age don't matter

salam

erm.. I actually don't quite want to write this in, but I dunno....a lot of things I think needn't need to be said, but a lot of times in discussions or plain chats with my friends, these things end up being said....a lot of things I think, people can understand on their own....turns out...not from my point of view, but, really, from experiences...most of those things turned out needing to be explained or least, pointed out...I know this sounds very very conceited....I don't mean it that way...I can only guess that I need to say this..because you know sometimes...., when you say something.....what you say..can immediately nullify it...I'll give you an example..

When someone says "I am pious". As soon as he says that, you know he is not.

Or when a someone claims he's a mujtahid, immediately you know he is not one. At least, not the mujtahid.

Or when someone says "I am the best Muslim around", you know he is not.

Get what I mean...?
These kind of statements...,
these...I don't like to say. Things about myself and what I actually think about things. But, to be someone who wants to spread Islam or wants to see good in this world, anyone, you need to say it out to people. I really really don't like to write what I'm about to write...it's not that its bad...but people might perceive of me otherwise, just because of me just saying it. This is kinda like the issue that I have with myself a lot of times. I want to say something, yet, I don't put myself out there, you know, I'd rather just stay below the radar, but that is never the role of a Muslim. So, you know, there's always these tugs of war.

Anyways, the title above is 'age don't matter'. Okay, as I said, I don't quite know if everyone feels this way about age, or don't feel this way and as I said above, I'm not quite sure if it needs to be pointed out. But, I'll just go on and say it out. Hope it's fine with everyone.

Erm, age don't matter.

As I go on more and more in life, as I get older, as I basically age and live and go through things and most importantly learn, what I know of Islam is that it can be found anywhere. Seriously, anywhere! You can find it in the park, in the bus, in your room, with your family, in schools, at the beaches, in the air, in the soil, in the tummy of a mother, in the hearts of man, in the minds of geniuses, even in the most unexpected places such as in pubs, clubs, football fields, cinemas, movies, games, clothes, fashion, etcetra etcetra. Literally everywhere! Characters of Islam is everything and anything that is good in this world. Everytime you are anywhere, and in any situtation, you see that Islam there, if and only if, you are a truly subservient Muslim only to Allah and Allah alone, and if you have the sensitive heart of a Muslim who is yufaqqihu fiddeen.

A Muslim, who is truly true to his shahadah, who will have already learned the aqidah, and know completely how to distinguish between what is Islam and what is Jahiliyah (Non-Islam), will immediately see what is Islam in each aspect of his or her life.

For example, if he reads a story about a child being good to his parents, he sees that as Islam. It doesn't matter if that child happens to be a Jew living in a lush house in Tel Aviv. It doesn't matter if the writer is a self-pronounced Zionist. A Muslim would still see that quality of being good to your parents as a very Islamic quality.

The same goes for age. Age don't matter when it comes to Islam. You can learn so much from a child. You can also learn a lot from a grandfather or a grandmother. You can learn from your senior, one year older than you. Or your junior, one year younger than you. Needless to say, you can also learn from your peers.

Sometimes, tables can turn. The person who you use to give tuitions to, to teach with all your heart, mould him/her from knowing nothing to knowing everything, is suddenly so much more smarter than you. So much successful. So much more rich, maybe. More filled with wisdom. And is blessed with the intelligence of a lot of things. He or she ends up now teaching you. The student has become the teacher. If this knowledge is Islam, can you accept that? Or will your pride and ego get in the way? Or will traditions be put as your ilah over Allah? Or your emotions as an ilah over Allah? Or your feeling of 'huh, this kid who's still wet behind the ears wants to teach me?? the mighty me who used to be his teacher?!?!?' ?

Islam is something that is so so precious. You can get it anywhere, everywhere. You just need to open up your heart, soften it a bit, really open it, to accept that Islam anywhere and anywhere in any situation. Open up your horizon. Seriously. And be willing to be faithful. It's, MashaAllah, a beautiful feeling. Don't let your grudges about things, or about the past, or about being hurt by somebody or some situation, get in the way of you being Islamic, of you being a good Muslim, who knows how to be kind to his peers and be gentle as his Prophet s.a.w. Things happen always for a reason. And actually when you think about, if you are complaining, in reality, who are you complaining at? Isn't it a shame if you suddenly find that it is Allah? All things come from Allah, So if you're complaining about things, you're basically complaining about Allah. Astaghfirullah.

It's really something to ponder about...

The last thing any Muslim intends, is to suddenly not be Islamic. The last thing any Muslim intends to do is hurt Allah in the sense of complaining about Him or be completely unfaithful or ungrateful to Him. The last thing any Muslim intends to do too, is to hurt their friends and neighbours in any way, be it by the words they say or the things they do. In this respect, let's be kind to our friends. Take care of the words we say and how we say it. And the best example we have in how to treat our friends is Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Get to know him and emulate him. He is our best example of a best friend.

Wallahu'alam. :)

p/s: Points in this article is basically applicable to anything in life, be it age, ranks/posts, nationality, culture, language, country, personality, past, future, organisation, etc etc. See and differentiate Islam in all these things, and open up your heart to accept it. InsyaAllah. And of course, always start anything with a prayer (doa/dua) to the Creator. He is the Keeper of hearts, so pray to Him to open your heart fresh every single time. ;) :)