Attended
a friend's wedding, and left about 15 mins before Zuhr. It was a
gamble, as to whether I'd make it in time for Zuhr at my local musolla,
or i'll be stuck in traffic and miss the congregation and will have to
do it individually. I could have waited at the Iron Mosque near the
wedding hall until Zuhr, but decided to take the gamble and drive home.
But Allah, being the Best of Planners, made
me miss a turning I was supposed to take to get onto the highway
(Putrajaya is very confusing for those unfamiliar with the roads), which
meant i definitely was not going to make in time for the congregation
at home. Fortunately, the next turning was the turning to Putra Mosque.
And so i took that turning and performed Zuhr in congregration at the
mosque, alhamdulillah. In retrosepct, if I had taken the first turning
correctly, i definitely would not have made it in time either.
I
guess the message here is that, if we put in effort (or even just
intend to do so) to be closer to Allah by trying our best to carry out
the prescribed obligations as properly as possible like prayer in
congregation, then He will help us to achieve that goal. This has
happened to me many times especially when it comes to congregational
solah. Reminds me of a hadith Qudsi, where Allah says, "If the
servant draws near to Me a hand span, I draw near to him an arm’s
length; and if he draws near to Me an arm’s length, I draw near to him a
fathom’s length. And if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running." [Bukhari] May Allah guide us all to take
steps towards gaining His pleasure.
p/s: In case some people
think I'm writing this to show off, thinking "He's trying to show how
religious he is!" then let me clarify that i am in no way claiming that I
am close to Allah. In fact, claiming to be god-consicous etc is
disliked by Allah. This is merely an experience that i thought is worth
sharing for our benefit insya Allah.
(from facebook)
Saturday, 29 March 2014
Friday, 21 March 2014
The shades of our skin...
In Islamic terminology, the word aayah is divided into two groups:
1) al-aayah al-maqru'ah which means the recited verse i.e. the Quran
2) al-aayah al-manzurah which means the observed verse i.e. the universe and its contents.
Both are Signs of the existence of Allah the Most Mighty, Most Wise.
Now I want to focus on one particular aayah (maqru'ah) in surah Ar-Room (the romans), which talks about the colour of our skin as being from among the Signs of Allah (aayat manzurah).
"And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colors. Verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Ar-Room 30: 22
Allah says in this verse that the differences in our languages and our colours are from His Miraculous Signs. Therefore, if one claims that one's race is better than another, then this person has denied both types of aayah mentioned above for not only is this Sign seen with eyes, but also recited as part of the Quran. And denying even a single verse of the Quran is kufr can take the person out of the fold of Islam. Of course it's not that easy to call a racist a kaafir for he might be doing it out of ignorance/arrogance rather than out of denial of Allah's signs. But he can easily slip into the pit of disbelief if he strongly believes in his heart that Allah has mandated the superiority of his race over others he considers inferior.
Perhaps such explicit racism is not very common, but it is the more subtle forms of racism that we muslims should be most careful of, those that are propagated willfully albeit misguidedly under the banner of Islam. There are people who think that Islam can prevail if the people of their race stand united, having racist slogans which are so exclusive, there is no way one can just explain it away as being Islamically acceptable. There is one such group in our country well known to most of us. And their propagation of a race-based Islamic society is one that is contradictory to the teachings of Islam and misguided.
In another verse in surah al-hujuraat, Allah says He created us into different peoples that we may get to know each other, and He ends the verse with an emphatic reminder that piety transcends skin colour. It is only those who are most God conscious who are the most noble in the sight of Allah.
"O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware." Al-Hujuraat 49:13
So how deluded is he who thinks that the unity of his race can bring glory to Islam, when Islam is above and beyond such exclusivity. It is only when Muslims regardless of skin colour or language unite, will Islam prevail, insya Allah. Reducing the success of Islam to a race-centric slogan, even if the meaning of the slogan is not racist as claimed by those who advocate it, is delusional and borders on kufr.
The caliph Umar al-khattab once said when he visited Syria as caliph, wearing less than fine clothes at the dismay of the another companion Abu 'Ubaidah al-Jarrah, who wished 'Umar wouldn't look so indigent in front of the army, " Abu Ubaydah, if anyone other than you had said this, I would have given him some severe exemplary punishment. We were a despicable people, dishonoured, and Allah granted us honour through Islam. If we are going to seek honour through anything other than Islam, Allah will cause us to be disgraced.”
So remember my Melayu friends, especially those who are in this Melayu centric group called ISMA (there, finally i said it.... couldnt resist it anymore :/) , heed the words of Sayyidina 'Umar r.a. lest you be disgraced by Allah for seeking honour through your race and not Islam. Your reductive slogan has restricted the broadness of Islam, and you will never be victorious using this misguided approach, despite your noble intentions to elevate the status of Islam.
Ini belum lagi start pasal special privileges yang diberi kepada anda semua hanya kerana anda Melayu. It's ok to do favours for the people of your race, but not at the expense of justice towards others. Too many people of other races are denied all sorts of opportunities from education to career advancement, because they are not considered sons of the earth. At the entrance of Harvard University Law Library, verse 135 of surah An-Nisa' is displayed amongst other quotations, because of the the universal concept of justice expounded in the verse:
"O you who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allâh, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allâh is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allâh is Ever Well¬Acquainted with what you do." An-Nisaa' 4:135
If they can appreciate the great sense of justice in this verse, then it is a great disgrace to us Muslims who claim to read the Quran day and night, but do not uphold the virtues it commands.
Ok, i think i'll stop here, lest someone complains about me being a malay hater, or even accuses me of dishonoring the Malayan constitution. Silap haribulan, masuk jail dgn Encik Karpal Singh. *_*
1) al-aayah al-maqru'ah which means the recited verse i.e. the Quran
2) al-aayah al-manzurah which means the observed verse i.e. the universe and its contents.
Both are Signs of the existence of Allah the Most Mighty, Most Wise.
Now I want to focus on one particular aayah (maqru'ah) in surah Ar-Room (the romans), which talks about the colour of our skin as being from among the Signs of Allah (aayat manzurah).
"And among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colors. Verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge." Ar-Room 30: 22
Allah says in this verse that the differences in our languages and our colours are from His Miraculous Signs. Therefore, if one claims that one's race is better than another, then this person has denied both types of aayah mentioned above for not only is this Sign seen with eyes, but also recited as part of the Quran. And denying even a single verse of the Quran is kufr can take the person out of the fold of Islam. Of course it's not that easy to call a racist a kaafir for he might be doing it out of ignorance/arrogance rather than out of denial of Allah's signs. But he can easily slip into the pit of disbelief if he strongly believes in his heart that Allah has mandated the superiority of his race over others he considers inferior.
Perhaps such explicit racism is not very common, but it is the more subtle forms of racism that we muslims should be most careful of, those that are propagated willfully albeit misguidedly under the banner of Islam. There are people who think that Islam can prevail if the people of their race stand united, having racist slogans which are so exclusive, there is no way one can just explain it away as being Islamically acceptable. There is one such group in our country well known to most of us. And their propagation of a race-based Islamic society is one that is contradictory to the teachings of Islam and misguided.
In another verse in surah al-hujuraat, Allah says He created us into different peoples that we may get to know each other, and He ends the verse with an emphatic reminder that piety transcends skin colour. It is only those who are most God conscious who are the most noble in the sight of Allah.
"O mankind! We have created you from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware." Al-Hujuraat 49:13
So how deluded is he who thinks that the unity of his race can bring glory to Islam, when Islam is above and beyond such exclusivity. It is only when Muslims regardless of skin colour or language unite, will Islam prevail, insya Allah. Reducing the success of Islam to a race-centric slogan, even if the meaning of the slogan is not racist as claimed by those who advocate it, is delusional and borders on kufr.
The caliph Umar al-khattab once said when he visited Syria as caliph, wearing less than fine clothes at the dismay of the another companion Abu 'Ubaidah al-Jarrah, who wished 'Umar wouldn't look so indigent in front of the army, " Abu Ubaydah, if anyone other than you had said this, I would have given him some severe exemplary punishment. We were a despicable people, dishonoured, and Allah granted us honour through Islam. If we are going to seek honour through anything other than Islam, Allah will cause us to be disgraced.”
So remember my Melayu friends, especially those who are in this Melayu centric group called ISMA (there, finally i said it.... couldnt resist it anymore :/) , heed the words of Sayyidina 'Umar r.a. lest you be disgraced by Allah for seeking honour through your race and not Islam. Your reductive slogan has restricted the broadness of Islam, and you will never be victorious using this misguided approach, despite your noble intentions to elevate the status of Islam.
Ini belum lagi start pasal special privileges yang diberi kepada anda semua hanya kerana anda Melayu. It's ok to do favours for the people of your race, but not at the expense of justice towards others. Too many people of other races are denied all sorts of opportunities from education to career advancement, because they are not considered sons of the earth. At the entrance of Harvard University Law Library, verse 135 of surah An-Nisa' is displayed amongst other quotations, because of the the universal concept of justice expounded in the verse:
"O you who believe! stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to Allâh, even though it be against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, be he rich or poor, Allâh is a Better Protector to both (than you). So follow not the lusts (of your hearts), lest you avoid justice, and if you distort your witness or refuse to give it, verily, Allâh is Ever Well¬Acquainted with what you do." An-Nisaa' 4:135
If they can appreciate the great sense of justice in this verse, then it is a great disgrace to us Muslims who claim to read the Quran day and night, but do not uphold the virtues it commands.
Ok, i think i'll stop here, lest someone complains about me being a malay hater, or even accuses me of dishonoring the Malayan constitution. Silap haribulan, masuk jail dgn Encik Karpal Singh. *_*
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