We are each of us bound to solitude, yet in this modern world struggle to find it, and thus often struggle to find ourselves. No man is an island but nor does he connect to any other except by greater or lesser perceived shared experience. For as we stand in ranks surveying the landscape unfolding before us, we can see the same but comprehend that vision differently. We cannot step out of ourselves, so we make bridges, however frail, to connect us to the common ground. We mould ourselves to fit and sometimes to misfit and by so doing, we belong. But we are always bound and bound to be alone. We can empathise, we can understand but we cannot know how another is. Sensations connect the outer to the inner and can be described to some degree in calculated scientific laws, in the arts, in literature perhaps, but how these feel to us is unique; how hot is hot? – is it comforting, painful, does it call into existence a memory, fear, loathing, a smile? We are bound to solitude in this way, an island of expressible but intangible feelings; language and frowns and laughter and waving are the bridges that we build to connect us to the common ground, and this too is a shared imagination in the end, a hope and an agreement.
We are cut-off because experience is unique, and though interconnected and intricate it is ever-creating our solitude; regardless how similar, there are always different feelings, different receptions, different relationships in what we experience. Solitude is necessary and we need to find it in order to find ourselves. For it is in this solitude that we exist – this solitude is who we are. We need, from time to time, to seek solitude and quietness and privacy in this world of noise and fuss and interference to enable reflection, meditation, contemplation; otherwise we are in danger of being swallowed or drowned out or overwhelmed. It is in this we find that there is always The One who knows us exactly as we are, not burdening us with more than we can bear, indeed, bearing for us our burdens more than we deserve.
Our solitude is our uniqueness. Even so we must build bridges and we must not merely maintain those bridges but strengthen them at every opportunity. Individuality must not consume us even though we are inevitably alone in ourselves. This individuality is extreme differentiation but it does not preclude a harmonious unity that makes us human, and more specifically, Muslim. The Ummah (Muslim nation/ community) is like one body, a type of unity; do not mistake this union as a loss or diminishing of individuality. A body comprises numerous and diverse organs, at once complimentary, different and necessary. Materially varied, functionally distinct, individually dignified, yet one coherent, mutually supportive body. We need to take refuge from the extremes of solitude and the overwhelming mediocrity of the collective in a balanced, harmonious union of individuals moving in the same direction with the same objective as guide: finding ourselves and finding Allah and strengthening the relationship between the two is a life’s work, it is our submission and our devotion. In the end, it is exactly this solitude we need to obtain in order for us to escape it: the whispers of hearts can only be heard by those who silently listen to them.
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