LEARNING FROM HAPPY DOGS - don't be a postman-chasing, vet-biting malevolent cur. Be a servant and be happy!

Let us be like happy dogs!

Human beings are more like dogs

Than some are willing to accept,

Just like dogs, we are happiest

When we have a master to serve.

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

In one of James Herriot's dog stories, he recounts how, as a Yorkshire veterinarian he had to deal with a pair of small dogs owned by a couple. The problem is that the dogs are an absolute menace, out of control, bossy and always looking to give a nasty nip at the ankles or hands of unsuspecting postmen or veterinarians. 

While attending to them, the vet noticed how the husband and wife molly-coddled the two dogs in the most saccharine and sentimental manner. That is fine, but when the dogs misbehaved, they appear to take no notice and allowed the animals to think that they can misbehave and act as they please. So the dogs became the masters of the house. 

But just because the dogs ruled the home, it does not mean that they are happy, observed the good vet. In fact, these dogs were much more natural and happier when they first arrived in the household, but the 'tolerant' and 'openminded' nature of their owners turned them from nice, good dogs to malicious, postmen-chasing curs. 

We humans are like that, I think. We need some centre, some focus of service and duty to align our life to the best that we can be. And perhaps there is no more natural essence of a soul than to be a blessed servant of the Soul-maker, the Creator, a.k.a. God Almighty. That we might be of some service to mankind, to animals, and to all of Creation. But when we lose our  bearing, when we forget that we are meant to be servants and not bosses, we open humanity's door to oppression, tyranny, exploitation and violence. Just like those damn dogs. And just like the dogs, we are actually not even happy being so mean.

So my friend says, "Seek happiness, seek servanthood!" And I cannot agree more with him.

Woof Woof!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

- Notrumi Embun, 22nd June 2014

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE ENEMY, THE DOG, THE PIG AND THE RELIGION ... ending the illusion of 'religion'

What is Religion?

Things took a turn for the bad

When the Muslims took what they had,

The faith and the way that Muhammad brought,

And shoehorned Islam into their limited conception of

Religion and God.

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

Think about it, sunshine. There is no comparable religious study program of Islam and any other religion. For the truth is Islam encompasses everything. It is the tea that you drink, the charity that you do, the sin that you commit, the trust that you keep, the friendship that you have betrayed, the life that you live, and the love that you have faithfully kept or lost. For God has said that He knows your all, your past and future deeds, your black and white and grey. Islam of the Prophet Muhammad (saws) is a key to the infinite, and as such cannot be judged in finite empirical methods. 

Often, we repeat similar sentiments when we say, "Oh... Islam is not merely a religion. It is our way of life!". But the truth is we are merely parroting some preacher man. For in our conduct, in our prejudices and delusions of humility and obedience, we have still far, far, far to go in understanding and keeping to the Islam and Sunnah (traditions) of Nabi Muhammad (saws). Sad that many of us still cling to the intoxication that we somehow deserve Islam and the Prophet of Islam - that we have better rights than the pig in the sty, than the dog in the gutter... may Allah (swt) save us from this foolish 'piety'!

The Islamic Pig

You have not completed your faith 

Until you can look at the lowly dog, 

The dirty, stinky pig, 

The Devil and your worst enemy,

And perceive the Islam

In their action and purpose

Of their creation.

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

Dwell on this, my love. For one day, you may find me reprehensible, a liar and a wretched fool. And I hope that on that day, you will still perceive the Islam in me.

Have a hopeful beautiful Sunday.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

- Notrumi Embun, 25th May 2014.

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

HE HU NEVER LETS US SINNERS DOWN - The Ramadan Story, Part 12

Uh oh. That's a lot of candles!

Numbers. Numbers are important. Especially to God, for it is through bearing witness to His Absolute Oneness and Utter Uniqueness (which is even beyond our bare estimation of what is common and what is unique), that makes you a believer in Him, in our One God. What makes you on the way to be a Muslim (for it is of course a journey), is to bear witness that Muhammad bin Abdullah (s.a.w.s.), is His Messenger.  

Clingy. Numbers are important to me too. Especially yesterday, when I crossed the threshold of 42 into the brand new me of 43 years old. I don't know why, but since hitting 40 I feel like time is accelerating, and I am being flung across the time-space continuum when I am still barely getting over not being a 30-something. Dismayed by the ever increasing numbers of candles on my birthday cake, I am becoming more and more attached to the number One, a.k.a. Allah (s.w.t.), the Most Loving, Most Assuring One. Perhaps not just attached... perhaps even clingy... Oh God! Don't leave me to these distracting and confusing numbers! 

Clingy. You get this way with age. He he he.

One. But numbers can also be good fun (and a good read). For instance, do you know that the number of words that make up The Hobbit bestseller by J.R.R. Tolkien? It is 95,694 words according to Wiki.Answers.Com. And from this same source, I also found out that the number of pages of The Hobbit depends on what edition you have, but they tend to be somewhere in the range of 270 to 330 pages. The reason why I am sharing with you this oh-so-interesting information (wait, wait, don't fall asleep yet!) is because last night Heche gave me my birthday present. It was the entire book printed on a single poster. For a Lord of the Rings acolyte, this is considered Tolkien-nirvana.

You can't read it from this small jpeg, but it's all there... the entire book. The poster is jusr
below 4 feet tall and more than 2 feet wide I reckon. When framed it must be mounted
on a wall in a library. And just when I was thinking of ending my tenancy at the Hermitage in
the Sky, Heche gives me a reason to stay on. There is a library, you see, in the Hermitage.

One But Any Number and Beyond Infinity. We had my (second) birthday dinner at my neighbourhood Mamak (Indian-Muslim) restaurant which is well known more for its location and service than its food or drink (I am being honest here). It is a bare spartan establishment, but I have had many a cuppa there and for this birthday I just wanted something friendly and familiar. So myself, Heche, Fifi, Efa and Kamarul purchased some food from the Ramadan Bazaar and enjoyed a cheerful break-fast there, thanks to the flexible interpretation of the no-outside-food rule by Iqbal the manager. So you see, the number 6 made me very happy yesterday too. For God is indeed the One, but when it comes to blessings, His measure is any number and beyond infinity.

HU. Allah (s.w.t.) is Hu (He). And Hu is He Hu never lets us down... masyaAllah, even if I am just a dog barking at the door of the Master.

Woof Woof!

That is sinner talk to mean "Right now I am simply happy. Thank you."

I was alone in the rain. Then You came and said You were my Friend.

Have a lovely day today, sunshine, and while you are at it, have a nice life too. For only God can truly compensate you for finding a place in your heart for an incorrigible sinner like me. Woof woof!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

A DOG'S TALE

"And where did you wander off to just now?"
The dervish asked me.

Going, Coming and Waiting

I would not be wandering

If God did not put the wanderlust in me,

I would not be asking

If God did not put the question in me,

I would not be thirsty for understanding,

If God did not send a thirst in my heart,

I would not be me, 

I would be something totally different,

Had God not touched my life

Through ever changing conditions...

Like the ebb of the tide of the ocean

Like the barking of my companion,

Like the stars in its countless constellations,

I am moved and I am stayed,

Going when I am told to go,

Coming when I am told to come,

Waiting when I am told to wait.

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

A Dog's Tale, I often sketch the picture of a wandering dervish. And nowadays he is often accompanied by a dog. If you ask me whether the pictures are in fact autobiographical, I must confess that it is. For I am the dog in the picture.

Sometimes I wish the dervish would put a leash on me, but he wouldn't. "For you must be with me because you want to be with me..."

I do, I really do, but sometimes I just get distracted and wander off, smelling a cat nearby or chasing after butterflies and squirrels.

I do that a lot, even at my age. But I am still with the dervish, after all these years...

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Everything is a Blessing. Even Forgetfulness - and an observation of a dog by a dog

I call him Katmir, after the loyal dog of the Seven Sleepers as
mentioned in the Holy Quran.

A Dog. Am I better than this dog? He's a couple of years old, born from a stray bitch that is also a familiar face around my office. Unlike some human-friendly dogs, he was not a family pet and then abandoned. But he has adopted the denizens of the Chinese kopitiam (coffeehouse) under my office, and they have adopted him. He stays close to the shop entrance, waiting for scraps and since the proprietor serves a myriad of dishes, he gets a pretty varied diet. A gentle tail-wagging creature, he often sits at the entrance of my office but would get out of the way anytime I come through. He is a good dog, he is. And I think he is a better dog than me.

Forgetfulness. A screeching hectoring voice came over the p.a. system of the mosque last Friday. It was one of those pre-Friday prayers tazkirah (mini-sermon, I guess...). I don't like screeching hectoring anything at the mosque so I grumble quietly under my breath, 'Bisingnye!' (Why so loud!). But as the ustaz (religious teacher) continued, I found his form and repartee quite engaging and funny. I found most interesting was his saying that we should not feel too bad if we forget. For as in everything that God has given to humanity, even this apparent weakness of forgetfulness is a divine gift. And as someone who beats his own head up a lot for forgetting (forgetting my car keys, forgetting my wallet, forgetting my reason... when I am in love), I was interested to hear what further things he had to say about my forgetfulness...

"God gave Mankind forgetfulness so He can have an excuse to forgive you, my friends!" the ustaz said. "After all, we forget to pray sometimes, we forget to fast and all sorts of promises that we made to God... in fact we do it all the time! If we were like Angels, made perfect in remembrance, we would be unpardonable. But we are not made thus, we are made to forget all manner of things... our tax returns, our wife's birthday and even our anniversary. So God who made us is best aware of our weakness and is most forgiving to us. But our wives? He he he... wives are not so forgiving. 

So it is okay if you forget somethings sometimes. But of course, you should not forget everything! And definitely not your wife's  birthday!"

Have a lovely Sunday, sunshine. I woke up this morning with a bright clear head. I hope you did too.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

True Love and the Faithfulness of Dogs

True Love

True love is casting aside,

All pretense and all preconception,

Discarding all your mask and deception,

Throwing away all your thoughts of wisdom,

Setting aside all desire for wealth or station,

And to be instead the dog at the master’s door,

Loyal and attentive, quick to obey,

Thus Katmir stayed true to

The Sleepers of the Cave,

Day after day after

Many, many 

Doggy

Days.

………………………..

I wanted to begin this posting with a cautious advice – “So, choose your true love well!” But the simple truth of things is that in this Reality it is not we who choose true love, but True Love Who chooses us. True Love being God Almighty.

Reference to Katmir the Dog is in reference to the Biblical / Quranic story of the Sleepers of the Cave and the faithful hound. His story was covered previously in 'The Holy Quran, Mr. Ikhlas and Katmir the Dog - Man's Best Friend '(Click Here to read).

True Love has chosen to create and honour mankind. So truth be told, we are ALL loved. It is often our own foolishness and very human nature to err that builds obstacles and walls to our perception of True Love.

So our job today is to set aside the walls and obstacles between our perception and God. And to do so with patience and fortitude. And to sometimes set aside our own preconceptions of what religion is, what God is and the role the Prophet(pbuh) plays in our personal lives. This is not necessarily easy, especially for sinners like me. But if Katmir can be good, why can’t we?

And he is just a dog! Perhaps we should learn more from dogs... Click Here to read 'Seven Reasons why Dogs are like Saints - Near Sibu 2011 Part 2.'

"Learn from dogs? Never have I heard such a preposterous idea!" comments Moses the Cat.
But he is bias. Like all creatures and animals, there is much to learn from dogs.

Have a lovely Monday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Shepherds of God, Proxies of the Prophet - of saints, shepherds, sheepdogs and sheep (that's us, sunshine)

Monologue of the Lost Sheep

Lovely heather! Lovely berries!

See where my tastes take me!

Up, and up, and up,

Higher and higher

And higher still, until... oh dear!

Where is the shepherd

and were is the sheepdog

To protect me?!

Oh dear, now do I hear

The howling of wolves!

Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!

Lovely heather! Lovely berries!

Perhaps there is a way down from here!

But wait, what is that I hear?

Katmir the dog is near!

And if Katmir is coming

Surely my shepherd

Is not far behind

And following!

He has no fear!

He has no

Fear!

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

When Moses visited Jordan recently he saw sheep high up in the highlands, and some were prancing up sheer cliff faces, while the sheepdogs barked and the shepherd looked on protectively. "Wow... this must be how shepherding was like in the olden days of the prophets..."

The days of the prophets are over (well, mysterious Khidr is still doing his thing, I am told), but with the birth and passing of the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad (pbuh), no more prophets shall be born to Earth.

But that does not mean that we are without shepherds. Because just like the sheep we like to eat, we too like to wander according to our own devices, we get lost and we get stuck on some high mountain side and finding ourselves helpless, we also bleat like sheep... "Help us, God! Help us, God!"

Then the shepherd will come trailing in our wake, locate our trembling form, frightened for dear life at the cries and howling of the wolves, and rescue us from doom. That is what saints do, you see. And although no new prophets have been born, saints are very much kicking around and playing an important role in this world - as Shepherds of God, and Proxies of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).

Have a jolly day, sunshine. And if you fear the wolves, call for a saint. He will find you, however lost you are and whither your indiscretions have led you.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Courtesan, the Dog and God's Infinite Forest of Mercy - Prose of Ramadhan Part 56

Help me?

248. Always Looking

God is always looking

For an excuse

To save you.

Always looking to find

Means and ways

To justify your salvation.

It is funny how some people

Are hateful of this attribute,

Calling such things

Capricious.

Frankly, I believe

That if anyone has

The right to be Capricious,

It is God.

(But) I call Him not that,

I call Him Generous!

God! I am calling you Generous!

The above prose was recorded upon a whim and a reflection of an old Muslim tale. In that story a famous courtesan (prostitute) was at the well when she noticed a thirsty and sickly dog. Everyone ignored the mongrel but she was moved by its suffering, so without any container available, she undid her shoe and poured some water into it. She then brought the water to the dog which it lapped thankfully. Based upon that single act of kindness, the courtesan was forgiven of all her sins and when she passed away some time later, she was brought to the Kingdom of God.

I think it is a beautiful story. I don't understand why some people hate such stories, saying this is all a load of lies. Why, I can still hear their protestations ringing in my ear - "How can a prostitute, unerringly sinning all her life be saved by that single gesture of kindness. She deserved punishment surely, not the reward of a heavenly existence for all eternity! This is not fair! I worked so hard at being good and avoiding sins! This is just typical of the Sufi's la-di-da and rudderless approach to religion!"

Yes, they are right. It is typical of Sufis. For it is their tradition to praise a Lord Most Generous and Compassionate - a Lord unparalleled in His Mercy and unconditioned by mankind's pathetic counting of good deeds and bad deeds. God is after all, very different from mankind. So I do not understand how these people say that they worship God who is the Absolute One and Unique, when again and again, they transpose their own limitations and lack of compassion unto God who is by His own name the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate.

If you see the edge of God's Forest of Mercy,
quickly, run back in! For there is no edge
to His Mercy and you are being deceived
By your own hubris.

Oh well... it is their loss, not yours. Right, sunshine?

Pax Taufiqa.