What are our Hearts Really Attached to?

Are we really appealing to Allah for aid and assistance? Or is it some intellectual game that we know we should be doing, but it hasn't entered our hearts? In the Holy Quran Allah the Most High says: "O Allah You alone we worship and to You alone we appeal for aid" (1:5)

At least seventeen times a day we are stating that we worship Allah alone and we will only appeal to Him for aid. Shakh Uthamine stated that appealing for aid and assistance from Allah comprises of three main attributes:

"Seeking the refuge of Allah, the Most High, and this involves one's complete need of Him, attachment to Him, and one's certain faith in His being sufficient and His perfect protection from everything whether in the present or the future, small or large, human or not, and the proof is the saying of Allah."

"Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn from the evil of that which He created…" (113:1-2)

It is easy to read that we should have complete need of Allah and attachment to Him on an intellectual basis. But in order to reap the spiritual daily benefits from this attachment we need to move from head to heart. This comprises having complete humility with our Lord, Knowing His greatness and perfect Sovereignty. We have been told over and over in the modern world that we should be completely self-reliant rock attached to nothing so that we will not get hurt. No wonder why there are so many social ills.

Allah knows what we need; Allah has given us everything that we need in order to feel tranquility and true happiness. Without complete attachment to Allah we will, without a doubt, attach our hearts to something else. The heart is in a continual cycle of unrest until it is attached to its Creator, Allah Who knows what the heart needs.

Allah is The Only One who can ease our pain and suffering. Otherwise the heart will divert. If it attaches itself to something else the result may be busy unrelenting attachments to the material world, but it is only a mirage that eventually fades and withers away.

"But whoever surrenders himself to Allah while doing good, his reward is with his Lord; and no fear shall overtake them, neither shall they grieve." (2:112)

After the heart is attached to some particular aspect of the worldly life instead of its Lord, the heart will not be content. Its owner needs a role model, someone, and somebody he can look up to and be like.

Strange as it sounds we know as Muslims we are to believe in Allah alone and follow the path of the Prophet Mohammed ((May Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him)) and his companions. This is a tariq (a road) that we desperately need to keep us on the proper course. The same goes for those people who have attached their hearts to other than Allah. They find that they need more specifications, rituals, etc. An example of this is young children who desperately need role models.

Obviously this is not a problem, because the media gives role models all packaged with the way of their life style. Millions of dollars are being spent on "teen-idols" from TV shows, musicians, and actors. Their path is to know more than anyone else about their idol. The clothes they like, their favorite subject, their favorite food, entertainment, their definition of good friends…. You name it, the list goes on and on. Just pick up a teen magazine and find out for yourself.

"If indeed you ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law), they will certainly reply "Allah", How are they then diverted from the truth."

So indeed they may believe in Allah, but where and who is their heart attached with or to?

Take a look at the hottest teen-idol web-site, look at what teens are interested in about their "idols"
Full name: Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
Nickname(s): Leo, D
Born: 11. November 1974
Star sign: Scorpio
Sex: Male
Home town: Los Angeles, CA
Height: 6.1
Weight: 64kg
School: Center for Enriched Studies in Los Angeles, California

Fav book: Pink Floyd, The Beatles
Fav band(s): Pink Floyd, The Beatles
Fav sport(s): Pink Floyd, The Beatles
Fav actor(s): Robert De Niro, Al Pacino,
Jack NicholsonFav actress: Meg Ryan
Fav TV show: The Twilight Zone
Fav movie: All 3 "Godfather" movies
Fav food: PastaFav drink: Lemonade
Bad habit: Twisting my hair and biting my nails

We know as Muslims that we should be living the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammed's (May Allah's Peace and Blessings be upon him) life. We have been taught the sirra (life) of our Prophet, every detail about his life, His worship, piety, kindness, caring, etc. Now days when you read what teens are interested in you will see the priorities are completely focused on the attachment of this worldly life.

This of course doesn't happen by "chance". It starts with children being raised without a religion. Even if they "have a religion" as a title, they have no realistic focus in life. Without this attachment to our Creator, we are bound to be lost in the "so called" bliss of this world. Searching for answers not with the Quran and Sunnah, but with the "remedies" of the worldly life. The more we delve into the worldly life, the more we put our selves into Shaytan's hands. Shayton is working overtime, 24/7, but what are we doing as Muslims. Most of us are sleeping, only waking to open the door that leads to Shaytan. Many times without knowing it, we are actually making Shaytan's work easier, helping him achieve his goals by being dissociated with our own selves and our children.

"Another being who misguides those who have strong ambitions for this life is the Satan. Allah indicates this in the following verse:"

"He said: Now, because You have sent me astray, I shall certainly lurk in ambush for them on Your Right path. Then I shall come upon them from before them and from behind them and from their right hand and from their left hands, and You will not find most of them beholden (unto You)." (7:16-17)

The following excerpt is from a psychologist who deals with teens and how the media impacts them.

"Personal experience and professional curiosity led me to investigate the impact of advertising on girls' body image and identity. I consistently found that teen girl magazines play a central role in the formation of a young girl's identity. How to look, live, and be liked by boys are lessons taught in teen girl magazines.

The magazines take advantage of the process of comparison-comparison with other girls in terms of popularity, physical appearance, and dating. These magazines become a sort of training manual and are filled with stories of revenge, and embarrassment; and of course, advertising.

"Seventeen" magazine reaches more girls more often than does any other teen magazine. Teen and preteen readers are eager and interested in the world around them and magazines create a sense of community where girls can read about other girls and compare their lives.

At an age when there is a natural rejection of parental advice and an increasing valuation of peer input, a magazine can serve a girl well in her search for what's right, wrong, valued, labeled, and trusted in the eyes of her peers. The magazines are divided into sections that present different kinds of problems and it is no coincidence that for every social or fashion faux pas there is an advertisement for a product that can solve the dilemma."

So the big question is: where is the attachment of our hearts? What examples are we showing our children and those around us? We must submit completely and trust everything in Allah's Hands. To be certain that we really believe in our hearts that Allah is sufficient for us and our path is the Sunnah.