In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Allah is Al-Hayy, the Living, the One who was, is, and will always be alive. Al-Qayyum is the One who is sustaining and protecting everything. Just reflect on a few scientific facts about this earth.
The earth contains approximately 75% water and full of boiling hot lava ready to burst. The earth is rotating at a surface velocity of 1500 km per hour (more than twice the plane speed) and moving along with the sun and the galaxy at a high speed of 225 km per second.
In spite of these movements, Allah is affectionately holding us together on the earth. We can go about our lives with our feet on the ground and we can sleep peacefully during the night without falling off the bed. In spite of all the water in the ocean, we are not drowned. We can't even take a few steps with a glass full of water without spilling it. How easy it is for Allah to keep the earth afloat the way it is, all for us. He does not get tired to do all these. Not only that Allah is holding the stars, the moon, the sun and the galaxies together, otherwise we would have been crushed to powder or burnt to ashes. You see how merciful the Lord is. But how many of us bow and prostrate to Him in gratitude?
When we remind ourselves of Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum, we will have nothing but love, respect, awe and fear of Allah. The more we have these feelings, the easier our lives will be and we will achieve the happiness in our lives. We will fear no one except Allah and we will not lose hope. We will humble ourselves and strive to have the best of morals and character.
Allah invites us to ponder upon the earth and the skies over us. We are too busy looking forward, we hardly remember to look at the ground and the sky, let alone to ponder them. The word skies and the earth appear together in the Qur'an frequently, on average at least once on each page of the mushaf. So recite the Qur'an everyday and ponder upon the skies and the earth again and again, using different angles. Think of all the living and non living things on earth--human, animals, plants, mountains, rivers, lakes, ocean, buildings, vehicles, graves, etc, and think of the things that exist under the earth--precious metals, gem stones, oil, fossils, etc., and look up to skies and see the clouds, the stars, the moon, the birds flying, airplanes, and think about the billions of galaxies beyond, etc. All these and more that you can't even imagine in the universe belong to Allah.
When we know that everything in the skies and the earth belong to Allah, why should we not submit to Him alone? Why do we have arrogance, greed, miserliness, selfishness, jealousy and spite? Why do we harm anyone or damage anything? We should not hurt even an insect and damage inanimate objects because they are Allah's "property."
The Ayatul Kursi will remind us of Al-Hayy and Al-Qayyum. The word skies and earth appear twice in this verse. Memorize and recite it often.
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, told us many important things about Ayatul Kursi. This is the greatest ayah of the Qur'an.
"Whoever recites Ayatul Kursi after every prescribed prayer, nothing prevents him from entering Paradise except death.
"The devil stays away from the house where Ayatul Kursi is recited."
"Whoever recites this verse before going to sleep, an angel is assigned by Allah for protection."
ٱللَّهُ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ ٱلْقَيُّومُ ۚ لَا تَأْخُذُهُۥ سِنَةٌ وَلَا نَوْمٌ ۚ لَّهُۥ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ مَن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يَشْفَعُ عِندَهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِهِۦ ۚ يَعْلَمُ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ ۖ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَىْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِۦٓ إِلَّا بِمَا شَآءَ ۚ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُّهُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۖ وَلَا يَـُٔودُهُۥ حِفْظُهُمَا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَلِىُّ ٱلْعَظِيمُ[Qur'an Al Baqarah 2:255]
Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and their preservation tires Him not. And He is the Most High, the Most Great. (255)
This verse is meant for us to feel like we are nothing. So we will act like someone who is nothing, not imagine how great we are. But how can we feel this if we don't understand what we read. Qur'an is a linguistic miracle and we cannot come at it by translation or with simple Arabic, let alone with no Arabic. Before we get to the level of Arabic fluency, at the minimum know the translation and the tafsir available of each surah you read. InshaAllah with our zeal to come close to Allah, He will open the way for us to a sound understanding of His Speech.
May Allah give us tawfiq to understand His Speech, His greatness and develop the love for Him and taqwa. Ameen.
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
No comments:
Post a Comment