Friday, September 25, 2009

The eye of the beholder


I thought up this whole post I was going to do about health care reform after the Presidents speech, then Baccus introduced his bill and everything went into the crapper. So in essence, I'm going to post about sh*tcare when I'm comfortably numb and semi comatose.

Moving on. Today was Jummah, Friday prayers for those of you who don't know is like the Muslim holy day of the week. So I went and listened to the khutbah or lecture, and I had a freaking epiphany. There's a very well known tradition set down by the Prophet where he said basically, paraphrasing, find 1000 excuses for your brother. ie when someone comes over later then they said they would instead of your first instinct being to rail against them, find excuses for them. If someone hurts you, thank them for the pain that they caused you because it was actually god's will and there is a lesson that could be learnt from it. Basically find the positive aspects in those around you and appreciate them for the contrast that they have provided in your life. This wasn't actually what the khutbah was about, I zoned out for that but this thought just came to me :).

The Khutbah, the part I was cognizant for, was about how God said, 'I am what my servant thinks I am'. If you think God is compassionate and loves you ten thousand times more than a mother loves her newborn, then that is what God'll b for ya! On the other hand if you believe that God is vengeful and spiteful, then that too is what God'll be for ya. It's all about how YOU percieve God, I really do love how Islam is so personal. It's really just about YOU and YOUR relationship to God. Noone can decide for you nor be able to tell you how to express it. So if you percieve God as your best friend, looking out for you and always doing what's best for you, then wouldn't life be absolutely wonderful?? Think about it, when your on a rollercoaster and your plummeting downwards, isn't it exhilirating and terrifying and amazing all at the same time?? Don't people go on those rides for that feeling? Life is supposed to be like that, there are ups and downs but when you know that your always going to come back up in the end then life is exhilirating! It is so worth LIVING!! When you have trust that God's got your back, through all of it, then there is nothing to fear for all of your trust is in the Supreme. Speaking of which, as a Muslim, it is a tenet of our faith to have absolute trust in God! There are so many people who look at their problems and are acrambling for a way out when all they have to do is trust that all will be well, that when the time comes an answer will be provided. How many times has something not gone right and then something even better opens up down the road? Personally for me, MANY times.For how can one percieve light without ever experiencing darkness?

-- Post From My iPhone

11 comments:

EmptyWords said...

My thoughts exactly... beautifully written

Anonymous said...

I absolutely loveee this post. I wish this was like facebook and a like button was attached...or a LOVE button.


Jazakallah for the reminder! :)

Amalia said...

This is really well written and gives out a wonderful message. Thanks so much - now I also have something to ponder :)

Farnnay said...

hmm. ive never thought of it that way. thanks for that.

Artistic Logic said...

i needed this

Sweet Escape said...

Great post. It really got me thinking.

PerplxinTexan♥ said...

posted from iphone? Hopefully not during jumuah. I got a tweet update the other day that said "praying" I thought gee I hope for your sake you didn't update that during salaht..not like most Muslims are above that though.. :|

Anonymous said...

Snake charmer, what inspired the name choice?

Faith said...

“I am what my servant thinks I am”
My fav hadeeth of all times
Thank you for reminding us :)

Loredana said...

Wonderful, WONDERFUL post! I couldn't agree more!!! How boring would life be if all was always good and you never got challenged and you never learned something or achieved something good out of something bad?! I know personally that through all my bad times, even during them, the only way I was able to step away from it is knowing that God has my back and eventually when HE sees fit He'll show me the way!

fuelMybrain said...

Once grown, I decided to stop viewing the "bad" happenings as God's doing(s).... I am MUCH happier, and I truly disagree with the religion I was raised in that they teach that God punishes you harshly and takes away your blessings if you do something (anything) bad.

And also I'd like to comment on your thoughts about something better always coming along.... ALWAYS!!! I love being able to look back and say things such as, "wow we're lucky this *insert unfortunate thing* happened or we wouldn't be getting to do *insert way better thing*.