Subhan ALLAH
It is just after Isha, upon the opportunity to complete my prayers I am left reflecting and pondering my day. After Salah, my focus on my eternal gratitude to our great Prophet Muhammad ﷺ (PBUH), but let’s get to that later. Every night I think about prayer in the morning before sleeping, it is a habit of sorts I have gone into. Specifically, my thoughts are about waking up, ablution, and the prayer itself and how lucky I am to be able to reflect on our maker in a very special way that has been a special favour bestowed upon us. Subhan ALLAH.
I think about how in the middle of the night, Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT ever so gently wakes me up to offer my prayers, every night without fail, regardless of how weak my soul appears to be. Sometimes it is thirst that will be the excuse to wake up and offer prayers, other times it will be the need to cleanse my body, while at times it will be a silky draft that carefully wakes me up. Subhan ALLAH all are but an opportunity for me to reflect on our Maker I, and the lessons of our most beautiful seal of Prophets ﷺ. Subhan ALLAH.
A short while elapses and Fajr passes, the rays of the sun begin to penetrate the stratosphere with precision that make lasers look sloppy, my eyes are left breathless by the beauty of the earth.
The many shades of beautiful shades of green that allow plants to capture energy from the suns perfectly designed nourishing and germicidal ultraviolet rays are a breathtaking sight and an even more miraculous creation. The perfection of the branches, tree trunk and the incredible array of shapes and patterns of leaves fill me with amazement at the divine design. I think of the leaves that have fallen to the ground and how even in death Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT has given them a purpose. They so selflessly provide life to the soil and its inhabitants, Subhan ALLAH. Wonderment overcomes me as the many different shades and hue of visible light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) of the sky become visible as the sun follows the moon in a pattern ordained by Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT. Indeed Subhan ALLAH.
My ears hone in like a satellite receiver to a melodious tone outside, one that is full of love, devotion and beauty. It is the birds chirping in perfect harmony, seemingly singing to our majestic Lord and involved in a steadfast Dhikr, one that causes my heart to skip faster. Even the trees, grass and leaves seem to be enthralled in the Dhikr as they move in the air in a perfect sinusoidal pattern. Subhan ALLAH.
As the day commences and I fill myself with nutrients so generously provided from ALLAH سبحانه وتعالى SWT, I think about amazing how perfectly we are designed. How perfectly our hands, and fingers have been designed to help us eat. The miraculous design of our mouths to break down food into smaller portions, our stomach to temporarily hold and blend the food as the acid in our body further digests the food into smaller nutrients, and then the perfection of our small and large intestines and how they reabsorb the vital nutrients and water that we need so that our body can carry out normal functions that we don’t even think about. Functions so important to our perception that help us understand on a very small level the majestic nature of the existence that Allah SWT has created around us, senses such as looking, hearing, touching, thinking, speaking, etc., Subhan ALLAH.
Dhuhr comes around, and the sun is at its highest point and my shadow is neither in front nor behind me, Allah SWT has given me the opportunity to pray again, another chance at repentance, and another chance at thanking our Almighty creator for all the blessings that we have been bestowed with. It is a chance to stop my tasks for a given period of time and think about how am I, a mere being, a mere single person out of 7 billion around the world able to accomplish the very task I was just doing? How am I, a mere being able to ambulate to the prayer mat to pray? How am I, a mere being able to even lift a finger? Who am I but a mere person like 7 billion others? And what is it that I need to do? How can I use the talents that Allah I SWT has bestowed me with to carry out HIS function? Subhan ALLAH, All praise is to Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT that he has given me the chance for this prayer and reflection.
It is now ASR and my shadow is growing, the sun by the command of Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT is going to lower and the moon will show its magnificent radiance as Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT commands the sun to reflect light of it’s incredible glistening surface, Subhan ALLAH. The Islamic day will shortly come to an end. This time performing Wudu, has got me reflecting on how perfect this is. How great it is that we can use water to cleanse ourselves before we get the chance to meet our maker? And the perfection of WUDU, Subhan ALLAH, we wash our hands to wipe clean surface germs, clean our mouth of bacteria, clean our nostrils of any pathogens, wash our face to remove dirt, clean our arms and our head, and then clean our feet of any dirt, lint that we may have accumulated in between prayers. How refreshing, Subhan ALLAH.
After prayer, I walk by the Wudu area again I hear the steady stream of water running so seamlessly fluid, so perfect. I reflect on water as I am walking, the water in my body is at around 70% and it perfectly cushions each step so that my bones don’t hit each other, so that my body doesn’t ache, so that my backbone is perfectly cushioned. Subhan ALLAH.
Water, 2 molecules that come together and fit perfectly together to offer countless benefits, one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms resonating in prefect harmony. These 3 simple atoms come together perfectly to form water that creates life, replenishes thirst, cleanses the body, fills the body, ensures that animals and plants are fed, travels up to the sky at a pre-defined interval only to fall to earth as rain, snow, sleet again to nourish and replenish earth. I think of the perfect combination of how plants use their trunk, much like an elephant does, as a straw to replenish nutrients to the leaves which can then sway in the wind in their marvelous array of shapes, sizes and colours as the birds perform dhikr. Water a miracle that can’t be created in the finest of manmade laboratories no matter how hard we try, no matter how much money is granted for research. Subhan ALLAH.
It is Maghrib, the ending of the Islamic day, I am alerted to Maghrib by some Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT’s Glorious signs. As in Fajr the sky shades are so rich, so stark, so beautiful that the richest painter’s palate pales gravely in comparison to the beauty of Allah’s SWT sky that so magnificently cover the entire planet and is perfectly composed the perfect combination of gases and ozone to cover the planet. A combination that can activates vitamin D in our body, kills germs and harnesses power the fuels plants. The sounds of the birds are a perfect orchestra praising Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT, His majesty, His Glory, and the beauty of His creation. I look down at the reflection of my shadow much like today is ending so is the shadow disappearing as the day ends. Subhan ALLAH.
Most certainly, I have missed many things that deserve the praise of Allah SWT and for that the error is mine and mine alone. As a matter of fact take a second look right and left, past the angels, and look at the perfection around you and very easily you realize that Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT’s Glory, Majesty and Perfection are everywhere, ever-present, and timeless. Even the very mouth that we use to recite Subhan ALLAH and how it creates the sound that broadcasts Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT’s Attribute’s indeed is a perfect creation, Subhan ALLAH.
Ah yes, as a Muslim I am ever grateful that our Commander and our Chief is Prophet Muhammad ﷺ PBUH, and infinite offerings of peace and blessings to him, his family and his beautiful beloved companions. I am grateful to him as it is through him and only him that we are able to understand what Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT has willed. Wasn’t it he that us the Quran, prayer, wudu? Wasn’t it he that encouraged us as his Uma to go and study the physical, chemical and natural properties of Allah’s creations? Wasn’t it he that brought the message of Allah سبحانه وتعالى SWT and his magnificent Attributes to our consciousness? Alhamdulillah! But that brings us to another topic all together, doesn’t it?
Dr. Omar Pervez