Whenever you say ” I am not your type of person that…..” know that you are protecting your egos image of yourself. What i often see in faith circles is people pretending they are something they are not because they don’t want to accept where they are in this very moment. In many ways it is not life that is painful, our labels make it painful. Let me explain. If I say I am successful, rich, and likeable person then anything that threatens that identity directly threatens me. If in a particular company I am not liked then my entire identity is threatened and I feel pain. As they say if you live for people’s acceptance you die by their rejection. Or if I lose my wealth and I am defined by something that is mortal and subject to change, we are rooting ourselves in the world which is mortal and variable that we feel instability, anxiety, and uneasiness. Unless our identity is in Allah and based on Him outside circumstances can affect our inner reality. This is why people are so affected by even the words of a complete stranger online. One Buddhist teacher once said if someone gives you a gift and you refuse to receive it, who ends up with the gift? They do right. In the same way, when we refuse to receive something, someone says they are left with the negative energy of that thing. We may intellectually understand this, but the problem is when it comes to living this reality it becomes hard. Why? Mostly because we do ourselves based on societies opinion of us and now with social media we have numerical value on every post and picture that tells us how relevant or irrelevant we are to others. This is how the world sucks us in. Its sells us the lie that our importance is dependent on our influence in the world when the Quran so clearly states that our value does not come from fame, money, or family names but from our God- consciousness and righteousness (Taqwa). Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.” (49:13). So when we turn to the world for our sense of self worth we become enslaved to illusion. This is why the Prophet (pbuh) said, ” Be in the world as if you were a stranger or a traveller along the path.” (Bukhari). We must remember that our identity as Muslims is not dependent on other Muslims on our family or even the ummah as it is represented in this era, our identity is based on Allah and rooted in His Love that is unconditional. If we do this, if we rely on Allah alone and define our existence based on Him then nothing else in this world can affect us, no comment, no family member, no loss, no failure. We can find our peace in the chaos because we will see with the eyes of our heart that in the hands of Allah, everything is perfectly where it should be. That nothing is out of place. That everything has been written so that we can know our Lord and return to Him through the path of Love!
Credits : #Quranquotesdaily
Sometimes, it makes me wonder, how is that certain things just appear in front of you when you need it the most? okay.. maybe not need, but think??? For instance, don’t you get startled when one fine day you google about Dubai, and then the very next moment, you see ads on Dubai all over your social media accounts??
Anyways that’s the “internet trick” – or whatever they call it. Let’s not get there. But like mentioned above, our thoughts attract the things we want to see. In this case – this reflection over here was a very timely reminder for me. I could relate to every sentence in this reflection. The need of acceptance is very crucial, especially when it comes from loved ones, colleagues, friends or even bosses that when we feel a slight declination in it, it affects us very much. But on the other hand, why aren’t we feeling that way towards Allah? Or at least enough when compared to Dunia? Why are we so engrossed with Dunia affairs that we fail to fulfill for Akhirat? Have we forgotten what we are created for?
I used to have disagreements with my family, especially when my thoughts contradicts theirs, but when come to think of it, what is the purpose of our life? Recently, out of the blue, my Best Friend whatsapp me. She asked “what is the purpose of your life” At first I was startled. I stared blankly at her message. And then I replied her stating “nothing actually. I am going with the flow. ” – See! that was my reply to her initially. And then, I asked her back. The reason she even asked me in the first place was because she didn’t knew it herself. o.O Thereafter, I replied her stating “actually my purpose of life is “supposed” to be working towards Jannah.”There I go. I mentioned “supposed”, which means I know what’s my purpose right? But I am not doing enough. Everything had already been written for us to comply. All we have to do is to follow. Doesn’t it sounds as simple as that?? Yet “Dunia affairs” overrights!
However, its not that “Dunia affairs” are not important, but working towards “Akhirat” is also equally as important and it should be balanced. Eventually one has to channel it in the right path.
Indeed it’s a thoughtful reminder!!
Scribbles By Sparkling Cherry 