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July 19 - July 24, 2019
By trying to find fulfillment in what is fleeting, we are running after a hologram…a mirage.
"Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you."
This world cannot break you—unless you give it permission. And it cannot own you unless you hand it the keys—unless you give it your heart. And so, if you have handed those keys to dunya for a while—take them back. This isn’t the End. You don’t have to die here. Reclaim your heart and place it with its rightful owner:
"O you who have believed, enter into submission completely [whole-heartedly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy." (2:208)
are constantly in a state of need.
"It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his nafs (self) makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein." (Qur’an, 50:16)
He protects and redirects us by keeping all other doors of refuge closed during the storm. He knows that behind each false door is a drop. And if we enter it, we will fall. In His mercy, He keeps those false doors closed.
By sending the wind, He brings us to our knees: the perfect position to pray.
"Nothing is difficult if you seek it through your Lord, and nothing is easy if you seek it through yourself."
if Allah wills, the vision of our heart can be shown the home
with Him, so that every difficulty is made easy. And maybe we too can smile, even in those times.
two distinct worldviews when it comes to purpose in life.
"Strange is the case of a believer, there is good for him in everything—and this is only for the believer. If a blessing reaches him, he is grateful to God, which is good for him, and if an adversity reaches him, he is patient which is good for him." (Muslim)
the wisdom of Allah cannot always be understood from the surface. Al-Khidr and Prophet Musa (as) came upon a town whereupon Al-Khidr began to damage the boats of the people.
"When someone beats a rug with a stick, he is not beating the rug—his aim is to get rid of the dust. Your inward is full of dust from the veil of ‘I’-ness, and that dust will not leave all at once. With every cruelty and every blow, it departs little by little from the heart’s face, sometimes in sleep and sometimes in wakefulness."
"…And We tested them with good [times] and bad that perhaps they would return [to obedience]." (Qur’an, 7:168)
"Oh mankind! Verily you are ever toiling on towards your Lord—painfully toiling—but you shall meet Him." (Qur’an, 84:6)
As soon as we internalize that it is only a test, our questions drastically change. Instead of asking: "How could this be happening?" "Why is it so unfair?" our questions become: "How should I react?" "How should I pass this test?" "What am I meant to learn?" "How should I see through this illusion, to the creator of the one who’s hurting me, the one who’s oppressing me, and the test itself?"
"God is enough for us, and He is the best of protectors."
The key to succeeding on this path is that once you do reach your ‘low’, you keep going, knowing that it’s normal.
a curve. It makes no difference what others are doing. We
stand alone on the Day of Judgment. And this is just a tool of Shaytan to make us stop striving.
remember that the lows are part of the path. Remember that ‘futoor’ (the dip) is part of being human.
