My Dear Beloved Son (or Daughter)

An interesting insight into the virtues and beliefs of the Muslim faith through the reading of the short book, My Dear Beloved Son (or Daughter) by Imam Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghazali. The story is a series of stories and sharing of how to live one’s life from a father’s perspective to his son.  The father’s words of advice to his son have a number of themes but all come back to how to gain salvation in God’s eyes.  For instance, one quotation notes, “Verily, those who believe in Allah and perform righteous deeds, for them the highest Paradise is for their hospitality in which they will live forever.”  There is a good amount of noting what “the truth” is for the Muslim faith, “After the explanation of this truth, if you get the thought in your heart that I am saying that a slave [of God, i.e., a human being] will go to Paradise not on the basis of Allah’s Grace but on the basis of his/her own [good] deeds, then you should understand that you have not understood what I said.”  Another important theme from the father, “A person who thinks that he/she will go to the Paradise without (righteous) deeds is misguided and the person who thinks that he/she will go to the Paradise only through striving is merely busy with hard work,” is presented numerous times throughout the short book.  The father shares prayers that are to be presented to Allah always warning to stay away from the worldly status as it will take away from the promised land.  Another important theme is to show gratitude numerous times each day and do not sleep too much as you always need to be ready for Allah.  For example, “My son!  Do not let the rooster be more intelligent than you are.  It shouldn’t happen that he (i.e. the rooster) gets up at the last part of the night to make proclamations [for Tahajjud prayers and remembers his Lord] while you keep sleeping [in a deep sleep of heedlessness, carelessness, and ignorance].”  All of these words that the father notes are directly from the Prophet Muhammad and “all of your words and deeds should be in accordance with the commandments of Prophet Muhammad.”  Desires for worldly possessions are bad as one needs ot constantly be reaching for a higher spiritual enlightenment, which will only be taken away from a focus on this world’s things.  Also, if you have goods, one should distribute to the needs. We should have a fear of Allah.  Those who follow the Prophet Muhammad’s decrees will acquire a level of illumination so that “all evil qualities like miserliness, jealousy, enmity, expectations from the world [and its inhabitants], anger, rebellion, etc., have been eliminated from him and he should not be dependent on anyone for knowledge except for that knowledge which we [specifically] obtain from the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).”  The main question to be answered is: What is our reliance on God? What is sincerity to God?  The father then ends with the eight principles of Admonition, noting one should be ready for Allah’s arrival.  Noting is important for our actions.  In many ways, so many similarities between the Christian faith and those outlined in the reading.  It was helpful to get this perspective, which I had, but not from a text perspective.  It is a short read and provides insight which is helpful for those who have friends who follow the Muslim faith.