Faith & Spirituality

The aspirant realizes that he cannot tame his nafs by himself. We must tame the horse of our nafs/self by holding onto its reins.

It is not only the famous Companions who are gifted an elevated status. There were many hidden ones, some whose stories have come to us, and some, undoubtedly, whom we will never know. And, to this day there are people amongst us who are beloved to God but who live in obscurity.

When we become more self-sufficient and rely solely on God, the natural consequences are that we free ourselves from needing other people, which means we have less expectations of them and thus suffer fewer disappointments.

Although we have not had the opportunity to meet our Prophet ﷺ face to face, there is consolation in the traces that have been left to us. In this, and in everything, we have been blessed beyond measure.

While many still find strength in God during trials, the result of our individual and collective trauma is increasingly the opposite – distance from God and a loss of hope. Amidst so much pain, where do we find comfort?

Muslims are busy working on survival. We are dealing with internal strife, external stress, political and social upheaval and plain old fear. Most of our energy is concentrated in our own communities, our families and – when we have a minute or two – ourselves. We are exhausted. It is hard to even imagine mustering up the energy to do more. But the question still tickles in our heads and hearts: are we delivering on behalf of the Prophetﷺ? Are we carrying the responsibility of the gift of the message of Islam?

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As we seek the pleasure of our Creator during the month of Ramadan in which His compassion and forgiveness are magnified, let us strive to embody the qualities of compassion and mercy in ourselves when seeking Divine presence.

Ramadan is the Muslim’s university.

Each week is like a full year. The first week you are a ‘fresher’ – getting the feel of the month and learning your way around. In the second week, as a sophomore, you are in the groove and feeling confident. The third week you are a junior of Ramadan; you may begin to tire and need to reach deeply into your core self for strength and stamina. The last week, as a senior, you are both ready to graduate and feeling like you are not ready to leave. Where did the time go?

Manhood is helping to build institutions that do not alienate women from their God given rights per sacred law and to stand for their rights that were conferred by sacred law. If this manhood is not present in our community as we’d like it to be, the solution is to support Prophetic manhood that brings balance to the society and serves our community including womenfolk and children.

There is a different sort of love between people, that is often eclipsed by our talk and focus on romance. This is a quieter love, less exhilarating, but perhaps one of the best ingredients for a healthy and sound life — that is, love of one’s sister or brother in faith — the love between good friends, righteous companions, and those with whom we share this journey towards God. This is a meaningful and powerful relationship, the proof of which can be seen in how often it was talked about by our beloved Prophet ﷺ and his own deep and beautiful relationship with his companions.

Many Prophetic statements paint an undoubtedly unpleasant picture of the future. But is this something that should be revelled in? Or is it perhaps instead a twisted way of abdicating ourselves out of the responsibility and challenge of carving out a dignified existence even in the midst of hardship?