Source: Roberto and Adrian Marquez | Earthquake Lifts Layer of Dust Off a Mountain Range
I have only seen mountains once in my life, from a couple thousand feet above. I remember looking out of the airplane window, seeing frosty tops scatter the horizon. Even from so high up, they were massive. I imagined myself standing at the bottom of the mountains, looking up and up and up…and I realized just how small of a creature I really am. What then, of the Creator of these mountains?
We have often heard the quote: “Do not look at the size of the sin you are committing; rather, look at the greatness of the One you are sinning against.” Do we really understand the implication of these words? Time and time again in the Qur’an, we read of mountains crashing down into dust, but do we actually take a moment to think about the reality of this? Can you imagine a massive mountain shattering into millions of tiny pieces, right in front of your eyes? One of the most magnificent stories is that of Musa `alayhi assalam (on him be peace) and his wish to see Allah. Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala (glorified is He the most High) tells us of this story in Surat al-Araf:
‘And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, “My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.” [Allah] said, “You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me.” But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, “Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers”.’ [Qur’an, 7:143]
Musa (as) was blessed with the ability to speak to Allah directly, with no intermediaries. In this encounter with the Almighty, he decided to ask for more than just that. Musa asked to see his Lord. Our Lord, al-Hakeem (The Most Wise), answered with a sign that should make each of our hearts tremble every time we hear of it. Allah told Musa (as) that he would not be able to see Him, but instead, Allah would show Himself to something much greater than man. He would show himself to a mountain, and if that mountain could withstand the sight of Allah, then Musa (as) too would be given the opportunity to see Him. According to a hadith verified by Al-Hakim, mentioned in tafseer Al-Jalalayn, Allah did not even show Himself in His entirety to the mountain. Rather, Allah revealed a portion of His light that is equivalent to half a nail of a little finger to this mountain, and the mountain crumbled. The ayah says that when Allah revealed Himself to the mountain “جعله دكّا” – not only did the mountain collapse, but it broke into pieces the size of grains of sand. Think about it – from mountain to sand in an instant.
Again, in Surat Taha, Allah tells us about mountains. He says:
‘And they ask you about the mountains, so say, “My Lord will blow them away with a blast. And He will leave the earth a level plain”.’ [Qur’an, 20:105-106]
According to tafseer Al-Jalalayn, “ينسفها ربي نسفا” actually means “My Lord will scatter them as ashes, by pulverizing them into moving sand and dispersing them with the wind.” Not only will these mountains be made into dust, the earth will be completely leveled flat. The hills will be flattened; the dips will be straightened out; all by the Power of the Almighty.
Now, imagine standing before a great king, knowing that this king is watching, knowing that he has his eyes locked on you, seeing your every move. Would you dare to falter? Would you dare to break any of the rules or even come near to breaking the law that he has set? Allah, the Creator of that king, is the greatest of all kings, He is Al-Malik. We live our lives, day in and day out, committing sin after sin, breaking rule after rule, yet we know that the Creator of the Worlds sees our every move and knows our every thought. The One who created the mountains, the One who will scatter them as ashes, is watching us. Our every move is recorded, but are we acting accordingly?
SubhanAllah. Astaghfirullah al-‘Azeem..
May Allaah forgive us all, and may all of us be protected under His Kursi.
Thank you for sharing such a useful post. It really makes me ponder. How small we are. How sinful i am. 🙁
All I can say is that I share your sentiments Brother Fairuzaimi. 🙁
Except, that i am a ‘sister’, Brother Ahmed. Hehe.
But no harm done there. 🙂
Assalamu’alaikum. And may Allaah’s forgiveness be with us all. Ameen.
Mashallah so true. I really like these motivational reads on here.
I always imagine the earth as a carpet, the oceans as a pond in the court of Allah. Just like how a King slays people in his court, I think the mountains collapsing is really no different in the court of Allah.
I am an islam. I could not share some friends where the mountain is. So let me know the current country of this mountain. Thanks
Well I wouldn’t say you’re insignificant at all! These story’s regarding mountains exploding and then levelling out happens within oneself.
He is talking about the recognition of duality’s. Once duality’s are recognised you transcend from the thought of relativity to the absolute.
He is telling us with every peak there is a valley & vice versa hence the talk of pairs. When your in a valley you can’t see the other side over the mountain you have to climb to the top to get the entire view. This happens within us constantly. Our thoughts are at times high and low just like the heart beat up and down, our journey is to flatline die before we die. Once we recognise and transcend this obstacle it’s as if you blew up that mountain and leveled it so now you can see the complete picture the straight path no crookedness no peaks and valleys anymore! You will no longer look at things as separate but 1 not in number but as a whole connected. This is what those story’s represent.
Dissolving the ego.
True salat is the sila to reconnect back to god and to worship him the way he wanted and not the way we want to worship him just like in the story of Satan when he wouldn’t go forth to Adam. When Satan was asked to go forth to Adam for he would guide him he refused and said no way I know better than him I will come back to you god the way I want not the way you want. And we all do this knowingly or unknowingly. This is why in the Quran he says “Ya ayahul insan” oh you the people the ones who FORGOT- in Arabic to Insa is to forget. So we stay within Bani Adam because we don’t recognise who Adam was/is. Recognise Adam and doors upon doors open.
We also have the same answers everywhere if we truly look. God said he is the treasure and he wants it to be found. And that treasure is you when you wake up to what IS! To be conscious of consciousness aware of awareness. You can also see this through the story of creation and the days of the week he talks of its very interesting if you truly look and pay attention,
in Arabic Sunday is Ahad the 1
But like I said before pay attention
Jumah which is Friday in Arabic means the gathering to come together, to reconnect
Sabt which is Saturday in Arabic means the straightening, to set, to level out, harmonise,
Ahad in Arabic means the 1 but the hadd also means the barrier, but when bringing Friday & Saturday together so when everything within you gathers together reconnects and unites all peaks and valleys straighten out & you recognise see the level direct straight road/path you remove that hadd which is the barrier the ego and you recognise your it! You are the ahad the one! It is what you were searching for the path to the treasure it’s you when you wake up and recognise. Consciousness itself is you. This is what our holy prophet tried to show us. I can go on and on and on it’s so huge! This is why the fatiha and Surat al ikhlas are so important! Why did the holy prophet emphasis their importance? Why is the fatiha umm al kitab (the mother of the book)?
Why did he say the whole of the Quran is within the Fatiha & the whole of the fatiha is within bismillah & the whole of Bismilah is within the ba and Ali is that dot underneath the ba? That ba is the baab the gate to the city of knowledge! So Ali is the gate to the city of knowledge and it’s a Hadith but Ali the message & Ali meaning the most high, “The Higher Self”!! When you look within the pairs & duality’s you should be able to see our prophet through this story was also telling us you cannot have nabuwah without imamah “prophethood without imamah” they go together like up and down, cause and effect!
So what is the fatiha? It’s the opening of yourself to the unlimited! When you truly recognise the fatiha the opening you will recognise Surat al ikhlas which means the completion. To ikhlas in Arabic is to finish, complete something. What are you completing? Your connection , your surrender back to god the way he wanted. You become a muklis a complete human being, human meaning
The HU- all the different shades coming together
MAN- manifesting life existence itself!
It’s huge! The Din of god is Islam. Din is not a religion. Islam is just submission it’s a noun but what are we surrendering too?? Why weren’t we called Muhammadins?? Since we supposedly surrender to his message?
Part of the meaning of DIN is the account you have with god because in the story of creation he talks of that covenant we made on the dawn of creation which we forgot! What did we forget? Our accountability with god, towards yourself, others and god. The hisab the akirah they are also part of it but what are they and when? We keep looking at the hisab and the akirah to come later but we do not see this is happening in every moment of our life. It’s about reconnecting back to god and realignment of our thoughts intentions & actions, they become 1 not in number. When you think of doing anything you are calculating/hisab how you will do something. And when you have hasabtah calculated it then done it completed it, it then becomes the Akirah the conclusion to your thoughts intentions & actions. This happens in every moment.
But What did YOU calculate/hisab, which direction did you choose and what path did you take which is the akhira which is the conclusion of your thought intention and action! Omg I have said too much. There is soooooo sooo much more And you will probably call me insane just like the called every speaker of truth insane. We keep looking for god outside of ourselves, like he is separate but he tells us he is closer to us than our jugular vein! He never asked us to do rituals. He made it so so simple but it’s us the insan who complimented it and made it crooked.
The moment we look for god away from ourselves and point somewhere we have limited god and god is unlimited. Everything belongs to him, lands universes etc. The sacred Lands are not a place but this vessel we call our body. Through this vessel body god is recognised. But we must abandon the ego, the me myself & I for god says in the Quran the life of this world is nothing but a play, amusement boasting how much wealth & children we have. In munajat imam Ali like it is said in the Quran no amount of wealth, wife & children you have will be of no use to you! The only thing that will benefit you is the one who surrenders back to god with kulbn salim/a Pure Heart.
I leave some sayings to ponder over.
your sickness/illness is from you but you do not perceive it and your remedy/wellness is within you but you do not sense it. You presume you are a small entity, but within you is enfolded the entire universe. You are indeed the evident book, by who’s alphabet the hidden becomes manifest. Therefore you have no need to look beyond yourself, what you seek is within you, if only you reflect.*Ali ibn abu taleb, nahjul balagha.
i=me,myself & i ego= illness
We= unity, coming together as 1= wellness tawheed
The Quran starts of with the fatiha the opening which is the introduction too tawheed. Recognise it and you will recognise who you are. All Dua of ahlul bayt are a guide to showing us the way. The holy prophet said I leave behind for you 2 weighty things the Quran & my ahlul bayt “itratih ahla baytih” & they will never separate until they meet me at the pool of kawthar! The Hadith of Quran and sunna is a fabrication. There is only 1 reference to it which is fabricated & that is the truth. One more quote which is also beautiful
In a mother’s womb were two babies. The first baby asked the other:
“Do you believe in life after delivery?”
The second baby replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.
“Nonsense,” said the first. There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?
“I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.”
The doubting baby laughed. “This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is to be excluded. The umbilical cord is too short.”
The second baby held his ground. “I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here.”
The first baby replied, “No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after- delivery it is nothing but darkness and emptiness and it takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the twin, “but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us.”
“Mother?” The first baby guffawed. “You believe in mother? Where is she now?”
The second baby calmly and patiently tried to explain. “She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world.”
“Ha. I don’t see her, so it’s only logical that she doesn’t exist.”
To which the other replied, “Sometimes when you’ re in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her. I believe that there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality when it comes….”
At one time you couldn’t see your Mother and yet she sustained you.
Oh, how much more real is our God.
Salam