Our Spiritual Fragrance

Imagine you step through a doorway and are hit by a distinct smell.

That smell can transport us to another time, another place. It's persuasive, stronger than sight or touch. It can bring back memories or can stir our imagination.

This is the power that smell holds over us.

The authenticity of a believer can be detected much like the authenticity of a flower - through a smell that emanates over time, not just through immediate sight.

The Prophetﷺ often used the analogy of smell about our engagement with the divine and what that means for the world around us. A believer who recites the Quran and acts upon it is likened to a citrus fruit - it smells and tastes good. The believer who does not recite the Quran but does have faith is like a date, which has no fragrance but a sweet taste.

On the other hand, a hypocrite reciting the Quran is like basil - it may smell sweet but tastes bitter.

A hypocrite who doesn't even recite the Quran? They're compared to a desert gourd, which neither smells good nor tastes pleasant.

The scent is an important marker of our influence on our surroundings - the mark we leave on a gathering.

Our influence - the 'smell' we emit, so to speak - can profoundly impact our surroundings, our interactions, and eventually our spiritual growth.

Let us strive to be like a well-loved perfume whose pleasant scent permeates the atmosphere, subtly influencing those around us.