100 Principles for Purposeful Living

inferiority. This is a deadly habit. The healthy habit is to think that asking is just like consulting dictionaries and encyclopedias. No man can have all the available knowledge on his own. He reads books to make up for this shortcoming. In the same way, it should be a habit to ask those who know to share their knowledge with others. One who knows is like a living book. Asking the knower is just like reading a book. Besides increasing knowledge, asking a knower also enhances relationships. 13. Contemplation on God's Blessings The Prophet of Islam once observed, “Pondering on the blessings of God is the greatest act of worship.” (Al-Azmat by Abu Shaikh al-Asbahani, Hadith No. 43) Being an intellectual activity, contemplating God’s blessings is not visible, but there is no greater deed than this in the sight of God. There is an element of blessing in everything in the world. Through contemplation, we discover different aspects of blessings in everything. It is this which is called the best kind of worship in this tradition. Discovering things as blessings is an act that brings man closer to God. For man, this is the greatest source of the realization of God. 14. The Process of Reflection Abu Darda was a companion of the Prophet of Islam. After his death, a man asked his wife, Umm al-Darda, “What was the greatest act of Abu Darda?” Umm alDarda replied, “Thinking and learning lessons.” (Sunan an-Nasai, No. 11850) From this, we learn that the greatest act of a person is reflecting on the things around him and drawing lessons from them. It is a process of intellectual and spiritual