It's not normal for me to get depressed. In fact being a Muslim has bought so much contentment to my life, yet sometimes a sort of dark cloud seems to cover that warming light of Allah's guidance. Maybe it is remoteness from Him, the Merciful, due to forgetfulness, but that cloud brings a shiver of cold, emptiness.
As I was cycling to work a few weeks back it seemed the long and cold winter had taken its toll on me. Perhaps it was that seasonal disorder that some people get affected by when they don't get enough sunlight. I find myself pining for the long hot summer days. Bar-b-Q's, badminton and bike rides; praying on the grass in the fresh evening breeze as birds sing in the leafy green trees.
The winter was long, the trees bare, the ground cold, the wind biting. It seemed as if summer would never come. Then the first day of spring! The air warmed and that miracle of those first flowers, crocuses and daffodils. I was looking and smiling.
I had a group in the mosque that day. University students studying theology, and the topic of suffering came up, and I thought of the daffodils and the sun and the winter and the cold and realised that if it were not for the winter, we would never appreciate the summer. It was the contrast with what came before that made what came after taste so sweet. How would we know good if there was no evil, or health without sickness, or joy without sadness. How would we really understand the reality of Allah's forgiveness without sinning and repenting from those sins and feeling the reality of Allah's Mercy engulf us and experience the bliss of Him lifting the burdens from our backs?
yaa mukalib al kuloob, thabit kuloobana ala deenic.
Oh turner of hearts, turn my heart to your obedience!
Now Abdur Raheem, I think you are being but a tad hasty here- WHAT exactly is it that turns you off winters in London?
The overcast skies?
The gloomy drizzle?
The huddle of infuriatingly bitter commuters on London Underground?
Let's not be unfair!
I love Winter- it rocks my thermal lambswool socks.I love having the tips of my fingers go numb, I love stepping out of the house and having nothing but freezing cold air to slap you awake and I love the long evenings- heck, I even love the bare tree branches overhead..
Win'er wid da London flex is just sick bruv, you juz be hatin' na.
I hereby propose:
London Muslims Winter Appreciation Society (LMWAS)
Contact me for details.
AsalaamuAlaiqum waRahmatullah waBarakatu :)
Posted by: Zimarina Sarwar | Friday, 21 April 2006 at 03:04
PS:
Your 'if it were not for the winter, we would never appreciate the summer'
is also just as good as:
'it it were not for the Summer, we would never appreciate the Winter'
-LMWAS Founding Member.
ARG comment...
Ok, I just don't get this...does anyone get this?
Winter, snow, skiing yes..but just winter, in London?
Maybe it's 'cause it reminds u somewhat of home ;) ? The freezing glacial streams of Afghanistan...hmmm....I had to take a bath in one of those once, but that's another story.
Actually summer is not much fun in London either, hot and sticky. All I end up doing is dreaming of being beside the sea! Truely nothing will make us happy except paradise! May All take us there.
Posted by: Zimarina Sarwar | Friday, 21 April 2006 at 03:06
indeed, Ameen to that!
Ironically enough, winter's in Afghanistan would probably be closer to your description of that idyllic romantic snow topped mountains deal...with the blast of a few rounds of ammo just to set the mood ofcourse..
PS: Many people have contacted me for admission to LMWAS, but fear coming public with it and being banned from this blog :( Tyranny.
ARG comment:
lol..no one will be banned, honest, i tolerate all forms of dissent, as long as it agrees with what I say!
Posted by: Zimarina Sarwar | Friday, 21 April 2006 at 17:35