HAPPINESS & THE SWEETNESS OF SERVANTHOOD -being a slave to God all-Eternal vs being a slave to logos

Happiness & the Sweetness of Servanthood
Why pursue happiness,
When happiness itself will pursue you
If you devote yourself to
The sweetness of servanthood?
.......................

Slave to the Logos. I have been selling myself short, sunshine. The fool that I am, to be hoodwinked by this world, and by the wasteful consumer society that we have become. To become a slave to the logos, brands, trends, fads, and the illusion of human progress. 

A very, very smart lady who has written a best-selling book on
advertising and consumerism. Worth a read, I reckon.

The Meaning of Happiness. So we seek happiness by buying whatever Madison Avenue advertising companies are selling, and by voting whatever faddish trends are being promoted by politicians. But what is the happiness we find? Is the happiness being sold by the corporations and politicians permanent and completely fulfilling? Or is it really a temporary form of self gratification?

As one servant to another, help me...

Transient Nature. By the nature of everything conceived in Creation, it is all transient. So your feeling of joy at getting the latest iPhone, or satisfaction by voting in the most attractive candidate into office are both transient, temporary emotions. 

In this World and in the Hereafter. If we seek contentment (as opposed to gratification), it is useless to try and plant our hopes on our turbulent emotions and feelings. For they rise and ebb according to our circumstances at any given moment. That is why, our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (saws) has brought the ideal of servanthood into our central core of living - servanthood to humanity, animals, the natural world and ultimately, to our One Creator, God.

As a typical consumer, I am greatly distracted from servanthood by my own selfish need for gratification. But then, I am not the sort to leave 'civilization' and bunker down in some cave up some lonely mountain. So a sense of proportions and balance must be achieved. This, I cannot do alone...

Help me and pray for me always, sunshine. I am in need of your good wishes and good examples.

I ask this of you, as one servant to another...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

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

THE EGO & THE ENVIRONMENT - Islam and our accountability for Earth and all its inhabitants

Borrowed Blessings

We are living on borrowed blessings,

Upon the thousands of years past

When somewhere far in time,

An ancestor of ours said,

"No... let's not do that.

Let us do the right thing"

When a forefather with tears in his eyes,

Raised his hands to the darkening skies,

And said, "Oh Lord... Please keep safe

My children and my children's children,

For what I could have done for them I have,

And now I leave them in Your hands."

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

The Ego & The Environment. Oh my beloved friends, I am a little worried. For I fear the day when we shall account for all our deeds done to our environment, all our actions and omissions. For all the times we could have acted to do the right thing but did not. My lazy ego often tells me... 'Naaw... you don't need to think too much about the environment and sustainable development and consumption... that is the problem for the politicians, the experts, the university professors, the... (ad infinitum)." According to our lazy ego, it is everyone else's problem but ours.

But Marshall Mcluhan, a Canadian philosopher in a statement referencing the Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth (1967), clarifies most succinctly, 

"There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth. We are all crew."

Crew and Viceregents. So there is indeed no escaping our responsibility for this beautiful Earth, which is not ours, but in truth, God's grant to humanity. But the Angels of God, in their wisdom and foresight raised the query of our fitness to crew the Spaceship Earth, or in the words of the Holy Quran, to be the Khalifah (viceregents of God) upon this Earth...

Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth." 

They said: "Wilt Thou place therein one who will make mischief therein 

and shed blood?- whilst we do celebrate Thy praises and glorify Thy holy (name)?" 

He said: "I know what ye know not."

(Quran 2:30, Yusuf Ali)

We are full of mischief, the Angels alleged. And as history unveils itself through time, indeed, we brought a lot of mischief and oppression to the Earth. But closely parallel to the evil, is the goodness inherent in Man, made manifest and clear by the Prophets and Saints of God, authorised by God to advise, admonish and encourage Man towards good and to reject all evil and all falsehood. 

So we are the Khalifahs (viceregents) on Earth. So what is new? But today is different from any other day in the past, you see. For our economy, our industries and apparent insatiable appetite for consumption has led to a point when Man can actually physically and permanently do harm to the Earth.

Back to the Basics. The way forward for us as a community, is the same way as revealed by the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) in verse 2:30 above, that is to find the answer from and through God Almighty. After all, did He not say unto the Angels, 

"I know what ye know not."

We are asking continuing support and guidance from the Flag of Guidance, Sayyidina Alamul Huda Muhammad (s.a.w.s), lest we be branded by our children as the generation that took a paradise from Allah the Most Compassionate, and passed on to them a dying planet.

May Allah the Ever Generous save us from our most selfish and wicked desires!

Pray for humanity, sunshine. And pray for Spaceship Earth.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE DESERT IS COMING UNLESS WE CHANGE. BEGINNING WITH THE MOSQUE - The Ramadan Story, Part 10

My Paradise is My Mosque

There is no desert in my heart. 

For my land is a rainforest, full of tropical trees, flower and fauna. 

Green rivers and streams meander across my heart from the hills that dot my land. 

Valleys and ravines follow the water, clean and pure like the rain 

That showers regularly on the emerald roof of the jungle. 

Birds and mousedeers, tigers and elephants co-habitat, flowers, leaves 

And fruits of wondrous variety, colour and benefit hang from the branches 

Waiting for my eye and ministration. 

For I am not only the master of my heart and my land,

I am also its custodian and servant. 

My eyes takes rest and pleasure gazing on this Earth, 

Its riches spilling over into the tenuous civilization raised by Man. 

And were I to build a mosque here, a House of God, 

I would not build high walls to separate the mosque from the forest, 

Nor find the need to decorate it with the pictures of paradise. 

For my land is both my paradise and my mosque 

And wherever I am praying, 

I want to see heaven all around me.

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

God...?

From the Desert I Came. The religion of Islam is often associated with the desert. For it was in the desert dunes of Arabia that the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) completed the message and deen of Islam, thereby completing the comprehensive beliefs and rites that make up the faith. There is an old saying, which I cannot remember who said it, that God created the forest for Man, but created the desert for Himself. And I guess when you are thinking of setting the atmosphere for contemplation of Man's vulnerability and insignificance, nothing beats a night in the desert, alone with a billion stars twinkling in the heavens above. Questions like "Who am I?'', "Why am I here?" and "Who is out there?" will come to your heart as naturally as breathing.

The Arabian Heaven. The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus is not one of the three Great Mosques of Islam (the Masijidil Haram in Mecca, the Masjid Nabi in Medina and the al-Aqsa in Jerusalem), but in context of the End of Time sequence, it will play a significant role because it is here that Muslims anticipate the Second Coming of Jesus (Isa a.s.). But my interest in the Umayyad Mosque is not about its prophetic relevance, but the design. In particular, the interior walls on which is engraved with green and gold depictions of Paradise, of palm trees overflowing with dates, clear blue rivers of Jannah running through the gardens, and mansions and palaces on the hills for the believers. It is a religious propaganda (and I mean this well) and a spiritual assurance for the believers, as they pray, rest and learn beneath the pillars of the Mosque, a visual persuasion playing upon the Arab's ideal of paradise... "Ah, lovely, beautiful, inspiring..." they must be thinking.

The Tropical Paradise. But it is a little different here. For in Malaysia, as in most tropical and equatorial regions, there is no desert. There is no sand dunes or far-off desert horizons to inspire us. The forest and the jungle is right next door. And some of us ethnic aboriginals even live in the jungle. Tall rain forest trees of hundred years old tower over dense undergrowth. And through them run gentle streams and rivers full of fish, turtles and even alligators. Is this not paradise (well, sans the mosquitoes, alligators, tigers and leeches!) already? So even if you are expelled from your village, in days of yore, you would not starve to death. You will undoubtedly be inconvenienced, but you will live. (My little caveat here is that this might not be the case now for soft, fleshy city folks like me... I would probably misstep and fall into a ravine within hours. And get eaten by tigers. But you get the picture)

An Architectural Proposition for the Mosque. I am not an architect, so all I can venture is a proposition for an open concept Mosque which sits in sympathy with its tropical surroundings. It can be of any size, but the surroundings must be a tropical garden and a running stream drifting around the mosque and perhaps even through it. And the view from inside the mosque must rest upon the bountiful brilliance of the rain forest however far the congregation can see. The mosque must be built with wood and stone, with river pebbles shining darkly from the lower part of the walls while timbered pillars rise up to the wooden beamed roof. But from within the mosque, one ought to be able to see and hear the surrounding garden with its crickets and frogs. Especially at night. After all, the sound of nature is the sound of dzikr (recitation and remembrance of God's Names)

Shutting out Paradise. One of the reason why the proposition encompasses the outside surroundings of the mosque is because the truth is Muslims have been too lazy in caring and nurturing the environment. The mosque should not be a building to shut out the world and dream for paradise. Especially not in this tropical country. Not when just outside most mosques and suraus (small mosques), we find litter, pollution, environmental destruction and ecological disasters staring in the face of the Ummah (the Muslim nation). 

The Desert is Coming. So in reality are we shutting out the outside world because we cannot now bear to look upon the handiwork of our modern society on this paradise garden that we have been given? Are we turning our beautiful forests and jungles into deserts? If so, then we need not wait too long. The desert is coming if we do not change our ways.

Beginning with the Mosque. I reckon we can begin to accept our responsibility for the Earth this way - From the mosque, and if we believe in Allah (s.w.t.) and the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), from our conscience which must always be in sympathy for all of creation and all of God's creatures that we share this planet with. 

I think that this makes more sense than all the political and often violent upheavals that are presently besieging the Ummah. After all, what is the point of Islam in a world already despoiled and destroyed..? 

Don't you agree, sunshine?

Wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way  

BIG FAT CLOUDS - clouds, kittens and a 9-years old son seeking a restraining order against his mother

Distant Thunder
I hear the rumbling of a distant thunder,
Light is veiled behind a plume of cloud,
But rain is come
The seeker is now the sought
The lover is now the loved
Woe that I was ever in doubt!

Big Fat Clouds... this is the skyscape that was sorely missed by me and my
countrymen during the choking, bitter hazy days a couple of weeks ago when some
parts of Malaysia hit 400 on the API (Air Pollution Index). Back then we saw no
clouds, in fact not even the Sun, as a blanket of smoke blocked our view of the sky...
I felt like the haze descended on my very spirit and felt physically and
spiritually lethargic.

I guess telecommunication towers are a necessary evil in a developing country like
mine, but it does make one hill look the same as the next. 

The clouds drifted so close to the Hermitage in the Sky that I felt like I could
simply lean over the balcony and touch the wispy white water particles. 

I was bewitched by the evening clouds, and I thought I have never seen anything quite as lovely and reassuring as they floated near and around me. The haze and smog was a memory and perhaps a lesson that we ought not to take nature and its manifest beauty for granted. I reckon that is what God wants to remind us of. Don't you?

Before I left from the office, I detoured at the coffee shop beneath my
office. And there was a kitten, wandering around looking about in the
curious way that kittens do. It climbed on my lap and gazed at my face
with that pleading hungry cat's eyes.

Where is the mommy? That is what I would like to know... And I think
it is also asking the same question... "Have you seen my mommy?"

I am actually writing this at the very same coffee shop. But I haven't seen the kitten since that day, I hope it is alright... though doubt shadows my heart. Kittens have such a high mortality rate. *Sigh*

Mikhail (my 9 year old son): Papa... I can't stand doing revision with Mummy!
Me: Why is that? Mikhail: It is worse than school!! She would tell me to read this, do that... and
then she would go to sleep, or watch TV or play on her iPad! 

Mikhail: Do you think I can get a Restraining Order

against Mummy on the Internet?

Me: Hmm... you can try.

I don't know where Mika learned about Restraining Orders! But he has the mechanics of the judicial order correct and said that he wanted to restrain his mother from coming within 100 metres of him.

Setting Sun on the Hermitage. The low clouds have mostly marched
eastwards, and in the distance I could hear thunder. 

Have a pleasant Friday, sunshine. And if you are where the air is fresh and clean, count your blessings with each breath... Allah... Allah... Allah... 

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

ON THIS DAY WHEN THE SUN IS RED - farming, the haze and our greed and consumerism

Nothing seem to us more natural than farming. After all, our ancestors have been doing it since the first time they noticed how the sapling shoot out of the ground. With attention and care, they manage to replicate what mother nature does, but on a bigger scale.

Management of a Disturbed Eco-system. But truth be told, farming is anything but natural. As a professor cousin of mine once said, "Farming is the management of a disturbed eco-system". For you see, nature (naturally) doesn't want to create a mono-crop valley or meadow. Nature wants all sorts of crop and plants to grow, wherever and however it wants to. Nature doesn't need to answer to an annual general meeting of its shareholders, and explain why its profit has not increased this year. 

The Haze. One day perhaps, we shall look into the intensive farming industry and how it is generally affecting our world. But for today my focus is on The Haze. No, nature did not intend this for it is wholly man-made. The Haze has become an annual event here in south east asia, but most affected countries are Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia. I have to focus on it because the acrid smell is everywhere. And if you can smell the smoke even in your washroom, you know that it must be very bad outdoors.

The Haze appears to be coming from the slash and burn clearing of forests in Indonesia, commonly in Sumatera and Kalimantan. And while we understand the Indonesians placing some of the blame on Malaysian and Singaporean multinational oil palm companies operating in the republic, ultimately the issue resides in the sovereign country of Indonesia and involves legal enforcement of its local laws. 

Indonesia. At the end of the day, Indonesia often considers itself the big brother of the south east asian region. Largest and most populated country here. But there is little point being touchy or sensitive about The Haze, when there is little doubt where The Haze originates from. Malaysian and Singaporean firms operate in Indonesia because Indonesia has a lot of land and labour, and I guess is relatively cost-effective to develop compared to other countries. If there are environmental laws that govern the problem of slash and burn clearing of forests or plantations, there is no other authority that can enforce the law but the Indonesian government.

A Symptom. The Indonesians are correct in that there must be some blaming finger pointing at the multinational mega-corporations. But the truth is that under the fiat (paper) money system and the overwhelming usurious global banking and credit system, megacorporations are animals bred to maximise profit, at whatever the cost to the environment. And the government of Indonesia, just like the governments of Malaysia and Singapore, are willing participants in this credit-consumer driven casino.

The Haze is a reflection of the human spirit, and in this context should we be surprised that we are reaping the firestorm of our greed and ostentatious consumerism? 

Something to think about, sunshine... on this day when the sun is red.

May Allah (s.w.t.) not leave humanity to our caprice. We seek guidance and support always from the Prophet of the Middle Path, Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s.),

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Mankind is Surplus Requirement to this World, time to Go Green - Atheism, Love, Humanity, God and the Natural World.

Physical World, Metaphysical Understanding

The world, physical in nature,

But its interpretation is wholly metaphysical!

………………………….

Metaphysics basically mean ‘beyond’ physics, and is the science of understanding the Universe beyond its physical manifestations. It is thus a little sister to spirituality and religion.

For the Atheists, this world is wholly physical, and so too is its understanding. They will not countenance one single thought upon metaphysics, for they believe that it is a back-door to religion and God. They dislike God and His religion so much, blaming God for humanity’s own folly and weaknesses. But in their daily protestations of disbelief, they only bring God closer to us. And indeed inevitably to themselves, for how can you wrestle with an idea if you do not get your hands and mind in close?

He he he.

Life is about love. But of course for Atheists this would be difficult to accept. But the funny thing is that most of them do. No doubt they would provide some socio-biological necessity for the continuation of the human race as a reason why we keep falling in love. But why there be continuity at all? It is self-evident that this world does not need the human race to prosper, for if all of humanity were to suddenly disappear, would the Earth crumble and fall into a lifeless and barren planet?

Let’s face it. Mankind is surplus requirement to the existence of Earth. Earth would get on just fine without us. At least in the physical sense of things...

But we are still here. And alas, still reducing this Earth into a wretched slave to our destructive impulses and greedy consumption. How I fear the time of reckoning when God looks unto His creation and asks Mankind, “Oh what have you done with the world I have created?”

Something to ponder over, sunshine.

It is time to Go Green.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

All Muslims must be Environmentalists - little children and little khalifahs..

The word 'Khalifah' is a commonly used term referring to the caliphs of the Muslim Caliphate that stretched for close to 1400 years ending only in 1923 with the abdication of the last Ottoman caliph.

Its actual meaning, after extensive 2-minutes search on Google, encompasses 'a civil or religious leader of a Muslim state considered a representative of God on earth'. It can also mean a lieutenant or regent of God, ie mankind as a whole.

I often see the bumper sticker 'Little Khalifah' on cars here in Malaysia. No doubt, placed there by proud Muslim parents. I don't mind, I think it is kinda tacky but it's cute. Nevertheless, I also believe that like most forms, names, words and labels, the meaning must be understood.

For me, the word Khalifah attracts obligations. It does not attract dominion or authority. For in the words of a prose posted earlier -

Khalifah...

The Best Master is the Best Servant

The Best Servant is the Best Master

So the term Khalifah is a spiritual designation weighed with responsibility and accountability. It encompasses our obligations to our family, our neighbours, our people, our country and humanity. It encompasses how well we treat the environment, the animals and crop that we have domesticated and cultivated, as well as the wild animals and fauna in the forest and desert, and the fishes and mammals that swim in the seas and rivers. We are responsible for the air that we breath and the water that we use. Every drop of water wasted, every pollutant spilled into the stream, every smoke, smog and pollution our factories spit into the clean air - all these we are responsible for.

Perhaps it is better that our little Khalifah children all remain little, if they but knew the breadth of their responsibilities to mankind and mother nature when they grow older and becomes accountable for their actions and omissions.

I do think that all Muslims should be, by their own definitions, environmentalists... And I do believe that everyone else, by reason, should be environmentalists too. After all, it is not as if we have another Earth to migrate to if we destroy this one...

Something to think about this Friday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Saving the Earth - Have we turned from the House of Trust into a Band of Thieves?

End of the World. I have labels in this almanac (see the label cloud on the right column) called 'end of time', 'Antichrist', 'Dajjal' and 'Armageddon'. Under this vague tags I dumped all postings related to the end of the world (obviously), Armageddon and that sort of flurry of furious activities anticipated by believers to occur when the world ends. There are not many postings, about 5 I think. This is very few considering that I have written 644 postings for 2011.

Something got me thinking... I do not write a lot about the end of the world, because I am kinda busy living. Writing and reading. And in the course of one reading, I have come across this little gem of information. It is of course up to you whether to believe it or not. But being the sort of person that I am, I believe it (and have in fact posted about it earlier in 'God is a Good Book Without End - Adam brought Heaven to Earth' - Click Here)- basically what this nugget of spiritual lore says is that the Earth was a barren world, devoid of life. And it was Adam, who was exiled from Heaven, who brought with him the divine elements of Heaven to Earth, and thus creating on our world, an earthly copy of Heaven. And that got me thinking...

Earth, a barren world. When God says that mankind is suppose to be His representative, His viceregent on Earth, it is not simply a Divine Whim (even though He can do that, of course, being your know... God). It is more importantly because of our common ancestors, Adam and Eve who brought a little bit of Heaven to Earth. It is by their exile and establishment of a new home on Earth, that Earth as we know it now exists. If our grandma Eve did not eat that forbidden fruit, if our grandpa Adam did not chock on it, the Earth would have remained changed. It would still be a barren old brown planet, floating purposeless in the empty void of space. And we would not have been born at all. Not our parents, not our friends... no one.

Divine plan and mortal agency. But as God fated it, the Devil did trick the First Couple, and so triggered the sequence of events leading eons in future to the present. To the right here and now, to me writing this post, and (hopefully) you reading it. It was through the divine plan of God and mortal agency of Adam and Eve that the Earth was recreated, reborn in a beautiful and utterly diverse mirror image of Heaven. The Earth which we have now inherited, the God-given gift for each and every child of humanity.

Ownership is Trusteeship. So I look at the world differently now. I look to the sky and say, it is my inheritance. I look to the earth and the birds and the animals, and proclaim, you are my inheritance. As far as my eye and vision can behold, all of it is my inheritance. But the tiny quirk of inheritance in Islam is that the property is not for your sole use or abuse. In Islam, as how I perceive it, ownership is tantamount to trusteeship, for ownership without the obligation of responsibility and trust for the future generation is not ownership at all - It is theft. Claiming something permanently, when we ourselves are not permanent, for soon we will die. But how many amongst us who still remember this?

O' Believers. Wake up. The Earth needs you to remember your obligations. To be a believer is to be a conservationist. To be a believer is to be sensible about things. Not to take this world for granted, and certainly not to pollute and create great waste and devastation upon this Earth, this Heaven, this Paradise...

The end of the World is coming. But is it coming by Divine Plan alone or through mankind's manifestation of our carelessness, negligence, hubris, greed and selfishness? Have we turned from the House of Trust into a Band of Thieves? And when that day comes, and we stand before the Throne and are asked by the Lord of the Throne -

The Owner questions the Trustees

"O' Mankind. You ask for My Heaven. 

But a Fascimile of Heaven was already given to you on your World. 

How have you treated the Earth while I left it awhile in your custody and trust? 

Did you remember your responsibilities? 

Did you remember that you hold the Earth only for the briefest moments that you are alive? 

Did you remember to be fair, equitable and just? Or did your rape your own world? 

What answers do you have to these questions? 

So, now I ask again. 

Do you deserve My Heaven at all?

Have a thoughtful day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

What will we leave behind for our children? An Earth past its Live-By-Date? - Prose of Ramadhan Part 51

You don’t have to make the world better. Just don’t spoil it!

(Ramadhan Verses 28)

A friend said and I wrote,

“It is my hope to leave

This world a better place

Then I found it to be

For my children.”

Another friend read and commented,

“But my dear fellow,

Have you not found the world

Exceedingly better now

Because of your children?”

I replied, “Hmm. You are right, actually.”

“So you see,” He continued,

“It is really not about making

The world a better place,

But to not spoil it

For our children.”

I say, old chum. Please don't insult us by suggesting
we have common ancestors. Unlike YOU, we never
inherited a predisposition of destroying
the earth. Now give me the banana 
you promised.

The world is already perfect, sunshine. The celestial beings in the celestial environment - the countless stars and moons, comets and asteroids, they all whirl in perfect motion – dancing the dance of the heavens to a perfect harmony written by God, the All-Knowing Composer of the Most Perfect Harmonies. It is therefore fortunate that mankind do not have the physical power to affect the movement of the stars (The stars should count their lucky stars!). Alas, that this earthly environment is within our grasp to use (which is good) and abuse (which is bad). It is too bad for earth and perhaps the moon (one day?) to have mankind as their viceregent. Thus, the perfection of God reflected in the natural world become spoilt and tainted by man’s greed and vanity. We can see it all around us. We can taste it in the air and in the water we drink, and in the enormous mounds of hormonally imbalanced chicken we consume every day.

So one day, shall our little Mikhail, Anis, Lisa, Penny, Malini, Sarah, Mary ,Emina and Joe question us? – “Mummy, Daddy… you found this world a paradise on earth. Why did you spoil it for me?”

Zainal Abidin... 21 years ago.

In 1990, the radio airwaves and television screens in Malaysia were inundated by a song entitled ‘Hijau’, which means Green.‘Hijau’ was written by Mukhlis Nor, sung by Zainal Abidin under the R.A.P label (Roslan Aziz Production). When it was released that year, the song quickly became the environmental anthem for all Malaysians, and still is I reckon. Zainal, that dear old luvvie sang a dire warning… and a call for us to reflect and reconsider. Where will our corruption and consumerism lead us? What shall we leave our children one day? An earth past its live-by-date?

Hijau – Green (composition and lyrics by Mukhlis Nor)
Bumi yang tiada rimba – The earth without her forest
Seumpama hamba – is like a slave
Dia dicemar manusia – ravished by mankind
Yang jahil ketawa – who laughs in arrogance and ignorance

Bumi yang tiada udara – The earth without the air
Bagai tiada nyawa – is lifeless,
Pasti hilang suatu hari – to surely disappear one day
Tanpa disedari – without anyone noticing.

Bumi tanpa lautan – The earth without the sea
Akan kehausan – Will thirst
Pasti lambat laun hilang – (and) surely sooner or later it (too) will disappear,
Duniaku yang malang – Oh my unfortunate world…

Dewasa ini kita saling merayakan – In recent times, we often celebrate
Kejayaan yang akhirnya membinasakan – Success which ultimately destroys,
Apalah gunanya kematangan fikiran – What is the use of a matured mind
Bila di jiwa kita masih lagi muda – When in our soul, we are still young (immature)
Dan mentah – And childish (ignorant),
Ku lihat hijau – I see ‘Green’

Bumiku yang kian pudar – My earth is slowly blurring
Siapa yang melihat – Who will see (?)
Di kala kita tersedar – And when we finally notice
Mungkinkah terlewat – It may already be too late.

Korupsi,opresi,obsesi diri – Corruption, oppression, self-obsession,
Polusi,depressi,di bumi,kini – Pollution, depression on this earth now.

Ohanok-anok – Oh little children
tokleh meghaso mandi laok – will not feel (the pleasure) of bathing in the sea
Besaing,maing ghama-ghama – While playing together,
Ale lo ni tuo umurnyo bejuto – This world, its age is millions
Kito usoho – We (must) strive
Jauhke dari malapetako – to avoid catastrophe
Ozon lo ni koho nipih nak nak aghi – The ozone is now getting thinner every day
Keno make asak – we have to eat smog / smoke,
Hok biso wei,pasa maknusio – (destruction) because of mankind
Seghemo bendo-bendo di dunio – all things in this world
Tokleh tehe – will not stand (last)
Sapa bilo-bilo – forever.

God bless your Friday, sunshine. This day, like any other day of the week, like this world we live in, is perfect. Let’s try not to spoil it (any more).

wa min Allah at-taufiq.

Sufi Stories and AntiChrist, the One-Eyed King (Dajjal)

30. Caravan
Blessed is the journey, Love
Blessed is the companionship,
Had there been no separation,
How shall I ever know you?

Blessed is the birth, Love
Blessed is the kiss of death,
Had there been no promise of union,
How shall I ever know you?

We have traveled far, you and I,
Our caravan has fallen prey to bandits,
But you are still here with me,
And at night, beneath the Companion's stars
You hold me spellbound with your stories.

200. The Secluded Pond
To sleep, to sleep,
The sun curls beneath
A blanket of drifting clouds…

Come to me,
My Sleepy head!
And let me tell you
Of shooting stars,
And lazy streams,
Of the moon reflected
In a secluded pond,
And the willow trees
That line its bank.

Of minstrels
And storytellers
That gather there,
Talking and singing
Tales of an orphan
Born in the dunes
Of a Kingdom faraway.

Together,
They are weaving lore
Stronger than the mightiest
Towers of the one-eyed king.

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

Sufi stories and lore are all part of the journey. It is often written, but many are also oral traditions, passed on from one wanderer to another. The stories often say different things to you, depending on when and where you are. Sometimes the same account may even have two different endings. When I queried this, my brother simply said that both endings are true and real. Okaaay.

Sufi tales appear to achieve two distinct and seemingly divergent results (for me at least) – They make prophets and saints appear human and real, yet at the same time, the stories often carry transcendental divine meaning. Sufi tales are like drinking the Universe in a tea cup.

Often, these anectodes share many common parables with mystical stories from other religions like Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism.

I think I have had my fair share of Sufi and mystic stories, but I am hopeful for more in future. Some I expect to read in a book, while other oral tales are waiting to be told to me. Perhaps next time, the narrator will be you.

Sufi lore of Prophets, Saints, Angels and all creation are not whimsical add-ons to the mainstream core of religious teaching. What Sufis perform is essential, because like the poem concludes...

They are weaving lore
Stronger than the mightiest
Towers of the one-eyed king.

Have a good day, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa

The Carbon Footprints of Muhammad

Muhammad was the first
To leave carbon footprints,
Long ago he wandered across
The desert of my heart,

Leaving behind diamonds
Twinkling like stars
In the night sky,

One was called Abu Bakar,
Another Omar, the third was Usman,
The fourth, Ali, Hassan, Hussein
And thereafer more
And more and
more.

Prose is from current and untitled chapter. It is a flower from the lore of Sufis that the Companions of the Prophets, are like the stars in the desert twilight, follow any one of them, and surely he will lead you to the Prophet, to God, to Love.

.

So, I beg you, as one tired wanderer to another, look for the stars, high in the celestial sky, or in the closeness of your own heart... they are there, all of them.

.

For if God can be contained in the heart of a true believer, what more His Friends and Saints?!

.

Pax Taufica.