As a software architect, non functional requirements often weigh in decision making when it comes to design, choice of language , frameworks etc. One of the things that customers look in most distributed software solutions today is rnd fault tolerance. It is amazing how these two qualities have implications in human life too.
Human lifecycle can be analogous to the software lifecycle in many ways. However, one of the qualities that successful human beings tend to have is resilience. In the human resilience can take different connotations based on the context of usage. However, it is definitely a quality that helps us to go on even in the toughest times of our lives.
How do you build resilience ? In software, we ensure what is needed to achieve a functionality is always made available by some sort of redundancy. However, is redundancy found in human beings ? Can one individual really fill in for another ? A close approximation would be community support but then is it still fully redundant. That is where my theme of Taddabur comes into play.
The Quran talks about Salah and Dua as a way to achieve resilience. Resilience against loneliness, resilience against the feeling of fear or the resilience you need when faced with loss. The Almighty says in Chapter 14 Verse 28 - "Those who have believed and whose hearts are assured by the remembrance of Allah. Unquestionably, by the remembrance of Allah hearts are assured"
Dua and Dhikr when made a daily part of one's routine allows one to build resilience through Sabr and Tawakkul. These are qualities the Prophets all exhibited. Look at the Duas of Zakkariya (AS) or the resilience of Maryam (AS). The Sabr of Ayub (AS) when tested with extreme difficulty comes out in his beautiful dua. The beloved Prophet Muhammed (SAW) has shown in multiple instances how Dua is so powerful in acknowledging our reliance on the Almighty. That reliance is our redundancy and hence our source of resilience.
