KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING

LIFE CAN BE JUST AS ROUGH AS THE OPEN SEAS.

I was reading a book my daughter bought me, "Chicken Soup for the Soul" on one 'lazy' afternoon a week ago when I came across a saying by Franklin D. Roosevelt. It says: When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on. At that point I also remember a popular saying : When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.

I flashed back in time to when I was in my mid twenties. Life was no easy game for me. Just like the evergreen song of the late sixties and early seventies. The thought of my son came to my mind. He celebrated his 29 birthday last month and received a bouquet of flowers from 'he doesn' t know who'. Maybe he wasn't going to tell me but I didn't insist to know either."Ask no questions and you will get no lies". Sometimes that becomes my motto.So I let it be. One question persists , though. Why do girls send secret messages? LOOKING INTO NOWHERE AND INTO NOTHINGNESS?

That was only a thought of how young people move forward after they stumble into rough grounds on their way out and on their way up. Every one of us went through those years when many of us would ask for advice but in the end never followed any, not even from your mother, the most sincere person in your life if you dare to be honest with her.

Moving forward in life be it private or otherwise can be tricky. So in the Alquran ( God Allah ask WHERE ARE YOU GOING) as revealed in these verses, Chapter 81 verses 19-29:

"Verily this is the word of a most honourable Messenger

Enriched with Power, with rank before the Lord of the Throne,

With authority there, (and) faithful of his trust

And (O people!) Your Companion is not One possessed

And without doubt he saw him in the clear horizon

Neither does he withhold grudgingly a knowledge of the unseen

Nor is it the word of an evil spirit accursed

Then whither go ye?

Verily this is no less than a message to (all) the World

(With profit) to whoever among you wills to go straight

But ye shall not will except as Allah wills,- The Cherisher of the Worlds."

translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Going forward has only one objective, in the Service of Allah the Almighty.We can live life in many different ways as long as we do not transgress His Rules and Regulations, that is, The alQuran and the Traditions. Live as free as the birds and dream as wild as the trees and the mountains. But make sure our feet rest on the ground.

Moving forward in love and affections has various considerations. I talked in some length with my son, sometime ago, who is now in the midst of making a decision of his life. There are at least "seven in one" aspects of a partner in life ( 7 in 1). In his case, she is a wife, a friend, a confidant, a lover, a co-worker, a roommate, a team player and above all, a follower in the worship of Allah,( a husband is a leader).One can interpret this in many different ways as one's obligation towards the immediate family, the extended family, the work place and the society is different from one and the other. The thrust of love and wifely relationship must be sincerity, and fear of Allah (taqwa), compassion, empathy, forgiving, mutual respect, and (perhaps a few more).In short a husband and a wife must be able to complement and supplement each other.

Life is not a bed of roses, as the saying goes.Life is full of trials and tribulations. But let not those sayings hold you back.Much has been said here and elsewhere about making life blissful and successful. I reminded my son that success is the prerogative of Allah, God almighty. We only need to live by some basic rules,and take a day at time when it comes to solving a complicated problems. ALLAH DOESN'T REQUIRE US TO BE THE BEST - ONLY THAT WE TRY OUR BEST. But we do not have to be too careful, or else we do not get anything done. Some people say that if we need to jump off cliffs, JUMP, and we build wings on the way down. But I kept reminding him : you cannot solve a problem before you check on yourself first. In any problem, there is cause and effect. And the cause may be with yourself. Change yourself before you change others. This case is true for every one of us. Martin Luther king said: The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.

What is important is you know where you are going. And the best reference is the Quran and the Traditions of the Prophet Muhammad (saw). There are no two ways about it. So, my dear son, take care of yourself today as Allah has ordained on you, and Allah shall take care of you tomorrow. We will all do the same.And may Allah bless us all. Amin.