Brothers
and
Sisters

You know, on their way through life humans have to get along with a lot of different people,

and some they will meet once and never meet again,

and some they will meet and get to know better,

and some of them will get to be closer than others.

But closest to each is their family,

and brothers and sisters can be closest of all.

A new baby human can't look after itself,

so its parents need to feed it and take care of it.

For a time they try to give it what it needs,

and sometimes what it wants,

and a young human can get to think that it's parents are there just for them

From the moment

a brother or sister is born

all that changes.

Now things have to be shared,

the space that they live in,

the time their parents share with them,

and as they grow they will share toys and games

and understandings.

And as they grow they get to know each other well,

as they share much of their life together.

And living close to people can be hard.

But as well as spending a lot of time together, Siblings are tied even closer.

They are made of the same flesh and blood,

they share the stuff from which they are made.

Some of the stuff that makes up the two bodies of their parents

is mixed together to make the bodies of those siblings.

And that stuff that makes our parents goes back to their parents,

and their parents before them,

until that stuff reaches the first parents, Adam and Eve.

So we are also children of Adam and Eve,

and all brought into life by God,

Allah the All-Creator, is Al-Hayy, All-Life,

the Giver of Life and the Ever-Living.

So as children of Adam and Eve, we are all brothers and sisters, made of the same kind of stuff as all of humankind,

and we treat our fellow humans in a way that is different from other animals.

For example Most humans don't eat other humans.

But we are more than just the stuff that is our bodies.

We also have something that is not solid about us,

our spirit, our souls.

And in the way that siblings share a language

and a way of understanding the world that they learn from their parents and elders,

there are those who share with us an understanding of the way the spirit is part of us,

who recognise that God is the Creator of all of us,

which makes them closer to us than those who don't believe

And even closer are those who also know

that God sent the Message of guidance to humankind that we call the Qur'an,

and follow the example of the man who was born to recite it,

Muhammad the Messenger.

And in living the Deen that was taught to us by Muhammad, we are siblings

brothers and sisters

not of flesh and blood, but of the spirit,

a family relationship that is wider than that of the body,

that has no colour,

no race,

no privilege of birth,

but shares an understanding of the meaning of our lives.