IN PLACES DARK AND COLD
Gotten from the lines of Zain Bhikha’s song “Zamilooni”where he explained the sacrifices and beauty of a true love story. A love that lived amidst every adversity when a noble rich lady called Khadijah married a young handsome merchant who was nicknamed Al-Amin.
With the strong and heavy emotions and responsibilities of being called to prophethood, the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) found a great comfort with his dear wife through the pain and tears while she sacrificed all of her wealth for the cause of Islam.
However going back to the tittle of this piece, the complete sentence reads: “We look for stories of love, in places dark and cold, when we have a guiding light for the whole world to behold”- Zain Bhikha.
And these simple lyrics speak a deeper language, because in today’s world of romance fantasies and obsessions with beauty, love and fashion, we don’t see that within our our own literature as Muslims lies a never dying picture of true love, romance and beauty.
Every love story cannot be the same, but when they do exist, we should be sure that they live by the underlying principles of having Allah first rather than just falling madly in love.
When we speak of romance, The prophet Muhammad and his companions beat today’s ideology of love and romance.They were men that graced the battlefields yet their women had a Queenly status in their hearts. A deep love and compassion guarded by a greater love for Allah the Almighty.
They were women who combed their husband’s hair and help trim up to their beards . They were couples who played like friends and shared long cherished moments of laughs and cries. Couples tickling one another and finding long term peace and happiness, bathing together and a whole lot of beautiful stories to be modelled.
I repeat that no kind of romance idealogy today beats that of the prophet Muhammad(pbuh) and his companions. He would recite the Qur’an while resting on his wife’s lap and on the day he died, he died on her laps.
The prophet Muhammad(pbuh) is the most handsome man to ever walk through the earth but yet his handsomeness was covered with dignity. The women had a beauty like pearls but never a time were they obsessed with that.
Beauty in itself is an attribute of Allah(God) and a sign of His Greatness.
So the next time we see a beauty contest on TV or a fashion show,one might quickly say “Oh she is the most beautiful” or “Oh man that guy over there just killed it”
But then I ask, do we look for real stories in places dark and cold?
©JUMAI JIBRIL