Voice of British Muslim Women

Yusra Dahri, Tilford

Perhaps the easiest way to explain to a child where God lives is to just look above you, look at the sky. Sometimes you don’t even have to say a word – the child will just follow your gaze and understand.

Eventually that child will grow older and understand that God is present everywhere – in every resting tree and every trembling leaf. In every river that slips past and every creature trying – in one way or another – to breathe. Even in the concrete jungles, in the cities there are so many buildings dedicated to God – yet God remains uncontained, unlimited.

We are no longer children, but we still look up in feelings of hope and desperation, like sunflowers stretching up to the sun. And sometimes, what we see reminds us that God is not only here but also that God is Al Musawwir – the Fashioner.

We see the sky.

There is not just night and day. There is every hue in between. We have spent centuries trying to recapture in paint and paper what God has fashioned through the ether. In this country we love to complain about the weather, but how often do we appreciate the moments between the rain? How often do we watch the sky bloom like a rose and realise that we live in a weightless, ethereal painting?

We can’t touch the sky, like we can touch flowers or gemstones. But aren’t we so blessed that it’s something we can see, something that we can breathe? In this way like no other, can God’s masterpieces become a part of us and we can become a part of them.

The air that rushes through us, the clouds that feather overhead, the ombre of inks of turquoise and lilac, of viridian and amber. The sky is truly a canvas and there is only One who has the ability to fashion water, air, and light into something so resplendent that we spend hours of painstaking effort to put through our own paintbrush.

Then, there is the night sky.

If you have ever been in an area where there is little to no light pollution, you will know exactly what I mean.

There are more stars in the sky than you could ever imagine. There is so much light in the darkness that it seems unfathomable. It draws you in and you begin to feel every single star find its way to you, scattering like the goosebumps on your skin.

Every city at night pales in comparison and soon you realise what a price we are paying for modern life. When we’ve given up the lights God has given us for the sake of traffic lights and blue lights that scar our sleep, it’s no surprise so many people are miserable.

In my 18 years of living I’ve never seen Aurora Borealis or even the Milky Way. I don’t think most people have or even hope to. But I wonder how much we would all change if we did.

If we all had a glimpse of more than what we thought was possible, of what God can truly do and be grateful we were on this earth to witness it, I don’t think we could remain unchanged.