What can one man do, what can I do, it is impossible, etc. are some of the thoughts and whispers that surround us whenever we try to think out of the box or when we try to break the chains of society, norms and sometimes even logic. These voices and whispers discourage us from even blinking at the time when we should have acted, they stop us from helping the helpless by using flawless reason and perfect logic, they stop us from telling the truth when the whole world wants to believe in falsehood. And slowly but surely, it is these voices that sculpture and carve our personality by transforming us into a little robot who only knows to conform to the norms and boundaries set ”ironically” by those who did not conform, didn’t follow, or the rebellious. The ones who unlike most men, took charge, ignored the whispers, showed perseverance and eventually conquered everything that others thought were impossible. Those who truly believe in themselves and their cause, who are not fearful of defeat, who put their trust in Allah, and with strong faith and belief, take the leap of faith into the pit of fire, just like prophet Abraham A.S. The one who was also alone, naked and helpless (according to logical and worldly definition) but confident, steadfast, and fearless against opposing odds, logic, society, and the norms defined by mortal men.
Another thing that stops us from taking initiative and acting on our ideas and dreams is the thought that, ‘what I am thinking or my ideas are insignificant and useless’. But if we look around (what Allah wants us to do by repeating it again and again in Quran i.e. look around, research, dive, leap and discover) we will discover that in this life and also in the whole universe, nothing is insignificant, neither the material things (a single man for example) nor those that are abstract (deeds, thoughts, ideas, truth, dreams, love, faith, knowledge, etc). If you think you are powerless, think about the power of something as tiny and insignificant as an atom, with which two cities were leveled in seconds. If you think you are insignificant, think about a dot because there was a time when whole universe was just a point, a dot, but insignificant? never! And who can forget supernova that lasts for only a split second but results in something so amazing and powerful that even light cannot escape it. And if you think that you, your personality and your accomplishments as tiny and minute, don’t forget that there was a time when Einstein, Newton, Plato, Alexander, and all others could have been defined as a single cell, a point or a dot; with no accomplishments or achievements around them. If you think your dreams are useless, delusions and insignificant, think about a dream that saved Egypt and all the surrounding areas from total destruction. If you think little evil deed can be justified, don’t forget your parents who were in heaven one day and were on the blue pearl the next, all because of an apple. Similarly, no good deed is insignificant either because only Allah knows the worth of our actions and only He knows the domino effect of something as simple as a smile.
Someone once told me a story of a very knowledgeable Muslim convert who found his Creator because of a conversation he had with a Muslim immigrant when they casually talked about Islam and the immigrant Muslim, in his broken English answered all the basic questions he had. The amazing part of the story is that this conversation on Islam between two total strangers happened when they were sharing needles to inject heroin. They continued their discussion even when they were high on heroin. So this apparently insignificant act of an unknown weak Muslim, resulted in Islam of someone in totally unexpected way. Hence nothing is insignificant, neither a deed, nor an action. If you are on the right path then Allah’s help is with you, and when Allah’s help is with you, the only thing that’s insignificant is the universe. And that is the point in ones life when odds, numbers, statistics, calculations and estimations become insignificant and people, society, social pressures, opposition, hunger and pain becomes irrelevant.
I will post more on this topic some other day iA!
Light Upon Light 