Ruminating’s Not Just for Cows

I thought after graduating I would cease to contribute to Stony Brook MSA's Minaret... yet it was hard to resist submitting at least one more article. In a nutshell, I talk about the importance of dedicating ample time to the act of purely ruminating or meditating, particularly with the hope of developing our spirituality and intellect. May this be of benefit to its readers, insyaAllah.

Ruminating’s Not Just for Cows

Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim,

Before I delve into the topic, I would first like to apologize if I led you to believe last year that it was my last time writing for the Minaret. I had resisted the urge for a good while, but alas, I have yet to find a better outlet for my ardent desire to share some musings of mine that, I hope, may benefit their readers. And because it is quite difficult to extricate oneself completely from a people whom you love for the sake of Allah. On that note, please allow me to share some of my experience, from a friend to another.

In case you were wondering whatever happened to me after I graduated, I was in an academic limbo. I was no longer an undergraduate student, yet not quite a grad student, and certainly not a professional; introducing myself always ended up being a story. Taking a year off was an interesting experience, to say the least. Initially, I did it to give myself time to work on the medical school application process, and to do some things (research, volunteer, etc) that might boost my chances of getting accepted. What ends up happening, and it won’t take you long to realize it, is that you’re going to have a lot of time in your hands. The research doesn’t take up nearly as much time as you anticipated; the volunteer thing didn’t – for some reason or another – work out; these kinds of factors add up to give you a substantial amount of time. Now, if your sole intention was to impress the med school admissions committee, being able to list several activities may satisfy you. After all, they may look at the number of hours you put in, but what they won’t do is stalk you and check on every single hour you spend doing virtually nothing. But of course, we have someone else we are to account our time to: Allah. This in itself can mean several things.

The most important implication is establishing a connection with our Creator. I once read the story that ‘Ali RA was stabbed in a battle and could not remove the sword from his body, due to the immensity of the pain. His friends were perplexed as to how and when to remove it, when his son said, “Remove it while he is doing his prayer.” SubhanAllah, the level of khushu’(concentration) that the Sahaba achieved was so high, they could not even feel the bodily pain inflicted upon them! How on earth are such things possible? The simple answer is: Effort and Time. While as Muslims we must accept that Allah SWT does bless certain people with certain virtues, we must also realize that nothing is achieved without effort, not exempting spiritual achievements. And efforts are almost always meaningless without time invested in them.

Understandably, this society has conditioned us to always be “on-the-go,” and we are always “doing, doing, doing.” That in itself isn’t inherently bad. Productivity is at the heart of Islamic values: Wal-‘Asr, By Time; make use of our time while we still have it. The true problem lies with the superficial understanding of “on-the-go.” The masses believe “productivity” to mean how many things get done, as opposed to how well things were done. In other words, we are less inclined to “marinate” our minds, allowing ideas and philosophies to sink in, as well as ponder over them thoroughly, and are more apt to load our schedules with activities. I am as guilty of this as anyone else. I know well that anxiety that comes when your mind runs through the never-ending list of tasks to get done. And for some odd reason this secretary of ours preferentially does this during a salah or du’a. Yet we must steadfastly be active in being passive. Bolt yourself to your prayer mat (figuratively speaking) and force yourself to ruminate over every word you are communicating to your Lord. With discipline, the process should come with more ease over time, inshaAllah.

Recently the New York Times published an article (“Mindful Eating as Food for Thought”) on the benefits of eating slowly, the way Buddhist monks have done. The article urges us to “meditate with food, expanding consciousness by paying close attention to the sensation and purpose of each morsel.” We should treat all of our nourishments the same way. That is, we should also imbibe knowledge and spiritual experiences in this slow and steady manner. By this we are exercising sabr (patience) and training our body and mind to be supple.

When you start to become anxious during this process of meditation, remember that the Prophet SAW himself would retreat for a month to a cave in order to establish this relationship with Allah. I think as average people we can expect to dedicate at least as much effort as, but most likely more than, the Prophet SAW with his retreats. This may not be as feasible in the 21^st as in the 7^th century, but there are other ways. Personally I found taking a year off to be immensely helpful, though I understand that “taking a year off” implies a luxury that some people feel they cannot afford. Whatever means you use, though, do not forget what you are created to do: Worship Allah. Take the time while you still have it to plow the preliminary path. May Allah make our journey in this life easy for us.