THE LONELY SHORE - of certainties and openness

The Lonely Shore

I am a lonely shore,
A sandy bank
By a deep, rich sea.
All manner of people walk on me,
Leaving their footprints
Coming out of the waves,
Their enduring wandering
Ending Hu knows where.

In the imprints in my heart
I can see their path
And the beliefs
They say they believe in.

But I cannot live
On another person's belief,
So I ask that God Almighty
Give me my own belief'
To believe in,

And not leave me
Forever a lonely shore,
A sandy bank
By a deep, rich sea.
......................

Keep it open. Do not close your heart, sunshine. Do not say or act, "Yup, I know it all. I don't need to know anymore. My mind and heart is made up..." For the simple truth is, truth is not as simple as that. And when you are seeking to be the dust beneath the feet of saints, or watchdogs at their door, you have to keep nimble and awake. Awake to challenges to your own certainty, awake to whatever God Almighty may arrange to come your way, "Hmm... let us see how Taufiq deals with THIS, that old Mr,Know-it-all,,,"

The firm toehold. But we must have some certain rock. An unchangeable principle, a toehold in our heart that we must protect, Perhaps, if you are a Muslim, it would be our declaration of faith (the syahadah) - I bear witness that there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God, These are the words that make life, truly worth living for. Indeed, in its words is the true flowering of humanity's potential and promise - and your own, whatever be your dream or talent.

Keeping the values. And the final point is this - may we never ever, in our efforts to keep to our syahadah, do or say or permit anything to happen that directly or, more often that not, indirectly destroy the very values and connection of the Divinity and our humanity that is part of our syahadah.

For in our lifetime alone we have seen enough blood, enough depravity, enough lies and hypocrisies, all done 'in the name of God'. Do you not agree, my love?

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Extremism and Moderation, the Syrian Crisis and King Abdullah II, the Caliph of Islam - in the Land of Shams the Saints are Marching in

1. Arabi's Arrows and Darts

Do we not have All Eternity?

And from our heart,

Do we not shoot

Volleys of Ibn Arabi’s arrows?

And rain on the enemy whistling darts?

For it is we who are besieging doubt,

Our Master has taken to the field, you see

And He is saying unto the enemy,

Come out! Come out!

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

Faith is not a numbers game. If you were to trawl the cyber ocean of the Internet, you would grow despondent and sad at the countless millions of websites, blogs, forums, commentaries, tweets and postings that appear to exhibit humanity at our very worse - all the hate, hubris, anger, bias, despair and that unending cacophony baying for war, war, war. And that is only in English. Heaven knows what other malevolence are expressed in the other languages of Man.

Neither Christianity, Islam, Democracy, Sharia or very smart... this is simply hubris, ignorance and despair.

I would think that Christians, with the teaching of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, would be the first to preach love and understanding. And I would have thought that Muslims, with the Sunnah (traditions) of Muhammad (s.a.w.) would have promoted moderation, compassion and mercy. And wouldn't you think that the unbelieving Atheists themselves would be a big force for openness and understanding? 

Atheism - not very open-minded

But alas, not. For many Christians, many Muslims, many Atheists and many believers of other religions and ideologies have forgotten the singular factor that affects the human politic - manners and courtesies. Instead of exhibiting humility as human beings, a little sparse dot of life in the great cosmos, people are wont to be swaggering bullies. And when they should show magnanimity, they show instead condescension. Patience is replaced with impatience, and understanding is replaced with intolerance. 

The truth of the matter is that the extreme forces of hate is arrayed against each other according to their different banners and flags that they follow. Yes, you may be a Muslim or a Christian, or even an Atheist. But by your rude manners, you are following the Religion of Hubris and your fight, your revolution, your great crusade or jihad has nothing to do with us. Indeed, you are just bandits, mercenaries and pirates - Neo-conservative chicken hawks, old mad clerics, despotic tyrants, the neo-Young Turks, Salafis, closed-minded academicians, reformist political Islamists, arms-dealers, warmongers and crooked politicians. They dress differently and perform different rituals and prayers... but all are united in the Religion of Hate.

Well, this cannot continue forever. The Era of the Lost Caliphate has ended, King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is the new Caliph of Islam and the Commander of the Faithful. Next door in Syria, violent forces are gripped in a proxy battle. But the word is for the faithful of Shams (the old name for Syria) to stay indoors, to keep their family close, to pray upon their sajadah (prayer mat) for peace and understanding. And not to lay hand on a single weapon. 

Ignore those who seek to define their faith with AK47s, grenades, bombs, drones, missiles, jet fighters and destruction. It is not faith nor certainty that adorn their actions, but doubt and despair, masked in hubris. Have faith, sunshine... for in the holy land of Shams, the Saints are marching in. Lo... they have never forsaken her! For they remember the Prophet's promise!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

3 Prose for 9/11 - entrapment by love aboard the ship of love sailing the sea of love

I am a doggone dog. Where is Thy greeting, o'Lord?

I sent thee a Friend

I gazed to the row of trees

In front of me and asked Thee,

“O’ Lord, where is the falling leaves

In the morning to greet me?”

To which Thou said,

“O’ servant, I am sending thee

Something better, a friend

And a good company!”

………………..

Today is of course 9/11. Sigh. A day marked with tragedy and ignominy. A day that for many people marks the beginning of ‘the fear’. Fear of the known and ‘the known unknown” and the “unknown unknown”, as one former American Secretary of Defense once famously baffled a crowded room of journalists.

Both villains and heroes were made that day.
Reject the former and embrace the latter.

But it is also today through which God continues to speak to us with soft assurance, infinite love and divine mercy…

Entrapment by Love

I was in love with music,

So my Lord entrapped me through music,

I was in love with women,

So my Lord entrapped me with women,

I was in love with wit,

So my Lord entrapped me with wit,

I was in love with knowledge,

So my Lord entrapped me with knowledge,

I was in love with sin,

So my Lord entrapped me through my sins,

I was in love with myself,

So my Lord entrapped me by my own name,

And led me to a place where only His name

Deserved to be adored and loved.

………………..

So take away 9/11 from the peddlers of hate, purveyors of hubris, mercenaries of war and owners of a sick heart and give them not the enjoyment of seeing others join them in a religion of despair – regardless whether they think themselves very Christian, very Muslim, very Jewish or even very Atheistic.

Our Lord has entrapped us, sunshine. In that thing which obsesses us, God manifests Himself…

Entrapment by Love II

I am the Perfect Song,

I am the Perfect Beauty,

I am the Perfect Wit,

I am the Perfect Knowledge,

I am the Perfect Forgiver,

Knowing you as the One

Who created You.

………………..

Three prose for 9/11. May God guide us to His Perfect Chosen One, and may the Perfect Chosen One, Muhammad Habibullah (pbuh) lead us to Him. And may He lead all humanity to worship Him in the best way possible, from whichever harbour that we first sail from. For don't you agree, sunshine... that there is only one Sea?

My distinct happiness is to find fellow sailors crossing the Sea of God
upon the only ship worth sailing in - The Ship of Love

Do not fear, persevere.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Devil's Domino and the Salvation in Servanthood - America, Christians, Muslims, the Middle-east, Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror

10. Armour

People grow armour,

When they should grow flowers,

And they think themselves protected,

Hiding beneath the hard exterior

Of their adopted personality.

Unable to drink

When they have found the river,

Dying and burning in their thousands

Under a radiant morning Sun,

As they walk in their armour,

Cast from molten fire,

In moulds made of hate and fear.

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

Dehumanizing War. The War on Terror is a dehumanizing term because it suggests that it is not a human being behind the bombs and the murders. That terrorism exists in our time because it simply is and there is no point studying the root causes - as if people or a religion (or at least the 'other' people and the 'other religions) are by their nature, evil. I don't know whether this is planned or merely an unintended consequence behind the resurgence in patriotism, wars and defense spending in the U.S. But intentional or otherwise, I think we have read and watched enough news report of 'incidents' where innocent men, women and children in Iraq and Afghanistan have died for no reason whatsoever save that they were in the wrong place and at the wrong time. And I also believe in my heart that they were also guilty of being of the wrong colour, ethnicity and religion. Because I  cannot imagine that the American government would be so cavalier with the extent of 'collateral damage' (yet another dehumanizing term introduced since the First Gulf War) if they had to invade a predominantly white country.

Terrorists? Or simply a case of wrong time, wrong place,
wrong ethnicity and wrong religion?

What Mission? After President Bush declared 'Mission Accomplished!', it is patently clear that the U.S. led coalition has not. Unless of course it was the mission objective to destroy completely the national infrastructure of Iraq, unhinge the fine balance between the Sunni and Shia populace, create a lawless free-for-all state of mayhem, set in motion the undeclared civil war between Sunnis and Shias, promote the influence of Iran amongst the Shia majority in Iraq, help cultivate the al-Qaeda support in the Sunni communities where previously none existed, give billions of Dollars in infra and oil work to American crony corporations, issue contracts to mercenary defense-contractors (Blackwater, now renamed a more respectable "The Academy") - an unhinged collection of war profiteers unregulated even by the U.S. Army handbook... Where do I stop? My litany of woe can go on and on and on.

War on 'the others'. The U.S. government insists that the War on Terror is not a war on Islam or Muslim Arabs. And I agree, because firstly, I do not think that the U.S. government understands what Islam is. So at a contextual basis, Islam as taught by the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) is not in the picture. But such is the influence and penetration of Islamophobia into the national psyche and Western mainstream media, that despite this official line, the lives of many, many innocent Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan have been cut short... in the hundreds of thousands. The U.S. military may not have pulled the trigger on each of these deaths and undoubtedly many were killed due to sectarian strife, but as a famous Chinese proverb says, "If you save someone's life, you are responsible for it." So if the U.S. government wanted to save Iraq and Afghanistan and went in to topple the dastardly Saddam and Talibans and bring democracy, freedom and progress... well the smarty-pants must take responsibility.

Seconds later, the American gunship tore through feeble human flesh.
"The good Iraqis stayed indoors. If they were out they were up to something." was the
feeble reasons given. Would this happen in a white country?

Unprepared for war or peace. The U.S. Army and Marine cultural preparation of their soldiers for the war on Iraq was woefully inadequate and at times misguided. Saddam was a ruthless dictator who gassed his own people, true, and certainly deserved to be toppled. But for many of these young men (and women), their Iraq tour was their first trip abroad, and certainly their first encounter with the Middle East, the Arabs and their religion and culture. Sadly, the leaked pictures (and videos) of the 'Ugly American' became just all too common during and after the Iraq War. Donald Rumsfeld was asked about the American troops trashing the Baghdad museums and Saddam's palaces during the capture of Baghdad, and he basically said that it was not a big deal, just a case of the 'boys' letting off steam. For the U.S. Secretary of Defense to utter such a cavalier remark is astonishing. During the U.S. entry into Baghdad and Nazariah, there were many innocent lives lost in the fire-fight. A senior ranking U.S. military officer said that all the innocent good people were in their homes, and those out on the streets were obviously up to no good... Really? And this comment did not come during the heat of the war, but many, many years later in a television documentary about the tactical and strategic mistakes of the Iraq invasion. Even in hindsight, some soldiers still want to defend the indefensible. This is sad because by comparison, there has been many other fellow American soldiers and marines who have come out to complain and confess their own participation in some of the mindless slaughter of unarmed civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, to prick the conscience of a nation deluded by politicians and mainstream propaganda.

The politicians and generals must take responsibility. But President Obama is
not interested in 'looking back'. Thus the architects of one of the most ill-conceived
U.S. invasion of a foreign country, and criminals who authorized torture and
water-boarding walks freely on the streets of America, without fear of prosecution.

The core issues. As the almanac has mentioned before, there is a need to address all problems at its inner core. Why are the Arabs becoming terrorists? Why are the Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why is there so much hate being spouted from both sides of the no-man's land? Who is an Arab? What does it mean to be a Muslim or a Christian? What is our common shared heritage? What can we learn from our past conflicts?

The Devil's Domino. As human beings we are taught to control our egos, nafs (base human desires) and reject the wicked promptings of the Devil. If we say that the West is corrupt, are we so perfect? For the West has gain ascendancy since colonial times, and for that reason the Devil has also focused his attention on the western civilization. He will first corrupt the West and with its dominance spread his cruel lies and tricks the world over. In a manner of speaking, the Western society is one of the first domino to fall in the Devil's plan to corrupt and enslave all of humanity to our ego and nafs. The other domino is the fall of the last Ottoman Caliphate, an event that would not have occurred without the connivance of Muslims themselves, especially in the Middle East.

War is a special condition of the human state. And it must be governed
by rules of engagement. For Muslims this would mean no civilians must
be harmed or placed in harm's way. Even as we condemn the U.S. attitude towards
the Geneva Convention, so too we must condemn the cruel tactics of suicide bombings
and killings of innocent civilians perpetrated by the so-called jihadis.

So while the conservative war hawks in Washington and Moscow (yes, the Russians are simply biding their time) are focusing their hatred on Islam and Muslims, and the misguided 'jihadis' are pouring all their hate and bile against 'the grand western conspiracy', somewhere in his laboratory of fear and hate, the Devil is smiling and laughing, musing to himself, "Ah... the fools! They NEVER learn..." 

Salvation is in Servanthood. Things are happening as it is written. Lines have been drawn on the sand of human conflict. But it is the Devil who is actually holding the stick and drawing the lines. O' Muslims, do not be deceived! O' Christians, do not be deceived! O' Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs... do not be deceived! If there is a noble conflict worthy for the children of Adam, this is it - who amongst us is the kindest, most generous, intelligent, wise and compassionate towards his fellowmen? Who amongst us best reflects the benevolent and divine attributes of our One beloved God? Who is willing to be a servant of God and of all humanity?

Despite all this, I am hopeful. For this is what
the Prophet Muhammad(pbuh) is teaching
his nation and all of humanity.
Salvation through servanthood.

Have a thoughtful Thursday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Atheism blames Religion, but the fault lies in Man's Hubris and Bigotry

It is Bigotry and Hubris, not Religion that is the Disease

It is not religion that is adding

A new volatile ingredient into the soup of bigotry,

It is instead racism and hubris that is adding

A new abhorrent ingredient into religion,

Making it all distasteful...

And not just religion,

But Atheism too!

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

Religious right-wing nuts and some Atheist left-leaning elites are selling the same soul-rotting candy but just packaged differently. In their own unique way they are equally narrow-minded, regarding any idea, faith or philosophy coming from the black, brown and yellow people as really second-class stuff.

If people lose their sensibilities and good manners (Adab), it really doesn't matter whether they are religious or Atheists, Caucasians, Latinos, Slavs, Chinese, Indians, Jews, Nordics, Arabs or Malays. For 'knowledge' has possessed them, and they need to be exorcised of their inner demon called the human ego disguised as 'being right all the freakin' time!'.

Intellectual arrogance and religious superiority... oh boy, that doesn't make for an attractive package... does it, sunshine? It rained earlier today, and because it was hot, the water steam up and you can actually smell the grass and the soil in the air. And I bet everyone can enjoy this good Earth, whatever belief or disbelief he may entertain in his heart. Thus it is rather a shame that we often allow our ego to colour our lives... 

It is a slippery slope, I know. If you see me stumble and fall into my own hubris and conceit, help me. For God knows I am weak too.

Easy does it... eaaasy does it....

Have a good Friday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Servants of The Lord of Forever - The Muslims and the Believers

1. I found Forever II

We have the form,

We have the essence,

And we have true measure

Of the enemy that

Stands before us!

And while they scurry

Like madmen to meet

Their deadlines,

We meet them at leisure

In the instructions

Of Forever.

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

The fearsome West think that they are against the Muslims, but they have not met them yet. The fearsome East think that they are fighting for the Muslims, but they too have not met them yet. Both peddlers of ancient hates and prejudices are so busy conquering and dominating mainstream mass media and the geo-political world, that they are not bothered with the Muslims and the believers. They are dressed as padres and preachers, evangelical crusaders and neo-jihadis, ulamaks and imams and priests, issuing forth from the pit of despair and bringing whatever creed they believe in as a religion of despair, death and destruction. They speak of God, on behalf of God and with God in a most unruly, angry and ego-driven tone. They have blood on their hands and have chosen to worship at the altar of terror and death.

But the Muslims and all believers of One God are biding their time, being servants of God, Most Compasionate, Most Merciful - Creator of Time and the Lord of Forever. And I think such benevolent men and women are everywhere, on all the points of the divine compass.

May we be blessed to be in the company of such people.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

We are human beings. Carrots and sticks are for beasts of burden - God's Infinite Horizon of Mercy

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.

I call it not that,

I call it Generous!

God! I am calling you Generous!

One of the many accusations against the Sufis are that they are fuddy-duddy. That the Sufis blur right and wrong, lies and truth, good and bad. That they portray their ideal of God as someone so forgiving and generous that He will forgive us whatever we do. So where is the deterrent? Where is the punishment? Where is the carrot and stick?

Carrots and sticks are for donkeys and other beasts of burden. Are we humans or are we animals? Forgiveness comes, but the unfolding of His Mercy takes time as we slowly began to understand the enormity of our errors and from there, the enormity of God's tolerance and compassion. I do not understand some people who weigh so heavily in judgment that they desire to limit God's compassion.

Such people would love to prohibit everything. And in seeking to impose righteousness they would stifle the essence of man and his curiosity for things. But if you artificially suppress man's curiosity, how will he ever find God? This is the deformed face of religion perpetuated the Taliban, al-Shabaab and other so-called fundamentalist Islamists. Who are arming them and saying they are right?

249. Besotted with fairness and justice.

O’ you besotted one

In fairness and justice,

Have care how you call

For fairness and justice

In divine decree,

Unless you can claim

To know everything

About the Lord.

May God forgive the preachers and politicians who continue to use Muslims' sense of alienation, poverty and inferiority for their own religious-political ends. Instead of tidying the mosque, home and hearth of the Muslims, they are busy stoking the fire of anger and retribution in the hearts of their followers. A heart on fire was never the way of the Prophet Muhammad, unless you are talking about the White Fire, the Governing Fire - the White Flame of Love. But these miscreants are setting their followers' hearts to the raging inferno of the black fire, the fire of hate and hubris.

For centuries, the Sufis have been drawn to the Flame of Love

The Sufis choose Love to enlighten and elevate our hearts, following as they do their Master, Muhammad Habibullah, Messenger of God, Mercy to all the Worlds... 

Have a thoughtful Sunday, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa

Hate has no place in Islam.

Love will show the Way.

Man and Mother Nature. War and Natural Calamities.

7. Man vs Mother Nature

Nothing of nature or her terrible tempest

Would ever equal the terrible malevolence

Of man and his ill temper.

Over the past century humanity has been besieged by what appears to be mother nature's anger. Droughts, floods, landslides, wildfires, tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes kill, maim and scatter thousands upon thousands of people across the globe. From Japan, Turkey, USA, Africa to Australia and even New Zealand, mankind has rekindled its forgotten fear of the unknown and nature's seemingly arbitrary violent upheavals...

1. 1931 Yellow River flood Yellow River, China in Summer 1931 - 850,000-4,000,000
2. 1887 Yellow River flood Yellow River, China in September-October 1887 - 900,000-2,000,000
3. 1970 Bhola cyclone Ganges Delta, East Pakistan in November 13, 1970 - 500,000- 1,000,000
4. 1201 Earthquake Eastern Mediterranean in 1201 - 1,000,000
5. 1938 Yellow River flood Yellow River, China in June 9th, 1938 - 500,000 - 900,000
6. Shaanxi Earthquake Shaanxi Province, China in January 23, 1556 - 830,000
7. 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake/tsunami in Indian Ocean December 26,2004 - 225,000-275,000
8. 1881 Haiphong Cyclone in Haiphong, Vietnam in 1881 - 300,000
9. 1642 Kaifeng Flood Kaifeng, Henan Province, China in 1642 - 300,000
10.Tangshan Earthquake Tangshan, China July 28, in 1976 - 242,000

Hard numbers to swallow but comparatively small in comparison to war fatalities. Deaths in war is hard to count, but even by the lowest estimates, boy... has mankind been busy at killing each other in the last century... And this is not the full account -

1. World War II (1939-1945) - 40,000,000 - 65,000,000
2. World War I (1914 - 1918) - 15,000,000 - 36,000,000
3. Vietnam War (1955 - 1975) - 2,500,000 - 6,020,000
4. Korean War (1950 - 1953) - 2,500,000 - 3,500,000
5. Russian Civil War (1917 - 1921) - 5,000,000 - 9,000,000
6. Second Congo War (1998 - 2003) - 3,800,000 - 5,400,000
7. Sudanese 2nd Civil War (1983 - 2005) - 1,000,000 - 2,000,000
8. Iran-Iraq War (1980 - 1988) - 500,000 - 2,000,000
9. Mexican Revolution (1911 - 1920) - 500,000 - 2,000,000
10. Cambodian Civil War (1970 - 1975) - 500,000 - 1,000,000

What depressing statistics. But beneath the almost despairing figures, we gotta admit some positive facts. One that comes to mind is that by some strange fortune, your grandparents managed to survive both natural and man-made calamities in the last century, and got around to conceive your parents who in turn found time to make you.

So now there you are, sitting at home or reading this on a train heading to work. We can choose to imagine the tragedy of war and despair. Or we can choose to accept the trust that our Maker has laid upon us - to make the world better, if at least a little bit, for our future generations. And since God does everything intentionally, He must have foreseen that spark of goodness in you, a promising soul, one reflecting His most beautiful attributes of the Most Gracious and Most Merciful.

Perhaps we shall not be able to change the world. Perhaps we shall not be able to avert wars. But so long as we stand here, we must believe and do what is right, and to temper the adverse and violent passions which humans often entertain at the behest of their vile egos. Every little bit helps, I think. And God shall always be on the side of the do-gooders, howsoever they may call upon Him in their diverse faiths and rites. I know this to be true because it is what my mother believes in. 

Have a good day, sunshine. May God bless our sainted mothers.

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Hate has no place in Islam

9/11 Poem - Rising up against the continuing calumny of the 'them and us' mentality

The Number that is 9/11 

(The Continuing Calumny of the Us and Them)

It is 8.31 in the morning,

I am writing this with

My 10 fingers shuffling

On 1 of my 2 laptops.

With my 2 eyes I see

4 chairs next to the kitchen table,

Not including the 1 chair

That I am actually sitting on.

Bibik just came down from upstairs

Carrying a basket of laundry,

1 of my brothers is still

Sleeping on the sofa

While upstairs my father

Is readying to come down

For breakfast.

Now 4 minutes have passed

Since I started writing,

And while many things are changing,

I am still me, and there is only 1 me.

9/11 is not just a number,

It will be remembered as the day

Hubris is enthroned as the false king.

And many people will commemorate the number

For the lives of people who died on that day,

And the chain reaction which led to the loss

Of even greater number of innocent lives.

But 9/11 is also a number,

And like all numbers

It is an aggregate of 1 -

The single totality which

Is the numeric definition of

Our one God, shared, praised and loved

By the 6 odd billion people on earth.

If we do not get this lesson from 9/11,

It is the saddest thing for all of us,

Because those who died on 9/11 and post 9/11

Are already saved.

But we are still here on life’s mortal shore,

And if we fail to learn unity

Despite our differences,

We will join the miserable host

Of those already dead in the heart

But still walking on this beautiful earth,

Unconscious to the loving embrace of the One God

Because they continue to think

In terms of ‘them and us.’

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine. I know you are one of God's own bright sparks of Love, Compassion and Tolerance. This day, like all days in this era of ours will be filled with hate, hubris, intolerance, envy and bigotry because that is the agenda of people misguided in their ideology and religion, whether they are sitting in a large news corporation, in a church, mosque or a synagogue, or peddling supremacy in the corridors of power.

But you and I, we are talking in the Language of Love. The language that for me at least, is taught by my Prophet Muhammad. Let us not quibble and argue as to who taught who what... is it not wonderful enough, and is it not a mark of God's continuing trust in humanity that we are even talking in the same language? Not from my own heart but through the lessons of history of the Prophets and the Saints do I give you the greeting of Divine Unity with one hand representing the Most Merciful and the other hand heralding the Most Compassionate. I am just a sinner, you are my better. Please lead me by your good examples...

There will be those who shall take this day for their own hateful ends, don't let them!

Pax Taufiqa.

Ahmad Shah Massoud - Assassinated 2 days before 9/11 - Forget him not...

Today is 9th September 2011. Exactly ten years ago in Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud was murdered and a light of promise died with him. Two days after that, on 11th September 2001, the Twin Towers in New York was attacked.

Before he died he visited the West to warn it of the impending danger and violent attacks from the likes of the al Qaeda. When he did that, to the malevolent forces of hubris, Massoud has signed his own death warrant.

In the early hours of the morning before he was assassinated by Muslim bandits, he spent some time with his old friends reading passages from a book of poetry of the eminent Persian poet Hafez Sharizi. Massoud spoke Persian, Pashtu, Urdu, Hindi and French. It is an old Pashtun custom, whereby the reader would randomly open a page from the book, recite the verse then to be discussed by the small circle of friends. A few hours later he surrendered his physical body to fate and his soul departed this earth to return to the Lord.

If you have not, you may wish to read "Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir Chapter 1 - Prose of Ramadhan Part 6"

May God light his soul with the light of Muhammad Habibullah!

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Suicide Bombers do not Defy Death, They Simply Give Up - Prose of Ramadhan Part 51

Hubris and its followers
(Ramadhan Verses #27)

Suicide bombers do not defy death,

How can they, when they cannot even defy life?

They do not realize this, guided as they are

By the misguided - Those foolish men

In their Religion of Hubris,
Their Creed of Despair.

Bombs do not kill the innocent victims,

It is the false words and evil encouragement

Of these false men of a false religion that kill.

Terrible is the woe wrought

By their black words

And black hearts!

Reject these madmen!

Rumi and the Itch - Prose of Ramadhan Part 44

73. Beauty

Without the Essence

There cannot be the Form.

Without the Light,

There cannot be the Veil.

A wise old man once said, “Everything is known by its opposites.” When you are walking the spiritual path of religion (which to many people is not the same thing), you will encounter many things that shall disturb you.

TERRORISM IS CAUSED BY AN ITCH. Rumi asks “How will your mirror be polished if you are irritated by every rub.” But old Rumi is already talking about the highest state of consciousness, the essence of Submission which by any other name is called Islam. But where most people are now, we are all irritated one way or the other. Otherwise the newspapers would not be so full of stories of crime, violence and terrorism. While waiting for Mikhail to get ready for school I made the mistake of turning to CNN, which informs me that there has been a spate of bombings in Afghanistan and also in Iraq where at least 75 people have died. Someone was very irritated when they decided to explode the bombs, or themselves often enough.

So we are not at Rumi’s level. But we are certainly also not at the level of those terrorists. The Talibans and al-Qaedas must have an itch that is driving them crazy… somewhere on their back where their hand cannot reach, an itch so maddening that they are gonna strap that C4 on their back to blow themselves and that itch to Kingdom Come. They are mad, bad and dangerous to know.

ALWAYS SOMEONE ELSE. And now Norway has sadly also experienced the same, with a ‘pseudo-Crusader’ bombing Oslo and killing children like it was a video game - he did it all that because he had this incredible itch which he cannot scratch and in his frustration, he killed more than 80 innocent people. The itch was called multiculturalism and Islamization of Europe, whatever that means. For the ‘neo-jihadis’ the terrible itch was called Western Imperialism or some other thing. It is always SOMEONE ELSE or SOMETHING ELSE that is the itch, never us. Typical.

TAKE A BATH, PLEASE. I think mankind should shed its filthy cloth of egoism, throw away that overused underwear of religious and ideological hubris, pick the lice of corporate greed, scrub away the dirt of consumerism, trim its nails of vanity, and wash away the muck of envy from the sole of their feet. Having done so, mankind should then have a collective shower of Mercy, Compassion, Understanding and Knowledge. I hope mankind will remember to use the Soap of Love, and the Toothpaste of Discretion. And in the tradition of human unity, I will scrub your back and you can scrub my back. That way maybe the itch will go away.

Have a clean day, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, the Lion of Panjshir Chapter 1 - Prose of Ramadhan Part 6

The Lion of Panjshir (Ramadhan Verses #7)

Massoud, where are you now?

You were the breath of Islam

And you maintained the balance

In the Path of the Middle Way,

The Path of the Nation of Muhammad.

Massoud, what are you doing now?

You were the handsome leader,

The Commander of men,

Lettered and wise, feeling with emotion

The Feeling that a true leader should have.

Why did they want you dead?

Massoud, who are you smiling at now?

Beneath the sky of God,

You fought for your people

On the soil of your ancestors,

But some were ashamed of you,

Because they did not understand

The Light of Love that animated

Your strength and your compassion.

Massoud, how are you?

You who once surveyed the land

From the top of a mountain,

And you look upon your nation,

Tired, poor and dispossessed,

But you saw the coming of the pirates,

Who came to your valley with

A foreign hatred and a foreign bullet.

They said they were Muslims, these Talibans and al-Qaedas

But what faith were they following?

You stood in their way,

And with certainty you said,

“I reject you and your horrifying interpretations!”

Massoud, who are your companions now?

This Ramadhan, once again I know

That you are not with me anymore.

You have left us and only ghosts

And whispers are left of you

To counsel us, to caution us.

You were the Lion of Panjshir,

But you shall always be to me

The Lion of Islam,

For I claim you

In the name of

The Nation.

How can the world now forget

Massoud?

Who tried in his own tireless way

To do good?

This man, Ahmad Shah Massoud was instrumental in the defeat of the Soviet invasion and occupation of his homeland, Afghanistan. Later he was murdered in a lowly and cowardly assassination by the ruthless mechanism of his own co-religionists, when he rejected the Taliban and al-Qaeda as portraying a very wrong idea of Islam. His passing marked the end of the one real hope for the country before it fell into the hands of the evildoers.

"The only thing standing in the way of future Taliban massacres is Ahmad Shah Massoud."

—National Geographic, "Inside the Taliban"(2007)

I expect to be writing more about him during this month, ergo, this is Chapter 1.

Osama bin Laden is a blurry footnote of a footnote of a footnote in the page of history that belongs to Ahmad Shah Massoud. And with the killer’s demise, his mad ideology should perish too. But I fear that people will remember Osama more than Massoud - the Muslim bodypolitik are so easily manipulated, and a large chunk of Muslims are showing time and time again, why they do not deserve a leader like the Lion of Panjshir.

When leaders like Massoud is shining upon the Muslim nation, their compassion and courage only shows up the horrible ugliness of those other ‘Muslim leaders’ who continue to defame the Prophet’s legacy by their hate, hubris, arrogance and violence. Such managers of suicide-bombers and 'moral guardians' may be sincere in their convictions, but madmen can be sincere too, so we reject them utterly.

Especially in this holy month, we shall give them no quarter, and no respite.

wa min Allah at-taufiq