MERDEKA POEM 2013 - Malaysia's 56th Birthday - A Country is an Idea - Zombie States - Our merdeka from our own ego

Merdeka! (with postscript)

If I appear to you ill-used, forgive me.

People have used me, used my name

And said "I am doing this thing

In her name and 

For her sake!"

I don't know what they are talking about!

If I appear to you confused, forgive me.

For people who live with me say one thing

And yet do another,

They talk of compassion, but only for themselves

And those like them,

They talk of progress, but they abuse me

And take me for granted,

They talk of God, but they show no mercy whatsoever,

Confusing information with knowledge,

Confusing knowledge with wisdom,

 Confusing tolerance for weakness...

If I appear to you lost, forgive me.

For how would you feel if people try

To disconnect you from your past?

From your own history,

From the testaments and pledges

That were made on your birthday?

Therefore, if I appear ill-used, use me well,

If I appear confused, end your own confusion,

If I appear lost, learn your own history,

And if ever anyone was unkind to you,

What can I say? I am very, very sorry.

For they do not represent me

No matter what you have been told.

I am Malaysia, 

And this month I shall be 56 years old.

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

The Postscript

And even you would be hard-pressed

To look young and desirable at my age...

So have no fear,

Do not be depressed,

Quell your hate and your rage.

For the bumps and knocks that you feel

Are the bumps and knocks I also feel,

It is the opening of our new chapter,

The turning of a new page.

So Happy Birthday to you

And Happy Birthday to me!

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

My birthday. The picture is not colour, but the day was colourful!

Happy Birthday, you are 56! Come, 31st August, we are all 56 years old. We, meaning the 29 million people who live in Malaysia and call themselves Malaysians. Please excuse my poetic license as most people will point out that Malaysia was in fact born on 16th September 1963 when the states of Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaya to create Malaysia. But ultimately, the genesis of Malaysia and Hari Malaysia (Malaysia Day, which we also celebrate) can be traced to the Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) on 31st August, 1957. So there.

I am an idea. Yours. 

We are (or should consider ourselves at least) 56 years old because we are born into a country that old. So our life has been moulded in the socia-economic, political and spiritual structure of the state, no matter how independent or free-spirited we may think we are. 

A Country is an Idea. As I reflect at the age of 56, like most people, death doesn't seem like such a distant event anymore. And for my country, I began to wonder about its mortality too. How many years more does Malaysia have left? One? Ten? Twenty? One Hundred? Unlike us humans, where death is inevitable and can be statistically determined, the life of a country can be extended for the foreseeable future, so long as human civilization exists. For a country is in fact a metaphysical entity, an idea. 

The Zombie States. And it can exist so long as people believe and work towards realizing that idea. For some countries, which are categorized by the media pundits as 'failed states' (Afghanistan, North Korea and Iraq spring to mind), they exist in a strange limbo between reality and ideal, where they are still members of the United Nation and retain some semblance of normal stately functions, but are in fact lifeless and soulless... The Walking Dead of Nations. Sad but true. 

I see many countries here. And I see a few more on life-support...

Our Educational & Ethical Deficit. No, I don't think my country has qualified to join the infamous troupe of zombie countries, yet. I think Malaysia still has some life in it, some soul and some ideals. But we gotta arrest our decline in our educational system. That is uber-important. And we also need to redress the professional and ethical deficit of all sectors of public and private life. Yes, the rot is not in the civil service alone, in some sense it is perpetuated and actively encouraged by the private sectors too. In this scenario, everyone who has taken or directly or indirectly benefited from a bribe, whether it is in the tens of millions of Ringgit Malaysia (our currency) or even for a mere RM10.00 is complicit in corruption. But as the saying goes, the fish rots from the head, so all the bosses and leaders must account for their actions and consider the country, the ideals that they are teaching their children and just what sort of future we are leaving for them.

This country , Papa... Did you make it better? Or did you make it worse?

Independence from Our Own Ego. My religion is Islam, my race is Malay, my nationality is Malaysian and ultimately, my species is human. So let us reach out towards one another in the spirit of Merdeka (independence)... to counter the hateful ideology of the ego, manifested in hubris, ugly nationalism, colonialism, corporate slavery and bigotry. For in my book, there is no merdeka more important than the independence from our own ego. And submission to the Love of God the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy.

This is what my Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s) teaches me, sunshine. Otherwise, merdeka and independence just becomes a throw-away word with little meaning or life to it. 

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

Reddit, Atheism and the Seduction of Knowledge - hubris vs adab (good manners)

I disagree with him. But I have picked his best-looking picture.
I am fair that way. He he he.

DAWKINS. I have written a few postings on Atheism in popular culture. And in pop culture, there is no Atheist more prominent than Richard Dawkins. With his interesting mix of history, prejudices, science and culture, he has been on the wagon trail espousing his profound faith in Atheism. I even bought and read his book, entitled 'The God Delusion', to understand his points of view better.

ATHEISTS AND BELIEVERS. Of course, Atheists and believers sit on different polar of the knowledge spectrum. We believe in the existence of God, while the Atheists believes not in God, but (increasingly) in some alien civilization that visited Earth a while back and proceeded to seed the planet with ingredients to make life, beginning with barely a hint of protein, into a single cell organism before evolving into homo sapiens. The recent movie, Prometheus touches on this theory.

r / atheism in reddit. 

But while we differ, I had hoped that we are actually still sitting on the same spectrum. And that discourse around our differences can actually enliven and entertain. So, with naive optimism I posted one of the earlier Atheism postings on reddit. If you don't know, reddit.com is (I am informed) the number one pusher of internet news, and it is organised into communities. I posted 'Richard Dawkins is not Godless, the Essence of Belief and Disbelief, and a Bagel' (Click Here to read) in the Atheism category. I found the few comments garnered very passionate, although, alas, not very surprising...

Moses dropped by to defend my posting there.

I suppose if I step into the lion's den, I should expect to be chewed on a bit. He he he. I must have looked like a succulent morsel of God-believing goat to them. He he he.

The subscribers to Atheism in Reddit number almost 1 million. And they are very active, and as you can see, quite earnest in their beliefs.

EUGENICS. Like converts to a new faith however, Atheists are not much for talk-back, considering people with religion as not-very-intelligent. Which is kinda sad when you consider that it is knowledge that brought them to where they are now. Or is it actually prejudices? Certainly, I cannot blame the Atheists like Dicky or Bill (Maher) for reacting so strongly against the mad and bad actions of some believers who say that they act on behalf of God Himself. But that is the errors of humanity and not the religion itself. For surely they must admit that one of the more logical and ruthless conclusion of Atheism is eugenics, that now discarded and condemned policy once practised in USA (under the banner of scientific enlightenment) and with horrifying results in Nazi Germany (under the Aryan regime). Eugenics basically means that if Nature's true purpose is to evolve creatures (including Man) to a higher level, then surely, the weak, the dim-witted, the handicapped, the destitute and the criminal class should not be permitted to breed - which led to asylums, prisons, concentration camps, forced sterilization and vasectomies, and ultimately to executions and genocide. This in the name of science and good of mankind.

Yeah. It always sounds like a good idea in the beginning.

But Dawkins will say, "Noooo. They are not true atheists! They are an aberration!" But this is the very same explanation which believers give for nut-head crusaders and fruit-cake jihadis too. That they are not true believers and their terrorism is born from an aberration and confusion in their understanding of faith. So how are we different, and how can we be distinguished?

ADAB. It is good manners, polite discourse and courtly courtesies that distinguishes one person from the other. Knowledge is a seductive power and can lead to hubris. When this happens, the most fair-minded Atheist or believer will sound sanctimonious and condescending. And this is not cool at all.

Wow. I wrote more than I wanted to. Sorry, sunshine!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Atheism blames Religion, but the fault lies in Man's Hubris and Bigotry

It is Bigotry and Hubris, not Religion that is the Disease

It is not religion that is adding

A new volatile ingredient into the soup of bigotry,

It is instead racism and hubris that is adding

A new abhorrent ingredient into religion,

Making it all distasteful...

And not just religion,

But Atheism too!

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

Religious right-wing nuts and some Atheist left-leaning elites are selling the same soul-rotting candy but just packaged differently. In their own unique way they are equally narrow-minded, regarding any idea, faith or philosophy coming from the black, brown and yellow people as really second-class stuff.

If people lose their sensibilities and good manners (Adab), it really doesn't matter whether they are religious or Atheists, Caucasians, Latinos, Slavs, Chinese, Indians, Jews, Nordics, Arabs or Malays. For 'knowledge' has possessed them, and they need to be exorcised of their inner demon called the human ego disguised as 'being right all the freakin' time!'.

Intellectual arrogance and religious superiority... oh boy, that doesn't make for an attractive package... does it, sunshine? It rained earlier today, and because it was hot, the water steam up and you can actually smell the grass and the soil in the air. And I bet everyone can enjoy this good Earth, whatever belief or disbelief he may entertain in his heart. Thus it is rather a shame that we often allow our ego to colour our lives... 

It is a slippery slope, I know. If you see me stumble and fall into my own hubris and conceit, help me. For God knows I am weak too.

Easy does it... eaaasy does it....

Have a good Friday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Love, the Opposites and the Ego - If we were not lost, we would not seek guidance

Kiara Cemetery

Things Only Make Sense Because...

Birth only makes sense

Because at one time

We never existed here,

Life only makes sense

Because one day

We shall cease to exist here,

Knowledge only makes sense

Because of our manifest ignorance,

Wisdom only makes sense

For how foolish we can be,

Guidance only makes sense

For the countless times we

Were lost,

Love only makes sense

For the years we spent

Looking for Love,

And thinking ourselves

Unloved!

Forgive us, God,

For making such a false assumption of You

To our own dire detriment!

Senses. 'Goodness' can be perceived by the sense of happiness or contentment that we feel, and 'bad' can be perceived by our own sense of sorrow and regret. But our senses can deceive us, after all mind-bending drugs like cocaine and morphine also makes us feel happy, overjoyed even... but I think everyone can agree that they are not good for us. And medicine is often bitter, so we are not actually overjoyed taking the healing tonic, though we KNOW that it is good for us.

Opposites. So putting our temporary senses aside, wise people have often said that 'Everything is known by its opposites.' And I think I agree. But perhaps a delicate rephrasing is also apt, and that is 'We appreciate everything by its opposites." Thus, we appreciate love for we know and sense what hate is. We appreciate kindness because we have felt apathy. We appreciate tolerance because we have tasted bigotry and we appreciate an open conversation because we have witnessed many times the hubris that closes the gate to amicable discourse.

Love. And above all, we appreciate love - this vague cosmic notion which transcends human logic. Because for the longest time we felt alone, abandoned, unloved, but then Love walked into our hearts and said in a gentle rebuke, "You feel alone because you choose to be away from Me, you feel abandoned because you choose to abandon Me, and how can you be loved when you choose not to love Me?"

Love over Ego. So choose love always, sunshine. From my own experience, it is not the easiest thing sometimes, because love often requires acceptance, and your ego is not wont to submit or accept anything or anyone else but its own dictates. Put your ego on a bridle, and ride it to Love.

Have a lovely day, then. Thank you for dropping by.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF HOPE, AND NOT HATE - God, religion and humanity

14. The Sun & The Moon II (Epilogue)

Allah!

By the Sun shall you see the Moon,

And by the Sun shall you see the Sun.

Allah!

And blessed and oft-forgiven are those

Who share the Light with his neighbours,

Returning scowls with a smile,

Returning hate with love,

Returning weakness with strength,

And ignorance with the sweetness of understanding.

13. Muhammad is Here!

Do you have the fear?

Do not fear!

Do you have the hate?

Do not hate!

Believe and be reprieved,

For wherever you may turn,

He is here, Muhammad is here!

The Glory of Creation!

The Gladness of all God’s creatures!

These are two old prose recorded against the dominion of hate, the crusade of bigotry, the war of hubris now fought in our names by politicians and preachers who think they speak and act on our behalf. We are not one of their meek sheep, to be led blindly into the abyss of darkness. 

Though we may be clothed in different faiths, are we not brothers and sisters, you and I? Thank you, sunshine for being a part of humanity... For being a part of hope, and not hate.

Hate has no place in Islam. Hate has no place in any religion.

BESA - Muslims who saved Jews in World War II, by Norman H. Gershman

BEAUTIFUL STORIES. We are all looking for beautiful stories, truths in history that gives us strength and wisdom to prevail over the appalling present bigotry that has fallen between people of all faith. But today, we are talking specifically about the Jews and the Muslims. And specifically about the Jews, the Albanians and their Code of Besa during World War II under the conquering jackboots of the Nazis…

BESA is a code of honour amongst the Muslim Albanians. The code basically means that if someone is a guest in your home, it is beholden upon you to not only serve and show hospitality, but protect him/her, even at the risk of your own life. On this basis, during World War II thousands of Jews in Albania were protected and saved by the Albanian Muslims. As the Jewish website Yad Vashem noted -

“Albania, the only European country with a Muslim majority, succeeded in the place where other European nations failed. Almost all Jews living within Albanian borders during the German occupation, those of Albanian origin and refugees alike, were saved, except members of a single family. Impressively, there were more Jews in Albania at the end of the war than beforehand.”

Good ol' Norm.

In 2009, Norman H. Gershman, a renowned Fine Art Photographer, took up this labour of love to photograph and write the above book, as well as produce a documentary on this amazing story. You can watch Part 1 of the documentary by Clicking Here.

My thanks to my friend, Khalid Ajmain for posting the BESA link on Facebook and sharing this wonderful story.

May God, the Owner of all beautiful days bestow one upon you, sunshine.

Hate has no place in Islam

Religion, Ideology and the Servant in the Court of Divine Love

Religion will not change you

Religion will not change you, o' seeker,

It will reveal who you really are.

Believers get a lot of stick for their beliefs. Whether they are Christian, Jews or Muslims, they are blamed for the wars, the genocides and terrorism that have blighted this world. But the oppression, genocide and famine in the former U.S.S.R. and Cambodia surely cannot be blamed on them, since both countries were Communists. Not a moment after the atheists proudly proclaimed that God is dead and there will be no more religious strife did they start murdering their own people. Of course, not all communists and atheists are like that, so I hope that the atheists will give credit that not all believers are Jewish zealots, Christian crusaders or Muslim Jihadis. In fact most believers just want to have a decent life, bring up their children properly and work, and when they die, to be buried in the religious rites of their respective faith.

If you are an absolute fiend, you will be one regardless whether your name is Ali, Benjamin or Charles. And if you are an absolute angel, you will be one regardless if you recite the Torah, the Bible or the Quran. Do not judge the religion, but judge the man. I do not think that any dogma in religion teaches you to hate, and if you do come across a teaching which says otherwise, then my advice to you is to suspend your belief in that part, because your interpretation of it is all wrong. God doesn't need to teach man to hate, in fact man is good at using God as a pretext for hating someone. What a terrible lie these people make on God!

There is no other avenue in any religion for man that is safer than by taking the path of servanthood to God and Man, which is the true divine nature of man. So it is my earnest hope that your religion or ideology shall reveal you for who you really are - a servant in the Court of Divine Love.

May this Wednesday find you well, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Pure Islam, they say? Quick, pass me my Miswak stick!

6. I reach for my miswak

When someone tells me

About ‘unadulterated Islam’,

I reach for my miswak.

(Glossary - The miswak (miswaak, siwak, sewak, misvak) is a teeth cleaning twig made from a twig of the Salvadora Persica tree - courtesy of Wikipedia. It is a famous sunnah (tradition) of the Prophet Muhammad)

This is a Miswak stick. In fact it is my Miswak stick.
Someone gave it to me.

As an idea, 'unadulterated Islam' is a fine thing. After all, adulterated food is bad for you, so I guess adulterated Islam may also be a bad thing, something certainly to be avoided. But the problem arises when I ask myself what does 'unadulterated Islam' actually mean. I suspect that much like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder.

In my cynical mind, 'unadulterated Islam' is a term often used to divide, alienate and ostracize. It is a phrase which actually means "I am right and you are wrong." But people don't like being direct, because that makes their position less moral, and it is common for people who often use such term to be particularly concerned that they appear moral.

The non-Muslims should pay attention because the sort of people who like to brand other Muslims as err... adulterated Muslims are those most likely to explode themselves in a market place, applaud the death of innocent people and tolerate violence, bigotry and hate disguised in the veneer of the faith. Muslims should pay attention because such people hate us. They think that Muslims who are tolerant and kind are dimwits in la-di-da land, and they especially despise those damn Sufis!

So when I have to listen to some guy spouting 'unadulterated Islam' sermon, I do reach for my miswak if I have one in hand. Because to tell him to shut up would be rude, so at least my time is not totally wasted and I can perform my personal oral hygiene. Which is always a good habit, yes?

Have a good teeth day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

PS: Do try the Miswak stick. It is good and natural. Why, even the giant pharmaceutical companies are using (I assume!) some of its active ingredients in their toothpaste product. Or maybe they are simply fooling people and riding on the natural-herbal bandwagon to soak up more sales? I don't know really. If you wanna find out the truth, I am sure you can...