“What a failure to be free of distractions and not turn back to Him! Or to have fewer obstacles and not journey back to Him!”
The journey to Allah doesn’t have an end.
And this is the final episode of this course, but the real essence of the course does not have an end; it is like circulating around the Ka’bah: When you end one circle, you go in another circle that takes you at a higher level.
A Circular Journey
The intertwined nature of all of these traits and the circular nature of the journey towards Allah will make us always work towards Allah.
We started with repentance and hope, and we end with repentance and hope; we started with purifying our intention and relying on Allah, and we end with purifying our intention and relying on Allah.
This is not step number one versus step number thirty in these episodes, but it’s step number one versus going back to step number one.
We started with how to reflect in order for you to be more sincere and to direct your heart towards Allah; and you end with reflection upon Allah’s creation, upon your life and upon your journey.
We started about not postponing good deeds and we end by not postponing good deeds.
We started by ridding ourselves from forgetfulness, pride and self-righteousness… And it is actually the end of the journey to also rid yourself of forgetfulness, pride and self-righteousness.
We had the mentioning of Allah and dhikr of His names and His attributes, His creation in the beginning of the journey, and we have it also at the end.
When we have time, it is a shame, the sheikh is saying, not to turn back to Him. And when you have a chance by the world and its affairs giving you a window of chance to do more for His sake, he is saying, what a failure if you don’t use that!
Allah Almighty says:
So when you have finished [your duties], then stand up [for worship]. And to your Lord direct [your] longing. (Quran 94:7-8)
Restart the Journey
This is how we end the journey, by going back to the beginning of it and realizing that the journey is circular and intertwined; and every thing that we discussed is not actually linear, one step after the other, but all of these steps are interconnected and all of them are networked in a mesh of meanings that we always have to have everyday with us, not that we divide our days over these themes.
It is very important to continue to be humble; it’s very important to continue to rely on Allah for the value of what you do and the impact of what you do.
It is very important to continue the journey from the time you decide to start it all the way until you meet Allah Almighty at the end of your journey; and you ask Him that the next phase of the journey is a better phase and is a more happy and more successful phase when we meet Him in the real life.
We ask Allah to accept our good deeds; and we ask Him to take us always forward on His way and back to repentance and back to remembrance.