on the path of thorns

Knowing D&T is the best thing that ever happened in my life.

But if you expect D&T to be like this

Then do something else. But the irony is, why would you do something else, when D&T is the path of the prophets and the messengers and the companions and the 'ulama and the cool people like Malcolm X? Hah!

So the only option left is to keep on doing D&T while persevering and being patient.

This is what I learnt these past few weeks and past few days. D&T is not a path of roses. In a hadith, Rasulullah described the sirat (bridge) that we will all cross on judgement day. It is a very narrow bridge, there are hooks over it and these hooks will catch people and throw them into the hellfire below. Some will cross in the wink of an eye, some like lightning, some will survive with scratches, and so on.

When i thought about this hadith, it almost describes the condition of people on earth.

On earth, people who do God's commands are traversing a very challenging bridge. It is very hard to walk on, 'hooks' are waiting to snatch them, and below them is Hell. But those who are patient with this crossing on earth, will walk on the sirat like lightning, or a fast wind, or a fast horse. Otherwise, if we live life without hardship, without responsibilities, without committing ourselves to Allah's chosen way of life..

*shiver*

If you have problems before D&T, don't expect D&T to be an 'instant cure' for those problems. don't expect D&T to be filled with people who smell like roses all the time, or smile all the time, or can read our feelings, or always know the right things to say.

Especially when we're not angels ourselves.

I like this quote. "entering into a mosque and expecting everybody to be good, is like entering into a hospital and expecting everyone to be healthy."

We are all sick and currently receiving treatment. Treatment can be painful.

nevertheless, this path has its sweetness. And that sweetness is worth the pain.

Companions who support you and want the same things you do.

Knowing that you always have Allah.

and other things. I'll talk about that in another post insyaallah.