Musings–You MUST be Born Again

By Imam Abdullah El-Amin, MMNS

“Have We not expanded thee thy breast? 2. And removed from thee thy burden, 3. That which did gall thy back? 4. And raised high the esteem (in which) thou (art held)? 5. So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief; 6. Verily, with every difficulty there is relief. 7. Therefore, when thou art free (from thine immediate task), still labor hard, 8. And to thy Lord turn (all) thy attention.

94: 1-8

Difficulties don’t happen to you…they happen for you. ALLAH, The Almighty, is the Creator and Rabb of everything. There is nothing that happens or doesn’t happen that He doesn’t sanction. A bird doesn’t fly and a leaf doesn’t drop without it being in the Master Plan of ALLAH.

So as it may be, your so-called misfortunes happen for a specific reason as well. The title of today’s column comes from a quote from Prophet Isa ibn Maryam in the scriptures of the bible. In it, Prophet Isa made the statement that “In order to enter the kingdom of Heaven, you must be born again.” At this time, one of his confused companions asked “How can we enter our mother’s womb to be born again?” Isa replied that it wasn’t a physical rebirth he was referring to, but a spiritual one.

There is a similar quote of ALLAH in the Holy Qur’an where it says “Die, so that you may live.” It doesn’t mean to die a physical death…it means to die to your wickedness. It means to die to your fear and insecurity. It means to die to you weakness and laziness. Die! So you can come into your true position as the Cream of ALLAH’S creation.

I know a beautiful person with a spirit and heart of gold. If asked to do something in the cause of ALLAH, she doesn’t hesitate, even though she may be in need herself. Her shortcoming though is something must have happened to her in her in her growing up that causes her to have feelings of doubt about herself. She is a little too weak to wicked people who may delight in being mean to her. As a result, she allows herself to be belittled.

I try to keep reminding her (and myself) that things that happen to you are not unknown to ALLAH. These trials are not just happening to you. They are happening for you. They are happening to you and you may or may not have known they were coming. But one thing is certain. You can gain a positive direction from it. “Surely with difficulty comes ease.”

The Promised Land and Heaven are right at our fingertips everyday. Satan takes pleasure in our failures and he hopes that failure is permanent. ALLAH takes pleasure in our prosperity. He especially takes pleasure in seeing us use His directives to raise ourselves out of a state of fear and dejection to a position of strong moral fiber and strength. He has given us wings to soar high above the creation. Don’t have access to the greatest tools of creation and not use them. That is turning your back on the gift of ALLAH.

Being born again is returning to the original nature ALLAH created you in. That original nature is a submitting Muslim. Try to remember that so you may prosper.

With ALLAH’S name, the Merciful Benefactor, Merciful Redeemer
As Salaam alaikum
(Al Hajj) Imam Abdullah Bey El-Amin

10-19