Shadows

So off we went hand in hand, my son and I for a walk to the seawall. And he is a little chatterbox. In the evening our shadows stretched very long. And then out of the blue he said this poem about shadows. And I looked at him in amazement for it was a pretty long poem and extremely lovely. And then I started to laugh, a hearty laugh. A child can bring so much joy to a dad whose heart feels heavy as lead. As we walked along the wall and the sun dipped in the West behind some clouds it left a glittering silvery edge to the clouds. Za pointed excitedly to them and said "Daddy Look how nice that is" and he also made mention of the shapes in the sky. Nature is gorgeous and to see a child, my child, excited by it made me feel a sense of wonder. Yes it was a beautiful evening on the beach as the tide was in and Za tried to "catch" little fishes as they were left on the beach by the incoming waves. Haha how he made my soul sing with joy.

Four Wives

There is a parable about a man who had four wives. He loved the fourth the best and would dress her in the finest clothes and shower her with gifts. He loved the third a great deal and would boast of her to his friends. He loved the second somewhat, but never gave her the time and attention she deserved. The first he had lost affection for and never paid her any attention. One day the man learned that he was dying. He turned to his fourth wife and asked if she would accompany him into death. “No way,” she replied. “When you’re dead, I’m out of here.” The man was crushed by this response. He asked the third wife if she would accompany him into death and she said she would not, that when he was gone she would find another man to marry. Disappointed, he turned to his second wife and asked if she would accompany him into death. She said, “I love you a lot, but what you ask is impossible. When you are dead, all I can do is to bury and praise you.” Finally, he turned to his first wife and asked if she would follow him into death and she replied, “Nothing could separate me from you,” and he became ashamed of the way he had neglected her.His fourth wife was his body, and when he died it would turn to dust. His third wife was his possessions, and when he died they would belong to someone else. His second wife was his friends and family, and when he died all they could do is to bury him and mourn his loss. His first wife is his soul, mind and spirit, the very essence of his self. In Islamic law a man may only have more than one wife if he treats them equally, and that is the key to understanding this parable. While we are on this earth we should take care of everything: our bodies, our property, our friends and family, and our mind and spirit. This is summed up in the Muslim proverb attributed to the Prophet’s cousin Ali Ibn Abu Talib: “Work for this life as though you are going to live forever; work for the next life as though you will die tomorrow.”

The Source of Stress

A group of graduates, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups -- porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite -- telling them to help themselves to the coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the simple and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds NO quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. Then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life. The type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of Life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. "

To Become a Child

Yesterday my son and I went to the seawall. And how he made me smile, not the superficial smile of business, but the deep soul-satisfying one, as he played on the rocks and ran on the wall. I love to engage his childish things like make-believe, curiosity, imagination and play. Nothing planned, nothing really special, just spontaneous play -- without rules and reasons, just for the fun of it. The thought came to me that happiness isn't something you have to strive and struggle for. It's simply an awareness of the beauty of a child at play. I said to myself: Remember this moment...put it away carefully (the moment was special, moments like these are what lovely memories are made of.). Someday I would need such memories to draw strength and comfort from. Real life...real living...and then I read this poem...

Lord,
kids are so neat
sometimes they're bundles of energy
gift-wrapped in hand-me-downs.

Other times they're
pajamaed packages of sleepy sweetness
Always they're a miracle.

I love the way they chase butterflies
and the attention they give to mud puddles
and raindrops on a window

I envy their freedom
from clocks, calendars and cell-phones
their immunity to pressure.

O, they have their moments
skinned knees and nap time
but they recover quickly
They don't nurse their disappointments
or make a career out of contrition.

Lord
kids are so neat
Let me be converted
and become as a little child.

Let me know again
the sheer joy of being alive
and the pure pleasure
of living one day at a time
fully savouring each solitary moment.

Free me from past disappointments
and the hurts
I have so carefully kept.

Restore unto me
a childlike anticipation for life.
A sense of wonder
which makes each day new
and my life truly abundant.

The Guns of Israel & Planning

Tonight's Islamic Documentaries features The Guns of Israel. So why show this? Well viewers especially Muslims should understand what commitment and focus is all about. You can't progress or win if you're sloppy and the other party plans and execute with precision. And that's what Muslims as a whole have been: SLOPPY. Man plans and Allah plans and Allah is the best of planners. There is something there in that Quranic verse, isn't there? Do I need to outline that we are horrible planners? It's a pity that we complain too much and do too little.

What Are The Benefits Of Planning?

Talented individuals always make plans before starting anything new including a new website or internet business or before doing something as simple as a blog entry. These people make sure they know every single step in detail before actually undertaking the project, even though this might cost them a bit more of their time. Write it down: The more you write out the more you think things through and the more you probably think of! Warning, oh yes there's a warning: You could waste a lot of time due to trying to plan too far ahead or in too much detail up front. But plan you must.

For those Muslims & skeptics who never plan, here’s a few reasons why you should:

• The human memory isn’t bulletproof. We often forget things half-way through a task and try and rack our brains to search for the thing we were thinking about. By writing or typing a plan, you make sure that you don’t leave out an important part of the procedure, which could end up costing you more time in the long run.
• Allow ideas to brew. This point is especially useful in content creation. By jotting down a plan of your next blog post or artwork you can let your ideas brew, and don’t have the pressure of trying to write a post/design on the spur of the moment, something that guarantees a lack of quality.
• Be more productive. Whilst planning takes up some of the precious “action time”, in the long run, it can actually help you to organize your activities and to make sure you perform the most useful activities whilst you’re in the groove.

Mediocrity

If you had only six months left to live, would you do what you are doing now?

You can only answer “yes” to this question if what you are doing matters to you. Doing what matters to you is a sure way to excellence since you will do it with all your heart. But you need the courage to be different and follow your heart. Do you have it? I hope your answer is yes. Life is too precious to be lived in mediocrity.

The man who follows the crowd will usually get no further than the crowd. The man who walks alone, is likely to find himself in places, no one has ever been before… Avoid people who make you fear the journey you're about to embark upon...The fear of being perceived as different, the fear of being ridiculed, the fear of failing, the fear of not maintaining the status quo, ad nauseum ad infinitum.

Do what you love. Feel the satisfaction.

1. Confronting Mediocrity Takes Thinking Clearly;
2. Overcoming Mediocrity Means Living Differently;
3. Combating Mediocrity Requires Fighting Fiercely;
4. Resisting Mediocrity Includes Standing Courageously

No Struggle...

Just bought online Curing Extremism from Zaytuna. Its 3 speeches including one by Hamza Yusuf. Cost $15. I'm happy that lots of Islamic multimedia are now downloadable as this is a digital world. From this point it can then be disseminated on local TV so that more minds are affected...hopefully for the better. So kudos to Zaytuna for making this available at a cost. Yes, at a cost! Muslims should not want EVERYTHING free. To produce multimedia costs a lot of money.
Our job is not to make the world safe to live in, honourable though that objective is, but to make all systems divine. From education to politics. From business to family. Dialogue can only be meaningful if Muslims are fired up...pushing the envelope. Allah articulated knowledge to Adam (peace)...taught him. Illiteracy haunts the Muslims. Even simple folk should be able to reason at a decent level. Let us take the Quranic injunction "for those who reflect" to heart. Let's just not "pray." Prayer is NOT accepted if you don't understand. A thoughtful study of the Quran creates a particular worldview giving birth to a particular behaviour. If we penetrate a bit deeper we realize that the Quran is the fountainhead of life. Study the histories of nations and their rise and fall. History or, in the language of the Quran, the days of God, is the third source of human knowledge. It is one of the most essential teachings that nations are COLLECTIVELY judged, and suffer their misdeeds here and now. Let's make our part of the world Divine. Push yourself to learn...for this is a world of testing our mettle...no struggle, no gain. Be the best you can be.

Realizing the Soul's Divinity

Prayer is that which enables the soul to realize its divinity. Through prayer humans worship absolute truth, and seek an eternal reward. Prayer is the foundation-stone of religion; and religion is the means by which the soul is purified of all that pollutes it. Prayer is the worship of the First cause of all things, the Supreme Ruler of all the world, the Source of all strength. Prayer is the adoration of the One whose Being is necessary. The Most repeated prayer on planet earth is the Opening chapter of the Quran. These prayerful words can be used by anyone for they are words most pleasing to the heart and soul.

Prayer is the ultimate meditation and it is in moments of profound meditation that we sink into our deeper self and reach the inner centre of experience. Of drawing close to God.

Be a firm believer in the power of prayer -- emphasis on POWER. Do not simply believe that God hears and answers prayers, but that in some unfathomable way there is a power that comes when an individual raises his/her voice, or when communities of individuals unite their faith in prayer to seek blessings, assistance, comfort and guidance from God.
We cannot access powerful prayer by using "magic formulas." Our prayers being answered is not based on the eloquence of our prayers. We don't have to use certain words or phrases to get God to answer our prayers. Prayer is communicating with God. All you have to do is praise God or ask God for His help.

The Names

"Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like the fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens. Be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you on your journey to the Hereafter."
Al Ghazali

To the degree that you remember Allah, your heart will be calm and cheerful. His remembrance carries with it the meaning of total dependence upon Him, of turning to Him for aid, of having good thoughts and of awaiting victory from Him.
Truly He is near when supplicated. He hears when He is called and He answers when asked for. Humble yourself before Him and ask of Him sincerely. Repeat His beautiful blessed names. Mention Him as being alone worthy of worship. Ask forgiveness from Him. Happiness, peace and illumination will then be yours. The remembrance of Allah is His Paradise on earth, whoever does not enter it here, will not enter the Paradise of the Hereafter. Remembrance of Allah is NOT only a safe haven from the worries of this world, but it is also the short path to achieving ultimate success.
The Quran planted the seeds of awareness of Allah's Beautiful Names by mentioning this concept in the following verses:

1. Call upon Allah or call upon Rahman. By whatever Name you call upon Him it is well. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (17:110)
2. The Most Beautiful Names belong to Allah. Call on Him by them. (7:180)
3. Allah! There is no god but He! To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. (20:8)
4. He is Allah the Creator, the Evolver, the bestower of Forms. To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Whatever is in the heavens and on earth does declare His Praises and Glory. (59:24)

The Prophet (peace) said: "Allah, the Most High, has ninety-nine names. he who remembers them will enter Paradise."
May Allah draw us close to Him. This proximity or closeness is not one of location but one of qualities and attributes. May our character shine on brightly.

Does God Love War?

Salaam
Tonight's program (Islamic Documentaries) on Channel 2, 7:00p.m.--8:00p.m. will be on the topic Does God Love War? by Hamza Yusuf. Synopsis: Have the teachers of our religions failed us? Or have we not been listening? From leaders of America's Christian Right seemingly forgetting that "Blessed are the Peacemakers," to Jewish rabbis watching unflinchingly as collective punishment is doled out to Arabs in Palestine, to Muslim jurists ruling that civilian victims are acceptable under a Just War, the three great Abrahamic faiths are increasingly facing accusations of ignoring the sanctity of life.
For a list of documentaries aired since May 2006, please visit zamals.com. There you will also come face to face with thought-provoking brochures and ads. Many enlightening conversations (phone, in-office) have resulted from these 3 sources of stimulation (TV, brochures and ads). May the Creator guide us to make this world a better place.

All progress has resulted from people who took unpopular positions.


YUGHNI (يُغْنِي) = HE IS ENRICHED/AVAILED

(ya', ghayn, nun, alif maqsurah)

Wa ma yughni `anhu maluhu idha taradda

92:11 Nor will his wealth profit him when he falls headlong into the Pit.

وَمَا يُغْنِي عَنْهُ مَالُهُ إِذَا تَرَدَّى