Love & Hate

Love & Hate 

They never talked.
Hate hated love.
But love never understood why.
Hate used to love, until he lost his way.
He had friends like Fear and War. He felt safe behind their walls.
In fact, Hate wanted to build an even bigger wall.
Hate loved to put on masks.
Love hated masking her heart.
Hate was popular. He got support from many.
Love was quiet, but she spread like perfume in the air.
Hate was strong, a jumper. Straight to conclusions.
Love was soft, a breeze. Patiently listening.
Love wanted to meet Hate. Love wanted a date.
And so they stumbled upon one another one night.
Hate could barely look Love in the eyes.
Because Love Was like a Poem.
But not your ordinary one.
She didn't rhyme or repeat
But she flowed.
Love was a poem.
Filled with similes and metaphors.
She is like and she is not like.
She spoke as if an allusion. Reminding Hate of a time and place he may have seen. Or dreamed.
Love was a poem.
She pronounced his heart beats clearly.
She paused at just the right times.
Sometimes a hyperbole. Exaggerating thoughts.
Sometimes a paradox. Confusing. Reassuring.
A comma, waiting to say something more.
A fragment, not afraid to stand alone.
A period.
Knowing one day she would also end.
Love was a poem, and Love did not hesitate to embrace Hate as he was.
And she changed him in an instant.
Love taught Hate to open his clenched fists.
To take off his mask.
To open his eyes.
Love taught Hate that it was ok not to understand.
Love taught Hate her peaceful ways and Hate remembered his way back home again. 
Love was a poem.
Love was a teacher.
And she taught Hate to Love again.

Purification of the Soul

I’ll never forget the first day of Tazkiyeh class. Our teacher brother Imran Salha said something that stuck with me throughout all the classes to come. He said, “Don’t make your goal of this class to simply share what you learn or to impress others—focus on yourself”. Focus on yourself. These three words I believe, are the core of Tazkiyeh which rely on self-awareness, self-observation, and self-criticism. In this way, tazkiyeh is purification of the soul for the sake of Allah (swt) alone. There is beauty that is felt when things are done for Allah (swt) alone, for what better audience is there for a good deed than the Master of the Universe, the Creator of all creation? When the action is done for Allah (swt) alone, it’s benefits can be infinite. Not only will you be rewarded from the Most High, but you will take off the shackles that chain you to the dunya. When you make Allah your main concern and you chase His pleasure, you will find the dunya chasing YOU. You will become rich, not in money, not in praise, but rich in the tranquility of your soul. For this is the true richness. And when you are rich, you are the one that gives because your supply is the infinite blessing of Allah (swt).

One of these blessings given to us is the gift of prayer: where our hearts are higher than our minds in elevation and our intentions are to please the One who’s in control of all our affairs. The way brother Iman taught this portion of the class on prayer really touched me and inspired me to look at prayer in a different way. He explained to us that salah removes the external and shows us our true relationship with Allah. Prayer was instructed to our Prophet in the heavens and for this reason it is divine and its essence is so lofty that it could not merely be given in this world. It’s establishment breaks arrogance, breaks rebellion, and when perfectly executed, it will break loving of the self and replace it with loving the Creator of the self. A practical application to our concentration in prayer is like that of a litmus test. The amount of concentration you put into prayer is a testament and an indicator for your love of Allah (swt). Do you rush to prayer? Do you pray during the most favored times? Do you imagine it to be your last prayer, with the Angel of Death behind your back? These are things I learned to ask myself. Remembrance of Allah is the polish for the heart. It is no doubt that our hearts may get rusty and our trials may make us forgetful, but the answer to all our worries lies in remembrance of our true purpose here on Earth: to know Allah. To know Allah during ease and to know Allah during hardship. Indeed knowing Him is the guidance from darkness into light—a paradise in this world and the next.