GOD KNOWS - concerning the missing Flight MH370, knowledge, human nature, speculation, and divine knowledge..

The missing Boeing 777, Registration 9M-MRO, picture taken
in 2011, at Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris.

God Knows

We don't know,

But God knows...

And that is good,

For God is good,

And knowledge is

Encompassed in

The Goodness

Of God.

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

Still Missing. As of today, there is still not much information on the Malaysian Airline System (MAS) flight MH370 which left Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 8th March 2014 heading to Beijing, China. With 227 passengers and 12 crew members. 

"No speculations, ma'am. Just the facts, please."

Speculations. From all corners of government, media, technical, religious and political circles, they have all weighed in with their observations, commentaries and worse of all, speculation. I recall Sherlock Holmes view on speculation - that it is a terrible habit especially when one is fatally hampered with very little factual information. As in the circumstances surrounding the missing Boeing 777.

Unknown Unknowns. From terrorism to the pilots' mental stability, to alien abductions or the plane disappearing into a cosmic wormhole... no speculation has been ignored, however lacking such speculations are, on real substantive evidence. After all, there are things about Flight MH370 that we know and we don't know... but there are also things which we don't know but are actually relevant to the incident...  As the former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld once clumsily observed in a press conference about the Iraq War... "there are known unknowns... and there are also unknown unknowns..."  

Human Nature. But I guess it is our own human nature (and our ego) to speculate. Especially when the incident involves the fate of hundreds of innocent lives and an enormous civil jet plane, and the authorities ranging from the FBI, Interpol and Malaysia's own Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) are all terribly flummoxed.  

His Perfect Knowledge. In any event, however mysterious and baffling, there is at least one assurance for all of us, and that is... whatever happened, or whatever is happening to flight MH370, God knows the truth of it all, in His perfect knowledge to an infinite decimal point. No sub-atomic particle, much less a human being, goes 'missing' without His all-encompassing knowledge of all causes, effects and consequences of such an event. After all, God doesn't 'miss'.

His Perfect Presence. But we, us mortals... we do 'miss'. And for those with family or friends in the fateful plane, they are all missing their loved ones with a yearning and sadness much too painful for me to contemplate. They miss the familiar faces, the smiles, the twinkle in the eye, the conversations and even the scent of their beloveds... But God is not 'missing' anyone. And wherever the passengers and crew of flight MH370 are now, God is attending to them. Just as easily as God is attending to us, 24/7, 365 days in a year. 

If only we would remember this priceless blessing, life would be so much better for us,... whatever happens. Don't you agree, sunshine?

The sky is filling up with clouds yesterday evening,
And with the growing anxious hopes of many, many people.

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

A COCKTAIL OF TEARS, A SEA OF LOVE & LAUGHTER - The Ramadan Story, Part 7

Only If They Ask, Part 2
...And if they ask why are your eyes closed,

Tell them that you don't want to open them

For fear of unleashing another flood

That neither seawall nor dyke can stem.

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

1. A Cocktail of Tears. Mix a little knowledge, add a bushel of sins. Pour a sea of neglect. Sprinkle some remembrance. Top off with a cherry of regret. Stir ingredients in a colourless crystal goblet, and you would get me. When this is me, you must ask why I don't cry more. 

2. Here and There. Everywhere. But I don't. In fact in my life, there is still a lot to smile and even laugh at. Something to warm the cockles of my heart. Something to reignite my faith in my humanity, in my brothers and my sister. I think it is perhaps because however we may be, sweet or sour, good or bad, forgetful or grateful, ugly or beautiful, God is always there. I mean here. With me. And I also mean there, with you. It gets kinda confusing with God and with True Love. For He is one and the same, the Unique One. Transcending the elemental time and space of this physical world. It is easy for Him, He is after all, God.

3. Choose battles that you can win. But the world is not sitting still, letting you go so easily. It throws at you the horrors and hatred, the bigotry and hubris, the greed and selfishness, the apathy and lethargy, the tired old sad stories. So do yourself a favour this month, don't read the newspapers. It is good to be knowledgeable. But sometimes too much knowledge makes us weary. Especially bad news. Especially when we can do almost nothing about it. So my thought for today is - let us choose battles that we can win. And that starts with ourselves. Quit drinking. Quit smoking. Quit neglecting our body. Quit wasting time. Quit sleeping too much. Quit procrastinating. Quit bitching (does this count?). Quit judging people. 

"Don't even think about it." said the Angel of Quitting Bad Things

4. Stop it. It is funny that the biggest battle is really about quitting something. But sometimes quitting is necessary to begin a better life. God willing, I think this is true. Note to self - God and Goodness always wins when bad men (read me) stop doing bad things. 

5. Loveliness... I started this posting with a typically melancholy love prose as befitting my quasi-sufi pretensions. But it is Ramadan the Blessed. And this month refuses to allow me to wallow in sadness. And I am glad that I can end the almanac with loveliness instead. The Loveliness of Allah (s.w.t.), the Loveliness of Muhammad Habibullah (s.a.w.s.) and the loveliness that is all you, ministered between Ahad and Ahmad, between the Chooser and the Chosen.

May you have a beautiful day, sunshine.Tears or laughter, it is all about Love after all.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

THE COMPLAINING ONE - The Ramadan Story, Part 3

There too, Allah Verily Goes

Give Him a moment in your day,

And Allah will give you an eternity,

Give Him a smile in your day,

And Allah will give you something worth smiling for,

Give Him an entry in your day,

And Allah will give you a thousand doors,

Give Him a word in your day,

And Allah will give you a chamber of echoes,

For wherever His servant goes,

There too, step by step, word by word,

With every sigh of contentment,

Allah verily goes.

For is He not 
Very best of company,
The very best of hosts?

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

It is coming into the third morning of Ramadan, and I would like to make a confession here.

I wish I was one of those who can submit to illness with a smile in his heart and faith in his bosom, whatever may happen. Instead, if I feel hurt, I will grimace and maybe even emit a pitiful groan. If I am in pain, I do not hide my pain. Instead I shamelessly parade my pain in front of my Lord... "Oh God, I am hurting here... real baaad!" I bitch, gripe, moan, complain and register my list of dissatisfaction with the Almighty, wherever and whenever it happens.

Physical pain has a way of making us forget temporarily, our blessings. And through the noise and litany of grievances, I guess there must be some good here. Even in this illness(es) that is affecting my Ramadan.

My only prayer to the Almighty (and I know that He is aware of this) is this...

4. Too good a disguise

Lord! Oh Lordly, Lordly Lord!

You say that in all hardship and trials

There lies a silver lining.

A blessing in disguise.

But please.

Don’t make the disguise so good

That I cannot finally see through it. 

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

Patience is often a molehill. A hillock or sometimes
a mighty mountain to climb.

Have a lovely healthy day, sunshine. Have a good one for me.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Ramadan al-Mubarak and the Nourishment of Love - The Ramadan Story, Part 1

The Month of Sinners. Do you know that this blessed month of Ramadan is the month of us sinners? Oh yeah. Well, it is also a month for all sorts of things... it is also the Month of Quran, the Month of Light, the Month of the Poor, the Month of Repentance, the Month of Invocation and Standing in Supplication, the Month of Doing One's Best, the Month of Victory and Success and the list goes on and on. And just so you and I are not mistaken in the divine awesomeness of Ramadan, it is also known as Sayyid al-Shuhur, the Master of All Months. 

ADAB (Good Manners) YA HU (Oh He!) This, in two very short and perhaps surprising phrase for some, is inscribed above the doorway of a Sufi Grandmaster, in his little abode in Lefke, Turkish-Cyprus. In a breathless act of grandstanding, this sinner is also putting one up above the entrance to the hermitage in the sky. Below are practice sketches of the writing by my good ol' buddy, Moses. I think they look beautiful, don't you?

There is only a few minutes left before fasting on this very 1st day of Ramadhan. So I bid you a wonderful and joyous Ramadan al-Mubarak, and though we may empty ourselves of food and water for awhile, may we also gain eternal light, peace, good manners, knowledge, patience, constancy and contentment that is the Nourishment of Love. And this is a dish served especially in this blessed month.

Have a lovely month, sunshine!

wa min allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

BLUE SKY, GOD & YOU - the haze, the hermitage

The Song of Solitude

I am caressed by the silence,

Listening to the song of solitude,

Alone, here in the hermitage in the sky,

I am as I am, asking God,

The pre-Eternal question...

"Who, what, how and why?"

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

After almost one week away, I am back at the hermitage, accompanied with the blue sky that was painfully absent for one week since the smoggy haze enveloped my sad country. But now, the blue and white wispy clouds are back, and I think my fellow countrymen have learned not to take anything for granted, certainly not the heavenly roof of the Earth. In any affliction, there is always wisdom to learn.

Lest You Forget

I made the sky of beautiful blue hue,

And the clouds of white luster,

And it is I Who keep them blue and white,

Lest you forget who is their Creator!

Lest you forget who is your Creator!

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

Yesterday an old friend of mine accompanied me home for awhile. He was delighted to find a balcony which opened up into the sky, and there he prayed his Asr and Maghrib prayers. Later last night, I sent him home.

But the hermitage is not a place for friends, I think. Well, at least not living, tangible ones. I find this place a calm quite oasis of solitude, and in this palpable silence, the voices of those whom we consider 'dead' are very much alive. I put 'alive' in quotes because Allah (s.w.t.) has said that those who pass away in the state of witnessing (syahid) is very much alive (and well). And I believe that Allah's declaration of these souls' life means more than the brief life that you and I are currently breathing, sunshine. These souls are of course the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), His Family, Companions and Saints. Like stars twinkling in the twilight mist they are a joy constant, an assurance eternal and a sign of hope warranted by the Creator Himself, Allah the Beautiful, Allah the Just and All-Merciful.

Some fair thoughts, sunshine, on this fair and blue Friday.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

GOD IS NOT A SACK OF POTATOES - ... you better let Him lead.

Love is Love

You are confused,

Asking and thinking you are not being asked for,

Desiring and thinking you are not desirable,

Searching and all this time thinking

That you are yourself not sought.

It would be good

That you dispel such confusion,

And come to know a little of that which you seek...

Our Beloved and True God.

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

Man like to think that we are the only one putting the effort in our relationship(s). And it doesn't matter whether it is our relationship with our spouse or lover, or in our relationship with our Maker. We err in thinking that God is the Most Desirable One, when He is also God the Most Desiring One.

Sometimes we are so far up our self-righteous wazoo, that we forget that it takes two to tango, and that the other has to be a proactive and reactive tango partner. After all, you don't want to be swishing and gliding across the dance floor as if you are lugging a sack of potatoes. Oh no.

So cease your ignorance in thinking that God is like a sack of potatoes. He is waiting for your dance together. And He will be setting the music. And though this is unusual (as you may be a Man), you gotta let God lead.

Because I reckon that the reason we always trip and fall in our dance is because of our refusal to let God lead. Our pig-stubborn ego, constantly rebellious and refusing to follow God. So come on, sunshine, stop listening to your ego. Get off the floor. Your life has not ended and God is waiting to begin your dance again. 

Yes. He waits, the Most Patient One. That is His Love for you... and in the Completeness of His Understanding and Knowledge over you. And not just about your skill (or lack of skill) at tango. He knows every atom and sub-atomic particle that makes up the transient and fragile reality that you call you.

In this we are more blessed than we can imagine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Bed of Rest, The Bed of Thankfulness - the Adab of Sleep

Thank You for You

I like to fall asleep

With thankfulness in my heart,

I therefore look upon the day past

And count my blessings

As I fall asleep,

Thank You, God, for my parents...

Thank You, God, for my brothers and sisters...

For my aunties and uncles (even the crazy ones)...

For my beloved friends...

For the stars in the sky,

For the apple of my eye,

For this person that I call 'I',

And thank You most kindly

For Your Muhammad, Your anointed Mercy

That you have shared with me,

And lastly (but most importantly),

Thank You for You!

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

I had a bad morning waking up. It is because I fell asleep last night with dark thoughts, a little bit of disappointment, and some bitterness. Oh, what a fool I am!

So tonight I intend to have better care of the thoughts that spring into my mind as I lay my head to sleep. And call upon the names of He that loves me best of all, and His Beloved Muhammad (s.a.w.s.), Prophet of God.

Coming into my 43rd year, and here I am, still learning how to do better what comes most naturally to us in the quiet of night... falling asleep. Funnily, this makes me feel young!

He he he.

Good night, sunshine. Let your bed of rest be a bed of thankfulness.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

No Better Love Than This, No Better Life Than This

No Better

I give one percent and You give ninety-nine percent,

I take one step and You make one leap,

I think of You and You are already on the way to me,

I think of writing to You and Your postman is already 

Waiting at my door, ready for the delivery...

You are ever ahead of me, encouraging me to You...

You are ever behind me, covering my back,

This love You have for me...

Is there any other place to be

That is better than this?

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

Nothing much to say today, sunshine. What is to be written here is already written.

May you find peace with your Lord. There is no better love or life than this.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Rose, The Dervish and the Sea - be a servant and master this world

Master this World

In the Rose of Love,

Between its many-coloured petals,

A dervish whirls,

In the Sea of Mercy,

Beneath the Sky of Knowledge,

There hides a pearl.

Look for it!

Be a good servant

And master this world.

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

This world is the world of the ego. And (so I am told) the more you chase it, the less you will gain out of it. And if you run away from the world, it will come chasing after you, offering you its wealth and rich prizes! And this contradictory nature continues in your function of a servant - for the best of masters is the very best of servants of God, His Beloved Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and of all humanity and created things.

We serve the Masters (Shaykhs and Murshids of the Sufi path)? Well, in a manner of speaking. But in truth what can we offer such illuminated souls? They are already happy, happy with God, happy with the Prophet, happy with the Saints of the before, the now and the future. Nay, while we may affect some servanthood towards the Masters, the truth is it is the Masters who serve and support us... for the love and abiding affection to their Most Beloved Master, Muhammad (s.a.w.s.).

Young men and women. In the spring of their lives often speak of love.
But if you wish to learn of real love... there is no better way
than here. MasyaAllah...

Bless you, sunshine. May you have a beautiful day in servanthood to Truth, Love and Mercy.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

DIVINE BEVERAGE - drinking the tea of certainty (or can't a man have his tea in peace?)

I ordered tea for breakfast this morning at my neighbourhood coffee-house. The proprietor (Iqbal) soon returned with a nice hot mug of the beverage. But before I could lay my hand on it, an ancient friend (let's call him George) came to sit with me. Then he looked wonderingly at my tea. "This is no ordinary tea, o'Taufiq...!" Ejaculated my unbidden guest. "...This milk tea is infused with the essence of garlic, And will you look at it! Its perfect colour of light brown, its smooth yet full bodied flavour! Oh, can't you see o' man, how you take for granted God's daily grace to you and how in each divinely blended moment (or tea) he showers you with His earthly favours!? Oh look! Look! Angels are dancing on its bubbly froth!"

Oh brother. My friend must be going mad. But before I can reveal my diagnosis of his psychological condition, he got up and left just as quickly as he appeared.

But this unworldly moments continued later when I wanted to pay. I called Iqbal for the tab, to which he gave me a brilliant smile, then seemingly plucking a sum out of thin air, he replied, "Only one Ringgit forty cents!" But as I had an inconvenient change of coins  he took only one Ringgit thirty cents and gently pried open my hand and replaced the rest of the coins into my palm. And as he was doing this he was softly singing to himself... there is no god but God... and Muhammad is the Messenger of God... there is no god but God... and Muhammad is the Messenger of God...

Oh brother. Iqbal must be going mad too. What IS in the air this Sunday morning?

He he he.

Have a sweet Sunday, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in islam

Love will show the Way

LOVE ME, EMBRACE ME AND LEAVE ME NEVER!

Dear God,

I didn't mean the words I said yesterday,

I didn't mean the screams I screamed yesterday,

Nor the sighs that I sighed,

Or the moans that I moaned,.

Dear God,

I didn't mean any of those foolish things,

And wished unsaid the words that I said,

And the deeds that I did,

It is just sometimes...

They come flying out of my lips

And speeding through my mind

Those words and thoughts

All of You to be unkind.

Dear God,

If I am to learn through hardship,

Then through hardship I must,

But there is one thing

Of You that I must ask...

Forgiveness if in learning I am slow,

If in sorrow I often wallow,

If I despair for tomorrow...

Forgive me of my weaknesses,

When (inevitably) I go to pieces,

Pick me up and bind me back,

Bond me always to Your pleasure

Love me, embrace me

And leave me never!

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

I don't know about you, but I often have unworthy thoughts of our One Lord God. Over this week I suffered from food poisoning and a day later my eyes got infected and light-sensitive until I was running from shadows to shadows hiding from the blinding sun. Where is the wisdom in such ailments? To lose control of my bodily functions and fearing the sun like a demented vampire? Oh, brother.

Now, less than 24 hours later here I am. Cured (apparently) and contented. And this is the wisdom - gratitude and personal hygiene. After 43 years this is where I am, at the very basics of spiritual understanding. There is no better education than experience, I guess. But I will not be too self-satisfied in this almanac, I don't want God to send another illness anytime soon. 

After all, I am only a sinner. And a learner sinner at that.

Have a beautiful and healthy day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

NOISY CREATURES IN A NOISY WORLD - death before dying and the silence of the grave

Noise and the Silence of the Grave

I am a noisy man,

I need not speak for you to know that,

You can see it in the expression of my face,

In my colour, in the clothes I wear,

In how I walk, sit or stand

Any where, any place.

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

Noisy Creatures. Mankind tend to be noisy. Within ourselves, even in silence, we are confronted with our hopes and dreams, our fears, ambitions and guilt, our uncertainty and our passion, our worry for tomorrow, and our regrets for yesterday - Amid this relentless internal din we let the present go by unattended by our focus and attention.  

Noisy World. To make matters worse, this personal cacophony of emotion throws a veil across our perception of the world, making the world also a right hellish racket to bear sometimes.

Silence of the Grave. So I am on a quest for a quieter world. I am not going to change the world itself, but I will try to do what I can with myself. The Sufis and other mystics of the world have elucidated about the concept of death before dying. And I wanna try that and receive the benefit that comes with death without actually being buried. What benefit, you ask? Why, the silence of the grave of course.

Grace and Grave. For I reckon that once you are along this path, you will get to hear and see the more important things in life - the Grace of God in everything that we are granted, the Wisdom of God in every tribulation that we may face, and the Beauty of God in the smiles, the laughter and the gentleness of our family and friends, and even from the acts and words of strangers. And of course, the Power of God in the thunder storms at sea, the high mountains in the clouds and the vastness of the oceans.

So I am intent on reducing the noise in my life. And as a Muslim, I am asking God for the intercession of the Prophet Muhammad's (s.a.w.s.) hand to reach into me, and turn down the volume dial within me.

Ahh. Lovely. Outside I can already hear the birds singing their hearts out on this peaceful overcast Wednesday morning.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Love without Rival and the Beloved without Rival - towards a life of sincere sweetness

Love Without Rival

When my Lord looks for sincerity in me,

He sends me illness and poverty,

But He finds instead my hardness…

When my Lord looks for sweetness in me,

He sends me health and wealth,

But He finds instead my forgetfulness…

Either way I am undone,

Like a knot unraveled,

Unprepared as I am

To a Love without Rival.

…………………..

An illness gripped me for a couple of days, and I could not stand it, and I found true hardness in the core of my being, asking God why should I be made to suffer in this painful humiliating way. Even as the thoughts pass through my soul unchallenged, I felt guilty, and not a little stupid.

Ah, but that is what makes a man sometimes, yes? A little guilty, a little stupid. A clown really.

Yet it doesn't bode well for me even when the Lord grants me with health and wealth, for then you may find me silly and forgetful. Either way, I cannot win. Not alone, and certainly not by my own devices.

An ancient friend confides in me that the best path is the middle way, and the union of sincerity and sweetness into sincere sweetness, as elevated into a perfect art by Muhammad Prophet of God (s.a.w.s.), most intimate of all creation with the Creator. "That is the best way for you", he says... 

For Allah(s.w.t.) is Love Without Rival, and Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) 

is the Beloved without Rival.

Have a beautiful Sunday, sunshine. For me it is beautiful already for my illness has abated under the care of my father. And with my friend's advice ringing in the bell tower of my spirit, I look forward to a new day refreshed with hope, and a love without rival.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Tears and the Reverberations of the Heart - grace and gratitude

35. Brightest Star

Even the brightest star must diminish

When the morning sun appears

As do all sad songs finish

When eyes run out of tears.

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

I am prone to tears nowadays. I do not understand why. The tears can come from suddenly remembering a beloved soul who has departed this worldly existence. But most of my tears are not tears of sadness or separation. Often they well up from the simplest gesture of kindness from another human being, and from an overwhelming sense of gratitude for this life that I have been given, and the love and mercy of God that is offered unto me now and in the hereafter.

It is a reverberation in the heart like church bells ringing and it happens in the most unlikely of places and circumstances. Maybe that's why I like to wear sunglasses even when it's raining.

God bless you and have a wonderful Friday, sunshine. May you reverberate with gratitude. For it is the sound of happiness cloaked in tears...

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

God's Own Fool - courage is not something that can only be found in the battlefields

Take courage. Do not let fear cage your compassionate heart...

The Lord's Own Fool

"What have you given away?" The man asked his sister, 

looking at the retreating back of the beggar.

"I didn't have anything to give, so I borrowed some dinari 

that I might give to the poor man..."

"Are you a fool?" The brother hotly interrupted, 

To which she said firmly,

"I may be... but if I am, 

I am the Lord's own fool!"

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

A friend of mine called me early this morning. She had just taken a loan to settle her outstanding credit card bills. But as is often the case with parents and their magical instincts, it was on this very same morning that the father asked to borrow a substantial amount of money from her. 

And she lent it immediately, knowing all too well that it may never be repaid.

People often talk of the parent's sacrifices for their children that shall never be repaid. But not every child put to practice such noble sentiments. My friend cried a little thinking of her own financial woes, and how there appear to be no end to her worries. "I must be a damn fool!" she exclaimed.

Indeed she is foolish. But if you would believe me, she is God's own fool. For God loves those who do not allow fear to stand in their way of compassionate fealty. Courage is not something that can only be found in the battlefields... It can be found in the exemplary conduct of people all around us.

May God enrich this world with our generous friends, sunshine!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Breathing - life, grace, gratitude and God

 If not now, then when?

You ask for air every few seconds,

And lo, you take your breath.

When there are always a multitude of reasons,

Why your request may not be answered,

But it is! It is! And you breathe!

How we take for granted our wish

And how it is answered by God,

In each moment,

In each breath,

In each thought.

God is in all the details, you see

Not just the Grand Cosmic Events,

So if you do not realise this now,

Then when?

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

Hey, sunshine. I hope your day has been swell for you. For me it has been a little of hit and miss. But I am glad to be back, and find this little prose recorded some while back. Of all things that God has granted me, it is undoubtedly my breathing that I regularly forget to give thanks for. It is so 'automatic' you know, your heart and your lungs doing all the work, gathering oxygen to feed our body. Then one day the heart goes kaput or semi-kaput and we are immediately reminded of our mortality. Oopsie.

So while my heart is still in an A-Okay condition, I would like to register with God, the Originator of the human breath and the Divine Breath, my sincerest thanks.

And my appreciation to Sumathi, my former colleague who once shared many hours with yours truly, talking about God and Saints, and finding commonality in our different faiths. It is a good feeling, and I wonder why some Muslim leaders are so afraid of talking with non-Muslims. Surely it is not because they fear something? Someone posted something rather smart on my FaceBook recently, 'Fear often overcomes our natural instinct to compassion and tolerance.'

So do not fear anything but God, sunshine. And let God the Most Compassionate (ar-Rahman) and Most Merciful (ar-Rahim) find in you, and through you, His own Device for Divine compassion and mercy unto this world, for all mankind and creatures of differing colour and creed. Ameen.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way