Moving From the "No" to the "Yes"

I don’t know too much about Islam’s stance/definition of what dreaming is, other than it’s the sister of death...but it’s a pretty interesting subject, and i’A I’ll look into it and let you know! One of my friends recommended this movie (“Waking Life”) to me when we were on the subject of “indie movies” and some parts are pretty mind-expanding. However, if you decide to watch it, keep in mind that it is very existentialist and as I do not have a great understanding of existentialism I can't provide what parts are and are not in line with Islamic thought. But, watch with an open-mind. Anyways, the point of me putting this clip up is to comment on what he says from 5:10 to 6:14. It caused me to reflect on what I’ve been doing with my time...and if those are good decisions based on the ambiguity of HOW much time I actually have here on Earth. We should live this life as if we are travellers (i.e. don’t get caught up in materialism/worldly gain because our final destination is Jannah i’A).

I got this from Daily Reminders site (there's a link on my blog roll - check out this blog it's really cool): On the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with them both), he relates that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) once held my shoulders and said:

“Live in this world as (if you are) a wayfarer or a stranger.” And Abdullah ibn Umar (May Allah be pleased with them both) used to say: “If you live till night, then do not wait for the next day (i.e. do not have hopes that you will live to the next day), and if you wake up in the morning do not have hope that you will live till the night. And take (advantage) from your health before your sickness and take advantage of your life before your death (i.e. do every possible obedience in your life before death comes to you for then no deeds can be performed.)” [Bukhari and Tirmidhi]

Back to the clip, let’s focus on this part: “this instant where God is posing a question, ‘do you want to be one with eternity? Do you want to be in Heaven?’ and we’re all saying, ‘no thank you, not just yet.’” and “Time is a constant saying no to God’s invitation...and actually this is the narrative of everyone’s life...the story of moving from the ‘no’ to the ‘yes’...all of life is like ‘no thank you, no thank you’ and ultimately it’s ‘yes I give in, yes i accept, yes I embrace’ and that’s the journey, everyone gets to the ‘yes’ in the end.”

The way I interpreted this was: okay our life is as long as an instant compared to the Hereafter and we have been given all the resources to get into Heaven (i.e. the sunnah of the Prophet pbuh, the Qur’an, the power of reason) - so why, with the answers right in front of us, are we still following the ways of those who have gone astray and earned Allah’s wrath? Take a second to think about your life and all of the “no thank yous” you’ve “said,” where you’ve chosen temporary worldly pleasures over eternal pleasure. Take a second to try to grasp the meaning of “eternal” can you even wrap your brain around living forever?! subhan’Allah. Let’s look at this excerpt from a SunniPath.com answer:

“A person drowned in desires should reflect upon his condition after he has fulfilled and satisfied his desire. He should ask himself: Have I found the pleasure and comfort I am searching for after fulfilling my desire? It is the Wisdom of Allah Ta'aala that whenever a Muslim fulfils a forbidden desire he feels unhappy, distressed, depressed, miserable and ashamed to such an extent that these feelings compel him to repent. Thus a sinner is afflicted with an unending sadness, misery and disgrace. Ibne Mubarak (RA) has said: ‘I have seen sins deadening the heart. It's addiction causes disgrace. The abandoning of sins is life for the hearts. It is best for you to oppose your nafs.’”

And another huuuge point: Imaam Ghazaali Rahmatullah alaihi writes: "The angels and Ambiyaa alaihimus salaam are such that they never commit any sin. Shaytaan is such that he persists in committing sins. Never does he ever feel ashamed nor does he ever think of discarding sin. The human is such that immediately after committing a sin he feels ashamed and makes a firm determination to discard the sin in the future. From this it is understood that not to repent after committing a sin is the work of Shaytaan." We have to keep on struggling, because this life is temporary - we have to start taking those steps towards saying “yes” to Allah’s question before our lives pass us by.

Salaam!