Taking Lessons from Flowers by Hazrat Maulana Yunus Patel Saheb (rahmatullah alayh)

Whilst taking a walk through Mitchell Park one morning, after Fajr, breathing in the fresh morning air, we found the pathway covered with flowers, having fallen off the trees. I mentioned to my friends : At one time these flowers were on the trees. They were admired. People enjoyed and appreciated their fragrance, inhaling and saying, How beautiful, How sweet How charming However, when the slight breeze touched those flowers, they left the branches of the trees. They fell onto the ground. Then we found those same people, who once admired and enjoyed those pretty flowers, trample over them as they took their walks. Those pretty, colourful and fragrant flowers became a carpet on the ground and were crushed underfoot as if those visitors were squashing the hearts of those flowers. After some time, the garden service swept those flowers away and they were thrown into some bin. Thereafter, the bin bags were disposed of at some dump.

I then explained this as an analogy to my friends. Once upon a time, Muslims were like those flowers on the trees. The fragrance of their Imaan and Islam, of their beautiful character and charming etiquette, were admired and appreciated by all. Their pleasant character and speech, their honesty, sincerity and service to mankind, emitted such beautiful fragrances which even nonMuslims benefited from. The beautiful colours of their Ibaadah be it salaah, zakaat, business transactions and social interaction were the means of not only people changing their faith, but also changing their culture and language, as we find in the time of the Sahaba-e-Kiraam (radiyallanho anhum). They spread to all parts of the world having an undeniable influence on different nations. When they were flowers on the tree, people inhaled their fragrance and accepted Islam. When the breeze of temptation and sin blew, then as we find today, many Muslims have left the tree; they separated themselves from the strong, sturdy trunk of correct Aqaa`id[1] and they lost the attachment they had to the branches of Ibaadaat (worship). They adopted the Western culture, and in turn, they lost their fragrance and they lost their colours as they withered away. Having fallen onto the ground, the Muslim Ummah, globally, is literally being crushed underfoot by the Kuffaar[2].

In whichever direction we turn, we find a picture to grieve over: So many amongst our precious youth cannot even be identified as the blossoming flowers of the Ummah. They have preferred to mix with sand and mud and in so doing, have lost their fragrance and colour. The Hollywood / Bollywood culture, with all its immorality and sins, is that sand and mud more exactly, it is quicksand, which readily swallows our young Muslim sons and daughters. And then we have the picture of the burdensome yoke of injustice, oppression and suppression. The lives of Muslims have become so cheap that hundreds, if not thousands are swept into mass graves, where genocide has become a play and past time for many enemies of Islam. We have the destruction of Muslim homes, the deliberate killing of Muslim children, the rape of Muslim women, the theft of Muslim land oppression compounded. When we turn away from this sad, heart wrenching sight, we see another picture to cry over : Many, many Muslims, in positions of authority and rule, are like puppets and their strings are pulled by non-Muslim governments. Some are treated like animals - they are broken in, or trained to listen and obey as we find with some Muslim Governments, and there is no gain in return. This is our reality. From where to where, and from what to what. But there is no despairing if only we to return to Allah Taalas obedience and the Sunnah of Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam). All that is required is to plant the seeds of Taqwa and those beautiful, fragrant, colourful flowers will soon be blooming and blossoming once more. [1] Aqaa`id : Beliefs [2] Kuffaar : Non-believers those who have not brought Imaan (faith) in Allah Taala and the Risaalat (prophethood) of Sayyidina Muhammad (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam).