InshaAllah, full Summary to follow
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Salaam all.
I do hope you all enjoyed and learned something useful from
last week’s Study Circle.
Before I upload / circulate the full summary later this
week, inshaAllah, I will do a brief summary of the main points from the Circle.
The reason is that we covered a lot of ground and it is
important to highlight the salient aspects of the session. We should focus upon
the key elements of change and start to change our mindset. The process of
change will not take days but weeks or months of dedicated focus – but that
journey needs to start soon (if not already started).
Hence, do reflect upon what I talked about and bring any
queries and clarifications to next week’s Circle – inshaAllah, I will try to
address them.
In brief, we started off by making a list of important
things we need to do this week...
- We analysed the types of happiness at different stages in
Life
- I talked about the fisherman and capitalist
- Covey’s Rocks in a bottle, with pebbles, sand and water
- Hence: What are your ‘Big Rocks’
- Happiness and material progress in Western civilisation
has not resulted in a happier people
- Western and Eastern Philosophers differed on happiness but
none got it right
- There are checklists but these are all in the Western
Paradigm of happiness (10 Steps, & Habits Happy people etc)
The True and Islamic Perspective is that we need to
fundamentally change the way we look at life and our perspective on all
matters.
- I gave the example of the lines drawn and the speech of
Khansaa.
- I reminded people about the fundamental process of the
Belief Pathway from 3 Questions through to the Pleasure of Allah for the
Afterlife
- Hence Allah alone decides what is ‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’,
what is ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’, what makes Him ‘pleased’ and what ‘angers’ Him, and
so what should make us ‘Happy’ and ‘Sad’
- Our priority as Slaves of Allah is to make Allah Pleased
with us (like the yearning of a child to his mother)
- The Qur’an and Sunnah is our guide for this
- We should also have firm conviction in the central belief
of al-Qadhaa Wal-Qadr and how things that happen outside our control are from
Allah and we should deal with them as such
- We should contextualise wealth and not get hung up on
competing with the rich – as our Rizq is fixed
- Finally, this world is temporary and we shouldn’t be too
attached to it; and focus on what we can take beyond the grave.
- What will be our legacy (earthly footprint) in addition to
the deeds we do?
- And so, ‘In the remembrance of Allah do the hearts find
rest/tranquillity’ [TMQ 13:28] and focus on pleasing Allah for our own
happiness as He knows what is best for us as He created us that way
InshaAllah, I will give a fuller explanation/review later this
week with the full examples and evidences and circulate it on the WhatsApp
group and upload on the website: www.harborneislam.blogspot.com
Until then I will recirculate the Belief Pathway and do take
some time to review, reflect and discuss with each other.
Thank you for listening and reading.
As always, any mistakes are mine and all the Good is from
Allah.
Jzk
Naveed
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