One thing that always intrigued me as was how many times I find myself sometimes so averse to Allah’s commands and feeling that there is this subconscious barrier. Between obedience and disobedience. My best estimation as to why this happens in my own experience is the lack of trust of a divine command against the endless fancies that come about from the prospect of indulging in a sin. Not necessarily because sin is so tempting, or because I can’t resist. It boils down to just not being able to see through the end of the tunnel of this effort you will put in to resist, not seeing why this has to be this way, while the path of sin seems to make a lot more sense. It gets really overwhelming, and so you start walking and your arms slowly reach out. And then well, yeah. So much so, that the divine command becomes subconsciously reduced to a mere obstacle you can ignore.
When you read about Adam and Eve's story (a.s.), you get this sense that the forbidden tree limited their enjoyment of Paradise, limited their ability to enjoy what’s around them because of a dying curiosity. Its very interesting to realize that paradise was most probably as vast as ever, much more than the surface of this Earth. Yet the command paralyzed them. So many burning questions, so many possibilities. What will it taste like? What will follow?
I found Surah Al-Ala deals with this issue in the 2nd and 3rd aya beautifully.
[(Allah) Who created (everything) then made it proportioned. And who determined a measure (for everything) then guided (it to its purpose)] {87:2-3}
When Allah creates you with most complicated mechanisms in our bodies operating with the most minuscule detail in every cellular activity in terms of cell growth, replication, sustainability and proteins literally moving around and attending to their duties. All to keep you efficiently operating calls for a reflection: If Allah created me and has given attention to such detail at the cellular level and the outward level (it may be complex inside but we're elegantly simple outside with a face and four limbs moving flawlessly, without really hinting at all the hard work going on inside of us). The connection begs itself, how can a created being like me doubt that the one who perfected my creation, design, initiation and fashion in such detail, reveal an instruction to me which would go against me as to not further add tranquility to my soul, ease my mind and guide me to a path I will be pleased with.
A creator is well acquainted with a creation’s internal mechanics, and so it goes without saying a creator would know the function of these mechanics and their potential in a given circumstance. There is nothing in vain. If you're so meticulously created with such precision, you must believe His commands are also very meticulously tailored for you to reach the best of your potential. If we were to fail to perceive how much weight and care are put in our guidance that Allah laid out for us, look back into a tangible example. Yourself. Your body is a source of wonders alone. Just see what’s a cell like in animation. Reflect on how your creation went through its own subtle transformation over the years. From a fetus, to a baby, to a kid, to an adult and so on. That’s your proof really that if this whole material process was perfectly guided then our spiritual path that’s waiting to be fulfilled by our actions is just as meticulously designed.
These actions will happen if we follow these ‘instructions’. That’s really what it is. I used to view commands like ropes that restrain you from moving around. That’s true in one sense, but it’s more like last pieces of the puzzle. The puzzle of making a successful human enterprise, both body and soul. He created and perfected your shape over your whole life and now its up to you to carry His instructions to make a glorious use of His beautiful creation, yourself.
"I've been burdened with glorious purpose", Loki said in the first Avengers (2012). Its almost as if in that world, all other human beings are just destined to be mediocre on this Earth, unless your a supernatural being. This aya is saying the opposite. Allah created us and bestowed all of us with glorious purpose in His perfect measure, but its a matter of you taking the commands and the path to reach it or not. But its there, right there inside every single one of us and every single thing that was ever created. We're not alone. Just look at a moon. It lights up our nights accordingly. Look at a tree. It provides habitat and shade for us. And that's scratching the surface. Everything has a benefit and purpose because it was created with purpose. Thats Allah. Al-Khaliq. The Creator. He was not to create aimlessly. Which is what the aya implies.
Thats the power of Quranic discourse. How two ayas changes the way we look at commands and divine guidance, as a way to actually help us reach our destined goals that are tailored according to our true essence and not carry the false delusion that they restrict us to limit our potential. It’s the opposite.
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from Islam http://ift.tt/2H22tnr
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