Monday, July 03, 2006

Eyes

My last post was on a gift that was given to me by my friend. Something I showed great appreciation for and I therefore treated it with the greatest of care and held it in high value and esteem. My lesson and message was that we should be thankful for these gifts and we should furthermore be more grateful towards Allah for His gifts.

Friday is probably the best day of the week for me for a number of reasons. To begin I have to lead the prayers at Rugby Mosque and to be able to provide a service to the Muslim Ummah is an honour whilst the peaceful journey there and back is a bonus. As the evening comes I get to see my adorable niece and nephew. Although looking after them and playing with them is like a full time job it is the best moments of my day and even my week. And without any surprise I sleep well after being drained out of all the energy I possessed.

Saturday, although being accounts day is also something I look forward to as we have football matches and therefore something else I enjoy and await during the week. After which my day usually ends in resting and some paperwork.

Finally, Sunday is family day and it is always a pleasure that needs no description or explanation.

However, this week went a 'little' different for me. It was a week where I realised that despite realising the value of the things we have, we only realise its true value when we actually lose it.

The weekend began as normal and I had my game of football as planned. The game was fun and winning was obviously even better. However, after a couple of hours after returning from football, I realised that I had an itch on my eye-lid and that it was a little painful. As usual, I left it to my body to deal with it and continued with my day. That evening, without actually realising, my eye had swollen and become red and I was hardly able to open it; forced to continue my activities with the aid of one eye I was hoping it would resolve sooner than later.

On Sunday, my eye went from bad to worse and I was unable to see anything from that eye, and to make matters worse my other eye was continuously watering and it was difficult to clearly see from there either.

The tasks which I carried out day after day without a second thought are now tasks that take a great deal of concentration and last forever.

...And I am still to experience how hard it is with an eye like this...

POINT

At times we tend to forget the gifts and bounties of Allah, especially those we have take for granted, like our eyes, hands, feet, speech etc. And then there are some that realise that we have been given these gifts yet they fail to realise how precious and valuable these gifts really are.

There are only a few people who realise the value of these gifts and many of these are those who have lost them. Ask the value of sight to a person who was once able to see; ask the value of speech to someone who is no longer able to talk; tell a person to explain the value of legs to someone who is now in a wheelchair...

Many a times we fail to show enough gratitude to Allah for the gifts He has given us and many of us feel it is enough thanks by just raising our hands and thanking Allah once in a while for these gifts.

The 'Ulamaa (scholars) have mentioned the true method of thankfulness for all the gifts of Allah:

01. Thank Allah through "speech".

We should all take time out to raise our hands in front of Allah and utter words of thanks and appreciation. This is thanking Allah by means of one's tongue.

02. Thank Allah through "appreciation"

It is also necessary for every person to have the feeling of appreciation for the gifts Allah has given to us. This is thanking Allah through one's heart.

03. Thanking Allah through "Actions"

This is where many people fail to thank Allah. We should show appreciation and thanks to Allah through our actions and this is achieved in two ways.

Firstly, we should thank Allah by our actions in general. And secondly, we should show appreciation through the particular parts of our body. For example, to show appreciation for our tongue we should not utter anything that would displease Allah; for appreciation for our eyes we should not look at anything which Allah has forbidden us to look at; and so forth.

I pray to Allah that He gives us the true understanding of His gifts and bounties and thereafter He gives us the ability, understanding and inclination to thank Him through the many channels He has made known to us. Aameen.

Please do remember me in your Duas.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Assalamu Alaikum,

Finally I get the chance to comment here. Just don't seem to be able to get away from the weddding...

JAzakallah for this post, a reminder we all need. Your eye must kill! Although I may be able to say this, it is nothing compared to the pain you are feeling. We don't seem to be able to thank Allah Ta'ala to the max for what He has given us and for giveing us the ability to do so many things which others cannot do unless we actually get the illness ourself. May Allah ta'ala grant you shifa e kaamolah and accept your patience and convert it into ajran adheema. Ameen.

Please remember me in your precious duas Molana.

Wassalam

Aishah

Anonymous said...

Assalamu Alaykum,

I posted a comment here prior to this, but unfortunately didn't appear to be saved...

I pray that u get well very soon Maulana and that Allah Ta'ala grants you a complete and speedy recovery. Ameen. I also pray that Allah Ta'ala grants you with even more knoweldge and that He makes you successful in all that you do. Ameen.

My Husband was really moved by your post...

Duas please, we will remember you in ours Inshalalh...

Fi' Amanillah

Zain said...

As Salaamu Alaykum,

Sister Aisha

Jazakallah for the comments and Ameen to the Duas. I pray that Allah Ta'ala gives us the realisation of His gifts before we have to become ill to pay attention towards them. May He give us the ability and inclination to appreciate what we have. Aameen.

Please do continue to remember me in your Duas.

Sister Umm Hamzah

Jazakallah for the comments and especially for commenting a second time after the first one didn't appear.

Aameen to the Duas and Insha Allah you and your family will always be in my Duas also.

It is rewarding to know that people benefit from the posts and encouraging also. I pray that Allah increases the love between you and your husband and that He gives you mutual understanding, care, concern and love for one another. I pray that He keeps this relationship steadfast not only in this world but also in the hereafter and that your time together is always filled with happiness, peace and content. Aameen.

Wasalaam

Anonymous said...

Assalamualykum.jazakAllah for the reminder and the post.Being grateful for what we allready have is something most of us dont do.how is your eye doing?

Anonymous said...

Assalamualykum.hey do you know anyone else who would be kind enought to translate stuff for me.i dont want to keep bothering you all the time.

Anonymous said...

Asalamualaykum. When I read the title of this blog I have to admit I felt a pang in my heart. My vision is going in one eye and to make matters worse I got an infection in the same eye just the past week. So well ‘eyes’, has been a topic that keeps going through my mind and I really know what your saying here. It’s true we don’t appreciate its full value until we seem to be losing it. So people value your eyes. SubhanAllah like molana says they are a gift, a mercy. I keep thinking to myself I hope they don’t go worse; I want to go for hajj I want to see the Kaaba I want to see Masjid e Nabi because I never have…I want to be able to read the Quran. MashAllah I can and still can right now and although my vision is blurrier. My eyes have been opened properly for the first and I can see what I never saw before and learn from this. Learn to really appreciate Allah and his mercy. So thinking about it there is blessing in this pain. We don’t know what and why Allah plans things for us but we do know that this dunya is a test. The rest Allahu A’lam. JazakAllah molana this blog especially moved me today although most of yours do. Keep the good work up. May Allah reward you for your work, inspiring us all. Grant you sabr and shifah and make for you a bounty in Jannatul Firdaus, that is there only for those who believe.Ameen

Zain said...

As Salaamu Alaykum,

Ajnabi

Alhumdulillah, my eye has recovered now and I'm just recovering from the operation. Please remember me in your Duas.

If you want anything translating please feel free to let me know. Insha Allah, I will try my best to translate it and Insha Allah I may be able to get some help on it too.

Sister Fatimah

Jazakallah for all the comments. I pray to Allah that He gives you complete Shifaa and that your are able to see completely once again. I also pray to Allah that He gives you the chance to see the Haramain Shareefain. Please do remember me in your Duas.

Wasalaam