We are constantly in need of reminders; for we humans, by our very nature, are forgetful. The Arabic word for human is Insan which shares the same root as the Arabic word for ‘forget’ – Nasa. Among the more eminent matters that we forget, our very Creator is at the top of the list. That’s why it makes sense that we have been commanded to remain in a persistent state of divine dhikr.
Another distinguished topic in need of contemplation is
our lacking relationship with our Lord.
No Muslim is taken aback by the news that she is a slave of Allah (swt)
and is obligated to fulfill the commands of her Master. We all learned this in our grade school years
and try to remind ourselves at least 5 times a day in our scripted ritual
prayers.
Yet we are constantly falling short in our duties and
responsibilities towards our one and only Benevolent Sustainer.
And so it is that Allah (swt) has created this world, not
only with a utilitarian purpose designed for our carnal needs and desires, but
as a universe bursting with signs (ayaat) reminding us of our loving
relationship with Allah (swt).
With that in mind, let us examine two simple farm
animals: sheep and horses.
As we dawn upon the days of Hajj and the accompanying act
of sacrificing a sheep, many Muslims around the world purchase their sheep
a few weeks early. They will feed it and
care for it until that fateful day. And
in the run up to that moment, one amazing trait in this simple animal stands
out. Once the lamb realizes that you are
its source of daily sustenance, that you are caring for it, that you are its
provider – a special bond is created.
The lamb will gravitate towards you.
I recently witnessed this phenomenon with my own eyes, while
visiting a sheep farm here in Riyadh. I
asked the shepherd to catch a young sheep so as to allow my daughter to pet and
hold it. I expected him to chase after one
of the smaller ones and snatch it up, but instead he gently strolled over to
the larger group while making some strange calling noises. Then when he began to walk back towards us,
one of the smaller sheep followed him out of the flock.
Astonished by this little animal’s behavior, I asked him
how he did this. In all my previous
visits, the sheep are so frightened by us that they all jolt at our mere
approach. He explained that its mother was not feeding it sufficiently, so he
began to manually feed the lamb himself. Naturally, he explained, it came to
depend upon him and now responds to his every call.
This relationship will continue so much so, that even if
he were to lead this sheep to the slaughterhouse, it would willingly follow its
master. No pulling, no dragging, no coaxing.
Complete and utter submission.
All for what? He
merely provided the sheep with some food and it's now willing to follow him to
the butcher’s block!
What then can be said of our relationship with our Sustainer? From the moment we were in our mother’s womb,
we have been beautifully provided for in a manner not even remotely comparable to the shepherd
and the sheep. Countless blessings, each
and every day of our lives, from a Loving Lord Who asks for obedience, which in
turn He will reward in the Hereafter with an even greater, unimaginable
plethora of blessings.
Ya Allah!
Are we no better than a simple lamb?
The lamb repays its sustenance with complete submission,
yet we humans repay our Ultimate Sustainer with negligence, apathy, disdain,
rebellion, and even outright rejection?!
At the first sign of difficulty, the rights of our Lord are the first to
go by the wayside. Or maybe when life is
smooth and everything is hunky-dory, we take all the credit while forgetting to
express gratitude to the Source of all this happiness.
How fickle we humans can be!
Let us learn a lesson or two from those ‘dumb’ animals
with whom we share this planet.
2 comments:
Great post.
Actually, your blog is full of wonderful and amazing posts. Your blog definitely has to be one the best of all the blogs that exist. I am serious here. After I have discovered your blog, I started reading your posts and have finished reading them in three days. Alhadulillah that I have discovered such a gem. Please continue writing. Keep enlightening and entertaining us simultaneously.
BTW, about this post, I agree. I used to give some food to a stray cat and it became so loyal to me that one day I wondered, "Subhanallah! Just because of some food it became so loyal to me whereas I remain a disobedient slave of Allah yet after He has blessed me with innumerable blessings." We indeed have many things to learn from animals.
-A brother from Qatar, the tiny neighbor of KSA
AA-
So kind of you. I only pray that you and I both are able to benefit from these posts and inject some positive in our lives that may be pleasing to our Lord.
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