Bismillah
Allah calls Himself As-Samee’— The Hearing, The Ever-Listening— on 45 occasions in the Qur’an. He is the One whose hearing and attention comprehends everything. As-Samee’ hears every word, thought, and secret, and He listens to every voice. As-Samee’ listens and pays attention to everything, perfectly, eternally, and without any limits..
As-Samee’ Himself says: “Our Lord, Accept this service from us: For You are the All-Hearing, the All-knowing” Quran 2: 127
. . . “If I am astray, I only stray to the loss of my own soul: but if I receive guidance, it is because of what my Lord reveals to me. He is All-Hearing,
Ever-Near” Quran 34:50
. . . “And Allah hears your discussions. Lo! Allah is All-Hearing,
All Seeing” Quran 58:1
And Allah made listening a condition for obedience when He said,
“We hear and we obey” Qur’an 2:285
Before I can obey I have to hear. In another verse Allah says,
“Who listen to speech and follow the best of it.” Quran 39:18
Those who listen and follow. So listening is very important.
“Indeed in that is a reminder for whoever has a heart or
who listens while he is present [in mind]” Qur’an 50:37
Listening? Subhan Allah why do we have to talk about listening?”
Go to any Friday khutbah (sermon) and see how many people don’t listen. If you go to many Friday khutbahs you find, Astaghfirullah Hal Adzim
(I seek refuge from Allah), some people doing their 401k on their cell phone in the back of the masjid, exclaiming, “Sell! Sell! Sell now!” Selling stocks in the back of the masjid. Look at the announcements in our masjids. Have they changed over twenty years? “Please park in the yellow lines that go to the curb. You put your car between there, not on it, not sideways. Please wipe up the water from the wudhu (ablution) area. Please don’t, please this, please that.” Subhan Allah, nobody listens.
Do you listen to your Wife? Do you value her opinion?
Allah says, enjoining kindness towards one’s wife ..
“and live with them honourably”
Qur’an 4:19
And the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wassalam said:
“And treat women with kindness, and treat women with kindness.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5186; Muslim, 1468.
And he Sallallahu Alayhi Wassalam said: “The best of you is the one who is best to his womenfolk, and I am the best of you to my womenfolk.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3895; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami’, 3314.
Undoubtedly consulting one’s wife and listening to her advice and accepting it is part of living with them honourably and treating them with kindness. It softens her heart and makes her feel that she is playing a role in the family and that she is responsible for her family.
The first step in learning to listen is to learn to be quiet. Make a friend of silence. This can be difficult because nobody wants to be thought of as dull. There is a natural desire to respond quickly, and to be seen as interesting and smart. But if you resist this urge even a little bit, a new thing can begin to happen.
I believe listening is an undervalued yet highly important virtue.
Talking is easy. Relying on our prior beliefs, values, and what we think we know is easy. But listening is hard because it requires a great deal of mental effort and humiliation to acknowledge that one doesn’t have all the answers – that we might need to put ourselves on silent and listen to others for a better understanding of ourselves and our world. Listening is also hard because the things we hear from others often make us uncomfortable by exposing our own weaknesses and ignorances. We’ve been told to “like,” “comment,” “favorite,” and “retweet,” as if these things will lead us to true enlightenment and civil dialogue. But we’ve never been told to listen.
The best listeners have the greatest capacity for personal growth because they’ve freed themselves from the tyrannical prison of their own condescension and ignorance. When we listen, we get a little closer to understanding each other. When we listen, we convey respect. When we listen, we acknowledge the humanity of others.
“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.”
It is not speaking that breaks our silence, but the anxiety to be heard. The words of the proud man impose silence on all others, so that he alone may be heard. The humble man speaks only in order to be spoken to.
Want to connect with people? Want to really understand where people are at and what’s going on? Let some silence happen and make a practice of deep listening.
So don’t just hear.. but listen.. there’s a huge difference between the two…
Hearing is the act of perceiving sound and receiving sound waves or vibrations through your ear. Listening is the act of hearing a sound and understanding what you hear. Hearing is one of the five senses and it just happens all the time – whether you like it or not – unless you have a hearing problem. But if you listen, you are consciously choosing what you want to hear. You concentrate on what you hear in order to understand the message. For example, If I hear a baby crying out loud, I am using my sense of hearing, but when I hear a baby cry because he is hungry, it is a form of listening because I have attached a meaning to what I have heard. Subhan Allah..
May Allah guide us and grant us clarity..
· “Ya Allah, Controller of the hearts, direct our hearts to Your obedience”
O Turner of the heart, keep our hearts firm upon Your religion.
Aameen Ya Rabbal Alameen
