Where does Ice Cream come from?
By: Shadoof
"This piece draws on the connection between humans and their environment that acts as a gateway to help us comprehend and ponder upon Allah SWT's virtues and wisdom "
Allah SWT says in the Quran:
He causes to grow for you thereby the crops, olives, palm trees, grapevines, and from all the fruits. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who give thought (chapter 16, verse 11).
And He has subjected for you the night and day and the sun and moon, and the stars are subjected by His command. Indeed in that are signs for a people who reason (Chapter 16, vs. 12).
And indeed, for you in grazing livestock is a lesson. We give you a drink from what is in their bellies - between excretion and blood - pure milk, palatable to drinkers (chapter 16, vs. 66).
Indeed, the relationship between nature and the men is that of a tremendous importance to the way men comprehend creation and comprehend God. Allah (SWT) tells us many times in the Quran that the signs of His power are indeed available to us to see, if only we pondered upon them. These signs are manifested around us in many shapes and forms. Now, if we were to look at the first verse referenced in the beginning; my point is not to say that each person who has somehow interacted with the space, or studied astronomy, will surely see God’s hand at work. Neither it is to say that a layman who does not interact with the science of astronomy cannot comprehend the signs of Allah (SWT). Conversely, we Muslims believe that Allah’s signs are so apparent that they are at a hand reach to each and every single human being. It is enough to look up at the sky- to see the moon grow and diminish throughout the month, to observe the vastness of the ocean and its variety of inhabitants, to comprehend Allah’s signs. One who watches a growing tree, or ponders upon the fruit that he so casually devours, or tries to understand how water and a couple of dates can give a person all the necessary nutrients is surely bound to fall in prostration and in awe to the Creator.
The issue is, however, how often do we ponder upon those signs, and what are the implications of taking for granted the bounties of nature that Allah (SWT) so skillfully and easily assembled for us. In a rapidly modernizing world, where food is no longer a product of hard and loving labor, rather a product of the machines and preservation of chemicals, we are unfortunately starting to lose the grasp of reality. When I once asked my young brother whether he knows where the ice-cream comes from, he gave me a thorough explanation of the process of making an ice-cream, but needless to say; his chain of causation only reached as far as the factory of Baskin Robbins. In his young mind (already polluted by the fast and cheap production) there was no place for a cow, a humble creation of Allah (SWT) that grants us such a rich and fulfilling product as milk. My immediate thought was “well, how could he know about the cow, if he never milked it, if he never smelled the freshness of the hot milk, early after Fajr when the cows are being milked”. And even if he ultimately reached the conclusion that an ice-cream is the product of a cow, could he have known a cow other than the cow that is trapped in a stall in the humongous factory, a cow that never saw the daylight, a cow that never freely walked in a pasture and munched on the fresh grass.
Now, I would not want to be misunderstood for someone who denounces modernity and automatization of labor and products, for there are clear benefits in it. My call is rather for us to start pondering upon the signs of Allah (SWT) manifested in animals, food, environment, and people. The question that I am posing here is: could our distance from nature be the reason why we as an Umma face many difficulties in terms of our spirituality? Again, that is not to diminish anyone’s faith and intimate connection with the Creator. Rather, it is to suggest that the vices and problems of modern society could be a partial result of us departing from nature which is the ultimate sign of Allah (SWT). Do we ever think of the seed and how it grows day by day, nurtured by sun and rain? The perplexity of this process never occurs to our mind- every time we pick a fresh tomato from the supermarket. Would we fall in awe and prostration, if only we planted that tomato ourselves, would we say Subhan Allah?
Now, let us return to the ‘heavens’ as another thing that Allah (SWT) created as a sign for us. The moon, the sun, the stars, and the clouds. The majority of us are not scientists; neither are we space explorers. However, didn’t Muslims contribute to the study of astronomy by simply observing the night sky? No sophisticated equipment was required, to ponder upon the signs of Allah (SWT) which He has placed as a guide for us. As someone who lives in an urban area, I forget the last time that I saw stars in the sky. The light pollution is taking away our ability to connect with Allah (SWT) in ways that He wants us to connect with Him. This is not to be understood that if I cannot see the stars, I will stop believing in the one and only Creator, rather, I am prone towards being oblivious, towards becoming someone who takes things for granted, towards becoming someone who nurtures the heart through looking at the screen in the comfort of a cool room and devouring a dry McDonalds burger void of love, care, nurture, and Allah’s name being mentioned upon it.
What I would want ideally is to be someone who plants the seed and watches it grow, someone who milks the cow with humility and nurtures the body with its nutrients. I would want to be someone who can lose count in trying to count the stars, only to start doing it all over again. I would want to be someone who eats fresh tomatoes that are filled with sweetness, instead of plastic like tomato-looking things that have nothing but pesticides inside. I would want to be someone who catches the tame ray of the sun, while in sujood; the ray that penetrates the palm roof of the masjid. And while we cannot change the course of history, we cannot slow down the progress, and obviously we are not mandated to live an ascetic life, we can start with just baby steps. We can choose organic food over processed, we can choose to grow our own tomatoes on a windowsill, for that matter. We could stop dreaming about leading the world by watching countless videos on leadership skills and watch a tutorial on how to milk a cow for a change. We could go out for evening walks in the parks instead of the malls, and we could choose to pray on the grass next to the masjid, instead of confining ourselves to our concrete buildings. We could choose to look for Allah’s (SWT) signs around us, instead of searching for answers on Google. The choice is yours and Allah (SWT) guides those who strive towards Him.
Let me finish by a hadeeth from the prophet (SAW), where he said: “… Allah (SWT) said whoever draws close to me the length of a hand, I will draw close to him by the length of an arm. Whoever draws close to me by the length of an arm, I will draw close to him by the length of a fathom. Whoever comes to me walking, I will come to him running. Whoever meets me with enough sins to fill the earth, not associating any idols with me, I will meet him with as much forgiveness.