Yesterday was my daughter’s first day at school. As any parent would attest, it was a day of mixed emotions. As you look around, you see children excited at the new environment they’re in and looking forward to the day ahead. You also see children devastated, crying profusely at the idea of separation from their parents, who have been their safe haven for all these years.

The example of faith and its sweetness is like that of a buyer and a seller in a date farm.

If the buyer were to visit the date farm and taste one of the dates, the seller wouldn’t object. In fact, the seller would willingly allow the buyer to taste the dates, eager for a profitable transaction.

If the buyer asks to taste another, again - perhaps this time out of generosity - the seller would allow it, free of charge.

Sometimes our circumstances put us in a position of utter need and humility in front of Allah. This is beneficial for our spirituality and our relationship with Him but once our circumstances change - what happens to that relationship? Is it transactional? Do we seek for Him to give us and once he does, we forget the state we were previously in? Such was the mistake of ʿĀd, the people of Hūd (as). They behaved arrogantly with the blessings that they had been given and did not attribute them to Allah ﷻ.

Last week, I had the opportunity to spend time with a group of young middle school / high school students at an Islamic school in Toronto and the topic of my discussion was how to deal with distractions / addictions and how we can overcome them. One of the things I had shared with them was that it is only when a person removes the things which are causing Ghaflah (heedlessness) in their life and enter into a state of Dhikr (remembering Allah) that they actually start to live their life rather than waste it.