Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmutullahi wa barakahtu.
Today I thought it would be interesting to look into how fundamental it is for us as Muslims to negate the reality before our eyes.
An amazing brother, Ousama Alshurafa has spoken about this at length and it inspired me to reflect on this deeper.
He describes the first pillar of Islam – the shahada, as the encryption key to unlocking reality. There is no God but God and Muhammad ﷺ is a prophet and messenger of God.
This negation, “There is no God but God” is so powerful because it humbles everything else by default.
The more we focus on La illaha illa Allah, the less we will depend on anything else. Remember la hawla wa la quwata illa billah, there is no strength or might except through Allah, is yet another negation of our perception.
This food didn’t nourish me, God nourished me. The water hasn’t quenched my thirst, God has quenched my thirst.
Yet it is explicitly clear in the Qur’an that Allah (swt) isn’t mixed in with creation. Allah (swt) has established Himself on the Throne which resides above the seven heavens.
Internally we know the truth, which is why we are born with the fitrah (natural disposition to the Oneness of Allah).
However, as we grow our senses dilute, distort and distract us from this reality and our experience of the Dunya begins to take hold.
It becomes especially difficult when we are increasingly exposed by the corruption of Shaitan.
Remember that we have testified to the actual reality before coming into this world.
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِنۢ بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ ۖ قَالُوا۟ بَلَىٰ ۛ شَهِدْنَآ ۛ أَن تَقُولُوا۟ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَـٰمَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَـٰذَا غَـٰفِلِينَ ١٧٢
And ˹remember˺ when your Lord brought forth from the loins of the children of Adam their descendants and had them testify regarding themselves. ˹Allah asked,˺ “Am I not your Lord?” They replied, “Yes, You are! We testify.” ˹He cautioned,˺ “Now you have no right to say on Judgment Day, ‘We were not aware of this.’
— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran (7:172)
