As Salaamu alaykum and peace to all,
Isn’t This What We Want to Call Love? Motivational and Inspirational Story about The Reality of Real and Genuine Love
I was once asked by a friend- how is it that I have mothers in different countries and sisters all over the place. The weird part is that they don’t know each other and they only have one thing in common - me.
Explain to me… she told me one day.
So, I began explaining by quoting an incident that happened to me when I was visiting another country just a few months back.
‘As Salaamu ‘alaykum dear...’ greeted the elderly lady sitting next to me.
‘Wa ‘alaykum salaam aunty…’ I answered with a smile
‘You are new here?’ she asked
‘Yes, I am just visiting some friends and doing a book tour at the same time, alhamdulillaah’
Within an hour, we were already talking and giggling together as if we have known each other for years. She hugged me, patted my head, held my hands, invited me into her home, offered me a place to stay and insisted that I at least have dinner with her family, making me feel accepted and warm all over. I was overwhelmed by her kindness
And she is not alone and unique in that sense.
Throughout my trip, I was ‘fought over’ by my sisters-in-Islam whom I just met. Our initial embraces and hugs would be our ice-breaking gestures. These loving hugs made me feel secure and safe with them, alhamdulillaah.
And I believe that if I could shrink just one over sixteenth of an inch for every hug I received, I would be so slim and slender by the end of my trip!
The kind gestures do not just stop there too. I received so many invites for lunch, dinner, supper and even sleep over at their homes. All these has made my eyes watery too many times and made me realized the wisdom of the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) in shaping the Muslim community.
The love and affection I received from my sisters even if they barely knew me could be explained easily,
The Messenger of Allah (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) said,
On the Day of Judgement, Allah, the Most High, will announce, 'Where are those who love each other for the sake of My pleasure? This day I am going to shelter them in the shade provided by Me. Today there is no shade except My shade." (Muslim)
SubhanAllaah…
Allaah has promised that on the Day of Judgement, He will shade those who have loved one another just to earn His Pleasure.
Isn’t that wonderful?
Just by loving each other we are entitled for His Shades in the Day of Judgement.
I cant help but think of how Merciful Allaah is, don’t you think?
He didn’t say that we should pray the whole night, or fast the whole year.
Instead, He wants us to continue loving each other, taking care of one another to earn His Shelter on the day when human are gathered from Prophet Adam (as) to the last man born, when the sun will be just above our heads and when there is nothing that can be used to cover and protect us from the heat torment except for His Shades.
Thinking about it made me realized how beautiful this deal is for Muslims.
Why?
Because Muslims love each other for the sake of Allaah, they would earn at least two rewards. The immediate one is His Pleasure and the second reward would be their ‘booking for a spot’ to be under His Shade in the Day of Judgement, inshaAllaah.
This is among the values that Prophet Muhammad (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be with him) has instilled in the Muslims’ hearts. He has removed the barriers of race, ethnicity and prejudice that would usually become a hindrance when people from different races, ethnicity or countries met. He put in their hearts love and cares for others even before they know them.
I reflected on what Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) said as he showed that he clearly understood the message,
.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
He was absolutely right! And we must avoid becoming fools at any cost, you agree?
Islam has long taught its followers the concept of love between human- brotherhood and sisterhood from the very beginning.
I remembered a verse from the Holy Quran that says,
The Believers are but a single brotherhood: so make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear Allah, that ye may receive Mercy. (Al-Hujurat 49: 10)
Allaah has clearly stated that all Muslims are brothers, one single brotherhood. Muslims, regardless where they are from, are considered as one. We belong to the same community- the Muslim community.
That was why I was accepted very quickly into the lives of the sisters whom I just met. We all knew that we are one- one family, one unit.
Naturally, as one family, Muslims are asked to be kind and compassionate towards one another. Prophet Muhammad (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used the parable of a human body to explain what he meant by brotherhood in Islam.
This is how Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) wants Muslims to treat each other,
The Muslims in their mutual love, kindness and compassion are like the human body where when one of its parts is in agony the entire body feels the pain, both in sleeplessness and fever. (Bukhari and Muslim)
This interesting analogy is a perfect one.
Let us see why Prophet Muhammad (may Allaah’s peace and blessings be upon him) brilliantly used human body to explain the concept of brotherhood to us.
Take for an example we have a toothache. With it comes headache too, right? This is because the nerves from our teeth are all connected to the brain thus causing the headache. And with headache, we really need to rest. So, would we still be able to be chatty, giggling away or continuing our daily chores when we have toothache or the whole body feels the discomfort and need to rest?
Still on headache, logically, when we have it, the only body part that is in pain is our heads right? Of course there are multiple reasons for headache like toothache, tension and stress, tumor in the brain or even hot weather. Headache happen because the center of all the nerves in our body is in the brain, thus, if even one body part is unwell, it sent the signal back via the nerves triggering the pain sensation which makes us want to stop doing whatever we were doing and lie down.
What will happen if say, we have diarrhea? The affected body organ is only Mr. Colon, you agree? But, as we all know, if we have diarrhea, all that we would want to do is just rest as the whole body is in discomfort. Ever wondered why? It is because fluid from the body circulation is lost in the colon making us tired, weak and dehydrated. We can even die from it. That is how severe the impact is.
For the ladies, despite the monthly menstrual pain that comes from one organ, this pain will cause backache, soar muscles and cramps all over our body, you agree?
So, yes, when one part of human body is in pain, the whole body would feel the pain too…
SubhanAllaah….
So, that is the love that all Muslims must have for each other. When we see another Muslim in difficulties, the pain must creep into our hearts too. If we see tears of another Muslim, our hearts should be crying too. The joy felt by our brothers, should be our personal joy too.
Muslims are a single brotherhood, loving each other to earn His Pleasure and should be so kind and compassionate towards one another that when one Muslim is suffering, facing hardship or in sadness, the others would felt it too. And when one is bursting with happiness, we should be that too.
We are all one part of one body.
Now, isn’t this what we want to call love?
Copyright © Sis Zabrina 2009
Zabrina A. Bakar, is a Life Storyteller, motivational writer and speaker; and author of Islamic motivational book Life is an Open Secret (www.lifeopensecret.com) which contains 18 inspirational stories from ordinary life experiences. She passionately writes about life daily happenings, viewed and analyzed from unique perspective, blended with the Qur'anic verses and Hadeeth of the Prophet SAW for solutions to illustrate the easiness, simplicity, relevancy and completeness of Islam to today's world. Her works are published various countries across the Muslim world. She maintains an active blog at www.wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com.
Sis Zabrina
Life Storyteller
Author of Life is an Open Secret Islamic Motivational Book Series:
Life is an Open Secret- Think about It
Life is an Open Secret- You, Me and We
Life is an Open Secret- Ramadan Special
Hidup Bukan Rahsia http://www.lifeopensecret.com
-18 Inspirational Stories from Ordinary life experiences-
Now blogging at http://www.wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com
~ Life Storyteller Blog: Your Source for Islamic Motivational and Inspirational Stories~
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Sis Zabrina, also known as Zabrina A. Bakar, is a Life Storyteller, motivational and inspirational writer and speaker; and author of Islamic motivational book series Life is an Open Secret http://www.lifeopensecret.com She maintains an active blog at http://www.wisdomthruwords.blogspot.com
and her personal Social Networking Platform http://www.LifeStoryteller.ning.com
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