Some people are able to take a recipe and create the meal perfectly. Most often, these are people who themselves have years of experience in cooking. I am definitely not one of those people. When I cook, recipes often turn into completely different dishes from the original intent. Some taste good, most are (not surprisingly) disasters. Either way, it’s certainly a gamble.

Why is it that even following simple directions ends up in disaster? It may have to do with the nuances and need for interpretation that is found within recipes. The examples could fill libraries: a “pinch” of salt here, a “dash” of this there, “reducing heat” to a “simmer”, being careful not to “over-mix”.

The truth is that recipes are an attempt at capturing the reality of a person’s practice and experience. We are not ‘creating’ a meal, we are attempting at ‘recreating’ it.

The best cooks are those who after real training are able to apply a ’sixth sense’ in determining what these nuanced phrases mean. The interpretation of the recipe becomes key. With proper interpretation a recipe may unlock within another chef a means to create the same delicious dish.

Better yet, one recipe may yield two equally delightful, but certainly different dishes, based off of the interpretation of the chef, as long they both have a fundamental training in how to make good meals.

At this point one may be thinking, did I land on yursil.com or cooking.com? Don’t worry… you are at yursil.com!

The truth is that Islam is just like a good dish, a dish that will be ready on the day of our death. After that, there is little we can do to add to that dish or take away.

So, when we look at our so-called “recipes of life” (Quran and Hadith or Fiqh manuals), are we certain we are able to understand the nuances of those instructions? Like recipes, these books of instructions are necessary tools to “recreate” the reality that existed during the Prophet’s (Sallalahu’alaiheewassalam) time. But are we able to apply the proper interpretation and context to all of those words or will we end up with a deflated soufflé of deeds to present to our Lord?

We are fortunate that we don’t need to be so specific as a recipe when dealing with life. We are also fortunate that we have many chances to go back and fix what we have erred in.

Although, to go back and make the same mistakes in interpretation over and over again is a sign of madness, but that is really what we end up doing.

So, isn’t it better to learn from a “master chef” or in our case, a shaykh?

Why try to deal with recipes when you can opt for personalized instruction? We are lucky we are discussing Islam and Tariqat instead of cooking, since, unlike food, teachers and guides are even able to work on hearts from far distances away.

So time to put that batter down, turn off the Food network, and get connected with your teacher.

Who needs “Iron Chef”, when you have life?