Imagine a fiction of a nation on a mission to uncover some secrets in a dungeon. This mission is expected to take years of effort to be accomplished. Periodically new officers are recruited to replace the fallen or substitute the injured ones. Upon their recruitment, the chief commandant of the mission has a complete profile of all intakes. The profiles, which are constantly updated, including but not limited to the bio-data, psychological make-up, strength and weakness, history, background and every other information we can think of a human being. These pieces of information enable the mission’s board to pre-determine the potential needs of each officer throughout their stay in mission camp. Provision is readily made available according to the need of individual soldiers. Based on these profiles, precise predictions can be made of when and how an officer’s needs should be fulfilled. The profiles can also help predict the potential cravings of each member - while the provision is available for such, the commandant determines what part of the officers’ cravings will be made available after considering the pros and cons of life on camp.
These new intakes
will be taken to orientation camps on their first week of arrival to fully
orient them and adapt them to the mission. Necessary information, rules,
guidelines and protocol of the camp are laid out. Part of the information
provided is that all requests for any form of needs or provision must be
directed to the camp’s management. There will be a building to be named NEEDS
AND COMPLAINTS LODGE (N&C), where everyone MUST log in their needs and
complaints. Consequently, the N&C lodge is the most important and popular
arena in the camp, especially because there is a potential reward and award for
all requests or complaint(s) logged provided that proper etiquette is being
followed. The etiquette include;
1- Visit the
building for needs and complaints at the stipulated period.
2- Speak
respectively or write legibly.
3- Do not accuse
the management of not responding to needs because the need of every member and
the appropriate time to provide the needs are already pre-determined.
For the officers,
visits to the N&C lodge to request for needs guarantees some form of reward
or award. Every visit and request are rewarded even if the same request is made
a thousand times. Even when it is known that the use of the N&C Lodge does
not necessarily guarantee that requests will be granted - since the management
is more aware of all needs and provides for them as earlier pre-determined. It
is, however, necessary to make requests regularly as a fulfilment of
responsibility. In fact, failure to seek for an obvious need will be counted as
being arrogant, and it bears a negative consequence against that particular
member. Also, through the N&C Lodge, officers seek closeness to the top
officers and commandants in order to raise their ranks. For instance, if a senior officer or someone
close to the commandant logged a request on behalf of a junior officer, this
act of the senior officer can boost the recognition of the particular junior
officer before the commandant. For this reason, officers will lobby with their
colleagues and seniors to log needs and complaints on their behalf and
vice-versa. This act causes an increase in popularity and respect before the
commandant, and it makes staying on the camp pleasant. Also, this gesture
potentially continues after the transition from the camp. More so, some
officers, out of genuine generosity, help other officers make requests without
being asked to do so, and it is seen as good practice in the camp. Asking for
needs is also a form of security and insurance in the camp. So, there is no
need to panic nor worry in the face of adversity due to the assurance that the
commandant is aware of all needs and the trust that all complaints have been
logged. Officers also need to be thankful to the management for timely
provisions that were based on accurate predictions. So, whatever officers face
or will be facing is not beyond the awareness of the camp management who are
trusted to have already made sufficient and appropriate provisions to ensure
that stay on the camp is pleasant.
In reality, the
above fiction is the depiction of our relationship with Allah. The essence of
our prayer and why we must continue to seek Allah’s assistance and aid for
every of our needs even though He is Al Khabeer - The Acquainted, the
All-Aware. “He is the one who is acquainted with everything, inner and outer.
He is the one who has perfect knowledge and understanding of the real
condition, internal qualities, and meaning of all that is created!” But He in
turn, commands us to ask in our prayers to be given, in otherwords, he wants us
to play our role, to acknowledge our destitution and Him being Al Ghaniyy
. “The Self-Sufficient, The Independent. He is the one free of need, free of
dependence and rich, “while all of His creatures stand in need of Him!”.
And your Lord said:
“Call Upon Me, I will answer you...” Quran 40:60. And the Prophet (saw) said: “There
is nothing more honourable with Allah (swt) than supplication.” (Tirmidhi). And
Nana Aisha (ra) said “Ask Allah for everything, even if it is only a shoe-lace,
because if Allah does not make it easy, then it will not be possible.
(Tirmidhi)
Therefore, learn
the etiquette of prayer, know how to please your Lord and the manner of seeking
His assistance. And generously pray for everyone and ask your brethren to do
the same on your behalf. These are your colleagues in the mission. This concept
is famously reported in the Sahih Muslim: “The supplication of a believer for
his brother in his absence will certainly be answered. Every time he makes a
supplication for good for his brother, the angel appointed for this particular
task says Ameen! May it be for you too”.
And “No-one makes a dua without one of these three happening; Either it
is answered, or it is stored up for him, or wrong actions are atoned for by it.”
(Muwata Imam Malik).
I once asked a wise
teacher of mine to tell me at what point should a man stop persisting on a
particular need or hope for something. The meaning of what he said is, as long
as the need is valid and good, he continues to ask with a positive thought
about Allah. But to understand the concept of hope as it relates to human
being, he reminded me of a hadith collected in Bukhari, “Sitting with his
companions, the Prophet (saw) drew a square (in the sand), and then drew a line
in the middle of it and let it extend outside the square, and then drew a
several small lines attached to that central line, and (pointing to each line)
said; “This is the human being, and this square is his (inevitable)
death, encircling him from all sides, and this line which is outside (the
square) is his HOPE, and those small lines are the calamities and troubles
(which may befall him), and if one misses him, another will befall him (i.e.
overtake), and if that misses him, a third will befall him (i.e overtake).””
And be careful not to compare yourself with others perceived to be better than you in provisions. Your thumb prints are enough as a reminder, that you are not the same and your needs cannot be proportionately assigned in the same way while trusting the one in charge of the provision who knows it all. The importance of prayer is many although it is seen as “the very essence of worship” (Hadith). So, let your prayer make you get to work knowing your Lord will never forsake you. And, be thankful to Allah who enables and reminded you to lift your limbs while asking for His assistance. Glory be to Him and we send salutation to His messenger, the one sent to illuminate us.
1 Comments
Maryam Abdulrasheed
A very good read. Especially toward the end. Wallahi, sometimes when we are seeking Allah on a matter we might get unsure. This was particularly a good and timely read for personal reasons too. In our own time, not having prophets directly telling us what to do, it can become hard sometimes maintaining strong believes.