When The Boat Rocks

I was looking at this āyah:

It speaks about a people travelling by sea, safely and happily, with the wind blowing perfectly, the weather beautiful, the skies clear, and everything going smoothly.

When suddenly, they are overcome by waves from every side.

Their once calm journey has now turned into turmoil.

The dwellers of the ship then turn to Allāh, asking and pleading for help, with a promise that once He saves them from the trouble they are in, they will worship Him and be grateful.

However, once they reach safety, they forget how Allāh saved them and break their promise to Him.

I think this is me.

This is us.

We go about our days, blissful, everything going right. Nothing rocking our ship. No waves, just blue skies.

But Allāh, being the Most Merciful, may give our flimsy little boat a gentle rock.

Perhaps He gives us an opportunity because we weren’t creating one ourselves.

He creates that space for us to come back to Him, to remember that His doors are open.

I attended a bayān of Shaykh Ḥasan ʿAlī, who mentioned four types of people when it comes to calling upon Allāh.

1. The one who calls upon Allāh during ease.

He turns to Allāh and remembers Him when life is easy, but when life becomes difficult, he forgets Allāh’s blessings, blames and turns away.

2. The one who turns to Allāh in hardship.

He is not grateful for the ease Allāh has given him and allows the worldly life to distract him from remembering his Lord.

3. The one who turns to Allāh in both.

Like Sayyidinā Ayyūb عليه السلام. A story for another time.

4. The one who does not turn to Allāh.

Neither is he grateful, nor does he have any trust or backbone to fall back on when the realities of life cross his path.

This type of person is very fragile.

And, in a way, foolish.

It’s amazing because perhaps sometimes Allāh allows our “perfect” little boats to rock, just enough to help us.

To nudge us.

To remind us of His greatness, His power, and His immense mercy towards us.

So yes, the ocean can be dark, deep and scary.

But if our names are known in the heavens, like Sayyidinā Yūnus عليه السلام, then perhaps the darkness isn’t quite as frightening as we think.

He called upon Allāh from the darkness, and Allāh answered him.

Perhaps sometimes the boat has to rock before we remember Who is keeping it afloat.

— Bint al-Qalm (عُفِيَ عَنْهَا)