Love's Errand at the Court of the King (and Tsunami breaking news. *Gulp*)

Bukit Kiara Cemetery

Love’s Errand at the Court of the King

Grave visiting is love’s errand.

The sweetness of days long past remembered,

Verily do I recall you, o’ saintly soul,

Of your kindness and your gentle words,

Your laughter and your easy smile,

The honeyed friendship, the hallowed fellowship,

As a wife, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a niece,

A grandmother, a grand aunt, a counselor and confidant,

Not one secret did you betray,

Not one promise did you break.

And mercy unto those who visit

To the Garden of Stone,

For verily you are here

As Love’s own ladies-in-waiting

And knights errant,

Courtiers in the Court of the King,

God, the Eternal, the Absolute, the Living!

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My aunt, at the grave of her
younger sister, my late mother.

A visit to the Cemetery. If my precious auntie Mak Ndak (real name, Sofiah) was to read the above prose, I am sure she would say something like, "Peq... (for that is my family nickname) I am just visiting the grave of my sister... No big deal."

The weather was fine with a late morning drizzle. Undaunted, my aunt insisted we pay a visit to my mother's grave in Bukit Kiara Cemetery. We stood for awhile around my her black-marbled resting place. It was wet and there was no place to sit, but happily I found a small stool nearby. I placed it at the feet-end of the grave for Mak Ndak. She began her recitation of the Yaasin verse, also known as the Heart of the Quran.

After half and hour, we said our goodbyes. The ground is a little uneven, so I gingerly led her back to the car. It is the least I could do for everything my aunt has done for me through out her sainted life. She reminds me so much of my late mother. 

Breaking News... Tsunami. Mikhail is back with me. It seems that while my son was in the swimming pool at his mum's apartment, about two hours ago, they all noticed that the water was rippling and above, the telephone wire strangely swaying in the air. Uh oh. A large earthquake just hit the large island of Sumatra, Indonesia, basically next door to Malaysia. All the countries surrounding the Indian Ocean have placed their coastal areas on high Tsunami alert. The earthquake is recorded at 8.6 magnitude. A whopper. At this point in time, it is reported that the damage has been 'minimal'. I guess we will get more information later through the night.

Now forewarned, it is my prayer and hope that everyone has taken all precautions possible to safeguard their lives and belongings. May God protect them all. May God protect us all.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Life is full of storms... but it can also be full of Meringue

22. Spiritual Contentment
Some ships while their days
In false harbours and riverines
When there are Seas to be crossed
And storms to be conquered.

MERINGUE. There is perhaps nothing more finer when you are stuck in a Burger King, in the middle of a nightly tropic thunderstorm, for a girl who loves you to show up unplanned with a box of mixed berries meringue.

THE BEST. Sometime last week, Mika and I was awoken by the thunder of God, electrifying the night air. It felt like a lightning hit the earth just outside the balcony of our room, the door of which was open to the wild orchestra occuring outside. Mika was beside himself and shouting "Papa! Papa! Papa!", so I immediately hugged him and gently assured him repeatedly that it was just thunder and that everything was going to be alright. Poor kid. He trembled in my arm for awhile before finally succumbing to sleep once again, while outside the rain was still pouring like someone in Heaven forgot to turn off the tap. A couple of hours later I was awake again and gently nudged Mika to wake him up for school. He opened his eyes, smiled and simply said, "You are the best, Papa." Later that morning, in the empty lot across the road from my house I found a big tree uprooted and lying on its side. So the lightning did fall just yards outside from my room.

BAKING TIP. My beloved city of Kuala Lumpur has been hit by rainstorm every evening for the past five days. This is not a good time for anyone to make mixed-berries meringue, because it is not recommended to make mixed-berries meringue (or any meringue in fact) during a rainy day or when the air is humid. Heche just googled this up and I wanna slip in some useful information in this posting.

CONCLUSION. Life is like sailing, sunshine. But there is always a flock of seagulls hovering near our ship. This means that land is never far away, and that God's heaven is the next stop for all of us. But before we get to God's Harbour, we must accept the storms that often come at sea as part of our life, for in its raging tempest is the wild unstoppable beauty of Fate's ultimate power over us - to teach us reflection, humility and submission.

But life is not all about ducking for cover from the storms, because along the way we also get goodies, like being called 'the best' by your child even though you are far from being the best at anything. And that I think is simply awesome, just like meringue.

I am happy. Happier than I have been for a very long time. Thank you for allowing me to share my happiness with you, sunshine.

Pax Taufiqa.

In the Spiritual Tsunami the Best Miracle is YOU.

MIRACLE MOSQUE? My brother shared something with me the other day. You know that thing about the miracle mosque in Banda Aceh still let standing post-tsunami? Well, maybe it isn’t so miraculous after all. He said that perhaps (let me stress here perhaps) it’s simply because (i) the mosque had a lot of openings that allowed the water to pass through it, and (ii) the mosque was essentially better built compared to the houses surrounding it.

DOES IT MATTER? And my conclusion? Frankly, I don’t know. But if the alternative suggestion carries at least some weight, than perhaps it is unwise for the Muslims to place too much emphasis on the miracle-story. I am not saying it isn't a miracle. I mean, please believe it if you feel it is true, but for me it is not so significant. And this is why...

MIRACLE SHIMACLE! The Prophet Muhammad is extremely reluctant to use miracles to persuade people. He was kinda saying, “Look here, kiddo. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t kill your baby daughters. Don’t covet the property of others. Keep your promises. Don’t burden your animals unnecessarily. Take care of your health. Don’t eat and drink too much. There is only One God, so why are you messing about with idols of your own creation? And generally be nice to others, because sunshine, let’s face it – wouldn’t you want others to treat you that way too?” So he thought that this was so fundamentally true for anyone that surely, SURELY, the Quraish (the dominant tribe of Mecca then) would have no problems with his message, and that the necessity of having to perform miracles would not persist. Alas, people are stubborn. Stubborn in their old ways and habits. So he did perform a couple of miracles, most famously by splitting the Moon in two.

SO WHAT? But did that change people’s attitude towards his message of mercy? Well, for some it did. But for those who were adamant in their ways, Muhammad could have split the Sun and the Earth in two, but they would never have followed him. Thereafter, his enemies branded him a sorcerer, - a mage with the ability to hoodwink. That is how the coin drops sometimes, I guess.

For me the important lesson to be gained from the miracle mosque story is this – Islam is suppose to be an open religion. It has many doors, gateways and entrances, so that more and more people will stumble through and find the contentment and peace which is what the Prophet promised. The problem is nowadays, the idea of Islam has changed for some people. I think I posted this following poem before, but I would like to repeat it again to describe what I mean…

1. Islam Was Once A Splendid Garden
Islam was once a splendid garden,
Filled with rose, tulip and jasmine blooms.

The garden was protected
By a wall of stone
Upon which was inscribed
“All ye who seek shelter,
All ye who seek safety,
Come hither.”

Outside the garden wall
Ran a moat of clear sweet water,
From which travelers drink
And are feted with the words;
“If ye think the water is sweet,
Enter ye into the garden and drink
Thy fill from the fountain!”

That was then.

Now the free fountain
Has been replaced with
A coin-operated dispenser.
The walls have been torn down
And in its place
A fence of fire has been erected,
With gates and toll booths
Occupied by surly operators.

Alas! We find
The moat has dried up,
The trees and flowers
Are crying,
And into the garden
The fire sends plumes
Of damnable smoke
And noxious fumes,
Blocking out the stars and the moons
That once gazed brightly
Down upon us.

BE LIKE WATER. A grandmaster of a Sufi Order who once said, “The believers must be like water. If there is an obstacle, they must flow around or through it.” So I am sharing this with you. But before you begin to flow around or through any external obstacles, I am told that we must first flow around and through our internal obstacle – that fiery volcano in ourselves which mankind calls the Ego. I do think that even the mightiest Mountain of Fire can be subdued if only we could be like water… and flow around and through our ego and ultimately extinguish its flames. A steam will rise from our tamed ego, and from the heavens, the angels will see a heart-shaped soul and exclaim…”Look, one more has bridled his/her ego! Rejoice, brethren!”

THE BEST MIRACLE. There is an Ocean of Mercy within you, sunshine. Turn the tap, and let Love course through your Soul. For I believe with all my sinful heart that the Best Miracle of all is actually YOU (…you Jews, you Muslims, you Buddhists, you Christians, you Hindus, you Wiccans, you Atheists, you Sikhs, Trekkies, you Boy Scouts, you Girl Guides, you Volvo drivers… etc).

Wouldn't you agree?

Pax Taufiqa.

The Information Tsunami Part 2 - Between Kings & Eunachs

WE ARE ALL KINGS? The Information Tsunami is threatening to turn everyone with a computer, blackberry or iPad into Kings. In the ancient times before the electric socket, the only person in the kingdom receiving information about everything that happens in the land is the King. It is his privilege to listen to the good news brought to him by his advisors and courtiers, and it is his burden to listen to all the bad news communicated into the royal ear. Having heard all these, he had to come up with a plan to remedy whatever problems that may be faced by his subjects. It’s not easy but it’s his job. Born unto the throne.

THE INFORMATION TSUNAMI. With the information superhighway now coming into your bedroom and pocket, we too are priviliged like kings to receive information which probably has no direct bearing whatsoever to our daily lives. And we get them from the entire world. So we commiserate with parents of the Chilean miners when they were stuck under ground, we watched as cars, buildings and boats get swept inland in Japan, and we shake our heads in disgusts at mindless acts of savagery against women and children all over the globe.

FLOOD OF BAD NEWS. Oh yes, there are a few ‘happy’ endings out there, but it is the unfortunate habit of the mass media to highlight what titillates, disgusts or horrifies us. I guess the mantra for the news network is ‘If they want happy endings they can watch the Disney Channel’. This invasion of bad news comes in daily, and just as we are moping up the debris of the Tsunami from our mind, another earthquake, another volcanic explosion, or another serial murder occurs somewhere and is tweeted into our iPhone…

ACTUALLY, WE ARE ALL LIKE EUNACHS. Yes, this is true. Because Kings actually have the power to do something about the problems they hear. We don’t. Not really. We are just like eunachs of the Forbidden City – ergo, we have the responsibility but not the power. Yes, I am sure we can donate some money to the Tsunami Fund, and undoubtedly we can pack up our things and head of to Acheh / Japan / Ivory Coast to do some good, but how many of us can actually do it?

So we become distracted by tragedies on the other side of the planet, while next door, the little old lady living on her own is miserable. We complain about government brutality in other countries, but we stand by and ignore the brutality of our own governments. If we become this way, acting like kings, who has the time now for servanthood? The Prophet Muhammad prophesied this…

194. The Brethren

When buildings stand tall as mountains,

Where stand all my brethren? When all men are kings,

Who will be servants?

ALL TRUE KINGS ARE TRUSTEES. There are many, many good ways we can harness the Information Tsunami. Of this I am sure. Like all asset, we simply have to put it to good use, that’s all - Because not all Kings were corrupt, degenerate and brutal, in truth, all true Kings are trustees…

5. Put to Use

Property is to be put to use,

Not left to your ego

To gloat over. Fear not poverty,

For it is mine to dispense

To whomever I please.,

And will you be

One of those displeased

With what I have given? You are but trustees,

But you act like kings. Nay, worse than kings.

For all true Kings are trustees. .

May you be a fine trustee, sunshine. And may we learn the true art of servanthood and trusteeship from the best of servants and trustees – to learn how to make the change first and last only to ourselves, for the benefit of our family, friends and neighbourhood.

Pax Taufiqa.

Entrapment by Love is the Sweetest Servitude - Umrah Pilgrimage Part 4

I arrived late (what’s new?) at the Tabung Haji (The Malaysian Haj Fund) Complex for my short seminar on the manners and guide to performing the Umrah (lesser pilgrimage). There was a 15 minutes recess and I left the compound for a nicotine break.

I made way to a small park across the road, and there was an event. It appears that the local community organized a sepak takraw event. From the crowd, I can see that most of the participants were the local boys. They were all sitting and listening to the pre-game talk by a motivational speaker.

The speaker must be in his late 40s or early 50s. In the beginning he talked about Japan, but not about the tsunami, rather the people. He has previously volunteered in disaster areas like Acheh and Pakistan. He recounted how the aid volunteers sometimes had to flee from the mass of desperate refugees when they arrived at the camps bearing food and medical supplies. Hungry, battered and angry, people simply forget themselves and their everyday manners. Clamoring for aid, the situation often deteriorated into a free-for-all. No wonder the police and army had to be on hand to keep chaos at bay.

“How different it was for the Japanese”, he recounted. "The Japanese, instead of falling into a melee, queued orderly and when it is his turn, the man would tell the aid worker his name and current predicament, then asks, 'Am I entitled to the medicine?'" In the super-high stress conditions of post-tsunami, the traditional Japanese way of respect and politeness are, you must admit, truly praiseworthy.

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Coming back to the main topic, the speaker continued to say that it is important for you to be disciplined. To wake up early and catch the morning sun. To work and play according to what is beneficial. “There is a good way to have fun. There is a good way to lepak (relax) or play sports.” Then he continued. “All these are not forbidden. But you must find a way how to do these things beneficially.”

The last thing which he touched on was one that is dear to me. He spoke of the Prophet. Obviously he left the best for last. He spoke how in the final moments of the Prophet’s passing, Muhammad Habibullah counseled his nation never to forget solat (prayers). Then the speaker said these words, “Upon the last instance when God’s Beloved breathed his last on earth, what did he utter, and what or whom was his last thoughts? Was it about his favourite camel? Was it about Aisha, his beautiful wife? Was it about his Mosque in Medina? Was it about his daughter, Fatima az-Zahra? Nooo… my friends! He was thinking about you, you and you! You, you and you! All of us here right up to the end of time. He said ‘umati, umati, umati’ (oh my people, my people, my people).”

SIGH.

Entrapment by Love is the sweetest servitude. I try to run from one congregation, and another ambushes me in the park. I have no where to run. Maybe I don't wanna run...

66. Love That Has No Reasons
Ya WADUD!
Lock my heart in love for Thee
With love that has no reasons
So my mind can never sway me
With words all wise but treason.

Lock my heart in love for Thee
With love that has no seasons
So neither snow nor sun in spring
Will steal me from my Loving King.

Lock my heart in love for Thee
And chain me to Your Ocean
Throw away the prison key
And take away my freedom.

Lock my heart in love for Thee
And make my soul Your Garden
Plant in me Your Jasmine Tree
With roots that reach Your Ocean.

Lock my heart in love for Thee
With love to awe this heathen
Make AHAD my beating heart
And make Ahmad my passion.

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Have a wonderful Sabbath, pet. This morning I said that I feel the Love. Now I do not see anything but Love. I know this vision shall not last forever, but I don’t care. I am happy.

Pax Taufiqa.

Footnote: The poem above has been posted earlier. But it just suits this posting, so I hope you don’t mind.

Mika-San & Papa-San - Umrah Pilgrimage Part 3

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MY HOLIDAYS ARE ALWAYS KINDA. I am on leave today, kinda. But I still have to come into the office to ensure smooth transfer of pending client work. I shall also be bringing my laptop to blog and possibly work if necessary. When you are running a business, holidays are always 'kinda'. I am not complaining, I like my job and love my partners and crew. My office is authorized to contact me on ICU-only basis, which means my client is having a Code-Red legal dilemma and needs my advice to resuscitate him. I am lucky to have core clients whom I love. Not many lawyers have the privilege to say that. I am lucky, I guess. Anyway, the Prophet says that work is also ibadah (worship), so I don’t think he would mind.

I spent sometime with Mika this morning, and a thought struck me. I will be gone for 2 weeks in my Umrah Pilgrimage and shan’t see him for awhile. I won’t be seeing him at breakfast, and he won’t be there when I wake up in the middle of the night. Suddenly I felt terribly melancholic. Suddenly I don’t mind his endless chatter and his dry wit…
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PAPA-SAN & MIKA-SAN. I think about the Japanese (who doesn’t nowadays?) and how there may be hundreds or even thousands of pairs of Papas and Mikas who has lost either his Mika or his Papa in the recent tsunami and earthquake. They shan’t see each other again (in this world). What a terribly sorrow it must be. Really I cannot put into words the feeling of utter loss that they must be feeling right now. There is a big hole in the universe for such people, and the world shall never be the same again to them.

May God give us such courage and strength to face what fate has in store for us and our beloved. By Love, for Love and through Love, in each step of the way, in each breath of our life..

Pax Taufiqa.

Japanese Tsunami, Democratic Tsunami, Education & the Informed Voter

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DEMOCRACY. You may notice from my previous postings (Click Here) that I am not an unconditional admirer of democracy. Democracy, like any system by which you run your country, and indeed your life, is subject to the quality and integrity of the operators of the system.

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COMMUNISM AND OTHER RELIGION. After all, if you were to read the Constitution of the former Soviet Union, the freedom of religion is protected in the document. But that didn't stop the government oppression of all religious practices in the country, especially the Russian Orthodox Church, and Islam in the Central Asian states (you know, all those '...stans').

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ISLAM & OTHER RELIGION. It is also my belief that Islam respects and accepts the mix of religions of this world which venerate our One Single God. This 'Unity of Religion' is mentioned by Mawlana Abul Kalam Azad in his brilliant book (Click Here), and here too he finds it strange why such an integral and core belief of the Prophet has been intentionally or unwittingly ignored or even suppressed. This is the unfortunate result of a disconnect between the faith and those who practise it. This human illness is a common disease in all forms of belief systems.

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THE DEMOCRATIC TSUNAMI. Unless you have been sitting under a coconut shell like a frog, you will know of the tidal wave of democractic protests crashing into the countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The media calls the demonstrations and rallies as an expresson of pro-democratic movements. And I guess they are right in the sense that people are fighting for some pretty basic demoractic rights from rulers who have perhaps been in power waaay too long. But the question is what plans do they have once they have toppled their autocratic leaders? This crucial issue must be resolved by the people. If they don't do it, two things may happen - the country will descend into further chaos OR someone else will decide for them. They need a plan.

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This is not a plan.

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THE PLAN? We have been hearing almost nothing about the specific ideas and objectives of these pro-democracy movements. In fact, there appears to be no clear leadership. And that is worrying..

THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION. In whatever system you choose for your country, there must be some process or tradition by which people are educated. Because, lets face it, voting is a highly emotive choice and such decision-making must be made in context of long-term benefits for the country, a healthy knowledge of the origin and history of its people, a respect for the often conflicting interests of different communities, races and religion, and a broad if not specific understanding of technology and sciences, geo-politics and the economy. You are not born with this information already downloaded in your brain. This basic general knowledge must be learnt. And a liberal advance tradition of education is the key to make what I call the Informed Voter...

The devastating wave

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JAPANESE TSUNAMI. I am not a card-carrying Nipponophile (is there such a word?). But we must accept that these Japanese have arisen like the phoenix from the traumatic years and ashes of World War II. There are much in the habits and traditions of the Japanese that deserves to be applauded and emulated. And I believe that the Japanese in their calm and canny ability to sort our problems will be able to save the most lives, compared to many other countries around the world. To put it simply, their high quality education system will bear fruit in these times of national tragedy and emergency, when everyone needs to now to roll up their sleeves and get digging.

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Saved! Ya Huuuu!

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HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION is the seed for any human enterprise, whether it is voting for the mayor of your town, planning to topple a dictator, saving people stuck on rooftops or trying to figure out how to repair a broken nuclear reactor.

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Thank you for reading my blog today, sunshine. May we all learn something new every day till the day we finally graduate from the University of Life. And may the Chancellor-God Almighty be pleased with our performance. Amen!

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Pax Taufiqa

Japanese Tsunami and the Apparent Arbitrariness of Life

TWEETER : TSUNAMI IN JAPAN. In Malaysia, thousands of twitters expressing support, condolences and prayers for the Japanese people shot into the cyberspace, within minutes of the news of the tsunami went online. And across the globe, I am sure millions of tweets shared the same feeling of empathy and worry. With about 4,000 Malaysians registered with our embassy in Tokyo, there are probably now hundreds or perhaps thousands of families here, still worrying about their relatives or friends still as yet uncontactable. The main problem is that it is currently the universities semester break in Japan now. So some students and their families are out of town, possibly in other prefectures. In such stressful circumstances the tweets of sympathy keeps me faithful in the inate goodness of mankind.

But some tweets are also saying that the Tsunami is an Act of God.

ARBITRARY GOD? What are they suggesting when they tweet such words? Are they suggesting that God is arbitrary and He doesn’t care at all how many people die and suffer in every natural tragedy that has struck mankind? I cannot accept that.

GOD'S JUDGMENT? Or are they implying that for some reason, the people pummeled by the waves somehow deserves it? A holy judgment enforced by sea water? It is not God that is judging.. it is them. So that too I cannot accept.

I too find myself pondering over why some countries appear to be hit again and again by nature while climates in other countries are relatively docile.

I guess I cannot stop people from saying it is an act of God, since really nothing happens without the Will of God. I actually object the context in which it was said / tweeted. For me, in reference to God’s Will… only those actually involved in rescuing and consoling the victims can say such words…

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It is the Will of God that it happened.
It is also the Will of God that I am here.
Let me help you.

For the rest of mankind who are not directly involved in the emergency efforts - We should just pray to the Almighty for the succor and rescue of the Japanese people in this tsunami and hold back all other unnecessary comments.

May God save the Japanese people.

Pax Taufiqa.