You are a blessing to the world.

"If you don't give what nobody in the world has to give - which is yourself - the world will not have it. In other words, if you don’t give, you rob the world of you."
Ellen Burstyn
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How interesting. We all strive to be different and unique - whether we admit it or not- all the while overlooking the reality that we really are created as one of a kind. Yes, i'm special! [But then again, everyone else is special too. Does that cancel out the special-ness?]

Makes one think though... why didn't God create us all the same? Why give each one of us a unique perspective, a unique filter, a unique mind, to process external stimuli.

Imagine a world where everyone was the same. Who will we pick on then? [Do we pick on other souls because we're different, or is it because it is an inherent human trait?] We were sent to this world to work on ourselves, maybe if everyone was the same, we won’t have time to pick on other people, and instead we will devote our entire being to bettering our own sense of self. No?

Imagine a world without Ali (ra), Umar (ra), Uthman (ra), and Abu Bakr (ra). Imagine the world with only One Prophet, with only one school of thought, with only one perfect man, with only one pretty woman, with just one chance at life. Boring?

Unity doesn’t necessitate monotony. Then why do we insist upon amalgamating everyone into a glob of monolithic consistency? Worse, our criteria for this sameness is shallow and goes no farther than attire and group lingo.

Why can't I look to where My God, My Rabb, has placed me and take life from there. Yes, it would be dishonest of me to claim to understand the life, beliefs, and experience of everyone that I encounter, but I can use my personal experience and beliefs to affect another person, in a positive or negative manner.

I can just be me; I can’t be everyone else and me. God wants me to work on me, in a place where He’s placed me, and with factors He’s set up around me. mememe. sorry. i like saying me.

The way in which we behave shows us something of our own self. If I’m attracted to people who bash others, who believe their 'experience' and 'understanding' is somehow divine, and not because they’ve studied the shariah on a scholarly level but because they dress and speak and look a certain way or belong to a certain 'group,' then it shows me something of my own inclination and drive rather than their sheer ignorance.

it all comes back to me, doesnt it. and what i have to offer the world.

In any case,
Shaykh Hakim Murad beautifully expresses the need to re-establish our Reliance on Allah through the virtue of Ridaa here. He's so cool. awww. ok. serious mode.

Here are some blurbs:

***Edit

***"[...]One thing most communities have in common now is that the people are in a state of agitation. One of the things that attracted me was the genuine sense of tranquility, calmness, and serenity in the masjids. People are starting to lose the virute of Ridaa – tranquil serene acceptance of Allahs will. It’s alarming that Muslims should feel so disturbed or agitated by today’s world.

We complain about negative stereotypes but that’s always been the attitude toward the believers by the non-comprehending world. True religion is about akhira, it’s about transcending the self; it’s not about gratifying or discovering the self. We should be proud the modern world doesn’t like us because it’s a sign of authenticity. Nonetheless, it’s also the case when Muslims when they view this hostility don’t find solace in the traditional virtue of Ridaa."

"[...] we find forms of agitation, we find insecurity and the necessary consequence of that -- which is that instead of being so relaxed and forgiving and inclusive and that we see the best in everybody, we increasingly judge because the slightest difference between ourselves and the doctrine or the practice of another Muslim somehow makes us feel even more insecure. We want the religion to be a monolithic consistency that gratifies our sense of insecurity."

"[...]One implication of this loss of ridaa is that we tend to judge others, perhaps we're not content with the way Allah is arranging history at this particular moment. We get jumpy and like to attack others and are extremely judgmental. And one of the greatest errors one can make in this time - according to the ulema- is the error of assuming this is the time for Perfection, for rigorism; that the harder the work becomes for the believers the more perfect we have to demand everybody is."

"[...]There is too much judgment of others but not enough judgment of ourselves. There is too much self-righteousness but not enough self knowledge."