Hiding our Inner Being

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   In today's society, although we may not even notice it, we are encouraged to hide ourselves in consumerism. We develop the knowledge of "things" or "belongings" more than the knowledge of the "soul" or "intellect".

The importance of personality, uniqueness, what a person gives of himself or herself is suddenly switched by the advertisements, celebrities and "the latest gadgets".
No wonder that in the bookstores we see a huge collection of "Self-help" and "Advise"books. We are more in need of developing that part of ourselves that has been greatly neglected - our mind and soul.

   Apart from this negligence, we are also constantly bombarded with the ideology of individuality. "It's mine", "I", "Me", "Myself". Even music CD's being sold have these ego words. But, are we really being "ourselves"?
Behind all the make-up, the latest fashion, the latest TV screen, tablet, laptop, etc.; if we take all of this away, what would be left of us? Did we even think of a life without these things?

   A new wave of the "minimalist" lifestyle has been brought because of the constant "pushing away" of our soul and mind. But we don't really need to go to that extreme or to the other extreme either. We need a balance. This balance has been projected in a human being already - Muhammad (salAllahu 'alayhi wa salam).

   Prophet Muhammad (salAllahu 'alayhi wa salam) did leave a lot of the comforts of this life, but he didn't make it obligatory upon us to do the same. He did, however, show to us how to be preoccupied with our souls and intellect, and this is what we should be doing.

   Take a time to make a list of all of the things that keep you busy the most during the day. Go through that list and try to minimize the time you spend on these things. If they are not really contributing to better your soul or intellect, then they should take the least of your time.

   If you're a housewife, like myself, you'll probably wonder "what about the house chores?". Well, the house chores can still benefit you if you do them listening to a lecture, for example, or bettering your Tajweed, pronunciation, etc. There's a lot of women that pass hours occupied with house chores and in the end what they get for their intellect and soul is just a "how to fold a shirt in less than 30 seconds" or "how to cook basmati rice properly". Not much, right? On the contrary, if they do put a lecture on, their soul and intellect will be rewarded with a great deal of hasanat (good deeds); plus, the hasanat of taking care of their house and family, of course.

   Each day, try to get some food for your soul and brain, they do have a right over you and they do contribute to your Hereafter more than your body. Ask yourself "Did I feed my inner being today?".

Say, "Whether you conceal what is in your breasts or reveal it, Allah knows it. And He knows that which is in the heavens and that which is on the earth. And Allah is over all things competent. The Day every soul will find what it has done of good present [before it] and what it has done of evil, it will wish that between itself and that [evil] was a great distance. And Allah warns you of Himself, and Allah is Kind to [His] servants."

Say, [O Muhammad], "If you should love Allah , then follow me, [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."(Qur'an 3: 29-31)

Article by Safyiah