Qur'anic Reflections

#3. Why do we fall?

This is not a very conventional reflection, not the in-depth analysis of this verse per se but it just connects on so many levels that I had to put it in here. And that is the beauty of the Qur'an, that once you start studying it, it opens up your mind to so many things that you hadn't even thought about and so many things you thought you knew, but didn't quite understand properly.

Our first reaction to this verse is that "Oh it's for the really really bad guys."

But the thing about Allah's Word is that it's for every one in every time period in every part of the world.

The one thing that comes to mind when we read this verse, is that how can someone murder a person who's come to them for their own good?

How can someone want to hurt a man whose life goal is pretty much saving them from the Hell fire?

Let's look at Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) He was sent to the Israelites as a miracle, as a messenger to give them glad tidings and warn them. But they ended up trying to crucify him.

Leaving aside the fact that they in fact didn't (because Allah made him ascend to the heavens before they could crucify him) it doesn't change the fact that they meant to do it.

For better understanding, I read the biblical account of it and the sheer amount of cruelty that his enemies showed Isa (Peace Be Upon Him)is just too great to make sense of. They spat on him, pulled off his clothes, mocked him and pierced his body with spears.

It doesn't make sense!

Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) was their messenger! He was sent to this world guide them. He only asked them to believe in the oneness of God and tried his best to spread the message.

But how did they get down to this? That they could find it in their hearts to mete out such inhuman treatment to the one man that cared for them more than their forefathers ever could.

This can only happen when deen doesn't extend beyond the tongues that it is talked about with. It is easy to affiliate oneself with a religion with one's name, lifestyle and maybe even culture but all that does not mean a thing when the same deen doesn't enter the hearts.

The reason why a lot of people didn't accept Islam in the time of Isa (Peace Be Upon Him) or RasoolAllah (Peace Be Upon Him) or just about any prophet, is that they were too unwilling to let go of their ego.

Fast forward to us.

We the Muslims of the 21st century.

We're a huge ummah, spanning around continents and countries. We who have accepted Islam as a way of our life, we who couldn't even imagine life without Fajr salah or the hijab or even the local mosque aunties.

In this era of YouTube and podcasts, where there is no dearth of Islamic reminders and Islamic atmospheres, it is absolutely amazing to see more and more people take Islam seriously. We are all on this journey together walking the path at our highest and inevitably, our lowest.

But as we become more and more religious, it is important to look forward to see where it is taking us. That when we slip and fall, and some kind believer brother or sister tries to correct us, how do we react?

It is reported that 'Abdullâh b. Mas'ûd – Allâh be pleased with him – said, "One of the worst sins is when a man says to his brother, "Fear Allâh,' and he replies, "Worry about yourself." [Abû Bakr Al-Daynûrî, Al-Mujâlasah wa Jawâhir Al-'Ilm article 2619]

This got me the perfect answer to the question that had risen from reflecting over the hostility shown to the messengers and the believing men and women after that

The question was—"Why do we fall?" (Yes, do pardon my lack of originality)

It's because some times we are just too stubborn to take a helping hand.

Today, we find it a disgrace to be called out for our misdeeds, we feel that others do not have any business interfering in our lives, but it really comes down to this:

The sister or brother trying to help us is only doing that because she or he cares about our Aakhirah. In the end, it's always going to be Allah and us, but he/she is just trying to look out for us, and that doesn't make them superior to us or meddlers or "Haram police" 

They're just being our friend.

When Deen enters inside of our heart, when the love of our religion and our unrelenting commitment to it snuggles inside our chest so much so that even breathing becomes an act of gratitude, it'll make us happy to be corrected—not resentful.

A believer worships Allah, not his ego.

The people before us had failed to let go of their pride and ended up hating the one person that could've been their guide, with Allah's will.

Let us not be one of them. Let us make a resolution this Ramadhan to not let our pride hinder our own progress.

Crush your egos when it comes to admitting your mistakes, because then, the only thing standing between the broken you and the better you would be the stubborn you.