Re: Allah's Love
Wa'aliakumuSalam Sister redvelvet
This is a hard question because there are so many parameters. In my experience the deepest wisdom in the Acts of Allah (SWT) are universally applicable. Lesser wisdoms are specifically applicable.
For parenthood to be a means to realise the Love of Allah (SWT) I can accept that on the basis of it being specific, but it is not a universal wisdom.
For there are some who are orphaned, some who are not, some who are themselves parented and some who are not, some who desire parenting and some who do not, some who become parents - experiencing it and some who do not. There is also a range of meaning in the concept of parenthood, from siring children to developing the inner and outer humanity of an individual.
It just so happens that the experience of parenthood out of the above possible scenarios gives us the best understanding of parenthood and that of love. It does not deal with the idea of where the impetus to be parents comes from ... merely that once we are parents we are better equipped to understand the relationship of dependency to intimate levels, however, it does not mandate that condition.
There could be parents who are not good at parenting, neither wanting to be nor being any good at it and there could be people without offspring who would be fully awe-struck with parenthood if they were given the parenting chance.
If then to avoid the uncomfortable advantage being given to parents we must conclude that to experience parenthood does not prevent knowing the Love of Allah (SWT), which could imply we have other ways to learn about the Love of Allah (SWT) or that one does not need to be a parent to understand the love of a parent.
In reality, there may be something specifically gained from being a parent that is otherwise not obtained for not being a parent, but that what is possible to be gained in both situations must be closer to the core universal wisdom that we seek. So what is it about parenthood that can be universally obtained that points to the Love of Allah (SWT)?
With all personal factors removed we may be able to conclude that parenthood is a form of mercy, which underlies other forms, parenthood is an ornament in the children for those who seek status from children, a form of power ... it is about personal propagation and self-preservation. Why else would the trees bear fruit?
But to appoint the rank of parent on the tree for its fruit we quickly realise that the only matter in which its parenthood applies is in that stem that provides the environment to the fruit to grow. In the most fundamental form a parent is a supplier of nourishment - an enabler of life.
So although parenthood may give a natural comparison between understanding life giver and life form ... it does not point to the purpose of giving life or in what capacity that life was being given. Allah (SWT) Gives life out of Wisdom, we procreate out of something natural and innate. We conclude that a blossoming tree is a happy tree, but can we conclude happiness always bears fruit? ... We don't know why the bearing of fruit is an expression of happiness. Rather our intellects would have us conclude that bearing fruit is a function of caution and protection, so how is happiness reconciled with caution and fear? Then how about the consequential angle? The trees blossom, we may want to preserve our family names, but what about animals? For animals and for many people children is a chance consequence of sexual behaviour - a side-effect of being happy - or should I say horny in the case of the lustfully driven. Is Creation a side-effect of a Creating Force? We cannot draw that conclusion either ...
Offspring are a gift and a problem ... that can escalate our path to God through sadqa-jariya or escalate our path to destruction by being a distraction from God ... This one or the other nature of offspring - will be reflected in one or the other nature of parenthood. The best way to view offspring is that they are fitna - "tests" ... that we can either pass or fail. So parenthood is a TEST. Our attachment to our children should be tempered and controlled yet our attachment with Allah (SWT) should know no limits ... We must position our love for Allah (SWT) greater than what we harbour for our children or companions or parents ...
If anything the amount of love we have for our children should be an indicator of what amount we need to exceed by when viewing the maqam of Allah (SWT). So how can we understand the Love of Allah (SWT) through parenthood? Well what we can do is to channel love towards Allah (SWT) when or if parenthood pleases us and we see ourselves loving our children - we should acknowledge Allah (SWT) and then bring ourselves to distance from that love of our children and supersede it with our love for Him. A fitna indeed !!!
By providing so many distractions to us from Loving Him ... He Shows His Needlessness of our love ... and by recognising this and loving our gifts within the context of the Gift-Giver ... we might succeed ...
How great a gift is a beautiful babe from my own person? And how much greater a gift is the Gift-Giver Himself?
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