Issue No: 301
23rd February 2017
6th Jamadi ul Thani 1439 A.H.
Salamun alaykum,
In need of a kind word:
The other day I was walking along a main street in my neighbourhood. Whilst the people were moving along swiftly in a race to reach their destinations my eyes fell on a young man seated on the pavement outside a convenience shop leaning against the wall. He was looking exhausted and staring blankly ahead at the human traffic moving by. A small sign placed in front of him on the floor read something like: "homeless and hungry. Even a kind word appreciated."
Apart from a handful who stooped to place a few coins on the floor or to murmur a few words with a smile, the large number of pedestrians flowed speedily past him as if unaware of his presence.
National Crisis:
Homelessness is a crisis facing our Nation. It is another gloomy experience of our so called 'modern life'. A study by Shelter, a housing and homelessness charity, found that more than 300 000 people are now categorised as homeless in Britain.1 With more than 9,000 rough sleepers and some 78,000 families living in temporary accommodation, a Public Accounts Committee considered homelessness in England 'a national crisis'. 2 These statistics are not just numbers; rather they are about human beings. The reality is that these numbers represent the children, women and men living in Britain.
The great deficit:
As man mechanically whirls on with their set schedules of the day, many a times the feeling of love and kindness is emptied from our hearts. Our society in this 'modern world', has these days moved away from love. It has substituted love for humans with love for social status, positions and possessions. The flashy cars, personalised name plates, mansions, designer clothes, flat screen gadgets and whatever else you name it have become some of the priorities in our list of desires. As the 'I and mine' generation we spend most of our time with busy-ness and over commitment in our lives to secure our ambitions.
Because we have occupied our hearts with everything, but God, the heart that was to be love for 'We' has now become love for only 'I'. Therefore, the feelings of sympathy and empathy are in great deficit around us today. When we see a fellow human in a difficult situation, many are of those who will quickly pass by unconcerned like most of the pedestrians in the above story. The reason? For we have got our own path planned out.
The 'I' generation:
Today many of us are too concerned about ourselves that all we see ahead of us is nothing but serving ourselves to become successful. We forget to think of others in need of support such that, nowadays one no longer knows how to support another.
When is the last time?
All human beings are in need of support. The support required is not necessarily only by a financial or material form. In the part of the world which we live in, there is great search for support in physical and emotional manner. Support to give time by being there for someone is in excessive need.
When is the last time one can recall that you had supported a fellow human being? Was the person whom you had supported, one who is not related or close to you?
Being in service to others:
During these solemn Fatimiyya days, dedicated to Sayyida Fatima Zahra a.s. chief of women in the universe, recall the altruism flowing from this noble lady. Likewise, the lives of our role models, the Ahlul Bayt, reveal to us that feelings of love, kindness, sympathy and empathy abundantly radiated from their personalities as they forged ahead with their mission to convey the Divine Message of Islam to mankind.
Therefore, will you spare time to live Islam in the footsteps of our role models the Ahlul Bayt by spreading love, kindness and empathy?
A hadith by the Noble Prophet states that a smile (which is indeed a simple deed) reaps reward like a deed of charity.
Certainly, a kind word or a smile to fellow human being will go a great mile. Will you reach out?
Wa ma tawfiqi illa billah
Fazle Abbas Datoo
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Resident Alim
Wessex Shia Ithna Asheri Jamaat