on This Earth

Ramadhan in the Hijri Year (the Islamic calendar) of 1446 started on 1st March 2025. As part of my routine during Ramadhan, I usually do a study of one of the chapters in the Qur’an. This year, with the blog, I intend to do a reflection of natural phenomena found in the Qur’an. To frame it within the context of the key principles of:

• being still/silent
• observe
• reflect
• practice

this series will focus on the third key principle and give ideas on the fourth. If you would like to know more about the key principles, please click this link. If you want to see an example of how the key principles are applied, please click this link.

Birds

I wrote about birds as part of the practice a few posts ago. You can find the post in this link. This post is going to be a short one based on two different reflections on birds.

Choosing the best materials

As I was walking with Pippin this morning, I saw a crow picking some sticks and flying away. Then I saw a starling passing its mate some sticks in the crevices of my neighbour’s roof. They were preparing their nests and choosing the right sticks to build those.

I have noticed this action of carefully choosing the sticks for a few weeks now. A few weeks ago, I saw a pigeon flew far and wide to then pick a stick underneath a tree. What makes them go to all these efforts for the perfect stick for their nests? To me, one stick looks like another. But to them, a particular stick fits perfectly within the nest they are constructing.

The meticulous care that they showcased is a reminder of the Islamic concept of ‘Ihsan’, i.e. excellence in your deed, striving for perfection because God is Beautiful and He loves beauty in all things. In this month of Ramadhan, I reflect on my deeds and their various imperfections. I note that these deeds that we do are materials for our homes in the hereafter. Have I striven for excellence in them? Have I chosen the perfect materials for the home God is building for me? Or have I sent forth defective materials?

God’s Provisions

For a few days towards the beginning of Ramadhan, I sat with this verse in Surah Al-Ankabut 29:60

 وَڪَأَيِّن مِّن دَآبَّةٍ۬ لَّا تَحۡمِلُ رِزۡقَهَا ٱللَّهُ يَرۡزُقُهَا وَإِيَّاكُمۡ‌ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلسَّمِيعُ ٱلۡعَلِيمُ (٦٠)

And how many a living creature is there that takes no thought of its own sustenance. [the while] God provides for it as [He provides] for you – since He alone is all-hearing, all-knowing. (60)

And the saying of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. (Sunan al-Tirmidhī, no. 2344)

If you all depend on Allah with due reliance, He would certainly give you provision as He gives it to birds who go forth hungry in the morning and return with [a] full belly at dusk.

Birds are one of the creatures that do not carry or store their own provisions. Many birds are migratory, based on season, to seek their provision. The geese, the swifts, and the puffin being the well known ones here in Scotland.

Here there are two things I learn from the birds. The first is that reliance on God does not mean sitting back. Instead, we need to put in the effort, linked to the first reflection of having excellence in all we do. Once we have striven, then we put our trust in God to provide.

The second is not to hoard and be stingy. Putting our trust that God will provide means we spend in God’s way without worry of loss. In today’s world, there is such emphasis on how much we need in our savings for old age. Yet the companions of the Prophet s.a.w. who went through hardship, gave up their worldly goods without thought of their old age. I remind myself first and foremost that my worldly possessions are not mine but God’s. To be like the birds who fly light to their destinations and find sustenance at the end of their journey.