The pleasures of an independent mind

Bismillah.

Of course I remembered the 4th of July - a nation living 10,000 miles away celebrated its Independence Day yesterday. Makes me think of the pleasures of an independent mind. A mind that freely evolves from a narrow thought to one which is brighter, more inspiring, and more liberating. To state the obvious, a static mind is not an independent mind.

I realized how stagnant my mind had been at times when I saw this quote by Mike Doodle: "Think of every single thing that we 'have to' do to get through a day, as something that we 'get to' do...before our turn is over. Everything is a gift."

I thought that sounded like an Islamic value, very universal. It makes us more thankful. It makes us want to embrace life more positively. It liberates the shackles of our minds. So we start counting our blessings though Allah says in the Quran, there is no way we could do that.

Alhamdulillah, I get to write. I get to share. I get to meet some wonderful people, physically and virtually. Oh by the way, a friend from Africa sent me a poem by Imam Shafie:
"Allow time to do as it pleases
and let your soul be happy,
and rest with qadha and its outcome.
Do not panic when events take a bad or difficult turn.
For events of this life do not last forever..."

Certainly, this too shall pass. And isn't it amazing that detaching ourselves from all things tangible or intangible could make our mind so independent, so free to embrace the times of our life and hopefully without too many complaints, else we belong with those whom Allah refers to in a hadith qudsi: "Sons of Adam inveigh against [the vicissitudes of] Time, and I am Time, in My hand is the night and the day."

Alhamdulillah, I get to speak my faith.

Alhamdulillah, I get to speak my mind.