Photo: Acizane (Flickr)Contemporary picture of Cave of Hira where Prophet Muhammad upon him be peace would retreat to regularly and also received the revelation of the first verses of Qur’an.
I enclose the picture above because it has always struck me that Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) would retreat periodically from the buzz of his city to experience a time for reflection and contemplation in a remote space of the cave of Hira.
Bedouins at the time of the Prophet would also receive children from the city to care for them in when they were young so they might live in the natural surroundings of the desert and be cared for in the openness of the Earth in less busy environments for periods of time.
Indeed, the Prophet himself spent time with dear caretakers in the desert as a child.
In Ramadan I dive deep into the practices of Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) to use this time to emulate his example in concentrated manner, so I offer some thoughts on solitude as I have observed its benefits in my spiritual landscape.
I have noticed that in the last four weeks I have taken my children to beaches at the edge of the ocean.
My six year old son always walks off for about half hour and simply faces the water and stands there alone, staring at it intently with his focus on the waves and tuning out all other people.
He then looks down at his toes and feel how the water moves across his feet, looks up at the sky and considers the rays of the sun as the beam down across the water. He has done this unfailingly at each beach we’ve been to.
For him, solitude in this moment is a way to connect to Allah’s creation. He is away from the structured time of life as a modern child, in the womb of nature and the perfectly intuitive way to greet it is to be for a moment silent, alone and connected.
So often we give solitude to children as a punishment. How often have we said, “Go to your room and be quiet,” after a child did something wrong?
What if we begin to recalibrate moments of solitude and think of ways to provide opportunities to children to be quiet, alone in nature and contemplative from a young age? When we study the Prophet’s example, we see how important a gift of learning to be in solitude can be to build character.
How can we do this for our children so it is not only a negative association with being along, but also a time that lets them fulfill the human need to think and reflect without the noise of others intruding?
The Qur’an is full of examples of contemplating nature. I’ve written about the stories of ants, the shadows even of the vegetation on Earth (Surah Rahman) and the beckoning God calls upon us to reflect on these for lessons of devotion.
Part of the reason we need to be alone for moments, and as the Prophet was, in places that inspire us to see the interreconnectedness of nature is to see our role in its care as well as to see the vastness of Creation.
The smallness of humanity reminds the heart that without a spiritual connection we can be self focused both as a person and as a community.
Natural surroundings breed diversity, if we experience the vast variances of Creation, we see in it lessons for interdependence upon different forces. We begin to see that the ego-centric leadership of our selves cannot exist without the original Creator.
We learn to listen to sounds made by other creatures, to lessen the importance of our singular voice. We see small, gentle creatures in tidepools, pay attention to details that might have been obscured before.
Solitude curbs arrogance and opens the door to appreciating forms of beauty we may not have seen in our lives before.
How do you cultivate the practice of solitude in your life? How do you find ways to integrate engagement while being alone, especially in nature? What lessons have you learned from your time alone?
How does it strengthen your heart and expand your vision of common humanity?
For more updates from Najeeba Syeed, check out her Facebook pageand Twitter account! This post was first published on the author’s personal blog: Najeeba’s World.
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