Auron ka hai Payaam aur, mera Payaam aur hai,/ Ishq key dardmand ka tarz-e-kalaam aur hai! (Iqbal)
Listen to what the Bible has to say about that indescribable state of psychological elevation and spiritual high – about that ineffable experience of pure fun.
“They are drunken,” says the Bible. “But not with wine.”
“They stagger,” says the Bible. “But not with strong drink.”
This is the Bible talking! So, what giddiness was it that swept them, even though they had touched no wine and consumed no liquor?
It is a familiar feeling to those who have allowed themselves to be totally absorbed in the Qur’an – on those occasions when the Qur’an calls you and connects with you. You are laughing and crying all at the same time. You feel the most wonderful you ever felt even as tears are streaming down your cheeks.
What a state to be in! And what fun!
And what a miracle from God Almighty!
WHEN YOUR EYES FIRST LOCKED ON THE KA’ABAH
Remember the day you first went to Hajj or Umrah? Those of you whom Allah blessed with that experience?
Remember how you were walking toward the Haram Sharif from wherever you were, wrapped in your Ihraam and saying all the prayers and chants you could think of? Your eyes were all over the horizon and you had no idea what lay under your feet. And then suddenly there it was, right in front of you, filling the sky and filling your eyes – and filling your soul.
The Ka’abah! Big, black and beautiful beyond words.
Baitullahil Haraam!
Your eyes locked on it and wouldn’t let go. And all of a sudden all consciousness was drained out of you and you knew and felt nothing except this incredible black beauty looming before your eyes.
Can you put in words your feelings at that time? Would you want to exchange that feeling, and that experience, for something a bit more “fun”? For something a bit more exciting or soothing or rewarding in this world?
Well, that is the kind of fun Islam offers those whose hearts have been lit up by its eternal flame – those whom God Almighty has pulled out from all kinds of “darknesses” into his own divine light.
As Allah Himself says in the Qur’an: Yukhrijuhum minaz zulumaati ilannoor. Paraphrase: God Almighty brings them out of layers upon layers of different kinds and levels of darkness into light.
And as he also says in the same, beautiful, noble and incomparable Qur’an: Allahu noorus samaawaati wal ard. Paraphrase: God Almighty indeed is the light of heavens and earth.
AT THE GRAVE OF MUHAMMAD
And how about those who have stood facing the grave of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, for the first time – or for the fifteenth time for that matter? Why don’t you ask them to describe their experience to you and then see what they have to say?
Ask them if they would like to relive that moment again. Ask them if they would like to exchange it for something else.
If you were ever there and if you ever lived that moment, you know what happened that day. And it is still vivid in your mind, as if it had happened only yesterday. There was no conscious thought; there was no visible speech. Instead, there was only a torrential downpour of silent tears. And there was, inside your heart, a churning ocean of emotions that can neither be named, nor described nor duplicated.
That one moment was worth a lifetime’s wait, was it not? Call it bliss, call it joy, or call it what you will, but it was probably the most “fun” you ever had or could have in this world all your life, wouldn’t you say?
Who Was It that Took All Fun Out of Life?
So who took out all fun from life – and deprived us of all the beautiful things with which Allah packed this world when he prepared it as a very special habitation for a very special person: the human being?
Here are the direct words of the Qur’an on the subject: Qul man harrama zeenatallahillatee akhraja li-ibaadih?
As for a paraphrase of what those words mean, I have already given it in the previous paragraph.
ISLAM: WHAT “FUN”!
That, therefore, is the feeling you get – to summarize one more time some of what I mean by “fun” – when you are in deep reflection about Allah’s beloved Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and the most marvellous miracle of his life on earth.
When you are lost in contemplation of how in an impossibly short span of 20 years, this man, working all by himself, and with the whole world against him, changed the world, making it better for all its inhabitants, including his worst enemies.
And how, wherever his influence reached, he banished injustice and oppression, and how he opened the doors to wealth, health, prosperity, peace, security, joy and truth for all.
And how using no more than four words – La ilaaha illaa Allah – he built a whole movement that guaranteed to all human beings on earth all-round success and felicity, not only in this world but also in the next world.
A movement based on good. A movement whose central premise was love – love for God and love for humanity. A movement whose motto was service to God in heaven and service to all of God’s creation right here on earth.
What “fun”!
Just the thought of this most amazing divine movement the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, built on earth for the benefit of all of humanity. A most comprehensive human movement created for all human beings in all places and times using a compassionate, merciful and loving God’s most timeless and trans-spatial teachings.
Islam! And the eternal movement that Islam is! And always was – from Adam to Moses and from David to Jesus, God bless them all!
An Entire Movement in No More than Four Words
Life, let us not forget, is movement.
It is a movement: from a point of origin to a point of termination. It is clearly a linear movement of some kind. A curvilinear movement, if you want to call it that.
But it is a movement nonetheless.
That would mean any attempt to address issues pertaining to human life on earth will also have to express themselves in the form of a movement. It is simple logic: if you want to board a moving train, you need to propel and move your own body to keep pace with the velocity and acceleration of the train in motion.
So is God Almighty’s entire creation a movement.
Kullun yajree li-ajalim musammaa, is how the Qur’an describes the “life-cycle” of creation, if you will.
So, to keep pace with this secret of creation, human life included – movement – Islam also had to be a movement. For, Islam makes it clear that it came to address the challenges, needs and problems of human life on earth.