Issue No: 184
10th January 2014
8th Rabiul Awwal 1435 A.H.
Salamun alaykum,
Getting rid of the extra fat and weight:
Over the last months the commercial advertisements had been promoting various food dishes luring the audience to indulge in feasting over the festive season of Christmas. Having pampered themselves in food parties the public is now looking for ways of getting rid of the extra fat on their bodies and to lose weight. This time round the adverts are now encouraging gym membership programmes, healthy diet products and other keep fit messages. In order to impress the products the commercials include displays of photos marked "before" and "now". Have you seen these?
Like the example of a body exercise programme where photo of a person, before taking the physical treatment, with stubborn belly fat protruding from his waist is shown. This is then followed by photo of the person now showing with ripped body and six pack abdomen muscles. This looks great. So the exercise programme has worked; it's been successful!
Has your nafs changed?
Since the day of the sighting of the crescent of Muharram to today the 8th Rabi ul Awwal we have devotedly engaged ourselves in a very different lifestyle. Our dressing, time schedules, religious activities and personal dispositions had altered. The décor and presentations in our centres had changed. Even the cover and profile fotos, status and conversations on the social networking sites were different and updated to reflect a changed mood.
We have been undergoing a powerful 'treatment' directed at our nafs-the self. For a period of two months and eight days our focus has solely been on undertaking azadari of our beloved Imam Husayn a.s. and deriving lessons to lead our life in Divine submission. The anticipation is that after immersing oneself in the azadari for a period of some 68 days, this 'treatment' will now have an effect; a change to ones' self.
Would you not like the nafs to be a different one than the state it was in before the commencement of Muharram? Just like something along the lines of the photos 'before' and 'now' in the television commercial.
What is the unwanted fat and weight harmfully holding down your nafs away from Allah SWT that you need to get rid of?
As we put to rest our clothes, schedules and activities of azadari, look inside oneself and inquire:
Is my picture now of ones nafs changed to that of a superior, purified status than before?
Is the mumin transformed to be like one expected by our Imam Sahibaz Zaman – the master of our age?
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
Fazle Abbas Datoo
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat