Nur Fadhilah Wahid
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Escaping the Ephemeral Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Hello there! I am Fadhilah Wahid, author of the book Light Upon Light: Reflections on Life, Love and God. These days, I write mostly on Instagram — sharing with readers from around the world gems from my travels; precious moments sitting with the men and women of God, beautiful/ painful conversations with lovers of our Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam, and lessons I’ve learned in their presence. While these personal reflections and intimate moments have been a source of motivation and inspiration for many online (Alhamdulillah!), the fleeting and algorithmic nature of social media limits its reach once the 24-hour news cycle has passed. Hence, Nearness to You is a collective effort by you and I to save these writings from the blackhole that is Instagram.
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By having them in print, it is my hope that more people can benefit and find solace and motivation in these words in times to come, and when they need it the most, InshaAllah.
why ‘nearness to you’ Some nights after the idea of this book was conceived, I was jolted awake from sleep. While drifting between reality and the world of dreams, a crisp, clear phrase broke the silence in my mind:
“al-Wasilah wal-Fadhilah” The word al-Wasilah — found in the du’a after the adhan — appears in reference to us asking Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala to grant the Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam a place near Him; in other words, to grant the Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam closeness and proximity.
Nearness to God The more I pondered on it, the more I felt that “wasilah” (nearness) is the most sensible title for this book, because: 1. The stories and reflections in it are all derived from moments with the servants of God whom I believe are close to Him; or in the rare moments where I felt a perceived nearness to Him and His Messenger salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam.
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2. The royalty from this book will go to various Islamic institutions and teachers who strive to bring the ummah close to God and His Messenger salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam.. 3. You and I are both involved in this book (yes, even just by reading it!) because we are, in our own ways, hoping for these words to bring us near to Him, InshaAllah.
Thank You Thank you for purchasing this book and for helping keep these words alive. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala accept from you and I all the good that we strive towards, forgive us for our lack of striving, overlook our lack of sincerity in the little we do, and grant us nearness to Him despite our constant forgetting of Him. Ameen.
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In His Name
ّ The basmalah 1 ( الل بسم: In the name of Allah) in surah al-Fatihah is a treasure trove of secrets. One of the scholars said that while the very essence of the Qur’an is in surah al-Fatihah, the essence of al-Fatihah is in its basmalah. And more mind-boggling still, that the entire essence of the basmalah can be found in the harf ba’ ( )ب.
Here’s to illustrate a small portion of its wonderful mysteries: The بin the basmalah is paired with a kasrah ( ب ِ ), and the word “kasrah” shares the same root word as “kasara”, the past tense of the word “break”. The basmalah is also a unique phrase. While the proper Arabic phrase for “in the name” is “ ” باسم, the aliff ( )اis dropped in the basmalah, and the phrase is instead spelled as “ ”بسم.
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The mufassirun say that dropping the aliff is symbolic; it is the dropping of the “I” ( ) اناor of Man himself ( )انسان. Hence, Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala is showing us that in order to begin our journey to truly get to know Him, we have to “break” ourselves, our self-centeredness, our ego – anything that has to do with the “I” or the self. MashaAllah, isn’t it beautiful and amazing how the Qur’an begins with the basmalah? And isn’t it even more beautiful that once you come to Him broken, the first names He uses when He introduces Himself to you in surah al-Fatihah is Allah, The Most Compassionate, Most Merciful?
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All Praises Be Upon You Pain, hardship and struggle — we tend to run from them but I think if we truly know (or strive to know) God, we will train ourselves to be of those who appreciate trials and challenges. We might not necessarily want to make du’a to have them in our lives, but when they do knock on our door, we welcome them as the honoured guests they are. A simple example: Yesterday, I had a heavy wooden door slammed against my finger. Blue and swollen, it made simple things like typing on the keyboard or fishing the keys out of my bag a torture. One way of responding to this is to complain about the inconvenience. The other way — as a friend reminded — is to mindfully channel our thoughts back to being grateful to God, to Alhamdulillah.
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Alhamdulillah, for pain that purifies; Alhamdulillah, for the purification of the sins that the finger had committed; Alhamdulillah, for the sins that finger was protected from committing in its current state; Alhamdulillah, for the reminder to be thankful for each part of this body; Alhamdulillah for the opportunity to be more mindful in my movements... and the list goes on. And these are just blessings derived from the pain experienced on the tip of one finger! Don’t you think God has even more in store for the stomach that growls for His sake? For the mind that worries for His sake? For the heart that is broken for His sake? I think if we truly want to love God, a good place to start is to think good of all the things He places in our path, no matter how they look on the surface. “I am as My servant thinks of Me,” said God 2. So think well of God, hold on to patience, and make du’a to be able to see the wisdom behind all matters that unfold.
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Blessed is the Beloved, Peace Be Upon Him One of the most eye-opening statements I have heard regarding our relationship with our beloved Prophet Muhammad salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam is this: In his entire life (and even in death), he salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa-sallam is constantly serving his ummah. He spent his days teaching us the Deen (religion of Islam), showing us how to love our Creator, how to appreciate life, amongst other things. He spent his nights in tears, asking Allah for forgiveness, mercy, and gentleness for us. Conversely, all that is asked of us is to follow what he salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam has taught, and to make selawat upon him. And who benefits from these? Us. Not him.
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With every action that follows his, we are brought closer to Ultimate Love and Reality. With every selawat we make upon him salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam, Allah showers His mercy upon us and opens His door to fulfill our intentions and prayers. The Prophet salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam is the Beloved of God; his rank, his status, does not change with any of our doings. It is by him and through him, that we are changed. So how can we live a day in our lives not remembering the person who remembered us for our sake each living moment of his life, so lovingly, so fervently, so selflessly? May Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala place true love for the Prophet salla Allahu ‘alay-hi wa-sallam in our hearts, and make light our tongue and place light in our hearts, to mention His Beloved every day. Allahumma solli ‘ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ‘ala alihi wa sohbihi wa sallim.
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Just By Their Intentions On their way home from Singapore, Ustadha Zulaikha and Ustadha Fatimah were approached by a lady and her son at the Surabaya airport in Indonesia. They had crossed the seas from Malaysia, with nothing except for the intention that the son was to be enrolled in a madrasah in Surabaya. “You mean,” I asked, mouth agape, “The mother did not even have the name of any madrasah, or any contact number, or any other prior information?” “Nothing. She was from a very remote village in Malaysia, and someone told her there is a place for her son to study the religion here. Based only on that information, she saved all she could, took her son and set off, certain that God will take care of them. So they arrived at the airport, and what is it that they first see? The decal we had of our madrasah, and the carton box where you literally scribbled the word ‘madrasah’. Do you see
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how Allah guides and aids, Fadhilah? These are the people who have nothing but La illaha ila Allah i, and Allah is enough for them.” What are the odds of the lady seeing the rolled decal? What are the odds of her noticing my small scrawly handwriting on the box? And what are the odds of their meeting perhaps the only two people in that airport who were more than willing to spend hours sending them to an appropriate madrasah, before continuing their long journey home only after midnight? If we reflect and ponder on things like these, perhaps we too can truly testify that Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala is the One who arranges everything, everything, everything. May we too learn to rely on Allah like those who have nothing but Allah, and may we be always be chosen by Allah to do His work for the people of La illaha ila Allah. Ameen.
i There is no God but Allah
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