Driving Through

Your car reaches the red, yellow, green
hanging above the road,
though the color determines your choice,
your actions, you still hold.

Green is safe, proceed,
doubt won’t consume you as you drive,
false panic and distractions won’t stop you
certainty has joined your ride.

Red, hazardous, halt,
you know all the warnings and signs,
go any further, you know what will come,
be prepared to pay the fine.

Yellow, a trap, veiled but visible,
careful, you must be aware,
this is where your deen might collapse,
will your choice be safety or despair?

Pass through and there’s a possibility
you’re driving through the anxiety just fine,
but the cameras have already caught the evidence,
can you hear the guilt chasing you from behind?

Don’t think you’ve left the bind,
pretending you were temporarily blind,
go believe you sped through ambiguity,
only god knows if you sped through in time.

But choose to refrain from steering on,
you’ve avoided that which causes doubt,
stood clear of troubling your heart and mind,
and continued down the blessed route.

If there’s a chance you might cross through red,
holding the breaks should be a no-brainer,
the more you slip through that feeling of doubt
the more you put yourself in danger.

When you’re stuck, confused, don’t know which side to choose
don’t let the deceiving red win,
no one wants to drive with a trunkload of doubt,
or take chances with their hereafter and sins.

[On the authority Abi Ab’dillahi al-Nu’man ibn Basheer (ra) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: “That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear and between the two of them are doubtful matters about which not many people are knowledgeable. Thus, he who avoids these doubtful matters certainly clears himself in regard to his religion and his honor…”]

[Related by al-Bukhari and Muslim]