Imagine
Imagine yourself in a quiet and serene location, with open skies, among nature away from people. Perhaps you are on an empty beach, with your feet resting on soft white sand with turquoise water, and the sound of the waves gently breaking upon the shore whilst you look out unto the horizon. Perhaps you are on top of a mountain with lush green grass, a cloudless sky, a warm gentle breeze and views as far as the eyes can see. As you sit there resting and being present in the moment, allow your mind to wonder freely. What thoughts come to your mind? What questions do you ask yourself?
It’s quite common to hear yourself asking you the five or so ‘big questions’.
Isn’t this beautiful? And then…
- How did I get here?
- Where did all this come from or where did I come from?
- Where is the world heading or where am I heading?
- What’s the purpose of all this or what is my purpose?
- Who am I?
You may have different questions but I am hoping they are wording to this effect. These are the big questions religion and philosophy addresses. I want to look a closer look at the last question.
If we ask ourselves the question, ‘who am I?’ Perhaps one might say:
If I identify with my name; ‘I am Mohammed/Ali/Ayesha/Fatimah…’, or if I identify with my role; ‘I am teacher/engineer/doctor/an accountant/an administrator…’, or if I identify myself as a parent; ‘I am a father/mother’, or if I identify myself as my gender; ‘I am a man/woman’, or if I identify myself with a religious denomination; ‘I am a Muslim…’, or if I identify myself with my ethnicity; ‘I am Bangladeshi/Pakistani/Syrian…’, or if I identify myself with my skills and abilities: ‘I am intelligent/creative/funny/organised…’, or if I identify myself as a hobbies and interests; ‘I am a budding writer/artist/musician/footballer/baker…’, or if I identify myself with material possessions; ‘I am wealthy/poor’, or if I identify myself with my physical appearance; ‘I am healthy/beautiful/handsome/ugly/fat/thin’, or if I identify myself as a combination of my life choices and habits; ‘I am good at this/bad at that/I am awful at maths, and I am…’
So who are we? We change our roles, beliefs, values, choices all the time. Everything we do, everything we have and everything we become are all subject to change. They are all transitory and temporary.
“We are that which cannot be lost in a shipwreck” Imam Al-Ghazali.
When we die, everything we did, had and became are lost; we do not take anything with us. We are totally shipwrecked. Our dear Mother Earth makes no distinction whether we were a man or woman, whether we were a teacher or a bin collector, whether we were rich or poor, whether we were this and that…. In the end, everyone is reduced to dust.
So who are we?
When we are taken to our very core, when everything that we have is stripped away from us, both the tangible and intangible, then we are what we are left with.
We are at our essence nothing but a spirit – a Ruh. A subtle entity, a secret only known to it’s Creator. It exist by Allah and its return is to Allah and goes about only by the command of its Lord.
Divine Speech says: “There is none in the heavens and in the earth but comes before the Most Merciful as an Abd (slave)” [Maryam: 19:93].
Our identity is nothing but an Abd of Allah – Abdallah, a worshiper and slave of Allah, a fundamental reality which is imprinted in the very core of every being in the entire cosmos. Abdallah is our only identity.
Everything else besides this is our experience of His world which He created for us to come to know Him and thereby know ourselves. Everyone returns to Allah as a slave. and as regards to our choices, beliefs and actions. Allah makes the following promise:
“Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds, forgiveness and mighty reward. As for those who reject faith and deny Our revelations, they will be the companions of hellfire” [Al-Maida: 5:9-10].
So who are we? We are servants of Allah, returning back to him. Our choice is do we return to Him as one whom we are pleased with Him and He is pleased with or one whom we don’t know Him and He is displeased with us.
“O soul at peace, return unto your Lord, well-pleased (with Him), well-pleasing (unto Him), enter among My slaves, and enter My Paradise” [Al-Fajr:89:27-30]
