Genuine Gems (GRATITUDE)

11) 7 WAYS TO CULTIVATE COMPASSION

Allah Taa'ala says in the Qur'aan:
muhamadur Rasulullah wallazina ma ahu ashiddau alal kuffari ruhamaau baynahum...(Muhammah is the messenger of Allah and those who are with him are strong against unbelievers but compassionate Amongst each other...)

The prophet sallal lahu alaihi wasallam said:

(Words to the effect )
AL MU'MINU MA'LAFUN, WA LAA KHAYRU FI MAN LAA YA'LAFU, WA LAA YU'LAFU

A believer is he who loves. There is no good in a person who does not love or is not loved by others.

I believe compassion to be one of the few things we can practice that will bring immediate and long-term happiness to our lives. The key to developing compassion in your life is to make it a daily practice.

7 compassion practices.

1.morning prayer. Wake up thanking Allah. Tell yourself at the beginning of each day, "Today I am fortunate to have woken up with iman.( faith ) I am alive. I have a precious human life, and I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others, to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can." Then, when you've done this, try one of the practices below.

2.Empathy practice. Hazrat Abu Huraira R.A. states that the messenger of Allah sallal lahu alaihi wasallam said (words to the effect): After iman the most virtuous of deeds is to display love and affection to the people.

The first step in cultivating compassion is to develop empathy for your fellow human beings. Many of us believe that we have empathy, and on some level nearly all of us do. But many times we are centred on ourselves (I'm no exception ) and we let our sense of empathy get rusty.

Try this practice: Imagine that a loved one is suffering. Something terrible has happened to him or her. Now try to imagine the pain they are going through. Imagine the suffering in as much detail as possible. After doing this practice for a couple of weeks, you should try moving on to imagining the suffering of Muslims around the world.

3. Commonalities practice. Instead of recognizing the differences between yourself and others, try to recognize what you have in common. At the root of it all, we are all human beings. We need food, and shelter, and love.we crave for attention, and recognition, and affection, and above all, happiness. Reflect on these commonalities you have with every other human being, and ignore the differences. Moreover, try this five-step exercise when you meet friends and relatives. After you make salaam (Islamic greeting) with that person, tell yourself:

Step 1: " just like me, this person is seeking happiness in his/her life."
Step 2: " just like me, this person is trying to avoid suffering in his/her life."
Step 3: " just like me, this person has known sadness, loneliness and despair. "
Step 4: " just like me, this person is seeking to fill his/her needs."
Step 5: " just like me, this person is learning about life. "

4. Relief of suffering practice. A hadeeth from Bukhari & Muslim states, wte: A Muslim is a brother of another Muslim, he neither wrongs him nor does hand him over to one who does him wrong. If he fulfils his brother needs Allah will fulfill his needs: if one relieves a Muslim of his difficulties, Allah will relieve his troubles on the day of judgment.
Once you can empathize with another person, and understand his humanity and suffering, the next step is to want that person to be free from suffering. This is the heart of compassion actually the definition of it. Try this exercise: imagine the suffering of a human being you've met recently. Now imagine that you are the one going through that suffering. Reflect on how much you would like that suffering to end.