Day 13
Taqwa
True piety does not consist of turning your faces towards the east or the west – but truly pious is the one who believes in God, and the Last Day; and the angels, and revelation, and the prophets; and spends their substance – however much they themselves cherish it – upon their near kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer, and the beggars, and for the freeing of human beings from bondage; and is constant in prayer, and renders their purifying dues; and (truly pious are0 they who keep their promises whenever they promise, and are patient in misfortune and hardship and in time of peril: it is they that have proved themselves true, and it is they, they who are conscious of God—Surah Al Baqara, 2:177
Greetings beloveds,
Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
Allah is truly awesome, worthy of all awe and praise. I spent some time last night and today thinking about taqwa, most commonly interpreted as fear of Allah, sometimes interpreted at piety or as God-consciousness. Those who have taqwa are called the muttaqeen. The Quran uses the word taqwa 151 times in all.
Reading some of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s teachings, I came across a passage about how every thought, word, deed and feeling is recorded and remembered. When we do salaat we give salaams to the angels on our left and right shoulders who record all of our deeds. Quran says that on the Day of Judgment our feet and hands will testify about all that they did. Laying on the couch, I wondered if my arms would testify about that too—the times they were laying in repose, or procrastination, or contemplation. What does it mean to say that every moment of our consciousness, of our being in human form, is recorded? We speak often of the importance of our deeds and, being in the field of education, the importance of our words in how they impact those around us, but how often do we speak of our thoughts? I know for me, though I’ve read, thought about and discussed the power of thought—positive thinking for example, the way our thoughts can impact our bodies, or contribute the sudden appearance of a parking spot—I’ve not contemplated as deeply what it means that every thought has impact somewhere, is remembered and recorded somewhere in the universe, primarily out of a sense of wonder and fear. If all our thoughts are recorded, that includes all of my negative thoughts as well. It confuses me that negative thoughts are natural, unavoidable really and pop up whether we want them to or not. I know that balance in the universe is the order of the day—no light without darkness, no day without night, no beginning without end—and yet I find myself fretting sometimes about the impact of my negative thoughts. Is a tree falling somewhere because I am angry? Am I contributing to an accident happening somewhere because of my judgment about someone else? Don’t get me wrong, on the whole I am not overcome by such thoughts, but if our goal is to be people of taqwa, to be God-conscious how do we master balance in our thoughts in a dunya (world) so full of mixed messages and distractions? Dhikr/zikr is one answer, as Wazina wrote about yesterday. Is it the one answer? What are some strategies you employ in search of such balance? What does it mean to you to consider that every thought, word, deed and feeling is recorded? Discuss
