IN THE WINDOW-SHOP OF THE WORLD, THE ONLY ITEM FOR SALE IS MADNESS - MH17, rejecting despair, embracing hope and the real struggle within us all...

Our Struggle

Today I declare my struggle against hubris,

Against hatred and bigotry,

Against the warmongers and the war profiteers,

Against the hidden hands and their well-dressed murderers,

Today I declare my struggle against the ignorance of Man and their arrogance,

Against their petty quarrels and pious slights,

Against the venom of the backbiters,

Against the whispers of the whisperers in the night

Taunting Man to fight and kill for his 'rights',

Today I declare my struggle against all these vices,

But above all else, I declare my struggle against these vices in me,

Shadowing my waking and sleeping hour

Giving my heart no rest till

My very soul tremble and cower,

Today I seek the Light upon Light, to guide and save me

Lest I be yet another slave to 

The One-eyed King in 

His Golden Tower.

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

Don't despair, sunshine. Do not be too worried about the theatre playing in the world stage. Attend to the present, to yourself and to those closest to you.

The world may attempt to bring its conflicts, its wars, its greed, inhumanity and hate to our very doorsteps. But it is forbidden to enter. Not unless you permit it to enter.

MH17. Yesterday, being a Friday, the whole nation of Malaysia mourned for the loss of innocent lives onboard MH17. A day of mourning was declared as the remains of our fellow citizens were brought home with honour and solemnity. But the question remains - someone shot it down, and I used to wonder aloud, "If we found out who really did it, whom should we invade? Russia or Ukraine?"

Russia or Ukraine? But truth be told, I am not wanting to declare jihad (struggle) on anyone really. For at the moment they are like little dusts messing the threshold of my soul. And I want nothing of the madness that appears to be the only item for sale in the window-shop of this world.

The real struggle. You and I, we are concerned with the inestimable infinity. What is a few days, years or centuries in our heart? For we are busy making our heart presentable for the Light of Muhammad (saws), and everything else are false and worthless distractions, pretentious facsimile to the True Reality of God Almighty. That is the struggle we are endeavouring to win, a struggle from the moment our conscience understands right and wrong, until we are returned to the bosom of the earth, back to Allah (swt).

So I will see you there, yes? In the antechamber of the heart, where secrets are revealed again and again and again. Hold my hand, sunshine. For I am always in need of guidance and encouragement. And that fact, alas, is no secret at all!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Notrumi Embun, 23rd August 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE AGE OF DISCONTENT - Islam, consumerism and the creation of discontent

The Age of Discontent

How can you be happy with the car you are driving?

How can you be contented with the shoes that you are wearing?

Are you really happy with the tone of your skin? The colour of your hair?

I know you are looking at my new iPhone with envy...

So buy it, laser it, wax it, smoke it, extend it, rebond it,

Mortgage it, buy a bushel and buy it all on credit!

I can make you happy,

I can make you complete,

I can satisfy your needs

That you never knew you needed! 

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

Islamic Consumerism? A university (The Multimedia University, Cyberjaya) here has invited my friends and myself to give a talk on 'Islamic Consumerism'. Being the wordy sort of sinner, I will focus on the phrase itself and pose the question whether there is such a thing as 'Islamic Consumerism' and whether the phrase is in truth a contradiction in terms. My hunch is that the answer hangs upon what we mean by 'consumerism'. Because there are two general meanings often attributed to this loaded word, one is good and positive, while the other is very negative indeed. 

Desire? We cannot however get away from the notion that consumerism is inexplicably tied to advertising and PR. This is a well documented fact and has been researched to the ends of the Earth by people who are way smarter than myself. And central to the idea of advertising and PR is the creation of desire.

Or Discontent? But as illustrated by the poem above, the idea behind advertising and promotions is also the creation of discontent - through which we are persuaded that we are not actually happy or contented. Or that we should not be happy or contented with what we already have. Otherwise why would the masses continue to buy something they don't actually need? We do so because we are already convinced that life would be better, we ourselves would be happier if only we owned the new BMW, the new Apple laptop, the latest summer collection of Prada. So we bung out the old and buy into the new, becoming just another statistics in the Consuming-Wasting Age of Man. Thus proving the advertising titans and their focus groups correct and accurate.

So be happy, grateful and reject The Age of Discontent. And exercise prudence in the usage of this world. For Allah (s.w.t.) did not send us here as the Eater of the World. We are the Stewards of Earth, and hold direct responsibility towards the beauty, sustainability and subtle balance of the eco-system. And one day, there shall be a reckoning of our deeds and misdeeds.

Loving our world to death... until all that is left are pictures
in our cellphone. 

Don't you agree, sunshine?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

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

5 PROSE TO MUHAMMAD, SAYYIDINA SA'DULLAH (S.A.W.S), THE JOY OF ALLAH! - The Ramadan Story, Part 20

1. Despair

Tell despair that I shan't drink the wine from its cellar,

For I am happy with what God has bestowed,

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

Because we only despair when we are dissatisfied. So be happy!

2. Doubt

Tell the troll of doubt that it shan't grab me from under its bridge,

For my God has given me wings to fly high in the sky,

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

Because you need a pair of them, the wing of ilm (knowledge) and the wing of adab (good manners) to fly. And as a bonus, an ancient friend just shared with me that a lot of salawat (greetings of peace and invocations of praise for Muhammad s.a.w.s.) will bring a nice breeze to help you in your flight to Hu knows where! Rejoice!

3. Hubris 

Tell the minions of hubris that they will not confound me again,

For I have seen the errors of my ways, in the past, 

In the present

And in the future,

............'

Because hubris comes from certainty. And awareness of our mistakes reminds us that certainty is only with God, not us. Be a mureed (follower/student) always!

4. Usury

Tell the warlocks of usury in their towers of greed

That I see through their deceit,

For my God has forbidden to us usury,

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

Because one of the worse apparent blackmagic is the sorcery of usury. And God Almighty and His Prophet (s.a.w.s.) has declared war on usury. Join the winning team!

5. Deceit

Tell the spin-witches of public relations that I will not be distracted,

For there is no brand, no name, no glamour I desire more

Than the presence of God and His pleasure! 

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

Because Allah (s.w.t.) is utterly wonderful beyond words, and His Pleasure is none other than the Prophet Muhammad, Sayyidina Sa'dullah (The Joy of Allah). So be joyful with the most joyful of all mankind! The most joyful of all Creation!

May you have a wonderful (and divinely joyous) last day of Ramadan the Blessed, sunshine.

This read, is a Joyful Book.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE SUPERNOVA OF OPTIMISM - from the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) to His Nation

What are the Muslims frantic about? They are doing just fine
from where I am looking... it is the Quraish that are in trouble!

13. Siege? What Siege? (With Poon)

Someone said to someone else during the siege of Medina,

“O’ brother! We are trapped, we are trapped by the Quraish!”

The someone else replied quietly,

“Trapped? We are not trapped, it is they who are trapped.”

“Whatever do you mean?!

How can they be trapped?

It is we who are encircled!” retorted the someone.

The someone else sighed and nodded.

“O’ my excitable brother, do listen.

Yes, the city of Medina is encircled, I agree.

But it is the Quraish who are trapped.

Trapped between us and the rest of the world!”

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

Win! A winning disposition. A positive reinforcement. A bright look towards life in the face of great adversity. It is all about perspectives. So try to keep up a good and optimistic look towards everything that you are enduring, it will make for a better read in your biography later. After all, "He endured and he overcame" sounds far more riveting than "He wilted, capitulated and laid down to wait for death's bitter kiss..." He he he. 

Muslims! What people are entitled to have this optimism? It is the Muslims, for if they believe what they preach, verily, Allah (s.w.t.) has favoured them to have success not only in the afterlife, but also in the here and now. All they have to do is to follow His edicts and the traditions (Sunnah) of His Beloved, Muhammad Sayyidinna Alamul Huda s.a.w. (the Flag of Guidance). And this is no brash optimism. This is a Divine Warranty that cannot be unmade or unwritten... If the Muslims actually believe and do what they preach.

So take stock of your actions and hidden desires. Make them as close as possible to the ways of the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.). For to try to imitate somone is the best form of flattery, and it is the clearest evidence of that intangible force that drives all of Creation - Divine Love.

A Divine Supernova. The Companions of the Prophet did this with the direct physical support and presence of the Prophet, while we are bereft of such blessings. But our days are part of the End of Time, and if we look into our hearts we can see God's own bright lamp, the divine lantern that shines like the Piercing Star through the darkest of our night sky - Muhammad, Sayyidina al-Najm ath-Thaqib (s.a.w.s). In that divine supernova is born all our hopes and optimism. InsyaAllah (Godwilling), take it for it is your inheritance.

From here onward, despair, hopelessness and all its anxieties are forbidden for you, my friend.

Have a bright beautiful day.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

REASON BEHIND RELIGION & SAYYIDINA AYNUN NA'IM (s.a.w.s.) - the vocabulary of love, knowledge and good manners, and the hidden secularism of wahhabism

Poorer Richer

It is Sunday,

And I am poorer by one day,

For another day of my life has passed,

But I am also richer by one day,

For it is another day less of waiting 

For my fated reunion...

That long-anticipated meeting,

That long-yearned homecoming,

That long-sought peace and contentment,

For this world and this life,

This magnificent tapestry of colours, textures and tastes,

We live and breath God's creation and recreation,

But one day, we shall all run the last lap of this race,

So let no moment go to waste!

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

Don't waste. Every time we are sad, angry, despondent, bitter, envious, despairing or mournful... that is a moment wasted. Every time we are torn or overthrown by some negativity, that is a moment lost. Every time we feel hopeless, that there is no cure to our sorrow, that is another moment lost. In this way, I fear that I have lost many moments in my life. Perhaps years...

Trinity of SDS. I find it strange that educated Muslims often seek happiness, balance and contentment through meditation, travel, exploration and holidays, when the best form of meditation is the SDS... solat (prayers), dzikr (remembrance of Allah s.w.t.) and salawat (praise and veneration of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.s.). The best travel is living your life to the fullest in contemplation of God's wonderous creation which we call our home, the best exploration is tassawuf (contemplation and learning of yourself to learn of God) and the best holiday possible is the haj and the umrah, the pilgrimage and minor pilgrimage beholden and privileged upon all Muslims.

Fountain of Goodness. Muslims often talk of love, beauty, restful contemplation, reflection and intimacy, but all too often their approach is that there is one form of pleasure for the temporal world, and another form of pleasure for the spiritual world. Indeed, this is true but it is also true that pleasure is still pleasure. Knowledge is knowledge, Love is Love and Beauty is Beauty, and whether worldly or spiritual, all such Goodness comes ultimately from the Fountain of Goodness, that is Allah (s.w.t.).

Many Muslims are not to be blamed though. Because they have often been educated and brought up in a Wahhabi-influenced education syllabus and political system, which is in truth a very secular-centric approach to religion -thus to many Muslims, Islam appears to be rigid, dogmatic, illiberal, extreme and just so pack full of rules and strict regulations. Where is the pleasure there? Where is the restfulness there?

Syariat. When some Muslims think of Islam, do they think Islam  is a chore, a pain, a necessary difficulty, a mandatory requirement that they must go through in this life? That the Syaria (Muslim Law) is some difficult burden imposed upon the Muslims by God? But isn't Islam supposed to be the ultimate flowering of Man's regency on this Earth in the name of the King of Humanity that is Allah (s.w.t.)? That eternally sought-for dream, that ancient human quest for happiness, knowledge and good manners? The preservation of the beauty and natural balance of this world, and the entrusting of authority to those who would care for the weak, the poor and the oppressed? The Syaria is not the placing of burden, but its relief, it is not the imposing of difficulties, but the removal of difficulties. Together with the tenets of the Tariqat, Haqiqat and Maqrifat, the Syaria is and has always been the best path.

The Vocabulary of Love. God's own favourite names are ar-Rahman (Most Compassionate) and ar-Rahim (Most Merciful). And there is no flower ever created in the garden of creation, more beautiful, more resonant in its perfume and more yielding in its stewardship of Man than the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) -  Muslims like to say that God is Good, and the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) is Good. But often, they do not comprehend what they are saying and end up spouting sound bites. But in Islam there are no sound bites, artificial protocols or party political broadcasts. There is however the Vocabulary of Love, Ilmu and Adab (Knowledge and good manners), and that is something Muslims must attend to, lest they forget the reason behind their religion.

So today is as good a day to learn the Vocabulary. And one of my firm favourite is learning the beautiful names of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.) Here is one, ...Sayyidina Aynun Na'im s.a.w.s. Meaning 'The Spring of Bliss'. 

Have a blissful Sunday, sunshine.

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

The Economics of God, the Universe and the Language of Love

I Am Offering Me

I have a river,

And it is cleaving its way

From Me to you,

I have an ocean

And it is lapping on your shore,

Surrounding you with My mercy

And the richness of My generosity,

I have a sky

And it shelters you,

And when it rains,

Beauty blooms in your earth,

Knowledge flowers in your garden

And you are dressed in Adab,

I have Me,

And I am the Unique One

Beyond your idea of uniqueness,

Incomparable am I

Beyond your little idea of comparisons,

And I offer Myself to you.

Lo, o' inventors amongst you mortals!

Who of you have offered yourselves

To that which you have created?!

None but Me! None but Me!

All praise to Me! All love to Me!

For I am the One who returns

What His creation gives

In infinite numbers

And in infinite ways!

How can you despair?

O’ my servants,

Believe!

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

Scarcity. In economics, we are taught that scarcity equals value. And the more scarce the resource the more valuable and desirable it becomes. Thus a grain of rice is more valuable than a blade of grass. Emerald is more desirable than turquoise. And copper is more valuable than iron. 

Demand. And a resource becomes of greater value if it can be put to some useful use. And this happens as Mankind's knowledge of its elements and utility grows. Thus even a grain of sand of little worth suddenly becomes valuable to make glass and in the manufacturing of silicon chips, and even in the reclamation of land from the sea. 

Multiples. But everything in Creation is created in multiples, as a sign of divine generosity. Gold is scarce but there is gold still to be mined. Oil is scarce but there is still oil yet to be discovered. Even the Sun, which some pagans used to believe to be only one, is now known to be just a medium-size star of a rather small solar system in a galaxy among billions of galaxies. The richness of the Creator, and His unstinting generosity is apparent for those who would contemplate.

Left to our own devices, we could already be immensely happy with the fruits of the universe. But God is not just offering the Sun, the Earth, the sea and all their provisions to humanity...

The Heavens. Above all the mortal creation of this world, God has also promised the hereafter with its eternal heavens and angels and divine gardens of pleasure. Unimaginable palaces and rivers of milk and honey coursing through the trees of light and fountains of holy compassion. But wait. God is not done yet.

Me. For God is offering God to you, His very Self to His beloved creation. The Unique One to be known. The Absolute One to be understood, to be praised and to be worshiped. It is to Him that all analogies, metaphors and parables of life would lead the seeker towards. And it is cast in a net of infinite compassion, in a sea of infinite mercy... drawn through the divine veil as how the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s) on the his night journey of al-Isra' wal-Mi'raj left the arch-Angel Gabriel and passed from even the vision of the arch-angels themselves into the divine presence of God.

Thus, what ails you o' humanity? What fear do you hide in the well of your spirit when the only fear you must feel is to become cold and indifferent to Love. For above all else, God is ever speaking to us in the Language of Love. This is self-evident. 

So do not despair, sunshine. Believe.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Tragedies and Tribulations, Happiness and Successes - attachment, detachment and God

The Angel is looking on Mankind, and wearily shaking its head thinking,
"Oh what has become of thee, Children of Adam and Eve...?"

1.      No loss, no win

Truth is come,

Will the heart withstand?

In the fastness of its hallowed pasture

Truth is here as a storm of hailstones,

As a dry and bitter drought,

Assailing your home,

Or whether Truth is here

As the teardrop of angels

In the morning rain?

Do we not always struggle in vain?

Looking to Truth as

Boon or bane?

When in truth, Truth is Truth

In whatever guise Truth

May come in,

And to surrender is to accept

That there is, in truth,

No loss, no win.

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

It is difficult not to consider winning or losing when in each moment of our lives we are torn between both emotions. Why, even some Angels of God applaud our victories and wearily shake their heads at our losses. 

But of course, the heavenly heralds only look unto our spiritual state, and how we respond to every twist and turn of fate, as truth is revealed, manifested in something 'good' for us, or something 'bad'.

Yesterday, I wrote that the human ego is a complex creature. And it is indeed complex because the very nature of this physical world which motivates and propels us towards some spiritual enlightenment. And the ego will take its share and dominate us whether we are facing tragedy and tribulation or happiness and success. Wherever the Angels may be, they only shake their heads when they see our natural fitrah (essence) towards goodness being clouded or totally swept aside by our ego. Out goes our happiness and generosity, and in comes our sorrow and selfishness.

I have been a little unbalanced of late. Which means that my own ego has  supplanted my heart as the guiding light. So I seek for solace in writing this to you, sunshine. And hoping that the Most Benevolent God, Lord of the Angels, shall notice and give me succour and aid in this times of my unhappiness. My 8 year old son notices it, I think, and Heche certainly does. I hope to ride my ship through this troubled sea and find calm waters once again. For however well I write these prose, I think I am losing and lost... And I am asking for help from Him, and from His Beloved Prophet, Muhammad ibn Abdullah (pbuh) to guide me.

Ameen.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way