Human nature is such that we desire the best of everything. The tastiest food, a good career, a perfect family, lots of wealth, happiness, laughter and entertainment, a sense of accomplishment in society BUT we must be careful not to focus all our efforts into attaining these worldly things. We could end up trapped by our desires.
In the name of Allah most Beneficient ever Merciful
In these modern times with advanced means of communication, our needs are craftilly exploited to market products and even ideologies. Most people end up trapped, slaves to these desires.
In the opening chapter of the Holy Quraan, after we pray to be rightly guided by good pious people, we pray to be SAVED FROM THOSE THAT MISLEAD.
Furthermore, In the opening verses of Surah Baqura (the longest Surah in the Holy Quraan), belief is mentioned in two verses, disbelief in three verses and then, more than half of the rest of this lengthy surah deals with hypocrisy and DECEPTION. And that is because this deception is the greatest trial or challenge we face.
Seeing through deception is not easy or straight forward. And in this case, the deception stems from within us (our nafs/carnal desires).
In a scene from the movie Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee finds himself in a mirrored room looking for his opponent. The mirrors were very deceptive and his opponent was getting the better of him. Bruce Lee finally breaks all the mirrors to differentiate the reflected images from the real person.
Similarly in life, there are all these distractions that are demanding our attention: wealth, spouse, children, entertainment, seeking to stand out in our community and so forth. These are all things that distracts us from the main goal of life which is, seeking out and knowing our Creator (Emaan).
There is only one way to succeed. Like Bruce Lee, we have to break all of these mirrors of deception. These things must not control our lives, we must learn to have control over these desires to be truly free.
This is attaining a state of power, we are in control of our desires and our desires are not controling us. This leads to becoming the enlightened beings that Allah SWT created us to be. Insha-Allah.
….You held a blue glass before your eye: for that reason the world seemed to you to be blue. Unless you are blind, know that this blueness comes from yourself: speak ill of yourself, speak no more ill of any one (else).
If the true believer was not seeing by the Light of God, how did things unseen appear naked (plainly revealed) to him (the true believer)? Inasmuch as you were seeing by the Fire of God, you did not discern the difference between good and evil.
Little by little throw water on the fire, that your fire may become light, O man of sorrow! Throw You, O Lord, the purifying water, that this world-fire may become wholly light. Mathnawi.
Naturally we have to live a balanced life and do what we need to do to maintain that balance. In doing so, we must never forget what our primary goal is, which is to seek Allah SWT (attain emaan). In this, lies all the answers to life.
Who we are, where we come from, what is the purpose of our life… This leads to unlocking our greatest potential, our spirituality.
This same thought in another way.
Just as a thief can come in through an unguarded door to steal our goods so too can the devil use unguarded doors to gain access to our passions so as to misguide us from within ourselves.
If we are seeking money, dwellings, cars and worldly goods then the devil, through people, will misguide us and trap us by these weaknesses. We will be open to bribery, manipulation and exploitation.
Look around us, wealthy men still working and investing although they have far more than they could ever even spend in their entire lifetime.
It’s the same with seeking name, fame and attention especially when it comes to being recognized for our piety. This is giving in to our pride and ego. That becomes the unguarded door for the devil to enter.
And so too, it is with seeking out entertainment, a spouse, family, friends and so forth.
The solution: Yes we should earn, marry, have good times, but these things must never be our sole focus in life. We have to learn discipline and control.
At the outset, our sole focus in life must be to seek a means of learning about and getting to know our Creator and finally growing to love Him. This is what we must consciously pray for (Surah Al Fatiha).
These whispering from our carnal desires is from our inner enemy called ‘Kanaas’ (the son of Shaitaan). This silent whisperings is called “waswasa“. These are the actual Arabic words from the last Surah of the Holy Quraan.
This striving against our carnal desires is extremely difficult. If we win one round it would rear it’s ugly head again and again in different ways.
So, How do we succeed?
The answer lies in this very same Surah that warns us against deception. It is by sincerely seeking Allah’s guidance which will come to us through His chosen Ones. Attaining success is therefore to have a Spiritual Guide or Pir O Murshid and if we have one, then we have to have a firm reslove to listen to him and follow him. Insha-Allah.
You can read up more on the Spiritual Guide under this heading. END