It is Okay to be Naive - bowing before the Greatest Good and the Greatest Truth

Whoever said that a throne of melted-down swords would be comfortable?
My hernia is killing me!

18. Kingly glory, kingly despair

If everyone are kings,

There are, in truth, no kings,

But slaves.

Kings craving queens greedy

And kingdom castles fair,

Ignorant that,

In kingly glory

Is crowned

Kingly despair.

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Game of Thrones. Poor Ned Stark. If you are a loyal fan of the TV fantasy mini-series 'The Game of Thrones' you would see plentiful reasons why being a King or a Lord or a Baron would suck big time. Oh yes, you will get to lord over your peasants and minions, but it is only until another King, Lord or Baron peers across the garden fence and wonders, "Saaay... them land and riches look mighty good to me."

The Young Turks. There are not many Kings, Lords or Barons nowadays in the world. Now there is Democracy which purports to be the best solution for a human society. And there is no more iconic symbol of Democracy than the U.S. of A. But any system is only as good as the people who works it. I learn a lot about America and its politics from the Young Turks channel on YouTube. It is the biggest internet news site with millions of hits.

Atheism and Hubris. It is also an atheist-centric show, and oh how they poke fun of many religions, mainly Christianity with Islam coming a close second. But they are not rabid religion-haters, although I guess it is hard for them sometimes to maintain a balanced view towards religion. To be fair, they do try to filter between the 'good' Christian teachings and the 'bad' Christian teachings. Same thing goes to Islam, Hinduism and other religions of the world. At other times, the condescending tone of 'we know better' comes out into the open, and I just sigh a little.

Democracy in the U.S. of A. I am talking about the Young Turks again (See some earlier postings like 'The West and the Irrationality of Rationalism" and "The Young Turks and the Miracles") because in a recent video upload, Cenk (the big boss of the TYT) was despairing on camera about the state of American democracy because of the U.S. track records on torture. And how many people under the previous Bush administration who authorised water-boarding, torture and 'rendition flights' are happily walking freely on the streets of America - simply because President A-Change-You-Can-Believe-In Obama wants to look forward and not backwards. But lastly, Cenk admitted that he still believes in the idea of America, a liberal, progressive and strong democracy, even if people would call him naive. See video link below.

. How are we any different? Well, that is the same view all believers in all religion have. There will always be bad apples in the barrel, but we still believe in the Barrel of God. And we still believe in the holy scriptures brought down by His Prophets, though there may be some who misunderstand or places different priorities in the faith to the point that their actions, meant to 'defend the faith' ultimately destroys their own faith. Why is religion perceived in any different way? Exchange the word 'idea' with 'religion' and it turns out that we are all the same, whether you believe in God or you don't. .

We all have our share of bad apples. How are you any different from us?

. I don't want to be a democrat, and I don't want to be a King. I just wanna be me, a naive and error-prone man stumbling his way towards some meaningful understanding and experience of servanthood, to God and to Mankind. This is what Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) is teaching us.

So it is okay to be naive for we are all weak servants to the Splendid Truth of God - Love, Beauty, Compassion and Mercy.

Have a lovely day, sunshine. However naive!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Middle Path and His Nation - Muhammad(pbuh), Moderation and Mummies!

The You, The Me, The Space in Between

I am out of the me,

But neither am I in the you,

I am in between me and you,

That space, that nothingness that

Both separates and unites

Me and you.

In this way, I hope to

Be less interested in me

And more interested in you.

And how happy am I to find

That you too are here with me,

In the space between me and you

United as how only nothingness can unite…

Between two mirrors of creation

There is that path most pleasing to the Creator...

The Middle Path and His Nation

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MUHAMMAD. The Prophet(pbuh) said that his way is the middle way, the middle path, and such is also the way for his Nation. It is the way of moderation and clarity, neither extreme nor lethargic, neither too hard nor too soft, neither left wing nor right wing, neither conservative nor liberal, neither reactionary nor progressive.

We are the ultimate old fuddy-duddy driver on the middle lane of the highway. Neither breaking the speed-limit nor crawling snail-like on the road of life. Not very interesting perhaps but setting the average speed of this world by our sheer numbers and obtuseness. He he he.

MUMMIES AND GOD. Sensibility and reasonableness are vulgar words to people (them politicians and preachers) who wants to 'change' the world, to 'reform' religion, to 'develop' the people. But it is these values that come to anyone who would stop chasing this world and their egos for just one second and consider the past, the presence and the future. Even the most dogmatic ideologues, and the most spirited preacher, though seduced by their own knowledge will listen to their own mothers. And as you know, mothers are fountains of that great virtue of stop-think-and-be-sensible. It is not the sort of wisdom you can earn in a university or polytechnic. It is the wisdom given direct by God for all mothers who 'bertarung dengan maut' (wrestles with death) to bring forth unto this world her child - and the deep incomprehensible love and attachment that arises from such conflict. Oh, we fathers can only conjecture... but the truth is the love of mothers for their children is a secret treasure of God, a veiled intimacy between the Nation of Eve and the Creator.

Listen and obey your mothers, the Prophet said. He knew, you see...

What a little walk this has been - from moderation to mothers and back to the Prophet. Thank you for accompanying me, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Iron Lady and the Water of our Soul - Movie Review, 8 out of 10

AN OSCAR! Well, kudos to Meryl Streep for her Oscar win recently. I viewed the Iron Lady over last weekend, and I think she nailed the portrayal of Margaret Thatcher spot on. I should know because over the past months I have been viewing hours upon hours of documentary about the First Woman Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. And I have read, and re-read John Campbell's biography of Maggie entitled Volume 1: The Grocer's Daughter and followed by Volume 2: The Iron Lady.

THE BEGINNING. Firstly, I think it is a pretty awesome movie, and it is hard to critic any part of Streep's performance as the dogged and determined Maggie. She was the first of the conservative brand of 'conviction politician', unafraid to face down the unions and topple any sacred cows inherited from the earlier brand of paternal conservatism. There was not much paternalism (or maternalism) coming with her victorious entry into No.10 Downing Street.

OVERVIEW. The movie covered all the major turning points in Maggie's political life. From her adoption as a candidate for Finchley as the pretty (but modest) uber frau. To her surprising victory over Edward Heath to take over leadership of the Tory party, and of course her General Election win to bring B&NE its first woman Prime Minister. The movie moved pretty fast to the Falklands War, the IRA bombing of the Brighton Hotel, the defeat of the striking coalminers, her external problems with Britain's European allies, the Poll Tax and finally, the successful conspiracy of 'the men in grey' to topple one of their strongest but most divisive Prime Minister in the Twentieth century.

Having watched numerous news items and documentary on British politics, and especially the Thatcher years, I find little to fault Streep's rendition of Margaret Thatcher. And if you think that Maggie was quite pretty, especially in her younger days, you are not wrong. 

Critique. I am not a fan of a lot of what Margaret Thatcher did. I certainly do not like her conversion to the Capitalism of Hayek and the Monetarism of Milton Friedman. I find both symbiotic ideologies repugnant and as a dogma they fail to address the humanist and social responsibility which binds us all together into a community. The assumptions about human nature made in these socio-economic theories are breathtakingly short-sighted. But then again, who am I to question her convictions? She did by her lights what she thought right for her country, fair enough.

I found the film's portrayal of her doddering old age, with the absence of her loyal husband, Denis, both sweet and touching. I like movies that show people to be human, vulnerable and weak. For no matter how much you may disagree with another person's views, we are still human beings in need of each other always. To feel, to empathize and to understand. I am giving this movie an 8 out of 10.

If you would like to know more about Thatcher's political history, you cannot do much better than watch these BBC documentaries; Portillo on Thatcher (Click Here) and Thatcher: The Downing Street Years (Click Here). They will flesh out some of the stories barely covered in the film due to time constraint.

But before I finally leave the Iron Lady with you, I would like to quote a line of Maggie's from the film, which I think would be an ornate gem in any Sufi tale. I will take this as a parting gift, a final caveat - be careful what we let into the well of our mind, less it spoil the waters of our soul...

Watch your thoughts, for they become words,

Watch your words, for they become actions,

Watch your actions, for they become habits,

Watch your habits, for they become your character,

And watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

Have a thoughtful Sunday, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Camel in the Bamboo Forest - Poetry and Politics

The Camel Saloon asked that we host a link to The Bamboo Forest, a poetry blog sympathetic to Zhu Yufu, a dissident Chinese poet currently detained by the Beijing authorities. Although this blog is not a political blog, nor does it espouse the democratic ideal, I have agreed. Because... you know, poets gotta stick together.

Nothing ought to be viewed in isolation, and caution should be exercised in judgment of any man. I do not know much of Zhu Yufu, his motivation and ideal, his history and present incarceration. However, one should not be jailed merely due to one's poetry...  

Because if that was indeed the case, this sinner would have been apprehended years ago by the police for a breach of the Trade Description Act (Mr. Police: You call that poetry!? I have read better prose in my DVD manual), and for my illegal impersonation of a poet (Mr. Police: If you are really a poet, where is your beret?).

He wears a beret. AND he smokes Gitanes. He is a poet. 

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

At the Conference of the Earnest I Found the Religion of Hubris

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CONFERENCE OF THE EARNEST. I spied upon a congregation of earnest people. Some of them looked slick and oily, others bright and sparkly like models in a skin whitening advertisement. Some were bearded and wore turbans, others wore the Jewish skullcap. Some looked like Christian bishops, and amongst the crowd I saw Mullahs with AK-47 strapped on their backs. There were also mystics, political lobbyists and cult leaders. They were all holding onto their respective holy books for dear life. A lot of them were shouting, and in the back, I could see a crowd of young ones, clamouring “Jihad! Crusade! Jihad! Crusade! The Dajjal! Red Heifer! Democracy! Capitalism! Jerusalem! Unity! Purity! Lies! Death! Eternal Life! Gog and Magog!” In a corner all to their own were priests of ideologies and dogmas in fevered debates - the Darwinists, Capitalists, Communists, Socialists, and all the other ‘-ists’ that your mind can google.

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NEMESIS OF MANKIND. On the pulpit was a man with white hair and he was raising the crowd’s spirit commanding, “We must fight for our religion! We must die for God! For Freedom! For Equal Rights! We must defend ……… (Well, just fill the blank space with whatever religion / ideology you want – it doesn’t matter really). Scurrying between the heaving mass of capitalist crusaders, armed bigots, and fuzzy muhajideens were a couple of nemesis of mankind – I recognize them, they were Uncertainty, Envy and Anger, unmasked and looking like pubescent trolls. They looked happy.

I CATCH ENVY. Behind the curtains I ducked, waiting for my chance. Then one of the little troll ran pass by and I managed to catch it by its collar. It was Envy. It looked hideous. It had hair but the colour is never the same, it had a face, but it changed every second, its shape shifting according to men’s insatiable and ever-changing desire and greed.

THE REAL RELIGION. I asked it, “What is this place?! Who are all these people? Envy smirked and said, “Look around, Taufiq. They are people who are adepts in the forms of their religion or beliefs – See, that is a big time Rabbi, and there you see an Evangelical TV star, and look, hey, that’s a world famous Jihadi! And I think we even have a Monetarist here somewhere…”

This evil imp wasn’t answering my question right. “Yes, yes, but what are they all doing here?”

Envy hissed, barring sharp carnivorous fangs, “They worship in their religion here.”

“What religion? All religions and ideologies are represented here!”, I argued.

“Bah! That is only the religion of their outer form, pet. The creed that they are truly following is the Religion of Hubris.”

Then smiling, Envy asked me, “Are you an intruder here, Taufiq, or are you here by SPECIAL invitation?”

Ouch. I immediately dropped Envy and ran for dear life.

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

How many times have we become the unwitting acolytes in the Religion of Hubris? May we all be guided by our conscience and our heart, elevated and unsullied by hubris. It is not an easy task, but in you I hope to find my guide and support - My brothers and sisters in the Religion of the Conscience, the Religion of Love. The most delicate and beautiful manifestation of our respective faiths, whatever it may be.

Have a good hubris-free day, Sunshine!

Pax Taufiqa.

Meritocracy, Democracy, Moderation, Revolution and the Conscience

NOT REALLY MERITOCRACY. Meritocracy can lead to elitism and perpetuate hidden prejudices, and inevitably it will be the Rule of the Few over the Many. Yet, we know that not all of the elites are right. But without meritocracy, the country would fall into disrepair and its worth will decline. So we need some level of meritocracy..
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NOT REALLY DEMOCRACY. Democracy can lead to mediocrity and perpetuate hidden weaknesses, and inevitably it will be the Rule of the Many over the Few. But the majority may be wrong. Yet, without democracy, people will be oppressed, so we need some form of democracy in the country.

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MODERATION. I believe whole-heartedly in neither meritocracy or democracy. I believe in moderation – Not the elitism of Capitalism, not the mediocrity of Democracy, not the poverty of Communism, and certainly not the extremity of revolutions of any ideology.

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NOT REVOLUTION. For I believe that revolution is not the highest pinnacle of human endeavour – such honour, at least to my mind, being reserved to Moderation. To be moderate when challenged by falsehood, arrogance and ignorance. To be merciful when the rabble is baying for blood, to be circumspect when the technocrats are proposing cuts in education and health, to be sensible though dogged by Priests and Lobbyists with their prescription of a Clean Slate for society, ergo – to be Moderate in all that we endeavour to pursue and achieve. Such is the ethics that my conscience is ever trying to teach me.

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MUHAMMAD. So help me, my friends, to be one of the Nation of the Middle Way – the Nation of Moderation, the Nation of Muhammad – Sanctified Soul of Purity, Divine Countenance of Delicacy, the Chosen Vessel of Mercy – Most sublime and graceful in thought, action and conscience. I am not worthy to utter his name, though I named my son after him, I am not worthy to write his name, though I write it again and again. Such is the way of love – To seek something, someone greater, better than yourself. May we find the path to the halo of greatness, though we ourselves are not great. Amen.

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Have a wonderful Monday, sunshine.

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Pax Taufiqa.

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Btw, awesome book this. Read it please...