Playing Fetch

Bismillah hir Rahman nir Raheem
Allahumma salli 'alaa Sayyidinaa Muhammad, wa 'alaa aali Sayyidinaa Muhammad wa baarik wa sallim.

As-salaamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu,

It's been a *very* long time since I last updated this, but I haven't forgotten about it and I keep thinking that I should come back to it. The main reason I feel I've been hesitant to update is that I really don't think I have anything to offer anyone; also I feel the concept of having a blog is somewhat rooted in arrogance. Who am I to think that what I have to say is so important that everyone else should waste moments of their lives reading it? But I keep remembering what some people have told and advised me, and my feelings change... I realize that benefit lies with Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala and He can choose to guide us through whichever avenue He sees best, even if we may never imagine that guidance could come from that avenue. So May Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala put barakah in these words and in the time I spend maintaining this blog --if indeed it is written for me to do so-- and may He not allow my own gross inadequacies to negatively effect the great and glorious message of Truth for which this blog stands. Ameen.

So, today's reflection...

As I was working on the computer, my eye caught some movement outside my apartment, so I took a moment to observe what was going on. In the freshly fallen snow of this first winter storm, I saw a very cute, little dog running back and forth in the parking lot. He was playing fetch with his owner. His owner would throw what appeared to be a snowball, and the dog --without a moment's hesitation-- darted out in the direction of the ball, took two or three second to search the snow for it, grabbed it in his mouth, and ran swiftly back to his owner. At first I felt pity for the dog, that he could be so deeply amused and entranced by this game, such that if a car accident were to occur in the parking lot, he probably wouldn't even notice, due to the intense amount of concentration he dedicated to this rather menial task.

Then I realized that, subhaanAllah, actually this dog is far better than the vast majority of mankind. In essence, the game he was playing is completely parallel to our own lives. We were with Allah, our Lord, our Sustainer and Cherisher, Who sent us to this earth for the briefest of moments in order to test us in our obedience and worship. All we have to do is remember that that is our purpose, fulfill it, and return to Him. But, unlike the dog who diligently searches the snow for his ball so that he can return it promptly to his owner, we get distracted by the snow flakes and start wandering off on our own ventures, oblivious to the fact that our Owner is still waiting for our obedience.

Every moment we spend distracted by the things of this world is one more moment that Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala spends waiting for us to turn back to Him. Therefore it behooves the one whose bed is the grave and whose journey is to the place where he will be judged to keep our sight fixed firmly on the inevitable meeting with Him and to spend every moment of our lives preparing actively for that fateful day. Truly mankind can be elevated to statuses higher than that of the angels and can likewise be lowered to statuses less than that of the animals. So learn from the dog that is obedient to his master and strive to out-do him in his obedience. And how can we not? Our Master is the Most High, the All Merciful, Most Kind.

May Allah subhaanahu wa ta 'aala grant us the tawfiq to struggle assiduously for the meeting with Him, to give up those things that He does not want to see us engaged in, and to drown ourselves in those things which earn His Pleasure. Wa aakhiru da'waana anilhamdulillahi Rabbil 'aalameen.