The Better Me: Room for Improvement

On a talk show yesterday, the presenter spoke about how the first step towards change is acknowledging in oneself the "room for improvement." We live with bloated egos and soar high in our own psychobabble about how morally correct we are. Little do we know that great sahabas and auliyaas have refrained from basking in their own glory and continued to troubleshoot their personalities for faults and flaws. The essence of Ramadan is to know your faults, acknowledge the room for improvement, and then plan to fill the gaps we find.

The presenter narrated the thoughts and sayings of Abu Bakr Siddiq (radhiAllahu ta'ala anhu) about whom the Prophet Mohammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny) said that he was Siddiq - the honest, the closest of all his companions, and the best of men - the most beloved to him after his wife Aisha (radhi Allahu ta'ala anha). This very person, Abu Bakr Siddiq (r.a.) once looked at a cow grazing on grass and wished that he could have been the cow who wouldn't be questioned for its deeds on the Day of Judgment. He was that conscious of being answerable. Then there is the mention of Umer Ibn al Khattab (r.a.), the second Caliph who once wished that his mother had never given him birth because he was reflecting on his shortcomings. These are the men of honor who did not have the bloated ego that would have stopped them from correcting themselves. No wonder they were so close to the prophet (saww). 

The root of all wrong is our pscyhe (the Nafs). In my article for Habibi Halaqas.org "Train the Bull that Satan Rides," I wrote:  

Islam elaborates that each human being’s nafs provokes evil. Remember how Satan pledged when he was expelled from Jannah that he would forever adulterate people’s faith? Guess what’s his secret for success? He works through the nafs – the most vulnerable of all human assets. And unless we have a strong firewall ready to counter his attacks, he would spread like virus into our souls and corrupt our self.

Ego is the biggest barrier that stops us from reaching to our Nafs within and working on it. This barrier needs to be breached so we can identify the room for acknowledgement within us. 

There are people who live in the foolish assumption that they are perfect. "We pray 5 times a day," they say, "We fast 30 days of Ramadan," they cringe, "We have performed Hajj," they boast, "What more do you want?" they argue. The self-assumed perfection would make you end up in major loss. Prayers, fasting, and Hajj are merely rituals if you don't have your roots deep down in the right direction.

Work on that bloated ego this Ramadan. Simple tips:

• Take the time off from the worldly enjoyment and reflect on what you've been up to in your life. I'm sure there's lots that you'd find you've done wrong.
  
• Read stories from the Quran, the Hadith, and from the lives of prophets, companions, and other great scholars about how they repented for their shortcomings.