Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Melihatkan longgokan manusia yang cuba mencium Hajar Al Aswad di Makkah Al Mukarramah mengingatkan penulis tentang keadaan Ramadhan di Malaysia, bagaimana peliknya manusia ini apabila tidak diberi petunjuk Ilahi.

Pelik sekali penulis memikirkan tentang betapa pada bulan Ramadhan, manusia berpusu-pusu ke Masjid untuk menunaikan solat sunat Tarawikh bersama Imam, tidak kiralah 8 atau 20 rakaat, tetapi tidak dapat hadir untuk solat Isya' berjemaah di Masjid, apakan lagi solat berjemaah di Masjid untuk waktu-waktu lain.

Pelik apabila kita melihat manusia berpusu-pusu ke pasar-pasar malam untuk membeli juadah bebuka puasa tetapi tidak terlintas untuk berpusu-pusu ke Masjid untuk solat Asar berjemaah sebelum itu.

Pelik juga melihat manusia membeli juadah berbuka dengan begitu mewah, tetapi tidak ada satu sen pun yang sanggup diberikan kepada fakir miskin sebagai sedekah.

Pelik apabila manusia sanggup untuk bangun awal untuk makan sahur tetapi tidak sanggup untuk solat sunat 2 rakaat sebelum makan itu. Lebih pelik, ada yang sanggup tidur selepas makan itu dan bangun lewat untuk solat Subuh.

Pelik apabila kita sanggup berlapar dahaga selama seharian, tetapi menghabiskan masa seharian untuk tidur, dan mengabaikan pembacaan dan penelitian Al Quran.

Pelik juga andai kita sanggup berjaga malam dan solat untuk mencari Lailatul Qadar, tetapi akhlak tidak dijaga, terutamanya dengan ibu bapa - berapa ramai antara kita yang betul-betul berbakti kepada ibu bapa, dan tidak mengharapkan kepada mereka?

Semua ini menyebabkan penulis terfikir, apakah nilai Ramadhan dan ibadah puasa yang kita kerjakan? Apakah yang kita mahu capai daripada ibadah puasa ini? Adakah kita hanya berpuasa kerana orang lain puasa, atau kerana Islam menyuruh kita berpuasa? Atau kerana ALLAH?

Andai begitu, mengapa terjadi begitu banyak kepelikan seperti yang dinyatakan diatas? Kesilapan disana-sini itu biasa, tetapi apabila kita tersedar, haruslah kita beristighfar dan meminta ampun atas kesilapan kita, insyaALLAH.

Dalam keghairahan kita beribadah dalam bulan Ramadhan, harus juga kita berhenti seketika dan bermuhasabah untuk melihat samada ibadah yang kita lakukan itu benar-benar menepati tuntutan syariah. Mungkin menghabiskan masa membaca Al Quran seharian suntuk dapat memberi kita pahala yang besar, tetapi andai ada kuliah di Masjid berdekatan, ataupun kita tahu yang rakan kita memerlukan pertolongan dalam kerja dakwah, maka kita seharusnya berfikir tentang apa yang patut kita lakukan dahulu, berdasarkan keutamaan (Al Aulawiyat).

Kita juga seharusnya, insyaALLAH, menilai ibadah yang kita kerjakan, samada ianya betul-betul ikhlas kerana ALLAH, dan melihat andai terdapat ruang kosong di tempat-tempt lain yang kita boleh isi yang mungkin kita tertinggal. Dengan itu, insyaALLAH ibadah yang kita lakukan akan bertambah baik dari hari ke hari.

Maka dengan kedatangan bulan Ramadhan Al Mubarak ini, sentiasa ingatkan diri untuk bermuhasabah dan beristighfar. Kadang kala kelemahan kita bukanlah kita kurang bersolat, ataupun kurang membaca Al Quran, tetapi kita terlepas pandang kepada setenga-setengah perkara seperti berbuat baik kepada ibu bapa dan adik beradik, berakhlak mulia terutamanya kepada orang tua, dan perkara-perkara seperti ini.

Moga-moga Ramadhan yang mendatang akan menjadikan kita insan yang lebih bertaqwa, seperti mana yang dinyatakan oleh ALLAH Rabbul 'Alamin dalam kitabNya.

Wallahua'lam

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Semasa membaca berita-berita dunia di hadapan skrin komputer yang usianya mencecah 3 tahun, berita mengenai Zimbabwe amat menarik perhatian penulis. Baru hari ini penulis membaca dalam BBC News yang Britain telah menarik balik gelaran "Sir" daripada Presiden Mugabe yang telah memerintah Zimbabwe selama lebih 20 tahun (sila betulkan andai penulis tersilap).

Keputusan ini adalah disebabkan oleh kaganasan yang dipelopori oleh rejim yang diketuai Mugabe akibat kemerosotan dalam populariti Mugabe dalam pilihanraya baru-baru ini. Selepas membaca dan menonton video-video dalam BBC News, penulis mendapat impressi yang kerajaan Britain amat bersungguh-sungguh dalam hal ini, sehiggakan pihak pembangkang pun menyokong kerajaan dalam hal ini dan mahu Perdana Menteri Gordon Brown benar-benar mengambil inisiatif yang berkesan dalam menangani masalah ini. Dalam kenyataannya, Gordon Brown menyatakan bahawa adalah penting untuk PBB dan Liga Afrika memainkan peranan untuk memaksa Presiden Mugabe untuk mengalah.

Apa yang ingin dibawa di sini ialah setakat mana respon dunia Islam terhadap isu ini? Bukan sahaja tiada tanda-tanda yang pemimpin dunia Islam mahu membuat kenyataan, masyarakat Islam secara amnya seolah-olah tidak kisah tentang apa yang terjadi di Zimbabwe. Perkara yang sama juga terjadi semasa tragedi Darfur. Berapa ramai antara kita betul-betul faham apa yang terjadi di sana? Berapa ramai antara kita yang kisah tentang keadaan masyarakat di Afrika yang kebuluran? Berapa ramai antara kita kisahkan masyarakat Kurdish yang berjuang di Turki kerana ditindas? Berapa ramai antara kita yang kisahkan isu pekerja kanak-kanak di India? Berapa ramai antara kita yang kisah tentang kempen Fairtrade? Bukanlah tiada, namun tanyalah diri sendiri, di luar dunia Islam, adakah kita kisah tentang insan lain atas dasar kemanusiaan?

Pernah penulis membaca tulisan Dr. Farish Nor, bahawa media umat Islam patut melaporkan berita di luar dunia Islam, dan ada benarnya dalam penyataan beliau. Umat Islam terlalu sibuk dengan apa yang berlaku dalam sempadan negara Islam sampaikan mereke tidak kisahkan dunia di luar sempadan kenegaraan ini. Benar, banyak masalah dalam dunia Islam. Benar, kita perlu memantapkan diri sendiri sebelum cuba menolong orang lain. Tetapi fikirkan, andai rumah kita rosak dan rumah jiran kita terbakar, adakah patut kita tidak mengambil tahu apa yang terjadi kepada jiran kita?

Tindakan yang diambil mungkin tidak banyak; mungkin setakat membuat kenyataan mengutuk, mungkin dengan mengharamkan Mugabe dan pengikutnya dari masuk ke sempadan negara Islam, mungkin tindakan kita sangat minima. Tindakan adalah berdasarkan keutamaan, dan mungkin keutamaan kita bukan di sana. Tetapi secara jujurnya, berapa ramai antara kita yang melihat situasi itu sebagai satu krisis kemanusiaan? 200 000 orang diusir dari rumah, tidakkah itu satu krisis kemanusiaan? Situasi itu mungkin tidak seteruk Palestine, mungkin tidak seteruk Bosnia, tetapi wajarkah untuk kita tidak mengambil tahu? Tidak layakkah mereka dalam pandangan kita untuk kita menghabiskan 5 minit untuk membaca dan memahami keadaan mereka? Bukankah mereka juga manusia?

Atau adakah kita tidak tahu?

Andai kita tidak tahu, maka persoalannya, mengapa? Kita mengikuti perkembangan Palestin dengan rajin, kita mengikut perkembangan harga minyak dengan khusyuk, kita menanti-nanti berita terbaru dari Iraq dan Afghanistan, tetapi kisahkah kita mengenai insan diluar jangkauan sempadan negara Islam? Jika tidak, dimanakah kemanusiaan kita?

Mungkin ada yang akan mengatakan, "Baca sahaja tanpa berbuat apa-apa tidak berguna!" Tetapi tanpa membaca, tahukah kita mengenainya? Andai pembacaan pun tidak dilakukan, bagaimana kita mahu bertindak?

Kita selalu mencemuh Barat berkenaan pelbagai perkara; masalah sosial, sistem kapitalis, sistem sekular dan macam-macam lagi, namun sedar tidak sedar, dalam urusan kemanusiaan, kebanyakan usaha untuk membantu manusia atas dasar kemanusiaan dilakukan oleh Barat. Buang ketepi dahulu isu Palestin, lihat perkara baik yang mereka lakukan. Berbanding mereka, apa yang kita telah lakukan?

Selalu kita dengar bahawa Islam turun sebagai rahmat kepada sekalian alam. Adakah mungkin alam yang dimaksudkan ialah dunia Islam semata-mata? Penulis tidak fikir ianya begitu. Jika tidak, mengapa umat Islam seolah-oleh tidak kisah mengenai dunia diluar dunia Islam?

Wallahua'lam

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

Di dalam kehangatan membaca, berfikir dan bersembang dengan rakan-rakan Muslim dari Malaysia tentang isu-isu berkaitan dengan Islam dan masa hadapan Islam dan Muslim, penulis agak tersentak apabila penulis menyedari bagaimana realiti budaya masyarakat Muslim, terutamanya di Malaysia.

Apa yang penulis maksudkan ialah sikap yang melihat dan membaca sejarah tanpa mempunyai keupayaan untuk menganalisa dan mengkaji sejarah secara objektif. Mungkin ada orang yang akan mengkritik penulis kerana mengatakan ini, dan mengatakan yang kita sepatutnya berbangga dengan warisan Islam yang telah ditinggalkan kepada kita, tapi apa yang penulis risaukan ialah kita melihat sejarah dengan kacamata yang berat sebelah. Kita melihat keagungan Islam di masa lampau sebagai usaha Muslim 100% dengan bantuan ALLAH s.w.t. dan tidak menghiraukan bahagian sejarah yang menunjukkan betapa Muslim pada masa itu sangat terbuka, tidak menolak sebarang idea dan merupakan manusia yang sama terpengaruh dengan keadaan semasa.

Sebelum penulis meneruskan penulisannya ini, elok rasanya untuk penulis melakarkan senario yang ada masa kini pada pandangannya, dengan harapan supaya pembaca boleh memahami apa yang cuba disampaikan.

Lewat kurun ke 19 dan awal kurun ke 20 menyaksikan kebangkitan kuasa Barat, dan kelemahan serta kejatuhan Khilafah Islamiyah di Turki. Sepertimana kuasa-kuasa lain di dunia, kuasa-kuasa Barat mula meluaskan kuasa dan menjajah kawasan-kawasan di sekeliling dunia untuk menjaga kepentingan mereka dan rakyat mereka. Oleh kerana empayar Muslim pada masa itu sangat luas dan juga disebabkan kedudukan strategik tanah-tanah yang ditadbir oleh Muslim, kuasa-kuasa Barat ini menumpukan perhatian kepada tanah-tanah yang diduduli oleh masyarakat orang Islam. Pada awalnya kerajaan Islam agak terbuka dengan idea-idea yang datang dari Barat. Namun, dasar perluasan kuasa yang diamalkan oleh kuasa-kuasa Eropah menyebabkan Muslim menjadi defensif. Masyarakat Muslim di zaman ini melihat kedatangan dan kolonisasi Barat di zaman ini, dengan idea-idea liberalisasi dan sekularisme yang dibawa sebagai satu ancaman langsung kepada agama Islam. Dan oleh kerana keadaan kerajaan Turki Uthmaniah yang lemah pada masa itu, banyak tanah yang majoriti penduduknya Muslim dijajah oleh kuasa-kuasa Barat ini.

Ini semua ditulis dalam buku-buku sejarah, dan penulis yakin ramai antara kita tahu peristiwa-peristiwa yang menyusul, yang akhirnya membentuk dunia sebagaimana yang kita ketahuinya hari ini.

Apa yang penulis ingin utarakan ialah kesannya kepada umat Islam pada hari ini, yang sepatutnya mempunyai paradigma yang berlainan dari Muslim yang ada pada zaman kejatuhan tersebut.

Hasil kolonisasi Barat, bangkit gerakan-gerakan Islam yang berusaha untuk menaikkan kembali Islam di muka bumi, dan kita dapat lihat kumpulan-kumpulan ini di dalam masyarakat.

Secara peribadi, penulis sangat mengagumi pejuang-pejuang agama ALLAH ini, tapi selepas lebih kurang 100 tahun selepas kejatuhan khilafah, kita mesti bertanya kepada diri sendiri, sejauh manakah keberkesanan perjuangan ini dalam menaikkan martabat Islam dan Muslim di seluruh dunia?

Kita sering mendengar daie-daie menceritakan kehebatan dan keagungan tamadun Islam lampau, dan bagaimana Muslim berperanan sebagai 'Ustazatul 'alam'; menjaga dan mentadbir dunia ALLAH menurut hukum-hukum dan kehendakNya. Kita sering mendengar mereka bercerita dalam nada yang nostalgik dan mahukan zaman itu berulang kerana melihatkan kelemahan umat Islam pada zaman ini, dan mendengar kondemnasi terhadap apa yang Barat telah bawakan. Kutukan demi kutukan dibuat terhadap dasar-dasar sekularisasi dan capitalis Barat, dan bagaimana Barat telah merosakkan dunia ini dengan ideologi-ideologi mereka.

Namun begitu, kita jarang mendengar cerita tentang betapa terbukanya umat Islam di zaman lampau dengan idea-idea baru, walaupun setengah-setengahnya dianggap tidak sesuai dengan Islam. kita jarang sekali mendengar ustaz-ustaz bercerita tentang betapa dahulu kita juga mengambil contoh dari Rom Timur dalam urusan-urusan kerajaan, dan bagaimana amir-amir Islam dahulu sanggup untuk mendengar syarahan daripada paderi-paderi Kristian. Tidak selalu kita mendengar pertukaran ilmu antara empayar-empayar hebat yang wujud, bagaimana Khalifah menghantar gajah sebagai hadiah kepada Charlemagne, bagaimana amir-amir menghantar artisan-artisan Muslim kepada kerajaan buan Islam, dan bagaimana kerajaan Islam mengambil birokrasi kerajaan Rom Timur. Jarang, secara ringkas, kita mendengar cerita-cerita yang membayangkan keyakinan umat Islam di masa lampau dengan Islam, 'aqidah dan ideologi yang mereka ada.

Kita juga jarang sekali mendengar cerita-cerita masyarakat Islam dahulu kala. Bagaimana manusia yang bukan Islam dilayan seperti warganegara kelas kedua, bagaimana pertelingkahan berebutkan kuasa antara amir-amir yang ada, bagaimana dinasti Abbasid bermula dengan pengkhianatan dan pembunuhan beramai-ramai, bagaimana pernah segelintir umat Islam bertindak seperti perompak dan penyamun. Semua ini tidak diceritakan, yang diceritakan hanya kegemilngan. Tiada juga pendedahan dan kajian objektif yang dibuat tentang kelemahan dan kekuatan sistem beraja yang ada, walau ada antara orientalis boleh mengatakan bahawa ada terdapat unsur-unsur sekuralisma dalam pentadbiran Islam zaman dahulu kala.

Adilkah kita dalam membuat penilaian terhadap sejarah seperti ini? Apabila orientalis membuat kajian terhadap sejarah Islam dan berjumpa dengan elemen-elemen tidak menyenangkan, kita menuduh mereka anti Islam, walhal memang pun begitu kejadiannya. Sebagai Muslim, tanggungjawab kita bukanlah mempertahankan sejarah kita, tetapi menyatakan yang benar. Janganlah kita melabel orang sebagai anti Islam apabila kita sendiri tidak pernah mengkaji sejarah secara objektif. Ramaikah antara kita yang mengetahui mengenai Manzikert? Tentang Poitiers? Tentang Cordoba? Tentang Hattin? Jika ya, adakah kita melihat keadaan sosio-politik masyarakat pada ketika itu secara keseluruhan? Berapa ramai antara kita yang melihat Salehuddin Al-Ayubi sebagai seorang manusia, bukan lagenda? Kelemahan dan kekuatan beliau? Bukanlah beliau bukan seorang yang tidak hebat, tetapi mengapa beliau membuat perkara-perkara yang beliau buat dan dalam keadaan yang bagaimana.

Oleh itu, persoalan dimanakah kita dan kemanakah kita merupakan satu persoalan yang releven sekarang, kerana kita perlu sentiasa bermuhasabah apakah perkara yang kita buat ini telah mengambil kira sebanyak mana yang boleh, dan sejauh manakah tindakan kita berjaya dalam memajukan apa yang kita perjuangkan. Mungkin kita perlu mengkaji teori-teori hari ini, mengkaji sejarah dan teori-teori Islam masa lampau dan mencari jalan tengah antara keduanya, untuk menjadikan satu idea itu realistik dan berkesan di zaman ini.

Wallahua'lam

p/s: JZKK kepada Wan Aimran kerana membetulkan penulis

7 Comments

bismillahirrahmnairrahim,

1st and foremost, all praises be to Him who gave me the strength and will to complete both my books and a part of my studies for the coming exams, all the while keeping me busy with issues of both the Islamic world and the world without it.

the book that i have just finished is entitled: Muhammad, Biography of a Prophet by Karen Armstrong, and it is quite interesting to see the link of that particular book with what is happening to the Muslims ummah today, especially that of the small sect in Malaysia..

anyways, i find Malaysia a funny and quite intriguing country; it has a large (more than half) Muslim majority, ruled by Muslim leaders with a Muslim parliamentary monarchy system, has a minority non-Muslim population and also has some of its roots embedded in Western colonialism and secularism

when discussing matters regarding, say, secularism and imperialism, one cannot run from the fact that these ideas evolved in an era in which Muslims were dominant and in a socio-political scene that is of the total reverse from that of Muslims. yet it is interesting to note that most Muslims can’t seem to find the link between secularism, Christianity and Islam, and seem to think that anything from the West, or the 1st World, at least, is bad because it has non-Islamic ideals attached to it.

before i start, i would like to say that if there are any errors or discrepancies in the things that i say here, especially historically, then i am more than happy to change it, if readers would be so kind as to point it out and why it is wrong.

now, let us take a brief tour of the 2 religions that has until recently seem to be bitter enemies, and can’t seem to reconcile their differences, until the advent of the modern age (even then, there is a sort of uneasy truce between people of both religions), namely, Islam and Christianity.

Islam’s message is inevitably linked with the idea of social justice. the prophet Muhammad p.b.u.h. preached his message in a society which has abandoned the old tribal system of communalism and seem to have adopted a more individualistic and capitalistic mentality because of the recent settling down in Mecca after generations of nomadic life (of course, we are talking about the Quraysh here, which settled in Mecca relatively recently and has become more and more accustomed to city life, which disregards a lot of the tribal morality and ethics that has been the time-honoured traditions of the Arabs). the society in Mecca was a mess; infanticide, adultery, murder are only a few vices in which Arabs at that time thought as being the norm. in such a situation, it is only natural that the Prophet preaches a message of social justice, in which the poor and the rich is given equal right, and society abide by an egalitarian code in which everyone gets what is due for him, and no one is treated in an unjust manner. the culmination of this ideal is the rise of Medina after the hijra, which later became the 2nd most important city in Islam after Mecca, and subsequently saw the expansion of the Islamic message to the rest of the world, ushering a period of, as been put by Karen very nicely, pax islamica, in which the ideals of Islam were seen to have ruled the world.

in contrast, Christianity developed in what is known as pax romana, a situation where there is already a very strong governing body. Jesus had not had the need for a kingdom down on earth. even in the Bible it is said that Jesus claimed that his kingdom is not here on earth, but that of the other world. the early Christians did not have to wrestle with the ideas and ideals of governance, and concern themselves more with the battle for the soul, the purification of the soul, if you like. and to make matters worse, Christians are persecuted by the Roman rulers, which made life difficult for them, making some of them running to remote places such as deserts so that they are able to practice their religion without fear of their pagan rulers. Christianity only came to the forefront of civilization, if you like, when Constantine (sometimes called ‘the Great’) “adopted” Christianity. the exact historical sequence of this is still a bit vague to me, but i think it could be suffice for me to point out that after this, Christianity began to prosper in Rome, who was the precursor to the Byzantine Empire. to be honest, i am not that well read in Christianity’s development, and therefore, i shall not indulge too much time in trying to explain everything regarding the Christian faith; it will be an injustice on my part if i were to do that, but i will try to give an overview of the different situation between both faiths, and how it affects the development of thoughts in both religions.

the rest of this is history, but interestingly, after the Western Roman empire collapsed, we saw the Church’s increasing influence in society (perhaps due to the insecurity that people feel by the fragmentation of power during that time), and that the Church began to develop a unique system of law and control over their medieval believers. they started to intrude upon people’s lives, and started an effort to try to control people’s way of thinking. in such a climate the modern stream of thought was conceived, and it is quite understandable that they should separate religion from the state because of what they see as the failure of the Church and that religion, as they understand it, may not have been sufficient to include all this new developments in science and logic that has been made. (this is truly very crude, i apologize for the lack of refinement). the result of this, in a nutshell, is the style of thinking that we see today; that of secularism and atheism, which, to be honest, is very much understandable if we look at it in the historical context.

however, there was never such a tradition in the Islamic world; politics, religion, science and logic has always come hand in hand and there should never be a separation of the state and religion, lest the rulings of God is not enforced. the Islamic tradition has always been an egalitarian one, that everyone is equal in the eyes of God, and that the rulers are merely entrusted with the heavy burden of administrating the earth. this mentality explains the various dynasties in the Islamic world and also the culture of knowledge that evolved in the Muslim world. this is not to say that there wasn’t any such culture in medieval Europe, just that most of the knowledge at that time, as far as i can tell, is in the hands of the monks, and that education is limited to a very few privileged few. when the Western “onslaught” came, it is interesting to note that Muslims, at first, reacted very creatively and was very welcoming of the new innovations of the West. but because of circumstances, and due to some extent to the weakness of Muslims, their empire disintegrated and Western powers started to crave up Muslim lands at their whim. such a behaviour may be seen as evil to the Muslims, but it is quite normal for any power to do this, and such a thing has always been the wont of men. reading through histories of other civilizations will convince you of this.

the reaction by Muslims could not have been more pronounced. many of them see the Western advances, with their technological superiority and radically different and alien ideologies must have seemed to them to be an affront to what the whole of Islam holds dear, and many of the relics of such thinking is present to even this day; the inherent hatred an suspicion to the West, rejecting everything Western, the longing for the Caliphate system of the past, etc.

i am not saying that we should accept everything that is presented before us, nor should we disregard the ideas of bringing the Caliphate back (that is another topic for debate), but what i am trying to put forth here is that the mentality and ideologies of the West has evolved in such circumstances that is understandable, and that Muslims should not have this “siege mentality” that is so very obvious in society. rather, Muslims should be like the Muslims of old; confident and accommodating to all cultures, taking the good and compatible aspects of other religions and culture to be assimilated into the Muslim Islamic culture, and not shunning other people’s ideas without having first understood whence it comes from and what is the effect of such ideologies to the society of that culture, and what could be the good and bad implications of such ideologies have to the Muslims in general.

therefore, think before you act.

wallahua’lam

p/s : insyaALLAH, akan ditranslate ke dalam bahasa Melayu sekiranya diminta

disclaimer: this entry is not attacking any particular individual or organization. it is merely the writer's thoughts on the subject matter

bismillahirrahmanirrahim..

i was reading about something, and was thinking about how people say Islam being the world order and stuff, and what strikes me as interesting is just that; how people say it out loud, not do it in practice...

it is rather interestingly frustrating that people seem to say many things but also seem contented to just sit in their quiet corner doing only the minimal, if not nothing..

it is simple, work for what one believe in, and God willing, one will reap what one sow. but when people say Islam will certainly come on top someday, do they really walk their talk?

i mean, we all know that that will inevitably happen, but what do we do?

this is especially true for students, who has the most free time of all adults...

don't be so conceited and arrogant by saying that i have no time, i need to concentrate on my studies; these are, quite frankly, selfish and rather immature...

if you want to talk like that, fair enough, but please list down how many hours you waste on the internet doing stuff that doesn't really matter to the world, watching on youtube things that doesn't add anything to your knowledge, talking to friends about the latest trends and fashions, talking about gossips of this artist and that, etc...

if you still don't want to care, then fine. but don't give the excuse of not having enough time to do your part in society if you are doing things like that and don't study, it makes one looks rather weak...

time is a funny thing, because when one is hard pressed to do something, then one can finish it in a quick and efficient manner. but when one has too much time in one's hand, then the efficiency simply goes down..

don't take time as being something absolute, the human consciousness may very well be intimately intertwined with time itself.

and stop saying things like i don't care about politics, or i don't want to get involved in society because i'm bad at communicating with people; fact is, very few people are good with people. in fact, if you're bad at it, then it is precisely why you should do it...

we always say that the youth are the agents of change, and we always look to the time of the prophet as being such a good example of this. but we seldom take a step back and think, what have i done for the betterment of society? do i even care enough about society to act?

and acting does not mean looking at people in society that needs help, yet never talk to any of those so-called troubled people and try to understand them, much less help them. all we do is scorn at them...

it is funny that we say we study hard in university for the sake of ALLAH and that we will contribute to His cause when we work when in reality, we sit in our own corner, doing enough to satisfy our whims, and do the bare minimum for Islam...

funny, isn't it, when students say 'I want to be an Islamic doctor,' or 'I want to be an Islamic engineer,' when all they do is read books, pass exams, get a job, get a spouse, buy a big house, produce some kids, and die...

now that, is funny...

wallahua'lam

bismillahirrahmanirrahim..

it was always at the back of my head, this issue, but a recent incident in a chaplaincy made me think real hard about this issue...

about how the Muslims perceive themselves, and how we think of other religions...

thing is, here, in the UK, we Muslims always make use of any odd place to pray our 5 daily prayers, be it in an abandoned hall, somewhere in a football field, and most popularly, in chapels...

i would like to focus on the last bit, regarding the praying in chapels, and relating that to most Muslims' mentalities...

chapels are essentially a church or area of worship, sometimes small and attached to a larger institution such as a large church, a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, sometimes large and unattached to another building (1). We Muslims pray in chapels, and it is an acceptable practice, i suppose because there is no restriction that is given against that, especially in countries where there is a Christian majority or is a Christian country.

that is very good, as far as we Muslims are concerned, but let us take a look at the other side of the coin...

what would be our reaction to a non-Muslim worshiping in our masjid?

will we not flare up in rage?

i have no idea about the technicalities of this issue, but if we can't let them pray in our mosque, then it should be part of our responsibility to provide for them a place of worship..

now, does the reality of most Muslim countries reflect this?

how many of us scorn at the sign of a church, especially in Malaysia? how many reproach the building of many a temple? how many of us hate to see other religion other than Islam having their own place of worship?

we use their facilities as we will, but we don't like it for them to have their places of worship when we are in power. is that fair?

I ask you, as I asked myself, is this what Islam want from its followers?

what is more, we seem to be very suspicious of other religions. we tend to say that everything from the West is bad, that every single non-Muslim is conspiring against Islam...

but let us ask ourself, are we being fair?

how may of us had actually spoken and interacted with Christians? and when i mean Christians, i mean practicing Christians?

how may of us has even the desire to talk to a Jew? much less a Zionist?

in the end, all these people are that; they are just people. they are humans, like u and me, who, in the end, wants happiness...

and we have the mentality of preaching, not sharing..

yes, we have the truth, and we want to tell it to them, fair enough. but what about their point of views?

i mean, we often organize programmes and publicize it heavily to non Muslims, hoping and praying that they will come. but when they organize a programme about their religion, do we spare our evening to go to that programme?

most people will say, 'their programmes are rubbish because their religion is false.' then i ask you, would they not think the same of our programmes?

how are we supposed to attract them? only with words about the greatness of the Islam in the past, the grandeur that was Islamic civilization, when the whole world is looking down at this religion as promoting violence and injustice?

how, my friend, are we going to convince people of the truth in Islam, when we don't even bother to interact with them?

this, I think, is something to be thought upon...

it is better to understand, before being understood. read up on the history of people, and their culture. only then can we understand why things being as it is...

seek first to understand...

wallahua'lam

Bibliography:
(1) Chapel, Wikipedia, 18/02/2008, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapel

bismillahirrahmanirrahim..

this subject is of rather curious interest to me, for some reason that i myself cannot comprehend...

but since we are talking about this, then i would just like to put forth one part of the subject, not to do it injustice, but simply because this is the part that i can think of writing as of now...

we Muslims tend to remember the achievements of the past, the grandeur that was Islamic civilization, the greatness of the bygone ages, the power and majesty wielded by the Sultans, etc...

we are impressed and taken aback by the huge architectural marvels that is Al-Andalus, that of Turkey, those built in India, etc...

we admire greatly the culture of learning in the Islamic world, the findings of the Islamic scholars, the civilization that is brought into the world, etc...

yet we seldom think of the reason why it was so great...

why the Islamic civilization is so very unique...

people say that it is unique because it is a civilization that springs forth from a desert with not much resources to harvest, and that it is unique because it is a civilization built upon religion...

yes, these claims have their merits, but we always forget that the Islamic civilization was built on the premise of pleasing the Lord of the Worlds...

and when the Muslims deviate from this path, the civilization that was so very great fell in such a small time, that it seemed incomprehensible...

we always forget that the achievements of the past was done for the sake of ALLAH, and that they regarded revealed knowledge as being the at the top of the knowledge hierarchy...

we tend to forget that knowledge all stem from a single Originator, but we often see knowledge as being fragmented pieces that do not fit. we segregate knowledge of, say, science from religion, social science from religion, social science from science, mathematics from law...

to me, all these different areas of knowledge are all interconnected..

why?

simply because we are bounded by what we see and experience...

law, for instance, can be linked to social science, which is rather obvious. but the behaviour of humans is connected to the activities of the brain, which is the realm of biology. the brain, however, uses electrical signals which obey the laws of physics, which uses maths as its language...

therefore, although a bit far fetched, there is a connection between all the areas of knowledge just because we think in a certain way and that we are bounded by this and the world we live in...

wallahua'lam

bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

this is perhaps frustrating to me, hence, i put it forth in here...i suppose its a culmination of my frustration from browsing the web, reading people's blogs and reading threads...

i find it interesting to note that many of my peers are so much into this 'Love' business...

all this talk about obtaining True Love and all is becoming more than an annoyance to me; its becoming really worrying...

i don't say that one should stop talking about these issues, nor do I say that we should stop talking about obtaining True Love...

but its getting out of hand, i think...

i mean, there are lots more things to talk about, so, why are we just talking about how WE feel, and what WE aspire to achieve?

people are starving, people are dying, people are uneducated, corruption is rife in the Islamic world, our ummah is in a state of weakness, and all we care is about ourselves?

does this sound right?

if you want to obtain True Love from ALLAH, i don't think you should tell it to people, because LOVE is an intimacy that is rarely put in words...

seek knowledge about it, but don't publicize it. sometimes i just have the feeling that people want to run away from what they feel towards humans, maybe because of frustration, and go to ALLAH.

by all means, do that, but does one need to publicize it all over the net?

and regarding the love thingy, i think its just plain selfish to talk about OUR love, what WE want, etc...

more interestingly, people ask questions about what to do and not to do regarding couples, and how to love people etc. i mean, there are lots of articles around; why are we asking the same question over and over again? are we trying to find an answer that satisfy our hearts or do we crave for ALLAH's redha?

and i don't know why, but we are so much into all this hukum stuff. its OK to know, but some of the issues brought up are so much trivial compared to what we should be doing for the ummah...

i mean, if one has that many hours to think about LOVE, then how many hours do we devote to think about the betterment of the ummah? how many hours do we spend to read up on stuff so that we are better equip to face society? what efforts have we made towards that end?

let us bethink ourselves. yes, teenagers do need to think about stuff relating to marriage, love, etc., but is that the only thing that needs to be cared about?

i think we think too much about ourselves, more than anything else. i suppose its fair enough, but the thing is, it is not really healthy, as it shows some symptoms of not really caring...

having said that, i do know that people will usually retort by saying, 'no, we talk about other stuff as well, like Palestine, Iraq and we try to change society that is so rife with all this maksiat to the creator, which usually is in the form of couples and things regarding the heart.'

i accept such an argument, yet I find such things are more of a portent to something bigger that lies underneath...

it is true that our society is messed up; Muslims doing things they are not supposed to do, there is no government that is doing Islamic law, etc.

but I do honestly believe that it all stems from 1 single problem: 'aqidah.

most teenagers don't have that sense of direction in their lives, nor do they have enough conviction in their religion...

and i think that's the most important thing that we should tackle, before anything else...

again, I am emphasing that I am not against all this talk about Love, its just that it is becoming so rampant that it occupies all the space in forums that the majority are teenagers...

I myself am not married, so its not like I'm saying this to condemn the act; I myself am searching for True Love!

to simplify, I think that its not that its not important to talk about these things, just do it moderately. i find it amazing that novels about love sell out so fast, when books about the state of the ummah, philosophy of knowledge in Islam, and other stuff is not very popular...

not that I'm saying everyone should pick up a book and read, but its alarming to see the proportion of time spent on reading these stuff, as opposed to reading other stuff...

in all fairness, everyone has different interests. but when you really think of it, does such a behaviour more suggestive of a society that cares too much about themselves, and not about others?

and i think, when one gets married, one may think of such a things as being not worth spending too much of one's time on...

if i am mistaken please correct me...

wallahua'lam

bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

a friend of mine met a calamity this week, and i was thinking about it...

and i wonder, about how cruel and unjust we are because what we think and feel...

i suppose its just human to do that - we can't really break free from our emotions, right?

but, then again, we never do understand anything in its entirety...

we don't always see the best course of action, nor what is best for us...

and we always try to put into perspective according to our understanding of the world...

and when calamity happens, we think how hard this is for us; why can't it go away?

don't take me wrong, i do that as well...

but the thing is, we are so bounded with our 5 senses, which is the basis for the experience we gain over the years..

and that experience, and knowledge, and understanding, is by no means complete..

we hardly know ourselves to know what's good for us...yet when things happen and we always try to blame somebody, and try to seek somebody to comfort us...

maybe I'm just being cynical, heck, i know that i'm being cynical, heck, i know i'm being cynic; this was thought of in the midst of a depressive atmosphere!

but i suppose it highlights a truth that is often said, but not always understood, that people do need God in all their lives...

wallahua'lam

bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

it was my lecturer who made me realize this, and i suppose it is so very important that i think i want to put it my blog...

this is regarding how we view knowledge, and what Richard Feynman, a nobel-prize winning theoretical physicist in Caltec, said. here is the video:



the interesting, and perhaps more importantly, humbling thing to realize that a Nobel prize laureate saying and admitting that he is absolutely not sure of anything and doesn't know anything about many things...

how many of us will recognize what we know and don't know? and how many of us will be ashamed if people ask us about something, and we say we don't know?

is it simply pride? or is it deeper than that?

it is also stunning (if you watch his other videos) the way he put forth the difference between knowing and understanding...

the way he put it, through a story, that even if you know the name of a bird in 5 languages, you don't know anything about the bird, rather, you will know more about people and how they call the bird in different languages...

the same applies to everything...



we always seek to understand HOW things happen, but we really don't know WHY it happens...as Feynman put it, we have certain postulates and stuff that explains the behaviour, but we don't really know WHY it must do that...

we always miss this...

in all our hype of creating stuff, explaining stuff, we never stop to wonder about the greatness of it all..

to me personally, though i haven't been so far in my studies, i find it already humbling that we can't understand the universe in its entirety. we ourselves are always bounded by our senses; how can we claim to understand everything when we can't even see through a wall?

if one has knowledge, seek to understand what it means first, before claiming that one knows it...because that may not be the case...

and when one attains understanding, then one realizes that one will never conceive the true meaning and reason behind everything...here is where God comes in...

i suppose that is why ALLAH puts it in the Quran; 'for people of understanding'...

because when we understand, we know our limits. and when we do, we will acknowledge the greatness of the Creator...

wallahua'lam

bismillahirrahmanirrahim,

just a passing note, i find it amazing that we all understand stuff that is written in different styles.

for example, if it is capital letters, then it would show a sign of anger, if it is bold, then it shows that there is emphasis made by the writer, if its italic, it is a sign that we are referring to another person, or something that is not ours, or simply again, to make a point, but in a more subtle way...

it is infinitely interesting when we think about it, since language seems very much inherent in the animal kingdom, but as far as i know humans are the only beings on planet earth having the ability to communicate through written words.

it is even more evident if one reads a literature that one understands not. because when there are such things as those stated above, it is generally known what the writer wants to do by putting it there...

my question is that, why is it so? language develop differently in different societies, yet such things are apparent in the whole of the human race. the more interesting question is that how does it show the internal workings of our brain?

i am no biologist, so i can't comment too much about this. it comes to wonder, if we are to make the real-time MRI scan on a person who's reading stuff like that, how will the activity of the various regions in the brain change? and if we are to do it to animals, how will it affect their brains? and how do their brains differ from ours?

just a passing observation, really. but i suppose it could be related to more subtle things such as the general behaviour of society, the notion of acceptable behaviour and stuff like that...

but that is for another session of pondering about the infinitely interesting universe...

wallahua'lam