We live in a world where most of us feel, as Queen said, “I want it all and I want it now!” Now, I do believe it’s amazing that we have advanced so much in technology, medicine, etc. but where this progress turns on its head to become regressive is when we believe that if we eliminate all bad feelings, life will be good. I can even see the point in trying to be physically comfortable - if you feel hot, put on the air conditioner; if you have a headache, take a pill; if you’re hungry, grab a snack; heck, if you’re depressed, grab a pill too.

But what I see is that many of us are trying to rid any unpleasant sensation whatsoever, even those which are beneficial to us. For example, I see the slogan “No Fear” a lot (usually on the back of a pickup lol). It is indeed unpleasant to feel afraid - I myself do not enjoy it. Yet the false remedy seems to be to simply hide away (creating a cozy world of television and carefully chosen acquaintances who think as we do) and ignore the things which are frightening: war, corruption, crime, etc. Or we can go the other way and simply nuke everything so that lo and behold we can ignore it as well. Many of the “game faces” you see nowadays, with people being unusually heated or belligerent stems from this. If you go in hard enough, no one can touch you. The problem with this is that it often escalates frightening situations. If everybody’s right, then we’re in serious trouble. Things seem to be getting more and polarized amongst people who are digging in their heels. The frightening situations will not just go away until we can look them in the face and deal with them justly. Yes, it might even reach you one day in your castle-behind-the-walls.

Logic, ethics, and even common sense tell us that it is possible we are wrong sometimes. Yet this is not a thought even entertained by many people nowadays (both non-Muslim and Muslim). Ironically, this is not bravery but cowardice. It is an infant trying to hold onto the security blanket of reassurance, of staying as we are and refusing to be challenged. We may as well put our fingers in our ears and sing la la la. Rather, humility can actually help us find the right answers, no matter how unpleasant the interim of feeling “doubt”. There is legitimate doubt (based on something not being correct or feeling ill at ease in your conscience/soul) and illegitimate doubt (simple neuroticism or lack of confidence, etc.) - and a smart person will keep the good and get rid of the bad. (By the way, many religious people balk at “doubt” as a bad thing - it is when applied to things which are certain or basic, but not to simply keeping an open mind when learning - for how can you be expected to have 100% unwavering certainty in the political dogma you are fed? If you don’t believe me, ask yourself how the person you disagree with is ever supposed to see your side of it - which implies the same applies to you lol.)

This is why the Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said that pride is not looking nice or grooming yourself well, but rather it is “rejecting the Truth and looking down on the people.” There is also a Hadith Qudsi which states that Allah will put anyone who has a speck of pride into the Hellfire.

Another “bad” feeling is that of guilt. Yes, there are some things such as mere social custom which should not make us feel ashamed of ourselves. Yet, shame and guilt are natural inhibitors we have - alarm bells which go off telling us - ahem - that we may not be doing everything right. Now many people, instead of taking heed and correcting their behavior or ridding themselves of the vices or low behaviors, they cleverly go to the root of the “problem” (which is not them of course!) and get rid of the guilt! This is like taking out the batteries in your smoke detector or alarm clock - peace at last - no irritating noise!

The Prophet sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam said that the person who most deserves our shame is Allah. When I was younger, I didn’t quite understand this - I thought it meant literally such as if we are unclothed, etc. and wondered how if Allah created us. The “hayaa`” is not just modesty in a physical way, but it means feeling ashamed. In the olden days they would use public shame to root out the traits considered immoral in the society (which can be quite effective). Yet, if you are doing something wrong, it is a lack of faith to feel afraid from others and safe when in private. And this is the meaning of the statement - for God deserves your self-consciousness of His scrutiny far more than any human being, and the hadith is an injunction towards ridding oneself of hypocrisy while enlightening us of the reality of the matter (God sees all).

Anyway, all I’m saying is that not all of life is meant to be “shiny and happy” (REM). And not all unpleasant feelings in your mind/heart/soul are destructive - many of them are constructive. It will be good to see people who continue to esteem humility, conscience, and righteousness not as simply pointlessly weak states. (The thing is most people instinctively like to feel these things - but simply reject “old fashioned” stuff with “new age” stuff - plenty are “mad as hell” and full of righteous fury, still using the paradigms of good and bad, etc. The basics never really leave us, just get updated.)

Hopefully we see less “brave faces” and more strong essences. “No pain, no gain” doesn’t just apply to weight lifting or learning. It applies to individual human development as well. So if you’re “advanced” hopefully you save some of these “bad feelings” for yourself. :)

This entry was posted on Monday, May 5th, 2008 at 12:49 pm and is filed under Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.