The Trickle-Down Effect

HAVE YOU EVER noticed a drop of water? You know the type I am talking about—picture it. It is the kind that drips out of the faucet, drop by drop. It is the same one that seems so loud that it echoes as it hits the porcelain and is magnified a million times louder than it actually is when you can’t sleep in the middle of the night. Did you ever pay close attention to how it trickles down? Or, have you ever wondered where it went and how far it may have traveled? I know it is a little weird, but I have spent some serious time thinking about it; probably one of those nights I spent counting sheep. Just imagine it for a minute, I mean really think about that single little drop of water and the journey it would take all the way down the drain. What would be the destination point, where would it end up? How large would the accumulated drops be at the end of the line or what effect would it have on the world around it once it got where it was going? Our decisions in life are a lot like that single drop of water. Each thing we decide to do eventually trickles down into a gathering pool, or it hits something and has an effect on it. Even when we make decisions that we know in our hearts are wrong, or make choices when we have doubts that it produces a trickle-down effect on our îmân and on the world around us. Wâbiṣah ibn Mʿabad narrated the following hadîth:

I came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he said: “You have come to ask about righteousness?” I said, “Yes.” He said: “Consult your heart. Righteousness is that about which the soul and heart feel tranquil, and wrongdoing is that which wavers in the soul and moves to and fro in the breast even though people again and again have given you their legal opinion (in its favor). (Al-Dârimi)

Deep down inside, we know what is right and what is wrong; but sometimes we still choose the wrong thing. Everyone does, we all make bad decisions sometimes. But we do not have to let it continue; we can do something about it. Ibn ‘Abbas related that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

Allah has pardoned for me my people for (their) mistakes and (their) forgetfulness and for what they have done under duress. (Ibn Mâjah and Bayhaqi)

Your Creator rescues our souls and forgives! He is, after all, the Most Merciful. Sometimes we forget about that, especially when we make bad decisions. Or, maybe it is because we have made a lot of bad decisions. Some people may even feel like they have done so many terrible things that they have gone past the point of no return—like there is no chance for change; they may constantly chant their mantra: “What’s the use at this point?” But it is never too late, and we should never EVER feel hopeless. There is always a way out because Allah’s Mercy, Generosity, Love and Forgiveness are endless…for everyone. He provides each of us with ample opportunities to redeem ourselves from our bad deeds and our stupid mistakes, to right our wrongs and to make better choices, even with even the simplest of actions. Abû Hurayrah reported Allah’s Messenger ﷺ as saying:

If anyone extols Allah after every salah thirty-three times, and praises Allah thirty-three times, and declares His Greatness thirty-three times, ninety-nine times in all, and says to complete a hundred: ‘There is no god but Allah, having no partner with Him, to Him belongs sovereignty and to Him is praise due, and He is Potent over everything,’ his sins will be forgiven even if they are as abundant as the foam of the sea.’ (Muslim)

So do not let your dreams of an everlasting Jannah trickle down the drain drop by drop, slowly cutting away at your îmân. Turn off the negatives at the source by fixing the leaks where they start. Make the change now, because even the hardest stone will eventually show a sign of wear after the trickle-down effect has taken its toll, and the damage will be visible to all. And just think…it all started with only one drop.