When being rejected by people

Whenever someone brings something new to the people, whether it’s a scientific theory, an invention, an idea, or even only reminding people of what they have forgotten, it is often met with rejection and hostility. This is true with many of the greatest minds of the past, where they were persecuted for their inventions and ideas. This is also true for the Prophets and Messengers of God when they were told to remind/bring the message of the oneness of God to the people.

All the Prophets experienced hardship and challenges throughout their difficult task, but they hung on to their mission. However, in most cases, not many would come to accept what they had to say. The Prophet Noah (AS) preached to his people for more than 900 years to no avail. He even had to bear the pain of watching his own son being amongst the wretched. The Prophet Isa / Jesus (AS) was betrayed by his own people, and many other examples.

We must understand that these Prophets and Messengers are the best of God’s creation. They conveyed the message out of sincerity and love for their people. And you can try to imagine the feeling of advising someone that we love, for him or her only to reject it. This was also true for our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW). He wanted his people to follow the right path – guidance, and was so sad that his people did not listen to him, that the Qur’an mentions that he could have destroyed himself through sorrow.

But God, advised the Prophet (SAW) to not be (sad). Because in truth, it is not in the Prophet’s authority to give guidance to the people, but rather it is God’s. That He guides whomever He wills and leaves astray whomever He wills. That no matter how hard the Prophet tries, he has no power whatsoever in deciding whether someone will be guided or not. If God wanted everyone to be one nation, He could have easily done so. But in fact He didn’t. And we must try to understand the wisdom behind this. That everything has a purpose in their creation. That some were meant to try others.

And so from this we are reminded to be patient and not be overly sad if we are rejected when calling others towards goodness. Because in truth, we have no authority whatsoever in what other people do or decide in their lives. May we all become those who say only what is good and be able to emulate the patience of our beloved Prophets.

Being Reminded Through Nature

We are living in an artificial age. An age where our interaction with the natural world is somewhat limited or cut off all together. The objects that we interact with are mostly artificial. We interact with our computers, our mobile phones, our cars, etc. And in many cases, these artificial objects become a barrier for us to truly appreciate the natural world around us.

We become unaware of the sky because of the tall buildings and the air pollution that blocks our views, we become unaware of the grass and soil because of them being covered the streets and roads, and other instances. In fact, the small patch of grass that comes out from the pavement, the only thing natural, often looks unnatural to us.

Each time we see the sky, the sun, whenever the wind blow on our faces, too often do we look at them just as common things that have no significance. We find nothing special about the natural phenomenon due to our disconnectedness with the natural world. We don’t realize that all around us are actually immense blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. The sun which gives us light and warmth, the wind that brings water and pollinates the flowers, the air that we breathe as our source of Oxygen, and the many other countless blessings that He has given us.

We even find time to complain about these blessings that He has given us. One example is when we are given rain. Many times we complain about getting wet. While the truth is, we ourselves are water creatures. 80% of our body is made out of water. Yet we fail to show gratitude towards this blessing due to our hardened hearts.

Despite our disconnectedness from them, the truth is, the creations of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala have the potential to be powerful reminders for us. They serve as reminders about His Greatness, and furthermore, reminders about our true destination as human beings.

In the Qur’an, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala makes oaths (swears) by His creations. The sky is one example of this. He swears many times by the sky, indicating that the sky is an amazing and profound creation. The sky is also used as a reminder for the arrogant ones of humanity, where He subhanahu wa ta’ala asks a rhetorical question comparing the immense creation of the sky to the insignificant creation of the human being.

This same sky is also used as a reminder about the true destination of humanity. So where do you think you’re going? “Fa ayna tadzhabuun?” The sky is used to give a vivid description of yaumul qiyaamah, the Day of Judgment. The day when the sky will be torn, will be ripped beyond repair, and will be opened like doors. The day where everyone will harvest the fruits of everything they worked for in life, the good and the bad. It is the day where no one will be cheated and treated unfairly. This day in truth is humanity's REAL destination, despite of all the distractions that we’re immersed in (school, hobbies, careers, and almost everything else).

These powerful reminders that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has given to us in the Qur’an should totally change our perception towards the sky. This immense creation that He has placed above us should always make us think and be connected to the reality of things. Every time we see the sky, we should always remember the One who created it. Every time we see the sky, we should always remember that no matter how immense and great it may seem, a day will come where it will be torn and ripped beyond repair. What should even worry us more is the fact that we will have to take responsibility on every single action that we did.

In our nature, we human beings are forgetful creatures. In the Qur’an, one of the names that is used for human beings is al insan. Al insan comes from the word nasia, which literally means to forget. Thus, we need to be constantly reminded about everything, including the most essential things, such as who we really are, what our purpose in life is, and where we will end up (our final destination).

I would like to remind myself first and foremost to raise the awareness towards the amazing natural world. Besides creating a sense of awe and humbleness, thinking and pondering upon the creations through a Qur’anic perspective can serve as powerful everyday reminders that will insyaAllah be beneficial for all of us.

Prophetic guidance in conveying knowledge

Nowadays we find people with beneficial knowledge everywhere. Among these people, some share what they know and many don’t. The ones who share also have different motives. Some are sincere and some are not. Furthermore, some people of knowledge think that they are so smart that they become overly confident in themselves and become arrogant, while the truth is, everything that we have is a blessing from The Almighty.

Anyway, one of the reasons for holding back beneficial knowledge is greed and selfishness. One example is in the scientific community, where people do their best to keep their results (although useful for others) for themselves until they can write a publication or until a company buys their research to be patented, which is a manifestation of greed and selfishness. It's how things work in our corrupt society, and it's difficult to get rid of it.

Some people don’t share beneficial knowledge due to being afraid of opposition, being debated or being humiliated. Most of the people that I know (including myself most of the times) get annoyed or angry when people oppose the thoughts they have, and usually build a psychological barrier to block the opposing person.

The highest peak of knowledge is the knowledge to know God, our Creator. Through this knowledge, one will know who he truly is, where he comes from and where he will be heading. But in our civilization, this kind of knowledge is one that is evaded by most people, and when it is talked about, people end up emotional and arrogant. It’s not the first time this condition has happened. It has happened every time since the beginning of humanity. And to teach and remind us, God sent prophets and messengers for us. For the prophets and messengers, this is definitely a daunting task, and from their struggle we can learn a lot about the best ways to convey knowledge.

One amazing example can be found in story of Prophet Nuh (Noah), peace be upon Him (Surat Nuh; 71). He was sent after corruption entered into the first generations of humanity (the sons of Adam). When conveying knowledge to his people, he did it out of love, kindness and sincerity, only because he did not want his people to go astray. So the words that came out were also full of compassion and kindness. Although the response of the people was negative, he didn’t give up. Rather, he asked forgiveness for the people and persisted in conveying his knowledge.

The beloved prophet relentlessly continued his task night and day, openly and secretly, to no avail. The people grew even more arrogant and rebellious. According to Islamic tradition, this went on for 950 years. Eventually Nuh a.s. realized that the people cannot be changed, and made a supplication that would eventually end his overwhelming task.

Nuh a.s. has set the bar for all of us when conveying beneficial knowledge to others. The first one is sincerity. The Prophet didn’t ask anything for the knowledge that he conveyed. All he wanted was God's recognition and for the people to be safe and truly successful. The second one is patience. Rather than getting angry and upset with the people who didn’t agree with him, he made supplication on their behalf and continued his efforts. The third one is persistence. He continued conveying the knowledge for 950 years. So when we give up after one or two debate sessions, think about the amount of trials that Nuh a.s. had to face.

Nevertheless, before conveying beneficial knowledge, one must first obtain it. Through knowledge, people can be more beneficial for other people. That is why the action of gaining knowledge has always been honored and the people who have knowledge are considered to have a higher status in all societies. However, for knowledge to be truly beneficial, one must be able to sincerely and willingly share their knowledge to others, and convey it with kindness, patience and persistence like what Nuh a.s. did.

Our most dearest

As human beings, we have a tendency to care about the things that we own or have. Be it our parents, our family, our career, our wealth, and everything else we have. It’s perfectly OK for us to care for them. However, the things we care about sometimes interfere with what we believe in. For a Muslim, there is a possibility that our care and love inhibits us in fulfilling our destiny to be Allah’s Khalifa (leader) on earth, to be blessings for the universe. In another word, our love for other things competes with our ultimate love for Allah.

How many times have you sacrificed what you believe is right for the sake of your family, your career, for increasing your wealth, or other things? Although all of them may correlate and can be synergized, there are times when we have to choose our priority. One example is to walk a path/career which is forced on to you by other people. For a Muslim, he/she is supposed to pray at the beginning of the praying time, which is the best time to pray. But our business often makes us postpone it until the last minutes. Be it our work, our travel, or even merely chatting with friends. There are even times when some of us are “forced” to combine prayers (jama) when we actually don’t need to, or even forget it completely.

Allah has given a warning in the holy Quran about this through surah At Taubah verse 24 about this.

قُلْ إِن كَانَ آبَاؤُكُمْ وَأَبْنَآؤُكُمْ وَإِخْوَانُكُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ وَعَشِيرَتُكُمْ وَأَمْوَالٌ اقْتَرَفْتُمُوهَا وَتِجَارَةٌ تَخْشَوْنَ كَسَادَهَا وَمَسَاكِنُ تَرْضَوْنَهَا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْكُم مِّنَ اللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَجِهَادٍ فِي سَبِيلِهِ فَتَرَبَّصُواْ حَتَّى يَأْتِيَ اللّهُ بِأَمْرِهِ وَاللّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ

The approximate meaning is:
“Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which ye fear a decline, or the dwellings in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah, or His Prophet, or the striving in His cause, then wait until Allah brings about His decision. And God guides not the rebellious.”

This warning should not be taken lightly. As I am very sure that many Muslims, including myself, often put a lot of things in priority above obeying Allah’s commands, things that often have nothing to do with striving in Allah’s cause. However we love something, it should not distance us from Our Lord. And to uphold Islam, this bad habit has to change…

So what IS dearest to you?

Many of us may not read the Qur'an that often, or even if we do, we don't understand the meaning. It is what is causing Islam's decay. People walking around saying that they are Muslims without knowing what it truly is. It has to change. Read it bit by bit, and you will definitely find many interesting things that you never thought you'd find. May all of us be able to fulfill our destiny of becoming Allah’s Khalifah through love and total devotion towards Allah.

Keywords: At taubah 24, Islam, religion, quran, holy, qur'an, love

The purpose

As can be deduced from the title, this blog is dedicated to try to understand the Quran. I'm going to be using simple analogy and words for doing it. I believe that when we read the Quran (or any other books) with a clear heart and positive mind, we will find the beauty in what we read. Anyway, I am going to do my best to articulate what I can learn and find interesting. I believe there are many Muslims out there who don't fully understand what is written in the Quran (including myself), and others that are just curious about what is written in it.

Hopefully we can gain knowledge and better understanding on the Holy Quran, and share it with everyone else...