Appreciating Jahiliyah

 

 

In The Name Of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

Ever had them moments, where you hear a song, and it brings back all those memories of a certain time period, from the smell, atmosphere of that particular time.. whether it be the summer days where you’d be cruising in your cars, wind brushing through your hair, and that great summery feeling where you begin to miss it, Or maybe the hard times you had been through, that bring you back all those sad feelings, and it rushes back to you?

It’s said, you can’t fully appreciate faith unless you’ve experienced jahillyya.

Some time ago, before Allah had guided me. I don’t recall much, everything seems a blur. It seems as I was in a daze. All it was, was me and my music. Life didn’t carry any meaning, just take each day as it comes. Everyone knew me for my craze about Music, from Hip Hop, Pop, Arabic, Rap, Dance, House and the list goes on. Even my teacher knew about my craze. I’d never leave my walkman or discman (iPods weren’t out then), that’s the only thing I paid attention to. If my battery was low that morning, even though I’d be running late for school or college, I would go to the nearest store to buy new batteries. Rather than sit and talk within my group of friends, I would prefer listening to my music. Nothing in life gave me contentment and life was empty. Regardless of what parents would say, or what people spoke about in terms of deen, it seemed as though I was veiled from it.

Music was the only thing that gave me my energy for the day, and when it turned off, I would feel lost and empty again. What kept me so glued to this nonsense? It was fake feeling of happiness I’d get, which only reached the surface of my heart, and nothing beyond it. It was only today, someone had been playing Tupac, and I remember listening to his song ‘Keep Ya Head Up’, I would listen to it before I slept, some days it would bring tears to my eyes… I was struggling inside, but didn’t know why, something felt missing from my life,  and I didn’t know what was making me feel so lost. I’d have days, where once I woke up, all I was looking forward to was bed time, these times were when I didn’t have to think. When I look back and think about his now, it feels cheap to know I was like this once upon a time.

I remember thinking to myself once, I wish I had a written guide which would tell me what to and how to do it.

You watch people chase after Rock Stars, Rap Artists, Pop stars, and go out of their ways to even catch a glimpse of them, they’d have their rooms made into so called shrines of their favourite artists. You go to concerts, or see on TV how those at the front be almost climbing on top of each other to touch their hands, or even get a glimpse from them.

Sometimes, you’d hear about people telling their events in their life, how a song gave them hope and made them believe. It’s what grows their attachment to them. Magazines are plastered with their junk, about how many spots they may have on their forehead, or how greasy their hair may have been one morning while coming out to get the paper. You’ll see a lot of girls with their heads buried in this garbage, and making it seem like its their business, and concern themselves with what doesn’t concern them or bring any benefit.

You’ll watch as kids get older, they go through a phase of being Tupac Fanatics. You’ll notice this particularly amongst youth subcultures, who made had have hard times in their life and resort to violence. They become fanatics, because they feel they can relate to him. It’s been 12 years since he died, and you get kids feeling like they can relate to him and perceive him as their role model. There’s no doubt in saying Tupac was a talented writer, but how he articulated his talent let him down.

Everyone needs a guide in life, a source of motivation, hope, and inspiration. It’s what humans seek and need. Something to give security, and guarantee. The words of Pop stars work for some, but the words that are being produced come from their own in built ideas, experiences, you’ll see the same garbage being reproduced, and it moves with the time frame and those words people seek direction from, whether directly or indirectly. There are no foundations in the ideas being generated, but what the human mind has managed to make understanding from on the basis of their own intellect alone, without any good certain foundations.

Islam gives us good foundations to build our ideas upon. We have The Prophet (saw) the most perfect being who walked on the surface of this earth, who Allah has opened our eyes to and made us realise, who was the walking Shariah, character, thinking, morals, etiquette, sources of inspiration and patience, built on Allah’s (swt) law. Scholars’ works, lectures, deriving from Allah’s guidance – Rabul Alameen – helps us fit within our time frames, and cope with the dilemmas our time gives us. It gives us guarantee, and rids us of uncertainty, and erases the ‘what ifs’ and the ‘should have, would have and could haves’.

The effect to which music has on ones mind, and the false sense of hope and energy it gives, Islam gives us its truest form, which nothing on the face of this earth can give. Which relates to what Ibrahim al-Adham (May Allah have mercy on him) said “If the kings knew the happiness and pleasure that we feel in our hearts, they would come and try to take it away from us with the tips of their swords”.

I pray Allah guides us all, and opens the hearts of those who are lost, to the truth. Ameen

Any good of this is from Allah, and any errors are from myself.