⛰️ #8 | How Strong Is YOUR Web?

How Strong is YOUR Web?

An intricate weaving of glistening threads hidden amongst leaves, corners, and sometimes so hidden you run right into it, cueing frantic swiping at your face and praying its creator hasn’t entered the abyss of your mouth.

Yup, the web of our favorite arachnid -- the spider.

The spider has a whole chapter in the Quran named after it (Ankabut), with a single ayah in which a metaphorical comparison is made to this creature, more specifically its web:

{مَثَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ أَوْلِيَآءَ كَمَثَلِ ٱلْعَنكَبُوتِ ٱتَّخَذَتْ بَيْتًۭا ۖ وَإِنَّ أَوْهَنَ ٱلْبُيُوتِ لَبَيْتُ ٱلْعَنكَبُوتِ ۖ لَوْ كَانُوا۟ يَعْلَمُونَ}

“The parable of those who take protectors other than Allah is that of a spider spinning a shelter. And the flimsiest of all shelters is certainly that of a spider, if only they knew.” (Surah Ankabut 29:41)

Why does Allah make this comparison?

The spider, we know, takes an immense amount of time and effort to create such a fragile but incredibly complex structure. However, with a strong enough gust of wind, heavy rain, or the plowing through of an unwieldy creature (*cough*), it is destroyed, and the spider begins again, and again, and again.

But what is fascinating is that spider silk is actually one of the strongest natural materials to exist, due to its high strength-to-weight ratio and its characteristic stretchiness, malleability, and stickiness.

Perhaps this is a message that even though one is blessed with strength and the best of skills, it is possible to use these talents and features to fashion something so weak and flimsy, yet seemingly intricate and perfect.

To put it another way, what is one thing that humans are blessed with, that other creations are not? Free will. Or in other words, our minds.

We live our life as if we are the ones who mold the web of our existence, not realizing that there are far more powerful entities that can destroy us in a split second. That what we frantically plan, obsess over, and sacrifice for the sake of the Dunya, can be as easily collapsed and entangled as the spider’s web is from a mere flurry of wind.

Our minds, our intellect, our free will, are all profound blessings from the Almighty. If we place our trust in Him, and truly understand that it is only Him who can protect us from the millions of things that could go wrong, our webs will remain strong and beautiful - scintillating in the sun with the light of faith and protection.