Reason, anger and lust are considered as the three fundamental powers of the ego. Each of these powers has its own source of energy and a field of deployment. In this article, I would like to delve into the power of reason, and then use it as a telescope to understand prophet Muhammad pbuh in a different way so that we can better emulate his example in our lives.
Reason is a distinctive property of the humans. Although the initial connotation of reason is individualistic, there is also collective reasoning through communication and through writing among individuals. Still, though, history testifies that revolutionary ideas and actions take spark from key figures, and spread from them. Masses, on the other hand, are associated with status-quo and constancy, and so, they need those unique individuals' initiative to reach a new state. As you can guess, such acceptance of a revolutionary idea or movement does not happen instantly. The society that will be the future home for that idea, more often than not, plays the antagonist during the developmental stage of the story. During this initial time period, those unique individuals who are the mothers of those ideas find solace in solitude.
If you think of solitude, it may sound negative, especially in this time of ubiquitous social media invasion and addiction. Historically, solitude is especially sought by those who are after wisdom and enlightenment. Imagine yourself sitting around a camp fire with a group of people. Although you are with others, watching the fire captures your soul, and you find yourself being dragged into a world of your own where you are blown away by thoughts, emotions and inspirations. That is you find solitude, despite being surrounded by people. Be careful, this solitude is not being lonely!
Seeking solitude and having ample time for contemplation alone are traits observed in the lives of many timeless leaders of humanity, messengers of God most prominent among them. The life details of Muhammad, the last and the best documented messenger of God, provide a fertile ground of study in this regard. It is well known that he used to climb the Mount Nour, and take shelter in the cave of Hira to contemplate. These sessions would last for days or weeks. His wife, Khatijah, would bring him food and water during these periods so that he, Muhammad, could go on with his seclusion without interruption.
Nevertheless, it was not normal for anyone to stay alone in the wilderness for so long. Therefore, this state of seclusion was alarming at the same time. Muhammad himself can be included among those who were concerned about this strange state of his, since when eventually the angel brought the first revelation, his reaction was to question whether he was going crazy or being possessed.
Before we go on, I think it is important to take a moment and see the big picture so far. Wisdom is sought and found not by masses but by individuals. Furthermore, wisdom is found not among people but in solitude. Plus, wisdom is fast embraced not by the society but by the individuals of critical thought. Life stories of messengers of God, especially prophet Muhammad for that matter, make a good example of all these points.
With all the known facts about wisdom and the events prior to the onset of the mission of Muhammad, you would guess that seeking solitude and wisdom at mountain tops would remain as an indispensable component of the messenger's routine, but it does not!
On the contrary, in an increasing rate, he becomes a public figure who is almost always surrounded by others, and whose house is visited by people even at inconvenient times. Those who are familiar with the occasions of revelations for certain verses in the Quran and are well versed in the prophet's life would appreciate the severity of these situations.
So, what happened to the solitude-seeking person? Ask anyone who loves solitude, they are going to tell you that being alone is like water and air for them, and that they cannot do without it. We understand that the same was true of Muhammad pbuh. Then, what happened to this intrinsic need of his? Did it miraculously disappear?
No! As his mission to convey the message of God to people required him to be with people, he also needed to refuel himself by being one-to-one with his Lord. That is, being alone in his former life transformed into being alone during his salaah. However, since he had to do the obligatory prayers in congregation, his thirst for being alone was channeled by God towards the voluntary salaah, which he could do alone.
Returning to us, here and now, along with the communication age, staying alone and contemplating has become a rare property. The business routine and the increasing pace of life are not favorable to the timeless attitude of wisdom. In all this, one way for the believers to accommodate this essential ingredient in their lives is by working on their salaah, and transforming it to the alone-time with the Eternal Light, as in the example of the messenger of God.
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often. (33/21)
Reason is a distinctive property of the humans. Although the initial connotation of reason is individualistic, there is also collective reasoning through communication and through writing among individuals. Still, though, history testifies that revolutionary ideas and actions take spark from key figures, and spread from them. Masses, on the other hand, are associated with status-quo and constancy, and so, they need those unique individuals' initiative to reach a new state. As you can guess, such acceptance of a revolutionary idea or movement does not happen instantly. The society that will be the future home for that idea, more often than not, plays the antagonist during the developmental stage of the story. During this initial time period, those unique individuals who are the mothers of those ideas find solace in solitude.
If you think of solitude, it may sound negative, especially in this time of ubiquitous social media invasion and addiction. Historically, solitude is especially sought by those who are after wisdom and enlightenment. Imagine yourself sitting around a camp fire with a group of people. Although you are with others, watching the fire captures your soul, and you find yourself being dragged into a world of your own where you are blown away by thoughts, emotions and inspirations. That is you find solitude, despite being surrounded by people. Be careful, this solitude is not being lonely!
Seeking solitude and having ample time for contemplation alone are traits observed in the lives of many timeless leaders of humanity, messengers of God most prominent among them. The life details of Muhammad, the last and the best documented messenger of God, provide a fertile ground of study in this regard. It is well known that he used to climb the Mount Nour, and take shelter in the cave of Hira to contemplate. These sessions would last for days or weeks. His wife, Khatijah, would bring him food and water during these periods so that he, Muhammad, could go on with his seclusion without interruption.
Nevertheless, it was not normal for anyone to stay alone in the wilderness for so long. Therefore, this state of seclusion was alarming at the same time. Muhammad himself can be included among those who were concerned about this strange state of his, since when eventually the angel brought the first revelation, his reaction was to question whether he was going crazy or being possessed.
Before we go on, I think it is important to take a moment and see the big picture so far. Wisdom is sought and found not by masses but by individuals. Furthermore, wisdom is found not among people but in solitude. Plus, wisdom is fast embraced not by the society but by the individuals of critical thought. Life stories of messengers of God, especially prophet Muhammad for that matter, make a good example of all these points.
With all the known facts about wisdom and the events prior to the onset of the mission of Muhammad, you would guess that seeking solitude and wisdom at mountain tops would remain as an indispensable component of the messenger's routine, but it does not!
On the contrary, in an increasing rate, he becomes a public figure who is almost always surrounded by others, and whose house is visited by people even at inconvenient times. Those who are familiar with the occasions of revelations for certain verses in the Quran and are well versed in the prophet's life would appreciate the severity of these situations.
So, what happened to the solitude-seeking person? Ask anyone who loves solitude, they are going to tell you that being alone is like water and air for them, and that they cannot do without it. We understand that the same was true of Muhammad pbuh. Then, what happened to this intrinsic need of his? Did it miraculously disappear?
No! As his mission to convey the message of God to people required him to be with people, he also needed to refuel himself by being one-to-one with his Lord. That is, being alone in his former life transformed into being alone during his salaah. However, since he had to do the obligatory prayers in congregation, his thirst for being alone was channeled by God towards the voluntary salaah, which he could do alone.
In this world, women and perfume have been made dear to me, and my comfort has been provided in prayer. (Sunan an-Nasa'i, 3939, grade: hasan)Indeed, if you read through the books of hadith, you may not find too many occasions where the prophet was alone, but you can find countless occasions when he was offering voluntary prayers to Allah during the day or night. So, the "lonely thinker" of the former life was transformed to the "lonely worshiper" of the latter life.
Returning to us, here and now, along with the communication age, staying alone and contemplating has become a rare property. The business routine and the increasing pace of life are not favorable to the timeless attitude of wisdom. In all this, one way for the believers to accommodate this essential ingredient in their lives is by working on their salaah, and transforming it to the alone-time with the Eternal Light, as in the example of the messenger of God.
This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah -who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them, (2/2-3)
Thanks for the post. May Allah make our salaah as a concentrated way to communicate with Him. I believe in order to leverage this salaah time for contemplation alone as a non Arabic speaker, we first need to learn the meaning of what we recite.
ReplyDeleteLearning the meaning of what we are reading is a good way to start. However, in my opinion, the way we are traditionaly taught to "execute" the salaah much like a formula and a set of commands, as if we were robots, is where the problem really starts. Contemplation does not happen because your mother tangue is Arabic, nor everything you think is contemplation because you think in Arabic. The prophet's salaah was rich, not only with what recited but also with what he did not, i.e. silence; and silence does not have a language :)
ReplyDelete