فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا • إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْرًا For indeed with hardship there is ease, indeed with hardship there is ease.…
Personal Reflections
The ‘Next Best Alternative’ Principle | The Blessed Days of Dhul Ḥijjah
August 24, 2017
The following ḥadīth is pertinent to the blessed season of Ḥajj, particularly for those who are sitting Ḥajj out, “The poor Muhājirīn came to Rasūl Allāh ﷺ and said, “The wealthy ones have taken the highest ranks and lasting bliss.” He ﷺ asked, ❝How is that?❞ They replied, “They offer prayer as we offer it; they fast as we do; and as they are wealthy they perform Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, and go for Jihād, and they spend in charity but…
You know when a person is hoping for Allāh to realise something—a duʿāʾ, a secret wish, some aspiration? He might quietly imagine the different scenarios in which Allāh can realise his heart’s wishes and bring to him what he desires and this is a reflection of the good expectations he holds of Allāh. Perhaps amongst all these scenarios he’ll pick the most realistic one. The easiest, most feasible one. And hang on to that. Our mother ʿĀisha r.a. would say,…
Have you every observed students of knowledge? What is that one thing that is monumental in their success? Consider students who are memorising Qurʾān; what ensures that he or she reaches completion? There are so many who start off ḥifḏh, students of varying intelligence levels, of different backgrounds, and those with different limitations in their access to resources. Why isn’t it that ONLY the most intelligent ones succeed? Or only those who speak Arabic well see completion? Or only those who live…
Imagine a small child. A toddler. Let’s suppose that he’s an excitable young toddler who is unable to express himself verbally yet. Imagine the following situation: His mother tells him that they are going to the park; do you want to go to the park?! There are swings there! He knows the park, so he jumps up excitedly and races to the front door and waits eagerly for his mother to come and open the door so that they can…
In the Qurʾān we often see parallels between the sending down of rain and the sending down of waḥī (Divine Revelation). This parallel between the concrete and the abstract is common in the Qurʾān. It helps us visualise the effect of what we cannot see directly. Imagine rain water. What happens when rain falls? It washes the surface of the ground; it removes the dirt; then it given life to a barren land. When the words and the meanings of…