Subhana’Allah (Glory be to Allah in the Highest), sometimes in life we find ourselves facing what appear to be insurmountable challenges in a particular area or situation. And then without any indications or pointers, we’re given a wave of something so beautiful, so relieving, so profound; something that allows us to truly feel that Allah is with us, every step of the way, seeing, hearing and knowing all that we are experiencing without us having to even utter a word.

 That wave can be a moment of tasting the sweetness of faith – a moment where we truly feel that our hearts have humbled themselves to Allah.  One of those moments can come as we sit after prayer and ask Him for His blessings, both in this world and in the hereafter. This is the meaning of uboodiyah – the true state of devotion and worship – where we are not just performing rituals, but are putting forth our entire selves as we try to draw nearer to our Lord – the All-Merciful, the Sustainer, the Creator, the One Who holds the dominion over the heavens and the earth. 

Life these days is so “busy” – we run from one task to the next, and one event to the next, as if it’s a rat race.  Yes, as Allah says tells us in the Quran, He wants us to compete in doing good – we should have our times filled with that which brings us closer to Allah and brings goodness to our communities and to humanity at large.  But we should never be too “busy” to take a few minutes each day and pour our heart out to Allah – for only He knows how much we need it. 

Societies in North American and around the world, are starting to realize the importance of “meditation” because it helps us centre ourselves, focus, and feel at peace.  Allah ensured that we have this opportunity with Him, one on One, every day, five times a day, for life.  What better could we ask for?

To achieve the true meaning of uboodiyah – to feel that we know and love Allah and to be so humbled that we are blessed to submit our will to Him, and only to Him, there are some steps we can all take:

• The long term step is to know the attributes of Allah. He has 99 attributes – each of which is a sea of knowledge on its own. How can we worship Him if we do not love Him, and how can we love Him if we do not know Him? Let us make it a resolution to read, ponder, reflect upon, and use in our suplications, the 99 attributes of Allah over the coming months.
• The short term steps we can take include repeating “La illaha illa Allah” (there is no God but Allah) as much as we can every day for this is the dhikr (remembrance) that brings our heart together – such that we do not have conflicting interests and struggles in our hearts – our hearts belong to Allah, our bodies belong to Allah, and our souls belong to Allah.  All that we do in life should be for Allah and our focal point for making any decision is the pleasure of Allah.
• The next short term step is to take the time to make dua’a (supplication) every day after each prayer – even if it is only for a few minutes for our beloved Prophet, peace be upon him, tells us: “Dua’a is the essence of worship” – if we do not ask Allah for His favours, for His mercy, for His guidance, then how do we claim that He is Our Lord and that we need His care with us every step of the way?
• The final step is to have the time to know what Allah asks of us by reading the Quran daily, even if it is just a few verses.  When we love someone, we want to know what they love and brings them happiness, do we not? Allah tells us what He loves, what He asks of us and what He wants us to stay away from, in the Quran. 

When we start to practice these simple, but powerful actions, subhana’Allah, sometimes it is just a matter of days until we start to experience the true meaning of uboodiyah and taste that ever so beautiful sweetness of faith.  A feeling that is rare and thus so precious and much needed in our lives today.