The Gift of Islam
On this Blessed Day of Jummuah, let us remember this beautiful verse in Surah Mai’dah (The Table Spread), Verse 3…
“…..today I have completed/perfected your way of life/religion for you, completed My Divine blessing/favour/bounty upon you, and chosen/content with as your religion, Islam (your way of life)….”
We live in a time of individualism, materialism, consumerism, atheism and other numerous isms. All these isms are vying for the core of our spiritual hearts, which is the internal compass of the human soul. The lubb (core) of the qalb (spiritual heart) is the Seat of Worship. This Sacred Space MUST be reserved for the One Who Perfected and Completed His Favour, Bounty and Blessing upon us and Who Chose Islam as a way of life for us, out of His expansive Mercy, Love, Care, Compassion, Nourishment, Awareness, Wisdom, Knowledge and so much more. We, the intelligent animal, who uses the intellect, reason and logic to know, submit, worship and serve The One Who Gifted us existence should have CERTAINTY in this.
The lines of what is right and wrong, what is good and evil, what is praiseworthy and blameworthy is becoming extremely blurred. The world and the times we live is very confusing, specially for the younger generations. They need us to hold the tiller steady, as our ships continue to navigate the turbulent waters, where dark and dangerous isms lurk beneath.
This is the age of moral relativism, where the world is defined by individualism - what I think, what I feel, what I want; Me, Me, Me; I, My and Mine. These words are capitalised for a reason. Everything around us is changing on a daily basis, swaying this way and that way as the wind blows, with no moral compass and no Captain with a steady hand on the tiller at the helm. It’s all subjective and arbitrary.
As Muslims, those who submit our will to the Will of the Creator, our faith, our Islam, our Lord, our Messenger ﷺ and our Book defines for us who we are, why we are here, what is expected of us, what is right and what is wrong, what is evil and what is good and every other aspect of a human being’s life between heaven and earth and all that is in-between these existential realities.
We have to hold on to our Islam, if we want to successfully navigate the zeitgeist and vicissitudes of our time. When we feel ourselves wavering, let us go back to this Ayat, this Symbol of the Divine. Allah has chosen Islam for us as a Way of Life, as Divine Favour, as Divine Bounty, as Divine Blessing and that is where His Contentment with us lies and that is where we find our own contentment.
Jummuah Mubarak!
And Allah and the Messenger know Best
