1:7 Sirata allatheena anAAamta AAalayhim ghayri almaghdoobi AAalayhim wala addalleen. Ameen
the Path of those You have blessed—not those You are displeased with, or those who are astray. Ameen.
Cool people, is a subjective term no doubt. However, to be given friends that bring light and joy to your heart is a pure encounter. This level of purity is not man made, and cannot be forced. Thank God for those “cool” parties that I missed.
As much as I felt left out for it, totally estranged from the “fun” life. I am so grateful now for the path that I am on. This gifted path helps me to encounter such wonderful, intelligent, giving, and kind people who are all super cool people.
More important than feeling that these people have my back, is that I want to have their back. I strive to build relationships with those that I didn’t ask for, they are those that Allah gave to me. Therein is the gift of this verse that I repeat at least 17 times a day.
I look back at those “cool” parties, and I see those cool people, some of whom Allah has shown that He is displeased with. We are easily influenced as humans. Don’t be so sure that you can run in circles like that and nothing will rub off on you.
It does, and it has. Because you can’t see it, does not mean it hasn’t happened.
Influencers can be dangerous
I can look back to when I was a little girl. The level of influence everyone had on me. Especially those that I thought were cool people. My mind was so impressionable. I could become anything and anyone, depending on who had influence over me.
Meanwhile I needed to be around those that could make me anything and anyone fabulous. We are flexible in our youth. We can change and adapt quickly. We know we want to succeed in every way. So we set out to do it.
And this is not just unique to me. We all have a degree of influence that overcomes us by those that appeal to us as cool people. Today, I realise that we just don’t know and can’t tell who is real, who is sincere, who is good.
So when we genuinely say to God that we need Him to manage this one for us, to keep us on the right path and away from the path where these so called cool people will make us deviate, we are asking for the biggest gift ever. Nothing can be more valuable.
Ameen. And align
After the above 7 powerful verses are recited, we always say “Ameen”. I was taught to say it slow and long. This way, because the angels also say Ameen with us, ours will coincide with their timing of saying it, and that’s when our prayers align.
I have no idea if this is from a source or if this is just something I was taught culturally. But I do know that I love the idea of asking for and reflecting on the above 7 things, and then saying “Ameen” to that!
What a wonderful way to commence our prayers as well as anything else we start throughout our day: work, meetings, relationships, new projects, grocery shopping, redecorating, you name it…it gives it a new dimension.
It even gives our idea of who are cool people, a new way of looking at it.
Cool people are only cool if…
We know who we think is cool today, because our opinions have matured and formed over time. But what if I were to tell you that would change again. Scary right? Your idea of cool people is that fickle, yes.
But do you know who really has the answer to who are the cool people? God. He created every single one of us. And He knows who is the coolest. Isn’t that what you want to be surrounded by? The coolest of all cool people?
Those are the ones you will never change your mind about. They are the ultimate cool people, created by God for us to recognise. More importantly, for us to become. So let’s become cool people. Let’s understand their description in the Quran and let’s emulate it!
