Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Super Hero


For a long time I've been obsessed with Super Heroes, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, you name it, I was a fan. I think their unrealistic abilities to right the wrongs and protect the innocent from injustice is what did it for me. Those factors plus their human-ness (although Superman is Kryptonian) made me think twice about judging people at face-value, you never know what hidden potential (or evil) a person has underneath their unassuming demeanor.

A lot of people have been trying to figure me out lately. I have been trying to figure ME out, so I don't blame them. I am not perfect, no one is, and I have never claimed to be. Islam is perfect, Muslims are not, and more and more over the past few months I have come to the' shocking realization' that some of us Muslims are even less than that.

Over the last few months I have seen and heard cases among Muslims of spousal abuse, child abuse, fraud, drug abuse and things that made my head spin and my heart ache. If my faith had not already been shaken to the core and revived, I may have had a relapse. I have been treated unfairly by friends who I was only helping for the sake of Allah, and although I try not to take things personally, I am only human afterall, not Super like Kal-El (Clark Kent) of the TV show 'Smallville'.

I'm aware of my obsession in activities in my life, one day during self defense class, the instructor was recalling incidents where she had to go help women against their abusive spouses. She said that if she had more people like her , she could really do a lot for Jamaica. In my mind, I pictured a JJL (Jamaican Justice League) of women in superhero costumes kicking criminal butt at night and protecting the weak and helpless. She only meant that she could have more classes teaching people how to defend themselves against attackers. Her Motto 'Preserving Life By Any Means Necessary', sounds like a Super Hero code of conduct to me :)

I realize that I have thought of marriage as 'someone saving me' , saving me from myself? saving me from loneliness? saving me from what? Maybe NOT being married is saving me from heartache? abuse? abandonment? . I used to say things like, when I'm married I'll do this, or I'll do that or the other. Wakeup call !!!!......married people are NOT all happy and living in a perfect little bubble, naively I expected it of Muslims, but its not always what it should be. Why should I wait to do all these things that I want to do ?, travel the world, start my own business and other things, why wait? I think I'll try to save me.

So now I am no longer looking for a Superhero-Super husband-Super bestfriend-Super Dad of my Super future kids and I am not trying to be Super Anything, I just have to try my best to be a good Muslim, knowing that I may fall along the way, but the getting back up, dusting myself off, making taubah (repentance), and trying to be better again, knowing that ALLAH (Subhana wa ta'ala) will forgive me once I am sincere, thats Super !.


An-Nawawi’s Hadith No.42

On the authority of Anas (Radhiallahu anhu), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah(Sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam) say:

Allah the Almighty has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.”

Related by at-Tirmidhi, who stated that it was a Hasan (fair) and Sahih (sound) Hadith.

9 comments:

  1. As Salaamu 'alaikum dearest sister, i really enjoyed reading this post. I admire your reflective and thoughtful writing style. MashaAllah!

    Super heroes
    Everyone is looking for happiness in this world but happiness in the dunya is relative, temporary, fleeting. Humans have created a fantasy world where good ALWAYS defeats evil, where rights are duly protected. Super heroes are escapism from the realities of life. A coping mechanism. But what has been left out, missing from this 'utopia' is Allah The Majestic, He is the ultimate protector and the only One who executes PERFECT justice.

    Marriage
    You're right not all married people are happy. Even happy couples are not always happy because life has its ups and downs.

    If we choose to say "i will do such and such when i get married inshaAllah," that is fantasising (for a lack of a better word) about the future, instead we should be making use of and achieving things in the present. Life is too short and too precious, it cannot be put on hold.

    It is unfortunate that spousal abuse and child abuse occurs in Muslim marriages/households as well as fraud, drug abuse and the like. But what we Muslims seem to forget is that we are HUMAN and that we will fall into sin. Allah The Exalted has told us in Surah An Nisa ayah 28: "Allah wishes to lighten the burden for you, for man was created weak." We should support one another as Allah The Glorious tells us in Surah Al Hujurat ayah 10: "...Muslims are brothers," we should help one another in doing good as Allah The Majestic advises us in Surah Al Ma'idah ayah 2: "...Help you one another in al-birr and al-taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety)" and the Prophet (Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam) told us "None of you will truly believe until you love for your brother what you love for yourself."[Sahih Al Bukhari].

    The key to life is believing in Allah The Exalted without associating partners with Him and making constant taubah by following in the footsteps of Beloved Rasulullah (Sallallahu 'alaihi wa Sallam): "By Allah, I ask Allah's forgiveness and turn to Him more than seventy times a day."
    [Sahih Al Bukhari]. SubhanaAllah!

    I love the hadith qudsi you finished off with, it is a beautiful, beautiful reminder for us to never, ever give up hope. JazakiAllah khair!

    May Allah make the path easy for you my dear sister and make you among His righteous slaves, the ones who will enter the Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Ameen! Love you for the sake of Allah!

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  2. Wa alaikum salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh dearest Sister Sacrifice4Allah,

    MashaAllah! That was a beautiful and most fitting comment. I felt so motivated after reading it. You are right, life is too short and too precious to put on hold. JazakAllah Khair for sharing these ayahs and ahadith, and for your good naseehah. Ameen to your dua, and may Allah grant the same for you, Ameen!

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  3. MashaAllah
    I really enjoyed reading this post
    And you're more than right...I once was telling my mom the only one who is going to make you happy is yourself, stop waiting for that special sth to happen.
    It's all about taking the "bull by the horns" on your personal grounds
    May God be with all of us ameen,
    As we all start living for what's truly important :)

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  4. Ameen to your dua Sister Le-Ann. MashaAllah, I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

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  5. BarakaAllahu Feeki dearest sister :)

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  6. Salaam Alaykum

    Mashallah. Thank you for highlighting spousal abuse that I've gone through here. I loved what you said, it was really quite inspirational. for me tonight, you are a superhero. Love you!

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  7. Wa alaikum salaam Lisa,

    I'm glad you liked my post, MashaAllah. I'm so sorry that you have gone through that :(. May Allah make it easy for you going forward Ameen. Love you too.

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  8. Beautiful post, and very intriguing blog sister :)

    Thank for your comment on my blog, it really was heart-warming.

    I'll be posting again soon inshallah...

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  9. Thanks for your comment Brother Abdullah, MashaAllah, and welcome to my blog :)

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