In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; blessings and peace be upon Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.
Reflection
"O mankind! Worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may ward off (evil). - Al-Baqarah (The Cow, 21)
ALHAMDULILLAH, it's Hegira Year of 1442 and I am getting older. It scares me knowing that I had lived almost 60 years.
If the age of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) were to be used as a guide; then I would only left with a few years before exiting into the next world, perhaps less than that because a Hegira year is 11 days shorter compared to the Christian Calendar. So according to the Muslim Calendar, I am now a few years past 60.
Judging from my own experience, tribulations and problems I faced now are greater and much heavier than the past. For example when I was in the thirties, I had to face and solved children’s problems since all my three boys and two girls were under 12 years of age but nowadays when some of them have become adults and teenagers, their problems are more complicated; parents had to have extra strength and wiser minds to tackle them. Unfortunately I had to face all this when my health worsened; I am dependable on diabetic and blood pressure prescriptions every morning and evening.
Then, at the office too when one has entered that golden age, his/her thinking and actions are expected to be matured and wise; subordinates and office mates problems had to be tackle with extra care and actions taken only after much thinking and consideration. There is a saying; it is lonely at the top.
Not long ago a friend had this advice for me: “We are dealing with human beings not machines. If we were given ‘setandan pisang’ (a bunch of bananas), not all of the bananas would be in good condition. Some would be over ripe, some too ripe, some correctly ripe and some were unripe. You as the cook (boss or superior) had the power to do whatever you wish to the ‘pisang’ (bananas).
“You could throw the rotten ones; but a good, seasoned and wise cook or housewife would not do that. He or she would still choose the half rotten bananas; those ‘lembik’ (soft) ones (over and too ripe) would be used to make ‘cekodok’ (fritter made of banana and flour). The correctly ripe could be eaten raw while those which are about to ripe could be made into ‘pisang goreng’ (fried bananas).
Of course in the ‘kampung’ almost all parts of a banana tree could be used for different purposes. ‘Jantung pisang’ (buds of the banana) and certain bananas such as ‘pisang kapas’ and ‘pisang nipah’ could be made into tasty dishes, the leaves could be used as wrappers of ‘nasi lemak’ (rice cook in coconut milk), the trunks could be cut and process to make strings. In short all the parts are usable if one is creative enough.
Thus, those at helm at any level - at homes, offices to national and international identities - should be very wise indeed, turning their subordinates from merely ‘passerby’ into productive workers or members according to their own abilities, capabilities and potentials. Just like the ‘half rotten’ bananas turned into ‘cekodok’, those ‘half rotten’ workers could be transformed into ‘somebody’.
This wise quality should be a must for leaders because they were dealing directly with people, where nobody is perfect, including the leaders themselves!
Acknowledging that we were not perfect was a good sign in bringing ourselves closer to Allah the Greatest for Allah SWT is the Only Perfect; His creatures including human beings are with defects. In fact we are short of everything, thus we need Allah SWT to hold on!
At home and in the office, there are many problems you could not solve. For example your children or your subordinates are not willing to receive orders from you. At times, they make a deaf year or making a mock of you, and for sure you are bound to lose your cool. Perhaps your blood pressure would rise to a danger level, you are nearing to be admitted to a hospital or worse still you are on your road to be admitted six feet underground (your grave-lah).
This is a real testimony that you are actually weak, poor and hapless but based on what I had experienced, we are ignorant; we failed to read the message from Allah SWT. Human beings cannot solve problems, only He who created all creatures had the answer to all problems. So all these long years we are lost, now when I am nearing 60 with old age signs such as balding head, white moustache and beard and weak body, only then I realize that as Allah SWT creatures, we must turn 100 percent to Him to solve our problems. True, we have to work hard to materialize our needs, missions and visions, but it is Allah SWT that decides what is best for us.
So the best thing for us to do, including solving our problems, is to seek help and surrender ourselves totally to our Creator, Allah SWT who is the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate. Allah SWT, the ever living God is willing at any time to hear our wishes and cries of our inner hearts.
Allah SWT is full of love, mercy and compassion but why must we turn our backs or shy away from Him? Why are we too proud to ask for His help to resolve our problems? Why are we too proud to ruku’ and sujud (prostrate) to Him? Remember an ayah of the FatiHah which we read in every rakaat of our prayers, iy-yaa-ka na’-bu-du wa iy-yaa-ka nas-ta-‘iin which means; “To you do we worship and to You do we beg for assistance.”
Allah SWT is willing to hear from us but why must we be ignorant to Him? Allah SWT’s kindness towards His creatures is more than a mother’s towards her baby. If you put your whole trust in Allah SWT, as you ought, He most certainly will give you sustenance, as He does the birds; they come out hungry in the morning but return full to their nests in the evening. Allah SWT says, “Verily My compassion overcomes My wrath.”
Man enjoys the mercy of God Who is kind and good. God’s mercy is to anyone, believer or no believer, obedient or disobedient, Muslim or non-Muslim, black or white. God’s mercy for His creation is immeasurable. We cannot imagine or count His favours to mankind. He gives man food, drink, the means of movement, and all the necessities of life. He provides for him irrespective of his behaviour.
God has promised to extend His love to those who obey His will. His mercy is extended to all mankind; His love is extended to those who submit to His will. The Qur’an says: “Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful (Qur’an 3:31) {Essence of Islam, Islamic-Outreach-ABIM}
After admitting our weakness, our inability to solve problems because no creatures (including human beings) created by Him is perfect, then it is timely for us to ask, to beg for Allah SWT’s help because He is the possessor of all power. Only Allah SWT can provide for man’s needs or give and take away life. The Holy Qur’an proclaims: “Knowest thou not that is Allah unto Whom belongeth the sovereignty of the heavens and earth; and ye have not, beside Allah any friend or helper.” (Qur’an 2:107)
If we have the trust in Him, insya-Allah (God willing), all of our problems, whether at home, in the office or at national or international level would be resolved!
Remember how strong and powerful we are in terms of physical, power, status and wealth; we could not win over evil forces including Satan and his followers. Only Allah SWT could show us the light and help us, so to readers and the writer please start pleading, crying and pouring our hearts to the Lord, only to You Allah SWT do we submit!
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