WHY DON'T YOU REFLECT?

Allah Is The Supreme Creator

Why Don’t You Reflect?

Look At Yourself And Around You!

You Can’t Ignore His Signs, His Creation!

(M. Javed Naseem)

قُلْ إِنَّ صَلاَتِى وَنُسُكِى وَمَحْيَاىَ وَمَمَاتِى لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ
“Say: Truly, my prayer and my service of

sacrifice, my life and my death, are (all) for

Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds.”

(al-Quran 6:162)

“Just Do It!” is a very fashionable slogan. The youngsters (particularly in the West) love to promote it by displaying it in different ways – T-shirts, buttons, stickers, ads, etc. The youngsters in Asia, Africa and Latin America copy the Western traditions because they are not only considered fashionable but also because they come from the land of their ex-colonial masters (so, they must be good!). Very few youngsters actually know where they should apply this slogan in life. I would apply it to my Faith.

When you are studying the Quran and you find a command of Allah (Do it! or Don’t do it!) then you just follow it! Just obey it! Just do it and don’t question it. You would eventually know the wisdom in it. How in the world can you question the command of Allah, your Creator? If He tells you to believe in something, just believe it! Your duty is: ‘I hear it and I obey it’ – no questions, no challenges! Some call it a ‘blind faith’. No, it is not blind faith. It is ‘the Faith’, because we have a ‘limited’ capacity of understanding and He and His Creations are sometimes beyond our comprehension. You cannot explain to a blind man the beauty of mystic colors of a peacock because it is beyond his imagination or comprehension. Allah tells us very clearly what we are supposed to do to succeed and prosper in this world:

يٰأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ ٱرْكَعُواْ وَٱسْجُدُواْ وَاعْبُدُواْ

رَبَّكُمْ وَٱفْعَلُواْ ٱلْخَيْرَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
“O you who believe! Bow down, prostrate

yourselves, and adore your Lord; and do good;

that you may prosper!”

(al-Quran 22:77)

We like to quote somebody’s revolutionary secular thoughts/slogans because we find it fashionable and impressive. By doing that, actually, we are exposing ourselves. Most of us don’t even know the purpose of our own lives on this planet Earth, how are we going to understand the purpose of God’s immense and vast Creation? We don’t even know His Creation completely. Every day, we are discovering something new which is mind-boggling and reminds us of our limitations and inadequacy.

Modern scientists are talking about millions of galaxies (once again, millions) and distant planets, billions of light-years away. What we call ‘space’ is actually such a wide and immense area that we can’t even fathom it, nor grasp it. On hearing all the stupid theories, beliefs and the questions we ask each other about the creation, the universe, planets, galaxies, stars, etc., Allah must be smiling and telling us:

‘Why don’t you ponder?’

‘Why don’t you reflect?’

‘Why don’t you think?’

أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُواْ
“Do they not reflect?”

(al-Quran 7:184)

أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُواْ فِيۤ أَنفُسِهِمْ مَّا خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ

وَٱلأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَآ إِلاَّ بِٱلْحَقِّ وَأَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى

وَإِنَّ كَثِيراً مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِلِقَآءِ رَبِّهِمْ لَكَافِرُونَ
“Do they not reflect in their own minds?

Not but for just ends and for a term appointed,

did Allah create the heavens and the earth,

and all between them; yet are there truly many

among men who deny the meeting with their

Lord (at the Resurrection)!”

(al-Quran 30:8)

أَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَآ
“Do they not then earnestly seek to understand

the Quran, or are their hearts locked up by them?”

(al-Quran 47:24)

أَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْآنَ
“Do they not consider the Quran (with care)?”

(Or: “Why do they not study the Quran carefully?”)

(al-Quran 4:82)

There are Allah’s signs all over the universe, around us, on us, within us! How can we not see them and ponder?

إِنَّ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَاوَاتِ وَٱلأَرْضِ وَٱخْتِلاَفِ ٱلْلَّيْلِ

وَٱلنَّهَارِ لَـاۤيَاتٍ لِّـأُوْلِى ٱلأَلْبَابِ
“Behold! In the creation of the heavens and

the earth, and the alternation of night and day,

there are indeed signs for men of understanding.”
(al-Quran 3:190)

Let’s have a look at this beautiful universe Allah has created. We are trying to probe the Moon and the Mars but there’s a lot more beyond that. And when you start pondering over that, you miserably fail to grasp. You are lost.

See the pic-1 below! When you put the Earth next to the Pluto, the Earth is very big, bigger than the Mars and the Venus. We feel good, great.

Now, see the pic-2 below! The Pluto becomes a mere dot (.), a pixel, and the Earth is like a small pebble in front of the Saturn and the Jupiter. We (the Earthly) are humbled by the Jupiter. We are embarrassed.

See the pic-3 below now! We are in front of the mighty Sun. The Pluto is almost gone; the Earth becomes a dot (.), a pixel, and the Jupiter itself is humbled. It becomes a small pebble in comparison to the Sun. We feel ashamed. We are nothing!

Now, see the pic-4 below! The mighty sun is humbled in front of the Pellux and the Arcturus. It becomes a small pebble. Subhan-Allah! But it doesn’t end there.

See the next picture below! The giants (Pollux & Arcturus) are humbled by the super Aldebaran. Subhan-Allah!

Let’s go further and see the next level. The picture below shows the heavy-weight Aldebaran in front of the Betelgeuse and the super-giant Antares. And that comparison looks like a mis-match. Subhan-Allah!

When you put the Sun next to the Antares, the sun looks like a mere dot (.), a pixel.
Antares is one of the biggest planets we humans have discovered so far.
It is the 15th brightest star in the sky. It is more than 1000 light years away.
Its dimensions are beyond our comprehension; beyond our imagination.

It’s mind-boggling. Our brain is humbled!

Is the planet ‘An-Tares’ the same that has been mentioned in the Holy Quran as ‘Al-Tareq’ or ‘At-Tariq’ (Surah At-Tariq)?

وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلطَّارِقِ وَمَآ أَدْرَاكَ مَا ٱلطَّارِقُ
ٱلنَّجْمُ ٱلثَّاقِبُ
“By the Heaven and the Morning Star (At-Tariq)!
Ah! What will tell you what the Morning Star
(at-Tariq) is! – The Piercing-light Star!”

(al-Quran 86:1-3).

You can’t imagine how big the “Arcturus” and “Antares” are! I can’t find the words to fit the dimensions.

But the Antares is not the ultimate. We have discovered another ‘super planet’  which is called the ‘Pistol Star’. See the picture below!

You’ll laugh at the comparison between the two (Antares & Pistol Star). The super-giant Antares becomes a David in front of a Goliath (the Pistol Star). So, how big is the Pistol Star? Allah, the Supreme Creator, has put it somewhere in space to float in its orbit.

Can you grasp it? Allah-o-Akbar!

And there are more of them in the space above, apart from numerous galaxies! How far does it go? How big is the biggest that we haven’t discovered yet? What are their functions? What’s their purpose? Do they have anything to do with us, the Earth? Is the Paradise located on some of them? Are they inhabited by some creatures? There are many questions but we may not get all the answers during our lifetime, except when Allah bestows the knowledge upon us. Subhan-Allah!

One thing is clear though. Anybody who is reading this article knows now what it means when Allah talks about the ‘worlds’ (‘Aalameen’). And we, with our limited knowledge thought that there were only two – this world and the Paradise. Only He knows best as He is the ‘Lord of these Worlds’:

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ
“Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and

Sustainer of the worlds”

(or “The Lord of the Worlds”).

But we may get an answer to one question though: How in the world people still don’t believe in God despite all the clear signs?

Because they don’t want to believe!

وَآيَةٌ لَّهُمُ ٱلْلَّيْلُ نَسْلَخُ مِنْهُ ٱلنَّهَارَ فَإِذَا هُم مُّظْلِمُونَ
وَٱلشَّمْسُ تَجْرِى لِمُسْتَقَرٍّ لَّهَـا ذٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ
وَٱلْقَمَرَ قَدَّرْنَاهُ مَنَازِلَ حَتَّىٰ عَادَ كَٱلعُرْ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌جُونِ ٱلْقَدِيمِ
لاَ ٱلشَّمْسُ يَنبَغِى لَهَآ أَن تدْرِكَ ٱلقَمَرَ وَلاَ ٱلْلَّيْلُ
 سَابِقُ ٱلنَّهَارِ وَكُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ

“And a sign for them is the Night. We withdraw

therefrom the Day, and behold they are plunged

in darkness. And the Sun runs his course for a

period determined for it. That is the decree of (Him),

the Exalted in Might, the All-Knowing.
And the Moon, We have measured for it stages

(to traverse) till it returns like the old (and withered)

lower part of a date-stalk. It is not permitted to the

Sun to catch up the Moon, nor can the Night

outstrip the Day. Each (just) swims along in

(its own) orbit (according to Law)”.
(al-Quran 36:37-40)

So, how big you think your world is? Are you humbled?
How big is your universe? How high can you fly? How vast is your imagination?

You can’t think beyond a certain point. That’s your limit, O Human! That’s your vast vast world! But is it really vast?

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ
“Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and

Sustainer of the worlds”

(or “The Lord of the Worlds”).

(al-Quran 1:2)

We recite these words many times every day. We also say “Allah-o-Akbar” (‘Allah is the Greatest’) on many occasions each day. But do we really ponder upon these words?

Do you understand when Allah, the Almighty, refers to the term ‘Aalameen’ (the worlds), how many and how big they are? What’s in all those planets, moons and galaxies? We are humbled. We know nothing. Allah did not create these worlds for fun! Everything has been created for a purpose. Only we don’t know it.

And how great is the Creator of all those great worlds?
It’s mind-boggling. Allah-o-Akbar!

The Supreme Creator (Allah) has certain rights over His Creation (us, human beings). We are referred to as ‘Abd’ (man, slave, servant) and so were all the Prophets or the Messengers of God. They were ‘slaves of Allah’ and so are we. The actions of this ‘Abd’ are called ‘Ibadah’. Allah refers to it in the Quran: ‘Allah created the Jinn and Humans for Ibadah’.

Most people, as a matter of fact most Muslims, don’t understand the comprehensive meaning of the word ‘Ibadah’. In Urdu and Persian it is called ‘Bandagi’. ‘Abd’ performs ‘Ibadah’ and ‘Bandah’ (slave, servant) performs ‘Bandagi’. Now, Ibadah or Bandagi is not confined to mere Salaat (prayer), Zakat (obligatory charity), Saum (fasting) and Hajj (pilgrimage). It is a lot more than that. We are slaves (servants) of Allah and what is required from slaves is called ‘obedience’. Never disobey your Master! And that includes everything you do in life. We need to obey and please our Master (Creator) in all walks of life, in our social, cultural, political, economic, educational, religious and spiritual affairs.

Salaat, Zakat, Saum and Hajj are just a small part of this ‘Ibadah’ or ‘Bandagi’. The major part of this obedience (Ibadah or Bandagi) relates to good deeds done for other human beings. Allah is very pleased when we serve and help His Creation – our fellow human beings – and He bestows upon us His blessings and bounties as a reward. The only thing we need to do is to prove practically that we are obedient to Him with all sincerity, honesty, loyalty, fidelity, faithfulness; with all our strength, sources and resources. Allah tells us in the Quran that He’ll test/try our sincerity of Faith.

By the way, what is Islam? Islam is to surrender or submit yourself totally and unconditionally to the Will of God. In other words, you live and die for Allah and everything between these two ends (life & death) should be done in a way that pleases Allah. That way, everything you do would become a part of ‘Ibadah’ or ‘Bandagi’ (worship of Allah). You handle your worldly affairs, live your worldly life and discharge your worldly obligations but as per the Quranic guidelines. That is Allah’s right on us because He is our Master, our Creator and our Sustainer. And in fact, that is the essence of the Deen called Islam.

Now, the question is: How in the world can we deny, ignore, dispute or disobey any command of our Great Master (the Supreme Creator) when we know that we cannot run away or escape from Him? And we also know (through His warnings) that He will punish the disobedient people! Disobedience cost Iblees (the Satan) the Paradise and he was destined to Hellfire. Did we learn any lesson from that?

In a sound and healthy state of mind, we cannot think of any escape-route because there’s none. It’s simply ‘obey Me or else’. The only logical reason for disobedience could be that we are not convinced of Allah’s powers, capability, capacity and greatness. He threatens us with Hellfire (the extreme punishment) and we don’t care? How can we ignore such a serious and stern warning and continue disobeying Him, enjoying, at the same time, His bounties day and night? This is being ‘shamelessly ungrateful’!

Let’s see, once again, how great and how powerful Allah is, Who has created things beyond our imagination and comprehension!

أَوَلَـيْسَ ٱلَذِى خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَاواتِ وَٱلأَرْضَ بِقَادِرٍ عَلَىٰ
 أَن يَخْلُقَ مِثْلَهُم بَلَىٰ وَهُوَ ٱلْخَلاَّقُ ٱلْعَلِيمُ
"Is not He Who created the heavens and the

earth able to create the like thereof?" Yes,

indeed! For He is the Creator Supreme
of skill and knowledge (infinite)!”

(al-Quran 36:81)

وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلْقٍ عَلِيمٌ
“And He is Well-versed in

every kind of creation!”

(al-Quran 36:79). 

إِنَّمَآ أَمْرُهُ إِذَآ أَرَادَ شَيْئاً أَن يَقُولَ لَهُ كُن فَيَكُونُ
“Verily, when He intends a thing,

His Command is, "be", and it is!”

(al-Quran 36:82)

فَسُبْحَانَ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِ مَلَكُوتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
“So glory to Him in Whose hands is the

dominion of all things; and to Him will

you be all brought back.”

(al-Quran 36:83)

وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلاَئِفَ ٱلأَرْضِ وَرَفَعَ بَعْضَكُمْ

فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ دَرَجَاتٍ لِّيَبْلُوَكُمْ فِى مَآ آتَاكُمْ

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ سَرِيعُ ٱلْعِقَابِ وَإِنَّهُ لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
“It is He Who has made you (His) agents,

inheritors of the earth. He has raised you

in ranks, some above others, that He may

try you in the gifts He has given you; for

your Lord is quick in punishment, yet

He is indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”

(al-Quran 6:165)

So, glorify honestly the Supreme Creator; be faithfully obedient to Him, and be sincerely grateful to Him! Your success is guaranteed! Allah-o-Akbar!

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