The Impact of Our Choices – Shaykh Faid Mohammed Said
Oftentimes we pass the hours away not realizing how many choices we are making. We also don’t realize how many opportunities we are missing out on, says Shaykh Faid Mohammed Said.
Syedina Abu Dharr (radiallah anhu), the great Sahabi of Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasalam), in sharing his wisdom about the choices we make as humans, said:
“Good company is better than being lonely,
And being lonely is better than the corrupted.
The one that spreads khair is better than the one that is quiet,
And the one that is quiet is better than the one devoid of good words. “
The profundity of Abu Dharr’s (radiallah anhu) statement is that it recognizes that we as humans have wants, and as such he is framing those wants as within a set of impactful choices.
Choices that seem as mundane as eating and talking, can at moments be good and at others not be the choicest.
An example of such being when Imam Shafi (rehmatullah alaih) visited Imam Ahmad (rehmatullah alaih), and when the latter’s daughter commented on the amount of food Imam Shafi (rehmatullah alaih) was consuming, he explained that he had done so because of the blessings in the food that was spread before him!
As we tread through the choices that are spread before us, may Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) facilitate the choicest.
Resources for Seekers
- Belief in Destiny, It’s Good and Evil – Shaykh Nuh Keller
- From Inside to Outside: The Importance of Intention – SeekersHub Blog
- Do We Have Choice? And Does Allah Prevent That Choice from being realized?
- A Reader on Sincerity, Intention, and the Purpose of Spiritual Routines
- Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali’s Commentary on the Hadith of Gibril
- Destiny and Human Responsibility in Islam
- A Reader on the Problem of Evil, Suffering, Punishment, Destiny
