Growing up, a very big trend in my interests was that of beauty. I fell in love with Surah Rahman from an early age. And in going to Jummah every week, I remember one day the Imam stating that Surah Rahman was the beauty of the Quran. The words, the beautiful yet powerful question repeated over and over to accentuate its subtle power; “Which of the favors of your Lord will you deny?” I used to be obsessed with reading and listening to this Surah over and over. I have this intuition and way of seeing the beauty in everything. I can look at a person and find their best attribute while seeing the beauty of their aura while not even realizing it. Please understand that I’m not bragging about this ability, it’s simply something I started doing as a little girl and didn’t even realize it until much later in my adult life.
Beauty, aesthetics, and seeing the positive have become a mastery skill in my life. I do it without even thinking about it. So when I became analytically aware of my gift, I began applying the concept of beauty to controversial topics.
A major controversial topic in my family seemed to be the debate of what time is the right time to break your fast during Ramadan. We know that you must stop eating before sunset and then you break your fast just after sunset so that you go and pray Maghrib Salah, and then have dinner before you head to mosque for Taraweb Salah. Whenever we had iftar (the breaking of fast) in a congregational setting, you could feel the tension in the air of those who went ahead and broke their fast and those who were waiting until the “correct minute” of when you should break the fast according to the color of the sky and the position of the sun. The analytical perspectives of the argument used to break my little brain. Remember I love peace and beauty.
Along my journey of rediscovering Islam, I began to ponder on the reasons why God would command us to do certain things. In my heart, I believed that there had to be a rational reason and explanation why we do everything and why God is so specific.
Believe it or not, social media lead me to great thought. On my healing journey of dealing with a lot of grief that I had stored up in my body, I found the concepts of spirituality and quantum physics to give me some sort of insight into how energy works. Energy is frequency. And frequency creates the physical realm that we see in this world. I started to peace together some answers to my “whys.”
One day while driving home around sunset time, I couldn’t help but to be amazed by how gorgeous the sky looked. The colors, the blending, the clouds, the gradient of the sun fading into the side of the earth, it took my breath away and I began to cry. Looking at this specific sunset allowed me to recall Surah Rahman, and I questioned myself. Which of the favors of my lord can I really deny? The Lord who created all of this beauty surely loves beautiful things. And then I knew God has blessed me with part of His very own ability to see and appreciate beauty.
Another thought hit me, and I said all God wanted us to do before we break our fast, before we pray Maghrib, we must be aware of the position of the sun as it sets. And God commands us to not pray Maghrib while the sun is still up. Why though? But again, in that moment, I knew it was because He wanted us to see the beauty. Because when you can acknowledge the beauty, the peace, and the gratitude that comes with looking at sunset, it changes the actual chemical way your body will break down and digest your food and also, when you go to pray and can hold that gratitude in your body while being present, which is what Salah is all about, you can literally heal your mind, heart and soul. As a byproduct you will also heal illnesses, stress and diseases that are being stored in your body from the trials of living this life.
There are studies that show that to being grateful before taking a mouthful of food into your mouth for consumption, it changes they way that your body digests and breaks down the food. And if you know anything about health, what you put into your body and the way you body breaks down food is essential in the overall health of your body.
So again, which of the favors of your Lord will you deny?
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