Submit and you will be safe.
The Prophet saw wrote this to the various rulers, inviting them to Islam. However, some critics take offence at such invitations, claiming that this does not endorse freedom of choice. The reality is this, regardless whether or not we like it, salvation is with God alone and hence if you submit to Him, you are safe. Then they say, " Why is God so not democratic? why am i not allowed to do what i want?" Democracy is about freedom to serve, the question now is who do you serve? Satan? Your Ego? or God? serving the first two shackles you, traps you and shuts you off in a pithole, whereas serving God earns you His Divine Grace and Favour.
People often say that the liberated person is he who is free to do as he wills, even if it is a sin. In reality, they are ENSLAVED by their own nafs.
Oriana Fallaci gave such a reply to the Prophet's invitation:
لن استسلم
Lan astaslim, I will not surrender.
Ah, LANtak kau lah, there is no compulsion in religion, no one is coercing, if you refuse upon invitation then so be it. Furthermore, it wouldn't serve any good to force a non-muslim to be a reluctant muslim.
Surrender, reminds me of a song by Celine Dion with the same title;
I'll swallow my pride and I'll be alive
DID you hear my call
I surrender all
'Cause I'd surrender everything
To feel the chance to live again
I reach to you
I know you can feel it too...
We'd make it through
A thousand dreams I still believe
I'd make you give them all to me
I'd hold you in my arms and never let go
I surrender...
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Puritans and Sincerity in Amal
People have been asking; Is there something intrinsic in Islam that either directly or indirectly condones extremism and militant actions? If not then why are they so prominent and seemingly able to fill the vacuum of authority in defining Islam in this modern age?
Chim, super chim question, but, Professor Abou Khaled El-Fadl says in his "The Great Theft, Wrestling Islam from Extremists" says as such;
There is this Jewish sect, the Karaites, founded in the 8th century and is a minority today. It rejects the Talmud and rabbanical teachings and claims to base their actions on literal and strict Torah reading. They also aspire to achive no human intervention in implementing God's Law. History has shown their implementation of that law to be severe and harsh.
Now supposed that this sact is currently being generouslysponsored by an affluent Jewish nation which controls the two holiest sites in judaism. Surely then it would not be difficult to fathom as to why the Karaites could have such great extent of influence and attention, on top of being a serious contender with other Jewish sects in defining what true Jewish Orthodoxy really is.
Balance and Moderation are among the Core values in God's creation. Ibn Arabi in his Misykatul Anwar quotes a hadith which reads "Life is about Balance, whosoever finds the right balanceinlife will enter paradise"
Two of God's Attributes, Jalal(Majesty) and Jamal(Beauty), seem to be opposing one another but God's Prefection integrates them.
Similary, at times, as His servant, we can feel an intense mix of emotions, thus leading to a feeling of total dependence on Him. For example, when we err, we fear His not being pleased at us and His Punishments, but at the same time we feel a little rejoiced upon knowing that He is Loving and Forgiving, despite our shortcomings.we ought to feel fearful and hopeful. It's really a complex relationship which makes it all the more "interesting" and somehow make us feel complete dependence on Him, whichever way you are talking about. Such mushy issues ae hard to explain in words, it has to be experienced, it's just, beautiful...
Puritans have this mindset when it comes to Amal, that our actions are perfectly quantifiable and that on the Judgment Day our good and bad actions will be weighed on a scale such that even if our bad actions are a tiny morsel heavier than our good actions, then hell we go. The thing is, we can't quantify our actions, plus there are a lot of other factors involved as well, such as, how could you measure sincerity in such a quantifiable manner? So don't expect to use a calculator to count all the pahala and dosa even though for certain actions, there are hadiths that proclaims a certain NUMBER of pahala or dosa. It is precisely for this reacon that we are not allowed to judge anyone. i recall a story of one sahaba who drank after the alcohol prohibition has come. The other companions were beating him but Prophet said "Stop, Verily he loves Allah and His Messenger"
Some extremists take a gun and shoot a couple having intimacy in their cars, in public, and say "i have executed the Hudud, God's Will" Hello, since when the Prophet mentioned a gun? similarly, honor killings are equally disgusting. Male family members will want to kill their female relatives upon knowing that she has fornicated and claim that this is God's Justice when in reality it is more like wanting to save the family from shame, ie selfish reasons under the guise of religion. by the way, just for information, finding the circumstances to allow for hudud is not easy at all, and there are a lot of mitigating factors. we are urged to look for reasons to throw the case out instead of zealously looking forward to punish, even simple reasons such as lack of thinking clarity can be a mitigating factor.
speaking about selfish reasons, my mind comes to this;
Sometimes people do good just because they want paradise and they avoid evil to avoid the torments of hell. where exactly is the sincerity in all these? It's just an empty, self-benefitting way of doing things that just revolves around the notion of human self-interest, "I wanna survive and live free" kinda attitude you know. I guess that is why Rabia once said " O my Lord, if i do something for your Paradise, then keep me out of it, if i do something for fear of hell, then throw me in it, but if i do something to get to You, then don't disappoint me."
Even so, we can't exactly say " Oh then, if i have done this for the Love of God, then i have done something great, a magnificent contribution on my part" Get my point? see how much we need to balance our feelings? it's a real topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride lah!
May Allah guide us all
Chim, super chim question, but, Professor Abou Khaled El-Fadl says in his "The Great Theft, Wrestling Islam from Extremists" says as such;
There is this Jewish sect, the Karaites, founded in the 8th century and is a minority today. It rejects the Talmud and rabbanical teachings and claims to base their actions on literal and strict Torah reading. They also aspire to achive no human intervention in implementing God's Law. History has shown their implementation of that law to be severe and harsh.
Now supposed that this sact is currently being generouslysponsored by an affluent Jewish nation which controls the two holiest sites in judaism. Surely then it would not be difficult to fathom as to why the Karaites could have such great extent of influence and attention, on top of being a serious contender with other Jewish sects in defining what true Jewish Orthodoxy really is.
Balance and Moderation are among the Core values in God's creation. Ibn Arabi in his Misykatul Anwar quotes a hadith which reads "Life is about Balance, whosoever finds the right balanceinlife will enter paradise"
Two of God's Attributes, Jalal(Majesty) and Jamal(Beauty), seem to be opposing one another but God's Prefection integrates them.
Similary, at times, as His servant, we can feel an intense mix of emotions, thus leading to a feeling of total dependence on Him. For example, when we err, we fear His not being pleased at us and His Punishments, but at the same time we feel a little rejoiced upon knowing that He is Loving and Forgiving, despite our shortcomings.we ought to feel fearful and hopeful. It's really a complex relationship which makes it all the more "interesting" and somehow make us feel complete dependence on Him, whichever way you are talking about. Such mushy issues ae hard to explain in words, it has to be experienced, it's just, beautiful...
Puritans have this mindset when it comes to Amal, that our actions are perfectly quantifiable and that on the Judgment Day our good and bad actions will be weighed on a scale such that even if our bad actions are a tiny morsel heavier than our good actions, then hell we go. The thing is, we can't quantify our actions, plus there are a lot of other factors involved as well, such as, how could you measure sincerity in such a quantifiable manner? So don't expect to use a calculator to count all the pahala and dosa even though for certain actions, there are hadiths that proclaims a certain NUMBER of pahala or dosa. It is precisely for this reacon that we are not allowed to judge anyone. i recall a story of one sahaba who drank after the alcohol prohibition has come. The other companions were beating him but Prophet said "Stop, Verily he loves Allah and His Messenger"
Some extremists take a gun and shoot a couple having intimacy in their cars, in public, and say "i have executed the Hudud, God's Will" Hello, since when the Prophet mentioned a gun? similarly, honor killings are equally disgusting. Male family members will want to kill their female relatives upon knowing that she has fornicated and claim that this is God's Justice when in reality it is more like wanting to save the family from shame, ie selfish reasons under the guise of religion. by the way, just for information, finding the circumstances to allow for hudud is not easy at all, and there are a lot of mitigating factors. we are urged to look for reasons to throw the case out instead of zealously looking forward to punish, even simple reasons such as lack of thinking clarity can be a mitigating factor.
speaking about selfish reasons, my mind comes to this;
Sometimes people do good just because they want paradise and they avoid evil to avoid the torments of hell. where exactly is the sincerity in all these? It's just an empty, self-benefitting way of doing things that just revolves around the notion of human self-interest, "I wanna survive and live free" kinda attitude you know. I guess that is why Rabia once said " O my Lord, if i do something for your Paradise, then keep me out of it, if i do something for fear of hell, then throw me in it, but if i do something to get to You, then don't disappoint me."
Even so, we can't exactly say " Oh then, if i have done this for the Love of God, then i have done something great, a magnificent contribution on my part" Get my point? see how much we need to balance our feelings? it's a real topsy-turvy rollercoaster ride lah!
May Allah guide us all
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Biomimicry & Biomimetics
It has always been a seriously awakening thing to observe for ourselves how the most up-to-date scientific advancements have their roots of conceivement firmly embedded in the things around us, ie nature itself. Because of this, scientific journals have been published bearing titles connotative of that very idea; "Science is imitating Nature" and " Biomimicry:Genius that surrounds us" are just a few examples.
And it is not just books or journals that are speaking about this. Documentary channels such as National Geographics and Animal Planet too share this magnificent knowledge, in an of course, a more engaging form of media. My tafsir class Ustaz Ahmad Shamsuddin, the one i label "ustaz gelak", never fail to mention either one of these channels in every of his lessons. it was fun though.
My favourite program when it comes to this topic of Biomimetics or the excellence in the design of these splendid creations would undoubtedly be " The Most Extreme" where the narrator counts down the top 10 animals in the kingdom possessing the most extreme qualities with regards to the criterion chosen for that particular episode.
One of the episodes was about the top 10 inventions in nature:
so here goes, to the best my memory serves
10: Wasps and paper making, millions of years ahead of the Chinese
9: Dolphin's sonar, 4x more powerful than the best human version
8: Jet powered squid that employs Newton's 3rd Law
7: Infra-red equipped beetles that can sense fires
6: Air bags used by high speed water diving birds
5: Stealth flying owls, almost perfect silence
4: High-end swimsuit that sharks use to minimise friction with water
3: 100x more sensitivity in flies' hearing
2: Geckoes and their super hairy feet that acts as a powerful suction, using van der Waals forces
1: Frogs frozen alive, ability to prevent ice damage and execute antifreeze properties in their cells
subhanallah, those are just 10, plus we do not know ALL the creatures completely. Cognizance of such knowledge can only make us more humble, for we tend to consider ourselves smartest in the animal world yet their functional mechanisms can at anytime light up the candle to our face and say " we have smoked you in this regard!"
Oh well, atheists now have come to admit a rather shameful admission. All these while they have been conjecturing the most simplistic and underestimated perceptions about Allah's magnificent creation. They once said that bacteria are JUST SIMPLE SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM that generate spontaneously in decaying matter or dirty places until the microscope shows them otherwise, then they take back their words. Similarly, they thought that chance produced all these grandeur and they are now admitting that humans are stupider than chance, YES they have admitted such things, i've read it somewhere.
Their argument, well it's not exactly a shameful thing to say that chance is smarter than us and have produced wonders more brilliant than ours because chance had millions of years to strive for perfection whereas we humans comparatively only had thousands of years. Perhaps the Cambrian Explosion in the fossil record can highlight that the most advanced creatures appear all of a sudden and FULLY FORMED and functional which until today remain identical. Bees were bees millions of years ago just as they are bees today, the same can be applied for other animals.
If truly chance can produce intelligence, then surely a tornado blasting through an enormous pile of metallic garbage could produce a Boeing A380 with the materials therein. Scientists have calculated the probability of a cell being formed by chance to be lesser than 1 in 10 to the power of 100, that is 100...with 100 zeoes behind it. And in maths, anything smaller than 1 in 10 to the 50 is zero probability, aka absolute impossibility.
fatabaarakallahu ahsanul khaliqeen
Glory be to Him, the Best of Creators
And it is not just books or journals that are speaking about this. Documentary channels such as National Geographics and Animal Planet too share this magnificent knowledge, in an of course, a more engaging form of media. My tafsir class Ustaz Ahmad Shamsuddin, the one i label "ustaz gelak", never fail to mention either one of these channels in every of his lessons. it was fun though.
My favourite program when it comes to this topic of Biomimetics or the excellence in the design of these splendid creations would undoubtedly be " The Most Extreme" where the narrator counts down the top 10 animals in the kingdom possessing the most extreme qualities with regards to the criterion chosen for that particular episode.
One of the episodes was about the top 10 inventions in nature:
so here goes, to the best my memory serves
10: Wasps and paper making, millions of years ahead of the Chinese
9: Dolphin's sonar, 4x more powerful than the best human version
8: Jet powered squid that employs Newton's 3rd Law
7: Infra-red equipped beetles that can sense fires
6: Air bags used by high speed water diving birds
5: Stealth flying owls, almost perfect silence
4: High-end swimsuit that sharks use to minimise friction with water
3: 100x more sensitivity in flies' hearing
2: Geckoes and their super hairy feet that acts as a powerful suction, using van der Waals forces
1: Frogs frozen alive, ability to prevent ice damage and execute antifreeze properties in their cells
subhanallah, those are just 10, plus we do not know ALL the creatures completely. Cognizance of such knowledge can only make us more humble, for we tend to consider ourselves smartest in the animal world yet their functional mechanisms can at anytime light up the candle to our face and say " we have smoked you in this regard!"
Oh well, atheists now have come to admit a rather shameful admission. All these while they have been conjecturing the most simplistic and underestimated perceptions about Allah's magnificent creation. They once said that bacteria are JUST SIMPLE SINGLE CELLED ORGANISM that generate spontaneously in decaying matter or dirty places until the microscope shows them otherwise, then they take back their words. Similarly, they thought that chance produced all these grandeur and they are now admitting that humans are stupider than chance, YES they have admitted such things, i've read it somewhere.
Their argument, well it's not exactly a shameful thing to say that chance is smarter than us and have produced wonders more brilliant than ours because chance had millions of years to strive for perfection whereas we humans comparatively only had thousands of years. Perhaps the Cambrian Explosion in the fossil record can highlight that the most advanced creatures appear all of a sudden and FULLY FORMED and functional which until today remain identical. Bees were bees millions of years ago just as they are bees today, the same can be applied for other animals.
If truly chance can produce intelligence, then surely a tornado blasting through an enormous pile of metallic garbage could produce a Boeing A380 with the materials therein. Scientists have calculated the probability of a cell being formed by chance to be lesser than 1 in 10 to the power of 100, that is 100...with 100 zeoes behind it. And in maths, anything smaller than 1 in 10 to the 50 is zero probability, aka absolute impossibility.
fatabaarakallahu ahsanul khaliqeen
Glory be to Him, the Best of Creators
Saturday, March 29, 2008
i was soo fortunate!
just last week, i had some remaining free time before my new posting and so went out to chill with my jc friends. one of them actually brought me a rare, precious and indelible piece of jewel. a VCD version of a VHS so old and rare and invaluable - a clear video recording of Sidi Abdul Rasyid himself giving a syarahan at masjid kassim sempana maulid Nabi SAW in the year 1985, 4 years before i saw the first sunlight.
i was like, OMG, so far i've only heard stories, seen pictures of him and now get to see him lecturing! i felt sooo fortunate! i immediately watched it back at home and then shared it with a pakcik who is an ikhwan and a student of Sidi Abdul Rasyid.
his first expression when he saw the vid - he teared out, air mata berlinangan, "Inilah dia Tuan Guru kite Sidi Abdul Rasyid, tak de orang lain lah macam dia " Such was the love, bond, attraction, camaraderie the pakcik had for his mursyid, murabbi, his Guide. one is encouraged to learn from as many scholars as possible, but one is only encouraged to follow one Shaykh of Tarbiyyah, the one mursyid who will guide your spirituality - and Sidi Rasyid was the one, there can be no similar replacement.
he then started telling me more about Sidi rasyid's charisma, idiosyncracies and simply his style. i was amazed and engrossed listening. he also asked " wan dapat jumpe sidi? salam tangan sidi?" i said no.
"tak pe lah wan, ini bukan ape, ini semua bahagian masing-masing"
i pondered deeply upon those words, " at least i do kiss the hand of his nephew, Sidi Faiz"
Sidi rasyid was truly respected not just in the entire Malay Peninsula, but also in Mecca and Cairo. he became his teacher's favourite student and top the cohort for his batch. Diakui kealimannya dan kesholihannya oleh semua guru-guru beliau. walaupun berkelulusan tinggi dalam bidang agama dan juga bidang kerohanian, sidi rasyid apabila kembali ke tanah air tetap memakai baju melayu telok blangah dan kain pelekat sehinggakan tariqah yang beliau pimpin digelar tarekat orang melayu. juga telah mengambil ba'iah daripada Sidi Rasyid ialah Shaykh abdul wahid Pallavicini and Shaykh yahya sergio Pallavicini from italy. really, i was just mesmerised and speechless throughout the entire video. Maqam sidi rasyid terletak di negeri sembilan.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Ah, It's here again!
The month of rabiul awal, the month when we celebrate the birth of our dearly beloved Prophet saw. No words can adequately and justly describe his great character, for God Almighty himself has praisd him and that carries infinitely more weight than anything else. As for us, who have not the chance to see his visage,surely we are missing on something so beautiful and sweet.
but don't worry, he consoles us when he says in holy hadith: "when do i get to see my Beloved?"
Companions then asked " are we not your beloved?"
Prophet saw answered " You are my companions, my beloved are those who do not see me and yet believe in me and my message."
that beloved is us.
I've always envied the way our christian brothers express their intense love for Christ, they make the love so intimate and personal and are always so enthusiastic about loving Jesus. that's good. perhaps we could learn form them about loving ;)
Oh Allah, grant us the honour of seeing your Holy Prophet saw in this world, before the next, whilst we are still alive, be it in our sleep or in our consciousness, and grant us the opporunity to visit His Maqam many more times to come, that we may visit him and send our salutations upon him and be overwhelmed by his presence and also to make istighfar in his presence, for You, O Allah, have mentioned those who come to the holy Prophet to repent and You forgive them all. Amin
is there any wonder why we love the Man who on the Day of Reckoning, is the only one who can provide Syafa'ah? when all the other prophets say "no, i cannot support, go to so and so", Sayyidina Muhammad will be saying "I am the one"
Ya Sidi Muhammad, Ya Sidi Muhammad, anta laa haa Ya Sidi Muhammad!
And when we cross the bridge,the Sirat, he will be the one imploring his Lord for the safety of the Ummah, "Rabbi sallim, sallim"
Peace and Salutations upon the Most beloved Prophet, in every breath and in every blink of the eye, to the number that only God's knowledge can comprehend.
but don't worry, he consoles us when he says in holy hadith: "when do i get to see my Beloved?"
Companions then asked " are we not your beloved?"
Prophet saw answered " You are my companions, my beloved are those who do not see me and yet believe in me and my message."
that beloved is us.
I've always envied the way our christian brothers express their intense love for Christ, they make the love so intimate and personal and are always so enthusiastic about loving Jesus. that's good. perhaps we could learn form them about loving ;)
Oh Allah, grant us the honour of seeing your Holy Prophet saw in this world, before the next, whilst we are still alive, be it in our sleep or in our consciousness, and grant us the opporunity to visit His Maqam many more times to come, that we may visit him and send our salutations upon him and be overwhelmed by his presence and also to make istighfar in his presence, for You, O Allah, have mentioned those who come to the holy Prophet to repent and You forgive them all. Amin
is there any wonder why we love the Man who on the Day of Reckoning, is the only one who can provide Syafa'ah? when all the other prophets say "no, i cannot support, go to so and so", Sayyidina Muhammad will be saying "I am the one"
Ya Sidi Muhammad, Ya Sidi Muhammad, anta laa haa Ya Sidi Muhammad!
And when we cross the bridge,the Sirat, he will be the one imploring his Lord for the safety of the Ummah, "Rabbi sallim, sallim"
Peace and Salutations upon the Most beloved Prophet, in every breath and in every blink of the eye, to the number that only God's knowledge can comprehend.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
I've Seen
I wish you were here
Here next to me
Been missing you so
So desperately
But lately I feel
Like you feel and
I see what you see
How I'm missing you
What happened to the ummah once known so well
Greatness was known, but now can u tell
Kids in Africa are starving - can't afford to cry
I'll pay interest for a car I can't afford to buy
What happened to the ummah once known so well
Greatness was known, but now can u tell?
We used to smile at each other, with faces full of light
Now we frown at each other, we bicker and we fight
Pops in the mosque praying, kids in the streets hating
Kids on the corner selling, pops in the mosque preachin'
What happened to the ummah once known so well
Greatness was known but now can u tell?
The Quran has left out hearts stranded, hanging on out walls
6232verses, so strong
9 out of 10 of us can't even read or write
1924 feels distant like way before Christ
Here next to me
Been missing you so
So desperately
But lately I feel
Like you feel and
I see what you see
How I'm missing you
What happened to the ummah once known so well
Greatness was known, but now can u tell
Kids in Africa are starving - can't afford to cry
I'll pay interest for a car I can't afford to buy
What happened to the ummah once known so well
Greatness was known, but now can u tell?
We used to smile at each other, with faces full of light
Now we frown at each other, we bicker and we fight
Pops in the mosque praying, kids in the streets hating
Kids on the corner selling, pops in the mosque preachin'
What happened to the ummah once known so well
Greatness was known but now can u tell?
The Quran has left out hearts stranded, hanging on out walls
6232verses, so strong
9 out of 10 of us can't even read or write
1924 feels distant like way before Christ
Saturday, March 8, 2008
When You hear hoofbeats, think of a zebra (not a horse!)
This book, by Shems Friedlander, is an excellent expose on Sufism. It uses a lot of short stories to illustrate and elucidate the many teachings of tasawwuf. One thing why it is important to understand tasawwuf lessons through stories is that they elude the barrier set up by our own ego. Our own ego most of the time will not accept direct, personal criticisms arrowed at ourselves, but it can readily and perhaps you can say wisely, take heed from other people’s mistakes. This fact is also made known to us by Jesus, peace be upon him, who preaches a lot of parables, in fact the Quran too is never short of parables and stories. The lessons conveyed here are very practical and not to mention impactful. A lesson on Sufism as learned from Turkish Shaykh Muzaffer. An excellent short read to kill time during bus or MRT rides ;)
$28 at Wardah Books
Sunday, March 2, 2008
My personal reflection about the concept of reflection, mirrors and symmetry in Islam and nature.
It has always been very intriguing to appreciate for yourself how much islam employs the concept of reflections and mirrors in its literature, and equally perplexing would be the same kind of phenomenon observed in nature itself! Subhanallah!
1) Allah says that He created Adam a.s in His Image, and that He taught him His Names. Teaching here is not just superficial teaching like those we had while still a toddler, teaching here entails cloaking Adam with His names. Man is the khalifah of Allah, His representative in this world.
And of course, we are enjoined to pick up the attributes of Allah, that is to say, be forgiving as God is forgiving, be merciful as God is merciful.
Off track for a while, taking on the attributes of Allah does not mean trying to wrestle those attributes from the truly rightful Owner, it means striving to be good since God is good. So, an inevitable question arises, what about attributes that are solely His? Such as al Mutakabbir, the One who Boasts? Are we allowed to be takabbur then? Answer is no.
In such cases, we ought to celebrate the name by taking the opposite, ie humble yourself so that Allah al Mutakabbir is well appreciated by yourself.
This reality of taking on the Names of Allah is best exemplified by none other than the Beloved Prophet himself, upon whom be peace. The Prophet has reached the highest maqam, or station, by truly being the servant of Allah, A’bdAllah, in all Its meanings, for the Glorified Name of Allah represents all the Attributes of God, and Allah not only has 99 names, He revealed 999 in the Torah plus some 2000 in the Gospel.
Those Arifbillah, people who know God, say that God’s Names are infinite, every instant somewhere out there his creations, the angels etc, are praising Him with a different Name. Think about it this way, if the number of electrons in this Universe can be so astronomical as to be incomprehensible to us, why not the Celebrated Names of God Himself?
In being Abdallah, the Prophet has successfully manifested the attributes of Allah, the best among all of creation to do so. Peace and blessings be upon our beloved, perpetually and infinitely!
The Prophet has reached such a high station that he ceases to see his own existence. In Isra’ and Miraj, while in the Presence Of Allah in Siddratul Muntaha, Allah asked the Prophet, “Who are you?” And the Prophet replied “You, my Lord”.
At first glance, the answer of “You, my Lord” to the question of “who are you” seems contradictory. To answer “You” means to negate your own existence, but to say ‘MY’ Lord means to subtly or subconsciously acknowledge your own existence, hence the ‘MY’. This is Fana’ Fillah.
2) and He created everything is pairs.
Everything in the world is paired, from nouns to adjectives. You only have two extremes when talking about a spectrum of qualities. Of course you can fall anywhere in between, but quintessentially, there are only 2 extremes. Everything in nature is paired, and made a matching opposite, males and females, protons and electrons, and lastly, the biggest umbrella, matter and anti-matter. So as long as you are talking about matter, there is always anti-matter as opposite. He made things in Pairs such that one half cannot be properly defined without the other. Hence, the dependence on the opposite. Here Allah made Himself stand out by being the Odd One Out, the One and Unique, the truly Independent. Refer to al-ikhlas
3) and the heart as a mirror that reflects Divine Light.
A well polished heart, and the best of heart polish is zikrullah, is like a well polished mirror, able to reflect any light that shines upon it. That is why when the Companions were with the Prophet, they felt close to God. That is also why one of the criteria of a saint is that when you see him, you are reminded of God, this was what the Prophet taught us about saints. Why? Because they reflect God’s Light and manifest His Names.
4) and the believer is a mirror to the other believers
Don’t slander a believer of kufr! Most likely that calumny will go back to you! Here lies a lesson for us, we need to learn from each other as much as possible, we can’t see our own faces without mirrors. That is why the Quran is never short of stories and parables from previous civilizations.
5) the concept of symmetry and reflection, as can be seen in nature
In nature, we can observe spirals in flowers, and they are either clockwise or anti-clockwise, again, reflection. Our palms are also similarly reflected, they are mirror images but not identical perfectly, you can’t superimpose one palm on the other if you are to observe the rule such that the 2 palms must face the same direction.
One practical, daily observation of this reality is about shoes, your left shoe and right shoe and mirror images of each other, but I bet you wouldn’t be satisfied if the cashier gives you 2 left shoes or 2 right shoes, because one leg will not fit. This same practical concept of optical isomerism dealing with enantiomers is also applied in chemistry. Molecules of the same formula do not necessarily take up the same 3D conformation in space, hence they can have markedly different properties. For example, our body mostly uses only left-handed proteins and not the opposite right-handed proteins. That reminds me of school work, dextro-rotary, laevo-rotary, R and S. For everything declares the Glory of God.
It is no wonder then, why we observe a multitude of Islamic art so engrossed and well into the concept of reflection and symmetry. The next time you come across intricate and mesmerizing Islamic art, which until today remains a wonder among professional mathematicians for its wondrous employment of high-level mathematical concepts, take some time to see for yourself how many planes of symmetry it has, how many rotational symmetry, axes of symmetry, points of symmetry, planes of reflections etc. Superb geometry I must say.
Then, ever wondered where the great Muslim artists found their inspiration? From the Islamic concept of mirrors, images and reflections of course! Subhanallah! Breathtaking!
To be honest, this topic can extend further, especially about the tasawwuf perspective of mirrors and images, about the angels etc, but I’m exhausted of what to write due to my limited knowledge in this field. Find out more from better authorities. Surely you will see more reflections and images, everywhere. I just love chemistry...
1) Allah says that He created Adam a.s in His Image, and that He taught him His Names. Teaching here is not just superficial teaching like those we had while still a toddler, teaching here entails cloaking Adam with His names. Man is the khalifah of Allah, His representative in this world.
And of course, we are enjoined to pick up the attributes of Allah, that is to say, be forgiving as God is forgiving, be merciful as God is merciful.
Off track for a while, taking on the attributes of Allah does not mean trying to wrestle those attributes from the truly rightful Owner, it means striving to be good since God is good. So, an inevitable question arises, what about attributes that are solely His? Such as al Mutakabbir, the One who Boasts? Are we allowed to be takabbur then? Answer is no.
In such cases, we ought to celebrate the name by taking the opposite, ie humble yourself so that Allah al Mutakabbir is well appreciated by yourself.
This reality of taking on the Names of Allah is best exemplified by none other than the Beloved Prophet himself, upon whom be peace. The Prophet has reached the highest maqam, or station, by truly being the servant of Allah, A’bdAllah, in all Its meanings, for the Glorified Name of Allah represents all the Attributes of God, and Allah not only has 99 names, He revealed 999 in the Torah plus some 2000 in the Gospel.
Those Arifbillah, people who know God, say that God’s Names are infinite, every instant somewhere out there his creations, the angels etc, are praising Him with a different Name. Think about it this way, if the number of electrons in this Universe can be so astronomical as to be incomprehensible to us, why not the Celebrated Names of God Himself?
In being Abdallah, the Prophet has successfully manifested the attributes of Allah, the best among all of creation to do so. Peace and blessings be upon our beloved, perpetually and infinitely!
The Prophet has reached such a high station that he ceases to see his own existence. In Isra’ and Miraj, while in the Presence Of Allah in Siddratul Muntaha, Allah asked the Prophet, “Who are you?” And the Prophet replied “You, my Lord”.
At first glance, the answer of “You, my Lord” to the question of “who are you” seems contradictory. To answer “You” means to negate your own existence, but to say ‘MY’ Lord means to subtly or subconsciously acknowledge your own existence, hence the ‘MY’. This is Fana’ Fillah.
2) and He created everything is pairs.
Everything in the world is paired, from nouns to adjectives. You only have two extremes when talking about a spectrum of qualities. Of course you can fall anywhere in between, but quintessentially, there are only 2 extremes. Everything in nature is paired, and made a matching opposite, males and females, protons and electrons, and lastly, the biggest umbrella, matter and anti-matter. So as long as you are talking about matter, there is always anti-matter as opposite. He made things in Pairs such that one half cannot be properly defined without the other. Hence, the dependence on the opposite. Here Allah made Himself stand out by being the Odd One Out, the One and Unique, the truly Independent. Refer to al-ikhlas
3) and the heart as a mirror that reflects Divine Light.
A well polished heart, and the best of heart polish is zikrullah, is like a well polished mirror, able to reflect any light that shines upon it. That is why when the Companions were with the Prophet, they felt close to God. That is also why one of the criteria of a saint is that when you see him, you are reminded of God, this was what the Prophet taught us about saints. Why? Because they reflect God’s Light and manifest His Names.
4) and the believer is a mirror to the other believers
Don’t slander a believer of kufr! Most likely that calumny will go back to you! Here lies a lesson for us, we need to learn from each other as much as possible, we can’t see our own faces without mirrors. That is why the Quran is never short of stories and parables from previous civilizations.
5) the concept of symmetry and reflection, as can be seen in nature
In nature, we can observe spirals in flowers, and they are either clockwise or anti-clockwise, again, reflection. Our palms are also similarly reflected, they are mirror images but not identical perfectly, you can’t superimpose one palm on the other if you are to observe the rule such that the 2 palms must face the same direction.
One practical, daily observation of this reality is about shoes, your left shoe and right shoe and mirror images of each other, but I bet you wouldn’t be satisfied if the cashier gives you 2 left shoes or 2 right shoes, because one leg will not fit. This same practical concept of optical isomerism dealing with enantiomers is also applied in chemistry. Molecules of the same formula do not necessarily take up the same 3D conformation in space, hence they can have markedly different properties. For example, our body mostly uses only left-handed proteins and not the opposite right-handed proteins. That reminds me of school work, dextro-rotary, laevo-rotary, R and S. For everything declares the Glory of God.
It is no wonder then, why we observe a multitude of Islamic art so engrossed and well into the concept of reflection and symmetry. The next time you come across intricate and mesmerizing Islamic art, which until today remains a wonder among professional mathematicians for its wondrous employment of high-level mathematical concepts, take some time to see for yourself how many planes of symmetry it has, how many rotational symmetry, axes of symmetry, points of symmetry, planes of reflections etc. Superb geometry I must say.
Then, ever wondered where the great Muslim artists found their inspiration? From the Islamic concept of mirrors, images and reflections of course! Subhanallah! Breathtaking!
To be honest, this topic can extend further, especially about the tasawwuf perspective of mirrors and images, about the angels etc, but I’m exhausted of what to write due to my limited knowledge in this field. Find out more from better authorities. Surely you will see more reflections and images, everywhere. I just love chemistry...
Sunday, February 24, 2008
This world in my hands, God in my Heart
Ust TM Fouzy delivered a very moving speech on the above subject, very enlightening and I would say impactful as well.
The world in my hands refer to our call of duty, that being our task of managing this world since we are the viceroy or khalifah of God on this earth. Meaning to say, we have resources entrusted upon us; wealth, family, trees, water and what have you. Our task is to manage them well, in accordance to His orders but never to have our hearts occupied by them.
Don’t get overly attached to the wealth of the world. This of course does not mean that a muslim has to shun away wealth. We need to work for our livelihood, that is halal. But don’t search for wealth at the expense of religion. A story to beautifully illustrate this is as such; a rich king, adorned with a crown splendid with jewelry, rings of varying colours of shiny gemstones, donning the finest clothing and riding on the most elegant white horse, whilst always escorted by a team of elite guards can be the shaykh and a simple, poor fisherman the student. Reason? Simple, the Shaykh does not feel sad even a tiny bit if all his wealth were to be stunted from him in an instant, neither does he feel any happiness when even more wealth is given to him. As for the student, the poor fisherman, he is pissed off whenever he catches a small fish instead of a big one. Zuhud is not to attach wealth to your heart, zuhud does not mean you have to be poor.
As a caution though, such things are always, always much easier said than done, many people can claim similar things but not many can say so with the truest meaning. That is why our Beloved Prophet SAW chose poverty as a lesson for his ummah, for verily one of the most trying things of the last ummah is wealth. Indeed the fear that many may not pass the test of wealth is very real.
some live for the bill, some kill for the bill...
As for God is in my heart, it entails the intense feeling of love for Him who has created us. How to achieve this? The only branch of islam dealing with love for God is tasawwuf and its practice is tariqah. It is a different experience to know only the external sciences of islam and neglecting tasawwuf, because the experience of love for God is not as strong. We only know as a cliché, that we ought to love Him and his Rasul. But that is not enough. Knowing and tasting is not the same. Tasawwuf leads to tasting (dhawq aka zouk). Personally, life as a muslim without this love is very dry.
God in my heart also does not mean that we neglect our loved ones, our spouse etc. it only means that we love them for the sake of God. This means we have to treat them superbly well,provide them the best upbringing, as exemplified by the Prophet saw. It of course does not deny us the right to enjoy our loved ones’ company. It means that we subdue our egos when dealing with them, meaning to say, control anger etc. that way, our love for our loved ones become strong due to the even stronger bond of the love for God and insyaAllah that relationship is showered blessings upon blessings; the recipe for a loving relationship is the mutual love for God.
The world in my hands refer to our call of duty, that being our task of managing this world since we are the viceroy or khalifah of God on this earth. Meaning to say, we have resources entrusted upon us; wealth, family, trees, water and what have you. Our task is to manage them well, in accordance to His orders but never to have our hearts occupied by them.
Don’t get overly attached to the wealth of the world. This of course does not mean that a muslim has to shun away wealth. We need to work for our livelihood, that is halal. But don’t search for wealth at the expense of religion. A story to beautifully illustrate this is as such; a rich king, adorned with a crown splendid with jewelry, rings of varying colours of shiny gemstones, donning the finest clothing and riding on the most elegant white horse, whilst always escorted by a team of elite guards can be the shaykh and a simple, poor fisherman the student. Reason? Simple, the Shaykh does not feel sad even a tiny bit if all his wealth were to be stunted from him in an instant, neither does he feel any happiness when even more wealth is given to him. As for the student, the poor fisherman, he is pissed off whenever he catches a small fish instead of a big one. Zuhud is not to attach wealth to your heart, zuhud does not mean you have to be poor.
As a caution though, such things are always, always much easier said than done, many people can claim similar things but not many can say so with the truest meaning. That is why our Beloved Prophet SAW chose poverty as a lesson for his ummah, for verily one of the most trying things of the last ummah is wealth. Indeed the fear that many may not pass the test of wealth is very real.
some live for the bill, some kill for the bill...
As for God is in my heart, it entails the intense feeling of love for Him who has created us. How to achieve this? The only branch of islam dealing with love for God is tasawwuf and its practice is tariqah. It is a different experience to know only the external sciences of islam and neglecting tasawwuf, because the experience of love for God is not as strong. We only know as a cliché, that we ought to love Him and his Rasul. But that is not enough. Knowing and tasting is not the same. Tasawwuf leads to tasting (dhawq aka zouk). Personally, life as a muslim without this love is very dry.
God in my heart also does not mean that we neglect our loved ones, our spouse etc. it only means that we love them for the sake of God. This means we have to treat them superbly well,provide them the best upbringing, as exemplified by the Prophet saw. It of course does not deny us the right to enjoy our loved ones’ company. It means that we subdue our egos when dealing with them, meaning to say, control anger etc. that way, our love for our loved ones become strong due to the even stronger bond of the love for God and insyaAllah that relationship is showered blessings upon blessings; the recipe for a loving relationship is the mutual love for God.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Charity, the Biggest Protection
Nothing protects more than charity, even if you give five cents everyday, it can save you from ending up with a bad accident. Oh believers! Give charity daily! It will remove accidents from you. Keep a box near your door and when you leave put as much as possible inside. Charity uplifts the Kingdom of Allah and put down the kingdom of Satan. Every believer must give charity everyday.
- Adapted from Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani’s Princess Diana’s Death
Just off hand, the list of benefits charity brings:
- reward, material and spiritual, from God Himself ( it really works, just have ikhlas and don’t even bother about this reward, ironic isn’t it? Then why am I telling you?)
- Protection from bad mishaps
- Eases the burden of the community ( in our Singapore context, I guess it is much better to donate to organizations such as mosques than to stranger passers-by, because many people have cheated money by abusing people’s sympathy)
- Helps the community
- Lightens your mood, makes you feel good, not proud nor arrogant, and at ease, tranquility
- Instills in you the sense of wanting to help others in need
- Instills in you the sense of money management, savings etc ( it has been proven, in fact encouraged, to have little toddlers practise putting coins in piggy banks, that way they are more likely to be people with better sense of money management)
- Slowly washes away miserliness
- Barakah spills over to your close family and friends
- Your prayers get answered better and faster insyaAllah
- Sins are forgiven because of charity
- God is pleased with you
- AND MANY MANY MORE!
As to how much, it really doesn’t matter, what counts is the sincerity. Do with what is in your comfort. If you are a student surviving on allowance, then do away with a few cents! Nothing difficult at all!
Of course do not take advantage of this and donate only a few cents even when you are earning thousands! You yourself will know whether or not you are trying to manipulate things for your own personal gain.
Don’t trust what Satan says about being poor when you donate! Satan is our enemy and he lies through his forked tongue!
One thing about cheats who constantly take the easy way to just beg and not work even if they very well can afford to work and earn a living, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani gave a stupefying reply;
“Do you not feel ashamed of your hypocritical self? Do you not feel ashamed to beg from other than Allah when you are in the Presence of Allah AR-RAZZAQ!?”
In other words, beg only from God because He is the One Who Provides and if He tells you that your rezeki is already prepared and all you need to do is go get it, then jolly well go get it and work! Do not beg if you can work!
Yet another blow to the misconception that Sufis shun this world and survive in it solely by begging – from Sultanul Awliya, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani himself.
Even the Prophet pbuh careered as a merchant and trader…
- Adapted from Shaykh Nazim al-Haqqani’s Princess Diana’s Death
Just off hand, the list of benefits charity brings:
- reward, material and spiritual, from God Himself ( it really works, just have ikhlas and don’t even bother about this reward, ironic isn’t it? Then why am I telling you?)
- Protection from bad mishaps
- Eases the burden of the community ( in our Singapore context, I guess it is much better to donate to organizations such as mosques than to stranger passers-by, because many people have cheated money by abusing people’s sympathy)
- Helps the community
- Lightens your mood, makes you feel good, not proud nor arrogant, and at ease, tranquility
- Instills in you the sense of wanting to help others in need
- Instills in you the sense of money management, savings etc ( it has been proven, in fact encouraged, to have little toddlers practise putting coins in piggy banks, that way they are more likely to be people with better sense of money management)
- Slowly washes away miserliness
- Barakah spills over to your close family and friends
- Your prayers get answered better and faster insyaAllah
- Sins are forgiven because of charity
- God is pleased with you
- AND MANY MANY MORE!
As to how much, it really doesn’t matter, what counts is the sincerity. Do with what is in your comfort. If you are a student surviving on allowance, then do away with a few cents! Nothing difficult at all!
Of course do not take advantage of this and donate only a few cents even when you are earning thousands! You yourself will know whether or not you are trying to manipulate things for your own personal gain.
Don’t trust what Satan says about being poor when you donate! Satan is our enemy and he lies through his forked tongue!
One thing about cheats who constantly take the easy way to just beg and not work even if they very well can afford to work and earn a living, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani gave a stupefying reply;
“Do you not feel ashamed of your hypocritical self? Do you not feel ashamed to beg from other than Allah when you are in the Presence of Allah AR-RAZZAQ!?”
In other words, beg only from God because He is the One Who Provides and if He tells you that your rezeki is already prepared and all you need to do is go get it, then jolly well go get it and work! Do not beg if you can work!
Yet another blow to the misconception that Sufis shun this world and survive in it solely by begging – from Sultanul Awliya, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani himself.
Even the Prophet pbuh careered as a merchant and trader…
Friday, February 8, 2008
2 Naqshbandi Engagements, VERY CUTE!
waaaah, i wanna get engaged also lah can!actually make that nikah as well hehe ;)
so cute lah the engagement, not to mention Shayhkh Hisyam with his classic humour.
when my munakahat going to finish????
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Awrad of the Most Distinguished Ahmadiyyah Idrisiyyah Sufi Order
For the Arabic and Malay Translation, refer to link Warisan Sidi Ahmad Bin Idris
Fatihatul Awrad
O God, I seek to approach Thee before each and every breath, look and glance which the people of the heavens and the people of the earth cast – everything which is in Thy knowledge, that which is and that which was. I approach Thee before all these.
Tahlil Khusus
There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; in every glance and every breath, to the number that only God’s knowledge can comprehend.
Salawat Azhimiyyah
O God, I ask Thee by the light of the Face of God, the Great,
Which fills the pillars of the Throne of God, the Great,
And because of which exist the worlds of God, the Great,
To call down blessings upon our Mawlana Muhammad, whose majesty is Great,
And upon the kin of the Prophet of God, the Great,
In proportion to the sublimity of the Essence of God, the Great,
In every glance and in every breath inasmuch as they exist in the knowledge of God, the Great,
Being an everlasting prayer as God Himself is Everlasting and Great,
Being an exaltation of the truth of your message, Mawlana Muhammad, whose virtue is Great,
Likewise, grant peace to him and his kin.
Unite him with me, just as Thou unite the spirit with the soul, externally and internally, awake and asleep,
And make him, O God, a solace for my soul in all of life’s moments in this world and before the End,
O God the Great.
* Just as Ayat Al-Kursi is the greatest ayat in the Quran, so too is Salawat Azhimiyyah which like Ayat Al-Kursi, begins with the kalimah Allah and ends with the kalimah Azhim
Istighfar Al Kabir, Major Act of Contrition
I seek pardon of God, the Great; of whom there is no god save He, the Living, the Subsisting, the Forgiver of sins, the Sublime and the Revered.
I seek repentance from all acts of disobedience – all of them, from sins and guilt and from every sin I have committed willfully, by omission, openly and secretly, by word and by deed, in my every movement, my tarrying, my thoughts, my every breath, always and forever eternally; from the sin of which I know and from the sin of which I know not, inasmuch as His knowledge encompasses them and which the Book records and the Pen indites; inasmuch as the omnipotence (of God) searches them out and the will of the ink of the words of God disclose them.
Just as it behooves the sublimity, the beauty, the perfection of the Face of our Lord, just as our Lord enjoins and approves.
Nak beramal dengan Tariqah ni tak susah actually, just have to do the 4 short, basic awrad and slalu2 lah repeat2. the rest is just Qur'an and Sunnah. Sidi Ahmad Idris once said, "Tariqahku adalah Al-Quran dan Sunnah Baginda Rasul saw." Arguably, TAI is the youngest Tariqah as Sidi Ahmad was just 6 generations ago(18th century), unlike other sufis like Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani etc. The silsilah is short because Sidi Ahmad got the Tariqah direct from the Prophet in a vision of him whilst still awake, (yaqaza), something which Sidi Ahmad so fervently asked for in his Salawat Azhimiyyah. Wallahu 'alam
Fatihatul Awrad
O God, I seek to approach Thee before each and every breath, look and glance which the people of the heavens and the people of the earth cast – everything which is in Thy knowledge, that which is and that which was. I approach Thee before all these.
Tahlil Khusus
There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; in every glance and every breath, to the number that only God’s knowledge can comprehend.
Salawat Azhimiyyah
O God, I ask Thee by the light of the Face of God, the Great,
Which fills the pillars of the Throne of God, the Great,
And because of which exist the worlds of God, the Great,
To call down blessings upon our Mawlana Muhammad, whose majesty is Great,
And upon the kin of the Prophet of God, the Great,
In proportion to the sublimity of the Essence of God, the Great,
In every glance and in every breath inasmuch as they exist in the knowledge of God, the Great,
Being an everlasting prayer as God Himself is Everlasting and Great,
Being an exaltation of the truth of your message, Mawlana Muhammad, whose virtue is Great,
Likewise, grant peace to him and his kin.
Unite him with me, just as Thou unite the spirit with the soul, externally and internally, awake and asleep,
And make him, O God, a solace for my soul in all of life’s moments in this world and before the End,
O God the Great.
* Just as Ayat Al-Kursi is the greatest ayat in the Quran, so too is Salawat Azhimiyyah which like Ayat Al-Kursi, begins with the kalimah Allah and ends with the kalimah Azhim
Istighfar Al Kabir, Major Act of Contrition
I seek pardon of God, the Great; of whom there is no god save He, the Living, the Subsisting, the Forgiver of sins, the Sublime and the Revered.
I seek repentance from all acts of disobedience – all of them, from sins and guilt and from every sin I have committed willfully, by omission, openly and secretly, by word and by deed, in my every movement, my tarrying, my thoughts, my every breath, always and forever eternally; from the sin of which I know and from the sin of which I know not, inasmuch as His knowledge encompasses them and which the Book records and the Pen indites; inasmuch as the omnipotence (of God) searches them out and the will of the ink of the words of God disclose them.
Just as it behooves the sublimity, the beauty, the perfection of the Face of our Lord, just as our Lord enjoins and approves.
Nak beramal dengan Tariqah ni tak susah actually, just have to do the 4 short, basic awrad and slalu2 lah repeat2. the rest is just Qur'an and Sunnah. Sidi Ahmad Idris once said, "Tariqahku adalah Al-Quran dan Sunnah Baginda Rasul saw." Arguably, TAI is the youngest Tariqah as Sidi Ahmad was just 6 generations ago(18th century), unlike other sufis like Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jailani etc. The silsilah is short because Sidi Ahmad got the Tariqah direct from the Prophet in a vision of him whilst still awake, (yaqaza), something which Sidi Ahmad so fervently asked for in his Salawat Azhimiyyah. Wallahu 'alam
The Special Properties of the Dhikr of Laa Ilaaha Illallaah
As for the special properties of the Dhikr of Laa Ilaaha Illallaah, they derive from His saying: "to Him do good words ascend." (Qur'an 35:10) The words meant here are Laa Ilaaha Illallaah, and it is they (the words) that may attain the Mighty Presence. They contain both negation and affirmation, and the disease of forgetfulness can be repulsed by the medicine of negation and affirmation. For forgetfulness is likewise composed of negation and affirmation—negation of the remembrance of God and affirmation of the remembrance of other than God. A potion mixed like oxymel out of the vinegar of negation and the sugar of affirmation is therefore needed to eliminate the bilious matter of forgetfulness. By Laa Ilaaha, other than God is negated, and by Illallaah, His majestic presence is affirmed. When one pursues this Dhikr and persists in it, the attachments of the spirit to other than God will be gradually severed by the scissors of Laa Ilaaha, and the beauty of the monarch of Illallaah will become manifest and emerge from the veil of might. In accordance with the promise of "make remembrance of Me, and I will make remembrance of you," (Qur'an 2:147) that beauty will cast off the garment of letter and sound; and in the manifestation of the light of the sublimity of divinity, the property of "all things shall perish but His face" (Qur'an 28:88) will become apparent. The Dhikr of the spirit, together with its own being, will perish in the ocean of remembrance of "make remembrance of Me," and "I will make remembrance of you" will begin making remembrance on behalf of the spirit. It is then that pure remembrance of God alone will be attained.
Then does He hear from Himself, not from me or thee:"To whom belongs kingship? To the One, the Invincible!" (Qur'an 40:16)
The true meaning of "God bears witness that there is no god but He" (Qur'an 3:18) will become apparent; and Yusof bin Hoseyn Razi's cryptic saying that "none says 'God' but God" will be understood. It will also become evident why Islam has been founded on precisely these words-- Laa Ilaaha Illallaah. For in just the same way that deliverance from the inward association of gods with God is to be had only through the inner meaning of these words, so too the outward association of gods with God can be abolished only by means of their outer form.
Point to note: Do try to recite Quran 3:18 for the first surah for isyak's first rakaat everyday.
Syahidallahu Annahuu LAAILAHA ILLA HUU, wal malaaikatu, wa ulul 'Ilm, qaaima bil qisti LAAILAHA ILLA HUWAL AZIZUL HAKIM, INNADDEENA 'indaAllahil ISLAM. (A very powerful ayat)
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Good Laugh
Was on my way to get some stuff from beach road and met a friend who said, “kau makin gelapnyer siswand!” hehe, what to do. This is the transformation. My bunk mates also told me, “first time I saw u ah, I thot u Indian one, now no need think alr confirm Indian!” Thanks ah guys hehe, some one else told me, “do you know how to use kiwi? Kiwi ur boots not your face!” and also “Siswand! Save money lah, no need buy black camo cream! Just leave that area of ur face untouched by green camo and it automatically becomes black camo!” waaah, pain pain, but nvr mind, I know they’re just joking. Even the mama at the mama coffee shop said "wah, awak sudah makin hitam ah, banyak SUNBATH ah?" I told him " Maan, kita sama naseeb maan, sama kulit."Hehe
All these on top of not considering the fact that my maternal granddad is a pure Bengali, it doesn’t help much does it?
Hehe, had a good laugh at all those comments they made, takpe lah, if MJ can turn from black to white, so can I! hehe
All these on top of not considering the fact that my maternal granddad is a pure Bengali, it doesn’t help much does it?
Hehe, had a good laugh at all those comments they made, takpe lah, if MJ can turn from black to white, so can I! hehe
One of the more meaningful conversations with my bunk mate
Quran : 16:125 Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.
My friend was on his bed reading the bible, so I came to him and said “You are a devout Christian,” With eagerness he replied “YES!”
So I decided to initiate a conversation with him and I asked him what is it about Christianity that he can tell me. He started telling me about the tenets of the Christianity and all that and in return I shared with him the Muslim view of Jesus upon whom be peace. We managed to lay out similarities and the few major differences. I was really glad that we did this is the spirit of mutual understanding and respect. My friend was a nice guy, really, got to give that to him.
So our conversation went on and we somehow chatted about diet, I don’t know why but apparently one of the most interesting things about a muslim to a non-muslim is his diet.
My friend asked, why can’t muslims eat pork? I said it’s the law. And I told him in fact christians too ought to abstain from pork because there is a verse in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, 11:7-8 that says do not eat pork for it is unclean. I told him my answer to that question is in your own book.
He said “No, no, it’s not like that, Christians now can eat pork already, Peter had a vision in which he saw God showing him all the dirty food and told him he has no right to say the food as dirty, hence eat all you want.” I wondered why and I found out that Peter acquitted Christians from the prohibition of consuming pork. First of all, if you ask me, I seriously want to question the authenticity and the legitimacy of Peter’s authority to alter the religion founded by one of the greatest Prophets of all time. What gives him the authority to change the Law of Jesus? That aside, now assuming that Jesus truly allowed pork, in any case, you will have to agree with me that eating of pork is never obligatory in Christianity. So you have a choice, to eat or not to eat. What I suggest is that Christians ought to, out of respect and sharing vigil with other monotheists such as Jews and Muslims, abstain from pork. You don’t have to do it as an obligation in Christianity but rather as a voluntary act. Can you do that? Well if you cant, then maybe this piece of information can motivate you, Jesus never once ate pork, if you truly love him.
This clearly illustrates how the past authentic religions have been slowly altered by the hands of men.
Having said that, we went to discuss about modern muslim affairs and somehow we talked about the beard issue. Kind of sensitive perhaps but let’s be frank. I told him I don’t like it when Christians look with scorn at muslims who keep beard because doing so makes them one of two; either a hypocrite or a bigot biased against muslims. It has to be either of these two cases only, it cant possibly ignorance, because all the many available portraits of Jesus depict him with a long flowing beard. If a Christian is biased against a muslim just because of his beard, then I, as a muslim will want to question his standing as a Christian. Rest assured, I’m all for unity and understanding between the two greatest world religion.
Another issue is about sujud, some Christians say we pray like horses. Tell him to refer to this Matthew 26:39 which reads : “Going a little further, he(Jesus) fell with his face on the ground and prayed”
Finally, I complained to him about youths our age who are overzealous about being Christian. I have seen my JC friends, especially the girls, going to church in skimpy clothing, mixing amongst guys with minimal discretion, flaunting their well adorned crosses studded with rubies, sapphires and what have you, around their neck. It’s almost as if the symbol of Christianity has become a fashion scapegoat. I told him if this thing were to happen to muslims, there’ll be serious objections. I also told him why can’t modern Christians today have some dress code out of respect for places of worship? In contrast, I told him as well, Christians in the Holy Land are more like muslims! They dress like muslims, speak the same language, eat the same diet, look so alike to the extent that you can’t differentiate arab muslims from arab Christians.
NEW testament 1 Corinthians 11:6 reads “ for if a woman did not veil herself, she should cut off her hair.but if it is disgraceful to have her hair shaved, she should wear a veil.”
There are indeed many other things which Jesus commanded which are so much in line with the tenets of Islam. Technically speaking, Christians should be like us, dress properly, remove shoes in Churches, abstain from pork, wine, fornication, wear the veil etc. but are we seeing this? All these obligations upon the Christians seem to be removed by a person who came after Jesus. Bear in mind that Jesus indirectly foretold that someone was going to change the law of God.
Matthew 5:18-19 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And here is the finishing blow
Quran 2:79 Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
What I personally feel is that, most youths of today who are so proud about their Christian faith are just trying to copy the situation in the West. “oh, the west is Christian and America is Christian, oh so COOL to be a Christian!” why am I saying this? It’s because they know too little about their own religion and about how similar Christianity is to Islam and Judaism. Shameful you may say. Try asking them what is Jesus’s name in his own native language? Jesus is a name given to him by other people, not his real, birth name. I seriously find it shameful for Christians not to know who Yeshua or Isa is.
At the end of it, I was adamant about my stand as a muslim and I reiterated many times my veneration and respect for Christ the son of Mary and the Gospel and the religion he revealed. For I am not a muslim if I do not acknowledge all these. To end it off, my friend said, “ My Pastor told me Muslims are the hardest to convert, Chinese very easy, maybe because our religions very similar already,”
I smiled and in my heart I was saying “Ah, tau takpe”
My friend was on his bed reading the bible, so I came to him and said “You are a devout Christian,” With eagerness he replied “YES!”
So I decided to initiate a conversation with him and I asked him what is it about Christianity that he can tell me. He started telling me about the tenets of the Christianity and all that and in return I shared with him the Muslim view of Jesus upon whom be peace. We managed to lay out similarities and the few major differences. I was really glad that we did this is the spirit of mutual understanding and respect. My friend was a nice guy, really, got to give that to him.
So our conversation went on and we somehow chatted about diet, I don’t know why but apparently one of the most interesting things about a muslim to a non-muslim is his diet.
My friend asked, why can’t muslims eat pork? I said it’s the law. And I told him in fact christians too ought to abstain from pork because there is a verse in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, 11:7-8 that says do not eat pork for it is unclean. I told him my answer to that question is in your own book.
He said “No, no, it’s not like that, Christians now can eat pork already, Peter had a vision in which he saw God showing him all the dirty food and told him he has no right to say the food as dirty, hence eat all you want.” I wondered why and I found out that Peter acquitted Christians from the prohibition of consuming pork. First of all, if you ask me, I seriously want to question the authenticity and the legitimacy of Peter’s authority to alter the religion founded by one of the greatest Prophets of all time. What gives him the authority to change the Law of Jesus? That aside, now assuming that Jesus truly allowed pork, in any case, you will have to agree with me that eating of pork is never obligatory in Christianity. So you have a choice, to eat or not to eat. What I suggest is that Christians ought to, out of respect and sharing vigil with other monotheists such as Jews and Muslims, abstain from pork. You don’t have to do it as an obligation in Christianity but rather as a voluntary act. Can you do that? Well if you cant, then maybe this piece of information can motivate you, Jesus never once ate pork, if you truly love him.
This clearly illustrates how the past authentic religions have been slowly altered by the hands of men.
Having said that, we went to discuss about modern muslim affairs and somehow we talked about the beard issue. Kind of sensitive perhaps but let’s be frank. I told him I don’t like it when Christians look with scorn at muslims who keep beard because doing so makes them one of two; either a hypocrite or a bigot biased against muslims. It has to be either of these two cases only, it cant possibly ignorance, because all the many available portraits of Jesus depict him with a long flowing beard. If a Christian is biased against a muslim just because of his beard, then I, as a muslim will want to question his standing as a Christian. Rest assured, I’m all for unity and understanding between the two greatest world religion.
Another issue is about sujud, some Christians say we pray like horses. Tell him to refer to this Matthew 26:39 which reads : “Going a little further, he(Jesus) fell with his face on the ground and prayed”
Finally, I complained to him about youths our age who are overzealous about being Christian. I have seen my JC friends, especially the girls, going to church in skimpy clothing, mixing amongst guys with minimal discretion, flaunting their well adorned crosses studded with rubies, sapphires and what have you, around their neck. It’s almost as if the symbol of Christianity has become a fashion scapegoat. I told him if this thing were to happen to muslims, there’ll be serious objections. I also told him why can’t modern Christians today have some dress code out of respect for places of worship? In contrast, I told him as well, Christians in the Holy Land are more like muslims! They dress like muslims, speak the same language, eat the same diet, look so alike to the extent that you can’t differentiate arab muslims from arab Christians.
NEW testament 1 Corinthians 11:6 reads “ for if a woman did not veil herself, she should cut off her hair.but if it is disgraceful to have her hair shaved, she should wear a veil.”
There are indeed many other things which Jesus commanded which are so much in line with the tenets of Islam. Technically speaking, Christians should be like us, dress properly, remove shoes in Churches, abstain from pork, wine, fornication, wear the veil etc. but are we seeing this? All these obligations upon the Christians seem to be removed by a person who came after Jesus. Bear in mind that Jesus indirectly foretold that someone was going to change the law of God.
Matthew 5:18-19 “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And here is the finishing blow
Quran 2:79 Then woe to those who write the Book with their own hands, and then say:"This is from Allah," to traffic with it for miserable price!- Woe to them for what their hands do write, and for the gain they make thereby.
What I personally feel is that, most youths of today who are so proud about their Christian faith are just trying to copy the situation in the West. “oh, the west is Christian and America is Christian, oh so COOL to be a Christian!” why am I saying this? It’s because they know too little about their own religion and about how similar Christianity is to Islam and Judaism. Shameful you may say. Try asking them what is Jesus’s name in his own native language? Jesus is a name given to him by other people, not his real, birth name. I seriously find it shameful for Christians not to know who Yeshua or Isa is.
At the end of it, I was adamant about my stand as a muslim and I reiterated many times my veneration and respect for Christ the son of Mary and the Gospel and the religion he revealed. For I am not a muslim if I do not acknowledge all these. To end it off, my friend said, “ My Pastor told me Muslims are the hardest to convert, Chinese very easy, maybe because our religions very similar already,”
I smiled and in my heart I was saying “Ah, tau takpe”
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