In The Driver's Seat

First of all, Jazakallah to everyone that remembered me in their Duas and for all the comments and e-mails people have sent.

Since I have started this blog, it has become so much more easier to see a deeper meaning to the everyday things in life. Just as Allah has stated in the Glorius Qur'an:

"To God belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth;
and God hath power to will anything..
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.
Those who remember God standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth:
Our Lord! You have not created this in vain!
Glory be to You; save us then from the chastisement of the fire"

[Aal-e-Imran 3:189-91]

This verse is particularly important for our observation of the creation, for shaping our worldview with belief in Allah and applying our belief to our daily lives. It means that every single thing in its creation is a sign to the Creator and it reflects the attributes of the Creator. Whatever we can think of, each and every thing or event is created with wisdom as a sign to the Creator. We receive a phone call, a fly lands on our hand… these do not happen in vain, without any meaning or purpose...

So, if we reflect on any matter in life, and ponder over its creation and how it reflects the attributes of Allah, we will automatically start seeing the purpose of creation and how we are reminded of Allah through every act and each of His creation.

The lifestyle in Pakistan is completely different to the one we are used to seeing in the United Kingdom. Being a third-world country it is enivitable that we will see poverty, corruption and also a totally different living standard. There is no system, no practiced laws and everyone has their own styles of living.

The thing which caught my attention was the driving method in Pakistan. Those who have been there will be well aware of the manner of driving their; and those who have not had the pleasure of seeing it, I can simply say there is no system and no rules, anything goes (but you have to see it to believe it).

Whilst driving in Pakistan, there will be many times where you have to stop in the traffic (hardly for a traffic light). If at any point the car stops in the traffic, the driver, along with the passengers will be faced with two things; either they will have a beggar come up to their windows and ask for something, or they will have a poor person, trying to make his living, who will come to sell something.

Additionally, whilst driving in Pakistan, as there is no system, a driver is able to travel is able to take any route he wants to reach his destination; some routes will taker him faster to his destination than others, but always, the destination remains the same.

POINT

Similarly, in our lives, on the path of Islam and reaching Allah, we will also find times where we will either trip or come to a little stop, it is at this time that Shaytaan will take the opportunity to come to us and try and 'sell' us a lie and deceive us, or he will come and 'beg' us to do something which will divert our attention from the road for a moment or so.

It is then our choice whether we choose to pursue further onto the path we have chosen or whether we are deceived by the "sellers" and "beggars".

Another point to remember is that when we set out, our destination is always the pleasure of Allah; reaching Him, and acquiring paradise. However, no matter what our destination is, if we take the wrong path, we will never reach there and in the process we will have wasted valuable time. To the contrary, to reach Allah we can take many paths; those that will take us closer to Allah in a shorter span of time than other paths. There are many paths and each person has a choice to decide which path he wants to take to reach Allah, but it should not be forgotten, that no matter what path you choose, the final destination is none other than Allah.

May Allah give us the inclination to choose the path in which He is pleased, the path of Islam. May He show us the path that will earn us His pleasure and one that will take us to Him earlier than other Paths, and that He saves us from Shaytaan that who is our open enemy and will always try and deceive us from the straight path. Aameen.