I Want...

I

I want many things. (Also, as the saying goes, "I want never gets", meaning those kids who constantly "ask" for stuff by saying "I want…" tend not to recieve what they "ask" for)

But I digress. What do I want?

- I want to be closer to Allah. (Specifically, I hope and pray my heart never gets hard, and that I am always able to shed at least a tear or two)
- I want to be out of debt.
- I want to cement the few friendhsips I am lucky to have
- I (maybe - not too sure about this one) want to change my job.
- I want to never let go of the blessing of good health, if I can help it.
- I want to be a good role model for my immediate and extended family.
- I want to sleep every night satisfied with my efforts of every day. (Going to bed with a tired body, as per the hadith, would be a (most desirable) bonus)
- I want to find that someone and get married and have kids. (No rush, and yet, at the same time, I can't wait.)
- I want to increase by many times over the amount I give to charity.
- I want to go for at least one hajj, and lots of ziyarats.
- I want to be more involved and more active in helping brothers and sisters across the Muslim ummah.

I don't see anything too worldly in that list, though maybe I'm biased. Look at it with a critical eye, and let me know what you think. At the very least, we can, I hope, subject them to this test - if you were to ask for them for yourself, and they were fulfilled, you would be satisfied, if not extremely grateful.

II

A man goes to a king with a petition. He travels to to the city, then to the Royal Palace, then waits in a waiting room with a slip of paper in his hand, on which his request is written. The king sees him for a few minutes, recieves the slip, and deliberates the request for an hour whilst the man again waits in the waiting room. After an hour, he is summoned back to the king to find out what the decision is, after which he will head home.

As the point was made in a majlis a few days ago…. this is NOT how we supplicate to Allah (SWT). We should not ever be as passive. When we ask Allah to, for example, feed the hungry, and give shelter to the destitute, etc, we are not asking for this to happen without us. Rather, we are asking Allah to make us the active agents who seek to bring about the change that we pray for. We work, and Allah blesses our efforts, and we achieve that which we asked for.

III

Tying the two together means that of course, it is not enough for me to want the above, or ask Allah for them, even in these holy nights. I have to act on them as well. And it's like I'm only realising this for the first time, though I'm sure it must have been repeated in other ways in tons of lectures I've listened to already. Just understanding this point has already made me aware of what I need to do next, for each of the above, and, God willing, I shall soon start to do just that.

iA.