INDEPENDENCE!! - independence for what purpose?

Wearing the Rain

I wear the rain like a dress,

And I drink the golden Sun

From a cup of love.

Whither the worry for tomorrow

When this day is not ended yet?

I wear the dusky sky

Like a bridal train 

Through the aisle of a church,

A mosque, a temple

And a synagogue.

Whither the sorrows for tomorrow

When this day is not ended yet?

................................ 

It is unfashionable to talk about submission. Not when the entire world is motivated towards independence, freedom of choice and individuality. 

In an exchange on Facebook on Malaysia's 56th independence day, a good friend asked me, "Are we really independent?" The question can be answered at many levels of course. The sovereignty of our country, and also the independence of our thoughts, words and actions, as a community and ultimately, as an individual. But to turn the question around, I began to ask myself, independence for what purpose? Freedom of choice and sovereignty to what end?

An ancient friend shared his two pennies worth and said that independence is only worthwhile when one uses one's independence on the path to submission to God. And this is regardless whether they are choices you make while grocery shopping, or as a diplomat in a multilateral summit on international trade. As a common man, minister or a King, we all have our decisions to ponder over.

I guess it is paradoxical... this independence in the path towards submission. But as God Himself revealed in the Holy Quran through divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.)... 

Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil 

and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. 

And Allah heareth and knoweth all things. (Quran 2:256, Yusuf Ali)

Something to think about, sunshine, on this wet Sunday here in Kuala Lumpur. So don't bother about tomorrow, it hasn't happened yet! 

He he he.

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

Tears and Fears - this time, I will be ready

Tears & Fears

My life is filled with tears

But I am not sad,   

I have no right

To be.

My life is filled with fears

But I am not done in, 

I have no right  

To be. 

For I know my Lord

Has allotted a certain 

Number of tears 

For me to shed, 

Not one teardrop more, 

Not one teardrop less,

And my Lord has allotted

A certain number of fears

For me to overcome,

Not one ghost more,

Not one ghoul less, 

Such thoughts comfort me

As I sleep in my bed.

And as I wake up each morning

With the Sun rising above the sea,

The same tearful and fearful thoughts

Drift away to the West,

Though I know that

With the setting Sun,

The same cloud of tears

And fears will be there

Waiting for me.

But this time,

I will be ready.

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

There are many things we cry over, and there are many things that sends a chill into our heart. Death and illnesses, poverty and bankruptcies - these are the stuffs that will turn our day grey, as we sigh "Oh dear me..."

In our conversation last night, Heche said that "Well, you gotta learn how to swing the bat every time God throws you a curve ball."

"Well, I don't want to play baseball with God. He plays mean!" I protested.

But of course, we have no choice in the matter. We have all the choices in the world, but not this one. And of course, God doesn't play mean. He lets me off so many times that I cannot even count.

In fact God has rigged the game for us to win. But to win, we must win over something - Which is to conquer our tears and our fears, and be that person God knows we can be, if only we would persevere.

So persevere, sunshine. Have hope always.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

His Indifference - Freedom, what a poison chalice you may turn out to be!

His Indifference

Oh love,

Do not leave me this way.

In the shadows of Your disapproval,

In the well of my sorrow as

You turn away and You say,

“Do as you will!”

Oh love,

Do not leave me to my ignorance,

Do not leave me to my folly,

Do you not leave me in

The drought of uncaring,

In the famine of unknowing,

As You turn away and You say,

“Do as you wish!”

Am I not your weak servant?

Am I not your beloved creature

That you shaped and formed

And in a time long ago

You blew into the clay form

Of my Ancestor, Adam

The Spirit?

Oh love,

I ask you in the name of that Spirit…

To not leave me in the heartless desert of

“Do as you will!” and “Do as you wish!”

Or even worse still… “Do whatever you want!”

………………………..

The Age of Enlightenment passed me by. The French Revolution leaves me cold. The frozen rebuke makes me wilt at the thought of choice. Have I, dear friend, grown old?

Or less hasty? When we were young, we were so damn obsessed with growing older. Why... we cannot grow older fast enough. Not that we ever anticipated that growing older will inevitably make us one day, actually old. 

And now that I am here, at the cusp of my 43rd year of life come 2013, I am not so hasty. I want to savour life. Like a fine wine swirling in my wine glass. And one of the things which comes with age is a bit (more) of circumspection and aforethought... 

"I wanna do this, God. What do You think? Good idea?"

"I rather not do this, o' Creator of the World(s). Are You with me?"

"I am just gonna flip a coin on this... What say You, o' He Who Plans the Best?"

"Just another slice of apple pie... Too much, o' Most Benevolent One?"

But whether God approves or disapproves, you sometimes just do it anyway. Yet it is not His disapproval that I am ultimately worried about. But His indifference. That finally, after the millionth time I ignore His gentle counsel voiced through the guidance of the Prophet and the Holy Quran, through the whisper of my very own conscience, God finally gives up on me and declares, "Do whatever you want!" 

Ah, freedom, what a poison chalice you may turn out to be! May God never leave us to the devices of our own choices...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Choose God. Choose Goodness. Have a good day!

Peace upon thee, little doggy! Have a nice day!

I am going to choose to have a good day today. I think it is really up to us how we want the day to begin (and end). It is a bit of a challenge though because my left eye has an infection and it is like watering non-stop. So I am wearing the darkest sunglasses I have (actually I have only one), which is good because presently I am squinting painfully like the blazes. I do not want to scare the patrons of this establishment where me and Heche are having breakfast.

Someone told me once that if you step out of the house feeling bad, you will more likely to bump into bad. So I am determined not to feel bad and to feel good. I hope you like the Sunday sketch which I drew earlier this morning. It is just as how I am feeling right now. Choosing God, choosing goodness and choosing to have a good day. Hopefully, a REALLy good day.

Here's wishing the same to you, sunshine. God bless.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

SOPA, PIPA and the Great Copyright Oligarchs

Well, the black-out is on currently for Wikipedia and a few other major websites against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act), and many internet giants have drawn the line against these proposed US government acts.

As a netizen, I am not entirely with the internet giants (Wiki, Google, Reddit etc...) on some issues, but SOPA and PIPA would have a terrible effect curtailing the freedom of expression, sharing of information and opinions, and the development and innovation of the internet as the ultimate forum of human discourse.

I would follow my internet ideas and thinking Guru on this, Cory Doctorow (editor of BoingBoing). And he who has written so well on the digital and internet intellectual property issues is vehemently against SOPA and PIPA. If you have not read his book "Content", read it. It is available free online as an E-book, just CLICK HERE. Read and arm yourself intellectually against the copyright oligarchs.

Have a sharing day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

If given a choice, I would still choose You - God, Love and Choices

If given a choice, I would still choose You...

I want to rest awhile

By this stream, and pray a little,

To think a little, and ponder my journey thus far,

I want to rest awhile

Beneath the crescent moon,

For my slippers are worn by my endless wandering,

And my head is tired with too much thinking,

I want to rest awhile

And lay my back on this tree,

Which grew out of a seed, into a sapling

And finally into a shade of mercy,

The law is the path,

The journey is the walking

The end is God, as He is in

The very beginning.

God’s omnipresence

In my ear and in my heart

Is a predestined condition,

But if given a choice

I would still choose Him

Above any other voice.

CHOICE. If you believe in God, then you don't actually have a choice about a lot of things. Of course, you can still choose to be good or bad, nice or nasty. But the world that we live in, the preconditions of life like breathing, eating and drinking, and most fundamentally, the existence of God, is not an optional extra.

GOD. I would like to dream however, that given a choice, I would still choose God. For I am informed by those-in-the-know that there is none who is equal or comparable to God, especially in that God-department of being Merciful and Compassionate and Loving and Patient and Kind. I certainly don't desire another ordinary mortal to dominate my existence. Human beings are beautiful, lovely and infused with the Divine Spirit. But when the going gets tough, when tempers are frayed, when things are simply not going their way, mankind can be pretty darn awful.

AND YOU? But perhaps the most difficult choice is when you have to choose between yourself and God. Between our selfishness and the Lord's generosity. Between our passion for envy, anger and hatred and the virtues of humility, patience and tolerance. There shouldn't even be a question of choosing, right? Then why the heck do I often choose wrong?

May you make your day beautiful, sunshine. It's your choice.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

A Fork on the Road - Our mistakes and God's Compassion

Where is the sign? How do I know which road to take?

4. A Fork on the Road

While strolling on the Path as if all time is yours, you meet a fork in the road, and a sign which says,"This way, o' Wanderer", but you take the other road.

As you wander further, you come across yet another fork, and yet another sign, but this time pleading, "This way,o' wayward one!" Again you choose the opposite path.

And you repeat this folly again and again.

Until you finally reach another fork, and lo, there is no sign to guide you. Bemused, you stand there wondering, "Eh? Someone removed the sign?" To be answered by a painful whack on the back of your head.

Rubbing your throbbing skull, you turned warily to see your assailant, and you see your Master, holding the sign. And he addresses you, "Enough!" Impatiently He grabs you by your collar and drags you to the right road (Which is always the right turning, by the way).

In an exasperated tone, the Master asks, "Why do you always make it difficult for yourself?"

With a glint in your eye, you looked up and replied, "O, Master, had I not erred for so long and for so many times and in so many ways, you would not have come for me..."

"But I have taught you already!" exclaimed the Master, "You should be following my teaching and serving me. But time and time again it is I who have to come to YOUR rescue. So, tell me, who is serving who here, and who is actually the Master?"

Without skipping a beat you answered, "The best servant is the best Master, and the best Master is the best servant."

The Master pondered at his young student, and then sighed, "Do you always have an answer for everything?"

Whereupon you replied, "So far. For you taught me very well, o' Master!"

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

Everyone wants to hurry it up - Change the channel, where's the tv remote?! Where's the car keys? I gotta run! What time do you have? Oh, God, I am late already! But the truth is, somethings we just cannot rush. Not the coming of the tide, nor the rising of the Sun. For each change in nature, and for each change in human nature there is an appropriate time and place.

For change in human nature, especially for the better, is not actually change at all. It is in truth the revelation of who you truly are and where you lie in the greater scheme of things. You may think you are a whole lot of something, God's gift to mankind, or you may think you are a barrel full of nothing. This emotion changes with time, and it often affects which path you choose to take - the low road of the ego, or the high spiritual path of the soul.

I guess what I am trying to say is, don't give up. If you have taken the wrong path a hundred times, or even a thousand times over, there is still another fork lying in wait for you at the end of the road. If you have erred before, you need not err now, you can choose the right path.

And if you are in doubt and there is no clear sign, just abide by the last words of the sinner - Love will show the Way.

Thank you for dropping in today, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Good is Recycled. Evil is Recycled. God is Eternal.

I came from Heaven and I am going back to Heaven. But I never promised
anyone that I am willing to wait a lifetime. There must be a backdoor to Heaven
somewhere in this room. Hmm... maybe in here? Huloooo,,,, God? 

73. Evil Is A Cliché

Evil is not a great notion,

Deserving of special accolades.

The enemy has no new tricks up his sleeve,

And has found no new innovative ways to deceive,

Yet, for someone who uses clichés to further his purposes,

Strange that he has found in us so many willing followers.

But I guess that’s what make clichés a cliché,

Because they work.

Desire. You would think that after thousands of years, mankind would have learnt its lessons. But just as your mother and father wants you to do what they ought to have done and avoid doing what they ought not to have done at your age, that is just a desire. Above everyone else's desire, no matter that you know how much they love you, is your own desire.

God Given. And God has made your desire to be powerful and overwhelming, surpassing the treasure trove of knowledge already collected by your ancestors - You need to know yourself. To feel and experience the sweet and the bitter of life, that fire burns and water quenches, that the world often appears arbitrary and good intentions are no guarantee of good endings.

Evil is Recycled. In that way, God is giving each child the right to live life as he or she chooses. You pick your choices and you make your own world, connected but still very different from the world of your elders. Alas, in that way also 'Evil' (if you desire to give it a name) can recycle its old cliches of temptation - greed, envy, jealousy, pride, hubris, waste, selfishness etc. So even 'Evil' is given yet another opportunity, another round to box with your conscience and your heart. This cycle is as certain as the rising of the Sun in the East and its setting in the West. Until of course, that also changes.

Homecoming. Do not be so harsh on yourself. If you succeed, wonderful. But if you fail temporarily, know that in the past, there were many better than you, who have also failed. This too is a cycle. But at the end, our ancestors all return to the Lord, and so shall you. A fitting homecoming for a soul. So don't worry too much!

After all, 'tis Friday, sunshine!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

God. Breathing Down Your Neck - fate, fairness and anticipations

I am Your Fate

I am the turn of the key,

The opening of the door,

I am the tomcat strutting in the alley,

I am the worm in the apple's core,

I am the clouds adrift in the sky,

I am the sunlight in your eye,

I am the king sitting in his palace,

The widow crying atop her mourning dresses,

I am the silence of your contemplation,

The blaze of colour in your reflection,

I am everything and none at all,

I am your childhood that you cannot recall,

I am both your success and your failure,

The fate you always try to tailor,

I am the conclusion of your endeavour,

The harbour in all your weather,

Fair or foul as how I appear to you,

Is but a veil to hide the truth.

Fairness. We are creatures of cause and consequences. When we do wrong, we expect to be punished. When we do good, we expect to be rewarded. But sometimes the guilty escapes punishment, and sometimes the best among us appear cursed with a doom, the lost of a job, the lost of a child.

Fate. How far can we withdraw into ourselves to escape from the unfairness of this world? How deep into the well of our soul must we dive into, to silence the litany of voices asking for justice and fairness? But it is fate, that thing which none of us can divert.

Anticipation. Often we cannot control the end result of our action or omission. But a wise man once shared with me, "You may not be able to control what happens to you. But you can choose how you react to it. And you can anticipate and prepare for it."

The Prose of Anticipation

Anticipate that if you are alive,

That one day, you will die.

Anticipate that if you are loved,

That one day, your lover must fail you.

Anticipate that if you are married,

That one day, temptation will test your vows.

Anticipate that if you are healthy,

That one day, you will get sick.

Anticipate that if you are strong,

That one day, you will be weak.

Anticipate that if you are wise,

That one day, you will be foolish,

Anticipate that if you are rich

That one day you will be a poor,

Anticipate that if you are learned

That one day you will need learning,

Anticipate that if you feel tired

That one day, God will lift the veil

And reveal Himself being closer to you

Than your own jugular.

According to Muslims, it is said that God is closer to His servants than their own jugulars. That is pretty close. Stiflingly close perhaps. Smothering even. Ah, maybe it is a good idea of God to be Unseen while we are not ready yet. To see what we would do on our own accord, in our remembrance and forgetfulness of Him. Our ups and downs on this road called life.

God. Breathing down your neck.

Take care, sunshine. Talk to you later.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Listen to your Heart - Conversations with a client

32. What can be written

I have already recorded

What can be written,

What I am unable

To write remains hidden,

I have already said

What can be spoken,

What I am unable

To say remains silent.

In my love’s smile,

And in her eyes,

Where music is played

But cannot be heard,

And a story is told,

Though not a

Word is uttered.

Do tell me, o love,

What my heart

Is saying to you.

For it refuses to

Reveal to me

The full extent of

Its plans.

THE CLIENT. "Listen and see with your heart.", my client earnestly tells me while gentling tapping my chest. I smiled and nodded. "I am advising you this because I treat you like my own son." He continued, then touching on my divorce and plans for the future. "Just because you have one misadventure, it doesn't mean that it is suppose to be for life... But before you proceed with any plan, I only ask you to do one thing. Please pray Istikharah! (Istikharah is a short, simple but important supererogatory prayers asking Divine guidance on specific issues - like changing jobs, moving house, choosing schools, migrating and of course, getting married) That way...," my client concluded, "God will give you guidance to make the right decision. Because you asked Him! He won't ignore you!"

THE HEART. Actually, I do try to listen to my heart. It is just that sometimes this life can be so darn noisy and distracting that I cannot hear my heart over the noise and static of this world. But once in a while, when everything FEELS just so, I do hear my heart, and this is what my heart is constantly saying, "Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah..." Praise be to God, Praise be to God, Praise be to God... I cannot speak nor write this with total sincerity, but my heart recites this all the time... it is only I that am often deaf to my own heart. Silly and absurd but sadly true.

May you be granted the unimaginable joy and happiness to hear your heart, sunshine. There are secrets to be found out if you listen attentive enough.

Pax Taufiqa.

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Footnote: Cartoon was published in another earlier posting.

We have time. We have inspiration. We have choices to make...

Words are easy to write. Life, not so easy to live. A pair of prose was once recorded, a long time ago that perhaps best illustrates this...

42. Once and Now

God, maybe I am not as I used to be,

Of sin and blame, I was once free.

What I am now, O’ Lord,

Is a pain with no cure,

A bait with no lure,

Fishing in Your Ocean,

Looking for a potion,

To end this sweet misery,

To end this bitter separation,

From my Lord and my Nabee.

When will Thou answer me?

And if Thou do, how will I hear Thee?

43. O’ Poet!

I see you have honoured My Name

In these proses you write.

All very fine and nice!

But have you honoured My Name

In your daily life?

Or have you been writing truths,

Only to live in lies?

Have caution that they are neither equal nor same!

And that a coin left standing on its edge

Inevitably falls,

Either to valour or to shame.

We all want contentment. To be happy and find our place in Creation. But where are we now, have we fallen in love or in hate? Have we fallen into knowledge or ignorance? Have we fallen into truths or lies? Have we fallen into good company or bad company? A good friend once reminded me, "Taufiq, where you are, and more importantly, what you are, are all defined by your choices."

I have made some good choices and some bad choices. But I do not think that choice end in themselves. So whether it is good or bad is entirely up to us to manage. Even bad choices can be turned good if we learn from them. If we are given time and the inspiration.

So here we are again, my friend, in a new day. So time have been given to us already. But inspiration? For that we have to listen to our conscience. If we have a habit to follow our conscience we would not have made a bad choice at all. And since you and I have been given time, then the choice to listen to our conscience is still there.

Whether it is to drop a bad habit (like smoking), visit a relative or friend long ignored, or make amends with an enemy, we still have our choices to follow our conscience. Our conscience is the whispered truths, a delicate breeze blowing into our hearts from the fountain of divine hope and promise. So the truth is inspiration is already there. And we still have the time to be inspired.

God bless you sunshine. And may you make the best choices for yourself today and every day.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Thoughts in the Tariqas - Train rides are not about the stations, but the journey itself.

121. Waiting for a train that will never arrive

The different nuances of the tariqas

Is nothing but different stations

Along the One True Path.

Lo, be warned not to be besotted

By the stations, lest you are

Left in a station, forever waiting

For the train that will

Never arrive.

Know that your Masters are

Not infatuated by the train terminals,

For they know the true reality

Of train travel, and they are

Not swayed in their attention

By the stations that dot

The railway line.

Look! Look closely at

The ticket you are holding,

Don’t you see?

There is no last station

To end your journey.

Hehehe.

How blessed are you.

How blessed are you and me.

Amongst those seekers on the path (tariqa) of enlightenment, much is said about spiritual stations (maqams). But they never actually tell you what is in the stations, only that if you are in one station, the only next action suitable for you is to go to the next station. There are quite a few tariqas out there, I am sure you can google them and find out.

There is certainly some attraction when you are in a spiritual place. A heightened sense of empathy and certainty - empathy for the human race, and certainty in your faith. But however beautiful the view is here, after a while you KNOW life must go on, and YOU must go on. You become restless and ask God for further guidance.

Life is about choice and destiny, yes? And in this journey of knowledge of yourself and of God, perhaps there is indeed no end. No full stop for the enquiring soul, who is constantly yearning for understanding of a God whose delightful clues constantly draws you one step further, to one more station, one after the other.

May you find your path unending in Beauty, Love and Mercy, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa

Letters in the Sand and Nightingales in the Trees - you make make the world better

15. Letters in the Sand

All that I know I have read

From letters written in the sand,

Impermanent, transient

And soon lost to the surf and the rising tide.

But that is enough

To make this world now

Alien and strange to me.

Yet no matter how I try,

I cannot decipher the language

Of the birds nor the rustling leaves,

Those sonnets of praise,

Unplugged from the deaf sickness

That afflicts man.

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

My dear readers,

I am informed that the world in its entirety speaks and praises God. One of my most favourite sound is the sound of leaves and branches rustling in the wind. I find it sweet that the wind needs the trees for us to hear its voice. In return the wind helps to spread the pollen and seed of the trees.

Praises sprung from nature is perfect, but man is a totally different category altogether. We have a choice, and the choices we make either sharpens our hearing or makes us a little (or totally) deaf to the Music of the Universe, Love.

I write about about love. But I am just a scribe. I am actually writing about you and your life. Your endless hours in contemplation, when you walked into my heart and left letters on the shore of my soul. My friend, do not think that you are living your life unnoticed and ineffectual. Every little iota of goodness, every little gesture of kindness and every little thought of compassion we note down. Continue to make a change, sunshine. Even if by doing so, you are making me alien to the illusory world of hate and fear that common mass media perpetuates out of habit and profit.

You make it all worth it. So have a good day, and fill your day with goodness. I will jot them all down, and make a fine story for God the All-Loving. 

wa min Allah at-taufiq.