She is glowing, and not just because the sun is shining down on her through the window by which we sit. Contentment and calmness exhude from her, and I, eager for words of wisdom, lean in closer over the table, over the fruit and jam crepe, from which oozes red and purple.
We have not seen each other in six years – the first, and only, meeting we ever had, and were meeting today for the second time in our lives. It was as if I had just seen her a month ago.
When reflecting on the friends in our lives, a question we should ask ourselves is Does this person bring me closer to Allah (swt) in my interaction with her? Anyone can dole out advice – we all like to project we have everything figured out – but a friend that reminds us of God, that gently pushes us to look at the Big Picture, that reminds us of His Power and how He loves us more than our mothers love us: that is what a true friend is.
I shake my head in wonderment, asking How did you possibly get through your test? She, who has been through one of the hardest tests I have come across, simply answered He made it so easy for me; I have been truly blessed. Reflection is so important, and the realization that Allah (swt) gives us signs through our tests: we’re too stubborn to recognize them. Performing ‘Umrah really helped too.
Patience through adversity is a sign of the believer. I think of Yaqoob (as), and the passage we had to read for our Jewish-Muslim Text Study ten days ago. He, who is tested through the loss of his beloved son, and then again, through the loss of his youngest son, complains only to Him. Seeks only of Him. And, through it, acts with impeccable adab.
We covered adab the week before too, in the text-study. My partner, Joseph, a rabbinical student with a stud in his ear, reads out the passage in Hebrew that discusses Ibrahim (as) receiving the angels that have come to him with the good news of his wife Sarah being pregnant. Joseph recites a line in Hebrew, I read out the translation in English – working in tandem together to learn from our different traditions. Before anything, Ibrahim (as)’s first action is that of hospitality: he offers food and drink to his guests. The angels, records the Torah, fall in awe of him. Joseph and I fall silent, mulling over the change of power recorded in the text. The simple act of hospitality – that is what it takes for angels to be impressed.
We then move to the passage in the Qu’ran that discusses Ibrahim (as); I reciting the text in Arabic as Joseph reads the translation. This time, we are inspired by the action of Ibrahim (as)’s son: his pure belief in God, his willingness to be sacrificed and his support of his father in engaging in the act of sacrifice. Joseph is impressed – a young son, putting his own life before God, and his conviction that God will surely protect him. The conversation turns to our behavior in our lives – and our emulation of the Prophet(s) that came before us.
On the Saturday afternoon, I look at the woman in front of me, and see one who is seeking that emulation: it is where her contentment and calmness comes from.
Patience. Adab. Pure belief that Allah (swt) will make help us in our journey and will protect us. The great men who came before us perfected those attributes. It should be our goal in our life to work towards emulating them.
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
0 Responses to “Emulation”