Reflection is Remedy

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain!’
-Shaykh Saadi Sherazi al-Shadilli

Islam holds the view that there have been approximately 124,000 perfected humans that have exemplified wise actions and beautiful character. Amongst these humans (messengers of God, prophets) mentioned in the Quran are Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Jesus, and finally Muhammad (May God grant them peace). Other scholars have speculated that Buddha, Lao Tse, and Confucius have also been prophets. It is interesting to note that Islamic scholarship accepts all prophets previous to Muhammad while no other religion accepts the Islamic Prophet. Thus there is an obvious, inherent universality and tolerance in the Islamic faith:

To every people (was sent) a Messenger: when their Messenger comes before them the matter will be judged between them with justice, and they will not be wronged. (Quran 10:47).

Say: We have faith in God, and in that which has been sent down on Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, and Jacob, and the Tribes, and that which was given to Moses and Jesus and the Prophets by their Lord. We make no distinction among any of them, and to Him we have submitted. (Quran 2:136)

He has sent down upon you the Book with the truth, confirming what was before it, and He has sent down the Torah and the Gospel aforetime, as guidance to the people. (Quran 3:3)

Through his own actions and speech, each prophet of God embodied his respective divine revelation. Therefore, prophetic example is the best source of guidance for social matters and is worthy of emulation.

Anyone who has the ability to publicly denounce his/her own faith in public, uncaring to the opinions of others, has a quality that I admire.  Their indifferent nature to the opinions of others.  This is actually much better than to pretend to be something that you are not, and to live as a hypocrite amongst people of a faith that you do not believe in.  This may be one reason why the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) stated that the hypocrites will be in the lowest areas of “Hell”.  The apostates and disbelievers will be in a higher level.  At least they were able to wear their beliefs on their sleeves and be sincere in what they believed in.  Sincerity.  That’s what it boils down to.

Do you see anything wrong in the following imaginary situation?

Story

Yunus is an admired brother in the community. Everyone looks up to him. He has an amazing charisma when he speaks and everyone, especially his peers on his college campus, loves hearing his Quran recitation. He leads a halaqah every wednesday afternoon on campus, friday nights at the masjid, and is a volunteer teacher at his masjid’s sunday school.

On Thursday, Yunus comes home immediately after school to prepare for his halaqah the next day. His father–retired and aging– is mowing the lawn. Yunus says salam and briskly enters the house. He warms up some food from the refridgerator, eats, leaves his dishes in the sink to be washed later, and marches up the stairs to his computer where he spends the majority of his time at home. Yunus’s mom arrives home from the grocery store. She pants as she comes into the house holding a cart of water bottles.

“Yunus! Can you help me bring in the groceries?” Yunus forgets to say “Assalamualaikum.” “Not now, mom, I have to finish writing this khutbah for Jummah tomorrow.” His mom sighs and asks her husband to help her. He leaves the lawn mower and helps carry the groceries. They laugh as they enter the house and finish bringing in the groceries. Abdul–Yunus’s dad, pours himself a glass of water and walks up the stairs to chat with his beloved son. He knocks on the door. Yunus replies, “Dad, I’m really trying to focus, I can’t talk right now.” A bit disappointed, Abdul enters the room anyway. Yunus has a hard time controlling his look of annoyance, but manages to pull off a smile. Abdul ignores the look and says to his son, “You know, it gets really lonely at home, with your sister married and gone, and your mom working full-time, I don’t seem to have the energy anymore to do the things I used to do. I wish you could spend more time at home, I miss you a lot. It seems like you spend most of your time with the MSA brothers now.” “DAD, I hold a halaqah every wednesday and fridays. And monday nights are the MSA board meetings, I can’t skip out on those.” For a brief moment, the treasurer of the MSA–Sister Sarah–runs through Yunus’s mind. “Okay,” Abdul whines softly, “But just remember your dad misses you, and Oh, what about Tuesday nights? You come home late even though you don’t have class?” Yunus laughs and says, “Ahhh dad, those are MSA basketball practice meets, I can’t miss out on those! I need to exercise for the sake of Allah.” Yunus winks at his dad, “Maybe I can bring you one day?” His dad laughs and replies, “I wish, however it seems like after 7 Pm I begin to get really tired, I dunno why…it’s strange.” Yunus turns aways from his father to continue writing the khutbah, “Listen, just make dua, Allah will help you, trust me, just place your trust in Allah, what can I do?” Abdul thinks and gets up, “Ok, I will make dua, make dua for me too, and add that the strength in my left arm returns, for some reason it is weaker than my right.” As Abdul leaves, Yunus mutters “ok” and that Muslims are not supposed to use their left hand most of the time anyway.

I may continue to write this story.  But there is something obviously missing from the way Yunus practices his religion.  Due to his imbalanced priorities, Yunus has neglected the rights of his parents.  I subtly included details about how his father is developing a muscular degenerative disorder.  After the diagnosis, Yunus begins to realize his imbalance.

“Whenever you find people in the Ummah going to excess in their beliefs/practices, the scholars will try to redress it by going to excess.”-Sidi Ahmed Zarruq. For example Ibn Al Jawzi wrote a book during his time about the excesses of sufi practices. His book was extreme but nevertheless a catalyst for bringing people back to the middle path.

I thought this was pretty profound and I have always thought about this. God creates movements that seem to be opposing one another within one religion but perhaps they are the poles by which the majority of people are sustained in the middle.

As a child I had always watched my father close his eyes and meditate as he remembered God. In a simple process called muraqaba, Muslims are recommended to periodically empty their minds of all attachments to material thoughts and remember their sole purpose in this world. I loved this idea of liberating yourself from the extraneous luxuries of the world and reveling in simple pleasures. Due to this philosophy, I have a deep respect for nature. I believe that the grass, weeds, trees, and even animals are partaking in muraqaba that is purer and more sincere than that of humans. Human thoughts can always be contaminated with desires for fame and status. What status does the natural environment in my backyard want other than to survive?

Nature is constantly giving and nourishing its inhabitants. The earth gives us everything: crops, wood, water, a place for leisure activity, and even beautiful scenery. Yet, just like children who take their mothers for granted, humans perennially forget to thank and appreciate their earthly mother. Similar to the difference between the poverty in the east and modernization in the west, there is a huge disparity between nature and the civilized humans who have forgotten it. I sincerely believe that we are missing a complete picture of our own humanity by trapping ourselves into a bubble of air-conditioned apartments, indoor urban recreation, televised movies, and digital communication. We are living in a virtual world that is completely unaware of the holocaust against the natural environment just like many people were kept in the dark about the atrocities against Non-Aryans during World War II. The same factories that are used to fuel our bubbles of luxury are emitting toxins that harm the health of people in both the eastern and western hemispheres. Environmental health activists aim to correct this skewed understanding of reality and nature.

My first profound introduction to environmental health was through a simple picture book of Rachel Carson’s life and work. It was presented to me as a gift by my second grade teacher. Little did she know that this book would have a large, subconscious role in piquing my interest in the human connection with the environment. As an adult my interest grew to include international health crises, such as the arsenic crisis in Bangladesh. Hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi citizens are acquiring cancer due to the consumption of water contaminated with this element. When I discovered that professors at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University are conducting research in Bangladesh on the same issue, I was eager to join the school.

My journey has only begun. I hope that I can help bring some balance to the tumultuous relationship between the environment and humanity that has existed since the beginning of civilization. Through moderation we can save the health and life of both entities. Through excessiveness, humanity will only be enveloped in chaos. Certainly this has already been foreseen by a wise Native American: Only when the last tree has died and the last river poisoned and the last fish caught will we realize that we cannot eat money. Through education, outreach, and activism, people of all faiths and backgrounds can unite to seek this proper balance.

I am in Uganda with Safe Mothers, Safe Babies doing my Public Health Practicum. Our overall aim is to improve Maternal and Child Health, and decrease infant mortality.  Some of the projects we are involved in try to create sustainable programs to reduce child malnutrition, ensure safe deliveries, and empower women to be prepared for childbirth.

A scene that cannot leave me is that of my friends and I riding on the boda bodas (motorcycles) while traveling to various community meetings and/or clinics.  The Ugandan children often run into the streets to scream “Jambo! Jambo!” as they smile from ear to ear. (Jambo means Hello).  SubhanAllah imagine experiencing this kind of exuberant greeting as you ride through a vast beautiful, rich, and green meadow with the breeze brushing against your face and body.  This is a taste of Paradise.  I now understand how the laughter and exuberance of children can cure depression. SubhanAllah these children are impoverished but have the richest of spirits. =)

It is truly amazing when people stick to their goals and beliefs when confronted by violence and adversity. I hope this is a quality that I embody in the future. This article is inspiring about a female Muslim doctor who stuck to her ideals of aiding her community even though she was held at gun-point and lost some of her community members in the ensuing violence and confusion. The perpetrators of the violence were religious extremists.

Here is the link to the NY Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/world/africa/08somalia.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

Shaykh Faraz Rabbani said something really clever recently. He said that Ihsanists use to lead the Ummah but now we are stuck with Islamists. This is such a clever play on words!

No amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of worrying can change the future. Go easy on yourself for the outcome of all affairs is determined by Allah’s Decree. If something is meant to go elsewhere, it will never come on your way, but if it is yours by destiny, from you it cannot flee.

Sayyidina Umar Ibn Al-Khattab