Faith Friday: No Limbs No Worries

When my sister told me about an inspiring man with no limbs I knew I had to find out more about him. 

No limbs? I can't even imagine life without hands, I thought to myself.

I spent hours watching Nick Vujicic's motivational talks, including the ones in which he spoke about Christianity. I find many of the concepts discussed by him are similar to what can be found in Islam as well. Most of his motivational talks are easy to relate to regardless of one's faith. I watched him in awe when he demonstrated how he would get back up after falling down. "If a man with no limbs can get back up, why can't you?" he said.

Happiness is something I've always wanted to understand. Is it an emotion? Is it a state of mind? I wrote about the Islamic concept of contentment (redha) in a post entitled The Pursuit of Happiness because feeling redha has helped me to accept the things I can and cannot change in life. But I still didn't understand true happiness or joy until I heard Nick's deep and insightful explanation of it.

"There is no joy in a circumstance. There's nothing good about having no arms and no legs, is there? But there is joy in the purpose of it.

What joy isn't? Honestly, if I had a BMW would I have joy? If I had a million dollars would I have joy? No, I wouldn't! A billion dollars can't buy me hope. A billion dollars can't cure me of an incurable disease. A billion dollars can't heal my broken heart. A billion dollars cannot heal my mind of memories I wish I could forget. No amount of alcohol, drugs, sex, anything in this world [can give me joy].

The only joy that I have... the joy of the Lord is my strength."

How true is that even from an Islamic perspective? When Allah (swt) is pleased with you that's when you'll experience true happiness and contentment. God is our source of true happiness; be it in this life or in the Hereafter.

What draws me towards his talks is the fact that I know whatever he shares is sincerely and honestly from the heart. I was very touched when Nick described the conversation he had with God when he was 8 years old:

"I know I won't have peace until you're in my heart but I will not let you in my heart until you tell me why. Why did you take my arms and legs? God, until you answer me that question I will not serve You. And the answer was, "Do you trust Me?". 

And when you say yes to that, nothing else matters."

SubhanaAllah! This is about tawakkal. Trusting Allah (swt).

{original photo: uncornered market}

I also loved it when he said this:

"Maybe you've compared your suffering to my suffering. That's not where hope is... to know that someone else in your opinion is suffering more than you... Hope is when you compare your suffering to the immeasurable love and grace of God."

Simply beautiful. Nick has taught me to not complain about hardships because if it weren't for them I wouldn't have that many opportunities to beautify my character. Thanks to him the phrase "beauty is pain" has a whole new meaning for me. On a very happy note, Nick is now happily married with a son on the way! God bless them! Allah (swt) is truly the All-Merciful and All-Provider.

And thus have We sent the Qur'an down as verses of clear evidence and because Allah guides whom He intends. Indeed, those who have believed and those who were Jews and the Sabeans and the Christians and the Magians and those who associated with Allah - Allah will judge between them on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, over all things, Witness.

{Surah Al-Hajj, verses 16-17}