Today's Reflection (Ayah 21-22, Surah Baqarah)

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اعْبُدُوا رَبَّكُمُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
 O people! Worship your Lord who created you and those before you, that you may attain piety. (2:21)

الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ فِرَاشًا وَالسَّمَاءَ بِنَاءً وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ 
مَاءً فَأَخْرَجَ بِهِ مِنَ الثَّمَرَاتِ رِزْقًا لَكُمْ ۖ فَلَا تَجْعَلُوا لِلَّهِ أَنْدَادًا وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
He who made the earth a habitat for you, and the sky a structure, and sends water down from the sky, and brings out fruits thereby, as a sustenance for you. Therefore, do not assign rivals to God while you know.(2:22)

The message Allah conveys in these 2 ayahs is phenomenal. Firstly it confirms that He alone is our creator and creator for everything and hence he alone deserves worship. This is a part of Tawheed (affirming oneness of our Rabb) which is crucial for any new comer to the Deen or even those who are muslims but have confusions about these basic concepts. Allah also teaches us in another ayah of Surah Al- Anaam , 

ذَلِكُمُ اللّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ فَاعْبُدُوهُ وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَكِيلٌ
(6:102)
Such is God, your Sustainer: there is no deity except Him, the Creator of everything: worship, then, Him alone -for it is He who has everything in His care. 

These ayahs confirm one another and show us that Allah alone deserves worship. He alone has power to turn things around. Have we ever been busy perhaps shopping or cooking a meal in the kitchen or taking care of work related stuff and realised that time flies while we are called to Salah and we miss it? How can we neglect the One who created us and the stuff that we buy and cook etc and expect to have barakah in those affairs. It is He who takes care of everything in the Dunya that we are so engrossed with. We have to worship him in many known ways such as Salah, Dua, Dhikr, helping our family, the needy etc in order to attain piety. The more we worship Him the more we attain consciousness of Him.

He explains simple things like how our daily sustenance is created. In this fast paced world where noone has the space in their minds or their hearts to think about these small things, Allah points out its heavy weight. Because there is no existence of mankind in the first place without sustenance. Which brings us to think about planting a tree. Perhaps some day someone will take advantage of it, maybe a bird or a traveller? The earth is a place of abundance of necessities and He has fashioned it so that the sky may rain upon it and bring forth its fruits and treasures. 

Have you thought about tracing back the simple orange juice that we probably drink for breakfast? Where does it come from? Most of us would say factories. But in reality even the factories wouldn't be able to manufacture it if it weren't for Allah's bounty to spread the crops and cause it to grow. Despite knowing this we commit shirk, by associating partners with the One who grants us these blessings. Praise be to Allah who provides us with everything we enjoy. Let us use this earth that Allah has blessed us with in good ways, without littering it, teaching our kids to grow plants, encouraging environmental friendly practices such as reduced use of plastic and proper disposal of household waste.