Overcoming Hardships Personal Development Reflections Spiritual Purification With the Divine

Just My Thoughts

There’s a strange sadness today. It’s not the kind that leaves you empty or lonely, or even wanting. It’s the still kind. The kind that comes from a certain level of understanding, even acceptance.

I looked at this photo today, and every time I did, I found tears fill my eyes. It was a sunset on the beach. Stunning. And above it the ayah: Rabanna ma khalaqta hatha batilan subhanak (our Lord you have not created all of this for nothing, subhanak.)

And that’s just it. All of this. The sadness, the accidents, the smiles, the peace, the pain, the love, the loss, and the sacrifice: it’s not for nothing. It is not without purpose. It’s not a mistake, some sort of oversight or a random course of events.

I looked at the image and suddenly I was filled with such a deep sense of nostalgia. For a time, I have no memory of.

7:172
“And [mention] when your Lord took from the children of Adam – from their loins – their descendants and made them testify of themselves, [saying to them], “Am I not your Lord?” They said, “Yes, we have testified.” [This] – lest you should say on the day of Resurrection, “Indeed, we were of this unaware.”” (Qur’an, 7:172)

I was overcome with the feeling of missing someone. Missing Him. Missing being with Him. Missing a time that was or will be. A time so certain, it is as if it already happened. That’s why when Allah talks about the hereafter in the Quran, He uses the past tense.

When you fall in love with a work of art, you’d die to meet the artist. I am a student of the galleries of Pacific sunsets, full moon rises on the ocean, the clouds from an airplane, autumn forests in Raleigh, first fallen snows.

And I’m dying to meet the artist.

“Some faces, that Day, will be radiant, looking at their Lord.” (Qur’an, 75:22-23)

About the author

Yasmin Mogahed

Yasmin Mogahed received her B.S. Degree in Psychology and her Masters in Journalism and Mass Communications from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After completing her graduate work, she taught Islamic Studies and served as the Sisters’ Youth Director for the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. She also worked as a writing instructor for Cardinal Stritch University, and a staff columnist for the Islam section of InFocus News. Currently she’s an independent media consultant and a writer for the Huffington Post, where she focuses most of her work on spiritual and personal development. Her written works, including a book chapter on the portrayal of Islam post-911, have appeared in print and online publications worldwide.

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  • This was so valuable to me. I know the experience that you had, the rush of emotion and love towards Allah, was more valuable than any comment that anyone can write here. But, know that you’ve given us readers a taste of the spiritual refreshment that you felt, even if it wasn’t identical.

    So jazak Allah khayr for that, and may He allow you and us to be amongst those who will have radiant faces, looking towards Him, and we will find Him pleased with us, and us pleased with Him.

  • “I was a hidden treasure, and I wished to be known, so I created a creation (mankind), then made Myself known to them”.

    I love your articles the best, Yasmin. You belong in Andalusia. 🙂

    • It is said that Allah says, “I was a hidden treasure, and I wished to be known, so I created a creation (mankind), then made Myself known to them, and they recognised Me.”

      Ibn Taimiyyah says, “It is not from the words of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and there is no known isnad for it, neither sahih nor da’if;” al-Zarkashi (d. 794), Ibn Hajar, al-Suyuti and others agreed with him.

      ‘Ali Al-Qari says, “But its meaning is correct, deduced from the statement of Allah, I have not created the Jinn and Mankind, except to worship Me, that is, to recognise/know me, as Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) has explained.”

  • mashAllah very inspiring.

    [67.2] Who hath created life and death that He may try you which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving,

  • best…..work……ever…….. *sighhhh*
    keep writing, Yasmin. Allahu ta’ala is turning my heart through your words

  • MashAllah sister Yasmine this is amazing!!! It’s so true but none of us seem to think about it until reminded. May Allah make the truth evident for us all-Ameen

  • I just came across this article randomly, it’s so beautiful SubhanAllah – I am out of words because there have been times when I have felt the exact same feeling. Alhamdulillah for everything…

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