wondering, mumbling and a world crumbling

sadness

2009-07-15T17:13:00.002+01:00

These days we tend to feel sad about so many things - that someone treated us badly, that we didn't get something we wanted, that a loved-one has passed away. The list of things we feel sad about is endless.

However, are we giving sadness its due? Do these things warrant the type of sadness we give to them, and do we funnel our sadness in the correct way? What is the REAL reason that any one of us has to be sad about? This seems like a very convoluted question, so let's make it simpler;

A little girl, two years old, is in a store with her mother and sees something she wants, so she asks for it. When the mother says no, the child begins to cry, moan, sometimes shriek the store down in an effort to get what she wants! In some cases the parent gives in and gives the child what she wants, and there is peace. The child stops crying and beams that they've gotten what they wanted. On the other hand, if the parent says no, the initial caterwauling will soon subside into some unexplainable sadness at how much the child has been wronged by her cruel parent...

Now let's try to apply this to our initial list of saddening things. Are adults any different? We tend to have this sadness and dispair when things don't go our way. We get deep feelings that we have been wronged, and sometimes the fact that we are blaming this on someone is imperceptible, even to ourselves. Nevertheless we are focussing our anger on someone, and who? We are really blaming God for our misfortune! (no matter what faith we ascribe to, this still holds true - we're interested in realities here, not opinion)

For so many things in our life, we allow ourselves to become buried in sadness about all those things which we cannot control, but that oftentimes go against our desires. When a loved-one passes away, they go to their own judgement, and we assume the 'bereaved stance'. Now, bereavement is fine for a reasonable period to let the initial shock sink in, but some let their whole life become focussed on their dead former companion. They grieve for years and years and never find any solace. They cry and ask why and get lost in nostalgia of days gone by, spiraling into a vortex of self-pity and anguish.

Wouldn't it be more productive, when one watches a cortege pass by, to imagine yourself in that box, or under that shroud, going towards your grave? Yes, death is inevitable. It is something we cannot avoid. So why not use the experience of still being alive to make a resolution to better our own lives, so that death doesn't take us unprepared, as it has so many before us.

How do we do that? Well, we can start by getting our sadnesses in order. What IS a good reason to be sad? There is a type of sadness that promotes action, that increases the effort put in by an individual so that s/he can be slightly more certain that their actions can be accepted. It stems also from having due fear of God most high, who created us and will also destroy us. He has the power to do as He wills.

Some of the pious people have been known to be so afraid that their devotional deeds might not be accepted that they never took glee in the stations they reached - in piety or God-consciousness. Even when it was apparent to the people around them that they were truly heavenly individuals, they would not let this sway them from increasing their devotions.

Look closely at the example of our master and best of God's creation Muhammad (Peace be upon him), when he used to stand in prayer for the whole night until his feet swelled and his skin split. His companions asked him, 'Oh Prophet of Allah, why do you do this to yourself when all of your sins have been forgiven?' His reply was simple, 'Should I not be a grateful slave to Allah?'

Taking from his example, his companions led such amazing and austere lives realising that this life is a place of sadness. (Were not our father and mother Adam and Eve sent down to earth as a punishment?) After the death of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him), his beloved companions, instead of wallowing in bereavement and self pity, mourning and letting the infant Islam perish, continued with the mission - and within two centuries Islam had spread from Morocco to China!

So dont let minor things put you in dispair. There is no place for self-pity. Look to the grave as your next resting-spot, and to an eternity beyond. Let your sadness be guided by that thought...

Peace be upon the sad ones.

doubtless

2009-06-17T19:54:00.005+01:00

In the Name of Allah, the Benificent, the Merciful.

All praise is for Allah, Almighty and Exalted is He, and blessings and peace be upon the Chosen One, Mercy to the Worlds, Muhammad the unlettered prophet and upon his noble family, companions and all who follow them in earnestness until the Day of Judgement.

How exalted is He Who sent down upon the tongue of His most beloved, the verses;

Alif. Lam. Mim. (1) This is the Scripture whereof there is no doubt, a guidance unto those who ward off (evil). (2) Who believe in the Unseen, and establish worship, and spend of that We have bestowed upon them; (3) And who believe in that which is revealed unto thee (Muhammad) and that which was revealed before thee, and are certain of the Hereafter. (4) These depend on guidance from their Lord. These are the successful.

Thus begins the second chapter, titled 'The Cow', of the Noble Qur'an - Alif. Lam. Mim. Those mysterious letters of unknown meaning, followed by that beautiful statement, which defies all refutation. It's a promise, a challenge, an introduction like no other. How great is our Lord, to give us these simple words, to allay all uncertainty we might have right from the outset.

From this introduction we learn what is between our hands, that all doubts are dispelled, that this book is a guidance for anyone who is God-fearing and tries to avoid sin. We learn the qualities that necessarily come when a person is in this state; that they believe in the unseen world - i.e. aspects of existence as yet unkown to us.

This automatically puts a believer worlds apart from anyone else, and so easily criticisable by those who see only what their hands can touch. These believers then have obligations; they establish prayer, and give alms as well as voluntary charity. They follow what has come down to them (i.e. this Qur'an) upon the tongue of their Prophet Muhammad (May Allah's praise and peace be upon him), as well as the all the true books which were revealed to previous prophets. They also have no doubts as to the Afterlife - that it is the true life, eternal.

So to sum up, one could easily live by these verses alone. But isn't it so intriguing? Doesn't it simply invite a seeker to enter inside, to read, read and read? This is the word of God. No falsehood here. Simple, clear and real.

It caresses the heart, and feeds the soul, gives life to what was dead before. Let's read, dear reader - let's be guided to Reality...

And the peace and blessings of Allah be upon all who follow the guidance.

progression of faithlessness

2009-05-23T16:11:00.006+01:00

a look at the phenomenon of anti-religion, popularised by richard dawkins, for example in his books; the blind watchmaker and the god delusion.

oh mr dawkins, mr blind critic. plaigerising flawed reasoning - exploring concepts defunct as soon as they are spoken. by delving into archaic acedemia, in your militantly atheist missionising, and placing black and white constructs onto epistemologies, you have misplaced reality, and perverted humanity's perceptions of their real status (apparently, after a google search, there is no plural for status but it could be presumed that statae would sufice, no?), you have inverted what is, twisting your theoretcal presumptions to fit permises held for millenia by aching modernists, hating to admit their subjugation to an Almighty Creator.
nothing but a modern-day forerunner of this fundamentalist anti-religionism, an heir of pre-nineteenth century social philosophers, portraying the progression of religion to be 1) animism (primitive polytheism), progressing to 2) monotheism, culminating in 3) the 'most civilised' atheism.

looking at our modern world, and the way that 'religions' have been almost totally abandoned, it would seem that these theories are true. taking the fact that people are looking beyond the 'religion' they have been born into, the epistemologies imposed upon them by their culture and time and place, that them seeing beyond this and leaving it behind, as a proof for this defunct theory - that their origins are therefore primative, and before that primate, and before that some kind of supra-mammal rat creature... is it necessarily true? does that make any sense at all?

isn't it a right, and a great evidence of the intellectual freedom of being a human, indeed of his ability for critical thought, that he explore all concepts placed in front of him (please excuse the apparent chauvenism, but to refer to human as 'man' is a mere turn of phrase)? yes, it is not only a right, but an obligation that one critically analyse ALL that is thrust their way, peddled as truth and corrupted by the evil hearts of men.

turth will always outshine and outlast the dimness of falsehood. humanity, no matter how much entrenched in wars for the desires, can still feel truth in that inner sanctum, a hidden niche only waiting to radiate...

so examine all you will, the truth is concrete and everlasting, not bound by time or pllace, era or eon. it was eternally before time, and is endlessly in eternity. thats all you need to seek to find mr dawkins. we're watching you...

Love And Death

2009-02-23T15:33:00.006Z

all is full of love, as bjork so gently put it. no matter that lesbian robots spew strange fluids over each other in that particular visual motion picture soundtrack.

the human's 'precious bodily fluids' are indeed important, as they have ever been in the continuation of our race - the ongoing reproduction of a species. it's no matter if you ascribe to evolutionist origin myths, or have reverted back to the empowering truth of Adam our fore-runner and first perfect human, first father, God's representative on earth, you will still note that humanity's increase and the continuation of life is so precious, so natural and so beautiful. this no-one can deny

so what have we become? all we have is a stock of e-mail forwards to offer humanity? we give our 'lol' opinions and facebook updates - we've forgotten how to be in front of another's face in reality. we dont know how to telephone and have forgotten how to write or communicate, and all we have to offer people is a self-centred fight for financial stability and then die leaving nothing behind but a national insurence never to be cashed by loved-ones, but the unknowns in the corporate backgound will take their share.

where's the beauty? what of the glee of new life, the love of humanity?

ok, there is an element of love creeping through the world (think Gaza and the efforts being made to send them aid), but this is limited and almost powerless in its honest goodness. how can the common humans compete against the mental control (and insane) supremacy of the 'intellectual elite' who have us gripped by our feeble minds and passionate reactivities.

yes, humans, we are slaves to supremecists who hold our finances, who feed us our ideals (and eliminate us if we dont subscribe to their version of reality). we are reactive according to our passions and instead of working for the goal of human unity living in peace, submitted to the Almighty, we live in fear (a misplaced fear with the 'other' blamed, instead of the God we know we should really fear and to whom is our return).

if we do claim to fear God, then where are our actions? do they really suggest that we have truly submitted? how will we fare when we stand in front of Him on the Day when there will be no more death...?

friends, humans, fellow slaves of the Almighty, love for the God of us all is where all love comes from. all is full of love. the TRUTH is out there and He does not need you, but you need Him. do we think we'll just disappear into dust? that we live in this wonderful, beautiful and cruel world for nothing?

think on it and live in love. there are other alternatives but all of them lead to destruction and eternal dispair.

...

2009-02-12T18:22:00.002Z

a wondering wanderer scribbles ands scrabbles to find the place at the end of his deepest dreams, but there's no war of words, or triple letter scores here, so its hard to ascertain where exactly he's found himself...

if he'd been looking when the notices were being passed, or bothered to pay a jot of attention when the warners told him what to take care from, then he'd probably have a bit more direction now. that's not the case, unfortunately for him, but fortune is not something we can debate about - destiny is already unfolding, all he can do is behold and the future's a great story untold..

so he's now lost in a place where there's a million obstacles to his sight, his mind and his take on reality. no thought comes except that it's closely followed and often overtaken by thousands more, so he's confused - he can't hear his own inner voice of clarity over the scream and hubub of all the infiltrators. if only there was a flash of light or a breath of life that he could cling to, drowning in waves of thought and sound, in dark seas of debt, deed-poll and insecurity.

what's a name when it's a number on file? a database compiled, an identity up on trial.

what's a prison when there's no escape from inner space? no part to the human race, when evolution's been bought and sold and fed, fed, fed til you can't think anymore - it comes belching out as there's nowhere to put it, a nauseating stench of faux intellectualism but all that's been said before. is there anyone there who can see through?

why do you feel lost in a maze you've made, when the way's clear, just look behind. or nowhere or everywhere, truth is self-evident and hidden within all at once. clear, refreshing, bringing to life.

the truth sets us free from ourselves.

there is a way dear man, human. others have tread it, so it's not that hard. next time you spot a warner take heed, follow him, befriend him and he will show you the way.

a restart?

2009-02-06T18:36:00.005Z

what if the world folded up while you just were'nt expecting it?

wouldn't you just say to yourself, 'well that's not fair...' ?

you probably would, wouldn't you?

it doesn't seem too unreasonable - there you are living your life and all of a sudden it just folds over and where do you find yourself? another dimension? lost and far from home? in a nightmare that there's no escape from? in a dreamy world of ice-cream castles perhaps?

hippy plagiarisms aside, if one seriously considered it, this would seem frightening or improbable, and if it did occur then the shock of just finding oneself in some kind of other existence would most likely make one feel that there was no relation to anything they'd ever experienced. considering that there is no turning back, what do you think you would do?

there's no point asking to be sent back because the world's folded over. that reality no longer exists. you are where you are and that's it. no way to change it. seems unfair, doesn't it?

to make matters worse (depending on your perspective), what if the existence you ended up in was related to how you had lived in the world? that every aspect of this new reality was a magnified extension, on an unimaginably more grandiose, macro level, of every action that you'd ever done - a place were you are rewarded or punished in an exact and totally precise manner for every word, deed and intention.

well, dear friend, if we want to speak plainly, that's exactly what will happen to each and every one of us. we will be taken away from our normal, everyday life into something vast and neverending, an afterlife directly related to how we lived this life. no matter if we want to return to this life and live it over again or not, it will be an impossibility - forbidden to us.

there is no going back.

our life is a miniscule point in an endless time. scientists have lost their minds trying to understand it - see;

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1EEE2070E3685518

or check out

http://www.whatthebleep.com/

we have to prepare ourselves for an endless hereafter, so why not make a new start while there's time, before your world folds over on you and the Reckoning begins...

state of you

2008-11-07T18:05:00.004Z

if it feels that the world spins ever faster, that it's harder to make your mark, then do not feel alone in your dispair oh weary traveller.

there are many, who have been raised to feel that they have the power to change the world, who gradually become trampled underfoot and lose those former hopes. their hopes have vanished into faded dreams. their efforts amount to nothing, their deeds effect no change, and death is lonely, life's passed and eternity beckons.

yes, as 'actions are judged according to the intentions' the one who has let his life go by, thinking that all he did was for the best - looking after his own interests, has really lost everything, because all he did was not intended for any greater purpose, and so does not merit any accolade. he is left empty and alone, denied and chewing his just deserts forever after.

what a pitiable wretch he is, losing his world and his eternal existence, only for a few moments of arrogance, and a lifetime of worthlessness. he has scorned at those meek souls who struggle to perfect their existence, and thereby effect beneficial change in the world. his sole aim had been to be powerful, he said 'i am more powerful' and 'only the strong survive', while he oppressed the weak, and sowed his wild oats, now he harvests the crop he has sown.

his nails scratch his eyes out in vain, and bloody tears flowing like oceans cannot quench the fires he has kindled. he has lost. there is no reprieve. nobody grieves for him, except for his own wails and pleas. but all to no avail.

he is forgotten.

now, back to our current state. can we step back and examine ourselves.. do we see any of ourselves in what we have read? if so then upon us is the onus. we must change.

Allah will not change what is in a people until they change what is in their ownselves

do we think we are better than anyone else?

what gives us the right to believe so? do we think that just because we profess Islam that we are better than everyone? look around dear brother, it is those professing Islam who are the lowest of the low. more astray than beasts.

how can you redeem yourself dear Muslim, and thereby change the state of what is around you? there is no other recourse..

it's all been said before

paradoxical pleasures

2008-09-04T18:10:00.003+01:00

it's a recurring theme that time flies by at breakneck speed, when all one wants is to sit back and focus, just for an instant. however, sitting back like this to enjoy a moment's silence seems to waste such an amount of beneficial time as if your world overtakes you, overwhelms and leaves one drowning, because you've stopped treading water in this fathomless ocean.

how can we remind ourselves that the only success comes from keeping afloat, that our only reliance is God most high? why is it that we are so forgetful? why can we not make the truth we know become our reality?

this existence, a body containing a spirit, is temporary. losing sight of that is nothing short of insane. it doesn't take a genius to see that we are going to die, so how can we be so stupid as to forget that? we try to enjoy paltry instants, and fool ourselves into forgetting our true purpose, and shun our obligations - what are we doing except throwing scorn in the face of blessings, biting the hand that feeds and turning away from our only real refuge?

there's nothing wrong with enjoying the pleasures of the senses, but there are limits, and anyone who's crossed them can verify that the pleasure attained by succumbing to those is swiftly replaced by emptiness and yearning, so pleasures are sought after in ever-more dubious ways, yet desire is never fully satisfied. this leaves the body wasted, the mind numbed and the purpose completely forgotten.

yes, the purpose. what we exist for. it's a question sought after by the few 'seers' who wish to transcend desire and find reality and the pleasure of gnosis. it is our Creator, the One who exists endlessly, and brought all we see into existence. in our moments of spiritual awareness, our solace comes from contemplating how all came from One. God, our Lord, upon Who is our reliance. we need Him to be alive, and us trying to act like we are self-subsistent is as if we are denying His exalted position, His Majestic right that we worship Him.

of course there is a bright side. that is that if we sincerely turn back to Him asking His forgiveness, and we do this before our death, then we can attain success in this life and the eternal ever-after. however, if we die in this state of forgetfulness and denial, then His wrath will come upon us, and forgiveness will never come.

we have to turn back before it is too late, or else our eternal state will be in the darkest depths of the inferno - forgotten, punished, forever. hold your finger in a flame, just for an instant. can you?

that should be enough for us if we purport to be among people of understanding. let's try to make remembrance of God our means of relaxation, and by His mercy we might reach eternal salvation.

scrutinised

2008-07-24T23:04:00.005+01:00

what we fear seems to be lack of privacy, and we're fuelled with paranoia-inducing rhetoric from our dear friend the media-machine, which keeps us (rightly, perhaps) informed that anyone can get access to our information at any time.

take the example from the sado-masichistic nazi overdrones filling our screens and ears , that an old man, who just likes to 'unwind' with his five prostitutes has been victimised by the media, by his private life being splattered all around, but then this is turned into a plea that the media itself has no freedom in not having the right to broadcast this.. strange.

the mind shudders, wondering what to believe. if facebook and vodafone have done deals so that friends can pinpoint where each other are at any one moment, how much more muscle-flexing do we need before we realise that there is no such thing as freedom in the sense we've been brought up to believe? it's not as if these technologies havent been doing their monitoring before now, but it is just that it's being flaunted now as a gimmick - more palatable to a duped nation, idiotised by generations' worth of cultural engineering, the glee at the false fame of having masses of people be able to add you as their friend.

now, if we put things into perspective, not very much of this really matters, because it can be argued that our fears and paranoia about our 'privacy' being known stems from a much greater fear than that of other humans knowing our (mis)deeds. we merely project our fear in the sense that we don't think the powers-that-be should know anything about us, but from What are we really hiding?

yes, the truth is we still fear God at the most elemental level, even in the secularised stream we now float in. in essence, we know that He knows EVERYTHING, and will take us to account for all unrepented things, and our protests at our 'privacy' being violated are vain attempts to keep our actions hidden.

however, nothing can be hidden from the All-Knowing, who knows what is in our breasts, and is closer to us than our own jugular vein, so we should bear this in mind when we protest. if we keep our deeds pure, and sincerely for Him at all times, then any other prying eyes can look all they want. perhaps one may be guided back to the Truth, and our good action be the turning point and our key to paradise, by the mercy of the Almighty.

if we scrutinise ourselves before anyone else can, perhaps we will be among the successful.

garbage in, garbage out

2008-06-30T17:46:00.003+01:00

Garbage in, Garbage out

If you don’t fill your mind with beneficial things, then nothing beneficial can come out. Is this an excuse, or an expression of purity, and humbleness?

Everything’s blank, when there’s nothing left to fill. Empty spaces filled with nothing – if only the nothing was something, then anything would be everything.

As some have said when asked, ‘What’s is such and such worth?’ –

‘Nothing… and everything!’

Is that man’s nature, to ascribe worthlessness to what he owns, and simultaneously jealously guard what is his, as it means ‘everything’ to him? Is it a case of every man for himself? - He keeps what is his, and doesn’t want other hands to touch it. He will also, no doubt, crave more than what he has, and thus ruthlessly seek what others have, and try to attain it by any means, to grip it with his own hand, to say, ‘This is mine’. The emptiness is never filled.

This, however, is a state of the worst members of humanity, surely not a quality shared by all – at least in deed, if not in thought. Maybe all hearts have a share in this disease, but not everyone acts upon the desire to own. We can still hazard to have hope in humanity’s goodness, can’t we?

Isn’t there inherent goodness in all, as well as an inclination towards evil? If we examine ourselves, we can see those aspects which could be called ‘natural’, and could be categorised in either way. Let’s say anger, covetousness, greed and the like all comprise of evilness, especially if they become the focus of one’s life, and the motivation for one’s actions. Similarly, love, kindness, and pity (as long as it isn’t for the self) are good feelings, and the one who lives their life according to them will have goals seeking to unite humanity, and for the world to exist in peace and harmony.

Life is a choice, between living for one’s own advances, at the cost of anyone else, and still not attaining fulfilment, or living by love and kindness and seeking for the benefit of mankind as a whole.

What does this mean? Does everyone automatically feel that they would be happiest being the second kind? It seems like the best option to this author, but is that because of some bias, based on a particular cultural conditioning?

It seems that to care for the needy, be generous, love for one’s neighbour more than one loves for one’s own self, these are the deeds of goodness, and hence one who lives in this way would be considered good. Yes, it would be true, wouldn’t it, in any cultural setting?

There is, however, a crux. What if the reasons for a person’s ‘goodness’ are essentially for his own self-gratification, for his ‘good’ actions to be seen by other men, and his own ‘fulfillment’ is in his pride that he is so generous, loving and kind. What if one lives in this hypocritical state?

This is why the measure for all goodness has to come into focus - that anything and everything belongs to the Creator, the Sustainer, and ever-living God - even one’s own actions. So anyone who is doing anything should know that it is for or against that Originator of all things, the One who has power over your life and your death, and Whom you will stand before to be reckoned as to your deeds.

Perhaps the only true way to be fulfilled, is to fully realise one’s own emptiness, and worthlessness, and at the same time hope in the acceptance of one’s meagre deeds by the most Generous, Almighty. In this way at all times you will doubt that what good you do is sincere enough to be only for Him, and this helps one always stay mindful about each deed, and what it’s purpose is, thereby hopefully leaving you with an untarnished goodness, where your actions help to better the world and what is in it.

So it is true, that if you put garbage in, all that will come out is garbage, but if all your input is good, then your output will be pure, and good, and accepted by the Lord, and you will be one of the ones who is successful in this life, as well as the life hereafter.

Peace be upon you.

mixed paths

2008-04-08T18:10:00.003+01:00

when all you see are good folks with wasting lives, what are you to do? even those who know the path towards success don't seem to pay attention to staying heading in the right direction.

so you've got them imitating the ones who've gone astray, and where does that leave them? hasnt all this been said before?

the man who's walking straight, or hopes to be in any case , this is the man who is looked upon as the strangest, that guy with all the hair on his face, 'what's wroong with him?' a social deadweight, a madman, an extremist, insert insult here - it's all been heard. (it's clear to him, of course, what the path is, of that he has no doubt - rather his doubts are centred around his own inability to avoid any type of mistaken self-assurance that he and only he is right, and something like that can lead him astray. however, in general, his way is the way, and his faults are his own, as everyone needs to deal with their own doings, so it is negligible compared to the bigger picture)

but here we step into a social conundrum, where everything turns head over tail, and one of the wandering ones decides to approach one of the guided men, and simply ask from a curiosity and a will to know, 'who are you?'

of course the man obliges, as he's not ashamed of who he is, indeed why should he be - (many of the guided ones should take note here, lest they have any apologetic tendencies!) he will answer truthfully (or at least truth-halfedly, because too much truth at any one time can be difficult to swallow - think about david icke and his lizard-people, and how not many can digest the truths he reveals because of his 'all-at-once' delivery), and more often than not his word will strike such a chord with the unexpecting questioner, that all their preconceptions readily fall by the wayside.

now, this in itself can shock them, as to how willing their inner essence is to immediately and openly trust this bearded wise person, and this throws up inside them a type of resistance, and an inner voice will say, 'don't listen to him - he's mad', 'he's talking about ancient things, of no relevance today, in our modern times'. then comes the crux for them - if their original question was asked from a perspective of willingness to know, with sincerity, then perhaps that first openness and purity will win over, and both can benefit from the other, in a 'symbiosis of gnosis' for want of a better term. however, if that vicious, cynical voice wins over, and the questioner didnt have that sincerity required, their conversation will bear no fruits, and deepen prejudices, and lead to a quagmire of tangled misconceptions.

we all are plagued by these thoughts - they come from a part of the psyche which lives according to reliance on the status quo, an unwillingness for change. if someone brings up a concept that you've never heard of, but that quiet, 'good' part of you knows it to be true, then very usually you will face resistance from another part of yourself which doesn't want things as they are to become any different, unless animalistic desires can be fulfilled in doing so.

so it is this which we need to ask ourselves. how many times has one of these situations happened to us, where our inner voice is inclined towards the truth in another's words, but we have allowed our desire to cause us to ignore it?
Have we ever passed by a sincere advisor's advice before? simply because we didn't want to change our own state?

we have all been tried with this scenario, so it forces us to think,

'how honestly am i seeking for truth?'

'how many times have i ignored a truth that i knew to be true, only to further my own cause or to fulfill a desire?'

why dont we look again at the strange man, trying to tell us truths. maybe if we ask him the right questions, with the right sincerity, and eagerness for truth, that we might actually attain it, and then we can become strange just like him...

imagination

2008-03-06T17:54:00.006Z

Isn't the imagination a fickle thing?

when one wants to churn out ideas they don't come, and when one's not concentrating on having good ideas they flow, and there's no reservoir to catch them, so they drift into that endless sea of lost opportunities..

is it a testament to one's abilities; that they oscillate over time, that they depend on other things in one's life, or that there are certain actions one can perform which increase one's imaginative powers - that one can overcome the burdens of reality and produce pearls of wisdom, or perhaps filter them into a palpable, and digestible form? perhaps that sentence was too long..

does each and every person's imagination differ, and the extent to which one's imagination flows is directly related to the free-reign you give it?, or does it depend on one's 'intelligence'? perhaps both are the same thing?

there are academics everywhere who could perhaps explain this away simply, but for amateur imagineers like your author, we attempt to probe these concepts in our own fashion, not caring too much for conformity or the perceived norm (in this topic, as in most aspects of life).

and it is this quality which leads us to uncompromisingly seek truth, where-ever it may be, and to aim to overcome our urges to pre-judge a possible truth by all the flavours surrounding it. if everyone was prepared to do the same perhaps the world would become a much nicer place to be in.

not that our world is bad, rather there are many aspects of our world which have had bad effects on humanity's imagination; influences which serve to dull the minds, and trap the mass perception under a veil of acceptance - acceptance that what is is the norm, and anything other than that is a mistake, that to think outside the box is a sign that one has stepped beyond the bounds of what is commonly perceived (and agreed) to be sanity.

where does that leave us - treading the fine line between genius and insanity? rather the lines only exist if one 'imagines' that they do, therefore any limitations are only what you've placed upon yourself (perhaps with more than a little goading-on from those who seem to have that edge in influencing mass opinion).

what is the purpose of our discussion? well, on the surface, and topically it focuses on each and every one of humanity's need to utilise their power of imagination - not to live in a dream-world, because that is the realm of fools, and it is only another side to the coin of mass-control (think about all that TV you are encouraged to watch, and the products you are expected to buy - the stupider the better), but here we are talking about awareness - to open one's mind by using the power to see what is beyond the apparent, to the real over-arching truth , by using the God-given power of imagination.

Allah has created us differently than the animal, because the animal doesn't have the power to contemplate what is beyond the senses, the unseen. it can be argued that many humans have given up that right (perhaps through compulsion, but we cannot say), and so leave themselves in a state worse than the animal, because at least the animal by its very existence is fulfilling it's purpose.

So what is the crux of our little piece of advice? the over-arching truth that we speak of... - it becomes apparent when your turn your mind to the real purpose of life - that the certainty of death is one truth that there is no escape from, that there is undoubtedly an eternity waiting after death, and that you will meet your Lord.

then life becomes a time and place for contemplating your Lord and preparing for the meeting with Him, to be in the best state of awareness that you can be in before death comes, so that there will be a glimmer of a chance that you will rest in His favour. you owe this to yourself, and more importantly, you owe it to your Lord, who has blessed you with so many things, not least that amazing power of imagination.

so use it my friends. we are all in the same boat.

as has been said, 'come on people now, smile, i'm your brother, everybody get together - try to love one another right now...'

home

2008-01-23T11:34:00.000Z

'home is where the heart is', it is said.

home, that ethereal, unpalpable thing, is it a place or a feeling?
if your heart is in a place then does that place become your home?

some say, 'where i lay my head is home' -
so perhaps somewhere in between is where we should aim to be.

the blessed Prophet (May Allah's peace and blessing be upon him) was forced to leave Makkah after three years of continuous persecution by the unbelievers in the city, and as he left the city for al-Madinah in Yathrib he looked back and expressed how dear the place was to his heart.

yet, after ten years, when the muslims re-entered Makkah as victors, and the Ka'bah became the centre of Islam, Muhammad (May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) decided to return to live out his days in Madinah.

once you live anywhere for a period of time it becomes a home, but the place of origin always holds a special place in the heart. Allah (exalted is He) made the earth to be travelled over, and nowadays it is so easy to get anywhere (apart from visa restrictions and such in some places which of course is one of the wrongs in our world). then He made some places more special than others, like Makkah of course, being centre of the world, then Sham (Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon) and Yemen. (this has been related through our blessed Prophet (the Peace of Allah and His blessings be upon him)).

so obviously there is merit in being in these lands, but to travel to other lands is also beneficial, especially in carrying light from place to place, and fulfilling the whole purpose of Islam - to show others the way of Truth, and the path to success and happiness in this life and in the Hereafter, and the means to attain the love of Allah, both coming from the Almighty and in one's ownself.

because the real home is the place your heart yearns for most, and the people of understanding exert their yearning towards that home in the Paradise, firdaus-ul-'ala, and to be brought near to Allah (exalted is He) is their goal. and what a goal. there is nothing higher than that.

so lets exert ourselves - be in our lives among those who live as if they are travellers, and strangers - people seeking their true home, and that palpable safety of everlasting peace and happiness. our life here is like a man who was travelling, and for a while he rested in the shade of a tree, then to continue on his journey..

let's follow Muhammad's way (May Allah bless him and give him peace), and take him as our guide on the way home.

whispered (a second sonnet)

2008-01-15T15:24:00.000Z

Evil thoughts they come - your resolve to break,

Disguised lies and half-truths come from nowhere,

At night when you're half 'tween sleep and awake -

To lead down roads of darkness and despair.

Diseased words and manifested regret,

Remembered - consciously solidified.

Old promises that have never been kept -

Too weak to fulfill, too frightened to die.

Water wont wash away those twisted fears,

They remain inside like frozen, dead weight.

Unmeltable, no release of warm tears,

Mere loneliness for you to contemplate.

Turn, repenting to the One Friend above -

He is the Source of peace and endless love.

interest

2007-12-29T19:15:00.000Z

'it's their fault', screams the suited man as his dreams come to naught. he had money in his hands but it was never real, only shadows of interest, to which he payed too much interest, and sold his life for it all to be taken away and now he's left with nothing, or even less, or more.

what's more than nothing? a wise man used to say, 'the half of it's not much', but not everyone can understand that realm of logic. nothing is what you get when you pay everything on top of debts in which you owe more than the seller sold. a devious trick to distort the mind and wage war on the Benefactor, the most High who decides all price..

so at what cost comes nothing? it's priceless, and unbuyable. there is no nothingness anymore, it's been had. except when everything is dead and the Almighty king says, 'Whose is the kingdom today? - Allah, the One, the Irresistable'.

and a day of reckoning when all those who had been suited in their best prada and dolce&gabbana shirts and ties are risen up to account for their 'interest'ing accounting, after which comes an everlasting gloom (and even gloom is a pretty word, which those proponents will wish for, and cry and beg for, and never attain).

fed with the disgust of unimaginable pain, and filthiness, eternally regretting not listening to these words, and only wanting to die, and to have never existed.

and that's a never that's just as impossible to attain as nothingness and oblivion. and just as unimaginable..

so die in your state if you dare, and we'll see you on the other side.

witness that at least we told you, as you lie in the darkness you prepared for yourself.

interesting, isnt it?

my first ever sonnet: on man

2007-12-25T10:57:00.000Z

man makes things more difficult for himself,
because he's got nothing better to do.
he wont take the help of anyone else,
he's afraid to walk in another's shoes.
arguing he can't find a solution,
not even looking for one anyway,
instead wandering in blind confusion
expecting to find an answer some day.
ego hurt by this inability
self-esteem shattered almost to the core.
revealed man's innocent fragility.
he doesn't want to exist any more.
oh man, dont take these problems to heart.
force the self into making a new start..

vision

2007-12-17T11:49:00.000Z

seems like you're in a little paddling boat
trying to get to the middle of the ocean -
thinking you'll find something there.
but if you arrive all you'll find,
is that you're a million miles from any shore
with nowhere to land and no solid ground.

so it's better to stay on your island
of knowledge, slowly building it up
against the stormy seas -
til you have a continent,
then you can begin to build bridges
to reach the others,
instead of looking for cracks in ideas
without knowing the plan..

travelling

2007-12-04T16:14:00.000Z

gone are the times, one would suppose, when the pen can run free. as constraint pulls in from everywhere and the thoughts that could be seen, never heard, to be unpalateable are so hard to put into words. this makes reading so much more difficult, and the writer's imprisoned in a self-imposed h-block.

as in those ozzy soaps, the walls are mere paper, and atoms, weak to the mind that perceives beyond all that, seem to tower above in structures too great to overcome. however, all minds are susceptible to that kind of restraint. our world is designed to confuse us in this way, so as to test us in our ability to realise.

the path to realisation is long, and frought with so many obstacles that all travellers need a guide. we see so many who dont even know they're on a path to begin with - those who perceive their existence as a mere frolic through the garden of desires and pleasure, without direction or limit to what it is permissible or no, and it's so tempting just to join that throng, but the mind just wont allow it.

it's a blessed feeling to be in the state of intermediate understanding which places one between knowing and un-knowing, past the border of ignorance - a barrier perilous to cross back over once one has broken through..

..to know Allah has specifically mentioned one's name,

..to know that He has a special purpose for you

..to take the time to ponder, and to try to find what that special something is, and to turn away from the unreality of those created things, and rely completely on Him, who cares, and knows, and is over every-thing, powerful.

oh the beauty of being a servant to the Almighty. the only true happiness comes from this state. and this happiness is not easy to contemplate, or describe, because one cannot describe something to one who hasnt experienced anything similar. words do not qualify, just meaning beyond feeling perhaps.

so a writer, when putting the words down has no hope of touching the hearts with anything like the taste of what knowing the Knower is like, has to only hope that hearts with their innate yearning start to turn back towards that Truth and essence of all existence, to take their place among the travellers on the returning path.

on a fight and a dismissal of a great gift

2007-09-23T12:13:00.000+01:00

Why do we think everything takes so long, when it's really all over before you can even blink.?The chances we've been given still give us that ability to change the problems of the past. A repentance will always be accepted, unless we leave it too late...

In a month were fasting is prescribed, and the chance has been given to self-rectify, we find so many just letting this chance slip away, and putting themselves on the edge of a chasm which they can very easily fall into. Their patience, if there was ever any, is totally unexistent; they seem to have no control over their own self. The demons are chained up in this month, so that moment of insanity comes from within and cant be blamed on any other.

On three occasions in the past few days, this author has witnessed some angry instances of inhuman impatience - and by the way, in any other month it is extremely rare to see these things, where people are moved almost to physical violence against their brothers by verbal exchanges and heated egos.

Now one might concur that the Arab 'temperament' is proud, and that these behaviours can be excused because of their history etc, but come on - we're not talking Palestine here, but small money exchanges and petty queue-jumpings!

These people are supposed to be brothers in Islam, and the best of humanity (after all God sent the Qur'an in their language) but it is definitely far from that. The previous post sort of encapsulates how the Arabs have lost their way, and the beauty of Islam that they once had to a great extent.

Lets extend our gripe - for example on a visit to a home when asked a simple question about the Qur'an an Arab brother couldnt answer, in fact had neve heard of the ayah, or the story (which in this case was Surah al-Kahf (which it is recommended to read every Friday) and the story of Moses and al-Khidhr - a very famous story). Then the brother proceeded to divulge that he'd never read the Qur'an through! So how do we understand this, when it defies logic?

You are an Arab. You are Muslim (which means 'being in a state of submission to God). God sent down the Qur'an in your language, and in it is guidance for life and how to reach Him and be successful in this life and the Here-after. So how can you not have read it? It is utterly senseless.

However, it could be argued that this explains why problems have been ongoing in Palestine, Iraq, etc. as the people have dismissed the Qur'an from their lives. Things will never improve until the Qur'an is the centre of our lives, and we live up to it's commands..

Let's ask Allah to make the Qur'an the light of our hearts and our companion along the way. Amen.

stranger

2007-09-11T10:33:00.000+01:00

Here sits a stranger,
a reflection,
of a perfection he wishes to acheive.
Hoping to embody
a fragment of light-
perhaps even outshine the sun.

While sons of past seekers wander 'round;
Their ancestors were
keepers of the keys,
to open mysteries,
beyond second sight,
of What was before anything was begun.

Sadly now the keys
have been passed on,
But the keepers imagine them,
in their hands-
Because matter has dulled their hearts,
and they think they've nothing left to find.

Now they see the stranger,
and he sees them-
But perhaps they exist
on different plains.
Maybe he
has inherited the keys,
Still waiting for history to unwind.

They laugh at the stranger's strangeness,
Living in a past they've left behind.
While he calls them back to gnosis,
To them he's a lost shadow of ancient times..

old poem i found in drafts

2007-09-07T19:55:00.001+01:00

we've forgotten where we came from, and where we're going to,

and taken things easier than they were ever meant to be.

born into a vastness we dont have a clue,

open your heart and your eyes will see.

every breath breathed is another chance-

a beautiful unrecognised grace,

turning back to the path enhanced

love's warm and welcome embrace.

so eyes heart and universe in tune,

what then, our soft gaze lost in perfection?

if the path taken is out of gloom.

then you're going in the right direction.

wayfarers - stop and smile

2007-08-18T12:56:00.000+01:00

Things swiftly run along in the stream of time, and life's tides smash the rocks of the human frailty, making echoes resound through the vast realms in all spheres of existence. Yes, each of us has an individual universe as important as any other's.

When we hear and see through electronic mediums the shouts and booms and carnage in all those 'other' universes of our Adamic siblings, whose destiny has decreed that their existence corresponds to ours, we cannot help but think of how many lives are wasted... without care for the consequences, and long-term effects, or even the enormity of this kind of behaviour.

As our beloved Prophet Muhammad, (May God's peace and blessings be upon him) told us,

'the taking of one life is as if one has taken the lives of all humanity'...

Now let's hang back and not take sides, or go around blaming one or another party, because we are all responsible for good and bad things, so 'he without sin cast the first stone' (as our Prophet Jesus (may God bless him and give him peace) is reported to have said). We can of course agree that some acts are more inhumane than others, but we know deep inside as an unshakeable truth that each of us will be repaid according to our own particular choices, intentions and actions - according to the balance of the Almighty, Wise and Just Lord of all.

So if we are wronged, then the most excellent behaviour is to again follow Jesus' recommendation to 'turn the other cheek', and to carry on. One of the most admirable qualities in dealing with our fellow humans is to excercise 'good opinion' on everyone - i.e. to look beyond their faults, and only see the good in them.

What is all this except the beautiful principles borrowed by Buddhism (again just following on from natural instinct), coupled with the positivity propounded by all those American 'self-help' and 'how to be successful' manuals?

Just smile, even that can be considered charity. Know that your smile can have the effect of changing another's life (and according to the above tradition from God's messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him), ...'saving one life is as if one has saved the life of all humanity') . Maybe they have been down and have lost touch with love or human relations and to just give them a smile might re-awaken all their dormant natural emotions and help on their pathway to the correction of their lives.

There is nice thought related to this; it takes 40 muscles to frown and only fourteen to smile, so why do we find it so hard? Does our 'evil-commanding-self' have such sway over us that we only want to look negatively at others - and in turn move not only them, but ourselves further from the path of universal love...

May God show us the way, and make us sound upon it. Amen.

melting butterflies

2007-06-28T12:01:00.000+01:00

butter wouldnt melt in the mouth, it could be said,
but what when the jaws of hell have been opened?

the air is hot, and a stifling wind creeps through the air, and sweat flows from every pore. there's an intensity in the air as of an emptiness before something terrible happens.

but are we worried? hell no. and the heat's going up, but we're just lying in the sun... catching rays, sun-worshipping, life flowing away faster than you can breathe.

...if you glance towards the skies you might see the lovely butterflies, but as they soar gently closer to the sun they begin to melt, everyone. like little icaruses they feel they can break all the bounds of limitation, and physics matters not to them (even if icarus was plaigiarising firnas bin arnas).

like moths around the flames, and that golden-hearted man still stood there, trying to catch them with his bare hands, out of his love for them, but he's not responsible for them...

so they begin to drip, drip, melt and fry to a crisp, out of the frying pan into the fire. why didnt they realise? why does a baby always try to test the limits? burns his hand and turns to mum and cries?

progression, and civilisation has got us into a mess, and the only way to get along seems to be ingnorance to the effects of what we've done in our glasshouse. so just switch on the a/c and blow sweet, cool, fabricated air into your face, as you fall asleep and dream of those butterflies.

however, ignorance is unforgiveable, and fruitless in the end - five minutes of peace traded for endless heat, more than any of us could ever imagine. it's said that the heat of fire in our times is the smallest portion of one-seventieth of the heat of the grand eternal fire waiting for all lost ignorant butterflies, and from which there's no flying away in forgetful daydreams.

and it's easy to think of these words in fantasy, but to see and feel, thats the key, before it happens to you, or me, or us all.

lets get flat on our faces and start asking to be saved...

frenetic inconvenience

2007-06-02T13:11:00.000+01:00

a word, so fast. seemd like it'd gone before it'd even been heard. man lives to keep his pocket overflowing, or to keep food on the table, and kill the enemy, and just be at peace. really? that's the aparent, but false nature of it my friends. we're zooming along here faster than the speed of a bullet, through galaxies, and it's just getting faster and faster. so when will it just stop

?

when you stop and think, that everything will continue never-the-less, no matter what you do, cos you're quite inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, then it is a blow to the part of the self which tends to think 'the universe revolves around me'...

and still, what can you do? you cant change that or anything, so mayhap if you think about it, the only way to balance it all is to change the self, and come to acceptance.

not so hard? the self says 'i can do that no problem', and at the same time questions whether or not it's worth wasting any energy. but to efface the self, and do it for the only real reason, and to be sincere for the One who spins us round and our lives rest in His hand - come on now, you know Who i mean, right? well that can seem hard, and at times it looks like you've just put a huge mountain in your path that you've gotta climb...

but what's that really except a veil? cos once you've passed it you know it was and is nothing compared to the Source of all light and life, and that there's really nothing other than Him.

now, what's holding us back? there is no real other than the Real Being, so lets turn and change our ways, and at first look at that mountain as a means of returning to Him, most high. if our sincerity's clear, then we see with the eyes of the One, and the mountain crumbles to dust, and our self is subdued, and satan's forced to crawl away in fear and powerlessness, that then is the way to victory.

we step aside from allowing the rushing, unimportant world to hold us down, and as we make our way towards the Divine, the others are lost in frenetic delusion and self-imposed inconveniences, so live as the dead - unknowing, and without awareness that God alone can help them through. indeed, God deserves our total attention all the time, lest we be taken to account for not giving Him His due...

so, who are you?

questions

2007-05-28T14:38:00.000+01:00

if one pulled veils over one's own eyes, one would be doing oneself dis-service right?

well, perhaps it's the self's own ignorance - to continue to convince that delusion's better than the reality. and do it continuously.

so many have gone before us that sucessfully kept the self under control and moved on to higher things.

there are realms to explore beyond desire, and they pass by too because they're not real either.

'everything except Allah is empty'

when does the self become restrained, and the soul yearn only for proximity to the Source?

doesnt understanding the obligations towards the Creator give enough of a push in the right direction?

we know that we only exist to worship Allah, so what a strange position it is for one to still manage to know this and at the same time not know it? how does satan convince us to be in this position. do we say, 'it's ok, i can repent before i die'? then how do we know when death will take us...?

ok, that's enough questions for one day...