The Fajr adhan was soon called and a new fast had begun. Imam Shuraim, my personal favorite among all the Shaykhs of the Haramayn led the Fajr salah, and in the salah he recited the cluster of verses surrounding Ayat-ul-Kursi, the verse of the Throne in Surah Baqarah. Fitting, as it allowed us to reflect on the greatness of Allah and His Attributes as we had begun the action of fasting which is for Him alone. In the second rakah, as the glimmers of sunlight began to color the once dark night sky, we heard of the subsequent verses in al-Baqarah detailing our father Ibrahim�s encounter with King Nimrud and his challenge to make the sun rise from the West. And then we heard of the story of Ibrahim and his request to Allah to see how He gives life and death, after which he was ordered to place the bodies of birds on the mountains at different places and then witnessed the resurrection of these birds as they flew back towards him. Ibn Abbas is reported to have stated that this verse, perhaps more than any other in the Qur�an, gave him the most hope, for Allah accepted Ibrahim�s simple answer of �Yes� as an affirmation of his faith. And as we reflected on this story in the salah, we heard the chirping of birds glorifying Allah and circling the Kaaba in their own way, perhaps descendants of those very same birds that flew to Ibrahim thousands of years ago. As the salah came to a close, the once black sky now took on a deep violet and blue hue.

We live in a billboard culture in this modern day age. These billboards surround us wherever we are and wherever we choose to go, and they are placed as a means to influence and mold our decisions in life. Interestingly, when one makes the drive from Jeddah to Makkah, there are literal billboards and signs on the highway which say Glory to Allah, Praise to Allah, and There is no God but Allah.

Those birds and the sun shown to Ibrahim are the same that we see today. Indeed the creation that surrounds us, the cosmic phenomena that intrigue and inspire us, the beauty of the mountains and rivers that captivates us, and the complexity and design of the animals and plants that astounds us, are our billboards. If we would but only examine and reflect on them, we would find that our hearts are naturally guided towards the proper decision, the decision to turn towards Allah.