Skip to main content

Keeping our spiritual hearts polished

Image
By
It is 230am and I have decided to write.

Surah 8 verse 2

The believers are but those who when God is remembered, their hearts are afraid, and when His proofs are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and in their Lord they place their trust.

This has become my favorite verse. How did it become my favorite verse? It was the recitation of Hasan El Kholy that gets suggested when I share my daily namaz goal to instagram. Tonight I stopped to appreciate how beautiful this recitation is and decided to learn more about what I was listening to. What do I think when I read this translation of this verse? There was a time when I did not understand why I should fear God. I understood why I should love God. Trust God. Believe in God. Respect God. But why fear God? God is good then why fear God? Then I later understood that if I do not give God my fears or if I do not fear God I would fear this world and men. In other words, fear God alone. Let God handle my fears. Do not let anything scare you besides God. God has the final say. God is the ultimate judge. God has the power to forgive. In my mind, this type of fear is comforting and guiding. It keeps us moving in the right direction. We have nothing to fear besides God. We want to listen to God then.

When we listen to God and everything starts to make sense, we increase in faith. God is talking to us through his book and we are listening. God does not want to harm us. God wants to guide us to his path. To be guided we must listen and follow his instructions. If I combine fear and path I get fath which is very close to faith. All that is missing is the i. I for instructions. The Quran is our instructions. So faith is following the path of the instructive Quran. Where does trust fit in this picture? We trust God so we are giving him our fears and ears. We are listening to Him. In trust there is rust. Trust is a continuous process. We have to be continuously reminded otherwise we get rusty.

From this, what we have is a cycle. Fear God > Listen to Him > Faith increases > Follow His instructions > Walk His path > Trust Him > Remember Him. Remembering brings you back to fear, beginning the cycle again. That actually fits my "trust/rust" idea beautifully: faith is not something we achieve once; it is something we continually renew through remembrance, listening, following, and trusting. My friend tells me that I have captured the essence of Taqwa—reverential awe—by realizing that fearing God frees me from fearing the world, turning fear into a comforting sanctuary. My wordplay beautifully aligns with Islamic teachings: fath means spiritual breakthrough, and we are taught that the heart naturally rusts without continuous remembrance and listening to the Quran. Ultimately my now favorite verse describes a living, self-renewing cycle where remembering God inspires awe, listening deepens faith, and trusting Him keeps my spiritual heart polished.

*Keeping in mind that we are taught that the believer lives between hope and fear. The two wings of a believer.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Faith

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for faith. We say we want to meet God but we already do in some ways. We meet God in his creation. We meet God every time we meet someone. We meet God every time we meet the animals. We meet God every time we meet nature. God is all around. Faith is when we can see this. This is God's world. We are God's work. We are testimony of his greatness. Everyday that goes by I think about God. Everyday I thank God for his mercy. I take my problems to God. I pray to God. God is at the center of my life. Nothing happens without the will of God and therefore I would be wise to submit to the will of God. God is in the everyday moments. God loves when we love. What is the simplest definition of faith? I think it is found in the phrase, let go and let God. I asked my friend the same question. My friend says that at its simplest, faith is trust in what you cannot see or prove. But...
Post a Comment
Read more

Flowers

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for the flowers. I bought a blue daze flowering plant for my mom when I went out to walk one day. It adds some colour to the nature in the yard. It is beautiful. I was told that blue flowers are rare. My friend says that blue is relatively rare in nature due to chemical and physical challenges in producing this color in living organisms. Nothing exists completely on its own. Plants depend on insects and other creatures, while those creatures depend on plants and their flowers. There is an interconnectedness in creation that reminds me that God is intentional. Flowers are beautiful but so is everything else if we really consider things with an open mind. What is beauty? What makes some things more beautiful than others? They say that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Beauty is subjective. My friend says that what I am talking about is the perceptual mind where meaning ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Softness

By
This is a chapter from my latest book called (G)rains (o)f san(d)s. Learn more about the book here . Thank you God for softness. The gentleness of prayer. The calmness of the heart. The patience of the mind. The soft sounds of nature. The cool breezes of shade. The slow movement of sand in the hand. The kindness of strangers. The soothing voices of Quran. The warm embrace of the azan. I move through life with softness in my heart. I move through life with joy. I move through life wishing good for others. There is a peace that comes with being soft. The angels surround those who are soft. Soft like the winds of heaven. Soft like the clouds in the sky. Easy like Friday morning. May I never lose this softness that allows me to see beauty and goodness in everything and everyone. The world tries to harden me but I refuse. I walk upon the earth softly. I love without fear. My every breath is a prayer of gratitude. Let my heart remain like grains of sand in the hands of God that are softly he...
Post a Comment
Read more