{Quick Reflections 26} Home... 3

Here is a very comprehensive reply that is very well thought out ma shaa ALLAAH by Sr Moushirah that does not agree with my point of view.
It is followed by my reply to it. :-)


Point well taken and well thought of, however, in my humble opinion, home to me is not only one place; there is the home land that I grew up in, there is the home I felt when I met my husband, there is the home I feel here in "el ghorbah" when I meet a Muslim person where we share the unity of language and religion and the most important one of all is the one that I build in both my heart and mind for my own well being (I call it my psychological home).

Once a doctor asked a patient, who was under great stress due to a trying situation: Do you feel that someone is taking care of you?
The doctor meant the patient's inner self.


There is this feeling of "Amaan" that is "attached" to the place where we grew up, people and places that became part of our psyche and events that molded us through the years. When we leave our home land, we take all of those memories with us, they give us warmth every once in a while whenever we need them so that we could have this "short vacation" away from the burden of everyday life and be able to go on.

Living in "el ghorbah" is not as easy as we could convince ourselves
that home is only in our hearts and that does it.

So, there must be a profound meaning to the word home.
According to Wikipedia: Home is often a place of refuge and safety, where worldly cares fade and the things and people that one loves becomes the focus.

There is also a mention of the psychological impact in Wikipedia:
"Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit, the state of a person's home has been known to physiologically influence their behavior, emotions, and overall mental health . For example, in the introduction to the film Patch Adams, the concept of "home" is compared to the human need for peaceful sanctuary and the absence of it thus leading to restlessness. Such restlessness, as can be seen by that particular case, may lead to depression and, ultimately, to a loss of sanity.[ citation needed]"


It is ok to have this attachments and it is ok too to feel home sick. Why then would home be mentioned in the Qur'aan?
Allaah (SWT) says,


أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ خَرَجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ وَهُمْ أُلُوفٌ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ فَقَالَ لَهُمْ اللَّهُ مُوتُوا ثُمَّ أَحْيَاهُمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لاَ يَشْكُرُونَ (البقرة:243).
Have you not regarded the ones who went out of their residences and they were in thousands, wary of death. So, Allah said to them, "Die." Thereafter He gave them life. Surely Allah is indeed The Owner of Grace over mankind, but (most of 3)

فَالَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا وَأُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ وَأُوذُوا فِي سَبِيلِي وَقَاتَلُوا وَقُتِلُوا لَأُكَفِّرَنَّ عَنْهُمْ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ وَلَأُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ ثَوَابًا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الثَّوَابِ (آل عمران: 195).
Then their Lord responded to them, "I do not waste the deed of any doer among you, any male or female. The one of you is as the other (Literally: some of you from some others). So, the ones who emigrated, and were driven out of their residences, and were hurt in My way, and fought, and were killed, indeed I will definitely expiate them of their odious deeds, and indeed I will definitely cause them to enter Gardens from beneath which Rivers run." A requital from (the Providence of) Allah; and Allah has in His Providence the fairest requital
(TMQ 3:195)

الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَقُولُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ وَلَوْلاَ دَفْعُ اللَّهِ النَّاسَ بَعْضَهُمْ بِبَعْضٍ لَهُدِّمَتْ صَوَامِعُ وَبِيَعٌ وَصَلَوَاتٌ وَمَسَاجِدُ يُذْكَرُ فِيهَا اسْمُ اللَّهِ كَثِيرًا وَلَيَنصُرَنَّ اللَّهُ مَنْ يَنصُرُهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَقَوِيٌّ عَزِيزٌ (الحج:40).
(Those) who have been driven out of their homes untruthfully (I.e., without right) except that they say, "Our Lord is Allah." And had it not been the repelling by Allah of mankind, some by the means of others, (Literally: some by means of some others) indeed there would have been completely demolished hermitages, and churches, and oratories, and mosques, wherein The Name of Allah is much mentioned. And indeed Allah will definitely give victory to whomever vindicates Him. Surely Allah is indeed Ever-Powerful, Ever-Mighty. (TMQ 22:40)

لِلْفُقَرَاءِ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيارِهِمْ وَأَمْوَالِهِمْ يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلاً مِنْ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا وَيَنْصُرُونَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ أُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الصَّادِقُونَ (الحشر:8).
It is (also) for the poor emigrants who were driven out of their homes and riches, seeking Grace from Allah and all-blessed Satisfaction, and vindicating Allah and His Messenger. Those are they who are the sincere (TMQ 59:8)

No doubt that our aim is "Dar al Baqaa", but we should make sure that when we strive for it we do that without forgetting to live our life here on earth.
(within the teachings of our religion of course:-)


كان النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول : ( اللهم ربنا آتنا في الدنيا حسنة ، وفي الآخرة حسنة ، وقنا عذاب النار ) .
الراوي : أنس بن مالك - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: البخاري - المصدر : الجامع الصحيح - الصفحة أو الرقم: 4522


الدنيا متاع . وخير متاع الدنيا المرأة الصالحة
الراوي: عبدالله بن عمرو بن العاص - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: مسلم - المصدر: المسند الصحيح - الصفحة أو الرقم: 1467


من سره أن يبسط له في رزقه ، وأن ينسأ له في أثره ، فليصل رحمه
الراوي: أبو هريرة - خلاصة الدرجة: صحيح - المحدث: البخاري - المصدر: الجامع الصحيح - الصفحة أو الرقم: 5985

من سره أن يمد له في عمره ويزاد في رزقه فليبر والديه وليصل رحمه
الراوي: - - خلاصة الدرجة: إسناده صحيح - المحدث: الهيتمي المكي - المصدر: الزواجر - الصفحة أو الرقم: 2/75

A reply to that was:

Ma shaa Allaah, you tackled the issue very practically and realistically. However I beg to differ with you.

As per the definition you provided from Wikipedia that stresses on the psychological aspect of a home which said, " Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit, the state of a person's home has been known to physiologically influence their behavior, emotions , and overall mental health." I would like to point out 2 facts.

1- Since we are creatures of habit who have a free will and supposedly well-thought choices to make then we are the ones who choose what to condition ourselves to and thus we choose our own habits and are capable to change them.

2- Allaah (SWT) says that, إِنَّ الدِّينَ عِندَ اللّهِ الإِسْلاَمُ , "Truly, the way of life with Allaah is Islam"(TMQ, 3:19). The exact meaning of the word "deen" in an Arabic/Arabic dictionary is "habit" or "way of life" and not "religion" as most TMQs mistakenly say.


According to the above 2 facts, the other ayaat you kindly provided from the Qur'aan and life experiences we have all been through, yes of course we all do have "homes" that are linked to peoples and places. However, I believe that the optimum home (which you call the psychological home) is one that should dominate over all other materialistic and emotional homes. The optimum home is one which we can train ourselves to have (as it is a matter of habit). Our optimum home is Islam the idea, the belief and the way of life. When one chooses that as his/her only home one can rise above all materialistic attachments that could weaken us. That way we become true worshipers of Allaah functioning equally effective on whatever front (regardless of people and places) Allaah (SWT) deploys us to serve at throughout our short journey through life on this earth.


Again thank you and great to hear from you.