Reflection.

I attend a programme every Thursday where after Du'a and Qur'an recitation, a different topic is discussed each week. This week the word 'reflection' became open for discussion. Though I didn't say anything in the moment, upon coming home I spent some time thinking about it (or you could say reflecting on it) and was also enlightened to other's views which I will include in this post since it was summed up well Masha'Allah. So I take no credit for the majority, sometimes others can put into words our views better than we do so ourself.

Reflection is needed so that we can understand who we are as an individual, as a creation. Who are we? What are we made of? Unfortunately not many of us take the time to ponder or reflect in order to understand who our Lord is. Until He then grants times of difficulty which, for some, sadly encourages only temporary time periods of sincere worship to our Creator until things are back on track again. It has been said that "1 hour of contemplating (truly contemplating) is better than 70 years of dry worship". God doesn't want you to sit on a prayer mat and simply bow down to Him, he wants you to understand and to completely devote yourself to Him in those times if not always; mentally, physically, spiritually. He wants you to know yourself, know that you were nothing, created from a drop of water. Know that your salvation is with Him, and that it is only He that can provide you with happiness. We need to read, learn and understand. Sadly people are so busy caught up in the temporary world that they won't take time out to reflect and realise that is was none but Him that created all of this in the first place. 'Busy' is nothing but an excuse, "success calls you 5 times a day, yet you are too busy chasing 'success' to answer His call".

"Reflection. A process of betterment and progression, and what is this life without betterment and progression? Reflection is seeing what the future holds for me, what my past was and where I have come from, what my vision is and how do I go about achieving what I want."

"Get closer to your heart and talk to it. Consider your deeds as your Father whom you follow. And consider your own self as an enemy with whom you are at war." 

-Imam Jafar As Sadiq (ع)

Now to add to that a little, for me personally, an important moment of reflection is when making Du'a between prayers. In this time you come to realise what it is that you're praying for, who you're praying to and more importantly why. Same goes for the recommended Tasbih Zahra after each obligatory prayer, it's not about routinely reciting Allahu Akbar, Alhamdulillah and Subhanallah repeatedly without thinking, but more so it's about why you are saying those things. What reasons do you have? Allah bestows upon us countless blessings, so much so that we ought to recite Alhamdulillah more than just the 33 times in Tasbih. But He provides us with this simple yet effective act of worship so that we do have that moment to realise and reflect, I'll repeat that word time and time again. You can read up a little bit on the benefits of Tasbih Zahra at http://www.duas.org/tasbihzehra.htm. 

Also mentioned in the programme was the Hadith "He who knows himself, knows his Lord". So in reality if you do not take time out to reflect, how can you really know yourself? How can you know your Lord? How can you know and achieve your vision? Referring back to the above view that "reflection is a process of betterment and progression", this means that we must reflect in order to change, and "..Verily, God does not change the state of men until they change themselves.." [13:11]. I will end by leaving an image below withholding another beautiful quote from the Holy Qur'an which states that He is closer to you than your jugular vein. Allahu Akbar, such closeness can only be imagined, so imagine then how you claim to know your Lord if your understanding of your own self is limited. Think about it.