- in the name of Allah - 


Among other thoughts lately, it occurs to me that the notion of "fighting fate" is a very flawed one. It is not fate that one is ever truly fighting, but rather one's own self. I suspect fate is an easy scapegoat for one who's faced troubles that take more than he has to defeat them, so by blaming 'fate', there's no need to accept responsibility for one's own part in the failure. 

No doubt I've done this in the past, in some attempt to understand things too painful to swallow while too shortsighted myself to see beyond them. I do not think the human being ever needs to worry about fighting predestination/qadr/fate/time/etc. All of these are just excuses and pretenses created by the weaknesses of our lesser selves and shayateen, so that we wallow in the misery created instead of being able to open our eyes to something greater. In essence, if we give in to the temptation to lay blame on something else, we invite despair into our lives. For if the afflicted one can blame something else, then what else is there for him but to despair that it happened because he had not control over it and thus justify to himself his lowered state? 

It is true we do not control what comes tomorrow, what the weather may be, whether we will even live or die a year or second from the present moment. But I suspect the weakness we have to deny responsibility plays a large role in overstating how important "control" actually is. Truly, it is not as mighty as we give it credit for, especially because the human being is not at the center of the universe, not even his own if seen at a personal level. 

Maybe the most important crux of Islam is the ability of submission, to accept that Allah is greater than anything and everyone, that the highest position of a living being is to be considered His slave. Unquestionably it's hard to give in to this notion. Human beings love their sense of independence and self-direction and choosing the path they want. Perhaps in all other facets of life this can be indulged to a small degree. But the exception is and must be with Allah, that our recognizance of His ultimate dominion over everything and especially over us remains steady in our vision. No matter what our societies shape, no matter what technologies we form, it does not and can never compare to Allah and His creation of all that exists to begin with. Being able to place the self and ourselves as a species on the right balance of things, that is where the strongest and best path to serenity is. 

It is also true that not everyone is given the ability to submit. Wealth, power, influence, children, looks, etc, all of these are given howsoever Allah wills to whomever He wills. But being able to submit, that is to declare Allah supremely above one's self and one's self immensely below Allah, that is given by Allah only to those whom He loves. For those who do not care for that, who do not seek Allah, this presents no issue. When they disregard Him, they only risk being disregarded by Him; their recompense not a thing far off. 

But what if one does care to be loved by Allah? How to seek Him? The answer really is amazingly simple: just make dua and ask Him to make one among those whom He loves. The beauty of this is that, if Allah loves someone, He creates pathways for him or her to find Him, see Him in aspects of life, makes guidance a thing beloved to that individual. Something so incredible, and I think the way there is so unimaginably simple: to ask Him.