Dreams and ambitions

27th April 2010

This morning I was listening to 'Motivasi pagi' again by Uztaz from IKIM FM and he was talking about having a vision or a dream. He talked about an experience when he was young and there was a day at school when every child had to wear a special costume of what they dreamt of becoming when they grew up. Some came as police officers, others as soldiers, maybe some as teachers or err...cowboys but he came as an Ustaz. To have a dream or a vision for a future is important for human beings. We all need to aspire to become something, to have hopes and dreams. Truth is human beings can achieve anything and can become anything as long as we have a vision; all we need after that is hard-work and effort.

Without vision, we will lose hope, be non-productive, lose our confidence and lose ourselves in the process. When life becomes a daily routine and days filled with chores...but we could do the same actions but with a vision, we will feel inspired.

The Uztaz gave an example of an elephant in a zoo. This large strong elephant had its feet chained and it stands there, not struggling, not fighting, not attempting to break free. The story of the elephant goes...that from a very young age, the elephant was chained by its master. Initially it struggled but this young elephant was small, the chain was stronger and it failed to break lose. As this elephant got older, it became stronger and potentially one little effort would break the chain to pieces, but the elephant never tried. It was no longer the chain that became a shackle for the elephant but its own mind. This is what happens when a person loses hope Even when the opportunity arises to stand up and fight, or to do something for himself, to get himself out of a situation; he will think that it is too late or he won't succeed.

It is so important to have dreams, to have a vision of what we want to be and what we want to achieve. The uztaz gave a clear example of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) in the battle of Ahzab; the Muslims were outnumbered, they were surrounded by the confederates, a large army comprising the Quraysh, various other Arab tribes and the Jews. There was a threat of betrayal from the Jews within Madinah and yet, when he was with his army digging the trench to protect the Islamic state and he struck a large stone and sparks flew and he was given a vision that the Muslims would conquer Rome (Byzantine) and that the Muslims would conquer Persia. The TWO largest strongest super power of that time. The sahabah heard these visions and they never for one second thought 'That is too far-fetched' or 'How can that ever become a reality when we are currently being surrounded by enemy forces'. They saw that vision and they worked harder than ever.

With a vision and with the help of Allah we can achieve anything, even if it takes 10 years or a 100 years, it doesn't matter...The only thing that can stop us from achieving our dreams is our own mentality. The BEST vision is the Islamic vision, to see Islam rise again as the Khilafah on the method of the Prophet (saw).