The Mu’minīn Within: How Our Cells Embody True Submission
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
You are hosting billions of obedient little worshipers — each following fitrah, sacrificing themselves for your survival, all in submission to Allāh’s perfect design.
We often think of belief as something abstract, tucked inside our hearts, spoken on our tongues, shown in our deeds. But what if belief lived deeper? Hidden in the quiet obedience of our bodies, in the microscopic worship of our very cells?
Because the truth is this:
Your cells behave like true mu’minīn.
1. Unity and Tawheed (Oneness of Purpose)
Over 30 trillion cells — different in shape, role, and language.
Some speak electricity, like neurons.
Some speak chemistry, like hormones.
Some never speak at all.
Yet all are united in one purpose: you.
Your 30+ trillion cells have different roles:
• Brain cells think.
• Heart cells pump.
• Liver cells detox.
• Immune cells fight.
But all are united by one purpose: keeping YOU alive and functioning — just like how Muslims have different cultures and languages but are united under lā ilāha illa Allāh.
Just like an ummah, they live with divine order and single-minded submission.
No cell worships itself. No organ fights for leadership.
They recognize that their survival depends on cooperation, not ego.
Isn’t that what tawheed looks like?
Fun fact: our organs are just vehicles, and our cells are the drivers. Take the heart, for example — it doesn’t pump blood on its own. Rather, the heart cells work together and collectively pump our blood. (Isn’t that just amazing???)
2. They sacrifice with sincerity.
White blood cells literally die for you.
Neutrophils rush to the front lines of infection and explode to trap invaders.
T-cells commit “suicide” if they might harm you.
Even red blood cells give up their nucleus (their life’s command center) just to carry oxygen for you.
Their reward?
Nothing in return but the pleasure of doing their job — and dying quietly in service.
SubhānAllāh— this is what Allāh created them to do, and they do it without complaint.
So which of the favours of your Lord will you deny???
3. They enjoin good and forbid harm.
Your cells police themselves for your sake:
If a cell becomes rebellious ie it doesn’t respond to signals, or starts dividing selfishly
it’s told to self-destruct. This is called apoptosis.
A cell would rather die than hurt the body it serves. Yes, read that again: a cell would rather die than hurt the body it serves. SubhanaLlah.
There is no corruption tolerated.
Only accountability, mercy, and discipline.
4. They depend on one another (tawakkul).
Cells communicate constantly — through chemical signals like hormones and neurotransmitters. These signals:
• Call for help
• Send instructions
• Warn of danger
• Ask for resources
No cell can function alone.
Muscle cells rely on oxygen from red blood cells.
Neurons need glucose from the liver.
The heart waits for the pacemaker cells to fire.
They pass messages. They send distress calls.
They ask and trust — and they never stop working, even when the body forgets them.
Their duʿā is electric. Their tawakkul is biochemical.
But the sincerity is the same.
5. Sabr and Shukr : They obey without pride.
Your skin cells?
• Scratched? They don’t complain. They regenerate.
• Burned? They rebuild.
• Stretched during growth or pregnancy? They adjust.
• Even in pain? They keep working quietly.
Your cells don’t throw tantrums. They submit with sabr and shukr — because they were made to obey.
They don’t argue.
They don’t delay.
They don’t rebel.
They do what Allāh created them to do — without complaint, without arrogance— which is keeping YOU alive!
SubhānAllāh, so which of the favours of your Lord would you deny???
Final thoughts:
So maybe belief isn’t only in our minds.
Maybe it pulses through our bloodstream, fights infection in our immune cells, and renews us in our skin.
Maybe our cells have been worshipping Ar- Rahman all along — waiting for us to notice.
SubhānAllāh! Alhamdulillah! Allahu Akbar!
Refined using AI collaboration, but all thoughts and reflections are my own.