Is This Love I'm Feeling?

Salam,

Have you ever been in love?

You know, that feeling of constantly wanting to be with someone? To forever be in his embrace. Wanting to spend every moment with her. Feeling like you might just give up everything for that one for you. And not caring a bit what anyone says. You are in your own world where the only thing that matters is being together. Away from everyone and away from anything. A place where rules don’t matter. And no consequences to fear. This sounds very much like love, right? In truth, it is not. It is in reality what we call, desire.

If being 'in love' means that our lives are in pieces and that we are completely broken, miserable, utterly consumed, hardly able to function, and willing to sacrifice everything and anything, chances are, it is not love. Despite what we are taught in our culture, true love is not supposed to make us somewhat like this.

We’ve grown up as the generation X, the generation already born into technology. We are constantly exposed from everywhere, the television, the radio, magazines, advertisements, billboards and of course, our friends, our peers, our traditions and culture, basically, our surroundings – that a love between a man and a woman is powerful, a kind of beautiful magic that can conquer all. Everything else around us can fall apart and things will still be okay, because we have what? We have that love that will keep us alive. We grew up with this idea. And we’ve grown up knowing love as an enticing obsession. But is this really true? Is this love?

Contrary to what we’ve grown up watching in movies, that type of all-consuming obsession is not love. It goes by a different name. It is what we call, hawa—the word used in the Quran to refer to one’s lower, vain desires and lusts. When we are in that state of obsession, we are not following love. Don’t be fooled; we are actually following al-hawa. And what about people who follow al-hawa? Allah describes those who blindly follow al-hawa as those who are most astray!: “But if they answer you not, then know that they only follow their own lusts (hawa). And who is more astray than the one who follows his own lusts, without guidance from Allah?" (28:50)

When we choose to submit to our hawa over the guidance of Allah, we are choosing to worship those desires. When our love for what we crave is stronger than our love for Allah, we have taken that which we crave as a lord. Allah says: “Yet there are men who take (for worship) others besides Allah, as equal (with Allah): They love them as they should love Allah. But those of Faith are overflowing in their love for Allah.” (2:165)

If our ‘love’ for something makes us willing to give up our family, our dignity, our self-respect, our bodies, our sanity, our peace of mind, our deen, and even our Lord who created us from nothing, know that we are not ‘in love’; we are ‘in-slave’ - enslaved. Enslaved to what? Enslaved to our desires..

Of such a person Allah says: “Do you see such a one as takes his own vain desires (hawa) as his lord? Allah has, knowing (him as such), left him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight. (45: 23) A person who choose to follow his desires when he already knows fully well that he should follow Allah, then Allah will make shut his hearing, shut his heart and clouds his sight!

Can you imagine the severity? To have one’s sight, hearing and heart all sealed. Hawa is not pleasure. It is a prison. It is a slavery of the mind, body and soul. It is an addiction and a worship. It is not love. It is binding and blinding. It is dark and tricky. And it is addictively sinful. It will lead us astray! It is hawa. Real love, as Allah intended it, is not a sickness or an addiction. It is affection and mercy. Allah says in His book: “And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” (30: 21)

Real love brings about calm—not inner torment. True love allows you to be at peace with yourself and with God. That is why Allah says: “that you may dwell in tranquility.” Hawa is the opposite. Hawa will make you miserable. And just like a drug, you will crave it always, but never be satisfied. You will chase it to your own detriment, but never reach it. And though you submit your whole self to it, it will never bring you happiness.

So while ultimate happiness is everyone’s goal, it is often difficult to see past the illusions and differentiate love from hawa. One fail-safe way, is to ask yourself this question: Does getting closer to this person that I ‘love’ bring me closer to—or farther from—Allah? In other words, has this person replaced Allah in my heart?

Know that, True or pure love should never contradict or compete with one’s love for Allah. It should strengthen it. That is why true love is only possible within the boundaries of what Allah has made permissible. Outside of that, it is nothing more than hawa, to which we either submit or reject. We are either slaves to Allah, or slaves to our hawa. It cannot be both.

Have confidence! Have faith! And believe! that only by struggling against false pleasure, do we attain true pleasure. They are by definition mutually exclusive. For that reason, the struggle against our desires is a prerequisite for the attainment of paradise. Allah says: “But as for he who feared the position of his Lord and prevented the soul from [unlawful] inclination, then indeed, Paradise will be [his] refuge.” (Qur’an, 79: 40-41)

Allah knows best. Wallahu'alam.

Salam my brothers and sisters. :)

*This article is a cover of an article written by Suhaib Webb, at this link : suhaibwebb.com

Mus'ab ibn Umair

Salam,

Mus'ab ibn Umair
-The First Envoy of Islam-

This man among the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, how good it is for us to start with him. He was the flower of the Quraish, the most handsome and youthful! Historians and narrators describe him as "the most charming of the Makkans".

He was born and brought up in wealth, and he grew up with its luxuries. Perhaps there was no boy in Makkah who was pampered by his parents like Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair. This mirthful youth, caressed and pampered, the talk of the ladies of Makkah, the jewel of its clubs and assemblies: is it possible for him to be one of the legends of faith?

By Allah, how interesting a tale, the story of Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair of Mus'ab the Good, as he was nicknamed among the Muslims! He was one of those made by Islam and fostered by the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

But who was he? His story is a pride of all mankind. The youth heard one day what the people of Makkah had begun to hear about Muhammad the Truthful, that Allah had sent him as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner to call them to the worship of Allah the One God. When Makkah slept and awoke, there was no other talk than the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and his religion, and this spoiled boy was one of the most attentive listeners.

That was because, although he was young, the flower of clubs and assemblies, the outward appearance of wisdom and common sense were among the traits of Mus'ab.

He heard that the Prophet s.a.w and those who believed in him, were meeting far away from the dignitaries and great men of the Quraish at the As-Safaa in the house of Al-Arqam Ibn Al-Arqam (Daar Al-Arqam). He wasted no time. He went one night to the Daar Al-Arqam, yearning and anxious. There, the Prophet s.a.w was meeting his Companions, reciting the Qur'aan to them and praying with them to Allah the Most Exalted. Mus'ab had hardly taken his seat and contemplated the verses of the Qur'aan recited by the Prophet s.a.w when his heart became the promised heart that night.

The pleasure almost flung him from his seat as he was filled with wild ecstacy. But the Prophet s.a.w patted his throbbing heart with his blessed right hand, and the silence of the ocean's depth filled his heart. In the twinkling of an eye, the youth who had just become Muslim appeared to have more wisdom than his age and a determination that would change the course of time!

Mus'ab's mother was Khunaas Bint Maalik, and people feared her almost to the point of terror because she possessed a strong personality. When Mus'ab became a Muslim, he was neither careful nor afraid of anyone on the face of the earth except his mother. Even if Makkah, wih all its idols, nobles, and deserts were to challenge him, he would stand up to it. As for a dispute with his mother, this was an impossible horror, so he thought quickly and decided to keep his Islam secret until Allah willed. He continued to frequent Daar Al-Arqam and take lessons from the Prophet s.a.w. He was satisfied with his faith and avoided the anger of his mother, who had no knowledge of his embracing Islam.

However, Makkah at that time kept no secret, for the eyes and ears of the Quraish, were everywhere, very alert and checking the footprint in its hot sands. Once, 'Uthmaan Ibn Talhah saw him steadily entering Al-Arqam's house, then he saw him a second time praying the prayer like Muhammad. No sooner had he seen him then he ran quickly with the news to Mus'ab's mother, who was astonished by it.

Mus'ab stood before his mother, the people and the nobles of Makkah who assembled around him, telling them the irrefutable truth and reciting the Qur'aan with which the Prophet s.a.w cleansed their hearts and filled them with honour, wisdom, justice and piety.

His mother aimed a heavy blow at him, but the hand which was meant as an arrow soon succumbed to the powerful light which increased the radiance of his face with innocent glory because it demanded respect with its quiet confidence. However, his mother, under the pressure of her motherliness, spared him the beating and the pain, although it was within her power to avenged her gods whom he had abandoned. Instead she took him to a rough corner of her house and shut him in it. She put shackles on him and imprisoned him there until he heard the news of the emigration (hijrah) of some of the believers to Abyssinia. He thought to himself and was able to delude his mother and his guards, and so escaped to Abyssinia.

There he stayed in Abyssinia with his fellow emigrants and then returned with them to Makkah. He also emigrated to Abyssinia for the second time with the Companions whom the Prophet s.a.w advised to emigrate and they obeyed. But whether Mus'ab was in Abyssinia or Makkah, the experience of his faith proclaimed itself in all places and at all times.

Mus'ab became confident that his life had become good enough to be offered as a sacrifice to the Supreme Originator and great Creator. He went out one day to some Muslims while they were sitting around the Prophet s.a.w, and no sooner did they see him than they lowered their heads abd shed some tears because they saw him wearing worn out garments. They were accustomed to his former appearance before he had become a Muslim, when his clothes had been like garden flowers, elegant and fragrant.

The Prophet s.a.w saw him with the eyes of wisdom, thankful and loving, and his lips smiled gracefully as he said, "I saw Mus'ab here, and there was no youth in Makkah more petted by his parents than he. Then he abandoned all that for love of Allah and His Prophet!"

His mother had withheld from him all luxury he had been overwhelmed by, when she could not return him to her religion. She refused to let anyone who had abandoned their gods eat of her food, even if he was her son. Her last connection with him was when she tried to imprison him for a second time after his return from Abyssinia, and he swore if she did that, he would kill all those who came to her aid to lock him up. She knew the truth of his determination when he was intent and decided to do something, and so she bade him goodbye weeping.

The parting moment revealed a strange adherence to infidelity on the part of his mother, and the greater adherence to faith on the part of her son. When she said to him, while turning him out of her house. "Go away, I am no longer your mother," he went close to her and said, " O mother, I am advising you and my heart is with you, please bear witness that there is no God but Allah and that Muhammad s.a.w is His servant and messenger." She replied to him angrily, raging, "By the stars, I will never enter your religion, to degrade my status and weaken my senses!"

So Mus'ab left the great luxury in which he had been living. He became satisfied with a hard life he had never seen before, wearing the roughest clothes, eating one day and going hungry another. This spirit, which was grounded in the strongest faith, adorned with the light of Allah, made him another man, one who appeals to the eyes of other great souls.

While he was in this state, the Prophet s.a.w. commissioned him with the greatest mission of his life, which was to be his envoy to Al-Madiinah. His mission was to instruct the Ansaar who believed in the Prophet s.a.w. and had pledged their allegience to him at 'Aqabah, to call others to Islam, and to prepare Al-Madiinah for the day of the great Hijrah. There were among the Companions of the Prophet s.a.w. at that time others that were older than Mus'ab and more prominent and nearer to the Prophet s.a.w. by family relations. But the Prophet s.a.w. chose Mus'ab the Good, knowing that he was entrusting to him the most important taks of that time, putting into his hand the destiny of Islam at Al-Madiinah. The radiant city of Al-Madiinah was destined to be the home of Hijrah, the springboard of Islamic preachers and the liberators of the future.

Mus'ab was equal to the task and trust, which Allah had given him and he was equipped with an excellent mind and noble character. He won the hearts of the Madinites with his piety, uprighteousness and sincerity. And so they embraced the religion of Allah in flocks. At the time the Prophet s.a.w. sent him there, only twelve Muslims had pledged allegience to the Prophet s.a.w. at the Pledge of 'Aqabah. He had hardly completed a few months when they answered to the call of Allah and the Prophet s.a.w. During the next pilgrimage season, the Madinites Muslims sent a delegation of 70 believing men and women to Makkah to meet the Prophet s.a.w.

They came with their teacher and their Prophet's envoy, Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair. Mus'ab had proven, by his good sense and excellence, that the Prophet s.a.w. knew well how to choose his envoys and teachers.

Mus'ab had understood his mission well. He knew that he was a caller to Allah and preacher of His religion, which calls people to right guidance and the straight path. Like the Prophet s.a.w. in whom he believed, he was no more than a deliverer of the message. There he stood fast, with As'ad Ibn Zoraarah as host, and both of them used to visit the tribes, dwellings, and assemblies, reciting to the people what he had of the Book of Allah, instilling in them that Allah is no more than One God.

He had confronted certain instances, which could have put an end to his life and that of those with him but for his active, intelligent, great mind. One day, he was taken by surprise while preaching to the people to find Usaid Ibn Hudair, leader of the 'Abd Al-Ashbal tribe, at Al-Madiinah confronting him with a drawn arrow.

He was raging with anger and animosity against the one who had come to corrupt the religion of his people by telling them to abandon their gods and talking to them about the idea of only One God Whom they did know before and had never heard of. Their gods were to them the center of their worship. Whenever any of them needed them, he knew their places. They would invoke them for help. That was how they thought and imagined!

As for the God of Muhammad s.a.w., to whom this envoy was calling, nobody knew His place, nor could anybody see Him! When the Muslims who were sitting around Mus'ab saw Usaid Ibn Hudair advancing in his unbridled anger, they were frightened, but Mus'ab the Good stood firm. Usaid stood before him and As'ad Ibn Zoraarah shouting, "What brought you here? Are you coming to corrupt our faith? Go away if you wish to be saved!"

And like the calmness of the sea and its force, Mus'ab started his fine speech saying, "Won't you sit down and listen? If you like our cause, you can accept; and if you dislike it, we will spare you of what you hate."

Allah is the Greatest! How grand an opening whose ending would be pleasant! Usaid was a thoughtful and clever man, and here he saw Mus'ab inviting him to listen and no more. If he was convinced he would accept it, and if he was not convinced, then Mus'ab would leave his neighbourhood and his clan and move to another neighbourhood without harm, nor being harmed. There and then Usaid answered him saying, "Well, that is fair," and he dropped his arrow to the ground and sat down listening.

Mus'ab had hardly read the Qur'aan, explaining the mission with which Muhammas Ibn 'Abd Allah s.a.w. came, when the conscienceof Usaid began to clear and brighten and change with the effectiveness of the words. He became overwhelmed by its beauty. When Mus'ab finished speaking, Usaid Ibn Hudair exclaimed to him and those with him, "How beautiful is this speech, and how true! How can one enter this religion?" Mus'ab told him to purify his body and clothes and say, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah."

Usaid retired for some time and returned pouring clean water on his head and standing there proclaiming, "I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah."

Th news spread like lightning and then Sa'd Ibn Mu'aadh came and listened to Mus'ab, and he was convinced and embraced Islam. Then came Sa'd Ibn 'Ubaadah.

There and then blessings came with their entering Islam. The people of Al-Madiinah came together asking one another, if Usaid Ibn Hudair, Sa'd Ibn Mu'aadh and Sa'd Ibn 'Ubaadah have embraced Islam, what are we waiting for? Go straight to Mus'ab and believe. By Allah, he is calling us to the truth and the straight path!

The first envoy of the Prophet s.a.w. succeeded without comparison. It was a success, which he deserved and to which he was equal.

The days and years passed by. The Prophet s.a.w. and his Companions emigrated to Al-Madiinah, and the Quraish were raging with envy and their ungodly pursuit after the pious worshippers. So the Battle of Badr took place, in which they were taught a lesson and lost their stronghold. After that they prepared themselves for revenge, and thus came the Battle of Uhud. The Muslims mobilized themselves, and the Prophet s.a.w. stood in their midst to sort out among their faithful faces and to choose the one to bear the standard (panji/bendera). He then called for Mus'ab the Good, and he advanced and carried the standard.

The terrible battle was raging, the fighting furious. The archers disregarded the orders of the Prophet s.a.w. by leaving their positions on the mountain when they saw the polytheists withdrawing as if defeated. But this act of theirs soon turned the victory of the Muslims to defeat. The Muslims were taken at unawares by the cavalry of the Quraish at the mountain top, and many Muslims were killed by the swords of the polytheists as a consequence.

When they saw the confusion and horror splitting the ranks of the Muslims, the polytheists concentrated on the Prophet s.a.w. to finish him off. Mus'ab saw the impending threat, so he raised the standard high, shouting, " Allahu Akbar! Allah is the Greatest!" like the roar of a lion. He turned and jumped left and right, fighting and killing the foe. All he wanted was to draw the attention of the enemy to himself in order to turn their attention away from the Prophet s.a.w. He thus became as a whole army in himself. Nay, Mus'ab went alone to fight as if he were an army of giants raising the standard in sanctity with one hand, striking with his sword with the other. But the enemies were multiplying on him. They wanted to step on his corpse so that they could find the Prophet s.a.w.

Let us allow a living witness to describe for us the last scene of Mus'ab the Great. ibn Sa'd said: Ibraahiim Ibn Muhammad Ibn Sharhabiil Al-'Abdriy related from his father, who said: Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair carried the standard on the Day of Uhud. When the Muslims were scattered, he stood fast until he met Ibn Quma'ah who was a knight. He struck him on his right hand and cut it off, but Mus'ab said, "And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him (3:144)". He carried the standard with his left hand and leaned on it. He struck hsi left hand and cut it off, and so he leaned on the standard and held it with his upper arms to his chest, all the while saying, "And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him." Then a third one struck him with his spear, and the spear went through him. Mus'ab fell, and then the standard.

Nay, the cream of matyrdom had fallen! He fell after he had struggled for the sake of Allah in the great battle of sacrifice and faith. He had thought that if he fell, he would be a stepping stome to the death of the Prophet s.a.w. because he would be without defense and protection. But he put himself in harms way for the sake of the Prophet s.a.w. Overpowered by his fear for and love of him, he continued to say with every sword stroke that fell on him from the foe, "And Muhammad is but a Messenger. Messengers have passed away before him (3:144)". This verse was revealed later, after he had spoken it.

After the bitter battle, they found the corpse of the upright martyr lying with his face in the dust, as if he feared to look while harm fell on the Prophet s.a.w. So he hid his face so that he would avoid the scene. Or perhaps, he was shy when he fell as a martyr, before making sure of the safety of the Prophet of Allah. and before serving to the very end, guarding and protecting him.

Allah is with you, O' Mus'ab! What a great life story!

The Prophet s.a.w and his Companions came to inspect the scene of the battle and bid farewell to its martyrs. Pausing at Mus'ab's body, many tears dripped from the Prophet's eyes.

Khabbaab Ibn Al-Arat narrated: "We emigrated with the Prophet s.a.w. for Allah's cause, so our reward became due with Allah. Some of us passed away without enjoying anything in this life of His reward, and one of them was Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair, who was martyred on the Day of Uhud. He did not leave behind anything except a sheet of shredded woolen cloth. If we covered his feet with it, his head was uncovered. The Prophet s.a.w. said to us, "Cover his head with it and put lemon grass over his feet."

Despite the deep, sad pain which the Prophet s.a.w. suffered over the loss of his uncle Hamzah and the mutilation of his corpse by the polytheists in a manner that drew tears from the Prophet s.a.w. and broke his heart; despite the fact that the field of battle was littered with the corpses of his Companions, all of whom represented the peak of truth, piety and enlightenment; despite all this, he stood at the corpse of his forst envoy, bidding him farewell and weeping bitterly. Nay, the Prophet s.a.w. stood at the remains of Mus'ab Ibn 'Umair saying, while his eyes were flowing with tears, love and loyalty, "Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah" (33:23)

Then he gave a sad look at the garment in which he was shrouded and said, "I saw you at Makkah; and there was not a more precious jewel, nor more distinguished one than you, and here you are bare-headed in a garment!" Then the Prophet s.a.w. looked at all the martyrs in the battlefield and said, "The Prophet of Allah witnesses that you are martyrs to Allah on the Day of Resurrection." The he gathered his living Companions around him and said, "O people, visit them, come to them, and salute them. By Allah, no Muslim will salute them but that they will salute him in return."

Peace be on you, O' Mus'ab. Peace be upon you, O' Martyrs. Peace and blessings of Allah be upon you!

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

(This story brought me to tears when I first read it. I've heard the story before, but never in this beautiful narrative manner. There is so much to learn from this story of Mus'ab and so much that we can apply to ourselves. From the beginning of his journey for the truth. How he put truth and faith over wealth. How he strive so much to learn Islam; at Dar Al-Arqam. His spirit in joining the Muslim ummah and working together for the first Hijrah. How he took his job and responsibilities seriously and with the utmost dedication. His wisdom, hikmah in calling people to Allah and His Prophet s.a.w. His love for Allah and the Prophet s.a.w. His love for his mother as a loving son. His loyalty to his Islam. His readiness to sacrifice every single thing for Islam. His worry and dedication towards the future and survival of this Deen and Ummah! His utmost faith and trust in never giving up! Even at the very last breath! MashaAllah...This is truly a Muslim, a Muttaqin, a Mu'min, a.. Daie)

~This is story is written by Khalid Muhammed Khalid in his book Men Around the Messenger published by Millat Book Centre, New Delhi, India. In the book, the writer did not give any reference for the words of the Prophet s.a.w. he quoted. There were also no references for the storyline (seerah/history). So, I cannot factually confirm the story. I'm sorry about this. But please understand that I share this story as a story. Not as a syariah law or a means of deriving hukum or fiqh. So, I hope no one approaches it as such. This story is not an area of usol. And I do not have the knowledge of that area of study.
~ But I do hope that anyone that have studied the seerah of sahabat or anyone that can confirm this story, please do so here (click 'comments' below). I really would like to have some confirmation for this story. Would really love your contributions =).
~ The main reason that I wanted to share this story is for take-home messages that you can learn and take with you. This is a great man. And there is so much that we can learn and emulate from him. So let's! =)

InsyaAllah! We can do it!! ^_^

1st World Facilities but 3rd World Mentality

Salam,

'1st World Facilities but 3rd World Mentality'

- Those were the words uttered by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia and the longest running Prime Minister in the history of Malaysia as a nation.

My first thoughts were...: Huh, he's actually quite right!

Malaysia has some of the world's best infrastructures. We have abundant energy especially renewable and clean energy from our hydroelectric dams, we have beautiful highways clearly maintained well throughout the year with regularly layering of tar and costly landscaping alongside, we have high rise buildings, some of the tallest and most extravagant in the world, we have the best airport and flight crew, the best F1 circuit, the most beautiful capital, Putrajaya, colleges which boast the best A-level results, huge shopping malls decking every corner of KL and many more.... And yet, I think Malaysians in general lack the right mentality to handle all these technological and infrastructural advances.

I'll give one very simple example: Plastic has been around for long time as a very handy and useful tool to carry groceries, simple things and also to make many things such as plastic cups and plates, and throwable things like baby diapers. Plastic is especially easy to be manufactured in Malaysia since our sea beds are goldmines for oil/petroleum which is the essential raw material for making plastic. And so, plastic is introduced to Malaysia and many use it widely. Yet, I'm quite sure that not many recycle. And even less knows the fatal mistake of burning plastic, in which the fumes produced is toxic. This is evident in villages when you see plastic diapers being burned in heaps together with the garbage!

Besides that, we also have (examples of 3rd world mentalities) littering, corruption (rasuah), internet abuse, pirating (pirates), politics in the civil service, total lack of discipline in the professional field, self-mindedness over civic-mindedness.

The reason I think for this incongruent or inconsistency between the advance of our facilities and the advance of our mentality, is that, the progress of the facilities has been put as a huge priority over the building of a correct mentality. Before the nation has had enough time to build a right perspective towards a specific facility, another one suddenly pops up, and the nation is forced to deal with that sudden incoming. There is a particular lack of focus and a greediness to achieve everything all at the same time, when clearly, the mind of the nation is not ready to receive this new input. This results in the nation becoming confused. And in the confusion, subsequently deals with everything that comes into Malaysia with absolute greed and a loss of a stance. Everything is mixed up and you can't make up your mind about it. Everyone is doing it, so let's just follow. If not, we will be left behind. A greedy mentality with less attention to questions like: why are we doing this? how will this effect us? do we need this? is this actually a good thing? how will this affect others?
Most questions are avoided and people tend to take the "go-with-the-flow" mentality.

This "go-with-the-flow" mentality has several consequences:

1) We lose our dignity and creativity. We just follow. Even if it's bad, sometimes we cannot see it because we are too eager to follow, to be up-to-date.

2) We don't care anymore "Why" we are doing things. It doesn't matter. We do it because everyone is doing it.

3) We become servants of those who innnovated the advances. Most nowadays are coming from the West, so, we have now become servants of the West. So, even though the colonisation era of the Bristish Empire has ended, our minds are still being controlled by them, what we do is still being controlled by them, what we like and so on because we are just following them blindly.

'1st World Facilities but 3rd World Mentality'

Now, applying these words to the state of Muslims currently.

The same logic..... Muslims around the world are proud to say that their state is an Islamic State. Malaysia is no exception. In the constituition of Malaysia, it is stated that Islam is the official religion. Many countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and so on also are known as Islamic states. And in these countries, you can see huge beautifully crafted mosques with their eye catching domes and minarets. Then, on Fridays, you see people flocking the mosque for prayers until the congregation outflows into the streets. Annually, you also have Qur'an recital competition. And everywhere you see people wearing long clothes, and hijabs and tarbus and head coverings and beards and so on. So, clearly, from the outset, from what you can physically see, Islam is flourishing. Yet, when you look at the big picture, the world is calling Muslims terrorists. You have Muslims being massacred everywhere without the world blinking an eye. Those Islamic countries are some of the poorest in the world, deep till their knees in debts forcing them to allign with those same countries calling them terrorists. Muslims are also the ones that are always following rather than innovating. They are always the ones getting food aid and medical aid and so on and so on. It's weird... If you examine the religion of Islam and the content of the Qur'an, you would say that this is the book of successful people! This book is amazing! It provides all the right tools to live successfully! It is the key that unlocks the secrets to being on top of the world! And yet, why are Muslims at the bottom?

The same logic....

Muslims outwardly is Islam, but inwardly is Jahiliyah/Non-Islam. Muslims have:

Islamic Facilities, but Non-Islamic Mentality

Islamic Clothings, but Non-Islamic Minds

Islamic Solat, but Non-Islamic Heart

When we have all those Annual Quranic Recital Competition (Tilawah al-Qur'an), we have focused too much on the rhythm and tajwid of reciting rather than the meaning or the message of the surah. When we pray those 5 daily solat, we have focused to much on standing straight and still, on 90 degrees bends, on the 7 organs that touch the mat, rather than the actual meaning of what we are saying to our Lord. We have forgotten to bring our hearts to prayer. We have forgotten to talk to Allah like he is our friend, confidant, trustee. Everything is ritual and we forgot the story behind them. We are obsessed with getting the syarat right and forgot all about the reason for doing it all, the niat. We have lost the love for Islam, and yet found instead a love for rituals. For the world. For material things.

The first step to solve this problem is to first be aware of it. You cannot solve a problem you are not aware of. So, know that the problem is there and that we need to address it. We cannot be shallow and avoid it. It is selfish and it is rude and you are only lying to yourself.

Second step is to examine the facts and re-focus. What is the main problem? Mentality, right? So that is what we need to address. Not what we see on the outside. But the problem is actually on the inside. The heart. There's something wrong with the way we understand things. Our heart. So, that is what we crucially need to address. Focus on this.

Third, make an action plan and follow it. Don't structure a very nice strategy, then forget about it.... Do it! You can't do this alone. So, build a small group of people with this same understanding and aim, and make this group strong first. And then, from that group, only then expand. The key is focus! and Effectiveness!

Fourth, prayers (dua)! And, strong trust and support with and from each other! Allah will guide the truthful, so be confident with that!

Wallahu'alam.
All the best to all that's striving out there! =)
Salam.

Behind the lyrics..

Salam,

I think it's no surprise that I like rock music. I like Green Day, I like Switchfoot, Lifehouse, OneRepublic, etcetra etc... And over all, the ones that I love most are those songs with the strongest lyrics. Here are my thoughts:

1) Switchfoot - Meant To Live

Fumbling his confidence
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he's bent for more than arguments,
And failed attempts to fly.
Fly.

We were meant to live for so much more
have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

Dreaming about Providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we've been livin with our eyes half open
Maybe we're bent and broken. Broken


We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life

Yeahhh!

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live
We were meant to live

=> This song talks about being caught up in this world, getting lost in the rush and adrenaline and the fun of it all. There is a bigger world out there than the one we are seeing right now. And we have lost ourselves with the things of this world, food, women, entertainment, money, wars and so on. This dunia has distracted us from the real world that we are soon to be bound to. We need to remember that whatever we have on this world will be gone once we die. We can't possibly carry it with us into the graves. And even if we can, we can't use them at all. All of us will be rotting, smelly, degraded corpses and there is nothing that we can do about it. We can't delay our death, neither can we miraculously become immortal. We have to face it. All of us are going to die. Now the question is? Is that the end of the human soul? Or is there something more beyond this dunia? I believe that there is a hereafter. And that I need to prepare for that akhirat as much as possible. I believe that that world is the real world. And that this world we are living in right now, is only an illusion. I also believe that the hereafter /akhirat has all the best, the most beautiful, the most elegant, cute, funny, handsome, delicious things. And I'm going to race my best for it.

2) Switchfoot - Stars

Maybe I've been the problem
Maybe I'm the one to blame
But even when I turn it off and blame myself
The outcome feels the same
I've been thinking maybe I've been partly cloudy
Maybe I'm the chance of rain
And maybe I'm overcast
And maybe all my luck's washed down the drain

Chorus:
I've been thinking 'bout everyone
Everyone, you look so lonely
But when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
I see someone else
When I look at the stars, the stars
I feel like myself

Stars looking at a planet watching entropy and pain
And maybe start to wonder how
The chaos in our lives could pass as sane
Ive been thinking of the meaning of resistance
Of a world beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent
Began to look like home

Chorus:
I've been thinking 'bout everyone
everyone, you look so empty
But when I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
I see someone else
When I look at the stars, the stars
I feel like myself

YOW!

Stars..Stars...


Everyone everyone you feel so lonely
Everyone, yeah, everyone you feel so empty

When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
When I look at the stars
I feel like myself
when I look at the stars, the stars
I see someone...

OW!

=> Stars talks about remembering back and bringing yourself back to Allah. When you feel like everything has gone wrong. And we you feel like everything is your fault. That you are the cause for this big major catastrophe. That, if only you had done this differently, or change this part, or modify that. That maybe, things wouldn't have happened the way it did. That everything around you is falling apart. You're stressed out of your mind. You get headaches from thinking too much. And your eyes are swollen and red with tears. And then, you remember your Allah, and you feel calm and peaceful and serene...everything feels so much better. You know Allah knows you've tried your best. You know Allah is making this all happen for a reason. You know Allah loves you so very very much and you trust Him whole-heartedly. You know He is with you. And near you. And listening to you. You know this and all that stress and all those troubles fades away into the background. Allah is the only strength you need.

Mejte se hezky den.
I wish you guys all the best in all that you do.
And may Allah bless us all in our efforts to become his khalifah.

salam =)

Our Age..

Salam,

What would you call the age that we're living in? Would you say it is the Age of Science and Technology? Or the age of the Information Technology (IT)? The age of freedom of thought and democracy? The age of Advanced Evidence-Based Medicine? The Age of Genetics and Modernity? The Age which reach across borders? The Age that shortens distances and long-distance calls? The Age where you can travel almost as fast as the speed of light? The Age of Star Wars and Star Treks? :) Probably one of these things right? or probably something else quite close =).

But guess what. I bet you would never say that age that we're living in is the Age of Peace and Tranquility.? Or the Age of Happiness.? It never even came to mind, right? Why? Simply because most of us don't feel that it is.

Yes we have music and we have these amazing movies coming out soon with all the cutting edge technology and cinematography, and we have gadgets, the latest Motorola or Sony Ericsson or Nokia, or iPhone or iPods, and we have thousands of our favourite songs in there, and we have money, and we have the world at our expense to travel to, and we have our Greys Anatomy, and our House or some funny cute Korean or Japanese series, and we have food to eat, and snacks to munch on, and we have nice clothes and nice cars and nice friends. But ask most of us, what do we feel inside. With all these things, are we happy? Are we peaceful? Is the world happy? Is the world even peaceful? No right. Just look at our world. There's so many people that are workaholics and have all the money they want, but are so stressed up and unhappy. There are wars sprouting everywhere in the world. We look inside ourselves and we find so many conflicts and unhappiness. Why do I have all these things to entertain me and still I don't feel happy and peaceful inside? Could it be that I've been looking at wrong places? Is there something more than this world?

I think most of us have been looking for peace at all the wrong places. Sometimes they don't know the right places. And those that are lucky, God have given and shown them the exact right place. And, it is only up to them to step into it. And have faith and believe in it. It is a scary process. It is a very scary process. To step into something you have not stepped into before. But, really, you know in your heart that it is probably the right thing. You just need to be brave enough now to at least give yourself a chance to try. And to try eagerly and wholehearted. It's okay... If this is the only life you have, wouldn't you want to give yourself a chance to follow your heart? =)

Reference:
An introduction to a book written by Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi called "Kemanisan Iman", the English version consists of two books; Faith (Islam) and Islam- Customs and practices. In the Malay version, a passage says..:

'Ilmu (kebendaan) walaupun kajian terhadapnya sentiasa berterusan dan bidangnya luas tidak akan mampu memberikan ketenangan dan kebahagiaan untuk manusia kerana ilmu itu hanya mempertingkatkan sudut kebendaan dalam kehidupan. Ia memendekkan jarak yang jauh dan masa yang panjang ke jarak dan masa yang lebih pendek. Kerana ini mereka namakan zaman sekarang sebagai "Zaman Cepat" atau "Zaman Mendekatkan Jarak Jauh".

Tetapi adakah sesiapa yang menamakannya "Zaman Kemuliaan" atau "Zaman Ketenangan" atau "Zaman Kebahagiaan untuk Manusia"? Sesungguhnya ilmu menyediakan manusia moden cara-cara hidup, tetapi ia tidak menunjukkan tujuan hidup. Sesungguhnya ilmu memperindahkan lahiriah hidup tetapi ia tidak membawanya ke dalam intipati kehidupan. Alangkah ruginya manusia yang dilambakkan dengan berbagai-bagai kemudahan tetapi bingung dengan hala tujuan. Kalau begitu, manusia hanya sibuk dengan permukaan (tepi) tidak dengan apa yang di dalamnya, sibuk dengan kulit tidak dengan isinya...! Ilmu kebendaan memberi insan perkakas yang banyak tetapi dia tidak memberinya "nilai" besar atau "sasaran" tinggi (mulia) untuk hidup dan matinya, kerana sesungguhnya ini bukan tugas ilmu dan bukan pula dari bidangnya.'

Islam, Religion and Secularism

Assalamu'alaikum,

Islam is agreed by all scholars as a religion that means submission to Allah. Every single aspect of life as a Muslim should conform to what Allah directs in the Qur'an. And that these guides are for the good of the Muslim as Allah is not a deity and does not require anything to survive or to simply be.

Secularism is defined on one level as the separation of state from religion. What that means is that governance of a state/geographical country should be derived from what humans think is the best. The main reference is the human mind, internationally accepted culture, conscience, general ethics and history. On another level, secularism means that religion is only restricted to the personal sphere- rites, rituals and ceremonies.

Historically, secularism first arise at the state level. Religion was thought of as interfering with how governments rule. And that this interference is negative. There were a lot of problems and a lot of trouble, and religion was thought to be the cause of it. And so, religion was banished from the law and and the act of drafting of law, with even a small reference to religion is rejected, ridiculed and spat at.

Secularism arise as the result of a clash between two parties. One is essentially an atheist. The other is a religion-ist.

From a religious person's point of view, religion comes from God, a being superior than all humans. God is the being that created human beings, put them on earth and then, send down directions on how to view and live on this earth. These directions are then compiled into books. And these books become guide to mankind.

From an atheist's point of view, religion is something thought up by mankind. Mankind created the concept of God from their own thought process. Secularists say that God is an imaginary being and that how we live should be according to what we think is best.

And so, the two sides fought. In the beginning, religion was holding the governance. A lot of things went wrong, and the atheists fought back and start to win. In the end, a compromise was made between the two sides, that a person is free to practice his religion by himself, with his family and in rituals, but not in government.

For the religion-ist, this compromise is essentially a defeat. For, how can he says that he believes in the guidelines of his God for every aspect of life, and yet narrow those guidelines for only aspects within the boundaries of himself and his family, and only in rituals. For the religion-ists at this moment, it was a defeat.

But, for the generations after that who did not witness this struggle, the confinement of religion within personal sphere is a fact. Part of the creed. Embedded deeply within their subconscious. Unaware that their profession of faith is completely against a God that is only believed in in the personal sphere.

Nowadays, in the 21st century, the only religion that is still fully aware of this hidden struggle is Islam. Christianity in this century sees it as wrong to mix religion with politics. While Islam sees it as completely right.

From my own point of view, as a Muslim, I don't understand why a Christian would say that it is wrong for religion to govern. A Christian is someone that believes in what is good, is kind, nice, fair and a bundle of other good qualities. So, why shouldn't a Christian with these qualities govern? If Christianity teaches so many good things, why shouldn't there be a government that is a Christian? That teaches good thing to its people.

The reason I am saying this is because I am a Muslim. And the reason I am a Muslim is because Islam teaches everything that is good for a human being. It teaches how to live a good life, how to treat others good and how to treat animals and the environment in a good way.

So, I completely believe that Islam should govern a country, any country! I completely believe that Islam should mix with governance.

So statements like "I am a Christian, but it is dangerous to mix religion with politics." really puzzles me. Or statements like "I am a Muslim-Secularists." or " It's enough that prayers and reading the Qur'an be done in mosques or at home." really really puzzles me.

According to the short history I gave above, when religion was in government so many things did went wrong. I used the word religion. A very general term. Now, to be more specific, I will replace that word with Christianity. I'm not trying to be cruel. But, historically this is a fact. When Islam was in governance, culture, educations, civilisations flourish. But this was not the case in Christian Europe. In fact, the problems cause by the Christian Europe government is what gave rise to Secularism. Under Christian Europe, there were massacres in the name of the Crusade, there were massive taxation of the people to contribute to the Church, there were killing of women charged as witches, there was unequal wealth distribution and many other troubles.

So, in many European countries, secularism was welcomed with open hands. And yet, this was never the case in Muslim countries.

In fact, the fall of the Muslim civilisation only started when governments start to abandon Islam.

While Islam gives strength and success to a person, a community, a people and a country, Christianity was the exact opposite.

Luqaimah Ramadhan

Subtlety of the media

Salam.

The words of Dr. Harlina resonated in my mind. She said, "Back in our time, we had little choices. Either A or B. And B was not all that bad from A. And if we took B and it turned out to be the wrong choice, we were never that wrong, not too far wrong and U-turn was not that far."* Now that I sit and think about it, she's right.

Nowadays we have so many choices and decisions to choose from in our life. No more just A and B. Now its A all the way up to Z. And more than half are increasingly becoming unnecessary, a waste of time, totally materialistic and hedonic. And yet, these are the choices that appeals most to our human soul. These are the fun things, cool, slick, hot and up-to-date. And she's right. Nowadays making a single choice becomes so dangerous. To smoke or not to smoke? To drink or not to drink? To race or not to race? To take drugs or not to take drugs? Just a little pot? or No?

An even more silent poison is culture. Especially what's on TV. A trend that's only present in small place can suddenly be blown up to look like ' it's totally what everyone is doing now all over the world, it's normal, everyone is doing it' on the TV screen. A small trend can suddenly spread so far and within a short time, the small peculiar thing has become a world phenomenon everywhere. Just by the power of the TV ie. media. This of course can be both good phenomenon such as e-learning, and bad ones such as skimpy fashion.

Another phenomenon that I think has been going on unnoticed is psychological effect. For example, a child living in a city has both parents working on weekdays. Every morning, his parent will give him some money for lunch in the afternoon as they are at work. He's a good kid and he's fine with it. He goes to school, knows when to do his homework and gets relatively good grades. On the weekends his parents is at home and he spends time with them. Sometimes he goes out to the mall with his friends and his parents give him some money to spend and trusts him to take care of himself. Eeverything is fine and there's no problem.

Until...he watches one too many movies on HBO. In the movies, the boys in the movies with parents seemingly busy with their careers gets depressed. They want attention. And so they resort to using the money their parents gave to buy drugs. They join a street-gang, likes to play truant and are always causing problems at school. They gave in easily to peer pressure and take in to drugs and smoking. In the end, they end up in prison where they finally learn their meaning of life, and comes out a turned leaf - a fresh new person ready to make a change in their life.

After watching many many such films...he starts to think in this way and start wanting to try a bit of smoking...or maybe a bit of drugs..or start feeling that "I'm still a kid. I deserve more attention from my parents."...and things start to go wrong one by one...

I think influences of the media like this particular situation is very very hidden, camouflaged, subtle (halus). It turns a very strong society into a very weak one. With hardly any strong backbone. It makes one unconsciously selfish and glutton-ish. A 'me me me'-world. So a society, a civilisation is actually not weaken physically with arms or guns or solonisation or whatever, but slowly bit by bit by psychology. A fight psychic (minda lawan) has been turned into a flight psychic (minda lari). Or more correctly an inferiority-psychic. Somewhat like a turtle that prefer to stay hidden in its shell. Singa-singa yang telah dijinak menjadi kijang....

*Translated and rephrased from Malay.

an Apology : in reference to my review on The Myth of Muslim Barbarism and its Aims

Salam,

I think I might have been a bit harsh on my critique of Al-Djazairi's concentration on the past in his book. My apologies sir. I think I finally realized the actual value of all those Muslim contributions that you elaborated in the book. Thank you sir... It came as I was...

..listening to a talk the other day. And the ustaz was saying, that nowadays people look up to the West and are so amazed at the West because of their technology, their sophistications, habits, cleanliness, attitudes and so on. The ustaz said that people have this admiration because people think that the West is the one that creates all this amazing things. Sure, yes America and Europe is leading the world in science and technology. And fashion and media, movies and so on. But then, the ustaz pointed something out that made me remember your book. And the impact of what you wrote about, hit me.

The ustaz said that all these things that you are seeing, all the technology, all the success, all the richness of the West is the product of a rebirth initiated by Islam! Europe was in darkness when they came to the Islamic lands. Then, they learn whatever they could from the Muslim, took back books from the Muslim land, teach it to their people, and with those knowledge got themselves out of the dark ages. The Muslims gave rise to the Enlightenment! Without the contributions of the Muslims, the West would be nothing! And yet, none of this is recognized by the West. Instead they renamed almost everything of the Islamic contribution and claim it as their own. They call Muslims barbaric. They took the Muslim's Rules of Conduct in War and call it The Geneva Convention (Modern Westerners are actually quite oblivious to this and when they happen to open the Qur'an or learn Islam, are surprised that all of this is and has already been in Islam.) . They adopt the Muslims' etiquette and call it Western courtesy. They even made croissants as a symbol of the fall of the Crescent.

The result of all this is that nowadays, Muslims think that the West is the great and the mighty. When in fact, those were Muslim contributions! Therefore Muslims lost their admiration of Islam, being replaced by their admiration for the West. Muslims are now more proud to be a Westerner and becoming more and more shy to admit that they are Muslims. And therefore this result in their reluctance to practise Islam especially in their clothings and fashion. Muslims are ashamed or shy to wear any sign of a Muslim and yet so proud to wear the lastest Levi's. This is all the result of diverting a Muslims love and proudness from being a Muslim to the West.




Here is a simple test.

In your seat right now, just in your seat, shout! = I Am Proud To Be A Muslim!!!

How did you feel? Were you reluctant or was it easy?

Salam...

-(added on 19/08/09)- Another point to wonder is the books we read. Who do you go to first? For example; for books on success and motivations. Tony Buzan and Stephen Covey? How about Dr. Muhammad Ali Hashimi and Aa'id Abdullah al-Qarnee. Philosophy: Sun Tzu and Aristotle? How about Imam Al-Ghazali and Ibnu Khaldun? This is an important point. Because, if we don't read products of Muslim Scholarship, the West will. In fact, whether we read it or not, the West is. So, they read it, they take everything they learn from it, then, they change it into a different language, and added some dashes of Western culture, and then they present it to us. And we just swallow it up without even realizing that the base of all those knowledge are Muslim sources and scholars. We are busy admiring Western products while they are busy admiring ours, yet never mentioning any credit to the Muslims and keeping that admiration secret or hidden. So, we get secondhand products that we admire so much.

Another important point is that reading directly from Muslim sources ensures that what we get is all Islamic. So, there's no worry any secret shirk embedded, less worry that anything written and any info we get is against Islam. The base of Muslim sources will be aqidah. And as a Muslim, aqidah is the core of our life!

Islam and Secularism in the Middle East

Salam,

My interest in the subject of secularism stems from my opinion that it is the main cause of Muslim decline in our age. And by secularism, I mean the total separation of creed and life and not merely just the separation of state and religion. The biggest mistake, I think, that most people make is in viewing secularism as only just that; a separation of state and religion, when in fact, it encompasses a a much wider field. I do think, that a part has to be attributed to the definition of the word "secularism" itself, engineered and fed to us by the general bulk of academics. The typical rhyme of "secularism is the separation of state and religion" is parroted by any layman when asked "what is the meaning of secularism?"And when this is said by a Muslim, it is even more distressful, because the destructive meaning of that word is not fully comprehended.

The title of this entry : Islam and Secularism in the Middle East, is actually the title of a book edited by John L. Esposito and Dr. Azzam Tamimi. The book, rather than a book, is actually a compilation of papers and articles written by a gamut of excellent writers ranging from Professors of Religion and International Affairs to Professor of Sociology to Politicians, Teachers and Researchers. It's definitely an interesting mix and its been a joy so far going through the book. Each one has his own style and own point of approach. The issue is the same and all the authors reach and argue the same point, but from very interesting and different viewpoints.

I've gotten to the fourth article out of a total of eleven and there's so much I have learned. It has been very very interesting and satisfying, although I would say, it actually has been quite a tough journey. Coming from a science background, studying medicine at that, the terms and linguistics of social science is definitely hard for me to grasp, having to read several paragraphs several times before actually getting what they mean. But it has been fun. And this is definitely my interest, as alien and far off as it it from the medical field.



Link

At first, going through the book, I thought "yes! this is the book! the book that's going to validate my theory that secularism is what's making Muslims not acting like Muslims". But at the end of the fourth article, gratefully, my ego is blunted. Alhamdulillah! =) The points and facts in the book is correct as far as correctness goes. The facts are there. But in reality, one find, that things are not quite like that. Sure, Muslims are not acting the way they are but it's not because they are secularists. In Islam, a person is not sinful unless he knows that what he is doing is an act of sin. Applicable in this context is the fact that most Muslims are not even aware that they are acting secular-ly. They don't even know it. Hence, they are not to be blamed for it.

This however does not dismiss the clear obvious fact; that this exact ignorance is the bane of the Muslims. The ignorance of being in a state of secularism, the ignorance of a steel disconnection between aqidah (creed) and life, between belief and sports and hobbies and occupation and everything else as a Muslim. Sure, brainwashing from the west, mind colonization in place of physical geographical colonization is a huge contributor. But, has Muslims lost their mind? Lost their ability to think? Reduced to merely followers of interests, lusts and satisfactions?

Islam is a beautiful and empowering belief/entity/ad-Din! Failure of Muslims to fully practise, engulf and delve themselves into Islam is the exact reason for our deterioration. This, Muslims need to realize! Realization, knowledge, belief, izzah and action! will get us out of our misery. Realization that we are being secular, that we are separating our belief from our actions, actually realizing this situation and therefore being disgusted with it, and figuring out and working our way out of it, fixing and repairing and reprogramming ourselves away from it, will change us! And make us true Muslims.