لطفا منتظر باشید ...
In the Presence of the Wise There is a moment of
uncertainty, a moment of unrest. I have just poured my restless heart
about the concerns about the community, about the state of the Ummah,
about the confused random directions that each one goes instead of
aligning energies as a unified force. The moment of silence grows heavy
on my mind which is stopped as a steaming hurricane by a wall of
patience and reflection.
Then the words of wisdom pour out of my friend's mouth,
a soft and thoughtful voice reads in my ear: "You know, when the
fire of Nimrood had engulfed Prophet Ibrahim (A.S.), there was a little
frog. This little frog used to full its mouth with water, and pour it on
the fire. Others laughed at this 'mindless, random act of kindness', and
told him that your mouthfuls of water won't stop the fire of Nimrood.
You know what the frog said? It said, on the judgement day, I will be
asked of what I did within my capacity, just a frog's mouthful of
water." I remember the words of Imam (ra), that we are responsible
for the duty, and not for the result. A warm smile washes away the
tension of confusion, as I thank Allah for the presence of my friend,
whom Allah may protect, and guide.
Growing
Pains
In the Presence of the Wise Her sharp glance peirces
through one's soul as she focuses. I have been listening to her for
hours now. As if a hungry being having seen a feast of wonderful,
healthy food, my starving soul is overwhelmed with this discourse. And
now she is saturating me with everything that could be contained in her
elloquent words that draw subtle realities in the most tangible form. It
is strange.
A question comes in my mind, and I wonder through a few
moments of silence, and then her voice echos in the silence of the night
addressing the very same question I had in mind. It is not accidental,
but I choose not to ask her why, and how. And she tells me of the
realities no one ever spoke of. Every book I had opened would keep it a
secret, or wrapped into layers of metaphores that I struggled to imagine
through. There is no hush hush in this visit. It is all open, as open as
my vulnerable soul. As I am thinking about this very tragedy of being
shoved away from realities that should be common knowledge, a smile
brightens her round face. Then her crystal clear voice echos:
"Imagine you are a fetus. You are trapped in a warm, dark, and
perhaps spacious and comfortable environment. All of a sudden you notice
you are growing large. You complain: No, I like it to be spacious. But
no one listens, and you keep on growing.
Then you notice a painful process of getting these extra
things called eyes. Water goes in them, and you hurt. You scream: What
is this? I don't need this. Stop it now. But no one listens and your
eyes grow to completion. Then you notice this lenghty process of getting
these things called arms and legs. What a discomfort, you think to
yourself. I don't need these accesories which get trapped and stop me
from freely floating around. But no one listens, and your extremities
grow to completion. But all along one voice keeps on reading to you:
Hush. You don't know. But trust me you will need this someday.
You see that voice doesn't tell you of a world outside
the womb, for you can't imagine it. You can't imagine what light is, so
it doesn't bother telling you how you will need eyes. It just tells you
why you need them. You can't imangine walking, and talking, and
smelling, and feeling. So it doesn't bother tell you how. But, one day
you come out, needing the same capacities that you hated to see grow in
you. Imagine, somebody listening to this fetus, and stoping the growth
of its eyes. It will never see, thus will never grasp that part of the
reality which manifests itself in a manner that can be seen. Never will
it know the beauty of the ocean of colors in a garden, nor the glory of
a sunset. If it stoped growing ears, it shall never hear the melody of
waves crashing against the coast, nor the horror of the thunder. So is
the hidden process of growing invisible parts of our souls, which are
often gained with pain, through losses, failures, humiliations, and
sufferings.
Some growth comes with ease, comfort, joy, and peace.
Yet those capacities you need the most are earned painfully. So your
soul must grow eyes through which it could see those manifestation of
Reality that can be only seen with the vision of soul. To have vision of
soul, you must be ready for the pain that it will require to grow eyes.
The choice is yours, eternal blindness, or a the pain of growing eyes.
And as to the concern of why so much delay in the process: well, every
organ of your soul must grow in the time slot it is allowed to.
Otherwise it will have a shape with organs that are under or over
developed, incapable of performing the duties they are created for. Be
patient, and have trust in the Source of all.
The
Old Student
Sukkaki was a talented craftsman. He made a delicate
instrument with a yet more delicate lock with much precision, and
presented it to the king. He expected a significant amount of award and
encouragement for his art. Initially he received much attention as he
expected. However, soon an event occurred which changed his life, and
mentality.
While the king was busy enjoying the piece of art, and
Sukkaki was day dreaming, someone announced the arrival of a scholar.
When the scholar entered, the King busied himself with him and forgot
Sukkaki, and his piece of art. This event brought about a revolution in
Sukkaki's spirit. He realized that he would not get sufficient
encouragement from this line a carrier, and that all those hopes are
pointless. Yet his ambitious spirit didn't find comfort with just this.
What shall he do? He thought that he should go after knowledge, and
books, and look for lost dreams in them. Even though it is not easy for
a mature man to become a colleague with young school age children.
Still, he thought that he had to start from somewhere.
The biggest challenge was that he didn't see enough enthusiasm for
reading in himself at the beginning of this ordeal. Perhaps his years of
occupation with crafts had suppressed his intellectual drive. However,
neither his age, nor his lack of interest could stop him from his
decision. Thus he busied himself with studies till another event took
place: One of the teachers who was teaching him the Fiqh of Shafi'i
taught him that: "The teachers opinion is such that a dog's skin
can become Tahir (clean) by tanning. Sukkaki repeated this sentence many
times so that he could remember it for the test. So when asked he said:
"The opinion of the dog is such that the skin of the teacher can
become Tahir (clean) by tanning." All the people present laughed.
All assumed that this old man who has decided to study isn't capable of
this venture. Sukkaki couldn't tolerate being in the school or the city
anymore.
The vast universe became a small place for him, and he
took shelter in a mountain. All of a sudden he saw that there were
delicate, but constant drops of water falling on a stone, which had
formed a hole in the stone. He thought for a moment. An inspiration
enlightened him. He told himself: However infertile my mind is, it can't
be harder than this stone. It is impossible that persistence would be
futile. He returned and worked so hard, that he became one of the most
inspiring scholars in literature. [1] [1] Rawdhat ul Jannat, print of
Sayyed Sa'eed, p 747
The
Homeless Aunt
Khadijah listened, as her aunt tearfully complained to
them about her miserable situation. She was saying, "So you see, I
have received nothing for my trouble. Both of my children disregard all
that I have suffered for their sake. I sold my last gold ornament to
send my daughter abroad. I have mortgaged my house twice to enable my
son to become a doctor. I have sold a valuable carpet so that I could
buy a color TV to please my daughter. Do they appreciate or even
remember such sacrifices? No. My son wants me to stay away from his home
since his wife can not tolerate my presence in the company of her
aristocratic visitors. She says she wants to be free in my son's house;
as if I deprived her of her freedom "I thought my daughter would be
happy to have me live in her house. She is my only daughter. You
remember how I helped her to live a life free from worry. Do you know
how she treated me in return? Like a maid in her service who should
clean her house for her and look after her child while she and her
husband spent their time at theaters and clubs. Yesterday, she was out
until one in the morning. Her child cried and cried and I could not calm
him.
When she finally came home, I was tired and complained
about her behavior. I wanted her to treat me like her mother, not like a
servant or a baby-sitter. Can you guess what she said to me? Without any
shame, she told me that since she gave me shelter and food. I had no
cause to complain. She also told me that she valued her freedom and was
not ready to change for the sake of either her child or her
mother." She wept bitterly, unable to continue. Her niece gave her
something to drink and Khadijah's mother tried to comfort her sister.
Khadijah told her aunt gently, "It is a pity that
you have taken so much trouble to raise your children. You have brought
them up in such a way that you yourself produced the present state of
affairs. You thought that your daughter's happiness could be found in
unlimited freedom, and as a result, she did not learn what her
responsibilities were towards you. You helped her neglect her religious
duties. Your methods have backfired.
She enjoyed life to the utmost without the least concern
for Allah, and she forgot the high position Allah the Almighty has
assigned to a mother. Your daughter has forgotten the Qur'anic verse:
"And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve but Him, and
goodness to your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with
you, reprimand them not, nor chide them, and speak to them a generous
word.
And make yourself submissively gentle to them with
compassion and say: Oh, my Lord! Have compassion on them as they brought
me up." (Bani- Israel verses 23-24) " ... and keep up prayer;
surely prayer is timed ordinance for the believers." (Al- Nisa
verse 103) "You should have taught her the verse in the Holy Qur'an
concerning hijab," continued Khadijah, "...and let them
(women) wear their covering over their bosoms and not display of their
ornaments..." (Al- Nisa verse 31) "The result of being raised
with no regard to religious duties is always deviation from the right
path. There is a great difference between one who spends long hours
watching television and indecent films and a person who spends nights
reading religious books which explain that caring for parents is equal
to worshipping Allah, and that Paradise lies at the feet of
mothers." "You have sold your gold ornament," she
continued, "and sent your daughter abroad, but you have forgotten
that such travel can uproot all good instincts still buried within her
conscience. She has returned to you a figure empty of compassion."
Her aunt sighed deeply and said: "You are quite
right, Khadijah. It is my own fault, but I have realized this too late.
I followed my husband's advice, which was to raise my children free of
all complexes, and to allow them to have whatever they desired. Now, I
see how wrong I have been. Your parents, who brought you up with much
attention to religious instructions, are quite happy with you."
Khadijah replied, "They are happy as well with my husband and with
my brother's wife.
My husband encourages me to fulfill my duty towards my
parents in order to please Almighty Allah." Her aunt then said,
"I wish I had chosen a righteous husband for my daughter to help
her rid herself of all deviations. She should not have married a man who
gambles and drinks." Khadijah then asked," Why did you agree
to such a marriage?" "It was his expensive car that attracted
my daughter, and the high dowry impressed me and prompted me to accept
him as a son-in-law."
Sorrowfully, Khadijah said, "Oh, how frank you are,
dear aunt! It is a pity that you have realized the truth too late. May
Allah save you from this loss, since you admit your fault." The
aunt spent a week in her sister's house, and during that time neither
her daughter nor her son showed any concern for her well being.
Khadijah's mother wanted her sister to live with them, but their house
was small. The aunt was seriously pressed for a place to live. One
morning, Khadijah and her husband said to her, "Please come and
stay with us. We really would like to have you. Do not disappoint
us." "Oh, I am brokenhearted woman. What can I do for
you?" her aunt replied. Then she accepted their kind offer
gratefully.
Khadijah mentioned a narration of the Prophet of Islam
(S.A.W.) in this regard, which states. 'A Muslim believer came to the
Prophet (S.A.W.) and asked what he could do to please Allah. The Prophet
(S.A.W.) asked him if he had a mother, and the man said: "No".
Then the Prophet (S.A.W.) asked if he had an aunt, and he answered
"Yes". The Prophet (S.A.W.) recommended that he should look
after her and love her because she had the same position as a mother'.
The aunt feared that she would be a burden to them. But Khadijah's
husband said, "Please do not say such a thing. I lost my mother too
early in life to enjoy her love and care. Perhaps Allah has sent you to
make up for that loss. You can live with us and you can receive your son
and daughter whenever you like. Khadijah's mother who was seated nearby
said, "They are quite serious about wanting you to live with them.
I would be very happy to know that you are near my daughter."
The aunt moved to her new home and was comfortable and
at ease for the first time in her life. She never felt like an intruder,
and accompanied Khadijah when she attended religious meetings. The aunt
benefited very much from these meetings and enhanced her religious
knowledge. She compared Khadijah's happy marriage to her daughter's
life, which was full of quarrels resulting from jealousy, selfishness
and indifference. She could easily differentiate between the normal,
healthy life of her niece and the disturbed, unnatural one of her
daughter. She could do nothing but pray to Allah to guide her daughter
and son to the right path. Early one morning a few months later, the
doorbell rang continuously, and Khadijah hurried to open it.
