The Hunger Game

I watched a movie called "The Hunger Game" today. It was introduced by my daughter who has read the entire trilogy. Since it is from a book so, I do not feel guilty for this spoilers so BEWARE >>>>>> SPOILERS!!!

Katniss Everdeen

I am so smitten by the main character, Katniss Everdeen played by Jennifer Lawrence. She portrayed a very strong and brave character. The character imparted an important lesson in life that strength comes not from hate, anger or vengence but strength comes from love and compassion. Katniss volunteered herself as a contestant in the deadly 'Hunger Game' in order to replace her sister. She did the most daring move in order to save her sister's life.


When I sat with my daughter at Secret Recipe sharing a piece of cake with hot chocolate. I told her this. I said "Do you know where strength comes from?"
She said "No"
I told her that strength comes from everything that Allah SWT tells us to be and the most important feeling that gives us strength is love. I told her that the Prophet Muhammad SAW is the strongest person to have ever lived. He carried the burden of the message of Islam to the whole of mankind and his strength came from his love for Allah, for the message, for us...his followers, his Ummah.


My daughter then looked at me funny and said that I sounded like Dumbledore (well...except of course Dumbledore does not give usrah on Islam)


"Well..." I laughed and laughed and couldn't stop laughing for a while before saying "It doesn't matter, you can pretend we are in one of the scenes in Harry Potter with Mummydore"


Allah SWT tells us that we should love Him above all others and to love our Prophet SAW. He tells us not to hate, to not have vengence but to forgive. He tells us to have mercy on every soul and every living creature. Love is not something that one can rationalize...if we rationalize too much about love then the love will turn to hate, anger or disappointment. A pregnant mother has such high hopes and expectations for her child, that the child will be healthy, intelligent and beautiful but if she was to give birth to a child who is mentally handicapped or disabled in some way, she would still love the child and she would not rationalize her love.


The other thing that gives us strength is Trust. Allah SWT tells us to have Tawakkal in Him which is really about trust. He tells us to trust Him so deeply that we put our lives, our past, present and future in His hands. He also tells us to have hope, to have hope in Him, in His forgiveness, His Mercy and that He will give us what is best for us. We just have to ask and be patient.


And when my servants ask you concerning Me, then surely I am very near; I answer the supplicant when he calls upon Me, so they should answer My call and believe in Me, that they may walk the right way Surah Al Baqarah: 186

Cato is Katniss biggest competitor

Cato on the other hand is a villain. He appears as a heartless, cold blooded killer but every person is a product of his past experiences. That is the weakness and the limitations of every person, every human being. We are who we are because we have learned to think, feel and respond in a certain way. The way we 'learn' is through experiences. Everything that ever happened to us is stored in our subconscious or we can talk about the Hippocampus - Amygdala - Neocortex if you want to be more scientific.

Our experiences determines how we will behave whenever we encounter a similar event. At the end of the movie, we saw something in Cato despite the tough exterior there is weakness inside of him when he said he would kill one last time..."and why not, this is all I've ever known" He was born and brought up for only one purpose, trained to win this 'Hunger Game'. He was trained to kill, to fight, to be brutal but that hasn't made him strong rather it made him weak. Anger, hate, brutality and arrogance will only destroy the person from within but love, patience, compassion and forgiveness are the virtues that bring strength and freedom to the inner self.



These are all the virtues that are mentioned in the Qur'an and Hadith of Rasullullah SAW




Abu Said narrated that the Prophet SAW said "The one who tries to have patience, Allah will grant him patience. And no one has been given a better or larger gift than patience."




On the authority of Anas, who said: I heard the messenger of Allah say:
Allah the Almighty has said: “O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as its.”