STUPIDITY TRAVELING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT... and the few not joining the race.

You Are Never Alone

If you feel disconnected,

Underwhelmed by

The Consumer Society,

Don't worry,

For you are not alone...

If you feel sidelined,

For nobody's side

Appears appealing,

Don't fret about it,

For you are not alone...

If you ask yourself,

Why do I bother

To read the news

Or the walls on Facebook,

Don't be anxious

For you are not alone...

If you are in a group,

And all the chats revolve

Around insignificant things,

It is no course for concern,

For you are not alone...

You are never alone.

We are here with you.

................

Why am I here? I wonder sometimes. Why do I bother opening the newspaper in the morning. Why do I bother to read tweets and postings on Facebook walls. The amount of vitriol, sarcasm, cynicism, hubris, hate, envy, depression, misinformation, propaganda, under-researched conclusions, racism and bigotry, and just plain old simple imbecility is breath-taking.

Not all sharing is good. It is not that I think this generation is particularly more bad than the previous ones. But the instantaneous sharing (or crowing, is another word) of things online is just too easy. Here we are, sitting with our laptop or smartphones, and throwing our thoughts into the cyber world as if there is no one out there to judge what we write. But you are judged by your peers. All the time, 24/7. 

Online crows real life turtle doves. The funny thing is that when you personally meet some of these online crows, they turn out to be so much more nicer and sensible birds of an altogether different plumage. What is it about writing and sharing online which appears to bring out the bad in people?

Stupidity traveling at the speed of light. You know, there is no harm keeping some bad thoughts in us. For we are all generally normal human beings with normal bias and social conditioning which has made us less than perfect. Often, with the grace of God Almighty, we never actually get around to act out the bad deeds. And in the old days, where you would have to write a letter and post it to a newspaper or magazine and hope that the editor might choose your letter or opinion to publish, the chances of you actually permanently sharing your opinions are actually very, very small. Now though, every envy, every malice, every misinformation, every hubris and idiotic observations will have potentially millions of audience at the press of the button. The Disinformation and Corruption Superhighway we can call it. Hate and Stupidity racing across the globe at the speed of light.

Oh boy.

Doing good. But I am kept on the net because of a few. And these few shine like bright stars in an otherwise ocean of malice, hubris and foolishness. So thank you, sunshine... for without you, what little faith I have in humanity would long have ebbed with the rising tide of violence, corruption and exploitation that appears to be part and parcel of our daily life nowadays. 

They are not all Muslims, these few. But they are living their lives in worshipful praise of God with no agenda, no objectives and no particular aim save one... To do good. 

And to the good is to do God's work.

Don't you agree, sunshine? Auw... bless your heart.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

- Notrumi Embun, 17th August 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

HOW CAN A THOUGHT OWN THE THINKER? ... the Furious Question and the Furious Answer!

The Furious Question

How can the thought own the Thinker?

How can the prose own the Poet?

How can the painting own the Painter?

How can the created own the Creator?

How can the sunlight own the Sun?

How can the many own the One?

...............

People never say they own God. It is after all, heretical and (even worse), ill-mannered. But by their words and actions, and all those unnecessary comments and postings in the social media, they appear to have made up their mind that God is theirs alone, and those who think and abide to a religious code that is the same with theirs. Our hypocrisy is breath-taking.

But a thought can possess a thinker, actually - this occurs when you forget that you are owned by God, and not the other way around. Then easily, your thoughts of religious piety, spiritual authority and divine knowledge POSSESSES you, turning love into pretensions, turning faith into a dress that you can put on and take off according to your whim. And of course, it turns your knowledge into blind hubris. This is worse than any demonic possession. Because this 'evil' is subtle and cunning, hiding behind your best and noble intentions... Seek help, o' saints and sinners! Seek shelter in God Almighty o' mankind, whether you are clothed as a Jew, a Christian, a Buddhist, a Muslim, an Agnostic, a Trekkie, an Atheist or just another poor dumb schmuck like me!

But dumb or not, I was given the answer to The Furious Question...

The Furious Answer

I am a passing thought in the mind of the Thinker,

I am a prose written by the Poet,

I am the painting painted by the Painter,

I am created by the Creator,

I am a light from the Sun,

One of many, from the Only Real One!

I am the question asked by the Questioner,

Thus, I am the answer given by the Answerer!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

- Notrumi Embun, 18th June 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

SCOUT JAMBOREE LITE - fathers and mothers, sons and daughters...

Mikhail and his tent mates...

Jamboree Lite. Last weekend Mikhail went on what I might define as a scout jamboree 'lite'. From what I could reckon, there was no hikes, no campfires or anything too arduous for these primary school kids. I am not complaining, as like Mika, many of the children were just 10 years old, and possibly their first night ever under a tent. A tent, in a school field in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, a prosperous suburban neighbourhood not far from my own neighbourhood. In fact, the school field is just across the road from a restaurant that I often go for dinner. So I wasn't too worried. He he he.

Mikhail and his huge orange suitcase. Just what you need for a camping adventure.
I can assure you that Mika's luggage was the biggest at the jamboree.
I saw some other scouts arriving carrying only their every day school bag and a humble plastic bag. 

Delinquent Parents. In the three days and two nights the scouts were at the "camping site", hilarious and almost unbelievable stories started to turn up on the school moms Whatsapp group. There were some parents who continued hanging around in the school compound way after the scout program officially started. Other parents trotted off to the (conveniently nearby) shops to buy additional food and drinks for their kids, whom they fear would possibly starve or become severely malnourished during the weekend. But perhaps, the most amazing story involved a parent who was seen to actually helping his/her son to shower and change. I put the words 'his/her' to be polite, but I bet it was the mum. He he he.

Finally, unable to stand the interfering parents any longer, the scouts' working committee from Mikhail's school issued a warning to all parents to stay away from the school and camping ground until they are suppose to pick their kids up on Sunday afternoon. If any parent is spotted in the school compound, the committee warned, their child will be asked to immediately leave the program.

I don't blame the committee, because, after all, Mika's school is only one of 5 (I think) schools that sent their scouts for the weekend camping program. I think most of the delinquent parents were from Mika's school. Oh the shame of it all... 

He he he.  

Exhausted but exhilarated. I can still recall such childhood feelings.

But most importantly, despite the attempts by mum and/or dad to totally sabotage the scout camping weekend, I think it went well. When I picked up Mikhail, he was tired and hungry, yet I could see he was also exhilarated by the experience. "I really enjoyed sleeping in a tent, Papa.", he said. "We slept at one in the morning and got up at five!", he added. "I liked the chicken rendang (a very rich coconut based chicken dish... so much for the threat of starvation) that we ate!" And happily, Mika is keen to go for more camping, perhaps next time, at a proper camp site somewhere in the forest. And I bet for that one, the parents won't be furtively keeping watch in the bushes nearby. 

But then again... you never know what mums can get up to when they think their offspring are at risk! 

God bless the patient teachers and scout masters, and God bless all crazy parents.

..................................

MH370, a Postscript -We all know the news surrounding the tragic event of Flight MH370. May all friends and kin of the missing passengers and crew of that plane, find the courage to persevere with hope and faith as they pick up the shattered pieces of their lives. And for the rest of us, we who mourn with them in this difficult times, we can only pray to understand the lessons from this incident, that it may make us a better human being, and a better Christian, Buddhist, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Atheists or Agnostics. 

Because, after all... whatever the nature of your belief or disbelief, we are all still part of one humanity.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way 

THE WORLD OF LOVE - He is everywhere...

Love Found Me...

Love found me at the footsteps of the temple,

Love found me alone and lost,

Love found me asleep in my bed,

Love found me when I only knew hate.

Love found me, broken and discarded,

Love found me, unloved and unwanted,

Love found me like a letter in the mail,

Love found me every time I have failed,

Love found me, a beggar at His door,

Love found me, a believer on the prayer mat,

Love found me when I am wise and when I am foolish,

Love found me when I am polite and when I am boorish,

Love found me between the sigh of two lovers,

Love found me afraid and hiding under the covers,

Love found me when I am true and untrue,

How did Love find you?

.....................

Good day to you. Good day to me. Welcome to you! Welcome to me!

Do you know that the English word 'goodbye' is derived from the original Old English phrase meaning "God be with ye"? I think I learned that from one of Bill Bryson's book.

The World of Love. I reckon that much like me, Love have found you in the most unlikely of places. Not necessarily kneeling in the pew of a church, not while you are prostrating before God in a mosque, nor chanting prayers in a temple. For the world of Love is bigger than the man-made structures in which we seek to honour our God. The World of Love is chanting His Names constantly and clearly, each rock and river, every sea and tree, in the mountains, deserts and valleys, every living being, every thing created whether sentient or not... they all speak of God and His names in wonderous astonishment and awe...

There is no place on this Earth, on this dimension, there is no corner of any physical or spiritual plane, that Love does not exist. Wherever you may be, however sad you may be, Love will find you.

You cannot hide.

Believe me, sunshine.

God-be-with-ye...

 wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE ONE AND ONLY ONION - for all believers, all unbelievers... for all of humanity

I like onions. They are a delicious part to any dish, when brown and caramelized, they add a distinct taste to any food you may like to cook. Apart from that, onions when raw are also excellent for detox. I have even read of sick people leaving a peeled onion next to their bed to detox the air in the room. Which is why I am told that you should not eat peeled onions left uncooked too long. They help to purify the air in the room, pantry or even the fridge, so you don't want to go eating the impurities absorbed in that onion.

Infinite Layers. Apart from eating them, I also like to use the onion as a metaphor. For I find that in this journey we call life, as we muddle and blunder our way through the many, many levels of understanding... it brings tears to our eyes sometimes. Just like when we peel the onion. But when we realise that everything we experience in life is entirely connected to the journey to an understanding of ourselves and of God, why... we find that there are infinite layers to this special onion.

Only One. So if you find yourself at one layer of understanding, which may not gel with another person's, so what? If you are both honest and sincere, what matters our differing views? The crucial thing is that we must always remember that this onion we are individually peeling and exploring... it is only one onion. One onion for all believers, for all unbelievers, for all of humanity.

Have a lovely day, sunshine. Enjoy that onion...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE TYRANNY OF DISTANCE - the mercy in coming closer to one another...

What Have I Done?

The minister sitting behind his minimalist desk,

The drone-pilot fingering the fire button,

The fat cats purring in their towers of usury,  

The directors spilling ink across a deep clean sea,

The scientists tinkering far from the mushroom cloud...

The more distant you are from something or someone,

The more callous you may become,

So we wonder, if ever such people were troubled by doubt...

What have I done?

What have I done?

What have I done?

....................

Ordinary people doing wrong. Save for the barely human psychopaths that paper the walls of salacious tv docos and websites that records (and lets face it, glorifies) violent crimes, evil, that is taking the right of someone (or something) without just cause often occurs in the most mundane of circumstances, and by people of unlikely malice. Many are married. Have good paying jobs, a nice house, children that they love and probably a pet dog or cat. They don't consider themselves bad people, much less evil. After all, evil is an epithet for the truly malignant, the infamous figures like Jack the Ripper, Hitler, Jeffry Dalhmer, Pol Pot, Attila the Hun etc. The pages of human history are red by the blood of their victims.

The distance. It is of course the distance that is the problem. Sometimes the distance between the action and the consequence is physical, like the drone-operator somewhere in the US raining hell with a drone in a remote backwater in Pakistan or Yemen. At other times the distance is wealth. After all, how become it possible for Wall Street CEOs to escape imprisonment for bringing devastating economic crisis in 2008? And no BP directors were jailed when they inadvertently leaked oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Yet in some ways, the tragedy that they have inflicted on mankind, and on planet Earth is terrible. It is of course quite simple, wealth can buy you a lot of smart lawyers and corrupt politicians.

The distant gods. God has no problem of distance. Many people looked up to the sky, wondering where He is and what He is doing. Others looked even further, and through their looking glass into the night sky, they try to interpret God's plan for Man's destiny in the movement of the celestial lanterns. They sought God through some strange Morse code that only they can understand. 

God Most Near. It is therefore an enlightenment of no small measure when the Prophet from Mecca, Muhammad (saws) brought the faith of a very near God. For this completion of knowledge in God that was championed by the previous prophets from Adam (as) to Jesus (as) is in direct contrast to the widespread perception held by Man that God is arrogant, prideful, wayward and can often be callous and indifferent to the pain of humanity... the gods of Mount Olympus or Asgard, or some further place, utterly remote from humanity. But God Almighty has revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (saws) that... 

We verily created man and We know what his soul whispereth to him, 

and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein. (Quran 50:16, Marmaduke Pickthall)

God is no oppressor. And for those thinking themselves safe and contented in their ivory towers who have oppressed thousands to millions of people blanketed in the anonymity of distance? They are committing a terrible wrong. In one of the blessed hadith (oral traditions) of the Prophet Muhammad (saws), God spoke clearly...   

"O My servants ! I have forbidden oppression for Myself, and I have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. 

The Future. Bringing this chit chat down to our daily life, I guess the lesson here is for us to be near to whomever we are considering to oppress. Reflect upon that man or woman's life. Consider their antecedents and history. Walk at least on day in their shoes, these poor, disenfranchised and forgotten people. If, as a banker, a politician, a king or a preacher we still oppress such people, well... maybe we do deserve the world that we have created. But what of our children's future and the world that they will inherit? We can fool ourselves that the 'little' evil we do is for their welfare.

Such is the blindness, self-deception and madness of Man. 

We are asking Allah (swt) and His Prophet (saws) to bless us and keep us safe always, despite our sins and forgetfulness. May we always draw closer together, regardless of our creed, colour or nationality. Perhaps then, we will not oppress one another.

Don't you agree, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way    

GOD HIDES. YOU HIDE. WE ALL HIDE. - mortal faith, love and hope in the promises of an unseen God.

Hiding

Lovers embracing, hiding in an old chestnut tree,

Children playing, hiding under stairs and in broom closets,

Thunder rumbling, hiding in an overcast sky,

My soul is praying, hiding in unspoken gestures,

My spirit is with my Lord, hiding far from you and I,

......................

Hiding Humans. We all hide. Such is the nature of things. We hide in our clothes, in our makeup. We hide in our wallets, we hide in our credit card accounts. We hide behind our beard and our veils. We hide behind our academic qualifications and in our office title. We hide behind our smiles and charity. Sometimes the form betrays the true reality of our inner selves. But often they are disguises. I am not saying hiding is necessarily a bad thing. It is just how we are wired.

God Hides Too. Indeed, He is the best player in hide and seek. He is perhaps comparable to Time and Sound. For both natural events, like God, cannot be seen, but can be indirectly observed through the movement of the hand on a clock, and experienced by our sense of hearing. And God? Well it is that good feeling you have when you find your lost wallet. The descending calmness of acceptance in the demise of a brother. The smile from a stranger. The encouraging word from a colleague at work. So God is hidden, but He is also felt in our heart. For what other reason would He have made Man with a heart? 

Revelation is a created thing too, an expression of the Divine Will. God is hidden in this world and also in the hereafter. It is only by His choosing that He elects to reveal Himself. But what is true revelation when He is the Creator of revelations and the divine presence? Can the Uncreated One manifest His desire and will in a created thing? A created event? He can of course. It is up to Him. He sets the rules of Creation, He sets the script and the music. He can unbend anything and unmake anything. So in such circumstances are we constantly made aware of His presence and His Goodness. But what direct evidence do we have of His existence? 

Only in our hope upon His assurances... that He is Most Loving, Most Powerful, Most Compassionate and Merciful to us. The All-Knowing, All-Seeing and All-Hearing One. Such is the form He deigns to wear for our sake. What is the Essence of the form? It is beyond our conjecture, for such question is an existential rabbit hole that will break our mind and may possibly drive us blinking mad. I am not going speculating in that direction, for I see only emptiness and madness.

So all we have is in truth, Hope in His Promises. And I guess this is what is called faith (iman) that dwells in the heart of a believer. No one will understand this logic if he or she is not A Student of Love.

Thank God we all are!

Have a beautiful evening, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

DRUMS BEATING IN THE NIGHT, SUFIS WHIRLING IN DELIGHT

A Journey in the Meaning of Sound

Life begins as a journey in the meaning of sound,

As you cry out for your mother's milk,

Then, as you grow and learn to discern reality,

Stringing sentences to encapsulate your understanding,

Life becomes a journey in words and their ever-changing meaning,

But for the music writer, 

The composer in all of us,
Listening to nature,

Life still remains  a thing

To be understood in the ebb and tide,

And the tone and tempo of raw sound,

The oboe, the cello, the guitar and the flute,

The piano, the synth, the stirring cup of music,
The songs of the nightingale,
The watery speech of the sperm whale,

Drums beating in the night,

Sufis whirling in delight.

Like the child we once were... 
Crying for our mother's milk,

They raise their voice

In words formed yet formless,

Praising a God felt yet unseen,

..................

Why is a sound pleasant to us? Why is Mozart's music often uplifting, Bach's symphonies thought provoking? What is in the nature of a particular melody or chord that strikes us with sadness, joy and melancholy? Even without words, instrumental music has been instrumental (forgive the pun) in shaping our thoughts and our feelings.

The appreciation of music has been wired into the human soul. It is one of the most visceral form of communications we have been granted by God, the Most Musical and Melodious One. To appreciate God and His Attributes through song and music is a gift beyond measure.

If you are musical, do not fret, for you are in good company. As I recorded with a merry nonchalance many, many years ago...

2. Music, Truth and Mercy

Music is prohibited for some,

Not advisable for a few,

Optional for others,

Highly recommended for the rest,

And mandatory for a number.

Truth is for all.

And Mercy is for the asking.

Heh! 

....................

So let the music play, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE KALIMAH ALLAH - The Peace of the Day

Belonging

I want to belong,

But if it means rejecting goodness and manners,

Then I am perfectly happy

With my conscience and

The Lord of my Conscience

for company.

For I already belong...

To Him.

Though He does not belong...

To me.

And that is fine,

I want goodness and manners above all things,

Unlike the devil, I want to toe the line, you see...

I want my Lord to be happy...

With me.

And He is happy when He sees

Me treating my brothers 

And sisters fairly,

In whatever dress that 

They wear their

Piety.

........................................ 

The peace and contentment in Malaysia, or in particular, West Malaysia is presently being disturbed by a court case. The case involves a Christian group desiring to use the word Allah in its internal magazine, which is being prohibited by the Government for a lot of interesting reasons. None of which I agree with.  Truth be told, I have written a rather long post about the Allah controversy but I think nobody wants to read a lengthy discussion on the matter. Instead I recall a simple prose recorded in 2010 reflecting on this debate, and you may read by clicking here 'What is in a Name? The Meaning...' (So after 3 years, this controversy is back to haunt our headlines... *sigh*)

To be honest with you I am viscerally appalled by the attempt of any group to ban the use of a word by any other group. Some Muslims say that we need to do this to protect the sanctity of God's name and to avoid Christians spreading confusion among the Muslim population (read that to mean convert the Muslims).

For myself, and though a mere sinner, I am afraid that many Muslims are already confused, and in their attempt to defend the faith, they are doing great injustices to the Muslims themselves. But that is only my opinion...

Hmm. Perhaps I will post the discussion, one day. But not today. For the morning greeted me with Salam and I do not plan to spoil the peace of the day.

May Allah (s.w.t.) bless yours and your beloved.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

ATHEISTS, THE LAST ROMANTICS - of science, knowledge, mathematics, probabilities, nothingness, atheism and all creation of God Almighty

"Yes... you have a question to ask me?" inquired the World.

11. It is sometimes

The world is ready with all the answers

To your most intimate query.

And the world itself is also an answer.

Only you must know the right questions to ask.

...................................

 A friend tells me that (one of) the key of happiness is finding the right answers. But before we begin that quest, we must first learn the right questions to ask. And often enough, the questions are the basic and common inquiry of the human mind - Who am I? Where did I come from? Who or what created me?

Atheists like to say that chance created humanity. However unlikely and improbable the chance of that happening as they speculate by their limited sciences. 

It sounds boring, but when they conjure and weave the baffling mathematical probabilities, it is almost magical, elegant even, this thing that they call chance.

But chance is also a creation of God. And so is mathematics and the physical sciences. I do not understand the scientific paradigm by which humanity choose to interpret the world and the existence or non-existence of God, when all knowledge that are unknown and yet to be discovered are all flowing from the creation of God, and His Existence exists separate from 'knowledge'.

Atheists are the last real romantics, I guess. Infatuated by the little drop of knowledge that they feel they alone have discovered, as if their knowledge was conjured out from nothingness by nothingness.

And even 'nothing' and 'nothingness' is a creation of God. Just like 'disbelief' and 'atheism'.

By their existence they affirm the existence of God, and reaffirm the intimate relationship between God and His creation, and yea... even Atheists, those poor romantics.

He he he.

Have a lovely day, sunshine. Find a question to ask the Universe.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE DRESS OF ADAB & THE WELL OF FITRAH - falling in love and its fascinating consequences...

Falling in Love... 

I though I was falling in love with God,

Then we crossed paths as you came falling 'up',

So I shouted to you, "Hey! You are falling upwards!"

To which you replied, "Me? No, it is you falling upwards!

I was worried and confused, "Pray for me, brother! Pray for me!" I shouted back,

And you said, "Nooo, You pray for meeeee...!"

..................................

Where are we, sunshine? Where are you and where am I? Are we ascending the station of divine love, or are we heading down the slope of self-delusion? Well, wherever we may be, as humans, very much ordinary in our talent and strength, in our folly and weakness, we all have our ups and downs. So one minute we may be sipping the cup of divine assurance, poured by the Angel Artiya'il in our times of desperation, and the next we may be led by the hypnotic song of an evil flute, played by our ego, and conducted by some infernal talent from Satan's own orchestra.

The Dress of Adab (Good Manners)

The Dress of Adab is the only dress

That one wears on the inside,

For it adorns your heart

With Love, Beauty

And Mercy.

I reckon that we are in a constant state of flux, a dynamic condition confirmed by our heart in every nanosecond that we exist in this world. So even if we come across a lover of God, in whatever creed he may be wearing, a Muslim, a Christian, a Jew, a Hindu or a Buddhist, who is to say that we are on our way up and he is on his way down? The only dress that Love recognises is the Dress of Adab (Good Manners) - our personal conduct and manners that manifests the very best of traditions - and for the Muslims that is the words and deeds of the Most Beloved of Love, Muhammad Habibulah (s.a.w.s.). It is a garb woven in the well of our conscience by our good deeds, our patience and perseverance, our courage and charity. The thread is made of the light of our eternal ruh (soul / spirit) and the cloth is our inherited fitrah (our individual inner essence) from the Well of Fitrah that is Muhammad Prophet of God (s.a.w.s.). And I have seen such dress worn by Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Christians, and even agnostics and atheists (though this last group may vehemently protest my allegations of their own goodness on Reddit. he he he)

The Well of Fitrah

Life is about finding yourself,

And your particular nature and talent

Granted from the Well of Fitrah that is

Saydeena Muhammad Habibullah,

Poured with Eternal Love from the Ocean of Love of God.

Look for it as best you can, and with the best guide you can find!

As you learn your place in the honorable station of servanthood before God's own crowning glory of mercy that is Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), you may find that however the wind may blow, whatever the season may be, up or down, left or right, a raging tempest or remaining still like the eternal love of mothers and sweethearts, you are forever in the embrace of Love, Allah (s.w.t.) God Almighty of the Worlds and Muhammad (s.a.w.s) God's own Mercy to all the world(s).

Have a nice day, sunshine. It's Friday after all!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

MEN AND WOMEN, CHILDREN & KITTENS - our reflective reality to the Absolute Reality

For the Longest Time

For the longest time

I have searched for You,

I looked to the Moon

And the blinding Sun,

I looked in the Waters of Life

And beneath the Rock at the Dome,

I have witnessed the whirling dervishes

And the rapture of hermits,

I have searched high and low

Down to  the smallest thing...

From the largest galaxy in the night sky

To the dancing, meandering photons

That has beguiled our physicists' eye...

In everything that I have witnessed

I have found beauty, truth, mercy,

Order, justice and a determined

Path for all created things,

O' Lord, O' Love!

You have created me,

What path have You determined for me?

.......................................

We cannot actually determine what happens. Even this simple act of writing is an action replete with an enormous possibility of failures, successes, delays and unexpected endings. But we can determine our intention. And with the Grace of God and the Lessons of Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), we can even determine our emotions. 

Between our intention and emotion is the determination of our reflective reality to the Absolute Reality of Allah (s.w.t.) - God Almighty, Creator of all men and women, children and little kittens.

And that is wonderful news for all humanity, for it assures us of God and His Utter Loveliness and Absolute Compassion for His creation. In the unexpected endings and pauses in our life - in our smiles, laughter and cries, He is there. 

Fare thee well in thy journey, sunshine! For thou art a favoured servant of The Kindest Lord, God.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE CENTURY OF THE SELF AND ITS GREATEST TRAGEDY

The Eye of the Self

The Messenger of Evil

If you question your leaders of their conduct,

How will you yourself fare to be in their shoes?

Will you be the Firaun or will you be worse than the Firaun?

At least the Firaun was a generous leader, are you as generous

With the pennies that you have? Or are you deluding yourself

That when you get rich you will get kinder?

If you complain about your neighbour’s noise,

How many times have you yourself disturbed their peace?

If you question someone’s sincerity,

Why should you not question your own sincerity?

If you look down upon someone’s fall into disrepute,

How far will you yourself fall into disrepute?

If you sneer at a woman’s dress or impropriety,

Why do you not avert your eyes instead?

If you possess an envy for so-called jihad-crusade wars,

Why are you not thankful for the peace in your own land?

If you question the love a Mureed (student) has for his Murshid (master),

Is it because you possess none for anyone else but yourself?

If you think you can yourself perfectly interpret the Holy Quran,

Why did God even bother sending a Messenger when 

He could have simply sent the Holy Quran?

If you think that democracy is the way forward for Muslims,

Why do you think the Messenger stressed so much on adab (good manners) 

Above personal hak (rights)?

If you think Islam is the best religion,

Why do you feel oppressed?

Who is oppressing you but yourself?

Who is humiliating you but yourself?

The nation will receive unto it the leaders it deserves,

The nation will receive unto it the religion it deserves,

You preach insularity and introvertness,

But when the Messenger (s.a.w.s.) looked within himself

He saw God, and outside he saw the vast ocean of humanity.

What do you see when you look within yourself?

Your ego? Dressed in a religious cloth?

You speak of defending the faith.

You say speak in the Name of God,

But the truth is you do not

Even understand the

Nature of Words,

And how Words

Can be sorcery

And how Words

Can be

Mercy.

You throw your day away contemplating over the Devil’s deception,

Until you yourself become part of his deception,

You wring your heart and beat on your chest,

In righteous anger at the Devil, at the unbelievers,

At the Jews, at the Christians, at the Hindus,

But I see you there alone, standing in front of the mirror,

And the only person I see you harassing and haranguing

Is you and no one but you...

There is no evil but evil,

 And you have become the messenger of evil, o’ Man.

O’ Humanity, O’ Muslims, O' Sincerity, wake up! Wake up!

.......................................

The Dajjal (Antichrist) is only One-eyed because, in truth, it cares for no one but itself...

The Spring of Democracy in the Middle East and North Africa has become the Spring of the Self, in an Age of the Self. Insufferably selfish, we-have-all-the-answers, down-with-the-old-and-up-with-the-new political movement with a million-headed hydra of individual fears, desires and hubris. 

There are no real leaders because such leaders that they have follows the selfish self-centred whims and fancies of 'the people'. But they are not following the people, because the desires of the people are not the people themselves. But none understands this because the people sees their egos and themselves as one. 

And that is the greatest tragedy in the Century of Self (which is coincidentally the title of this amazing BBC documentary. Just like the prose, the documentary is too long, 235 minutes. But worth every second, I think.).

May we all have a conscious day today, aware of ourselves and cautious of our ego, always.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way