As human beings we make life very difficult, don't we? We sometimes see problems, where there are none, and we find difficult that which is really simple and obvious. The ancient Egyptians used to worship the baboon as their god of Wisdom. They did this because at the dawn of every day, when the sun began to rise on the horizon, the baboons would sit and watch the sun coming up. This was seen as a sign of great wisdom. Since the Egyptians used also to worship the sun, they saw this innate knowledge on the part of the baboons as a reflection of the divine Wisdom. Now we don't worship animals, but Allah Alone, and we can see that these creatures are drawn towards the divine. Almighty Allah recreates life for us every morning and these creatures are aware of that new life. Indeed, all people of faith believe that in the chirping of every bird or the roaring of every lion, we hear the animals praising Allah in their own way. Just listen to the sound of the birds at sunset, which sometimes becomes almost deafening. What are these birds saying? Muslims believe that they are praising Allah. The whole of Allah's Creation praises Him night and day and depends on Him for life. A translation of the meaning of the holy Qur'an says this: “there is no creature that moves on the Earth but its provision depends on Allah. He knows its dwelling and its resting-place. All is recorded in a clear Book” (11:6). In wanting to come closer to Almighty Allah, then, and to know Him better, we must first of all recognise His beauty and His greatness all around us. There is no use looking for Him in books or debating about Him in discussion groups if we fail to see Him all around us. Think, first, of a beautiful sunset or the smile on the face of a small child. Think how a young sheep looks after its lambs or how the snow melts on the highest mountain peaks to form water for us to drink. When we think of these things we begin to see the hand of Allah at work. Our minds can never grasp His greatness, but we can see His greatness all around. We believe that “there is nothing whatever like unto Him, He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing. To Him belong the keys of the Heavens and the Earth. He enlarges and restricts provisions to whom He wills. Surely He has knowledge of everything” (42:11-12). We should take time every day to reflect on the greatness of Allah and to appreciate the gifts we receive every day in abundance from Him. Health and strength come from Him. Food and drink are His provisions. We cannot expect to go to prayer and feel the power of His might, if we ignore His signs that are with us throughout the day. We must never take life for granted. At the time of the Hajj, that once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Makkah which is enjoined on all Muslims, the pilgrims have certain words constantly on their lips: “I respond to Your Call, O Allah, I respond to Your Call.” These words are most beautiful, but they need not be restricted to the time of pilgrimage. They should be on the lips of every Muslim every day, from the time of waking up in the morning to the time of going to bed at night. “I respond to Your Call.” This is how we should live our lives as Muslims. Reminding ourselves throughout the day of His presence is a sure way of beginning to appreciate His greatness. In the same way, as we see the hand of Allah at work in our world, we should also begin to appreciate that He is closer to us than we can possibly imagine. We see, once more in the Qur'an: “with Him are the keys of the unseen; none knows them but He. He knows what is in land and sea; not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the deep darkness of the Earth, not a thing green or dry but it is in a clear Book” (6:59). Instead of being overwhelmed by our own shortcomings, we should listen to these words which He speaks to us in the holy Qur'an. There is no one on the face of the earth who is worthy of such care, or who actually deserves the mercy which Allah bestows upon us. Even the greatest Muslims fall far short of His mercy and Compassion. Concentrating on our own weaknesses is putting things the wrong way around. Instead of making ourselves the focus of attention, we should focus on Allah. Being Muslim means that we don't think of ourselves first, but we think of Allah. Being Muslim means that we submit ourselves to His will. And, by the way, as Muslims we are not promised that in prayer we will feel good or have great spiritual thoughts. The command is simply to pray five times a day, for Allah's sake – not for our own. To make the most of our prayers, though, and to benefit from them in our daily lives, we must prepare for them first. No one would go to meet the President of France, for example, without making some preparations, would they? At the very least, they would wash and make themselves tidy. Most would take a lot of care before such a meeting. How can we expect to place ourselves in the presence of the Maker of the heavens and the earth, then, without preparing ourselves for the meeting? We cannot switch in just a minute from the busy concerns of life to prostrating ourselves in prayer, without at least a little preparation. In washing ourselves before prayer, for example, we are doing this. We are not just washing the dust from our hands, are we? We are washing away the concerns of our hearts which prevent us from thinking of Allah. We should also feed our hearts throughout the day, then, so that we are ready to meet Allah when we pray to Him. In the next few days, Egypt will see momentous events in her modern history. Whilst Egyptians are confronted with problems and possibilities for the future, whoever is elected its new President won't have all the answers all at once. We would do well to pause and put things into their proper perspective. Whoever wins, life will go one. The greatest verse of the holy Qur'an is to be found in what is known as Ayat Al-Kursi. If we come to know and love these words, repeating them often and pondering on their meaning, we will come to appreciate the greatness of Allah, inshallah, and begin to place all of our worries and concerns in His care. Not even the greatest sins are beyond His Mercy. Inshallah, these words can help us all to be better people and to serve our Lord and Creator with happiness and great humility: “Allah there is no God but He, the Living, the Everlasting. Slumber does not seize Him, neither sleep; to Him belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that shall intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not encompass anything of His knowledge except what he wills. His throne extends over the heavens and the earth, the preservation of them does not burden Him; He is the High, the Great.” (2:255). British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University . The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
