“And the last of their call will be, ‘Praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds! (‘Alhamdulillah Rabb al-‘Alamin’)'” [10: 10]
Hamd – the concept of eternal praise and gratitude. The first words uttered by Adam when life was blown into him were ‘Alhamdulillah Rabb al-‘Alamin’ and the very last thing we will say as believers entering paradise is ‘Alhamdulillah Rabb al-‘Alamin’. The very first chapter of the Book that we read begins with the first words we uttered as a race, ‘Alhamdulillah Rabb al-‘Alamin’, and the last call which will be declared on the Day of Judgement is ‘Alhamdulillah Rabb al-‘Alamin’. To top it off, the last thing the Angels will say is ‘Alhamdulillah Rabb al-‘Alamin’: “And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne, exalting with praise of their Lord. And it will (finally) be judged between them in truth, and it will be said, “Praise to Allah, Lord of the worlds.” [39: 75]
Hamd – an eternal word which spans from the beginning of time; a spiritual place that is both timeless and spaceless, to a lowly life on earth fixed by a decreed time, to yet another realm that will be endless and joyful for some, painful for others. In all, we thank and praise Allah `azza wa jall and so He remains worshipped by all in the heavens and the earth, both aforetime and in the future.
Surah Hud mentions the case of people who when their blessings are taken away, they fall into despair and ingratitude, and when they are given ease, they are boastful. And then Allah says…
“Except for those who are patient and do righteous deeds…” [11: 10]
Patience is a hard lesson to learn. Most people pick it up during their times of difficulty and sorrow, because they’re forced to wait through their hardship and take each day as it comes. But we don’t realise that patience is also required during days of jubilance and joy. See, when you experience ups and downs, you’re actually being trained to have control no matter what the circumstance is. What’s the point of gaining patience in hardships, if you’re just going to lose all principle during your days of ease?
In fact, you’ll need greater levels of patience in times of ease because your prayer right then ought be at the levels it was when you were troubled and were closer to Allah. Your du’as (supplications) ought to be as sincere as they were when you were suffering and calling to Allah. But sadly we lose that depth we had, the moment we transition from hardship to ease.
And so Allah mentions the case of people who sway this way when they’re given blessings, and sway that way when they lose them… except those who have mastered patience. They have mastered self-control, and their mind and heart are both firm. They know Who they are worshipping, and they are vastly aware of the nature of life. Hence they are patience when it’s winter and they are patient when it’s summer.
“…We raise in degrees whom We will, but over every possessor of knowledge, there is one [more] knowing.” [12: 76]
There will always be someone who knows more than you, who understands things faster and is better at academics. There will always be someone who is wealthier than you, who gets what they want, earns more, and probably spends more. There will always be someone more beautiful or handsome, who attracts compliments and looks better than you in a dress or suit. There will always be someone better than you. But there can never be someone exactly like you, and that’s the part we don’t notice – because we are too busy trying to be like others.
You forget that even though Allah raised some people over you, He has also raised *you* over others in your own way. But you don’t see that you have the most beautiful smile that warms others, or that you come from a loving home. You don’t see that even though you’re not rich, you’ve managed to get that thing you’ve always wanted, or perhaps it was gifted to you. You may see yourself as ‘unattractive’, but you’re married to someone who would deny that with a passion. You may deem yourself a failure because of a grade, but you’re succeeding in life itself – and that’s more important.
Allah will gift people with different things, He will raise them but there will always be someone higher in that rank. Thus we encircle the world, each of us intertwined above and below others – but all of us imperfect, because above us is the Most Perfect; God Himself.
“And do not say concerning that which your tongues put forth of untruth saying, “This is halal (lawful) and this is haram (unlawful),” to invent a lit against Allah. Indeed, those who invent a lie against Allah will not succeed.” [16: 116]
After mentioning blessings, Allah calls us to show thanks to Him. Then He says that He has only made haram (unlawful) a few things – and this is so true subhan’Allah. If you really think about it, not many things are haram in this life, but Shaytan and society makes us believe that our religion is so restrictive and that everything is haram! Rubbish. The lawful things far outweigh the unlawful, and most things are halal, but the more corrupt a society becomes, the more the haram is engaged with and even celebrated – and that’s the problem.
To further bring us balance, we are warned from becoming the judges of God on earth handing out His Decree of what’s allowed and what’s not. Wallahi, this is a danger zone that so many of us come scarily close to, and some freely delve in. We state boldly that this and that are haram, when Allah never made them haram. It’s just because we don’t like it, or we were never raised with it. On the other hand, we boldly claim that something is halal, when it is impermissible from its core to its fringes, but we have been swayed by desire or fear of a rapidly changing society. Stop. Take a seat, and hold your tongue insha’Allah until knowledge makes things clear. And even if you think you have knowledge, it’s still better to hold off judgement because in silence there is salvation and you free yourself from the burden of having to answer before God for the lie you may potentially utter against Him.
May Allah protect us from delving into matters that we have no right to delve into, and protect us from the utterances of our tongues that can cause us great ruin, ameen.
“And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge?” [18: 68]
Humans are impatient by nature – and this is something that stems from the fact that we were created hasty (as Allah said, “Man has been created hasty” [21: 37]). We don’t have patience at our core; it’s something we have to develop. Hence the reason behind the events in our lives, hence the people in our timeline, hence the emotional rollercoasters we go through.
But we mostly struggle with *not knowing* things. We want to know when days will get better, we want to know when our supplications will be answered. When will we get a nice job, healthy income, good marriage, loving children etc. If we are sick and the doctors give us medication, we want to know when it will kick in and when will we get better. The ‘not knowing’ is the hardest thing for us to deal with most of the time, and so to further develop our patience, Allah keeps these things hidden from us. Take care, because sometimes the more you push, the more it become obscure. You’re not learning patience.
Subhan’Allah, how often have we toiled through a hardship and after some time, we come to be at peace with it. We accept it, and learn our path. At the point, the hardship is lifted because the purpose has been fulfilled; you’ve gained patience with something that you had no knowledge of. That is human mastery. And sometimes, that is the hidden point behind some of our tests.