Dear Teacher,
Assalaamu Alaykum
Here I am once again. Do
you remember that once you gave me the prize for "BEST
DISCUSSION" in the Bahria Islamic Centre. It was due to the fact
that I am unable to keep quiet if I have learnt something. I
feel that it is an AMANAT upon me from Allah that I MUST share
with THE WHOLE WORLD and specially with you because on this
earth I consider you to be my BEST FRIEND.
Recently there
was a small incident which is so common in our setup but for me
it turned out to be a source of great inspiration. That is why I
want to share it with you. The biggest realization was that
Allah is so Merciful that He gives us so many opportunities of
learning every day.
Well what
happened was that my servant refused to do a certain task and
that too in a very rude manner. I am basically very touchy about
behaviours and so I was naturally very "HURT". I didn't speak
out to him but inwardly I was fuming with anger and frustration.
Stereotype sentences began to go round and round in my thoughts
such as “I have been so kind to him” and “how could he do
this” and “he has no right to be disobedient” and so on . As
you can see these are the typical things that I have heard and
LEARNT without thinking. And it is a common way of thinking in
our society. We react according to these thoughts.
But I had
recently got a mail from you in which you had advised me to try
and get rid of my faults one by one in order to attain inner
peace. Boiling with rage and losing my temper is included in the
long list of my FAULTS. I went to my room and tried to cool off.
I was trying to change the direction of my thoughts with a
conscious effort and SUDDENLY I realized something so obvious
which we all fail to see because of our tall egos. And that is
our lack of obedience towards ALLAH. I was deeply shaken to
realize that inspite of all our CLAIMS of Iman and Taqwa, we
have never attached so much significance to our obedience to
Allah. How many times do we allow ourselves concessions from
various duties without ever stopping to think “WHO HAS GIVEN US
THE RIGHT TO DO SO?” And yet when someone disobeys us we think
that it is the end of the world! Whether its our children or
servants or any subordinates (or our husbands!!)
I often think of myself
as a very fair and just person but it was a shock to realize
that I could be so unfair in my standard of obedience. The good
thing that came out of this is a new sense of awareness that
instead of getting upset about peoples’ behaviour towards me I
have to focus on my own attitude towards Allah. What have I
given to my children or to my servant as compared to what Allah
has given me? If I expect these people to be worthy of my
kindness, should I not be worrying more about making myself
worthy of Allah’s kindness?
I often
used to pray to Allah to “make me strong so I should not be
affected by peoples attitudes” but I have now realized that this
strength can only be achieved if you focus your attention
towards your level of obedience and gratitude towards Allah.
Please pray
for me that this ‘Lesson Learnt’ should go a long way in making
me a better person towards Allah and (as a consequence)
to other people as well.
Lots of love and prayers,
Raheela,
Islamabad.
