The Hobbit: love, friendship, courage and destiny

Last night we watched "The Hobbit" and I must say it was one of the best movies ever made in 2012. I love "Lord of the Rings". I love the book and the movies. I can spend days on ends analyzing every character, every plot, every dialogue and every scene.

Anyway, the movie started at 8.30pm and it went on for nearly 3 hours. However, we were glued to the screen. Despite knowing what will happen next, I was totally mesmerized by each scene. My favorite character though is Gollum A.K.A Smeagol. He is evil, nasty and repulsive and yet, I just loved him. He is cute and funny. Most of all, there is just something likeable about him and one can't help feeling sorry for him.

He was this ordinary creature and yet, he was destined to find the Ring. The Ring consumed him and eventually, he became the servant of the ring. He lost his good nature, his good self and turned into this repulsive creature and all his previous traits were lost. He lost his way...and yet there he was, sad and vulnerable.Without the ring, he became nothing.

There is so much to say about the story, about hope, trust, courage and most of all...it is about fate. Each and every one of us have a destiny to fulfill. As Muslims, we believe that God has decided everything and everything has been written in the book of "Lauh Mah Fouz" but instead of just playing our parts like actors who memorize their lines, we have not been given the script nor the lines. Instead, we have been given a choice. The choice maybe limited but nevertheless it is an important choice and decision to make because it is a choice between good or evil, haram or halal, right or wrong way to respond to things. For that choice or 'free will' we have been given a responsibility. If we choose the right path, we will be rewarded but if we choose the wrong path, we will be punished.

In The Hobbit, each character seem to have its part to play in this vast picture of battle for middle Earth. Yet, it seems that the littlest of creature, the most insignificant in the eyes of men are those who hold the biggest part to play. So, what part do we play in this world? and do we play the hero or the villain? Are we a player or a pawn? Which side do we serve, the darkness or the light? What is our destiny? The answer lies in us, in the choices that we make and how seriously do we strive to fulfill our responsibilities to the best of our ability.

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Frodo: I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.
Gandalf: So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.

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Frodo:Then I know what I must do. It's just… I'm afraid to do it.
Galadriel: Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Sometimes we are afraid of the future, of the choices we must make. Sometimes we know what we must do but we are afraid to venture it. Most of the time we do not choose our destiny and yet, we are given a task we may feel it is too big for us to handle. Yet, it may give us relief to know that even the best of mankind in history felt the same way. This reminds me of Maryam (may Allah be pleased with her) when she left her home, heavily pregnant, chastised by her community and then, she went into labour. She was in pain with nothing to eat nor drink. She never chose that life and yet, it was given to her as a burden, as a gift. She sat next to a trunk of a date-palm and she said "Would that I had died before this, and had been forgotten and out of sight." (Surah Maryam:23).

Whatever responsibility, test or pain that is given to us, we simply have to accept and make the best of it. However, through the test we will find love, hope, courage and friendship. The most important gift of all is when we find tranquility in God.

I can say so much more about The Hobbit but I think that's enough for now...