One of my friends, who is a follower of Qadiri-Naqshbandi of al-Khidmah, messaged me 2 days back informing of the sad passing away of their mursyid, Kiayi Ahmad Asrory… I was shocked, but am aware that Yai had been ill for some time. Personally to me, he is one of the most soft-spoken and genteel mursyid, I felt a strong sense of admiration to him whenever he was around in the mosques here for haflah zikir and/or mawlid. His followers really revere him… May Allah bless Kiyai Ahmad Asrory Al-Ishaqi! Al-Fatihah!

KH. Ahmad Asrori Al-ishaqi merupakan putera dari Kyai Utsman Al-Ishaqi. Beliau mengasuh Pondok Pesantren Al-Fithrah Kedinding Surabaya. Kelurahan Kedinding Lor terletak di Kecamatan Kenjeran Kota Surabaya. Di atas tanah kurang lebih 3 hektar berdiri Pondok Pesantren Al-Fithrah yang diasuh Kiai Ahmad Asrori, putra Kiai Utsman Al-Ishaqy. Nama Al-Ishaqy dinisbatkan kepada Maulana Ishaq, ayah Sunan Giri, karena Kiai Utsman masih keturunan Sunan Giri. Semasa hidup, Kiai Utsman adalah mursyid Tarekat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah. Dalam dunia Islam, tarekat Naqsyabandiyah dikenal sebagai tarekat yang penting dan memiliki penyebaran paling luas; cabang-cabangnya bisa ditemukan di banyak negeri antara Yugoslavia dan Mesir di belahan barat serta Indonesia dan Cina di belahan timur. Sepeninggal Kiai Utsman tahun 1984, atas penunjukan langsung Kiai Utsman, Kiai Ahmad Asrori meneruskan kedudukan mursyid ayahnya. Ketokohan Kiai Asrori berawal dari sini.

Tugas sebagai mursyid dalam usia yang masih muda ternyata bukan perkara mudah. Banyak pengikut Kiai Utsman yang menolak mengakui Kiai Asrori sebagai pengganti yang sah. Sebuah riwayat menceritakan bahwa para penolak itu, pada tanggal 16 Maret 1988 berangkat meninggalkan Surabaya menuju Kebumen untuk melakukan baiat kepada Kiai Sonhaji. Tidak diketahui dengan pasti bagaimana sikap Kiai Asrori terhadap aksi tersebut namun sejarah mencatat bahwa Kiai Arori tak surut. Ia mendirikan pesantren Al-Fithrah di Kedinding Lor, sebuah pesantren dengan sistem klasikal, yang kurikulum pendidikannya menggabungkan pengetahuan umum dan pengajian kitab kuning. Ia juga menggagas Al-Khidmah, sebuah jamaah yang sebagian anggotanya adalah pengamal tarekat Tarekat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah. Jamaah ini menarik karena sifatnya yang inklusif, ia tidak memihak salah satu organisasi sosial manapun. Meski dihadiri tokoh-tokoh ormas politik dan pejabat negara, majelis-majelis yang diselenggarakan Al-Khidmah berlangsung dalam suasana murni keagamaan tanpa muatan-muatan politis yang membebani. Kiai Asrori seolah menyediakan Al-Khidmah sebagai ruang yang terbuka bagi siapa saja yang ingin menempuh perjalanan mendekat kepada Tuhan tanpa membedakan baju dan kulit luarnya. Pelan tapi pasti organisasi ini mendapatkan banyak pengikut. Saat ini diperkirakan jumlah mereka jutaan orang, tersebar luas di banyak provinsi di Indonesia, hingga Singapura dan Filipina. Dengan kesabaran dan perjuangannya yang luar biasa, Kiai Asrori terbukti mampu meneruskan kemursyidan yang ia dapat dari ayahnya. Bahkan lebih dari itu, ia berhasil mengembangkan Tarekat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah ke suatu posisi yang mungkin tak pernah ia bayangkan.

Kiai Asrori adalah pribadi yang istimewa. Pengetahuan agamanya dalam dan kharisma memancar dari sosoknya yang sederhana. Tutur katanya lembut namun seperti menerobos relung-relung di kedalaman hati pendengarnya. Menurut keluarga dekatnya, sewaktu muda Kiai Asrori telah menunjukkan keistimewaan-keistimewaan. Mondhoknya tak teratur. Ia belajar di Rejoso satu tahun, di Pare satu tahun, dan di Bendo satu tahun. Di Rejoso ia malah tidak aktif mengikuti kegiatan ngaji. Ketika hal itu dilaporkan kepada pimpinan pondok, Kiai Mustain Romli, ia seperti memaklumi, “biarkan saja, anak macan akhirnya jadi macan juga.” Meskipun belajarnya tidak tertib, yang sangat mengherankan, Kiai Asrori mampu membaca dan mengajarkan kitab Ihya’ Ulum al-Din karya Al-Ghazali dengan baik. Di kalangan pesantren, kepandaian luar biasa yang diperoleh seseorang tanpa melalui proses belajar yang wajar semacam itu sering disebut ilmu ladunni (ilmu yang diperoleh langsung dari Allah SWT). Adakah Kiai Asrori mendapatkan ilmu laduni sepenuhnya adalah rahasia Tuhan, wallahu a’lam. Ayahnya sendiri juga kagum atas kepintaran anaknya. Suatu ketika Kiai Utsman pernah berkata “seandainya saya bukan ayahnya, saya mau kok ngaji kepadanya.” Barangkali itulah yang mendasari Kiai Utsman untuk menunjuk Kiai Asrori (bukan kepada anak-anaknya yang lain yang lebih tua) sebagai penerus kemursyidan Tarekat Qadiriyah wa Naqsyabandiyah padahal saat itu Kiai Asrori masih relatif muda, 30 tahun.

Nat Geo Aug 2009

And yes, had the delight of just sitting back and reading August issue of National Geographic.
I simply just wanted to share about some interesting facts they have in this month’s issue.

1. A deep-sea fish, the barreleye, of the genus Macropinna and species microstoma, is truly a magnificent creature. Living in the depths of up to 2000 feet underwater, this fish has to have eyes well adapted to capturing faint flashes of light; since when you are so deep below, light has to shine from on top, and the barrel eye has a pair of eyes oriented upwards, instead of the more familiar frontwards. It has also nostrils that take a frontward position, easily misinterpreted as eyes.
Now, the paradox created here is this, how can a pair of eyes, oriented in an upward position, look forward to aid the fish in hunting its prey? The answer, obtained from video captured from a remotely operated vehicle shows that the fish has muscles that can prop the eyes in the forward position to help the fish see as it hunts. Interesting indeed.

The Barrel eye; what looks like the eye is actually the nostril

2. In another article, we are told about an idea to shield the earth from the Sun’s powerful rays by introducing trillions of 2-foot wide sun deflectors orbiting a million miles from earth. This would cool the earth by several degrees. The other idea is to engage geoengineering by introducing reflective paricles such as sulphates into the stratosphere, methods of delivery are endless; planes, balloons, guns pointed upwards. This is rather linked to another article on the supervolcano beneath Yellowstone Park in USA.

3. In the millions of years ago, there had been several supervolcanic eruptions, the kind that spewed out gigantic amounts of ash and soot and chemicals into the atmosphere, blanketing as far as across the globe, casting a darkness shadow that chilled the climate, devastated many ecosystems in what is grimly known as a ‘volcanic winter’. The idea of a volcanic winter just does not seem right, winters are supposed to be a time of peaceful serenity; but definitely the volcanic winter isn’t.

4. The other interesting article was about mimicry in nature, I was just fascinated by some of the less conventional methods of mimicry employed in nature; definitely not the typical examples that we commonly encounter. Examples of which include: a parasitic fungi that wishes to free ride on the moist, coolness and safety of a termite mount, achieving so by assuming the shape and texture of termite eggs. Caterpillars that are ‘smart’ enough to chew on leaves in a manner that leaves no tell-tale signs of a caterpillar pillage, potentially dangerous to caterpillars as insectivorous birds flying on top tend to look out for areas of leaves severely attacked by caterpillars, since they signal a strong population of the juicy bug. So these caterpillars resort to eating neatly, strictly by the sides, maneuvering to attain the same shape of the leaves, albeit smaller. This will mislead the birds from thinking that the leaves have been attacked by caterpillars.

And there are also those that hitchhike and hijack. A type of parasite is known to be secreting sweet juices to attract ants to eat them, thereafter while in the abdomen, these parasite will produce chemicals to make the ants’ abdomen appear vivid red, like ripe fruits, therby enticing birds to eat them. When birds defecate, these parasite will repeat the cycle.

But sometimes, when one reads National Geographic, one has to be careful of its inclinations towards Darwinism. In a single paragraph, the author of the article on mimicry was able to pen down his strong attachment to Darwinism in his accounting for the mimicry observed in nature

It writes, and I quote “Of course, even the most cunning of nature’s caricatures have no narrative mastermind behind them. Mimicry exemplifies evolution by natural selection, the relentless struggle in which parents spawn a diversity of offspring that chance and nature’s cruel eye for weakness shear almost clean away. If your slight resemblance to bird dung gives you enough of an edge to guarantee your survival, your progeny may inherit your lucky charm. Maybe one will even top you as a dropping imposter, and within many generations, that trait would have spread to most of the population and become the gold standard for your kind. “

Easier said than done huh, just because appearing like a dung is good for you and you need to appear like a dung to survive does not make you have the capacity to appear like a dung.

I am rather perplexed by the West’s celebration of the ingenuity of the classical science polymaths such as Isaac Newton, Leonardo Da Vinci, Louis Pasteur, Faraday and many others and yet contradict these luminaries in their ever strong emphasis on a Designer who Created with a Plan.

Sure enough, It can be accepted that God in His Mercy give his creature adaptations to live better in an environment, and maybe this part is what they call evolutionism (whether it really is evolution is a debatable matter). But to use such methods to discredit the fact of creation with a design is difficult for me.

They have noted ‘imperfections’ in the world of mimicry. Small spiders that take to appear like army ants have a flaw in their plan, so they say. This is because, with the enlarged spiders’ fangs, these ‘imperfect’ mimics only manage to mimic an ant in a defenseless state, because ants encumbered with bundles (in this case is the enlarged fangs) are least likely to fight back.

This, they claim, is an indication that nature and chance are working on a new lineage of method on how to mimic; a new method embarked on the mimicry path.

They also said that if there are too many imitators, the original will lose value and hence all will have to ‘figure out’ new ways to avoid being prey. The example they gave was the non-poisonous frogs spotting large patches of vivid colours that were meant to warn of toxicity, a warning appropriately adopted by the truly poisonous ones. If, they say, too many non-poisonous frogs take up this approach, the vivid colours that once effectively served as a visual warning to predators will over time lose its value or brand name, since more and more vividly coloured frogs would be perfectly edible and non-poisonous, rendering the method outdated. This is what I call SPOIL MARKET.

But is this evidence enough for Evolution? Adaptation yes, but evolution that can cross species? Not likely. Even so, it may be God’s plan that he allows ‘evolution’ on a micro scale for the sake of adaptation to changing environment and circumstances, but this in no way denies the fact of creation.

And God knows best.

Friday Leave well spent!

Alhamdulillah, wa syukrulillah...a friday leave well spent! Had Jumaat at An-Nur, then off to JB with Fariz and Mat Chong to have lunch at Restoran Singgahselalu, where we unexpectedly met Fattah! Good time catching up with each other...then in the evening went to celebrate Zamir's bdae hehe

4PM Debate pitting Aljunied against Raffles

I watched on tv the finals of Bahas 4PM between all-guys Aljunied and all-girls Raffles.
Ok, it’s been a while, I will put up my view on the debate in MALAY.

Mauduk bahas tersebut ialah: Warga asing harus disepadukan dengan cara hidup penduduk tempatan.

Memang tidak sukar untuk menentukan pihak mana satukah yang lebih fasih berbahasa Melayu; dengan pantun-pantunnya yang tepat dan tajam, serta gaya penyampaian yang lebih lantang.

Antara perkataan-perkataan yang telah didefinisikan oleh pencadang pertama ialah: ‘Warga asing’, ‘harus’, ‘disepadukan’ dan ‘penduduk’
Namun, saya kurang selesa dengan definasi yang diberikan oleh Aljunied bagi perkataan ‘disepadukan’.

Mereka telah mengakui bahawa Kamus Dewan Edisi keempat memberikan ‘disebati’ sebagai makna bagi disepadukan, namun begitu, pencadang telah mengambil ‘disingapurakan’ sebagai definisi, bersesuaian dengan nilai berkongsi Singapura yang lima. Pencadang juga telah memperhaluskan lagi definisi disepadukan sebagai “berintegrasi tetapi tidak berasimilasi’.

Pada perkara ini, saya lebih cenderung dengan pembangkang yang telah menegur bahawa sekiranya ‘disepadukan’ dianggap bermaksud ‘berintegrasi tetapi tidak berasimilasi’, maka mauduk kurang bermakna; kerana semua pihak bersetuju dengan ‘berinteraksi’, tetapi ada yang tidak setuju dengan ‘berasimilasi’. Kamus Dewan seolah-olah menunjukkan kepada ‘berintegrasi DAN berasimilasi’ tatkala ia memberikan ‘disebati’ sebagai makna bagi disepadukan.

Permainan dengan secara sendirinya akan lebih berpihak kepada pencadang dengan definisi ‘berintegrasi tetapi tidak berasimilasi’ bagi perkataan ‘disepadukan’

Asimilasi ada berunsur mengikut atau bersama dalam berbudaya/kehidupan seharian sedangkan berintegrasi hanya terhad kepada perpaduan, bersatu hati, berkooperasi.

Andai kata kedua pihak menerima definisi ‘berintegrasi SERTA berasimilasi’, mungkin sekali bahas ini akan bercorak lain.

Islam sendiri tidak menafikan kepelbagaian budaya, dan tidak pernah mengangkat sesuatu budaya lebih tinggi daripada budaya yang lain, melainkan jika perkara itu adalah juga antara Sunnah Baginda s.a.w. Begitu juga Islam tidak melarang seseorang individu itu untuk berbudaya apa sahaja pun, selagi tidak bercanggah dengan prinsip Islam yang pada dasarnya tidak berbudaya/berbangsa.

Pada hemat saya, Aljunied patut membawa penjelasan serta contoh bagaimana ia boleh membawa kepada bahaya ataupun perkara yang tidak diingini sekiranya warga asing tidak berasimilasi, meskipun mereka berintegrasi. Contoh yang paling panas dan sangat kontroversial, terutama sekali di masyarakat kita yang diakui pemerintah sendiri sebagai satu masyarakat yang masih konservatif; iaitu issue homoseks. ;) Secara umumnya, Aljunied patut membawa contoh-contoh budaya yang tidak boleh diterima penduduk Singapura.

Dengan definisi ‘berintegrasi SERTA berasimilasi’, pembangkan perlu menunjukkan bagaimanakah asimilasi itu buruk bagi masyarakat yang terbuka dan kosmopolitan seperti Singapura. Saya percaya bahawa contoh yang boleh diketengahkan begitu banyak sekali ;)

Tetapi syukur, Aljunied telah mara dengan keyakinannya dan semagatnya dan telah dinobatkan juara, sekaligus mengalahkan satu institusi elit di Singapura. Perbahasan yang bersifat ‘sporting’ itulah yang diharapkan, dan yang dapat membangunkan pemikiran, serta bermainan dengan gaya bahasa yang mengasyikkan. Sebaliknya, perbahasan yang disudahi dengan benci-membenci, dendam dan ego itulah yang sepatutnya dielakkan.

Akan tetapi, telinga terasa pedas tatkala pantun 4 rangkap memperemehkan pihak pembangkang diucapkan…tidak perlulah kepada soalan-soalan mahupun pantun-pantun rhetorical, kalau benar hujah itu bernas…

Aku ni dah lama tak sentuh kerja bahasa Melayu di sekolah, hanya tahu pandai-menandai sahaja…

Yang benar dari Yang Haq, salah silap dari kejahilan diriku sendiri.

This one is an eye-opener for me, I knew the result before watching the debate, and honestly, I was siding Aljunied prior to watching the debate, but I turn in favour of Raffles upon realizing how the content of the debate proceeded. Neither do I need to apologise regarding this. Sympathies aside, truth still has to be told. Nothing personal, just pure opinion, I may jolly well be wrong.

CBA of joining Tariqah

I was just itchy and wanted to see things from the pragmatic economist’s prespective, with a twist; with the main objective in mind to reach closer to God. If we don’t have this main objective, then economic gains are all technically speaking, material gains! So here goes nothing!

The COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS of joining Tariqah.

This by no means serves as an authoritative argumentation for and against Tariqah, just me simply crapping whatever is in my head into typed words, that’s all. Although I try as much as possible to jot down all the points relating to the subject matter, and all I hope is that as rational people, we make the right informed choice when we take the pledge.

Be default, everything has to begin with definition of key terms. In this case, I do not seek to define Tariqah, because I would only do injustice to it. Although it is related to a path to God while having an authorized guide, sets of prescribed litanies etc. but what is more relevant to laymen like me is that Tariqah is just one word: COMMITMENT

With commitment, you have consistency, and insyaAllah with that and sincerity, we can achieve the purpose of Tariqah. Whatever Turuq really is, if there is no commitment on our part, then it is pointless to be discussing it anyway. Just something to get us more committed to good deeds and seeking of knowledge.

In tariqah, there is a student and teacher relationship. Something like Jedi-Padawan relationship (of course loosely lah, nanti orang complain pulak maner ada guru mursyid ketot kulit hijau, pas tu berbual subjek and predikat terbalek, eg. Murid aku, engkau adalah). The murid has to maintain some form of adab with the teacher etc etc.

Before we begin, we must lay down some assumptions.

1. There is sincerity in threading this path, purely for God and becoming His better servant ie. Not for boast, show, dreaming to dah sampai etc Time for us to get over with such mundane matters. If you want to fly, get someone to sponsor you an air ticket. If you want to stay afloat, use a float! PRACTICAL PEOPLE, PEOPLE!
2. An authorized guide on a legitimate path.

DISCLAIMER: any ‘YOU’ that you find appearing below will refer to myself.

Just very briefly:

THE BENEFITS
1. Loving Him more.
2. Loving His Messenger more, because in all tariqahs, love for Nabi saw is central
3. You will probably end up doing more zikir/nawafil routinely.
4. You will make more salawat upon the Beloved.
5. Ever tried differentiating the sinner and the sin? Perhaps can learn how to love the sinner, hate the sin. No overlap! The story when the Prophet backed up a companion who drank, after he received some beating, saying that verily he loves Allah and His Messenger. At this point, who is to argue?
6. You learn to become more humble. Arrogance and ostentation will hinder you from paradise.
7. Simply out of knowing that in this world, you do not have the capacity to understand Paradise and Hell, and that your fate in either one is solely His to decide, not even your amal has any bearing on that, you will not bother about paradise or hell, just wanting to be with God.
8. You are under constant guidance, provided you keep the company of your guide.

THE COSTS

In general, the costs incurred are the same demands of sacrifice that God calls of us; such as sacrificing our time, effort striving to be better Muslims.

1. More tribulations and whispers. This is EXPECTED. We are all going to be tested. This can actually be viewed as a Benefit!
2. Less time for idle things.
3. Tendency to be guilty of ta’sub, although truthfully speaking, if Tasawwuf is properly appreciated, this should not be a problem. Ta’sub is when you listen to only your teacher and you deny and ridicule others. No one is asking you to do this. Seek knowledge from as many as thousands of teachers! Just that out of not overburdening yourself, you can only afford to follow one for a mursyid. Which vessel is commandeered by 2 captains?
4. People may view you differently, specially maybe? Just need to know that the path is not some special thing, I mean it is special, but not exclusive or an extravagant thing to be proud of. Ultimately, it is incumbent upon every individual muslim to be on a path.
5. You may be incited to feel like a mystic with whatever miracles/unveilings, but the truth is. LET’S GET REAL. Make the path solely a journey to rid the heart off any negative traits, and to love and obey Him and His Beloved s.a.w. even more! PERIOD

So yeah, what was described was in terms of qualitative description, not quantitative description. Hence no numerical value assigned to the points above. We will need to weigh the pros and cons.

Melayu oh Melayu

It is disappointing that such trivial issues like 'mak cik keropok' made it to our sunday's exclusive front page; as though there are no other real pertinent issues facing the community....THIS IS REFLECTIVE OF OUR STATE OF AFFAIRS

We don't deny the existence of the unseen or the possibility that some may use magic for selfish gains, but for such reports to take up a significant portion of the front page is absurd.

Why can't someone accidentally open the door to that makcik(assuming that she is really roaming around), in the spirit of giving the benefit of doubt, and when he or she senses something amiss, recites 'bismillahil ladzi laa yadhurru ma'asmihi, shayun fil ardh, wa laa fis samaa, wa huwas samiiul bashir'?

Super Snakes

I had the luxury of sitting and watching one of National Geographics documentary on super snakes, in particular, the Anaconda (South America) and the Python (South-East Asia).

A few interesting facts peeking into the adaptations and capabilities of these two huge serpentine carnivores are:

1. Anaconda, being the largest serpent, can weigh more than 300 pounds growing to a length of about 30 feet.
2. Both sees a thermo-infra-red scan image of the world, putting warm-blooded animals in a contrast of red against a much cooler bluish background.
3. Both stick out their forked-tongues intermittently to pick up chemical scents in the air, smelling the odour of potential prey and thereby able to track it down.
4. The long tubular body of more than 10,000 muscles allows the giant snakes to slither in deadly silence.
5. Anacondas have their pair of eyes positioned at the upper part of the head, allowing to see while being mostly submerged in the waters
6. The jaws, are truly an amazing feat! Anacondas have 4 rows of teeth on its upper jaw! Two on the outer row, like humans, with 2 more inside, like sharks! Then the 2 rows of teeth (sharp of course) can MOVE independently of each other, mostly needed for the mouth to crawl and thereby swallow the entire length of the prey, a maneuver necessary since this serpent has no limbs to push its food down its body.
7. The lower jaw consist of 2 parts, UNCONNECTED, meaning, there is no chin. These 2 lower parts can also move independently of each other, allow the lower jaw to open up to 3 times wider.
8. Anacondas have double hinged jaws that allow an opening of almost 180 degrees.
9. Its skin at the jaw area is highly flexible, able to be stretched to 3 times its length, a scary feat when u suddenly see scales very dispersed on the skin which was once covered with scales totally!
10. A record 9000 pounds of force per square inch was delivered upon constriction of prey. Not just suffocating, also forcing bones to break and the heart to just stop under the intense pressure ( like having the entire weight of a school bus on just one inch of your body). No wonder they do not need venom!

Lastly, I was watching the documentary with my nephew on my lap. I looked at him and said, “Kalaulah Anaconda telan engkau, kenyang tu Anaconda setahun!” “If ever an Anaconda were to eat you up, it will be full for a year!”

But I cannot live up to the prospect of having my nephew being eaten up like that! NO! let me be the one to hug him as my bolster at night when I sleep!

Wisdom teeth extraction, PART 1

Monday morning, 20 July 2009, I went for my Left Wisdom teeth extraction, top and bottom. The extraction was done at AH and I was given a good 6 days MC hehe.

The morning I woke up, I took my breakfast and my dad fetched me to the hospital, the morning peak hour traffic was quite bad. Anyway, I reached there and the nurses took my BP and SpO2. All was fine and she asked me several questions regarding drug allergies, medical history etc. There was no problem expect that I was a little anxious about the surgery since it is going to be done under Local anaesthesia, which means to say I will be awake hearing all the grilling and experiencing all the pulling, I tell you, it is really like wresting!

Was kind of nervous waiting for my name to be called, meanwhile I smsed Dr Ahmad about it and he told me to plug on my iPod full blast, I said ‘ But still…’. Oh well, I was in safe hands since I was operated on by Head Dept, Senior Consultant dentist.

My name was called to the surgery room, the dentist made me bite on a piece of folded gauze and she then gave me the local anaesthesia injection. Hurts a little, like having the feel of a needle piercing through your gums, but it was really bearable. Waited a little while while the nurses rinsed my mouth with chlorhexidine. They covered me entirely in blanket, exposing only the mouth area. There I was like, hey, I wanna look at how you do the drilling! But never mind, I just surrendered and remained passive throughout.

When the dentist started, I could only hear drilling, the breaking of the bottom tooth, (she didn’t break the top one maybe because it is already exposed) the intense pulling out of the teeth. But in all honesty, the anaesthesia worked so well that I did not know which side she pulled first. It is like my entire left side of the face(lips, cheeks, nose gums, jaw) couldn’t feel anything. The only working sensory perception that allowed me to experience the extraction was the louder hearing of all the procedures, in my left ear. It is like I know from hearing, that some operation is going on in my left side of the mouth. That’s all. But all these while, I was reciting the tahlil with my fingers counting under the blanket. I could feel the dentist pushing and wrestling with the lower tooth.

And after about just 15 minutes, walla! All done! And I was shown my two teeth, one intact, the other broken with a piece of my gum stuck on it. I will take a pic of it for kenangan’s sake.

The effects of the LA will go off in about 2 hours after administration, but heck, I intend to go through the pain without painkillers, just finish off the amox and metronidazole given to me.

6 days of staying at home, with the luxury of reading and watching whatever video I want, and of course spending quality time playing with and pinching my nephew’s chubby cheeks! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

the next is somewhere late September, after hari raya.

I will consume the SAF's money and MC to the max before I ORD

Da Vinci Exhibit 16 July 2009

Been quite a while eh since I last blogged…relatively busy past few days.

Well anyway, I had a good 2 days off this week! Well spent, the first saw me going for my appointment at AH and a good rest, the next day, THUR 16 July, I actually went to see the Da Vinci The Genius Exhibition at Science Centre with 3 of my already-ORDed medical centre friends.

The exhibition was very enlightening indeed, learnt several pieces of information I didn’t know about Da vinci prior to the visit. Numerous mechanical works of Da Vinci(replicas from his notebooks/codices) were on display and it just highlighted how curious Leonardo was. He managed to make full use of the gears system, ranging from lifters to lift heavy weights, to Odometres to tanks to Machine Guns.

I supposed Da Vinci played around with cadavers and being a good visual artist that he is, was able to sketch beautiful images of the human anatomy, to the most intricate details. A perfectionist and a believer in God, Da Vinci always insisted that his works must be accurately reflective of Nature, lest he would be doing Nature and thus God a great deal of injustice.

Learnt a bit or two about Mona Lisa’s history. I must admit that while I was growing up hating the visual arts subject that was compulsory from P1 all the way to Sec 2, a freaking 8 years in total, I’ve never thought of beautiful art/paintings as truly something very magnificent. Yes I do not deny that these great artists and painters have superb skills, but at the end of it, I was like always asking ‘So What?’ I grew up in a world where paint is easily accessible, all colours of them, in the form of crayons, poster colour, felted pens etc. But in the Medieval times, vastly different items were used to produce different colours. And then I remember watching the Discovery Channels documentary on the evolution of the paint industry.it explained how difficult it was in the past to obtain paint colours such as red, blue etc. and I realized I was naïve to assume that medieval artists had easily accessible factory-made poster colours in tubes of tiny glass bottles.

So their art of painting will most of the time include chemistry as well, they were using compounds of lead for colours such as white and the expensive intense blue lapis lazuli. Then comes all the varnishes and oil coatings. Painting an artwork in several layers also create a sense of depth, something truly amazing and mesmerizing about a piece of painting. In short, it truly and undeniably takes supreme mastery to produce an artwork with an indelible and everlasting influence such as the Mona Lisa.

Before the exhibit, we toured around science centre for a little while, reminiscing our primary school days as kids in white uniform running around and marveling at all the displays. The place hasn’t changed much; I could still remember most of the displays.

One thing that struck me was what imam Ghazali said about the different kinds of knowledge.
First we have the sensory knowledge, the kind of knowledge we obtain via our senses, in which the sight is the most far-reaching. Then we have rational knowledge, the use of logical and rationan thinking to come to Truth. We also have divine revealed knowledge, Wahyu.

Imam Ghazali cautioned against sensory knowledge as being used to ascertain Absolute Reality and Truth. Imam Ghazali knew about the non-absolute nature of this world. Will not go into details but the exhibits at science centre will show you just how badly your eyes can deceive you! It may be that we are sleeping in this world, and that we wake up only when we die.


And finally, of course, we had food after all of us were hungry admiring the exhibition for 4 hours. And we had a good chat session, catching up with all the updates ever since those three people ORDed. My turn is in NOV…..less than 4 months away….less than 100 working days…

Ah Chong, me and Yun Kai

me, Fariz and Yun Kai with the Tix

Which is more sane? Fries with Garlic Chilli Sauce or Fries with Vanilla Ice Cream??

ANS: ONION WITH CHOCOLATE

Haul of Shaykh Sayyid Ahmad bin Idris

We would like to inform everyone that there will be a congregational zikrullah at Haji Mohd Salleh Mosque (Palmer Road).
Everyone is invited, both men and women.It will be led by a scholar from Seremban, Malaysia, educated from al-Azhar, Shaykh Faiz bin Ahmad bin Muhammad Sa'id al-Linggi.


Date: Sunday, July 12, 2009
Time:8:30pm - 11:30pm
Location:Haji Mohd Salleh Mosque (Palmer Road)


This time round, it coincides with the Haul of Shaykh Sayyid Ahmad bin Idris, the first founder of this Tariqah.
The Event will commence after Isyak Prayers at the prayer hall, insya Allah

Unlike the regular weekly congregational zikir, the Haul zikir will be quite different, so you are encouraged to attend to find experience it 'live' and immerse yourself in zikrullah. A Hadrah is pinnacle of such majlis led by Sidi Faiz.

Insya Allah, Ustaz Mohd Hasbi Bin Hassan will also be present for the congregational zikrullah.

Al-Gharrawain

An offshoot practical problem encountered when dealing with Inheritance(Faraid).
Gharrawain literally refers to two bright stars, and in the context of this, the Father and Mother of the Deceased (the highlight of the problem).

This issue of Gharrawain is also fondly known as Al-Umarain as it was the Ijtihad of Sayyidina Umar that ingeniously solved the problem, as shall be mathematically shown later. This ijtihad of Sayyidina Umar Ibn Khattab r.a was with the consensus of other sahabas such as Zaid Ibn Thabit, Usman ibn Affan and Abdullah Ibn Mas’ud, God be pleased with them all!

The reason why I am typing this out is that I believe, typing/writing and or teaching will indelibly leave an impression in our memory, such that we are less likely to forget even after years of loss of contact with the subject matter. Sayyidina Ali karramallahu wajhah said that ‘Ilm is unlike money in that when shared, it increases. As for studying in general, I am more inclined to the appreciation with understanding approach instead of mere memorization. May God bless us all!

I also intend to make this as crystal-clear and as unequivocal as possible, for the sake of perfection of presentation.

In Faraid in general, at the outset there must be 3 conditions:

1. When a deceased has inheritance after settling all his debts and burial expenses, using the deceased’s own money.
2. There are legible Inheritors (via bloodline, or marriage, adherence to the same religion, not a murderer of the deceased, intentional or otherwise).
3. The deceased’s death is real.

Al Gharrawain only happens in two scenarios:

1. The inheritors are ONLY the Husband of the Deceased, Mother of the Deceased and Father of the Deceased, strictly no other legible inheritors. In this case, the Wife died.
2. The inheritors are ONLY the Wife of the Deceased, Mother of the Deceased and Father of the Deceased, strictly no other legible inheritors. In this case, the Husband died.

Therefore Al Gharrawain only pertains to inheritors that strictly included ONLY Spouse, Mother and Father.

We now let X be the original amount of inheritance to be inherited.
According to Default Shares explicitly mentioned in Quran, in the case of no children as inheritors, only those mentioned above strictly:

A. Husband gets ½ of Original Amount to be Inherited = ½X = 6/12X
A. Wife gets ¼ of Original Amount to be Inherited = ¼X = 3/12X
B. Mother gets 1/3 of Original Amount to be Inherited = 1/3 X = 4/12X
C. Father gets 1/6 of Original Amount to be Inherited = 1/6 X = 2/12X

There are two points labeled A because either A is for the respective two scenarios in Gharrawain.
I’ve made the denominators to be 12 because 12 is a common multiple of 2,3,4 and 6.

Whichever the case, either husband died or wife died, the Father will get only half as much as the Mother, since 1/6 is half of 1/3, or 2/12 is half of 4/12.

This is not in agreement with the general commandment in the Quran regarding inheritance in that males ought to get twice as much as females, and not the other way round.

Sayyidina Umar made two proposals in his Ijtihad:

Proposal 1:
So the ingenious Ijtihad of Sayyidina Umar was to propose that the 1/3 share of the Mother be applied to the BALANCE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SPOUSE HAS TAKEN HIS OR HERS. So the order of who takes the inheritance first is important in this Gharrawain case. IT IS STRICTLY SPOUSE FIRST, THEN MOTHER, THEN FATHER.

Proposal 2:
Sayyidina Umar also proposed that the Father takes his default 1/6 share of the Original amount of Inheritance, and in addition to that, ASABAH as well. Asabah is whatever remains of the Original after all inheritors have taken their respective proportioned shares. This can happen as you can see that the fractions mentioned in the Quran do not always add up to 1 whole.

By default, whatever fraction of inheritance mentioned is the Quran is of the Original amount of Inheritance. Umar’s Ijtihad is that in the case of the Mother, the fraction 1/3 or 4/12 remains, just that it is now applied to the BALANCE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SPOUSE HAS TAKEN HIS OR HER SHARE. This is emphasized in Ust Firdaus Yahya’s Faraid book as Baki Pertama on page 39-39.

So essentially, there are only two Summaraised-Template scenario:

THE FIRST CASE OF: WIFE IS THE DECEASED
Inheritors: Husband, Mother and Father ONLY

Step 1: Husband takes ½ of Original = ½X = 6/12X

Step 2: Mother now takes 1/3 of REMAINING/BALANCE AFTER HUSBAND:
= 1/3 of (1-1/2) = 1/3 * ½ = 1/6 of ORIGINAL = 2/12X

Step 3: Father takes 1/6 of Original = 1/6X = 2/12X AND (according to Sayyidina Umar’s Proposal 2) ASABAH


So Father takes 2/12X + ASABAH.

Let us calculate ASABAH to see it as a fraction in terms of the Original.

12/12 – 6/12(Husband’s Share) – 2/12(Mother’s Share) – 2/12(Father’s Default Share) = 2/12

ASABAH in the FIRST CASE of WIFE IS THE DECEASED is FIXED AT,UPON CALCULATION AND SIMPLIFICATION, 2/12 of ORIGNINAL = 2/12X

So Father takes 2/12X + ASABAH = 2/12X + 2/12X = 4/12X
THEREFORE Father takes in total; 4/12X

To Summarise the First Case:
Husband takes 6/12X
Mother takes 2/12X (from 1/3 of Remaining after Husband took his share)
Father takes 4/12X (from 1/6 of Original PLUS ASABAH)

Father’s share is now twice as Mother’s.
It is fair enough that Husband takes more than the Father since Husband has more rights to the Wife than a Father has to his Daughter, where the Wife is also the Daughter.

Settled!

THE SECOND CASE OF: HUSBAND IS THE DECEASED
Inheritors: Wife, Mother and Father ONLY

Step 1: Wife takes 1/4 of Original = 1/4X = 3/12X

Step 2: Mother now takes 1/3 of REMAINING/BALANCE AFTER WIFE:
= 1/3 of (1-1/4) = 1/3 * 3/4 = 1/4 of ORIGINAL = 3/12X

Step 3: Father takes 1/6 of Original = 1/6X = 2/12X AND (according to Sayyidina Umar’s Proposal 2) ASABAH


So Father takes 2/12X + ASABAH.

Let us calculate ASABAH to see it as a fraction in terms of the Original.

12/12 – 3/12(Wife’s Share) – 3/12(Mother’s Share) – 2/12(Father’s Default Share) = 4/12

ASABAH in the SECOND CASE of HUSBAND IS THE DECEASED is FIXED AT,UPON CALCULATION AND SIMPLIFICATION, 4/12 of ORIGNINAL = 4/12X

So Father takes 2/12X + ASABAH = 2/12X + 4/12X = 6/12X
THEREFORE Father takes in total; 6/12X

To Summarise the Second Case:
Wife takes 3/12X
Mother takes 3/12X (from 1/3 of Remaining after Wife took her share)
Father takes 6/12X (from 1/6 of Original PLUS ASABAH)

Father’s share is now twice as Mother’s. It is fair enough that Wife takes the same amount of inheritance as the Mother as both are Females.

Settled!

I marvel at how Ingenious Umar was to propose just 2 simply solutions to solve an entire problem perfectly! Subhanallah!

Heal the World, Make it a Better Place, For You and For Me and the Entire Human Race...

updated!

Insyallah , Sunday, 12 July 2009, after Isyak at Masjid Mohd Salleh Mqm Habib Nuh, Sidi Faiz will be leading a majlis zikir.

The ideas mentioned by Shaykhul Akbar are not simple ideas. Learning him must be under the guidance of someone qualified; lest we thread on deep sea water perilously.

Again, knowing and experiencing is not the same:

It is said Die before you die.
It is said You are part of Divinity
It is said all actions are His

How to approach and appreciate these?
Alhamdullilah, the material sciences have progressed to the extent that we are more receptive to Ibn Arabi’s ideas.

I could think of several possible ways of how to appreciate that all actions are His.
1. the fact that whatever actions we experience are mere perceptions, and that God gave us these perceptions, sight and hearing etc. a classic example would be that only God dictates why humans see 570nm wavelength of light as green and not red etc. Similarly, our perceptions of us throwing a stone is because God allowed us to perceive as such. Although this by no way means that God is accountable for our actions as His Being Supreme and Having Control over All Things holds no bearings whatsoever that is affecting our freedom/will to choose. We are judged ultimately based on what we chose to do, and God does not coerce us into doing.
2. through cause and effect. Eg. when i type, i can do so becaue i have energy, i have energy because i ate, i ate because there was food, there was food because there was photosynthesis, and on and on until God is the First Cause. Allah as Al-Musabbibal Asbab.
3. Just plainly, GOd is the Doer of All Things. we listen and we Obey.
4. Or is it through unveiling of the veil? kashful hijab? Ladunni? About which this is totally up to the discretion of God, His Grace and Mercy.
5. Qada and Qadar?

6. Simply because there is no might other than His? Hauqalah?

or a combination of all these and more?

I really don’t know.
But this question always lingers on:
If Ibn Arabi’s ideas can be understood scientifically, then where is its spiritual value?

So verly likely, if you found his ideas easy to comprehend, then in all likelihood that is just some superficial material way of understanding. (not what was originally intended)

May Allah guide us all,
Let us only study Ibn Arabi when there is a guide.

Seek Knowledge and Humility. I have neither

Alas, I had a meaningful conversation with one of my friends in camp; we mostly dwelled into the topic about elitism in some schools. This friend of mine is a Chi-Mat, a codename for something that I am not going to disclose. He is from a very respectable family of all doctors, and was brought up in probably the best school here.

Despite all the preconceptions that many people may have about that school, this friend of mine, you might say, is quite different in the sense that he does not have that elitist touch so commonly associated with people from the school up there.

Now, as muslims, we all understand that to generalize is not correct. Of course this is not what I intend to do here, I just want to highlight a prominent perhaps significant attitude that can be seen in many from that background, and my purpose of doing so is not to condemn or criticize; just for us to contemplate and emulate the right actions and behavior. After all, it is difficult and rare to find an apple that is entirely rotten.

It can all be traced back to the post O levels period, when students begin to apply to their junior college and/or polytechnic of choice. I was under pressure from everywhere, including people who barely know me and those who normally wouldn’t care what I do. Somehow, my choice was virtually restricted to just 2 schools. I chose to reject one, without even hesitating, because I have heard a lot about the sort of elitism that is very prominent there. At this stage, everyone may ask, how is it that I make my decision based on matters intangible such as people’s perception on something? I thought so too. But then again, of course I wouldn’t have first hand experience to be saying such things in the first place, since I’ve never been to that school.

That was it, the few days back when I was talking to this friend, that I got insights into the culture and environment in that school. Again, we must not generalize; wherever you go, there’s bound to have nice people around.

What he described was more vivid than whatever ideas I may have had about the school prior to speaking with him.

Remember about environment and nurture in upbringing; That the Prophet s.a.w. said that environment will influence and shape you.

To begin, I am a Muslim who is a Malay. This alone may raise several issues on its own, like how my friend commented about the reaction of his peers, even teachers, to this fact.

Not that I care much about races, but probably I would feel uneasy being the extreme minority in an elitist environment. Even the Malays there, my friend had asked, said that they were not proud to be Malay.

His mother also said the the Malays up there will ‘kill’ the Malays below.



I am not saying anyone needs to be proud to be Malay. This whole thing about race is not our decree, it is God’s decree. Our Beloved Prophet s.a.w emphasized this message in his moving Final Sermon: That no Arab is superior to a non-Arab and no Non-Arab is superior to an Arab, except by Taqwa. It is always the choices that we make and what we do that is accountable in the Presence of God.

That aside, the politics amongst students there can be quite a shock. And this problem primarily stem from what I would say an unhealthy competition towards achieving greatness in academia. Everyone desires to be the top, the best, the smartest, the most elite. While that in itself is good, because seeking knowledge is commendable in Islam, but when the competition involves the selfish ego, everything becomes appalling. This is perhaps where we as Muslims should take heed. Even as we compete with one another in goodness and in seeking knowledge, I can only guess that it is to be done without negative influences from the ego; lest the very object that we seek would lose all meaning. Easier said than done, I know. Congratulations to me who has defined myself the hypocrite.

At least in our minds, in our heads, in our rational thinking, even if it is not in our hearts yet, we know that such competitions are not good.

Examples of this that he brought up include lying to friends out of not wanting to share insights on future papers etc. Constantly denying studying, in the hopes that others do not study as well, whereas he/she mugs at home in order to ace papers. And many more. Of course such things happen everywhere. Again, let me remind myself, this is an exposure of what is not right, period. Nothing personal whatsoever.

That aside, the kind of school life they lead can be very shocking. Studying more than 14 hours out of 24 in a day?! I don’t think I ever have the stamina to do that. At this juncture, we must note that our scholars of old such as Imam Nawawi invested a lot of time into studying, seeking knowledge. They probably study even longer hours! But the one prominent difference between scholars like Imam Nawawi and those students who study like no tomorrow is that Imam Nawawi is sincere in his seeking of knowledge, for the sake of God, whereas from what that is external, those students study like crazy because of grades, prestige, wanting to be greater than the rest etc, wanting social standing etc. Again, let me remind myself, this is an exposure of what is not right, period. We should all strive to achieve what the purification of hearts would require us to do. Easier said than done, I know. Congratulations to me who has defined myself the hypocrite.

I am trying my best to be as objective as possible; know what is right, know what is wrong, do what is right, avoid what is wrong.

I can only ask, where then would one put the seeking of religious knowledge, if already more than 14 hours is spent per day preparing for a paper exam? I wouldn’t like such a lifestyle, for one it is very taxing, the other is that it is imbalanced.

I have always had this idea that part and parcel of you declaring yourself a Muslim in today’s age means that you are obliged to know knowledge of both worlds, the secular and the religious. In fact, in Islam there isn’t such a separation; if a particular piece of knowledge is the truth, then it is the truth and all truth comes from God and leads to God. Absolutist it may sound, but isn’t it true? The Truth?

And then life in army. It only firms my suspicion that many of those who are elitists will go all out in ns just to again, be the elite. I don’t see how they can have that ‘die-die must commission’ idea. Perhaps my heart is sick and that I am a sore-loser. But thank God I’ve never placed much importance in this. How could you not feel something amiss when the selection opens up more space to accommodate more of the similar minded people to the extent that you are going to have a platoon-cum-class-cum-school photoshoot? My friend also felt left out and secluded when they just bonded with their own cliques.
What I have said, I do not in anyway mean to offend anybody who may have gone through the same environment. I just want to learn how to experience people and what to emulate and what to eliminate.

Always be humble. For the one who has a grain’s weight of arrogance in his heart will not enter paradise.

Last Monday Hadith Lesson by Ust Hasbi:
The Prophet s.a.w. walked pass a group of Companions who were repairing houses. There upon he s.a.w. asked “what is this (repairing)? It may be that death will come to you first even before you finish repairing this house.”

Of course this by no means serves as a discouragement to achieve goodness in this world.

Something for us to ponder upon. I was told that the course I am going to take will have many people from up there. God guide us and help us always! Amin!

i am hesitant about posting this, but i've typed.

No more does this come in useful in any post of mine other than this post;
Whatever that is good comes from God; Falsehood and inequities from my own weaknesses and shortcomings.

i seek all your pardon.
Astaghfirullah, innallaha kaana tawwabaa

Lecture by MSH June 2009

Allah…

Shaykh Hisham Kabbani made an eye opener sppech on Sufism, Tasawwuf at the expo last Tuesday; that was what my friend told me, and I readily second that. His booklet on SUFISM also suffices as an excellent introduction to what Sufism is all about, its roots in the Traditions, despite not having the particular term Tasawwuf being used, how it was developed over the years and what it entails.

I attended the lecture with my brother and two of my friends, Alhamdulillah, God works in ways very subtle.

I shall not do injustice to Shaykh Hisham’s speech by attempting to summarise; he spoke from the heart, not any prepared material. Themes touched included how Loving the Prophet s.a.w. is an integral part of spirituality in Islam, in order to get to Allah, we need to Love the Prophet s.a.w.

Shaykh Hisham mentioned a very interesting topic towards the end of his lecture; about Mawlana Jalaludin Rumi’s Whirling. Today, not much about the whirling is studied systematically, Westerners and Orientalists marvel at it as a form of graceful art, whereas muslims in parts of the world other than Turkey perhaps make no mention about it at all.

Yet, and yet a big YET, the understanding and appreciation of the Whirling goes very deep. To begin, it is almost as if God has made it a Divine decree that to circumambulate is one of the main ways of worship. We see this in the constellations; where planets circle the sun, in the atomic world, where electrons circle the nucleus, the syariah where pilgrims do the tawaf, the angels who circumambulate the Kaabah etc.

Movement, or harakah, as Shaykh Hisyam explained, is a manifestation of worship; everything worships God in more ways than we can imagine.

And that everything really encompasses everything:

I quote the THIRD LAW of THERMODYNAMICS:

Third law of thermodynamics, about the absolute zero of temperature:
As a system asymptotically approaches absolute zero of temperature all processes virtually cease and the entropy of the system asymptotically approaches a minimum value; also stated as: "the entropy of all systems and of all states of a system is zero at absolute zero" or equivalently "it is impossible to reach the absolute zero of temperature by any finite number of processes".

The closest scientists got to Absolute Zero (-273.15 deg cel) was -270 deg cel, using liquid helium if I’m not mistaken.

That means, no matter how cold we force the temperature to be, particles will still vibrate and move. Perhaps this is divine decree.

And, we shouldn’t be surprised. Because the Quran says hearts tremble upon the mention of Allah and also, hearts find peace in the remembrance of Allah. This so-called mix of opposite reactions is what gets people to experience jazbah or zouk while in Zikr under the lead of a mursyid. Sidi Abdul Rasyid, some of the old-timers told me, used to use his rosary to tap on those who are, *you know, while in zikir. You tend to see this a lot in TAI, because our way is Loud, Expressive Zikir (Jahr). Sidi does not like it when in zikir, dia sorang yang bace ;p

Zikir is like divine light/energy, the more of it we have, the more energetic we become, and may even lead to being more ‘unstable’, as the culmination in the story of Moses demonstrates;

‘O My Lord allow me to see You’, implored Moses to his Lord Most High.
Thereupon God told Moses, “You will not be able to see Me”

‘Look at the mountain as I shine My Light on it’
Guess what? Moses FAINTED.

This is so in line with the concept of Entropy, the positive measure of disorderliness in a system.

Having more energy only makes a system more unstable. Which is why, when bonds are formed in chemistry, producing more stable compounds, energy is given out. At least the same amount of energy is needed to break the bonds in the stable compounds.

E = mc^2 is dealing with vast amounts of energy, thanks to c^2, by its SI unit, carrying a huge value of 3x10^8 squared. That figure, even in joules is very huge. Which is why when even a small mass is lost in nuclear reactions, the energy given out is huge, making the product very stable as an equivalent amount of energy is needed to reverse the reaction. Light Upon Light….

Gibbs free energy; a reaction is only feasible when G = H – TS is negative; unless conditions are altered.
S is the positive measure of entropy, disorderliness. The tendency is such that reactions leading to more disorder tends to happen more than those leading to more orderliness. Is this the reality of Qiamat? Heat Death? Perhaps.

Diamond and graphite have a peculiar relationship in enthalpy; graphite is more stable than diamond; despite the uber strong covalent bonds in diamond that give rise to its famous hardness quality; that being the greatest of any known material.

So yeah, lesson to take home, do not criticize those who have harakah in zikr. Sometimes, it is not done for show-offs.


*words cannot describe the state they are in ;P