Making it Worth Living
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem
In the Name of God, The Merciful, The Compassionate
After three weeks in a place where you and everyone around you are there only for God's sake; where your day rotates around the five daily prayers; where you pray behind scholars who's beautiful voices take you to the Heavens every day; where you hear no foul words, and see no lewdness; where almost everyone seems to be fighting against their ago...
...to come back to the so-called life we live here in New York is difficult at best.
One thing I have noticed after Hajj is that our lives here leave no time for reflection. For some reason, although I try to fill my day with activities only for the sake of God, I still manage to lose His remembrance with such ease that it's quite scary. In the sacred precincts of Mecca I felt what the five daily prayers were supposed to be. I felt what a reflective life would be, and trust me - it's a whole lot better than what we live here. If we live here at all.
Yet alas that is not the nature of our lives. Islam tries to make a society that is most conducive to the remembrance of God, to reflection, to inner growth. While all people, regardless of faith, recognize the benefits and beauty of engaging in the latter activities, the people of my country - including myself - do not realize what they are missing, and do not realize what they could have. Perhaps it's not the country, perhaps it's the city. New York City. Perhaps.
It could be argued that to struggle to remember God and to be reflective while being engaged in the world is what Islam is all about. After all, that was the example of the Exemplar of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him: a teacher, a father, a husband, a warrior, a spiritual guide, a statesman, but ultimately the most defining feature: a lover of God. A man who spent his nights standing in prayer until his blessed feet became edematous and cracked and was asked, "O Messenger of God, why do you stand in prayer all night when you have already been forgiven?" To which he, blessed is he, replied, "Should I not then be grateful?" He, peace and blessings be upon him, remembered God at all times, when he mounted his camel, when he entered his home, even when he engaged in intimate relations with his wives. He said about his sleep, "the eyes sleep but the heart doesn't sleep", meaning that one of his miracles was that even when he was sleeping his essence, his heart, was with God. He, peace be upon him, is our example - and he fully engaged in the world.
It's a difficult balance, and it seems that the world only wants imbalance. And that's the world I was brought into when I landed at JFK. In Saudi Arabia, although it has its faults, when the call to prayer sounds, the store owners leave their work and go the mosque to pray. In New York, in the halal meat store, the butchers were complaining that their Muslim boss doesn't let them leave work to pray the congregational prayer on Friday - an obligation on every Muslim male. I think that summarizes a lot of what I have said.
Yet, I need to stay here. I cannot just run to another country to isolate myself from the world. I have to stay here and make a difference while it's still possible to do so. There is so much mistrust and fear of Muslims here - in part because of the actions of some Muslims and in part because of the same centuries-old propagandistic view the West has of Islam. There is also much ignorance amongst Muslims of their own religion, of its rich intellectual tradition, of its ability to adapt to different times and cultures without sacrificing its roots, of its deep spirituality. There is so much work to be done. Who will do it if we start taking the view that it's just too hard?
While it may be hard, I am not leaving. God willing, I will stay here and do my best to educate others and myself, and constantly work to change myself so I can be a better example. May God grant us all the strength to keep on going.
In the Name of God, The Merciful, The Compassionate
After three weeks in a place where you and everyone around you are there only for God's sake; where your day rotates around the five daily prayers; where you pray behind scholars who's beautiful voices take you to the Heavens every day; where you hear no foul words, and see no lewdness; where almost everyone seems to be fighting against their ago...
...to come back to the so-called life we live here in New York is difficult at best.
One thing I have noticed after Hajj is that our lives here leave no time for reflection. For some reason, although I try to fill my day with activities only for the sake of God, I still manage to lose His remembrance with such ease that it's quite scary. In the sacred precincts of Mecca I felt what the five daily prayers were supposed to be. I felt what a reflective life would be, and trust me - it's a whole lot better than what we live here. If we live here at all.
Yet alas that is not the nature of our lives. Islam tries to make a society that is most conducive to the remembrance of God, to reflection, to inner growth. While all people, regardless of faith, recognize the benefits and beauty of engaging in the latter activities, the people of my country - including myself - do not realize what they are missing, and do not realize what they could have. Perhaps it's not the country, perhaps it's the city. New York City. Perhaps.
It could be argued that to struggle to remember God and to be reflective while being engaged in the world is what Islam is all about. After all, that was the example of the Exemplar of Islam, the Prophet Muhammad, may God's peace and blessings be upon him: a teacher, a father, a husband, a warrior, a spiritual guide, a statesman, but ultimately the most defining feature: a lover of God. A man who spent his nights standing in prayer until his blessed feet became edematous and cracked and was asked, "O Messenger of God, why do you stand in prayer all night when you have already been forgiven?" To which he, blessed is he, replied, "Should I not then be grateful?" He, peace and blessings be upon him, remembered God at all times, when he mounted his camel, when he entered his home, even when he engaged in intimate relations with his wives. He said about his sleep, "the eyes sleep but the heart doesn't sleep", meaning that one of his miracles was that even when he was sleeping his essence, his heart, was with God. He, peace be upon him, is our example - and he fully engaged in the world.
It's a difficult balance, and it seems that the world only wants imbalance. And that's the world I was brought into when I landed at JFK. In Saudi Arabia, although it has its faults, when the call to prayer sounds, the store owners leave their work and go the mosque to pray. In New York, in the halal meat store, the butchers were complaining that their Muslim boss doesn't let them leave work to pray the congregational prayer on Friday - an obligation on every Muslim male. I think that summarizes a lot of what I have said.
Yet, I need to stay here. I cannot just run to another country to isolate myself from the world. I have to stay here and make a difference while it's still possible to do so. There is so much mistrust and fear of Muslims here - in part because of the actions of some Muslims and in part because of the same centuries-old propagandistic view the West has of Islam. There is also much ignorance amongst Muslims of their own religion, of its rich intellectual tradition, of its ability to adapt to different times and cultures without sacrificing its roots, of its deep spirituality. There is so much work to be done. Who will do it if we start taking the view that it's just too hard?
While it may be hard, I am not leaving. God willing, I will stay here and do my best to educate others and myself, and constantly work to change myself so I can be a better example. May God grant us all the strength to keep on going.
posted by Mujahada at 10:56 PM
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