Putting Shoes on Your Head

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Habib Ali al-Jifri asks us to imagine if someone walked into a room and placed his shoes on top of his head. What would we think of him? We would think he was crazy or if we had a good opinion, we might say he’s just trying to make us laugh. Even if he is trying to make us laugh, he is partially insane because no one would put their shoes on their head.

This dunya is like a pair of shoes.

It’s a funny analogy but in actual fact, we are all constantly “putting shoes on our heads”. This world, the dunya, is like a pair of shoes and our dogged pursuit of fleeting worldly achievements, such as rank, status, popularity, possessions and wealth – is akin to putting shoes on our head. We are doing things constantly that were it to be unveiled to us, we will be laughing at the ridiculous nature of what we have been doing. Never these things should become the ultimate end, and never do we put them on top of our heads.

Many people are amazed by this world. They laugh for people who put the world on to of their heads. When people of spiritual insight laugh, their laughter stems from compassion and mercy for people who do these things.

Imagine the person with shoes on his head, not only he put shoes on his head, he also asked people to stand up and clap and congratulate him. Is that acceptable? He didn't do anything to deserve honor.

People that place the world on top of their heads, and even worse than that is people that place the world in their hearts, they forget the reason they were created. The forget the purpose of their hearts. The purpose of the hearts is to come to know Allah. Allah is supposed to be in our hearts.

Unfortunately what many people are doing is as if they are clapping and congratulate people that are coming to the room with shoes on their heads. And that many of our young people are clapping for people and congratulate them for putting shoes on their heads.

May Allah empty our hearts and fill them with His Light. Ameen.

Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam.

And Allah alone grant success.
Wassalaam

adapted from Habib Ali al-Jifri lecture