when they are defiant...

taken from http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20081230/twl-mideast-conflict-gaza-575b600.html

Ya 'adaa-an nabiy, mutu bighaizikum!

GAZA CITY (AFP) - - Israel rejected world appeals for a truce on Tuesday and warned its deadly assault on Gaza could last for weeks as warplanes pummelled Hamas positions for a fourth day and tanks massed on the border.

Despite the devastating aerial pounding that has now killed at least 363 people, Hamas militants continued to fight back, firing deadly rockets deep inside Israeli territory.
Children again fell victim to Israel's "all-out war" on the Islamist Hamas movement, with two sisters dying when a missile slammed into their donkey cart in the northern town of Beit Hanun.
In Gaza City, residents picked through rubble and broken glass after a night in which Israel hammered the overcrowded territory with some 40 strikes targeting Hamas buildings, training camps and rocket launchers.

Despite repeated pleas by UN chief Ban Ki-moon for a stop to the "unacceptable" violence that has sparked outrage in the Muslim world and protests in many countries, Israel waved aside calls for a truce.

"There is no reason that we would accept a ceasefire at this stage," Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told AFP.

"If there is a ceasefire, that will allow Hamas to regain strength, recover from the shock and prepare an even stronger attack against Israel," he said.
With tanks and personnel massed on the Gaza border, Israel said infantry was ready to join what it warned would be a prolonged offensive.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the bombardment so far was "the first of several stages approved by the security cabinet," while Deputy Defence Minister Matan Vilnai warned the offensive -- one of Israel's deadliest ever against Gaza -- could last weeks.
"We are ready for a prolonged conflict and for weeks of combat," Vilnai said.

An army spokeswoman said that "the ground forces are ready," adding that "for the moment we are only hitting from the air and the sea."
Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has described the bombardment as an "all-out war" against Hamas, has repeatedly warned that he is ready to send ground troops into Gaza .
The four days of intensive bombardment, which have killed several senior Hamas officials and reduced many of the group's structures in Gaza to rubble, has failed to stop rocket fire from the territory.

Three Israelis -- two civilians and one soldier -- were killed on Monday by rockets fired from Gaza, with one reaching the deepest yet inside Israel and slamming into the southern port city of Ashdod, more than 30 kilometres (18 miles) from the border.
Hamas has warned it might also launch suicide attacks inside Israel for the first time since January 2005.

Since Israel unleashed its massive aerial attack on Saturday following persistent rocket fire from Gaza, at least 363 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed and 1,720 wounded, according to Gaza medics.
Palestinian militants have fired more than 250 rockets, killing four people inside Israel and wounding around two dozen more.

Rebuffing Arab appeals, Israel's main ally Washington has given the offensive strong support but said it was working behind the scenes to forge a truce.
"The United States understands that Israel needs to take actions to defend itself," said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was reaching out by telephone to key world leaders and diplomats to find a lasting way to end the violence, officials said.
At the United Nations, Ban said he was "deeply alarmed by the current escalation of violence in and around Gaza. This is unacceptable.
"Both Israel and Hamas must halt their acts of violence and... a ceasefire must be declared immediately."

EU foreign ministers were set to meet in Paris on Tuesday to discuss how they can work to help ease the crisis in Gaza.
There was growing concern about the humanitarian situation in the aid-dependent territory of 1.5 million which Israel has virtually sealed off since Hamas seized power in June last year.
The Israeli military opened the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow more than 100 trucks filled with humanitarian aid to enter Gaza on Tuesday, a military spokesman said. On Monday, dozens of trucks were allowed to pass through.
Israel's offensive followed days of rising violence after a tenuous six-month truce in and around Gaza ended on December 19. It also comes ahead of early parliamentary elections in Israel called for February 10.

Burdah and TAI Zikir at Malabar Mosque

MasyaAllah, on the 24th and 25th of December i was fortunate to be able to attend to two majlis held at Malabar Mosque. The majlis on the eve of christmas was a wonderful, energetic and very much revitalising burdah majlis led by South African Scholar Shyakh Fakhrudin Uwaisi At Tijany. The Shaykh is of the Uwaisi lineage, a descendant of Sayyidina Uwais al Qarani, a man who by technical terms cannot be called a Sahaba foralthough he lived in the time of the Propeht s.a.w he did not see him on account of a vast distance that seperates them. Even so, on deah bed, the Prophet s.a.w. entrusted his companions, Sayyidina Abu Bakar and Sayyidina Umar included, to pass a shawl to a man fron the south known as Uwais. This specific request made by the Prophet speaks all about the spiritual relationship between the Prophet s.a.w and Sayyidina Uwais al Qarani.

Shaykh Fakhrudin is also of the Tijany Tariqah of Sidi Ahmad At Tijany who lived around the time os Sidi Ahmad Ibn Idris and who also travelled and preached in Fez Morocco. There is, of course, inter-relation between these two famous Tariqahs in North Africa and the Maghrib. In his search for the best way to praise the Prophet s.a.w, Sidi Ahmad Tijany was given the Salawat Fatih Allahumma solli alaa sayyidina muhammadinil faatihilimaa awghliq, ...

And on the eve of chritmas I was fortunate to have beside me my own ustaz during the majlis. It was such a pleasant experience, no instruments were used but Shaykh Fakhrudin's capturing voice coupled with his mastery over the recitation of the burdah nonetheless made the majlis a spiritually uplifting one. The entire burdah was read as a congregation, led with such gusto by Shaykh Fakhrudin, in the packed prayer hall of Masjid Malabar; you can just imagine how fantastic the "acoustics" were.

Prior to the Burdah, Shaykh Fakhrudin made an introductory speech about the Prophet s.a.w., his virtue, the exaltedness of his maqam and how much we ought to love him. In his speech, he mentioned one point often overlooked by people; that about angels cleansing his heart with the zamzam while he was still 4 years old. He said the act was not meant to honour the Prophet's heart with the cleansing by zamzam, but rather to honour the zamzam with the heart of the Prophet s.a.w, so that the people of his ummah who are to drink from the zamzam as of then will be blessed with the barakah of Sayyidina Muhammad s.a.w! Allah!
Tingginya Maqammu Ya Rasulallah, tidak akan tercapai...

And on the next day, 25th December, Malabar Mosque hosted the Ikhwans of Tariqah Ahmadiah Idrisiah for a zikir majlis led by Ust Hasbi. Indeed, the atmosphere was perfect, and the longing to meet Sayyidina Muhammad was intense, because the Malabar Muslim community are virtually a people very inclined to Tasawwuf, and I dare put my money where my mouth is worth that the people at Malabar have a very hospitable and examplary akhlaq. The management people even helped to dispense drinks for the jamaah and he would friendly ask "hot drink or cold drink for you?'. Even the Chairman was involved in distributing the refreshments! He carried the tray of kuehs and diligently walked up to the jamaah, offering each one of us the food. MasyaAllah, in short, I was touched. Somehow i saw the Imam, he just finished taking his ablution and was about to walk up to the prayer hall when a child playfully crossed his path, what he did was just to smile at the boyand pat him on the back. At that instant I thought ii saw the akhlaq of the Prophet s.a.w. His face was still wet with wudhu', and it glistened under the light. MasyaAllah. I really love the masjid and the events they organise, the scholars they invite etc.

Like my ustaz said, " Itulah dia akhlaq orang-orang yang bertariqah."

On another note, i wish all a blessed 1430H

Binary System

I've always been intrigued by the whole idea that that all computers and their up-to-date functions quintessentially run on strings of zeroes and ones. From just using zeroes and ones in a whole lot of different combinations, we can get the vast information that is the internet, the high definition graphics and videos of HD technology, the superb sound quality of Dolby digital, the picturesque photos from 24.6 megapixel DSLRs etc. Can you imagine? Everything runs on zeroes and ones!

Even microphones that are supposed to record sound via sound waves that are inherently analogue in nature and definitely not digital. Well, that is where the analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) comes in. The entire wave pattern is converted to zeroes and ones that accurately represent all the properties of the waves, such as its frequency, amplitude, timbre etc, to give you music in simple data format such as mp3.

And for pictures, everyone of them is represented by tiny dots of solid colour, the higher the resolution, the smaller and therefore the sharper the dots appear to us.  24.6 megapixels means 24.6 million pixels to define your photos. And the colour that each pixel is supposed to assume is also defined by numbers, which are defined by zeroes and ones. If you do play around with some graphics editing, you would notice that every pixels is defined by different shades of the three primary colours to give you all the colours that we can perceive. The three primary colours are Red, Green, and Blue, each one having a spectrum of numbers from 0 to 256 to define its intensity. A 256 red is as intense a red colour you can have, and ditto for green and blue. Diferent combinations of these numbers will give you all the other colours such as brown, gold etc. So, we have in total 256^3 = 16777216 different colours, more than what our eyes can differentiate, and that is just for 16 bit graphics, 32 bit graphics will give even more. 

16 bit means 16-digit-long number in the binary system of counting. We are all so used to the Decimal system, which utilises 10 digits from 0 to 9 inclusive. So after counting from 0 to 9, we go on to two digits 10, and then all the way to 99 before going to three digits 100. This is because for the slots of two digits, a decimal (base 10) system can accommodate 10^2 = 100 numbers. But for binary, we are using a very limited base 2 system using strictly only zeroes and ones. Meaning, the sequential counting goes like this; 0,1,10,11, 100,101,110,111,1000.

Going from 1 to 10 in binary, in which ten is the next immediate larger number than 1, we see that if we strictly use zeroes and ones, then after 1 is 10. As such, 10 in binary corresponds to 2 in decimal.

How to convert binary into decimal? Essentially it is the same as how we would for the decimal system. We are so familiar with decimal systems that we skip all the long processes when we register and appreciate the decimal numbers; 37 immediately is appreciated and accepted as 37 as we know it. But actually, 37 = (3 x 10^1) + (7 x 10^0) = 30 + 7. We now go back to primary school additions of ones and tens;) 

Probably the reason why we started with the decimal system is that we have ten fingers for counting, also known as ten digits in Biology. 

For a base ten system (decimal system), the rightmost column of numbers are carrying the multiples of 10^0 = 1. And the tens column immediately to the left of the rightmost column represent multiples of 10^1 =10. Therefore 37 =(3 x 10^1) + (7 x 10^0) = 30 + 7. 

The same goes for the hundreds and thousands. Example; 4058 = (4 x 10^3), this represents the 4000, and remember that the rightmost column is always 10^0, + (0 x 10^2) + (5 x 10^1) + (8 x 10^0) = 4000 + 000 + 50 + 8 = 4058. 

Similarly in Binary, since it is a base 2 system of just zeroes and ones, each increasing column of number represents a multiple of an increasing power of 2. We know from sequential counting that 10 in binary = 2 in decimal. Let us dissect 10 in binary.

10 = (1 x 2^1) + (0 x 2^0) = 2 + 0 = 2. 

The zero in 10 binary represents a 0 multiple of 2^0. And the 1 in 10 represents 1 multiple of 2^1, since it is in a column to the immediate left of the rightmost column, therefore it carries multiples of 2^1, a power greater that 2^0.  

As such 101 = 5 since 101 = (1 x 2^2) + (0 x 2^1) + (1 x 2^0) = 4 + 0 + 1 = 5 in decimal. 

Oh well, for even bigger numbers, just use the calculators that we have in our computers.

The calculators in our computers allow us to toggle numbers between various systems of counting, in which the binary and decimal systems are just two of them, there is also the oct and hex system.

That is how the 256 shades of colours can be represented by zeroes and ones in binary. 

This is getting quite lengthy.

Anyways, time for its significance to us muslims. God said he created everything in pairs, among them zeroes and ones. Zeroes represent nil existence, whereas one represents existence, or the start of existence, which suffices as the opposite of non-existence or 0. Of course 2 and 3 are also existences in the sense that they are not zeroes, but going by that logic, then so too is 1 billion. So 1 is the first to represent essence of existence, the opposite of non-existence.  And in logic gate functions, zero means negative, one means positive. 

And we see also how much our Islamic literature emphasise on the Oneness of God. There are at least 3 names that depict His Oneness, Wahid which means a mathematical One, Ahad meaning a One that is Unique, Samad which means a One on whom all depends. All these are heavily emphasised. 

And imagine, from this reality on zeroes and ones we have the computer world. 

Laa mawjuuda Illa Allah.

Nothing exists other than Allah.  

Surah An Naml, Sulaiman pbuh and Balqis

27:38 He said (to his own men): "Ye chiefs! which of you can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?"  قَالَ يَا أَيُّهَا المَلَأُ أَيُّكُمْ يَأْتِينِي بِعَرْشِهَا قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتُونِي مُسْلِمِينَ(27:38 27:39 Said an 'Ifrit, of the Jinns: "I will bring it to thee before thou rise from thy council: indeed I have full strength for the purpose, and may be trusted."  قَالَ عِفْريتٌ مِّنَ الْجِنِّ أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَن تَقُومَ مِن مَّقَامِكَ وَإِنِّي عَلَيْهِ لَقَوِيٌّ أَمِينٌ (27:39 27:40 Said one who had knowledge of the Book: "I will bring it to thee within the twinkling of an eye!" Then when (Solomon) saw it placed firmly before him, he said: "This is by the Grace of my Lord!- to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful! and if any is grateful, truly his gratitude is (a gain) for his own soul; but if any is ungrateful, truly my Lord is Free of all Needs, Supreme in Honour !"  قَالَ الَّذِي عِندَهُ عِلْمٌ مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ أَنَا آتِيكَ بِهِ قَبْلَ أَن يَرْتَدَّ إِلَيْكَ طَرْفُكَ فَلَمَّا رَآهُ مُسْتَقِرًّا عِندَهُ قَالَ هَذَا مِن فَضْلِ رَبِّي لِيَبْلُوَنِي أَأَشْكُرُ أَمْ أَكْفُرُ وَمَن شَكَرَ فَإِنَّمَا يَشْكُرُ لِنَفْسِهِ وَمَن كَفَرَ فَإِنَّ رَبِّي غَنِيٌّ كَرِيمٌ (27:40)

27:41 He said: "Transform her throne out of all recognition by her: let us see whether she is guided (to the truth) or is one of those who receive no guidance." قَالَ نَكِّرُوا لَهَا عَرْشَهَا نَنظُرْ أَتَهْتَدِي أَمْ تَكُونُ مِنَ الَّذِينَ لَا يَهْتَدُونَ (27:41)

27:42 So when she arrived, she was asked, "Is this thy throne?" She said, "It was just like this; and knowledge was bestowed on us in advance of this, and we have submitted to Allah (in Islam)."  فَلَمَّا جَاءتْ قِيلَ أَهَكَذَا عَرْشُكِ قَالَتْ كَأَنَّهُ هُوَ وَأُوتِينَا الْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهَا وَكُنَّا مُسْلِمِينَ (27:42)

27:43 And he diverted her from the worship of others besides Allah. for she was (sprung) of a people that had no faith. وَصَدَّهَا مَا كَانَت تَّعْبُدُ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهَا كَانَتْ مِن قَوْمٍ كَافِرِينَ (27:43)

27:44 She was asked to enter the lofty Palace: but when she saw it, she thought it was a lake of water, and she (tucked up her skirts), uncovering her legs. He said: "This is but a palace paved smooth with slabs of glass." She said: "O my Lord! I have indeed wronged my soul: I do (now) submit (in Islam), with Solomon, to the Lord of the Worlds."  قِيلَ لَهَا ادْخُلِي الصَّرْحَ فَلَمَّا رَأَتْهُ حَسِبَتْهُ لُجَّةً وَكَشَفَتْ عَن سَاقَيْهَا قَالَ إِنَّهُ صَرْحٌ مُّمَرَّدٌ مِّن قَوَارِيرَ قَالَتْ رَبِّ إِنِّي ظَلَمْتُ نَفْسِي وَأَسْلَمْتُ مَعَ سُلَيْمَانَ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (27:44) Sadaqallah, I’ve always found this verse very intriguing. To begin this post proper, I shall first recount my very first encounter, in detail, with this verse. It was a rew years back when I sat in Ust Hafazah Ahmad’s class on Tasawwuf, then he had just started on reading the book Kimiya As Saadah (The Alchemy of Eternal Bliss) by Imam Ghazali. I still remember clearly the topic; It was on knowing the Self. A central reference throughout the entire topic was the Hadith “ Man ‘arifa nafsah, fa qad ‘arifa rabbah” He who knows himself knows his Lord.   He then kicked off the topic by talking about how much a person’s knowledge is valued; and knowledge is of two kinds, one that is dry that can be found on paper and books, the other is very much spiritual. That was when he referred to this verse, verse 40 of Surah An Naml when Sulaiman pbuh asked for anyone who could move Balqis’ palace to him. The Jinn Ifreet stood up and said it can be done before he could finish standing up, but a man of knowledge said it could be done within the blink of an eye.   So who was this man? Or rather what kind of human was he? Was he a Prophet? Not likely, because his name was not mentioned, so in all likelihood he was a wali, a saint who was bestowed with karamah. Nowadays, people tend to reject such things in very much the same way they reject the notion that the Prophet pbuh went body and soul during Israk Miraj. The reality is that such things exist and the reason why we don’t see many of such things today is because today is the age of rationality and logic, any miracle like that would be too overwhelming an evidence to the extent that those who witness it and study it rationally will come to conclude that this is no magic, that it is real and it is a miracle, and therefore have no reason not to come to belief. In the past, people can still deny miracles as black magic, but today, if the miracle is scientifically studied, truth will  manifest, and belief will ensue, en masse, such that life in this world will lose its value as a place of trial for people to choose whether or not to believe. Imagine if Jesus were to heal the blind or the leper in an instant in today’s medical age, what will the specialists say?   Ust Hafazah also warned that a rational person is he who appreciates the Giver more than the gift, and tells us not to amal just to seek these karamah, and that amal should be ikhlas for Him alone. And he also reveals that the more effective path to God is to be disciplined in a Tariqah, under the guidance of a Mursyid, who is a guide.   For this, he referred to how Balqis erred unknowingly, two times in the verses above. First she worshipped the sun instead of God out of following age-old customs and traditions, all the while thinking that it was nothing wrong. The second was when she was asked to enter the new palace, and in it she thought she saw a pool of water, and raised her garments such that her legs could be seen, to enter the pool without getting her garment wet. Then she was promptly stopped by Sulaiman pbuh who explained that it was not a pool, rather a panel of glass. She then was thankful and submitted into belief in one God.   This story,or rather a metaphor, highlights the need to have a guide and the adab of a murid to his guide. The fact that glass was thought to be water alludes to something illusionary – something very real and common in Tasawuuf and Tazkiah an Nafs (purification of the Self). The devil and his whispers bring about confusion and illusions and sometimes the only way to be saved is to have a guide who knows what is the truth, what is not, what is illusionary and what is real. We may think that we are good and pious but in reality we are not etc. Hence we need a guide. And about adab to the guide, we ought to be humble and acknowledge our wrongs and accept the guide’s help. Essentially, this is what Tariqah is about. Mentioned in the verse, in reaction to seeing the illusionary pool, Balqis proceeded to do something very undignified of a queen, ie to raise her garments to the extent that her legs were exposed, and she thought she was doing the logical thing, to bring her garments up in order to cross the pool which was, in reality, a glass floor/panel.   It was here that Ust Hafazah seriously exhorted us to look for real guides, and he recommended a few, among them Sidi Abdul Rasyid and Sidi Faiz of Ahmadiah-Idrisiah Tariqah. That was the beginning of my joining the Tariqah, and for the next few years, I followed my friend and his dad almost every week to zikr, taking his dad’s van as transport. Seriously, even until today, I still find it very timely for me, that when I reached an age capable of thinking properly, I was exposed to the reality of Tariqah and its necessity, in an age where attacks against Tariqahs are very common, and I was given the convenience of transportation for every majlis that I went to henceforth. When I attended Ust Hafazah’s class, he was just doing a relief for another Ust. And to think about it, my own grandfather was a follower of awrad muhammadiyah of almarhum Ust Taha Suhaimi, the same tariqah as Ust Hafazah.   By the way, all chapters of the Quran begin with Basmallah except for Surah At-Tawbah, but still there are 114 Basmallahs in the Quran, the remaining Basmallah to “compensate” Surah at Tawbah is found in the verse above:   “Innahu min Sulaiman, wa innahu Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim”   It (the letter) is from Sulaiman and it says “In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”

Comment on Sayyidina Musa and his sandals

On my Previous Post regarding Figurative Interpretation in Quran and the reference to the command for Sayyidina Musa to remove his sandals.

an interesting comment by dr ahmad:

al malibariiy said...

interesting take on removal of slippers by Prophet Moses (pbuh).

but juz to draw parallels to the Isra Mikraj...
the scholars confirm that there is no mention or narration of Rasulullah (pbuh) removing his sandals at all upon reaching Sidratul Muntaha... in fact he was "sandal-ed".

Imam Yusuf Nabhani wrote about this when explaining the "significance of the Prophet's sandals" and the difference of maqam of the Prophets. In short, he said something on the lines that whatever was associated with the Prophet (pbuh) had its status alleviated as well... even the sandals (cos it was in contact with the blessed feet of the Prophet (pbuh)!) 

Crudely speaking....Imagine that Jibril had to be left behind after a certain point but the sandals followed thru' the Mikraj. :)

December 14, 2008 3:18 AM 

But it was true that when Nabi saw reached the Sidratul Muntaha, he was sandaled, did not remove them. 

Burdah Night At Malabar Mosque, 24 Dec after isyak

Salaam everyone, 

Two Events at Malabar Mosque

1) To the lovers of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. we hope and dua you are in the state of good health in this blessed month. In the Colleberation between Malabar Mosque and Sout Ilaahi, we would like to invite you to Burdah Night "The Love for Prophet s.a.w. with Shaykh Fakhrudin Owaisi al Madani al Tijani from South Africa. The event will commence after the Solat Maghrib on 24 Dec 08 at Malabar Mosque 471 Victoria Street, Singapore

Insha'Allah shaykh Fakhrudin who is himself a master of reading burdah will be leading this noble majlis. We hope you are able to attend this Burdah event. All are welcome, man and woman. Its an opportunity not to be miss. 

2) Idrisiah Zikr at Malabar Mosque on Thurs 25 Dec 2008 after Isyak, led by Ust Hasbi.

Biography
Shaykh Fakhruddin Owaisi al-Madani, of the people of Sayyidina Owais al-Qarni, is a muqaddam of the Tijaniyya in Cape Town, South Africa. He was born in the USA but grew up and studied in Medina al-Munawwara for 18 years. He has an MA in Islamic Studies from the University of Cape Town and is the Imam of the Hout Bay Mosque in Capetown. He is also the Head of the Sunni `Ulema Council of Cape Town. Shaykh Fakhruddin studied with Sayyid Muhammad `Alawi al-Maliki of Mecca and also has ijazah in Hadith from Sayyid Muhammad al-Yaqubi. He took the Tariqa from the great Sufi master Shaykh Hassan Cisse of Senegal.

What is Burdah?
"Historians look at the Burdah, we very soon realize that what we are dealing with is very probably the most influential and the most popular single poem in the history of any language. there simply is no other text from ancient or recent times that has been done in so many languages, not just for some rarefied literary elite but for the people..." -

Timothy J. Winter (Abdal Hakim Murad), Cambridge University, UK

Qasida Burdah as a poem has had a unique history. Even in the poet's lifetime it was already regarded as sacred. Over 90 commentaries have been written on this poem by many of the foremost scholars and imams of Islam, including Ibn Hajar, Mulla Ali al-Qari, Ibn Allan, Bajuri, and others. It has been translated into Persian, Urdu, Turkish, Berber, Punjabi, English, French, German, Sindhi, Dutch and other languages. It is recited across the world in sacred ceremonies, mosques, on blessed days even in social gatherings such as marriage etc. The poem is memorized and recited in congregations, and its verses decorate the walls of public buildings and mosques.

From coasts of Senegal to the Philippines, from Russia to South Africa, everywhere Qasida Burdah is recited as a token of love for the Prophet and to ask for blessings. In some circles it is a major and regular practice to recite the Burdah. In Indonesia for example, its a normal routine for the students of religious training to read Burdah on the Friday morning after sunrise or Saturday afternoon. Some having it thrice a week while others may have it the whole week in the early morning. In Java, Burdah is one of their Spiritual Culture.

twilight

yesterday, I was with my male friends former classmates in jc. We had a gathering, after so long of not meeting. Then we decided to catch a movie, and you guessed it right, we watched Twilight. and so it was seven guys, prakash, krishnan, alvin, nasrul, zamir, me and hendarto. 

Throughout the entire movie, we were, as courteous fellow cinema watchers, quiet. The funny thing was when the credits started to roll, I looked at Zamir, he looked at me, and in spontaneity, we broke into guffaws. In short, that was a highly extended movie about typical teenage crush between a girl and a guy. Really not the sort of movies to watch as a gang.

I am still wondering why is the book by stephanie meyers so popular...plus it has sequels! whatever lah.

Some people will like the movie, but most will not.

and it felt so wrong, all of us...hahahaha

miss them loads

Time, and those simple, "trivial" amals

These days, i can't seem to find my mood to play games, I used to LOVE them, can spend an entire day just sitting in front of game consoles to complete my favourite games, but lately, i just don't feel interested anymore.

Although now I do have the once-in-a-while yearning to play RPGs like GTA4 and Final Fantasy 12, but then again, once i start the games, I almost immediately feel like not playing. I am not saying that those titles are lousy, they are great, it's just that I'm losing my steam.

Maybe it's a good thing, a very good way of saving time which would otherwise be put to waste. Maybe that is the hikmah behind it. Even though now I do not have any commitments to school, I still have things that i want to do at the back of my mind, and probably this ample time is just for me to use.

All of a sudden, I don't know why, I want to read up about computers; in particular how they work, at the microscopic level, and I want to learn 2 software badly; dreamweaver and photoshop. Thank God my bro has all the training videos on them, just need to find the right time to sit and watch, and learn.

And not to mention books, I've such a long que list.Never mind, that one can take their own time.

I must say that the satisfaction that comes from having optimised your time is indeed pleasant, and somehow knocks the idead into your head that our time here is limited and running out; so better make the best use of it. I'm sure we all know about the imminence of death and the dire need to make full use of time, but I think its degree of impact is very much pegged on how much of that reality do we see as a cliche. The more we see it as a cliche, the more we slack off. It's a positive relationship.

Nowadays, I feel bad when an hour of my time is wasted, Thank God for that feeling.

And in our bit to save time, we ought to make it a habit, some trivial matters that will prove to be important and significant in the long run and with consistency. That's the whole importance behind the emphasis and comparison made between an amal, although small, but done consistently and a huge amal that is done inconsistently. And God prefers the small one that is done consistently.

Here are some small things that we can do, and hopefully inculcate as a daily habit:

1. While taking wudu', recite as many times "Ya Qadir"
2. Recite 35 times "Ahmadur Rasulullah, Muhammadur Rasulullah" when the khatib sits in between the 2 sermons. This amal is from Almarhum Allamatul Kabir, Syed Muhammad Alawi al-Maliki al-Hasani, through his Ahmadi lineage.
3. While waiting for anything, be it when you miss the bus or the elevator, send salawat upon the Prophet saw. This one immediately puts in patience and rubs off frustration ;)
4. As a manifestation of our love, the Hanafi practice of reciting "Lailaha Illa Allah, Muhammadur Rasulullah" upon hearing "Asyhadu Anna Muhammadar Rasulullah" in azan and then kissing the two thumbs and then rub the thumbs along your eyes, can be emulated. As a Fadail Amal, I reckon this one is superb.

That's all the simple, no-excuses-for-not-doing amals that I can come up for now. And although our religion is never short of amals, what we would be able to easily utilise are those that are simple and trivial enough to be done as a habit. Perhaps the readers can share and add on to the list, surely there is a lot more. I am not aiming for long amals that are meant for the disciplined, I'm looking for those that are done while we are already doing something, so that we can say " since i'm already at it, why not?" like in the case of reciting as many times " Ya Qadir" while you take your wudu;)

can't stop myself laughing

that eidul adha morning, me and my bro were just about to remove or slippers to get into the dewan solat when the noja, a typical pakcik, came to my bro and said:

"please leave your slippers here, level 2 and 3 is also available"

i tell you, i cant stop laughing. 

Why did the noja speak to my bro in English? because, he thought, in all honesty, that my bro was a bangla man hahahahaha.

IzharuL! bapak kau banggala lah Izharul!

How much? How much do we miss Nabi saw?

Let Ust Hasbi explain:

http://www.ahmadiah-idrisiah.com/video203.php

I really urge all those who love him saw and miss him saw to watch this clip. It's not going to be a waste of your time, really.

Of Being Shy

Shyness is part of faith.

If you lack shyness, then do whatever it is that you desire!

so says the Prophet saw.

Shyness is no doubt one of the  most valuable qualities of a human being, regardless whether that person is a male or female. Shyness guards from decadence, guides to righteousness. The ultimate form of shyness would be shyness in front of God who is Ever Watchful, for in such a state, one cannot be moved to perform anything unlawful, while being fully aware that he/she is perpetually under God's watch. But again, this is so much easier said than done.

Akon was right when he sang;

 Girl, I can notice

But to notice you
Noticing me
From across the room
I can see it
And can't stop myself
From looking
And noticing you
Noticing me
Watch out
I've seen her type before
That girl is so dangerous
That girl is so dangerous
That girl is a bad girl

This unshy type who can blatantly notice others from across the room is indeed dangerous.

And yeah, i just wanna share about alcoholism and its removal of sobriety and its contradiction of the purpose of syariah.

One of the main purpose of Syariah (Maqasid Syariah) is to uphold with due respect and dignity, the human consciousness. 

and alcoholism removes just that, which is why all intoxicants are haram, even the single drop that is claimed not to make one drunk.

I came across an article in the papers recently about a teen girl who was drunk, made to sleep and was molested and ravaged the next morning, she woke up but was still too drunk to do anything about her state, and the helpless girl can only afford to fall asleep again, after having been ill-treated. She made the right move of reporting to the police only after waking from her second sleep. 

See how pathetic one gets when he/she loses consciousness? That is why Islam emphasises so much of human consciousness, its sanctity can never be compromised. Which is why alcoholism is forbidden. Drink not the alcohol of this world but the wine of akhirah, indeed the rewards of the Hereafter are more fulfilling and everlasting!  

Congratulations!

I'm so very the hearteneed to see the results of this year's PSLE! In general the Malay community faired well! and what is perhaps even more commendable is that our primary sixers from the madrasahs also did well! the top from madrasah is from irsyad and he scored a whopping 260 lah! superb! with that kind of score and the number of subjects he takes, he can easily show a candle in front of all the other secular peeps and be proud. 

on a more serious note, the greater than national average performance is really crucial, because years ago the kerajaan wanted to close madrasahs should they not be able to make the cut for PSLE. and the respected ulama like almarhum ust syed abdillah al jurfi and ust hasbi bin hassan fought so much to have madrasahs able to continue with p1 intakes, something that is really needed in today's age. When they do well in PSLE, they are actually repaying the efforts of those ulama. 

260. 258 from maarif, excellent! they all beat me ;) and if this trend continues or even improves, we can expect stellar results even in O levels! In fact I won't be surprised if they produce straight As,behind you all the way! all that they need to do is ensure that what needs to be done is done, make sure they UNDERSTAND the concepts, don't just purely memorise, and save LOTS of time by simply paying attention in class, and delight with ecstatic fun and praise of God when  you do understand a particular concept.  Keep a list of points that always bug you, those points that always elude your understanding, or those points that are very commonly used in exams, in a sheet of paper - and drill it often. SUMMARISE points and minimise words, on condition that you already understand them, and surprise surprise, an entire O level syllabus can be squeezed in 2 sides of an A4. Look through all questions of practice exam papers, and to save time, just go through the answers in your mind, then check whether correct,if wrong then seek to understand, that way you can complete an entire paper in less than  30 mins instead of 1hr30mins - (if it's for practice's sake, why tire your hands with so much writing?) That way, even when nearing the exams, you can have free time to breathe, lepak, movie, video games, or even regularly attend night classes in mosques. Don't let your work pile, don't procrastinate, look at it this way, sooner or later, if it has to be done, it has to be done, procrastination is from Satan. 

I am very fortunate that my mum adopts the Own Time Own Target concept; 

she only has 3 big general rules for me;

 

1)don't compromise your religion, faith & akhlaq

2) don't compromise your studies (duniawi and ukhrawi)

3) Be physically safe, stay away from trouble

though i haven't tried, i suppose the big freedom comes with equally big penalties if the preconditions for big freedom is/are compromised. 

then whatever else i want to do,be it lepak at kedai kopi with friends till wee hours, it's a "lantak engkau";)

and i kinda told myself already that one day when i am a dad, i will grant my children that same freedom, see, I'm Mr Welfare ;) I just don't like being authoritarian and unreasonable in punishing. I will engage in rationale discussions with my children if they were to make a mistake and convince them that what they do is really wrong, and therefore deserve appropriate punishment. These discussions can sometimes get very long, and if they say i membebel, then i tell them they are being unreasonable and demagogic as to dismiss an argument without having rationally refuted it, and if they rationally refuted it (eg valid excuses), then good. Quran exhorts us to be rational, logical, and to avoid bias and to seek truth for what it is. 

Al-Haqqu mir rabbik, fa laa takuunanna minal mumtareen!

Truth is from your Lord, so do not be among those who doubt!

Rest assured, I won't punish for no reason. 

of course she once in a while does want to know my whereabouts etc, and i understand it is all purely mother's love and a real practical concern, nothing intended to make my life miserable.

I understand that she doesn't want to be the last to know if ever anything tragic like an accident were to happen, that would be bad, agreeable? See, everything should happen for a good reason, not simply making others' lives miserable. 

Maa khalaqta haazaa baathilaa, subhaanak! 

You did not create these in vain, Glory unto You!

so much freedom lah, no fixed timetables at home, no curfews ever, can go for late night movies lah, sleep over at friends' place etc. But just bear in mind that what needs to be done, has to be done. i don't believe in having a very rigid timetable at home, flexibility must be granted to accommodate the current,varying circumstances, for example if more needs to be focused on maths, then so be it. Cost-Benefit Analysis. 

In Islam, there is no such thing as Fragmentation Of Knowledge, that is the view that the physical sciences and maths are purely duniawi subjects having no implications whatsoever on one's religion and faith. Such a concept is from secularism, not Islam. Islam views all true knowledge, truth as coming from God, and true enough, even the most celebrated Western Scientists delight and marvel at God's incomprehensible Greatness and Ingenuity when he studies the Signs of God in this world ;) So as long as you are a muslim, you must master BOTH ukhrawi and duniawi subjects, regardless whether or not you are from madrasah, period. Then we will gain back our respect, value and worth from the entire world. When Islam fluorished, not only was Syariah strong, so too was Tasawwuf, the languages, the sciences (physical and Islamic), basically every field of knowledge...May God guide us all, amin!

another note, i received news that Sidi Faiz was recently hospitalised, May God grant him a speedy recovery, amin! Our du'as for him, insyaAllah.

Don't talk to me about Muhammad...sallaAllah alaih....

this post actually takes the title of one song by bro Dawud Wharnsby Ali.

actually a friend in army introduced this song to me, and suffice to say,  if you are in the army, you would know how the muslims are, or at least the majority of them. so yeah, just let me put it this way, the friend is not exactly the kind of guy you would expect to deal with such things as love for the Prophet saas; vice and promiscuity are common to him; O God, at this point, i pray that i am not arrogant; whatever he is, i am worse. 

the thing is, he let me listen to the song, and he told me he feels for it, that he feels like crying.

and yeah, indeed the song is touching.

It would be such a pleasure to have you come along with me
I accept your gracious offer
Kindness and company
But as we walk along young man
And as you help me with my load
I've only one request as we travel down this road

Don't talk to me about Muhammad
Because of him there is no peace
And I have trouble in my mind
So don't talk to me about Muhammad
And as we walk along together
We will get along just fine
As we walk along together
We will get along

That man upsets me so
So much more than you could know
I hear of his name and reputation everywhere I go
Though his family and his clan once knew him as an honest man
He's dividing everyone
With his claim that God is One

So don't talk to me about Muhammad
Because of him there is no peace
And I have trouble in my mind
So don't talk to me about Muhammad
And as we walk along together
We will get along just fine
As we walk along together
We will get along

He's misled all the weak ones
And the poor ones and the slaves
They think they've all found wealth and freedom
Following his ways
He's corrupted all the youth
With his twisted brand of truth
Convinced them that they all are strong
Giving them somewhere to belong

So don't talk to me about Muhammad
Because of him there is no peace
And I have trouble in my mind
So don't talk to me about Muhammad
And as we walk along together
We will get along just fine
As we walk along together
We will get along

Now before we part and go
If its alright just the same
May I ask my dear young man
Who are you, what's your name
Forgive me what was that?
Your words weren't very clear
My ears are getting old
Sometimes its difficult to hear
It's truly rather funny though I'm sure I must be wrong
But I thought I heard you say
Your name is Muhammad
Muhammad

Ashaadu anlah ilaha illalla
Wa ashadu ana muhammadur rasululla

O talk to me, Muhammad
Upon you I pray for peace
For you have eased my troubled mind
O talk to me, Muhammad
And as we walk along together
We will get along just fine
As I travel down life's road
I will get along
Just fine

i told my friend, whatever we do, we can never earn paradise; let's face reality

Paradise is only given, from His endless Mercy, never due to our credit, or worth, or good works

Whatever it is that we do, be it sin for the rest of our lives, at the very least don't come to hate the Prophet saw, keep his love at all times. for that is all the capital we can possibly have, our final trump card for our salvation in the hereafter. For the Prophet saas personally stopped the companions from admonishing the one who was a perennial drinker; citing that verily the drinker loves God and His Messenger.

 If such a statement comes from the Prophet saas, then who is to argue? Maybe, just maybe, when we love him sufficiently, we will come to realise that the Prophet saas witnesses our daily actions,that he praises God for whatever is good, and asks for forgiveness on our behalf for whatever that is otherwise, maybe then we will be very ashamed in his presence that we will suddenly have all the drive to act lawfully. Hearts can change in an instant. What we need is good awareness...fii kulli lamhatin, wa nafasin, 'adada maa wasi'ahuu 'ilmullah...in every blink of the eye and in every breath, to the number that only God's knowledge can comprehend.

There's something about the Prophet's character that people can't resist; The Prophet said:

Yudabbiuuni rabbi, My Lord is the one who moulded Adab in me.

so no surprise why his Holy demeanour is so irresistable, there is something divine about it.

 

That alone is enough to attract our love, i really miss Sidi leading the zikr, hubbun nabi, hubbun nabi, hubbun nabi...it's just soo ecstatic and powerful...

back home!

alhamdulillah, finally back from thailand, it was a good break and experience though. nvm, shall not go into details.

anyways, caught up with some of the people i know and they eventually talk about what i'm going to do after ns. especially during ther raya visitings. i told them i will be studying of course, and they all fervently asked "are you doing medicine?"

"no, no, not medicine"

"WHY?!" --> a big "why" mind you, you should see one by one, their faces

"i didn't even apply,"

"WHAT?!"

when where how tak ader ke?

in my heart i was like saying "eh aku nyer pasal ah,hehe" no lah i was joking.

i explained slowly that although i like bio, i do not like a job as a doctor of medicine dealing with patients and all, not that i don't care, just not very comfortable. plus mugging in medicine is like a whole entire devotion; i am worried that i won't have much time for other things, and true enough, the medical officers in camp whom i talk to all say the same thing, out of experience, and not the kind of material they speak to JC students when they are already having an agenda of recruitment...the real life of a houseman etc.

plus there are other things that i am interested in life; i promised myself that if i carry a degree for this dunia, then i must equally carry another degree for akhirah, the same for masters, doctorate or PhD. and we all know that the degree system for ukhrawi is very much commercialised, carrying one means nothing in the sight of God. i cant show a degree in syariah and expect a direct vip passport entry to paradise. that means i need to be consistent in the path of tasawwuf, ie tariqah, which is really all about discipline. How many times have i heard Sidi Faiz lamenting about those who only come for zikir when there are big majlis. You need to come weekly! charge your batteries at least once a week!

and my interest is largely elsewhere, although i like science as a whole, but to me nothing beats chemistry ;) and i'm grateful that i get to do chem in uni, thank God. plus this time with a new focus on engineering, not chemistry as strictly a science.

of course there are other interests that i would call sideline interests, such as financing, business, computing, then again, those are just sidelines... perhaps as elective modules...

Ya Rabbi,
atinaa fid dunya hasanah, wa fil akhirati hasanah, wa qinaa 'azaban naar!

away to thailand

from 2 to 18 nov. don't think i'll be having much internet access there, so i meanwhile left 2 previous posts.

take care,
wsalam