How just “thinking” can be a Way of Ibadah?
“There truly are signs in the creation of the heavens and earth, and in the alternation of night and day, for those with understanding. The ones who remember Allah, upright and seated and on their sides, and meditate upon the creation of the heavens and the earth: ‘Our Lord, in no way have You created this untruthfully. All Extolment be to You! So protect us from the torment of the Fire!’ ” (Quran 3:190-191)
Despite the belief that Islam is dogmatic, Quran encourages Muslims to think over the creations, be aware of what’s happening around us, “read” the universe thoroughly. Tafakkur, in Arabic, means taking some time out to reflect on our actions of the day, which hopefully brings more awareness and consciousness into what we do.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could help our children develop this habit while they are young? There are some things that we can do about this:
- At the end of the day, before falling asleep, we can ask our children about their day to encourage them to think about what happened. We can ask them the things that went well and the things that didn’t. The possible reasons behind the things that could have gone better. The alternative solutions for the next time.
- We can make a list of gratitude and add new things every day to it. Many good things happen every day, we witness miracles: the blossoming of a tree, flying bees, raining and snowing… The fact that we got used to them does not mean that these are ordinary things. Our world is surrounded by miracles and beautiful events. Let’s open our eyes wider a bit.
- We can read books and let them broaden our horizons. Books remind us what we forgot, they show us what we don’t see, yell at us what we cannot hear. Sharing what we realize with each other, sharing feelings and knowledge with the thousands of other readers may lead to an increase in our Iman.
There is a series named Everything Points to Allah, by Hekimoglu Ismael who is a well-known philosopher and author of Islamic books in Turkey. In the series, there are ten books each of them focusing on different aspects of creation like the sky and beyond, the world of animals and plants, our body, and us.
“A human being who contemplates Allahu ta’âlâ’s grandeur cannot be disobedient to Him.” (Bishr-i Hafî) May Allah help us to be within the true believers and raise the next generations so as well.
