how would Allah feel?
time for some consideration
‘I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth’ (2:31)
‘And He taught Adam all the names’ (2:32)
in the verses above, Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ tells us that He made man His ‘vicegerent on earth,’ meaning that Allah gifted man with the ability to manifest His Divine attributes into the world. by teaching Adam (as) ‘all the names,’ we’re able to know and understand our Lord and who He is through His 99 beautiful names and also reflect them out into the world too. as a result, we’re able to be and feel so much — we can be so loving, forgiving, kind because of Al-Wadood, Al-Ghafoor, Ar-Ra’uf, quite unlike the mountains, heavens, and any other creation on earth. as humans, then, we have the capability to intensively feel all kinds of emotion every single day.
however, even when we feel emotions that are overwhelming and overbearing, it is still limited. think about a time you’ve felt the happiest in your life and how powerful the emotion was. that emotion is simply the size of an atom compared to how powerful Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ’s Pleasure is. His happiness is something we cannot even fathom, comprehend or even feel ourselves. similarly, think about a time you’ve felt extremely hurt. that, too, is nothing compared to His Displeasure. when He is angry, it is beyond our complete capabilities to reach that same height of feeling.
so, knowing this and thinking about this, something that I like to do is relate things that people do to me, that I either like or dislike, back to how Allah would feel if I was to do it to Him too. for example, something that I heavily dislike is when people say ‘i’m sorry’ to me after hurting my feelings. it sounds strange, but it’s not the words themselves that irritate me. rather, it’s when people say those two words and leave it at that without making the intention or some sort of an action plan to ensure not to do whatever it was that upset me again. otherwise, I see those words as useless— especially if it's a continuous apology after doing the same thing over and over. in fact, it makes it worse because I think, ‘what’s the point? you’re not truly sorry, otherwise why do you keep doing the same thing again?’.
however, like I said, i’m just a human. no matter how hurtful and irritating it is to me when people apologise without going out of their way to not do it again and end up repeating it — I think, ‘how would Allah feel?’.
‘how would Allah feel after I’ve sinned and I apologise and repent to Him, just for me to go and fall into the same sin again? if *I* heavily dislike it when people continuously say ‘i’m sorry’ to me without changing their behaviour, then how would Allah feel when I say sorry for displeasing Him and don’t go out of my way to change mine?’
this helps me reform and check myself to ensure i’m not merely apologising and being a hypocrite. rather than just reciting ‘astagfirullah’ just to fall into the same sin again, I try my best to make an action plan alongside istighfar to improve my behaviour. because I know that if I don’t like it, He won’t like it a billion times more. now, of course, this doesn’t mean that i’m automatically perfect and will 100% never sin again in my life. however, i’ve found that using something that I don’t like, and then contemplating just how powerfully The Lord of the Worlds would feel, is a good way to self-reform, put in the intention to change, try my best, and not be a hypocrite too.
similarly, a year ago, I also saw a tweet of lyrics that said, ‘why were you somewhere else when you were next to me?’. this was referring to someone questioning her ex-partner about why he wasn’t being present with her and why he had other things or other people on his mind when they were together. this is going to sound random and strange, but it stuck with me, and I think about it when i'm praying sometimes if i've lost concentration. because I think that if a human being can feel so upset that someone they love isn’t being present with them in the moment and is mentally somewhere else, while they themselves are entirely there in the moment, then how would Allah feel when, physically, we’re praying to Him but, mentally, are daydreaming, aren’t concentrated and are somewhere else? it makes me feel sad when I reflect this back and makes me try and focus myself back into prayer and be attentive with Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ.
the one that makes me tear up the most, though, when I reflect on the state of the world, is when I think about how I would feel if I created some robots and gave them absolutely everything they needed to survive just for them to straight up deny my entire existence. forget worshipping and being obedient for a second; imagine if after creating them and putting in all that hard work and effort to make them, make their home, make everything — they don’t even believe i’m real. and, to make it even worse, imagine if they then believed someone else made them! it hurts me just thinking about it, and i’m only a human with limited feelings, no matter how powerful an emotion may be to me. but, i’d definitely give the robots who do believe in me everything they want.
to clarify, of course this isn’t me thinking of myself as a god, astagfirullah. more so, thinking about this always makes me more thankful to Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ, the Provider, the Gracious, the Kind, the Friend, the Creator, the Light, the Loving, the Merciful, and I tell Him I believe in Him and recite la illaha illa Allah - there is none worthy of worship except Allah. because imagine how He feels? this one breaks my heart the most when I think about how there have been billions of humans for thousands of years who have rejected their own Creator’s existence and have worshipped something else.
however, then I think about how powerful, strong and unfathomable His Pleasure and Happiness is with the believers, with people grateful to Him, with people who love Him in a world where there are, regrettably (and regret, they will!) so many disbelievers. how happy must He be with me? with you? with the believers? with hearing ‘laa illaha illa Allah’? may we all attain His love and Pleasure. it’s no wonder our Holy Prophet ﷺ said:
Allah says ‘if [My servant] walks towards Me, I rush towards him’ (Sahih Muslim 2675a).
‘When Allah loves a servant, He calls Gabriel and says: Verily, I love so and so; you should also love him, and then Gabriel begins to love him. Then he makes an announcement in the heaven saying: Allah loves so and so and you also love him, and then the inhabitants of the Heaven (the Angels) also begin to love him and then there is conferred honour upon him in the earth’ (Sahih Muslim 2637a).
so, reflect on the things that you both like and dislike people doing to you and relate it back to how Allah سُبْحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ would feel. this is a great self-reflection that can bring you closer to Him and enable you to do more righteous deeds, and also strengthen your love for Him when you think about just how powerful and strong His Love, Pleasure and Happiness is for you— which is greater than we can ever possibly imagine. by doing so, you’ll not only then make an action plan and do things that will make Allah happier with you, but you’ll be thinking of Him as your Friend. and so, too, will He think that of you!
‘I am as My servant thinks of Me’ (Sahih al-Bukhari 7505)
Ramadan Reflections:
how is ramadan going for you all? I pray you’re all taking in the benefits and savouring them. in my last post, ‘ramadan series: reflections,’ I talked about the miracle in me being able to wake up for fajr every day this ramadan and feeling okay, despite being chronically ill! I definitely am starting to feel the effects now, though, and feel weak and fatigued during my days again. nonetheless, I’m still trying to persevere through. I don’t want to give up just yet :)
one thing that i’ve really been loving this ramadan is how much it’s teaching me to be present. trying to complete the Qur’an in the month is making me extremely focused on each day as i’m planning how many pages to read after each prayer— depending on how busy my day is— focusing on getting them done, and planning my days completely around my salah. (PS: my dad is now beating me in our race! I was winning only yesterday, and then saw that he zoomed ahead by three surahs. at least I’m motivating him to read more of the Qur’an, which means I’m getting blessings. it’s a win-win!). doing my ramadan challenge, too, has been doing the same as I’m only focused on what needs to be done today and today only. I don’t have time to think about what’s happening next month or two days from now. it’s a really nice feeling to be grounded. i’m hoping it lasts for the rest of ramadan and my life, Insha’Allah. may Allah make it so for us all, Ameen.
Attribute of the Month - Al-Khabeer, the All-Aware:
this is a reminder to myself first: to trust the One who knows the answers to all things. sometimes, things won’t make sense for such a long time. maybe it will even take years. but i’ve realised that you can either be a slave to your anxiety or you can be a slave to Allah. your pick. you choose. you can either trust the voice in your head that’s only making scenarios, conclusions and thoughts based on perceived threats about things that haven’t even happened yet (and may never). or, you can trust the One who is All-Aware, who knows the answers to all things, the One from Whose knowledge nothing at all escapes. which will it be?
Grab a Blessing (and have it multiplied!):
la ilaha illallahu wahdahu la sharika lahu, lahul mulku wa lahul hamd, wa huwa ‘ala kulli shay in qadeer (x3)
(there is no God except Allah. He is One and has no partner. His is the sovereignty and praise and He has power over everything)
Allahumma ballighna laylatul qadr (x3)
(O Allah, let us reach laylatul qadr)
jazakallah for reading and thank you for your time :) sending much love,
— SabrGirl ♡