Remembering the King

I had been intending to write something about the recent death of Michael Jackson and the lessons that can be learned from the events surrounding his departure. However, due to the day-to-day preoccupations of life, I was forced to abandon it. However, I finally decided that I must write what had been playing on my mind.

The society we live in made it impossible for us to escape being acquainted with Michael Jackson. He was everywhere: on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, internet etc. To the non-Muslims he was the king of pop, an epitome of fame and success. To some he was just a brilliant artist, to others a spiritual saviour.

Regardless of what people may have thought of his profession or his other alleged activities, the fact remains, he had excelled in music. While much of his time on this earth may have been very abhorrent to our Muslim way of life, his ultimate success is a great example of working hard and putting the right effort into achieving our maqasid.

The first and most obvious lesson is the inevitable reality of death. We will all have to leave this temporary world we inhabit. When the appointed time comes no one will be able to delay it. The angel of death is programmed to take our souls from the bodies we were looking after - no person and no machine or medicine can stop this reality from unfolding, ‘every soul shall taste death’.

With such inevitability, it came as a surprise to see how many of his fans had reacted after his death. While it is natural to feel pain and sorrow when a beloved or close relative passes away, it is by no means appropriate for a person to behave in the manner displayed by some his followers.

From what I have read it seems many have given up the on life on hearing of the death of Michael Jackson, some had apparently attempted to commit suicide. And while such desperate actions are unjustifiable, sympathy may be afforded to close members of his family, friends or even people whose whole livelihood depended in some way or other on the living Jackson. But these people were just mere ‘fans’. So why did they react in such a way?

A possible explanation may be the following: to many of his fans, Michael Jackson [and it could be said of other stars like him] was their life. They have read about him daily, saw him daily (on TV), listened to him daily, and talked about him daily with their friends and family. Some have spent their entire wealth trying to look like him and emulate him. 

To some he was their bread and butter, while others it became an obsession; their entire life revolved around trying to be like Michael Jackson. It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to suggest that some may have known more about Michael Jackson than his own family members.

The media plays an important part in culturing people to this behaviour. Sending out messages, both directly and indirectly to behave and look such a way. For the media, once they have succeeded in indoctrinating people in such behaviour, it becomes a gold mine for them

It is sad that some people’s lives are centred on these pop stars, whose lives are sometimes worse than the people who idolise them. Even then many idolise these stars to the extent that they hope and rely upon them for goodness and success in their lives – they have taken these ‘idols’ as idols of worship, relying upon them and directing their worship.

Think about it, the last person they see before they go to bed is their favourite singer/s, and the first person they see when they awake in the morning. And when they die, for example, their life becomes empty and void because to some they [the stars] are the only reason for living. They do not know anything else!

This brings me to my central point – the importance of remembering (dhikr) the King (Allah). We are as Muslims encouraged to remember Allah in every situation:  ‘’those who remember Allah while standing, reclining…..’’.

The Prophet was described by his wife Ayesha as a person who used to remember Allah at every instance. He would remember Allah before entering the bathroom and after exiting from it. He would remember Him before sleep and after he woke up. He would remember Him before and after eating. The Prophet would even remember Allah before being intimate with his wife. There is no action for a Muslim without a supplication or a remembrance before and after its performance.

God is the creator and nourisher of the universe and all that it contains, He understands the nature of human beings. He placed us on this planet to test which one of us is best in deeds. He knows we have emotional attachments to life and other human beings, but He is also fully aware of the limitations of these attachments. Everything in life will perish and will be replaced. Nothing in this universe is eternal.

Dhikr, you may say is our media or a tool that God employs to indoctrinate the believers in Him. Dhikr or the remembrance of God is so powerful that it causes such love and compassion for God, and only God, that no matter what occurs in one’s life or what misfortune befalls one, it propels those engaged in dhikr to a higher station.

No material loss or physical pain imagined by people can harm them because their hearts are filled with the light or the comfort of knowing that God is with them and He will not perish while everything other than Him will be extinguished.

This is one of the main maqsad (wisdom) of dhikr. Whether it is wealth, property or even a loved one we know that everything in life has substitutes, but there is no substitute for God. So those who substitute God for their false idols and take their desires and caprices as Gods are only creating a deeper void in their life, and as a poet explained:

لكل شيء اذا فارقته عوض

For everything you leave there is a substitute

و ليس لله ان فارقت من عوض

But if you depart from Allah there is no substitute.

As long as you have God in your heart nothing can harm you.