Communication is Key in Relationships
that's what we all say...
Communication is key in relationships.
That’s what we all hear and say, right? That for a relationship to work, there needs to be communication.
This is definitely true. But it’s normally the relationships we have with the creation that we say this about. What about our most important relationship of all? Our relationship with Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ? If communication is key in relationships— which it is— how does it work in our relationship with Him?
I was talking to my best friends in the kitchen a few weeks ago and told them how crazy (yet cool!) it is that we’re being guided by Allah 24/7 through our intuition/gut feelings. Reflecting on this, one of them told me that she had an exam recently and, an hour before, she randomly felt that she should go over a specific topic within her course. Then, when the exam started, it was based on the exact same topic. Coincidence? I think not. Then the other told me that she lost her earphones and had been looking for them everywhere for weeks. Then, she randomly felt that she should wear a specific hoodie she doesn’t really wear that often and, yep! The earphones were there in the hoodie’s pockets. I myself related a story about when I didn’t listen to my gut feeling during a Kahoot quiz, and I felt that I should pick specific colours. Usually, I rely heavily on my feelings as opposed to thinking, but for some reason, I picked what I thought the answer was. Yet, they were all wrong, and my gut feeling was right.
Think of how many times you’ve felt that you should do something, and it’s turned out to be so beneficial for you. This is Allah communicating with us. Sometimes, we’re the ones that just aren’t listening.
Sometimes, you don’t even know why you did certain things or why they happened. I’ll relate an ancient story my mother once told me when I was a baby. Once, there was a king, and he was in the jungle with his bodyguard. As they were walking, the king accidentally sliced his finger against something— perhaps a tree bark— and blood began to ooze out. At this, he began to curse, asking why God had cut him and why He allowed him to hurt himself. The bodyguard replied to the king saying, “Maybe He is protecting you,” but the king waved him off and didn’t think much of it. Later on in the jungle, there was a tribe, and, although the bodyguard managed to escape, they captured the king as they thought he was an enemy loitering on their ground. They then began to tie the king up and prepared to sacrifice him. However, just when they had the knife and were about to kill him, suddenly, one of the tribe members saw that he had blood and a wound on his finger. At this, he immediately told everyone to stop because they believed that blood made the king unpure for a sacrifice, and they let him go. The moral behind this story that my mother was telling me is that sometimes we think that something bad happened but it is, instead, Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ guiding us and communicating to us through these events. Sometimes, we will realise why a bad thing happened, like the king did, and other times, we never will. Either way, He is guiding us every single second. These are instances where He is communicating with us and telling us I am here. I am here. I am here.
For me, I often see Allah communicating with me through YouTube videos. It sounds strange, but sometimes I’ll open YouTube, and I’ll see a video recommendation of a podcast or something educational. Sometimes, I’ll click it immediately, and other times, I’ll think to myself oh, sounds interesting and continue with whatever I’m doing. But I’ll keep seeing the video everywhere — every time I open YouTube or on the video recommendations on the side when you’re already watching a video and it won’t go away. Finally I’ll give in and it always is so beneficial for me and changes my life and I always know that it’s Allah who wanted me to watch it. Sometimes this even happens when you’re scrolling social media— you’ll see a video or a tweet that maybe relates directly to something you’re going through and makes you learn something or gives you advice. These things aren’t just mere coincidences.
It also reminds me of a Tumblr post I saw the other day:
text: Stop ignoring your bodily signals that's somethings not right. You get a bad stomach and need to run to the bathroom after the morning smoothie? It doesn't agree with you. You get terrible anxiety and feel you need to perform on dates with the pretentious guy? He's not your person. You feel shaky after the iced latte? It's not for you sweetie. Your body is constantly sending signals, letting you know what feels good, and what doesn't. Foods that don't agree with you, people that cause you panic. Take inventory on what's causing dis-harmony in your life, and start editing ruthlessly. This is an act of self love. No more ignoring signs from your inner guidance system. Start heeding the call from your body. It's speaking to you always.
I thought this relates directly to what I’m talking about — this ‘inner guidance system’ OP mentions is actually Allah! :) He Himself says:
And it is not for a man that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a veil or by sending a messenger to reveal by His command what He pleases. Surely, He is High, Wise. (42:52)
Now, ‘revelations’ could be dreams where He communicates with us through them. The messengers’ stories are all within the Qur’an, so Allah is also talking to us through the Qur’an too. And ‘behind a veil’ can indeed be signs and messages that are indirect but still from Him. Signs we need to really open our eyes to see, really open our ears and listen. Like our gut feelings, or the way our body responds to things, or things that happen in our lives, whether they are good or bad— and literally anything and everything.
Sometimes we may think that Allah is not talking to us because we aren’t directly hearing his voice. However, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:
When the servant says: ‘All Praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all the worlds,’ Allah the Most High says: ‘My servant has praised Me’. And when the servant says: ‘The Most Gracious, ever Merciful,’ Allah the Most High says: ‘My servant has lauded Me’. And when he (the servant) says: ‘Master of the Day of Judgement,’ Allah remarks: ‘My servant has glorified Me’ or sometimes He would say: ‘My servant entrusted (his affairs) to Me.’ And when he (the worshipper) says: ‘Thee alone do we worship and Thee alone do we ask help,’ Allah says: ‘This is between Me and My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks for’. Then, when he (the worshipper) says: ‘Guide us in the right path, the path of those to whom Thou hast bestowed thy blessings, those who have not incurred Thy displeasure, and those who have not gone astray,’ He (Allah) says: ‘This is for My servant, and My servant will receive what he asks for’. (Sahih Muslim 395a)
This here is proof that Allah communicates with us. Every verse we recite, Allah replies to us. And from the way he talks about us in the third person above, He is probably telling others— the angels, perhaps— about us. Isn’t that so beautiful? :) Nothing goes in vain. Think of how many other things we do and say and have no idea that Allah is indeed replying to us and talking about us.
Now. Communication is key in relationships, right? Well, it only works if both parties are communicating. ‘Remember Me and I will remember you’ (2:153). You wouldn’t think a relationship is working if you’re constantly trying to communicate with the other person and they’re not cooperating, right? You’d eventually stop trying to communicate or perhaps even leave the relationship altogether. Continue speaking to Allah— in and outside of prayer— do nawafil, make duas, read the Qur’an daily, do dhikr every day, create and do things that are just you and Allah’s secret thing. Continue all your communication on your part, and I promise — whether you are aware of it or not — Allah is talking to you. It will only become more and more evident.
Grab a Blessing:
سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمْدِهِ، سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ العَظِيم
Subhanallahi Wa Bihamdihi Subhanallahil Azeem x3
(Glory be to Allah and all praise is due to Him, glory be to Allah, the Great)
Attribute of the Month: An-Nur, the Light
In your next prayer, invoke Him with this name and say: ‘O Allah, you are An-Nur and you have the most beautiful names. Please bestow upon me Your Light’.
reflection: what’s your favourite thing about Allah’s light?
Jazakallah for reading! Feel free to leave a comment about your own reflections on communication with Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ.
— SabrGirl ♡