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 Lord, The Shepherd and the Sheep

The Lord, The Shepherd and the Sheep

I was alone with my sheep,

In the high cliffs by the sea,

The fire was slowly dying,

Its embers glowing like rubies,

The dogs were resting quietly

And all was deathly silent...

When suddenly, feeling so lonely,

I asked nobody in particular,

“Oh Lord… will only the sheep

And my dogs keep me company?

If I die here, who will wash me

Pray over me and bury me?”

Not long thereafter

I heard an answer,

“Do not worry, I will keep you company…

And If you are to die now,

I shall send My angels to wash your body,

Pray over you and bury you

With honour and mercy.”

………………………………..

It appears that when God wants to appoint a Prophet, one of the more common qualification is - "Must have experience herding sheep." Many prophets, at one time or the other, were shepherds. This experience in handling sheep and goat are useful because they are one of the most difficult animals to care for. They will get up trees and refuse to come down until they have had their fill of the succulent leaves. When you are not watching they will climb right up to a precipice and get stuck, expecting you to rescue them. Often the sheep would innocently wander into a wolf's territory. They will eat whatever they want and sometimes get sick with over-eating the berries. In other words, they are almost as difficult to handle as Mankind. I bet Prophets of old would look over their human flock and reminisce about their youthful days, out for weeks on end with the sheepkind, and thinking "Oh boy... to think I thought that was difficult!"

No Shepherd? No problem! No pesky dogs? No problem!
Waaait a minute... is that wolves I hear?

Going back to the old traditional ways of our ancestors, some of my friends have started rearing a couple of cows and dozens of goats in their land. It is not an easy job. Feeding them and mucking out early in the morning, while the rest of us are just getting up. Checking for diseases and having to crouch in the daily back-breaking chore of milking. But they do not complain and appear to enjoy working with the animals. 

As Muhammad Habibullah (saw) is the Seal of the Prophets, there are no more prophets expected in the future. But I am told that the Veterinary Science is not exactly an area that young people are falling over themselves to study. So perhaps the Universities and Colleges should advertise their farming courses this way - "Qualify yourself as a Prophet! Study Sheep/Goat care, breeding and rearing!"

Hehehe.

'Tis a lovely Sunday and in a couple of hours time, my mother's Tahlil (traditional prayers for the deceased) will begin, and thereafter we shall have a nice lunch. If you are around Bukit Damansara, sunshine, do drop in.

Well, here is Arbayah herself, almost 30 years ago, with her own precious flock of sheep.
Alas, my mother won't be around for her tahlil (obviously). But we will not allow
this tiny technical detail to deter us from connecting with her living memories.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE SHEEP HAS LOST THE SHEPHERD, BUT THE SHEPHERD HAS NOT LOST HIS SHEEP

Finding Muhammad
If you cannot find Muhammad,
How will you ever find yourself?

And if you do not find yourself,
How will you ever find Muhammad?

But help is at hand,
From who else but him…?

Even if my nation has lost me,
I have not lost my nation.

I took my journal entitled ‘Candy from the Ahad Candy Store’ home (Ahad being one of the names of God meaning, (to paraphrase some definitions) the infinite limitless one, an utterly unique singularity unfragmented into parts, beyond our mortal concept of one and oneness). And before sleeping I came across the above prose.

‘Even if my nation has lost me.’ And more than a year has passed since I recorded the prose, and the feeling which animated the words is truer now than ever. Each passing day has brought terrible news in the media, as some Muslims declare war on practically everyone else, while other Muslims have declared war on each other. And often they do so in the name of Islam, and for each example I turn away from their rabid violence and mindless slaughter, for what they do I cannot countenance and cannot agree with.

If it appears that I am a liberal moderate progressive Muslim, I really don't think I am such a Muslim. Indeed, I worry about even presuming my faith because at this juncture in my life, I am just endeavouring to be decent, and being a Muslim, while it is my intention, is in a far distant beautiful horizon. It is not for me to say with certainty what I am (Hu knows? Hehehe - old Sufi joke 'Hu' means 'He' in Arabic) – What I am prepared to declare with certainty (yakin) is that God is Most Compassionate and Most Merciful, and that God had declared this gentleman called Muhammad as His Messenger and Mercy to the Worlds. As for me, you must accept me as a sinner, warts and all. I wish I had a better me to present to you, sunshine, but I don’t. So I am thankful that you can accept me as I am.

‘I have not lost my nation.’ It is my greatest joy to believe in this statement. And the witnesses that have bore witness to this truth of Prophetic Deliverance comes from all sorts of background, faith, nationality, race and ice-cream preferences. These are men and women I have come across in my life, who have chosen to live their lives guided by their heart and their conscience, remaking this sometimes-awful world in the mould of their hearts. And even if they believe in some other name for the Prophetic Fitrah (essence / character), it is my cherished belief that the mould is filled with The Light upon Light, and God’s own golden treasure buried in the soil of your mortal shell and enthroned upon the immortal throne for the Beloved which we all hide in ourselves. And really, sometimes the light is so bright shining from within you… that I stumble uttering his name, and just say, "It is He (Hu)!"

We are not interested are we, sunshine, in the games played by preachers and professional God-botherers who do nothing but divide the flock between the ‘us and them’, and the ‘you and I’? For we have passed through the false gates and fences of these foolish men and their foolish sermons. We are but sheep in a multitude of sheep in the Flock of God. God has not given up on us. And to continue borrowing the beautiful Christian phrase – I would like to believe that He is our Shepherd and though we may appear to have lost Him, certainly He has not lost us. Of this I am yakin.

God bless you, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

The Good Shepherds vs the Bad Shepherds and Their Roulette of Faiths

Many of the Prophets of old were Shepherds, literally speaking. And from their work, the analogy of the Shepherd and His Flock came about. It makes sense, and in terms of prose it is good copywriting (I appreciate this things).


Well, we still have our shepherds of mankind now (Should they be called manherds?). But there are good shepherds and there are bad shepherds. How do we distinguish whom to follow? Well, if you wish to listen to a sinner (and I cannot imagine why you should), I have a clue. It is easy, really - Just follow the one shepherd that is accepting all sorts of sheep into his care. Don’t follow the one that is alienating and ostracizing humanity. He is not going to bring you to God. He is only interested in increasing his flock. Raising his bet in the Roulette Table of Faiths. It is a game for his ego and hubris. Don’t be another casino chip in his hand. You, sunshine… you are meant for God. You are not meant to be a pawn.

60. Do they think they can deceive God?
If anything we must know,
We must know that
We don’t own God,
So it disturbs me so
To find preachers declaring
That the God worshiped
By the so-called unbelievers
Is somehow different to the God worshiped
By the so-called believers!

While there is urgent need
To build bridges,
These half-wits are
Building walls,
Yea, walls of the asylum!

And nay, this disease
Is not attributable solely
To the Muslims.

It is a contagion affecting
The so-called hierarchy
Of all religions,
Seeing themselves fit
To apportion mankind
To their
Individual fiefdoms
And flocks.

They can deceive men...
But do they think they can deceive God?

We are all born into His flock. And I have certainty in in Psalm 23.1 of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. I believe it simply because I believe it, so really... does it matter that If I believe it in Islam? And does it matter if you believe it in Christianity? Or Buddhism? Or Judaism? Or Hinduism? Submission to the Shepherd, submission to His Caring Ways, in our sleep at night, and awake all day. What want is left for us, when we are in His Embrace always?

So why are people fighting at all? Ah yes. We gotta blame the bad shepherds in Islam and Christianity - The bad shepherds in all religion.

Happily, where there is bad, there is always good. God bless all good shepherds, toiling to do their best in whatever creed that they may wear. For they may call unto God by another name, but what they mean behind the name, we all share.

Amen, Amin.

Pax Taufiqa.