On The Move

Assalamoalikum,

I’ve shifted my blog from this site to here. This page will no longer be maintained, all new posts will be posted on the new page

Eid Mubarak!

It was time of the year again, when kids swarm every cow,  goat and camel in the street, and no matter how hard you try, you ultimately fall to one of the ‘cow dung’ traps strategically placed enroute to the masjid

But, today is Eid and over the next few days the animals will disappear from the streets, leaving naught but a few evidences of their brief stay with us. May Allah accept the sacrifice of every Muslim this Eid, and make it one in which we learn the true spirit of sacrifice for Islam and for our fellow brothers and sisters in Islam.

May this and every Eid to follow bring happiness and joy to everyone! I leave you with this video from Mr Moo, ‘Hitler wants  a united Eid’

The Need to be Human

Humanity. What exactly is humanity? It’s the quality, or state, of being human. Very short, by definition, but very profound by depth of it’s meaning. The definition itself is ambigious, but really- any ‘human’ should be able to grasp it’s inner meaning. As humans, it’s just the state of being ourselves, living our lives with our innate senses and feelings, and in a manner that justifies the status of epitome of creation.

So, the question I ask today is- Why do humans find it so difficult to live humanely? It’s one I haven’t found an answer to yet. Where does the difficulty lie in accepting others for who they are, without any sort of discrimination? In realizing that who you are today is but a direct result of coincidence of creation? Why is it so hard, to go beyond these slavish bonds by which we tie ourselves? You could have been any one of the other 6.5 billion people on the face of earth- if you

A Word of Advice.

I’m kind of busy these days with a lot of things, so time to update the blog is hard to come by. So, apologies to anyone who visits and doesn’t find anything new that’s worthwhile here!

Anyway, so as I’m stuffed up with things to do right now, I thought it would be best to offer some advice to deal with such situations- when you’re so busy you hardly have time to breathe. The best advice that I can give anyone is to keep it real, especially when you’re busy. Really, it often appears to us that we don’t have time for anything, even though a lot can be managed through a little prioritization and time management. Prioritize your life- know what’s important and needs to continue alongside and what can be put off till later, when you have a bit more time. It might seem like a very simple task, but when you’re caught up in the flow, you often don’t realize when you start spending time on things that are trivial comparatively.

One solution that I use to avoid this problem is to take out time to think in solitude, and review what I’m doing, once in a while. Obviously, there are times when I go wrong, but this way I think I can catch the problem early.

Oh Traveller of this World!

Makes you think.

Complex Problems – Simple Solutions

I’d like to share this article, which discusses the de-merits of the education system in Pakistan, and why it’s so important to bring about a change in the minds of the young. Creativity, Innovation, Imagination- forgotten words in the vocabulary of Pakistani students, who learn to see the world only as they are taught, without questioning it, or giving thought to it at least! The author does a brilliant job of shedding light on this issue by an interesting narration, which provides food for thought for all.

Surah Ar-Ra’d – Ayah Four

And in the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of vines, and green crops (fields etc.), and date-palms, growing out two or three from a single stem root, or otherwise (one stem root for every palm ), watered with the same water, yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Verily, in these things, there are Ayat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs) for the people who understand. (Surah Ar-Rad, Ayah Four)

After reading this Ayah, one can not but say ‘Alhamdulillah’ at the creation of Allah, it’s diversity, and it’s perfection.

In this Ayah, Allah (SWT) mentions ‘neighbouring tracts’ or pieces of land placed next to each other- indicating the different properties of the soil and the earth found in neighbouring lands. While a piece of land may be dry, dead, and totally incapable of supporting life, a close by region may have land that is fertile, and capable of growing a vast variety of products of human and animal benefit.

Then, Allah (SWT) goes on to mention the varieties of plants, i.e. some that multiply from a single stem root, while others that do not. All these are mere examples of the diversity, and the complexity of His Creation. What Allah (SWT) says next, is truly something wondrous when one ponders about it.

“Watered with the same water, yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat.” Indeed, the same water, with the same constituents, suffices for the vast variety of plants and trees on this earth, and the same water enables them to grow into apple, mango, and banana trees, or date and coconut palms, or other fruit and vegetable bearing plants, or any of those that do not produce edible fruits or vegetables. This is an obvious Ayah of the perfection of the Creation of Allah (SWT).

When you stop and think about it all, only then do you realize the millions of miracles of this world. There are indeed Ayat in them for people who understand. May Allah enable us to see and accept them,  and make them a source of strengthening our faiths. Ameen.

Hadrat Salman Al-Farsi, The Seeker of Truth

This is a story of a seeker of Truth, the story of Salman the Persian, gleaned, to begin with, from his own words:

I grew up in the town of Isfahan in Persia in the village of Jayyan. My father was the Dihqan or chief of the village. He was the richest person there and had the biggest house.

Since I was a child my father loved me, more than he loved any other. As time went by his love for me became so strong and overpowering that he feared to lose me or have anything happen to me. So he kept me at home, a veritable prisoner, in the same way that young girls were kept.

I became devoted to the Magian religion so much so that I attained the position of custodian of the fire which we worshipped. My duty was to see that the flames of the fire remained burning and that it did not go out for a single hour, day or night.

My father had a vast estate which yielded an abundant supply of crops. He himself looked after the estate and the harvest. One day he was very busy with his duties as dihqan in the village and he said to me:

“My son, as you see, I am too busy to go out to the estate now. Go and look after matters there for me today.”

On my way to the estate, I passed a Christian church and the voices at prayer attracted my attention. I did not know anything about Christianity or about the followers of any other religion throughout the time my father kept me in the house away from people. When I heard the voices of the Christians I entered the church to see what they were doing. I was impressed by their manner of praying and felt drawn to their religion. “By God,” I said, “this is better than ours. I shall not leave them until the sun sets.”

I asked and was told that the Christian religion originated in Ash-Sham (Greater Syria). I did not go to my father’s estate that day and at night, I returned home. My father met me and asked what I had done. I told him about my meeting with the Christians and how I was impressed by their religion. He was dismayed and said:

Hadrat Abu Bakr As-Siddeeq (RA) – The Inspirational Leader

I’d like to share with you one of the sermons of Hadrat Abu Bakr (RA), the first Khaleefah of the Muslim Ummah, which highlights his extreme eloquence as an orator and his effective leadership skills. This sermon was delivered three days after the death of Rasulallah (SAW), in a time when the Muslims were in disarray due to the threats from within posed by people apostatizing from Islam, and also due to the external threat posed by the Romans who viewed the Muslims as vulnerable at this critical junction of time.

3, 2, 1… Ramadan!

In exactly 24 hours time (from the time of writing this post), we’ll know whether Ramadan will be starting on Tuesday, September 2, 2008 or Wednesday, September 3, 2008 in Pakistan. Now that’s really not a very long time, and not at all enough to do everything required to prepare for this blessed month- but it’s still enough to get to know the virtue of Ramadan, get in the right mindset to make the most of it, and set some goals to accomplish during this month Insha’Allah.