Religion is (or it should be... hehehe) - from the Sinners' Dictionary

Religion Is...

Religion is courtesy and rightness,

In that order of prevalence...

Your religion should

Make your mother and father appear more lovely,

Your children appear more angelic,

You can converse better in pillow-talk,

You can engage wisely with your bank manager,

Public speaking will seem like a walk in the park,

Weariness at the end of the day is a work well done,

Waking up in the morning is a soul well rested

And what is death, if it is not a life well lived!?

Your religion should

Make each morning's greeting richer,

An embrace fantastic,

A kiss cosmic,

The assuring hand on your shoulder

Becomes the Hand of God,

The kind shoulder that you rest your troubles upon

Becomes the Shoulder of God,

But the hand that you shake to say goodbye

Is not the Hand of God because goodbye

In the original ye old English

Means 'God-be-with-ye'...

Your religion should

Make the bees' honey taste sweeter,

The scholar's mind wiser,

The lover's promise truer,

The writer's prose bolder

As wealth and poverty

Become nothing but a state of mind

And each breath that you take

Becomes just one more step

Towards the Divine Presence...

And a problem becomes a milestone along that journey,

Sickness a cleansing white fire,

Sorrow a rose in bloom,

Pain nothing but a faint white star

In a galaxy of merciful meanings

As God and the Prophet guides you

To answer the singular question

Of who you truly are

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

I think the prose above is quite un-commentable as I think it is a comment in itself on religion. Do not sell yourself short. Do not limit your ambitions in your quest for Goodness and Godliness.

... who am I?

I think verily you underestimate your talents!

Have a really lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Angels Making Rain, The Return of the Haze and Super Dads

Making Rain

The Angels of God on their heavenly steed,

Stomped and stomped upon the clouds,

Galloping across the sky,

From one horizon

To the other...

Until finally the clouds broke,

The thunder rumbled

And the rain fell.

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

Morning Rain. It rained earlier this morning. After one week of no rain and return of the Sumatran haze to my country, it was a sweet but alas, short relief. The rain cleared the haze a little, although it is still there outside, a blurry pall hanging in the air and Man's heart.

Haze. Kuala Lumpur, in which the sinner makes his home has the intrinsic geographical condition as a natural catchment of water and air (and haze). Today however the worst affected area is in Kuala Selangor and Port Klang, at the west coast of Malaysia and nearest to the source of the haze in the island of Sumatra across the Straits of Melaka.

It was really bad a couple of days ago. Today however the API (air pollutant index)
is gradually falling and only a few spots in peninsular Malaysia are the API unhealthy.
You can check the daily API at www.doe.gov.my

Father's Day. Well, I am told that it is my day today, Father's Day. Mikhail called me early in the morning and wished me to have a good one. He says he is sorry because the day came to him as a surprise, and he has not bought me anything. Hehehe.

On behalf of all fathers, I must say I am touched by the idea of our own 'global' day to celebrate our awesomeness and natural good looks. But we are alright without it. When people come up to us and say happy father's day, we don't know how to react sometimes. We don't know where to turn and what words to say in reply. Because, I don't know about the rest of the dads on earth, but I always feel inadequate to my purpose as a father. Just as how Adam perhaps felt when he first heard Eve nonchalantly saying to him, all those many eons ago... "Guess what? I think I have got a bun in the oven! You are gonna be a father..." And never being able to live up to the expectations of our children, who in the beginning, will think us Superman, but later will find out that their dear old dad is just that... dear old dad. Not Superman, not Iron Man.

But never mind... because you can still call us Super Dad.

Hehehe.

God bless you, and Happy Father's day!

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way.

God, Love-sick Fools and Knowledge - good manners will get you everywhere...

10. No words necessary

Words are a necessary medium

For the transmission of ideas,

But no words are necessary

For the transmission of experiences.

Though you may find us scouring books,

Know ye that what we look for

Is not contained in the books,

But in the heart of believers

In whatever form that they may be wearing.

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

Experiences. I find the experiences of people fascinating. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Gnostics, and even Atheists. God is Truth (Haqq), so my brethren often tell me, but the experiences of all people are truths too. To them. In a world where every Adam and Eve has his/her own little opinions often cast as truths, it is always good to listen with an open heart and mind. Because somehow, even if you cannot agree with their ideology, there was something in their experiences and the books that they read, and the leaders and teachers that they listened to, that fashioned their views.

Courtesies. Whether you say you believe in God, or you do not believe He exists, there is a history and tradition behind that opinion. And you must always be courteous (Adab) with people's history, for that is who they truly are... even more so than what they are actually saying at any given moment.

A Feeling. But that is all about 'knowledge',. Amongst my friends (I have a few, sinners the whole lot of them!), they hold no real opinion, and their belief in God is not an opinion, but more a feeling. Oh, it can be couched in intellectual metaphysical terms of course, but if you force them to a corner, they will say, "I am in love... in love with God and  His Prophet, and that is to me True Love by any other name..."

Its hard to argue with such people, you see. How can you debate with love-sick fools? Better to leave them to their own devices, lest you get infected. Hehehe.

So I try not to judge people by their opinions. I am much more affected by their manners and kind courtesies. Such people, I truly admire, in whatever form of faith that they believe.

Have a lovely Sabbath, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Lake of Despair - Come on... let's get out of here...

The Lake of Despair

There is a lake in the valley of your consciousness,

A black abyss of the blackest water rising from

Some dark lightless layer of water table many fathoms

Deep beneath the surface of the valley.

On some days, and perhaps many times in a day

Your spirit finds itself drawn there,

Denizens of the valley has a name for it,

Calling it the Lake of Despair,

And they often call on you,

"Do not go there! Do not drink there!

Do not swim there!"

But you do.

The depth of the water is unknown,

Being as deep as the deepest abyss of human hate,

The water is as black as the blackest ink of human pride,

The bitter taste of the water is as bitter

As the most bitter grape of the human ego,

And the lake itself is so wide that if you stand on one shore,

You shan't be able to see the shore on the other side,

For it is as wide as the widest state of human envy.

No one should come here...

But I find myself here,

And here was where I found you too...

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

We get angry. We get mad. We get upset. All sorts of things (and people) can rub us the wrong way and frankly spoil our day. It can be a co-worker, a neighbour, brother, sister, our spouse and (may God forgive us) our own fathers and mothers.

Sorrow and anger is not the same thing, but it originates from the very same dark place in our consciousness (and subconsciousness), and both inevitably throws us into despair, the Lake of Despair, as where we found each other.

Come on, sunshine. You don't belong here. We don't belong here. Let's go back and shut our inner ears to the poisonous whispers of our ego, which wants to win all the time. This will lead us to anger, sorrow, disappointments and ultimately despair. Come on... let's get out of here. God and the Prophet(pbuh) is waiting. And Victory is Forever in the Divine Presence.

...sometimes, when I find beautiful spots here on earth, I wonder to myself...
Just how mind-blowingly amazing would the Divine Presence be? If it was not for God and the Prophet,
I cannot imagine anything or anyone else trouncing the beauty and mercy that God Himself
has already sprinkled here and there on this planet Earth. It is as if He is saying -
" If you think this is wonderful...Wait till you get here with Me and My beloved..."

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Have a Lovely Eternity - Muhammad, My Only Other

"Hold me, and of me never let go. Say my name and never stop,
For I am nothing unless my name is on your lips..."

1. MUHAMMAD, MY ONLY OTHER

We are farmers,

Busy making Hayys

while the Sun is

still shining.

We are writers,

busy writing books

while the ink

is still running.

We are singers,

busy singing mauluds

while the

music is still playing.

We are the Masters,

busy calling on to people

while the Prophet

is still calling.

I am Muhammad,

busy guiding my nation

while a single soul

is still abiding.

I am God,

Uncreated, Undying.

and there is no pause nor whiles

in my Absolute Love.

Know whom I Love,

Then, you will know Me.

I am the One Unique,

and He My Only Other.

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

Belief in one God makes you a Believer, belief in the Prophet Muhammad makes you a Muslim. The hunger pangs that you suffer and the satisfaction of a full belly makes you human. The yearning to know who you are and your Maker makes you a soul, because only a small part of your soul inhabits your present body, the rest remaining in the Divine Presence of God. For the truth of the matter is if God is the Most Lovely, the most Compelling, the Owner of Absolute Attraction, how could you have ever left His presence?

So this life, this struggle, these worldly tests and lessons you are going through now is only for the benefit of your earthly soul. And thus the Devil is fighting only a little shadow of who you actually are, your substantial essence being the heavenly soul with God and the Prophet.

So make hay while the Sun is shining in this Universe, for one day the Sun itself will die away, and however glorious and life-giving it may be now, it shall only be a little starry milestone in the eternity that you shall have to discover God and Muhammad, His Only Other. And don't you see, eternity has begun already?

Have a lovely eternity, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

The Heavenly Dragon, The Heart Shield and Zulfiqar the Renowned!

In Islam, in the name of Ali, the Cousin and Companion of the Prophet, Consort to our Lady Fatima az-Zahra, the 4th Rightly-guided Caliph, and He who wields the two-bladed sword Zulfiqar, there is no hate. Not even in times of war. In times of war, a high banner of chivalry is raised - it is named The Futuwat.

The shield is shaped like the spiritual heart for therein God has established the Throne for He Who Shall Sit On It. And it is also shaped thus because the enemy of hate is Love. And we take shelter in God and the Prophet(pbuh), The Loving and the Beloved from the whispers of hate, envy, pride and hubris fashioned from the black fires and furnaces of the Enemy, the Devil himself. As we also take shelter from his legions of Djinn armies and the traitorous Ego that works within us. Amen.

The wielder of the sword and the shield is symbolized in the form of the dragon, which in the deeper lore of Islam is a heavenly creature, before he was tricked by the Devil. And the dragon is crowned with the pointed hat of the Naqshbandis and turban cloth of royal purple, the tail of which is fluttering in the wind. There is always a breeze, you see, because wherever this particular dragon goes, so does the salawat (hymns and songs of praise for the Prophet). And the salawat calls the wind, which in the deeper lore of Islam is also a creature and creation of God. Blessed be all of God's heavenly creatures.

The sword shaped like the renowned Zulfiqar is held downwards in the dragon’s claws as a token of peace to Man, but it is unsheathed because iron and particularly sharpened iron is a semboyan (signal) to the Djinns that are ever lurking near to beware and to not trespass upon us. It works. Sometimes.

I like to explain things. I like things when they are just so... at their proper places, and properly named, properly posed. Like ending this posting in the very same way I have done for many, many moons…

Have a lovely day, sunshine.

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way

Sufi Masters and their 'Short-cuts' - the carrot for the donkeys

A lot of big hats and fancy twirling about... these Sufis and their shortcuts... Bah! Humbug!

Some Muslims complain that the Sufi way is full of "short-cuts" - As how the contemplation of a learned man is worth seventy (or seventy thousand) prayers of a layman. As how a courtesan can gain paradise after years of sinful trade by giving water to thirsty dying dogs... And many, many more examples to boot.

But I will let you into a secret, sunshine. These so-called 'short-cuts' are just bait, a carrot that the Masters dangle in front of their mureeds (students). So the mureeds are motivated and tempted by the sweet carrots and 'short-cut' stories and Prophetic traditions, and we take the bait, taking one grudging step after another, neither flying like a hawk nor galloping like an Arabian stallion but simply walking, iust like the donkeys that most of us are. But then, after what FEELS like the longest time, the Masters would suddenly turn to us and say, "Okay, my little donkeys... look how far you have traveled. Look around you!!"... For us to find ourselves at a different place from where we once were. Not physically, but in the most important sense of them all, in the sense of perspective and meanings - Perhaps you have not moved at all. You are still staying in the same house. You are still working in the same job and married to the same person. But now... Ah, everything and everyone appears much, much better. Because you have been trained to look with your heart, through love, mercy, understanding and tolerance. And patience. Lots and lots of patience.

You might not believe it, but this is a Sufi mureed.

Quite a good success story for a little donkey, don't you agree?

Hehehe.

So no short-cuts at all, sunshine. Only a path vouched safe by the Prophet, the Companions and the Saints, God's guide to the nation of Mankind (and Donkeykind).

wa min Allah at-taufiq

Hate has no place in Islam

Love will show the Way