong in this world. I’m in the process of creating a vision inshallah. And in order for me to find out what that vision is and what my ultimate goals are, I need to first discover who I am as a person – my likes/dislikes. You think that this is something easy. At least for the longest time, I though the same as well. But its not. I was rather shocked last week to learn something new about my self (about my personality). You won’t come to these realizations until you go through an experience. If you don’t know what I’m talking about don’t worry – one day you will. Life is truly a journey of self-discovery and lifelong learning.

What I feel the Muslims of today are lacking is vision. We need to set goals and reach new heights. Of course nothings possible without Allah (swt); so be steadfast and firm in faith as you continue on your journey in life. Whether you are a working mother, a business traveler, a housewife, a teen or a college student, what I believe we all need to accomplish to make this Ummah the best it can be is 1) to be steadfast in our faith and 2) to have a vision. We need to have a vision that embraces the fact that Allah(swt) put us here on earth for a greater purpose. We need to have a vision where we are lifting society around us.

[Now I'm going to digress a little just to make a point and help you clarify what I mean.] For example, Oprah (I know you are probably like..what?.. read on to understand my point) is at the pinnacle of her career, she had the vision to become a top talk show host, she understood who she was and where she came from and she worked tirelessly to make it to the top. She isn’t self-made though. The term Self-made itself is deceptive. Don’t think for a moment that she was self-made or any one of us can be self made successful people. There are so many people around us that have helped us become who we are today. And as such, there were so many people in her life that helped her to reach her goals.

But as inspiring and remarkable as her story is, one sad truth that I took away from watching an interview she did in 2006 – she said that she does not feel ‘fulfilled’. Can you believe it?

The first thing that went through my mind when I heard this ‘is well – duh’! you’re not fulfilled because you don’t have Islam.You really don’t know what the future holds for you because you don’t know anything about the hereafter. Oprah is one of the most well known top 5 most powerful women in the world, and today she’s around 50ish, still wondering to herself – ‘Whats next for me?’. I’m not trying to be mean to her, as a person I thinks she’s wonderful – she has a great show where she tries to connect with people and help people watching her show lead better lives. (Don’t make the assumption that I watch her show – I don’t; I’ve only seen it a few times. =])

However, I think she needs to be honest with herself. One of the core themes of her long running talk show is trying to find Faith and hope. In all truth, many principles like how we should treat those around us, the concept of fulfillment and God, etc. that she mentions has striking similarities with Islam. For example, she said in one of her interviews that she believes that there is a greater purpose for her in life, she wants God (aka Allah) to ‘use her’ for a greater purpose. That is exactly what Islam is about! What is a Muslim? A muslim is a person who ’submits to the will of Allah(swt)’. We believe that Allah (swt) has a greater purpose for us. And no matter how much we achieve in this life, we know that we will meet our lord on the day of Judgment in the Hereafter.

So I think I got carried away, this post was actually suppose to be on simplicity. Whether or not anything I said above deals with this topic is your own judgment call (it probably doesn’t lol). Recently, I’ve been very interested in grasping an understanding of why I get so excited when I see light. Yes, light. The most basic blessing that is all around us. In my chaotic world with classes, papers, exams – ‘light’ has just seemed so beautiful – so peaceful. For now, it seems like the only elment around me that has an inner peace that I’m attracted to – the simplicty of blessing. Allahu Akbar!

HereAfter Timeline

A new Islamic Biweekly lecture series started at our University. Its about the HereAfter. I know very little about the incredible events that take place once someone passes away. I believe many of us are in the same boat. Therefore, I will share what I learn through postings on this site.

Islam is the only religion in the world that gives us the most vivid depiction of the events of the HereAfter. It is not just for a few muslims to know about and understand; it is like public information for all muslims and mankind. As muslims we should feel priviledged to have this information provided to us by Allah (swt) through the glorious Quran and the teachings of the Prophet (saws).

Last Wednesday was our first Lecture (aka. Halaqa).

Here’s a timeline of all the events that we will be covering in depth:

(Note: There are a lot of things that will happen inbetween. And the order of the events before, during, and after Judgment day are not linear. There is so much that will be going on in these stages that it is absolutely mind blowing!)

Soul (Created before we were born) –> Birth | LIFE –> Death –> Visiting the Grave –> Resurrection –> Judgment Day –> Coming of Allah (swt) and the Angels –> Intercession –> Books –> Scale –> Fountain –> The Bridge –> Final Destination (Heaven or Hell)

Contemplating on the Existence of Mankind

We do not have to exist.

If you really think about it, our very existence, the existence of the human creation is on a fine line.

We do not have to exist, but the reason we do exist is solely by the will of Allah (swt).

Allah (swt) does NOT need us. He does not ask us to provide sustenance, he provides it. We are in NEED of him, therefore, him alone do we worship. He gives us the breath of air that we need to survive and in less than a second he can take it away from us.

We did not exist out of nothing. We did not evolve and come out of something that is less then who we are. No. We came solely from the will of Allah (swt). He shaped us by his own hand and gave us, the human creation an honorable amount of dignity. The angels were told to bow before Adam (pbuh). This is one of the best examples that shows how much honor Allah (swt) bestowed upon us (mankind). And it is for us to uphold that honor by praising Allah (swt) and keeping ourselves free from impurities.

(The story of the creation of mankind with the Beginning of Adam (pbuh), inshallah, I will cover in a future post because there is so much more to the story then what I have, of course, mentioned (quickly) above.)

Allah (swt) is all powerful. He could of just said ‘Be’ and Adam (pbuh) would have been created. But Allah (swt) did not, he created him by his own hand. And he did the same with the heavens (he did not just say ‘Be’ and it was).

All good and all evil come from Allah (swt). By his will there are those on earth who are rightly guided on the straight path. And by his will there are those who never will be guided. The knowledge of this lies with Allah (swt). He knows that of which we know not. In all truth, as deep as this concept might seem, we have no right to question Allah (swt). If he wants us to know the truth of this matter he will let it be known. If not, that is probably best for us. For Allah (swt) is the one who truly knows what is best for us.