Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
*wipes away dusts and fragments of laziness from computer screen*
*coughs, sneezes, smiles*
Alhamdulillah, it has been two months since I've last written in here but Allah still chooses me despite those long days of leaving this canvas blank. I could come out with a multitude of reasons but none would be solid enough to prove sufficient for my absence in this blog. Nevertheless, I am back and ready to further continue upholding justice to this blog inshaAllah.
Moving on,
Alhamdulillah again, (can't stop repeating my gratefulness actually) as it has been almost a week since winter break started and I am currently in a friend's house all the way in Manchester. And this has been one of the cutest thing the people here have done (besides taking our bags and bringing it all the way from the coach station back home) .....
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| Warm lemon tea for sickly me |
Alhamdulillah for the great hospitality at day one friends. Eventhough streams of visitors have come and go from this house, there has never been a lack of love in welcoming us weary travellers into this house. Even the one who brought me this mug of tea was sick herself. You have got to now that I am terribly touched by this small gesture. *menangis* Jazakunallah khairan kathira. :)
In this post, I would like to share an ayaah (An-Nahl, 16:6) :
Disclaimer: Mind you, I don't learn the Arabic language. I'm not a pro at giving tafseer nor am I quoting anyone for it, but I'm here to share whatever tadabbur that comes from my heart that can be related to it inshaAllah.
The meaning of the ayaah goes like this:-
And indeed, for you in grazing livestock is a lesson. We give you drink from what is in their bellies - between excretion and blood - pure milk, palatable to drinkers.
One question might pop up from your minds as in, what has livestock actually have to do with providing lessons for us living human beings?
Yes, we slaughter them to provide meat for our consumption. In that we learn about rizq.
Yes, they follow Allah's ruling in which they graze over grass and not eat meat in their diet. Thus we learn about sunnatullah and obedience.
But what is it in them that Allah uses the word 'Ibrah' to describe lesson?
I can only a very grave and superficial meaning of what 'Ibrah' means, in which some of the meanings are lesson, moral, example and warning. A lesson can be like what we learn in class, something academic-like and could either give an impact or not in our lives. A lesson could also be like something we get after an eventful situation, for example, the death of a close relative or being a victim of snatch thief. The list goes on.
When we talk about moral, usually it relates to the second definition of lesson in which I've stated beforehand which more or less relates close to another meaning of 'Ibrah' which is warning. Warnings usually come from lessons learnt by one party given to another party so that the latter does not repeat the same mistake or as a precaution to be aware of any damgerous implications.
What about the meaning of 'example' derived from 'Ibrah'?
Well, when Allah implies that in these grazing livestock is a lesson, meaning that there lies an example in these beings. That they are chosen to act as an example to be followed. Examples are usually given to describe a situation or to describe a certain action in a more specific manner. Like in a statement, "Students should be wise in managing their time," the examples that would come suite would be "By scheduling a daily timetable, prioritising work by importance and adhere strictly to the schedule made."
So what is it that is so special in these 'Grazing Livestock' that Allah mentioned them specifically in this ayaah?
Let's look at the second part of the ayaah.
'We give you drink from what is in their bellies -between excretion and blood - pure milk, palatable to drinkers.'
Milk?
Okay, we drink milk and then?
Have we ever wondered how milk could actually come out from an animal in which there lies a number of metabolic systems that in it are not quite comfortable to be mentioned but I'll mention it anyway in a more delicate manner - the excretory and blood circulatory system. Is it not a wonder how something so pure could come out from something green, slimy, reddish inside the body of a cow or a sheep (Okay, I might've gone overboard with that description). But what we can take from these livestock is that these livestock, they follow the 'fitrah' or 'nature' that Allah has decided upon them. Like mentioned before, they eat from grass and not from slaughtered meat. They do not put up a devastating fight when they are slaughtered for our meals. They do not even decide to walk on two feet and has all four legs on the ground. Do they fight against the shepherd when he ushers the herd away from the grazing site back to their barn?
The answer is
no.
They follow and they obey what Allah has decreed upon them to be.
Look at us humans. We are created with a magnificent mind; able to create and imagine beyond boundaries, able to compute and decipher the most difficult of algorithms, able to acknowledge so much of the delicate systems in the human body. But why is it that we are so oblivious of the Creator behind all that is our eyes to see, our mind to think and our heart to ponder?
And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.
(Al-A'raf, 7:179)
The Quran
This world
This life
Are all entities that Allah gifted us with to find Him. To love Him and to acknowledge His power. And it is not even for Him, instead it is for us.
When was the last time that we found peace away from fulfilling expecations of people?
When was the last time we felt contented with what we have in front of our eyes?
When was the last time we found ease despite losing something we care so much for?
Despite the darkness we have in our hearts, Allah still chose us to except this Deen, this way of life that releases us from the shackles of Dunya entrapping us. This Deen puts our thoughts and mind into place, gives a difference between purpose and means, provides us with peach and content even with all we have that is less.
Thus, this ayaah tells us that if we follow what Allah has directed and guided us to be, we shall create something that is pure from our hearts to give to others, a message that is free from any ill or negative in it although it originates from us - a sinful human being.
The understanding of Islam truly is an incomparable gift. Not many are able to obtain in, what more be given the strength to spread it. So in the trials and tribulations we face everyday, let us not forget that His love transcends whatever we can integrate in our heads. And let us always remember that as we stay inside the warmth of our houses, there are people out there shivering in the cold night. And lest us always remember that in the company of our loved ones, there are people who lost theirs to the many events Allah gives in order to strengthen His soldiers.
To my dearest readers,
If you do finally reach this part, I sincerely ask for your kind prayers for the victims of flood in Malaysia, for our brothers and sisters in Palestine, Syria, Rohingya and the whole world.
May this writing bring goodness to all it may touch inshaAllah.
#prayforpantaitimur
