Everything good connects back to Islam

 

I have been having many ‘eureka!’ moments lately, and I’ve realised that everything I learn, from any source, leads me back to Islam. Anything good and true brings me back to the belief system I was born into. How lucky and privileged I am, and how much reward for my parents, teachers, mentors and everyone who teaches me along the way!

It all started with Malow’s Hierarchy of Needs. You can’t get to within a 5 mile radius of anything psychological without coming across this framework. Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist in the yester-century (1908-1970), and he posited that certain lower-level needs would have to be fulfilled for the person to reach the pinnacle of their existence, which is self-transcendence… i.e. living for more than simply oneself, finding purpose in life beyond one’s individual success, etc.

So far so interesting. Here is the updated model of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (previous models stop at self-actualisation):-

(https://medium.com/better-habits/self-actualization-vs-self-transcendence-the-pinnacle-of-human-development-d0add26a7685)

 

Now, to examine it with through an Islamic lens, I thought of our Imams, specifically Imam Ali AS. We hear that he spent his days doing manual labour and his nights in worship; that he ate the simplest of foods (barley bread and water) and lived a seemingly hard life. Yet, he was at the highest level of spirituality. (We can of course take any Masoom here as a case study, including our Prophet Mohd. AS; I just thought of Imam Ali AS so going with that example.).

To compare both things: the life of our masoomeen and this framework, I wondered whether they were at such a level that their very needs were not the same as ours… basically that they perhaps did not need to fulfil those lower level needs, but we, mere mortals, need to do that before we can move ahead to the higher tiers…?

I discussed this with a dear friend (SZ) who has a background in Psychology and Counselling, and has also studied Islamic Theology. She said that Islam rejects this framework (Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs), because we do not believe that a person is dependant on the fulfilment of basic needs for reaching a high spiritual stage. She pointed out that according to this framework, only the rich would have the opportunity to reach a high spiritual stage! What about the poor man who spends his entire life trying to make ends meet? According to this framework, then, there is no hope for him, is there!

Brilliant, I thought. Makes perfect sense.

(Side note: Maslow’s Hierarchy is not set in stone, and from what I understand, a person can certainly bypass certain stages, depending on his individual capability. But still, according to this framework, there is a degree of dependence on the lower-level needs, or what we call, ‘nafsani khwahishaat’.)

Then, there was this quote from Dr. Elaine Aaron about highly sensitive people:

(Facebook Page: Highly Sensitive Humans)

 

This again, struck me as familiar, because aren’t we taught that Allah created man to worship Him; that He wanted to be known, recognised, witnessed?

And so the question arose, that how is it, that a non-Muslim, yet spiritual person, is coming to the same/similar conclusions as Islam? What is the connection there?

My dear brother in law (SMJ), who is a bona fide Maulana Sahab but hates being called that, said that the answer to my question is that the subject matter is the same – spirituality. Others may separate religion and spirituality but Islam = spirituality, hence the overlap. The rules, principles and laws of Islam are modelled so truly on the human psyche (fitrah), that anyone studying spirituality would always reach the same conclusions as Islamic teachings.

That just blew my mind. Wow. Of course. Everything seemed to fall in place, then – no wonder anything I study/learn, that is good and true and simply makes sense, overlaps with Islamic teachings.

Another example: ‘manifestation’ is a hugely trending topic in non-religious spiritual circles. Personally it makes no sense to me, as it literally sounds like making dua (praying/supplicating) but then of course to pray you would believe that there is a being to pray to… so anyway. Manifesting.

I came across this reel on Instagram, where the person was saying that the way to manifest what you want, is through gratitude. So for example, if you wanted more money, you should really focus on, and genuinely be grateful for, the money you already have (regardless of amount). I have read something similar in Rich Dad, Poor Dad where the author says something to the same effect… he says that when he wants to earn more money, he gives more in charity, and it comes back to him several fold. He has this belief even though he isn’t religious (I think! Its been a long time since I read it, so my apologies to the author if I have misconstrued anything).

Back to comparing these concepts with Islam. Again, with the gratitude: don’t we know that Allah will put barakah in whatever we are grateful for? Are we not meant to be grateful as much as we possibly can? And that Allah loves those who are grateful?

My mind is being blown, repeatedly.

On the topic of gratefulness… I had seen a clip on Facebook where a speaker (a scholar I think) shared an incident from Hazrat Musa (AS)’s life.

Apparently one day Hazrat Musa (AS) goes to the top of Mt. Sinai to converse with Allah, taking messages from 2 people.

Person 1: is affluent and comfortable; he asks Musa AS to tell Allah to stop blessing him with so much. He says that he is quite comfortable, thank you very much, and he doesn’t need any more blessings from Allah.

Person 2: extremely poor, homeless, etc. He asks Musa AS to tell Allah to please help him/bless him/give him something as he is struggling so badly.

Musa (AS) conveys both messages, and having received the answers, returns to both of these men.

Person 1: Musa AS tells him that Allah has replied… that ask this man to stop thanking me and I will stop blessing him. The man remarks how can I ever stop thanking Him? He has given me more than I ever asked for… I will never stop being grateful for His Blessings.

Person 2: Allah has sent the message that ask him to start thanking Allah, and He will start blessing the man. (!!!)

This man, this extremely poor man, says to Musa AS: what should I be thankful for? I have no food to eat, to roof above my head, no clothes to shield me from the elements! I use sand to cover myself up. What should I be thankful for??

Just as the man was saying all this, a strong gust of wind blew and took away even the sand the man had covered himself with.

Allahu akbar. What a story. I don’t have a reference, but it moves me to tears every time I think about it. How ungrateful am I and how Merciful is my Lord!

Continuing with the parallels between beneficial knowledge and Islamic teaching… I was listening recently to a video by Alex Hormozi, and of course he is talking about business but he says at one point that he begins his day with his most important tasks; so he will plan his entire day in accordance with his priorities. On the days that he does not get the most important things out of the way, he is not that productive.

And it struck me – starting our day with Fajr! The recommendation for reciting Surah Rehman at Fajr time… the recommendation of Tahajjud which is of course the very earliest possible start to the day… makes perfect sense. It puts things into perspective, doesn’t it? When I delay reciting the Quran, or my daily duas, or tasbeehs… is akhirat REALLY my priority then?? Some tough questions to ponder over! Today I tried to pray Fajr mindfully.. properly.. without rushing through it just so I can get back to bed. Did my best to recite my tasbeehs and duas etc after that although I did doze off in between, and then had a nap before jumping into work while the children slept. Maybe the quality of my worship and work will get better with practice. Inshallah.

And finally, the moments when all these thoughts became too much to simply hold in and I needed to write them all down… last night in the Quran tafsir class. Maulana Sahab (MJY) was explaining the ayats of Surah Baqarah relating to the duas made by Hazrat Ibrahim and Ismail (AS) at the time of building the Kaa’ba, and he went on to explain that the duas that have been passed on to us in the context of Islamic teachings are an important part of keeping our faith in tact as we await the Saviour (Imam Mehdi AS).  

And again, the connectivity… and the way Allah sends answers through different sources.. blew my mind!! I have recently been asking Him to keep my iman intact… weak as it is, I have praying for it not to get weaker, and asking Him for help in making it stronger. And so when Maulana Sahab mentioned the importance of our authentic duas I was like wow… that is a reminder for me!!

There was another layer to this conversation, too. I’ve recently started reading ‘The Complete Secrets of Happy Children’ by Steve Biddulph, and in the first chapter he talks about hypnosis, and how the human mind can be influenced whether asleep or awake. So when Maulana Sahab spoke of duas, it was also a reminder that I have not played duas in the girls’ room at bedtime for many days, and honestly… it shows!! It shows in their behaviour when we have recitation of the Holy Quran playing during the day and duas in their room at night… and unfortunately it shows, too, when I become negligent of these important elements. And then a fellow classmate/friend (MZ) shared that there is a similar concept in Steiner education: ‘anything you watch or listen to in the home, even if the children are sleeping, will enter their energy field (etheric)’.

Love how everything is connected in one web of truth and it all keeps coming back, consistently, to Islamic teaching!