Mikhail, Zog and Trashcan - a belated review of Astro Boy the movie

That's me. Zog. No, the boy's not Mika.

I am Zog, according to my son. Zog is a 100 years old construction robot, made of pig iron that fell from Metrocity to the Surface world. Zog fell asleep until one day, Astro gave a little of his Blue Core energy to the defunct robot. Zog woke up and became pals with Astro and his friends on the Surface, which is actually planet Earth. This is a little of the story from the CGI movie on DVD which I only watched recently with Mikhail entitled (unsurprisingly) 'ASTRO BOY'. I think Mika does kinda look like Astro, except that Astro has no little belly. So I told my son that he is Trashcan. A robotic refuse bin that has all the characteristics of a lively friendly dog. Yes. I am an awesome dad.

This is Mika! 

I am talking about this movie, 2 years late (it was released in October 2009) because I found it to be intelligent and funny. When I first noticed that they are producing this Japanese Manga oldie (it originated in 1952!), I avoided watching it like the plague. It looked 'cute' and its probably gonna be 'cute'. And the sinner don't do 'cute' movies, disappointed as he has been by recent productions like 'Despicable Me' which hinted at being 'uncute' but turned out to be inane, sugarcoated and shallow. This movie, is surprisingly strong in dealing with human emotions and the robots (especially the Robot Liberation Front) are hilarious. The dialogue breezes through just fine. If you haven't watched it, you might wanna.

Robots play a big part in my son's imaginary world. He takes them everywhere. He talks to them, he dismantles them and rigged them back again for a robot battle. I am constantly bugged by him to choose my robot in the epic fights. Sometimes, he even lets me win.

No poems, sunshine. Just a movie review of sorts. And of course, Zog and Trashcan.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

God. Breathing Down Your Neck - fate, fairness and anticipations

I am Your Fate

I am the turn of the key,

The opening of the door,

I am the tomcat strutting in the alley,

I am the worm in the apple's core,

I am the clouds adrift in the sky,

I am the sunlight in your eye,

I am the king sitting in his palace,

The widow crying atop her mourning dresses,

I am the silence of your contemplation,

The blaze of colour in your reflection,

I am everything and none at all,

I am your childhood that you cannot recall,

I am both your success and your failure,

The fate you always try to tailor,

I am the conclusion of your endeavour,

The harbour in all your weather,

Fair or foul as how I appear to you,

Is but a veil to hide the truth.

Fairness. We are creatures of cause and consequences. When we do wrong, we expect to be punished. When we do good, we expect to be rewarded. But sometimes the guilty escapes punishment, and sometimes the best among us appear cursed with a doom, the lost of a job, the lost of a child.

Fate. How far can we withdraw into ourselves to escape from the unfairness of this world? How deep into the well of our soul must we dive into, to silence the litany of voices asking for justice and fairness? But it is fate, that thing which none of us can divert.

Anticipation. Often we cannot control the end result of our action or omission. But a wise man once shared with me, "You may not be able to control what happens to you. But you can choose how you react to it. And you can anticipate and prepare for it."

The Prose of Anticipation

Anticipate that if you are alive,

That one day, you will die.

Anticipate that if you are loved,

That one day, your lover must fail you.

Anticipate that if you are married,

That one day, temptation will test your vows.

Anticipate that if you are healthy,

That one day, you will get sick.

Anticipate that if you are strong,

That one day, you will be weak.

Anticipate that if you are wise,

That one day, you will be foolish,

Anticipate that if you are rich

That one day you will be a poor,

Anticipate that if you are learned

That one day you will need learning,

Anticipate that if you feel tired

That one day, God will lift the veil

And reveal Himself being closer to you

Than your own jugular.

According to Muslims, it is said that God is closer to His servants than their own jugulars. That is pretty close. Stiflingly close perhaps. Smothering even. Ah, maybe it is a good idea of God to be Unseen while we are not ready yet. To see what we would do on our own accord, in our remembrance and forgetfulness of Him. Our ups and downs on this road called life.

God. Breathing down your neck.

Take care, sunshine. Talk to you later.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

A Cup of Religion Poured into the Sea of Life - Rumi and the Veneration of the Prophet

A Cup of Religion Poured into the Sea of Life

When we whirl we forget our names,

We forget our past, our history and our story,

We are pulling strands of creation

And with our right hand raised

We receive the Lord's attention

And with our left hand lowered

We become nothing but a channel,

A river of strings, flowing into

The ocean of love, attended by

The remembrance of God,

Praises for the Prophet.

People talk of unity

But we are not,

Being only mirrors of mirrors,

Raised by the bar above the dot,

Mortal creatures

And servants of God.

A little elucidation is perhaps useful for the phrase '...the bar above the dot'. It is in reference to the Arabic alphabet 'ب' ('ba'). The symbolism is significant because the bar lying horizontal reflects the essence of the Prophet being in prostration while the dot signifies God. Above the bar is all of Creation. The lesson here is that God chooses to look at all of Creation through the sight of Muhammad Habibullah. It is one of many lessons that manifests Muslims' great reverence to the person that is known as Muhammad. Is it any wonder that Orientalists in the past often refers to Muslims as Mohamadens? They were far from wrong.

The concept of Muhammad is however not an easy idea to grasp. For you can read thousands upon thousands of books, hear sermons and sohbets recounting the magnificent and delicate natures of the Prophet, but you won't be near to encompassing the knowledge of Muhammad. For the Secrets of Muhammad is with his Lord. And it is not a fixed sum, for it grows with each second that passes through Creation, rising as the Prophet's station rises in the Divine Presence. The whirling dervishes do not add to or augment religion nor the knowledge pertaining to the Prophet- Simply because their understanding of religion has crossed many oceans of contemplation, following the sails of their Grandmaster, Mevlana Jelaludin Rumi, who himself, maddened  with love, continues to pursue the Prophet. Rumi has taken a cup of religion and poured its contents into the sea of life.

Are you ready, sunshine? It is a good day to sail.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Super Dad and the Language of the Trees

Well, Mika was dropped off at my house today by his mom (her official name is Halimah, but she likes to be known as Gina. So, of course we will all refer to her as Halimah) and Uncle Herman after their visit to Universal Studio's theme park in ol' Singapore. As promised he returned bearing gifts, including the one presently on display on my work table. He was playing with it, when I told him to be careful. "Why?" He inquired. "Well, Mika, because it is made of plastic. That is only gold paint. You will scratch it if you are not careful."

"Ooh." He said, and nothing more. Later however he was obviously a bit perturbed and commented to me, "I am sorry, Papa, that the thing is not real..." I said, "Well, Mika. I don't really care. But do you mean what it says?" as I ran my finger across the emblazoned statement. "Of course, Papa!" He ejaculated.

"Well, then it is REAL to me."

So it was a really tiny Santa that came to me in the early morning of this glorious Sunday. I had an inkling something good was going to happen, and you know how? Because of the wind. It blew sprightly outside as the leaves rustled and bustled, the bough and branches bending to the will of the wind. And it spoke to me in a language of the trees, "Good morning, Taufiq. Something good cometh!"

I am not a super dad. I am just a dad. But having a son like mine does make me feel super. God bless all our children, and our fathers and mothers. They are all extraordinary. We must do our best to be deserving of them always... It is not always easy, but we gotta try. Have a beautiful day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Xmas Stockings and a Lump of Sinner - The Beauty of the Oneness of God

I know I was a bad boy. But come on.......!

We are all bad boys. If God decides what we get based strictly on the details that our Recording Angels (the two that follow us everywhere) totting up our good and bad deeds, how many of us will ever get anything wonderful in their Christmas stockings?

God is not bound to anything, unless He says so. And He has said, He has assured mankind time and time again that He loves us, however foolish and bad we have been acting. On the scale between God's Justice and God's Mercy, where does the balance lie? For God has also said that His Mercy is greater than His Wrath. People often asks for justice, and demand that justice be dispensed. But none of us will be able to match God's generosity, our good deeds for God's good blessings. So do not be so hasty to demand justice. On the scale of justice we will fall woefully short and heaven knows what we will find in our Xmas stocking... a lump of coal or perhaps a lump of sinner. Hehehe.

I wish you a Merry Christmas, for those celebrating this auspicious day. There are dogmatic difference between religions, but as my brother once said (quoting a book he alas cannot now recall the title of), "Your choice of bride is different from mine. But who am I to denigrate your choice and your bride?" - And when it comes to God, I know that we are all worshiping the same One God, however the Bride may be named, veiled or dressed. That is the beauty of the Oneness of God.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

20 Seconds with God - a life time and then some

Twenty Seconds with God

One - and I am undone,

Two - then I thought of You,

Three - I said that wanted to be free,

Four - so You showed me the door,

Five - I was born and I am alive,

Six - I was fooled by my ego's many tricks,

Seven - So I turn to You, yearning for heaven,

Eight - Wishing o' Lord that I was dead,

Nine - And You answered, "You will return to Me when it is time.."

Ten - To which I reply, "O' Lord... But when?"

One - "When the moth returns to the Sun."

Two - "When you cease to think only of you."

Three - "When you stop climbing the money tree."

Four - "When you come knocking on My door."

Five - "When you find the Prophet's honey in his bee hive."

Six - "When you can fast weeks upon weeks."

Seven - "When you look for Me and not My heaven."

Eight - "When you serve the living and honour the dead."

Nine - "When you learn to be kind..."

Ten - "...And remember Me in any circumstance."

God bless, may you have a restful holiday. A time to reflect on the year that has past, and the new year that looms ever nearer. And of course, you are right. It is not 20 seconds with God. It is a life time and then some. 

Don't forget me in your beautiful thoughts, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Fences, Saints and Feral Dogs

108. Tall Fences

Come to your senses

My would-be martyrs!

And rely not on man-made borders

That keep outsiders out,

For today you may be within

Come tomorrow you may be without.

Then we shall see how well you fare

Clambering up your proud fences

Built tall and fair

With your incessant and foul pretences.

Marx was right. Religion is often the opiate of the masses, not being the fault of the religion itself. Today religion can be an olive branch, but tomorrow it may be an assault rifle. Religion grows the form of what the man holds within. If he is ruled by his heart and conscience, he will be dressed in his heart and conscience, and whatever he does will permeate with love, mercy, kindness, delicacy, patience, tolerance and empathy. If he is ruled by his ego, his action will often reflect the hate, hubris, envy, jealousy, bitterness, despair and sorrow that he nurses within.

We are our worst enemy. For my own religion, I see a defining group who has the habit of labeling what is Islamic and Unislamic. They meander through the body and society politic, delivering judgments with their words and eyes. No, they are not the politicians and preachers only. They are also us, we ourselves who in our daily lives often judge people. Questioning the veracity of their spirit and soul. But who questions the questioners? Such people often build up fences, saying, "We are the right ones. You are the wrong ones." But who's to say that is true? Already they are wrong, for acting without etiquette, which is the essence of the Adab (good manners) of Islam.

Love. Both good and evil has its pretences. If you want to be good, leave the pretences of piety and goodness behind. Stay awhile here with me, on earth where both saints and sinners can mix, do not deny that we are imperfect in so many ways, and that only common empathy and compassion stands between our peace and the war of feral dogs. It is raining now, so you see... even the sky agrees with me.

Have a perfect Sabbath and xmas, sunshine. And happy solstice too!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way