The Commute
A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, Imam and Inter Faith Practitioner from Leicester.
Good morning!
I commute to work by train and tube regularly. My journey takes me through very interesting parts of our beautiful country. Much of the journey is through vast swathes of countryside and farmland, and some of it through small towns and major cities where I try to spot church towers, minarets and domes.
Commuters take advantage of their time to catch up with the news, send-off emails or are busy on laptops or reading a book. Many will be on social media keeping up with what others are doing, feasting on gossip or sharing their own stories. Some will be watching a film. In fact, most commuters on public transport will have their head buried in an electronic device and I鈥檓 no different!
Whether our commutes are long or short, before we know it, we鈥檒l have arrived at work or are back at home. Meanwhile, a whole world has passed us by, or rather we have passed by. The green rolling hills, grazing animals, the little stream, river or canal. The disused quarry now full of water, a home for ducks and swans. The trees painting the autumnal landscape with vivid bright colours. The sunrise and the crimson sunset, birds returning to their nests, bellies full. The diversity of people on the move. Many of us hardly take the time to intently look out of the window and marvel at the creation. In Islam, this is also a form of worship. A commute doesn鈥檛 have to be just a journey to work but it can also be a spiritual journey to God, the ultimate destination.
I pray we take time to marvel at creation and appreciate it, amin.