What Will They Think Of Me? Part 2: A Walk in the Moon

By Zahra Anjum

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

Yusuf returned home to find his wife in a pleasant mood. He was glad to see this and offered that they go for a walk after dinner.

**** **** ****

The darkness of the night was being broken by the full moon. It was shining brightly, engulfing the atmosphere with its serene silver light.

“Subhan’Allah! Look at the moon today!” Yusuf pointed out. “All praise is for the Fashioner of this universe.”

“Yes, it’s amazing! And did you see all the different flowers that have been planted on the sidewalk? They look so wonderful.” Naima added.

“The deeper you reflect on the creation of Allah, the more you get amazed. Everything is just flawless!” he commented.

“Indeed.” she said.

“Isn’t it fascinating, this moon is just a speck compared to the sun, and the sun itself is a tiny dot in the entire milky way galaxy; what is the value of us human beings then? We are just nothing! And then we make the mistake of deeming insignificant people like ourselves more important than the Creator.

Today, the Imam was explaining the verse about how we do not evaluate Allah as we rightfully should. It moved me so much.

“They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal, while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand. Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.” (Surah Az-Zumar 39: 67)

Isn’t this true Naima? I found it totally true for myself; I care more for my boss’s appreciation than that of Allah, I care more for the approval of those around me than that of Allah. Pleasing them is more important to me than pleasing Him; whereas He is the only one worthy of our endeavors to please Him!”

“Hmmm…” Naima was listening intently, enjoying the cool breeze as they strode. Yusuf continued.

“He was telling us an amazing hadith about this verse too. Once a Jewish scholar came to the Prophet (sa) and addressed him: “O Muhammad (sa), verily, Allah, the Exalted and Glorious would carry the Heavens on the Day of Judgment upon one finger and earths upon one finger and the mountains and trees upon one finger and the ocean and moist earth upon one finger, and in fact the whole of the creation upon one finger, and then He would stir them and say: I am your Lord, I am your Lord.

Upon this the Messenger of Allah (sa) smiled, testifying what that scholar had said. He then recited the same verse. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Naima, Allah is supreme, beyond our imagination. His knowledge and the knowledge of those who impress us is incomparable; He is more knowledgeable than the world’s most knowledgeable and intellectual scientist. The mightiest of kings are nothing to Him. He is the Most-Wise, the Most-Beautiful. The truth is we just don’t realize the supremacy of Allah. We forget Him totally and the duties that we have to Him and remember Him only when we are in trouble…”

“I agree Yusuf; you are right,” responded Naima, thoughtfully. “We are lacking in our connection with Allah. We have realized the status of everyone in our lives and try to give them what’s due based on the nature of the relationship. However, when it comes to Allah, our relationship does need fixing.”

“Yes. He is and should be above all; we are His servants and He our Master and Creator,” said Yusuf and smiled at his wife.

And Naima smiled back with a glimmer of determination in her eyes.

Zahra Anjum is a freelance writer, editor and translator based in Islamabad, Pakistan.