On my commute to and from school, I sometimes watch Islamic lectures on my smartphone. Not too long ago, while I was on the bus, I remembered a post on the UCLA MSA page mentioning Hamza Yusuf’s “Life of the Prophet,” so I decided to listen to it. Right next to me was a man, and when I first saw him, I think he was playing games on his phone. While I left the auditory lecture playing, I could tell he was staring at what I was doing. I first just ignored him, but about five minutes later, SubhanAllah, I saw him searching for Qur’an recitations. (I guess he saw the title of the Islamic lecture.) I could hear through his earphones that he was listening to Qur’an throughout the rest of the ride. When the man saw me listening to the lecture, it influenced him to listen to the Qur’an all through the grace of Allah (SWT). It really made my day because it was one of those moments that made me realize how important it is to work on our actions.
I wanted to share this experience because it taught me how one’s actions can create a domino effect without even being aware of it. Just think about my experience. A brother shared a Facebook post about a lecture, which influenced me to listen to it, which then impacted a complete stranger. Just like how we make time to pray and read Qur’an, we also need to make time to work on ourselves. We need to strive to be the best person we can be because our actions can speak louder than words. One way we can improve our own character is by learning more about the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and how he interacted with others, himself, and the environment. I pray that Allah (SWT) helps us improve ourselves, and I pray that we all shed a positive light on Islam through our words, character, and actions.
“The Quran was only revealed to be acted upon,
but the people treated its recitation as action.”
-Al-Fudayl b. ‘Ayyad