A Contemplation: Life and Islam
By: Rizki Farani (Dosen Prodi PBI FPSB UII).
ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْغَفُورُ
He is the One, Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds.
And He is the Almighty, All-Forgiving. (Al Mulk:2)
Introduction
Life is a part of practicing religion because Allah SWT gives us potential to grow physically and mentally. If we maintain our effort to develop our competences, it means we apply our religious practices in everyday life. However, improving our capabilities in life is challenging. Sometimes, we keep falling to the darkest reality and truth. Failures decrease our motivation to reach our goals. We are lost in the middle of life intersection, choosing between doing the right thing or creating excuses to keep falling. Therefore, personal growth is a choice. We responsible to choose our rise or our downfall.
To start our personal growth, we need to bear in mind that every human has potential to develop competencies for our future. We were born in this world to start a journey to be the best version of ourselves. We grow our personal capabilities to maximize our roles in all aspects of life, such as personal growth as a family member, citizen or professional achievement. Surah Al Anbiya verse 107 convince us by stating that:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
…We have sent you ˹O Prophet˺ only as a mercy for the whole world…
Surah Al Anbiya verse 107 implies that developing ourselves is actually beneficial for personal needs and community. When we take care of our personal growth, it means we are ready to take care others. In addition, surah Al Baqarah verse 30 also states that:
وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّى جَاعِلٌۭ فِى ٱلْأَرْض خَلِيفَةًۭ قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ ٱلدِّمَآءَ. وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنِّىٓ أَعْلَمُ مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ٣٠ ۖ
…Remember˺ when your Lord said to the angels, “I am going to place a successive ˹human˺ authority on earth.” They asked ˹Allah˺, “Will You place in it someone who will spread corruption there and shed blood while we glorify Your praises and proclaim Your holiness?” Allah responded, “I know what you do not know…
Building personal leadership is important before leading others. This implication leads us to scaffold our strategies to manage stress and emotion to reveal our true potential.
There are some personal processes in starting our personal growth: first, feeling grateful for every little progress in our life. Sometimes, we push ourselves too hard. We want to achieve our goals in an instant way. Personal growth does not immerse in one night because it takes commitment and process. Please, be patient with every small step until we see significant changes over the time. As stated in surah Al-Baqarah verse 152:
…remember Me; I will remember you. And thank Me, and never be ungrateful…
Second, believing in destiny. Allah SWT has a scenario for us. There are many things that we cannot change. No matter how hard we refuse our destiny, it will keep coming to us. Embrace our experiences by accepting it as a part of best gifts from Allah SWT.
…He causes the dawn to break and has made the night for rest and ˹made˺ the sun and the moon ˹to travel˺ with precision. That is the design of the Almighty, All-Knowing…
Third, seeing positive things in every detail thing. Life is like a roller coaster, giving us ups and downs during the process of personal growth. There are times when we think that there is no good thing happening to us. We maybe ask: “Why me?” or “God, why?”. No matter how hard life is, there is always a glimpse of joy, happiness, hope and dream. Nothing is eternal in life. Feelings do not last forever because it changes every time. We can experience happiness, sadness, and anger in one day, but all those feelings make us human.
…O my people! This worldly life is only ˹a fleeting˺ enjoyment, whereas the Hereafter is truly the home of settlement…
Surah Ghafir verse 39 above implies that the world is only a temporary pleasure. Our true journey will start in the hereafter life. Thus, a variety of stories in life should be placed as a way to learn, not to complain. In short, life is about experience, learn and move on. Those are the cycle of personal growth. It will happen every day since the day we were born.
Fourth, continuing sustainable growth. If you cannot run through the process, you may choose between walking and even crawling to keep maintain your efforts. The point of self-development is commitment to move forward. It is ok to look back occasionally, but we do not trap ourselves in the past. It is useless to regret past because regret does not fix our future.
It is ok to take a pause of our struggle. Sometimes, stay quite and do nothing helps us to think clearly. Living at the moment to feel our heartbeat, breath through the air and let our mind flow with all good and bad memories. By taking a short break, it is expected that our energy will rise again. As the impact, there will be a balance between brain and heart to decide our next plan. In sum, personal growth comes from within. The more we understand ourselves, the easier we manage everything. We will practice regularly to read “the pattern of behaviour” which help us to map our steps. Bismillah, Allah SWT will always be with us.
