The Problem Son

Parable of the Prodigal Son. 

Long have I pondered this parable, and long did it puzzle me. That the son who stood by his father with fortitude and help, would be the one found wanting. 

No matter his years of service and dedication. 

I understood that the parable talked of how God loves to forgive, but my mind rebelled against it, even whilst I knew it’s truth from our own body of knowledge. 

That God delights in forgiving, and delights when a person returns back to Him, having previously sinned. 

That is not in doubt. 

But for some reason the parable still did not play true to me, or maybe I was wanting in it’s appreciation. 

Until I pondered further within our own body of knowledge, and then the meaning of it became even more clear to me. 

For God says in the Quran, 

“Blessed is He in Whose hand is the kingdom, and He has power over all things,

Who created death and life that He may try you-- which of you is best in deeds; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving,”

Surah Mulk, the Dominion v1 & 2. 

When we look at the parable within the context of an Earthly trial, set to see who remains true and is best in deeds, then everything suddenly fits. 

The wayward son returned to his father humbled and repentant, his trial was just that, the manner of his return for he did not return arrogant nor rebellious. And then he himself became a trial for his brother, and in that trial his brother was found wanting, and the truth of who he was, was made clear. That his heart was not good, that he did not stand by his father for his father’s sake but for his own sake. 

And even the prodigal, and profligate, son was a trial for his father. For did he not squander what his father had worked hard to provide. And his father was found true, for he accepted his son back, and accepted his son as he was, and chose to be. He did not chide him, nor rebuke him, but welcomed him. 

 And without doubt if the father had oppressed him, then that would have been an oppression against his son’s soul, and no good could have come from it. The father passed the test, how easy it is for a father who feels he has, and deserves, authority- how easy it is for him to fail. 

The trial of family is indeed a great trial, akin to the trial of wealth. *1

Each of us will face trials, that is a given, just as each of us will die. 

For it is a promise from God, and whilst you can prepare for death, it is more difficult to prepare for the trial that will test you in regards to the thing that you love most. 

At times the trial is not about wealth. 

Sometimes it is about prestige. 

At others it is about envy. 

Still others because you believe you have a right. 

They say that the trial for Khalid (ra) was Umar (ra). And the trial for Abu Haneefa (rh) was that he could not help the people by passing a judgment for three days. 

We should know that the truth of who we are, when we are put to trial, that truth is inescapable once it is made clear. 

And whilst we overlook peoples errors and make excuses for people. When the truth of who a person really is becomes evident then it cannot be so easily erased. 

And in those cases their hearts are not true, no matter how much good it appears they do. 

The mirror of self scrutiny should be with each of us. 

And as God says He is the Mighty in Forgiveness. 

^1 all of our families will have trials and divisions. This is not in doubt. When these occur we should be ready to listen to one another, and the easiest way to give each their space to talk is for both parties to agree to an arbiter, and both parties agree that they will honour whatever the arbiter decides. 

Blessed

I have seen many things in my life, for one who prides himself on his mathematical and rational ability, that are from the hidden world. 

When a Muslim sees the Messenger (saw), or for that matter any other Prophet in his dream then he knows that it is a true dream for the devils cannot impersonate any of them. 

And then those not in know, will ask “how do you recognise them?”

When you wake into the dream, you have already recognised them and know who they are. 

And the memory of the dream is oftentimes but the memory of what you thought whilst in that dream, and what the dream said to you. 

So over a decade ago I dreamt and saw with my eyes and knew with my mind that Jesus (as) was being sent down. 

The certainty of it was as clear as daylight. 

And furthermore he was not smiling. 

For his task is heavy. 

To declare the truth of Muhammed (saw), and to bring war.  War on his own people, for they dishonour him and belied all he brought. 

And I have seen in Ramadan’s past, Sakina, the wind with face visit within my front room whilst we all read individually, and loudly, from our own Qurans. 

Sakina is a creation of God, that used to be associated with Ark of the Covenant of Moses (as). And now he comes attracted to the recitation of the Quran. 

And for that matter I am not an expert in the recitation of the Quran. 

But how many Qaris can say that they have been blessed with such a visit. 

He came in the door, went about the room, and went out. And I was stunned. 

But so to did my father witness it, but to this day he will be hard pressed to acknowledge it. 

And I know he saw it, because of his stunned look. And I asked him if he saw it, which he acknowledged without a sound. 

The hidden realm can often put people out. 

And I know the waswasa (whispering) of the Jinn. And have felt the salutations of the angels saying peace right into the centre of your hearts. 

And I have seen the houri in a Ramadan dream long ago, and their beauty abashes you. 

I have heard birds bidding me wake for Tahhajud in Ramadan’s last nights. That is when I was younger and more of a sleepy head. And I woke and prayed and then having thought about it... where were those birds? There was no waking sound. 

But when I slept the birds song was incessant, insistent. 

And I have been protected twice from wrong, once I fell down asleep. 

Another time I was protected from taking and profiting from other peoples money when I organised something for my friends. And this by making an error and taking them all to the 02 to watch a film, when we got there I realised that we were on the wrong day. We did not lose the money, but instead any discount that we had was nullified. And no one lost anything, except me that I gained in understanding. 

And from that day I have been scrupulous in ensuring that I do not steal a penny from anyone. And I hold everyone’s trust as sacred. 

And I have seen the Messenger (saw) thrice in my dreams. The first he (saw) sent salaams to me through a proxy. 

The second he came towards me arms extended wanting to hug me, from which I fled for fear of offence. 

The third I appeared already seated with my left shoulder touching his right shoulder, the both of our hands outstretched in supplication and he bade me ask. 

And I asked and he said Aameen. 

That what I had asked for, I had never told before - that I tell now- for I asked for happiness. 

On my second Hajj, on which I went by myself, I was unable to visit Medina and fulfilled the rights of Hajj before being flown back to the UK, because my father was in hospital and I wanted to be back before he woke. 

I fulfilled the incumbent trip to Medina a year or two afterwards with another Umrah to Mecca. 

Every time I visit the Messenger’s (saw) I am acutely aware of my responsibility. That as with the companions I cannot leave without taking leave of our master, the Messenger of God, sent to the whole of mankind. And so I will not leave unless I pass by his resting place and offer my salutations to him. 

The walk past his resting place is at the front of the Mosque, from which you pass through two gates, entering at the South East corner and exiting at the South West corner. There are always two lanes, the Mosque faces Mecca which is to its South. 

The walkway closest to the southerly wall of the Mosque is the furthest away from the Messenger’s resting place, and is consequently less busy and mush more easier to go through. 

I always take the furtherest walkway as I am aware that there are special angels appointed to take our salutations of peace to the Messenger (saw), even that is when we are so close. 

The other walkway closest to the Messengers resting place is more busy and crowded because people leaving the old Mosque tend to leave that way in order  to also pay their respects. 

In times of extreme business and crowd the further walkway is closed and we are bidden to wait whilst the pressure from the closer walkway is diverted into our lane. 

That is normal. 

On this one occasion as i was walking in the further walkway, three security men came directly in front of me and blocked my passage. I understood that as usual they wanted for us to wait, so I stopped. 

And they bade to enter the nearer walkway. 

I looked and another set of three guards had stopped the nearer walkway so that the flow from the further walkway was uninterrupted. And then I looked again and the nearer walkway was completely clear. 

I went unhindered to the resting place of the Messenger (saw), I said my salutations and looked inside. 

I saw movement within. 

Those that die as Shaheed, they are not dead. And the Messenger said that when he sleeps, his eyes are shut and yet his heart is open. And is not sleep the brother of death. And when you send salutations upon the Messenger (saw) do you not think that he responds in kind. 

I did not wait to see what would happen next, but promptly left. 

On my third and last Hajj, I took with me my sons so that they could experience that phenomenal event. And it coincided with my 50th. 

There I was blessed we ascended Mount Arafat and there I answered the question that the Messenger (saw) had posed to his people over 1400 years ago. 

He asked: “have I delivered the Message?” To which the countless responded in one voice - “yes” And then he (saw) said “O Allah, bear witness”. 

And so I stood on the mount and bore witness to Muhammed (saw) having delivered the Message. And that we believed because of him, and asked for God to bless him without count or measure. 

And then the heavens opened up, there may have been spitting before. But the torrent fell during the summer season within Arabia, in the dessert. 

And there were flashes of lightening and rolling thunder. But for a Muslim, rain is ever a blessing. Symbolism of God’s great and powerful mercy.  

And the rain continued for three days of Hajj, and there was no let up. That was indeed a great blessing. 

My Arabic is not good, and my knowledge of it is poor even in regards to the supplications. But Allah t’ala has blessed me at times with the right words, that come when most needed. 

I have never had any I could call an enemy. Until very recently when one out of jealousy and spite sought to destroy me. 

And then God blessed me with the words and supplication of protection. 

On the second night of my greatest trial, as I supplicated to the Most Gracious, an angel spoke into my heart and said that my supplication had been heard. 

And I knew that my enemies had no power to harm me. For by God, I was protected in that matter, even whilst they tried their best. 

The question then becomes as to why I was given that knowledge. It is as if it was given to me so that I would not be daunted by their evil, and that I would not hesitate to show up their hypocrisy. And then also it is as if I given it so that I would know not to give up on one who was in need of my help and succour. And I will never do that. 

Allah t’ala has blessed me so that I did not fail into despair, no matter the hardship. And that I continued to believe in that ultimately truth and goodness would win out. 

But that does not make the feeling and less raw. Of what I have had to endure from them. 

And I cannot revenge against them, without bringing myself into disrepute. 

So I supplicate to my Lord, and the Lord that created and nourished them from far places - “O God, revenge for me against those that sought to destroy me. And even as they gave me no respite, give them none too, unless they return to you in forgiveness and try to make amends. Otherwise my Lord destroy them until they are nothing but a bad memory”. 

This intervention from God in this matter, is a thing beautiful. And is a thing that we as a Nation lack. 

Imagine the force for good and truth that we could be, if God’s intervention was ever close to us. 

And that can only come from a closeness to God, which is not born of seeking to be a Sheikh, but of living life and contemplating it. 

Alhamdolillah I do not fast each day. 

Nor do I fast the Sunnahs of Monday and Thursday. Nor do I eschew from enjoyment. 

Instead I know the remit of the religion and God’s right over us. And I enjoy the prayer. And when I ask from God, I ask in English - my only language. 

I know that the Messenger (saw) was sent for all time. And hence was sent to perfect our morals, to show us the perfect society and to clarify all things. 

And that he (saw) did with completeness. 

So that the religion is complete, and not in need of embellishments and for us that we should protect it in its original form. 

How astray are some of our illustrious Sheikhs, but it is no remit of mine to correct them. For they would fain listen to one who has not studied as they have studied. 

However on the night before my first Hajj I wondered in a dream dressed as a Sheikh with many wrapping and coverings about my body. I wondered through a see of similarly clad Sheikhs and they all looked at me in shock, for by my side was a friend scantily clad. 

Years later I learnt that coverings in a dream represent knowledge. 

How easily they err. 

For in a mosque I frequent for the Jumna’, they make the collection for the Mosque between the two Khutbahs. To do so they must have some Sheikhs opinion to allow that to happen. 

But did they never consider that clearly the Jumma’ is a religious ritual. And cannot be changed, nor altered for their convenience. 

Do they not ask themselves before they innovate, is this part of the religion or not?

The problem is that they see everything as the remit of the religion. 

Whereas Alhamdolillah I know that the religion has its bounds. 

And so I observe the religious obligations, and enjoy myself as well. 

I play football, enjoy games, enjoy company and don’t mind having a good time. 

And I have been blessed, because I understand that the religion does not ask that you be sombre. 

Lastly, how will you know if what I tell you here is true?

Then look to my death. 

For I have asked for an honourable death, honourable in the sight of all, and not just a few. 

So to know the truth of what I say here, look to my passing. If I have lied then may I be disgraced, but if I have given up the truth of what I have seen then may I held in honour on my passing, by all. 

O Allah t’ala send our salutations upon our Master, Muhammed (saw), and reward him with abundance, for without him we would be ignorant. Aameen. 

The MOTIVE

There is a natural hierarchy to the questions that we can ask about the Cosmos, and our place within it, that is given by those very questions themselves. 

And when we think deeply about it the study of Science, whilst talking the talk of trying to explain all things, only really scratches the surface to get to the How of Things: the mechanism and not the Purpose, the Hows and not the Whys. 

MAY YOU BE BLESSED WITH CONTEMPLATION 

Off course, Materialists will argue that the Whys only relate to the actions of cogent beings, like ourselves, that have and can exert free will. 

So for example when it is asked as to why we should be just, “do unto others as you would have done unto yourself” is a sufficient answer that clearly rings true. 

But that when we talk of the purpose of anything other than ourselves (or other cogent sentient beings), it is a reflection of an age old anthropomorphism that sees man as being at the centre of the Cosmos. 

A better word for this is personification, that we see ourselves in the other objects, and subjects, that populate our World.  

That they do not have a purpose, nor a moral compass and do not know neither truth nor falsehood. For there is no motive to their being, and nothing that drives them onwards. 

However in the Islamic Worldview, all things have a purpose. 

Indeed in the Qu’ran, God informs us that He created all things, in (with and from) Truth. And that therefore all things do testify to His existence, by their very existence. 

And then God also says in the Qur’an that He made the Sun and the Moon subservient to us. *1

Now that is a thing to deliberate. 

For sure the Sun and the Moon are distant to us, independent of us, and we cannot reach them nor harness their full power, nor turn them to our will. 

Some Mufasir will say that the Moon is made subservient to us by it’s phases, through which we know the count of time and the flow of years. Others that it is the sun’s energy that is harnessed by the plants that in turn we harness, through networks of energy flowing, for our benefit. 

But there is some deeper significance here that needs deliberating. 

And I suggest you do so without my input, for it is in contemplation that benefit lies. 

So look now away from my thoughts on the matter, and return back to my argument after the hashed lines. 

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The greatest purpose of man is to know God. For in a Hadith Qudsi we learn that God said that I created that I might be known. 

And that is how the Sun and the Moon provide the greatest utility to us. 

For in the contemplation of both, and how we are protected from the radiation and power that emanates from the Sun. And how the Moon provides for our tides, and allows us to count the passage of time. 

Therein are signs for Men, and Women, of Understanding. 

And in God’s saying that the Sun and Moon are subservient to us, there is itself, within that argument, a great boon. 

For through this we know that our greatest purpose is to come to know God, His Majesty and Grace, through His creations- both the Sun and the Moon and all else that are nourished through them. 

That those objects themselves have been made with a purpose, and have a motive. 

And that purpose is for them to be signs of contemplation that point to ONE Creator, full of majesty, mercy and grace. 

And this purpose is fully evident through the whole of creation, with it’s perfection. 

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And so we come to what is the main reason for the revelation of the Qur’an, and it’s main purpose. 

On the day of Arafat, in the final year of the Messenger’s life, on the plains of Hajj he (saw) received these words:

 الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا فَمَنِ اضْطُرَّ فِي مَخْمَصَةٍ غَيْرَ مُتَجَانِفٍ لِّإِثْمٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

This day have I perfected your deen for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your way of life. (al Maedah v3). 

The completion of God’s favour upon the whole of Mankind, was the creation of Muslim society, and a people who would uphold it and strive towards it being ever present. 

And then it should be clear that Muslim’s know that their society has a purpose, as do all things. 

And that purpose is to bring people, both Muslim and non-Muslim closer to God, closer to appreciating His Majesty and the perfection of His creation. 

And towards this end Muslim society strives to remove oppression, that which one men visits on another, or that which a state visits upon a citizen. 

So that all men, and women, are free. 

Free to believe. Free to contemplate creation. Free to draw closer to God. 

And thus the creation of a fully just Muslim society. Where men’s souls are not oppressed by imprisonment. But when they err, face the hudood and then afterwards are free to partake fully in Muslim society without fear of discrimination, without fear of class division. *2

For God informs us in the Qur’an that there is life in it. 

Men’s souls need freedom. 

And Muslim society is there to help them stay free from oppression. *3

So that they, and it, may fulfil each it’s purpose. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. Not through talks and lectures, nor this above.