Humility while hanging in the air! I am sitting inside an aircraft bound for London Gatwick airport. I was in Spain visiting my family. The plane is flying at hundreds of miles an hour and within two hours and thirty minutes it will be landing at my desired destination London, Insha Allah - God willing! As the plane glides through the cloud and the sky my thoughts turn to God. I fly often and often I wonder if I would make it. The fine line between life and death becomes more profound when I am hanging in the air, one wrong manoeuvring, one extra strong gush of wind, one high flying bird, absolutely anything could cause our ultimate end! So far I have survived. I will let you in my mind while I am flying and feeling vulnerable - today my mind was reflecting on the following verse of the Quran. The servant of The Most Compassionate are those who walk on this earth with humility This is one of those Quranic verses that the more you read the more you discover the deeper meaning contained in it, of course never deep enough. But the challenge is to keep delving deeper and deeper until you totally immerse yourself in the transcendental and metaphysical meaning of the Quran. Even then you are only speculating the meaning and the true meaning is only known by God. Those who wish to attain the true meaning of the words of God must begin knowing that they dont really know and what they know is little and limited and Gods knowledge is vast and infinite. It is on this basis that I would attempt to speculate the meaning contained in this verse, one of my favourite that I often recite during my prayers. I will never claim to have discovered the real meaning but when I read this verse I feel God is speaking to me directly. I feel He is addressing my inner being, my conscience and my soul. He is talking to my nafs - my alter-ego is being spoken to directly. God is telling me that if I wish to be a true God lover and Godly person I have to accept that I am His servant and He is my true master. The manifestation of my total acceptance is demonstrated in my belief and through practices. I have accepted His supremacy over me so I do not pretend to be superior to God. I have submitted to His authority so I do not attempt to override His rules. I have bowed my head down to His judgements so I do not waste my time trying to disobey Him. I have dedicated my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death all to Him so I never seek solace in any one else but Him. That is why I am the loyal servant of the most compassionate and I love being called that. The Arabic word used to describe The Most Compassionate al-Rahman is His essential name and characteristic. He is The Most Merciful, The Most Gracious, The Most Benevolent and The Most Kind. He is the dispenser of Grace, The Giver of Mercy and Kindness. He is the Most Loving and Most Generous. Without Him the world would never exist and without His essential Compassion sustaining life would be impossible. Life is from Him and in His orders do lives begin and end. Out of compassion He has created love and shared it between Him and His creation. He divided it into hundred parts, kept ninety nine parts for Him and distributed only one part over the entire creation. To become servant of the Most Compassionate I must fully accept all of the above. I, as a servant of the Most Compassionate, must demonstrate some qualities that make me worthy of such a lofty title. Without these qualities I am no different to those who reject God the Most Compassionate. Without attaining those qualities I am no different to those who rebel against God, The Most Gracious. Amongst those qualities the first and the foremost quality God loves is humility, thus He says, The servant of The Most Compassionate are those who walk on this earth with humility. In other words humbleness is the most important feature of Godly people and God associates it with His essence and title The Most Compassionate. Arrogance and pride are the devils traits, for he disobeyed God in the heavens and was forever disgraced. In the earlier part of his life he was elevated to angelic status but his downfall was spectacular - he fell victim of his alter-ego and superiority complex. He claimed to be of a better constitution than Adam, the first of Humans. His rationale was that he was better than the organic makeup of Adam. He rebelled against Gods order to bow down in front of Adam. The order of God was both literal in essence but symbolic in meaning. God ordered angels and Iblis (the devil) to bow down in front of Adam not to elevate Adam to Godly status but to recognise Adams inherent intellectual capacity. For Adam was given knowledge, intellect and conscience from the day one that made him superior to the rest of creation. Even though we, as human beings may have the reasons to be arrogant due to our intellectual prowess we are still strictly ordered to remain humble at all cost. We forsake humility at our own peril. The absolute and unquestionable right to be proud is Gods as He is the Originator of all things big and small in this vast universe and whatever lies beyond. Yet God never uses arrogance or pride to address His own creation. He always introduces himself as The Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace. At the beginning of 113 out 114 chapters of the Quran the opening verse contains this generous introduction. For us, the mere mortals, arrogance and pride are two sure traits that would bring our downfall both in this world in the eyes of our fellow human beings and in the Hereafter in the eyes of God! I despise arrogance and find it extremely difficult to deal with it. It prevents me from forming a meaningful relationship. In many people I find arrogance a cover for deeper complexities and troubles. In others I find arrogance a false sense of status and self aggrandisement. In any case arrogance is a tool for destruction and humility is a tool for happiness. Those who are humble take moderate steps in everything in life. They interact with people using mild manners and courtesy. They speak the truth courageously but with kindness. They are happy to assist people with time, money and energy without drum beating about their kindness or generosity. They are genuine people with humaneness in their heart and superb moral behaviour. Truly Humble people do not engage in frivolous conversations and when ignorant people address them they part bidding them peace. They find contentment in meaningful dialogue and do not engage in debates for the sake of debate. They believe in constructive and honest conversations rather than pretentiousness and flattery. I love humble people and every time I meet someone genuinely humble my heart longs to remain in their company. They make my spirit come alive and they feed my soul with positivity and hope. Humble people are also deeply spiritual people. They connect with God from their inner self and the light of God radiates their daily lives. They embrace God and His way willingly and knowingly as they know true humility emanates from God and they fully accept that they are nothing without God. They are often found in deep meditation and reflection through prayers and prostration. Their life isnt all about material pursuits but an embodiment of spirituality and consciousness of the reality of the life hereafter. They know that their character must have some reflection of Gods attributes. They can never be God but they aspire to emulate the heavenly traits. For me, God is The Most Kind, I know I cannot be The Most Kind but kindness should become part of my character for that is humility. I know I can be compassionate, gracious, loving, generous and merciful, for they demonstrate humility. I do my best to attain all those qualities while recognising my imitations. I believe my humility must encompass diligent delivery of my duties and responsibilities, learning from any mistakes I make, listening to the feedback my friends and families offer me and being aware of the consequences of my actions. I know humility also means being spatially aware - being aware of other peoples feelings, needs, hopes and aspirations, being helpful to them in realising their dream. Humility is being less selfish. I have to do more to gain those marvellous traits. I know humility is ultimately manifested through gratitude and patience. I must be grateful to God and my fellow human beings. I must be patient with Gods instructions and patient with people around me. I cannot pretend to be humble - either I am or I am not. The plane has just landed safely and thank God for the safe return of my fellow passengers and me. Thanks to the skilful pilot and his crew, despite heavy turbulence. It is time to head home and rest. Thank you for reading my thoughts, I hope it inspires you to pursue humility.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 21:36:12 +0000
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