Seed of Faith

Of late, I’ve been receiving a lot of lessons from the Quran which are related to plants. MasyaAllah and I love it! Because we’ve been studying plants for quite a while and all these lessons from the Quran remind me that I need to connect everything that I teach my children to the Quran, to Rasulullah ‎ﷺ, to the Deen, and ultimately to Allah ﷻ. 

It started with a tafseer class with Ustazah Farhana which is currently on Surah Abasa. We covered these ayats:

Then let mankind look at his food. How We poured down water in torrents. Then We broke open the earth, splitting [it with sprouts]. And caused to grow within it grain. And grapes and herbs. And olives and [date] palm trees. And gardens of dense shrubbery. And fruits and fodder. [As] enjoyment for you and your grazing livestock. [80: 24-32]

As I sat there listening to Ustazah, my mind wandered to the time-lapse videos we had watched earlier in the week of seeds sprouting and breaking through the earth, plants growing taller with roots spreading deeper and further into the soil, and flowers blooming beautifully and dying gracefully. I had wanted to show them to the kids out of the blue. But I realised it wasn’t random, it was inspired, so that as I listen to these lessons, I can have visual images in my head that I could connect to. And I hope it would be the same for my kids inshaa Allah when I tell the lessons to them.

And what are these ayats from Surah Abasa actually referring to? The Quran is full of parables and this is one of them. The scholars said that the water is the blessings and goodness sent down from Allah to nourish the seeds of faith (iman) in our hearts. And as our faith sprouts and flourishes, it begins to nourish and sustain our souls. And as it blooms further, it becomes a cure for the diseases in our hearts. And as it grows more rooted and dense, its shade starts to benefit those around him. And even after the passing of a righteous person, his iman could benefit those generations after. And what we are enjoying now could very well be the fruits of labour of our past generations. Allahu’alam. 

SubhanAllah. I thought that was so beautiful. And I also thought of this time-lapse video of a dying plant that  was resurrected by water. It reminds me of a dying heart that is resurrected by the light of the Quran or the light of Rasulullah ‎ﷺ.

I remember when the pictures below were taken - more than a month ago. I was feeling a little sad because the mothers in the Science co-op had decided to stop our classes due to the outbreak. We didn’t want to risk the mothers and children who had to take long rides in public transport for the classes. 

As I walking and lamenting to myself at East Coast, I suddenly saw these beautiful flowers which I had not noticed before, although we are always at East Coast. And I remember thinking to myself then “Allah will not take something from me without replacing it with something better.” Because I realised then that Science is not just in classrooms and co-ops, but it’s everywhere around us and Allah ﷻ has provided all of nature as our classroom. Allah is indeed Al Kareem!

Ixora, periwinkle and hibiscus spotted at East Coast

I finally come to realise why we’ve been dwelling so long on the topic. It is because there are lessons still waiting for me. And the reminders from the Quran continue to come from teachers like Shaykh Mohamed Aslam and Habib Ali Zainal Abidin. May the seed of faith continue to flourish and take roots in our hearts so that we may nourish and shelter our children under our care, especially during these tumultuous times. Aameen.