Illness

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (ra) reported that the Prophet (saw) said:

“Whenever a Muslim is afflicted with a hardship, sickness, sadness, worry, harm, or depression --even a thorn's prick, Allah expiates his sins because of it.”

Illness is something we all go through as human beings. It is an evolutionary process that our bodies use in order to adapt to our external environment. This short post will briefly explore the concept of illness in Islam and attempt to understand its deep wisdom.

We can only truly appreciate well being if we have experienced ill health. Similarly, we can only truly be happy, if we have experienced a degree of sadness. What is interesting is that the extent to which we feel happy is directly proportional to the depth of sorrow we have experienced. This experience of the opposite negative leaves us with a deeper appreciation of the positive, be it health or wellness.

The Hadith I have cited above is one of the most known ahadith and a very beautiful one too. Once I read this, I began to make a habit of saying ‘Alhamdulilah’ each time I was afflicted with any hardship, illness or injury. The Hadith explains that the hardships we go through are a means of Divine forgiveness. It elaborates on the many ‘types’ of affliction which ranges from physical, to mental even to spiritual afflictions which we are inevitably going to experience in life.

For me personally, I like to get to the deep core and explore the tangible reality of Islam. By this, in the context of this particular article, I mean exploring the reality of what it means to be ill and what we can derive from it as a human species. What do we go through when we are afflicted with an illness, when we are worried about something or when we get pricked by a thorn? What avenues are there that we can use to our disposal in order to get a positive and lasting outcome?

First, I would like to cite two beautiful verses of the Holy Qur’an:

“So, verily with hardship there is relief.” (94:5)

And

“And certainly, we shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to the patient.” (2:156)

In the first verse, Allah has said that it is only through hardship that we can truly appreciate ease. Like I mentioned earlier, we cannot appreciate health unless we experience illness. This is a general rule which can be applied across the board. For example, many people wonder why converts to a religion are always more stern in belief than those who were born into that faith. The answer is simple under this verse. It purports to say that those who had converted experienced a level of no-faith or a lack of it which ushered a concentrated effort towards it compared to those who have been surrounded by it since birth. This makes logical and practical sense.

Patience is one of the hallmarks of a believer, and rightly mentioned in the second verse because a true believer is always resigned with Divine Decree- the notion that God has a plan for each of us and that plan is ultimately good. In this light Muhammad Rasulullah (saw) said:

“How wonderful is the affair of the believer, for his affairs are all good.  If something good happens to him, he is thankful for it and that is good for him.  If something bad happens to him, he bears it with patience and that is also good for him.” (Bukhari)

The Arabic of the second verse also points out that ease, or wellness can only be experienced through hardship. The use of “ma’a” (with) in the verse points to the dependence on hardship itself as a means to an end. You don’t get something for nothing. It is a scientific and religious fact!

When we come to understanding illness on this basic religious level, we come to know that illness is a means to a higher gnosis of God. This gnosis is strengthened by the core belief that illness, although seemingly preventing us from carrying out our daily activities, has a greater benefit; and in my opinion, that is to realign ourselves with our natural needs as humans. Or in other words, to bring us back to God. With this in mind, we can firstly deduce that in Islam, we are taught to always see the good in things, especially things which seemingly have caused us a loss. Psychologically, this practise helps us on a subconscious level because our brains get used to dealing with situations in a positive manner. This enables an individual to practise a practical and universally beneficial Islam on a much deeper level and reap the benefits therefrom.

So naturally, one can ask, what are the tangible benefits of being ill? Well, firstly, as human beings, we are prone to over-work. We have all experienced a burnout when we get close to exam time. We have all experienced the feeling of working towards a deadline we only wish we had more time to finish. I think you know where I’m going with this… It’s time! The most valuable asset to us!
Being ill gives us the time to mentally and emotionally realign ourselves with God and the world. Sometimes we all need a ‘reality check’ or simply some time off our daily lives in order to benefit us in the long run and I believe that illness is one of the means through of which we can do so.

Secondly, being ill has many benefits to us on a spiritual level. Whenever we go through a trial or hardship for the sake of Allah, we experience such a joy that we would gladly endure pain for His sake again and again. The crippled hand of Hadhrat Talha (ra) bears witness to this. If we lower our gaze when an attractive person walks past us, we feel like Allah has drawn so much closer to us on account of the sacrifice of the self. Likewise, when we get up for the Fajr prayer, for the sake of Allah alone- we are sent through a deep spiritual motion of peace and serenity while in prayer and sometimes it lasts throughout the whole day! These are the glad tidings mentioned in the second verse but they are only accessible to those who show patience; for it is only through the garment of patience that we can embellish our spiritual selves.

Allah says that “Man has been made of haste…” implying that it is in our very nature that when we want something, we want it immediately. Especially when it is something to do with God- we are prepared to wait for an expensive delivery in the post, but when we pray to God with the most valuable desires close to our heart we want an answer immediately! Later on the verse goes on to say “… I will show you My signs, so do not impatiently urge me.” (21:38) How beautiful is this verse in that Allah has said that he will answer prayers in due course and how beautiful is it that Allah has exhorted patience in so many places in the Qur’an. Indeed this is a lesson we must learn from illness and any type of affliction- that it is a means to test our patience and to expand it. For how do we truly know our limits if we do not exceed them?

To close, I would like to mention that in your current state, I would like you to just pause and think of what you have. even if you are ill at the moment. Allah has blessed you with the intellect to read this very article when there are so many people who are born blind. Allah has blessed you with hands so you can operate the mouse you used to click on the link of this very article. Allah has blessed you with the intellect to comprehend that He has given you so much without you even asking. He is the Gracious God Allah who has given you this body so that you can travel in the Earth and praise Him and spread His teachings. What is a little illness for a few days. It is our gratefulness which will ultimately help us recover and come back stronger than ever.
I'd like to leave you with this very powerful Hadith from Tirmidhi (1570)

Jabir ibn Abdullah narrated that Allah’s Messenger (saw) said, “On the Day of Resurrection, when people who have suffered affliction are given their reward, those who are healthy will wish their skins had been cut to pieces with scissors when they were in the world.” 

May Allah enable us to show such patience and dedication in His way that any trial or affliction becomes a means of drawing nearer to Him. May Allah enable us to exemplify the teachings of Islam and to follow the most beautiful example of the perfect man, Muhammad (saw) so much so that the Angels in Heaven are amazed at our steadfastness. May we be grateful for what we have so we can allow room for Allah to bless us more. May this article be a source of guidance and benefit for all those who read it, amin.

Does religion allow music?

I think the very question of whether religion 'allows' music needs to be understood. I find that exploring the questions we have normally leads to a profound understanding of the essence of the question itself. This is because as religion is generally concerned with guiding us towards building a living relationship with God, music is generally and seemingly a worldly past-time.
The question if whether music has any positive or negative effects in pursut of the purpose of our life must also be explored. For what are music and religion besides two words? For me this is a journey of understanding through definition.

Now to define music is interesting. Hinduism says that the SOUND that created everything was 'Om'. There are beats in nature we can not deny that exist from the mating calls of some animals, to the communication melodies of whales in the oceans and even to the very beating of our own hearts there seems to be a kind of melodious and 'musical' root. I do find it fascinating however that Allah has created Man to recognise beauty in the sounds we hear and I am in no doubt that this is also a natural miracle of Allah that in the complexity of the universe He has created humans with the ability to create the most complex  and beautiful beats through music. Think of a radio player in deep space playing tchaikovsky- the very thought of it send one into praise of Allah and His power to create!

The question of what is the state of our soul after listening to music is a good one.
I give my personal experience...
I spent one year at Kingston College studying post GCSE. I used to spend a total of one hour on the bus going there and one hour coming back totalling just over two hours travel time every day. During that time I used to listen to hip-hop and artists such as Tupac for the entire journey. One morning I was talking with my friends outside college and used foul language. Immediately I noticed and felt that I had done so, and felt extremly uneasy. During the course of the day I realised that it was because of the company I was keeping (2 hours of Tupac) on the bus, which had subconsiously had an adverse effect on my speech and thoughts.
For me, that was that was the line crossed and crucially, understood. At that time I was (and still am!) studying the books of the Promised Messiah (as) namely "The philosophy of the teachings of Islam" in which he states the reason for the prohibition of swine in Islam is because of it's effect on our various faculties. The same thing, in my opinion, is with music because it is a type of mental sustinence which some religions have taken to substitute the spiritual reality of worship.
Bruce Lee said "The mind is like a fertile garden in which anything that is planted, flowers or weeds, will grow."
This is a brilliant quote which further highlights the condition of our souls when dealing with external influences including, but not limited to, music. The mind as a fertile garden connotes that if we listen to music of a pure nature, we will benefit from it's pure qualities which when seen in light of human nature can be described as healing. Also, in light of my own experience of being influenced by music, connotes that sooner of later, the subjet matter, underlying message or background energy will come to frutition and manifest itself in various forms.
In my experience, music does effect us on a subliminal and hence spiritual level. The state of ones soul is, hence, influenced by the music we listen to. The state of our soul after we listen to music is not apparrant immediately, but over time it is as clear as the day light.

Now when it comes to giving a kind of 'ruling' on whether this influence of music is 'right', I look at it from the bigger picture of our existence as a human race as well as a personal one.
It really does depends on which kind of music one listens to. There is such a vast array of music generes that it is simply narrow minded to refer to music as one specific type. This means we must look at it a as concept. Look, nature has also varying sounds dependent entirely on purpose. The warning sound of some animals, for example, to ward off predators is starkly different to the sounds of those used when calling offspring. All however are used in different places at different times to fulfil the objective of their life at that given time.
One can understand this in light of sound because at different times of the day those who listen to music gravitate towards different types of music. At times of rest in the morning and evening we (at least I do) find, at times, it relaxing to listen to classical music. While when working out or racing we (athletes) would die of boredom if it wasn't for energetic music. However... here are days where I do not listen to music at all- it all depends!

There is also the phenomenological approach which is that if In Islam music was to be officially and openly banned across the board, then how will Islam remain a religion that is universal? Will this mean that whenever we are shopping and go into a department store where there is music playing, we will have to run outside because its haraam!? What a ridiculous notion and religion if that were the case!
Islam seeks to bring harmony between all religions and cultures. This is why we see no clear cut ruling in the Qur'an about music!
Also, as I remember Khalifatul Masih 4th (ra) once explain in a majlis-e-'Irfan sitting that in Islam there are prohibitions and injunctions. There is also a "grey area" in which our own level of righteousness can be nurtured to develop to higher states of gnosis.

Following on from this salient point raised by huzur (ra), I agree that music lies within this "grey area" of Islam where we can, through our choices, use music as a meduim to fulfil the purpose of our life. We don't have to, but it is a choice.
Yes, the purpose of life CAN be achieved without music, after all, didn't people survive when music wasn't as we know it today? Just as all humans have varying levels of understanding at different points in their lives, music may help to enhance the purpose of life at one given time. When I was younger I had a bout of depression and I would listen to songs that would 'help me through' the tough times, at times weeping because of the message in the songs related to my own circumstances. This is something not to do with my spirituality, but mentality- and there was and is nothing wrong with that.
It is also worth noting that no prophet preached the listening of music which proves that it is a paradigm which comes forth through the cultural development of a society. It is something that we see very apparant in today's society, especially in the West where we are living through the largest population boom in history. We also need to understand this through the current age of mankind and in doing so can appreciate the views and opinions of our fellow seekers!

To close, I would like to point out a subtle point to do with sound and the melody of our own human voice. As a student of Arabic, I find it amazing that the sounds of the Arabic language are so fine-tuned. For example, there are four `Z` sounds, there are two `Q`sounds as well as two `T`sounds. Also, the meaning of words can make a world of difference. For example, `Laa`in Arabic means `no`, whereas `la`means an emphatic `yes`! And the difference lies only in the length of the sound we utter. The fine-tuning of the sound we utter in Arabic matters when we want to convey meaning through communication.
When one reads Arabic tajweed keeping in mind all of the rules, yet placing no effort on the melody, it still sounds like a melodious song, which has profound impacts on ones soul. Look at the conversion of Hadhrat 'Umar (ra) when he heard Ta Ha being recited it changed his heart entirely. There was a man who was bent on the death of Rasulullah (saw) yet his reading of the Arabic script no doubt had a deep impact on his entire life!
All of this combined with the notion that the language of Heaven itself is Arabic, in my humble opinion, leaves no room for the concept of music to be seen as something "unislamic" and something to be frowned upon, but on the contrary leaves no doubt that it is something that can enhance certain peoples faith and help them reach their ultimate goal in life.