Tarbiah by the waterfall

بسم الله‎

لسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

“Oh Allah, grant me something out of this. Something that would benefit me or something that I never realised before, Amin”                            

                                                              

 McKenzie Falls

McKenzie Waterfalls was just a half an hour drive up the hill all the way through the winding roads from our camping site. The waterfall was right in the midst of nature, surrounded by wild trees and gigantic mountains of rocks, creating an impressive view from above. Stripe of rainbow emerged as evening sunlight penetrated the water droplets falling from the massive rocks. The hard sound of water falling from an altitude onto the hard slippery rocks could be heard from a distance. 

There were 19 of us, sitting on piles of rocks, next on the right of the waterfalls but closed enough to hear each other’s voice out of the deafening sound of falling water. I could feel chilling droplets on my face as I sat facing the clear flowing water.

A guy stood and began talking. “Can you guys see the distance rocky hills?” we nodded to the finger pointed directly to a huge hill in front of our eyes. He recited, “If We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah” Al-Hashr: 21. “Even these solid and giant rocks would crumble into pieces if the burden of Quran was given to it. Yet, we human always make light of it and never realised this facts”

“There are lots of stuffs around us yet we never realised on how significant they are” another guy started to talk. “When we are in place like this, we used rocks to sit, woods to make fire and even trees to make shelter and protection. So do us. Everyone has their own unique role and talent to be discovered. We are like these stones and woods. We would never understand our parts if we didn’t seek deep enough.” He ended his brilliant lecture.

“Even the smallest thing here is taken care by Allah, so we need to reflect and think before doing something. Verily, He sees us all the time” another guy added 

Twelve Apostles

I had been looking at the waterfalls for sometimes and thoughts began to circle in my head. I stood. “Do you guys know why people are coming here?” I asked but not really expecting any answer from anyone. “It is because of the waterfall” Some nodded as if they just knew the answer. “If there are only trees or only rocks, rarely people will come to such places. If we look at the waterfalls, the rocks and water complemented each other to create such beautiful scenery. So do us. We need ukhwah in life. Friends would that  remind us of Him.” I paused for a moment. 

“Faith is like this flowing water. It floods when the rain comes and begins to fade as time passes. Faith acts the same way. It peaks when we attend an Islamic program or lectures and began to drop as time passes. In math, it is a Sin X’s graph. We need friends to remind us when we are at the bottom, nearly touching the X’s axis.” My friend did highlight this point before.

I remembered what my friend said this morning. “Surely will enter Jannah those who made an ukhwah purely of Allah and not bind by business or wealth”

He stood. “At glance, this place is enclosed by the hard rocks, strong trees, green leaves, high and blue skies and even winds. Every of them have its own character. Reflected to us, every of us has own personality. Some might be as strict as the rocks or even gentle as the water. In building a strong team or excellent cooperation, we need to learn to accept other’s weaknesses-but I rather not calling it as a weakness, but advantages and unique qualities. If there are only rocks or all is water, not many people are attracted to it. If we are similar, less attractive we are. Inshaallah, our diversity will be a magnet for people to come closer to us and islam.” Applauses ended his inspiring thought. “Allahuakhbar” we yelled.

Inshaallah.