Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Rao of Malaysia

Seminar Melayu Rao Malaysia, 25th July 2009 at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjong Malim.

Some luminaries who attended, some admittedly, 'posthumously', some in spirit, some 'in body sans spirit':

Mat Kilau. Rashid Mydin. Tok Gajah. Ghazali Shafei. Tun Hamdan Sheihk Tahir. Tun Ahmad Sarji. Tun Ismail Mohamad Ali. Tan Sri Salehuddin Mohamad. Datuk Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin. Tan Sri Muhammad bin Muhammad Taib. Baharuddin'Anjang Akhi'.Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz. Datuk Siti Zaharah Sulaiman. Datuk Ahmad Razali Mohamad Ali. Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali. Dato' Mohamad Khalil. Dr Mujahid Haji Yusof Rawa. Dato' Nik Mohmad Nik Salleh.Haji Yusof Rawa.Datin Zam. Datin Maria. Jeneral Tan Sri Hashim Mohamad Ali. Dato' Hussamuddin Yaacob. U Wei Haji Shaari. Hajjah Ailington Isahak. Sarah Yaacob. Amy Mastura Shuhaimi. Mansoor Wan Abdullah. Ilani Isahak. Mazuin Hamzah. Akil Hayy. Salamiah Hassan. Tok Jeleha Raub......etc and etc.........558 in all.

Sutan Amir Kaharudin Budiman[17??-17??].Haji Jalaluddin Sutan Amir Kaharudin. Imam Haji Abdullah bin Hj Jalaluddin[1840-1905]. Hjh Wan Esah binti Abdullah. Wan Abdullah ibnu Hjh Wan Esah[1920-1961]. Nik Isahak Wan Abdullah..........

At the closing end of the seminar many issues had to be left in limbo for next year's deliberation, as we finally had to "agree to disagree".Notably Mat Kilau of Pahang supported by Tok Gajah were getting too hot under the collar, with Rashid Mydin on the other side of the argument mainly, always playing the 'Devil's advocate' role, almost going berserk. Tun Ismail, unexpectedly was philosophical and pensive, especially when the issue of the failure of NEP was brought up. Probably because his brother in law [ you know who ]was the chap in power most of that time. Hj Yusof Rawa, true to his ulama upbringing, was in his element, always quoting the Quran and relevant hadiths off the cuff, giving an Islamic overview of the impasse. King Ghaz was the saviour of the day, and it was due to his consumate skill as a diplomate that the robust, almost physical, discussion finally 'melted' down to the motion of 'agreeing to disagree' ,at least for the time being. Otherwise it could have gone very physical. Mat Kilau was seen to raised his keris several time. Sutan Amir Kaharudin Budiman, in his Sumatran-Kelantanese linggo, brandishing his 'kapok kecik'...........

The motion that caused the most dissension was " that this House view the current political and economic climate in Malaysia as critical to the Ummah and that the current government or future government must take effective measures immediately, judicial or extra judicial, in 'secret' or openly, to remedy this impasse". The commotion that followed was beyond the expectation of the organisers.

I was just there as an observer amongst all these giants of their time. 'Too small' to contribute.From my 'small man' viewpoint though, it warmed the heart to see that some, if not all, still subscribed to the age old motto of our ancestors:

"Bio mati di terkam harimo dari hidop di kejo anjing".

Reminiscent of more than two centuries of Dutch atrocities and inhuman plunder in Kepulawan Melayu Sumatera and Jawa. The 'bloody' Spanish, in Kepulawan Melayu Mindanoa. The Siamese in Patani, past and present.The British was no better: at the height of their collective plunder of Malaya and the Malay island of Singapura, they were bringing in around 50,000 immigrant labourers daily from China and India.

That could have been the meeting that was.................

No my friends, Back in 2009 Malaysia, we can no longer blame the 'British' nor 'Dutch' neither the 'Portugese' for our present predicaments.Blame ourselves.We have been too 'soft' despite being 60 %. Too 'gentlemen' to people who could not appreciate our hospitality. Too tolerant. Fifty years post merdeka we still subject our young people to 'three school system' running parallel..... Just the other day I met a young lady. aproduct of our school system or lack of system, not able to comprehend the lingua franca of this Nusantara.... Sixty percent owning less than 10 per cent.......We are 'beggars' and apologists in our own country....infact we are getting too much softer by the days!

There you are , the rallying cry of the Rao under the Dutch, "Bio mati di terkam harimo dari hidop di kejo anjing" seem to be more pertinent now than ever before.

[ Related topics:]
The Rao of Kelantan, Tuesday 17th February, 2009, under 'Personalities section'.
The Malay Dilemma, Sunday 30th November, 2008, under 'Politics/Current Affairs'
Vernacular Schools, December 4th, 2008, under 'Politics/Current Affairs'.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

A Thematic Commentary On The Qu'ran: Prof Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali

Friends ,

If you recall I have already written an article on Prof Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali [ distinct and not related to Imam al-Ghazali , another of my favourite Guru ]under 'Personalities Section' on 21st April 2009. First and foremost I must reveal I have a vested interest in literally encouraging you guys to lay your hands on his seminal work, 'A Thematic Commentary on The Quran'. Whatever good that comes out from that read I have been guaranteed a 'percentage'cut.

Seriously it is a damn good read: for those of us too lazy to embark on a personal adventure in starting on a long, arduous 'tafseer work' [ Tafsir Al Azhar for example which comes in a 10 volume hard bound cover, at a dirt cheap price of less than RM 280 , published by Pustaka Nasional, and can easily be obtained from one of those bookstalls along Jalan Masjid India: You can claim from me if it cost more!], or for those who had gone through and know the Quran like the back of their hands, Prof al-Ghazali's is still a great read. 'Amatuer' or 'pro' ,can still gain something from this great writer and Islamic scholar 'whose contribution here is somewhat unique and contemporary in the sense that he focusses on the organic unity of each surah highlighting the logic or inherrent reasoning that courses through each surah and unifies its various components and images'.

Let us just go through his treatment of surah al-Baqarah:

"Following the Muslims' emigration from Makkah and their settlement in Madinah around 622 AC, all attention was focussed on building the first Muslim autonomous community there. By embracing the new religion, members of that community had, each in his/her own right, succeeded in breaking away from idolatry, polytheism, and other forms of pagan traditions and practice of Arabia. They had now found security and safety in their new sanctuary where they could group together and set up a state of their own.

Nevertheless , they were to face fresh hostilities from a rather unexpected source. The Jewish rabbis had always believed that religion was the preorgative of their own people and a monopoly of their 'Chosen Race'. Predictably they were somewhat ruffled and unhappy at the arrival in Madinah ofProphet Muhammad and his followers preaching Islam. They quickly embarked on preparations for how to react to that threat and for the best way to deal with it. Scheming, overt and covert,began.

The Hebrew tribes who had settled in Madinah, or Yatrib as it was known then, in the fertile northwestern part of the Hijaz, had gone there as refugees to escape the oppression and persecution of Byzantine, the eastern Roman Empire whose capital was Constantinople. Although welcomed to live among the illiterate Arab tribes, they rather looked down upon them. The Jews made no effort to combat idol worship, which was widespread in the area; nor did they feel the need to pass on the teachings of their religion to their native hosts. They recognised no obligation to propagate God's message or establish His order to replace the existing man-made one. Their view of the Arabs was wholly sanctimonious, adopting the proverbial 'holier than thou' attitude, holding jeolously onto their religious heritage, and totally beholden to the erroneous belief that religion was their privelege and theirs alone.

What then, was their [ or, more specifically, their elders ] reaction to Islam? They rejected it. They began to distort, conceal and otherwise obliterate religious and historical facts in order to preempt the spread of the new religion.{ How very true even 1400 years later, now more so with the help of the now so called secular 'Trinitarians': This is mine,not al-Ghazali's }

In contrast, Prophet Muhammad, the last of God's prophets and the benefactor of the new religion, spared no effort in appealing to them and soliciting their understanding and cooperation. However their malaise was deep and irrepressible, and increasingly their hostile intentions began to be reflected in their behaviour. In view of this Muslims found themselves, in their new sanctuary, building their community on the one hand and defending it on the other hand. They were laying the foundations of their nascent state, under the guidance and direction of the divine Revelations being received by Muhammad, while at the same time having to ward off the inpending threat posed by enemies living in their midst, who were intent on undermining their existence and everything they were building.

It was in this atmosphere that al-Baqarah, the longest and the most wide-ranging chapter in the Quran, was received. The surah obliquely cited the fallacy of Jewish claims of exclusivity by describing the Qu'ran as "the Book over which there is no doubts, a guidance to those who fear God"[2], thereby highlighting the view that other 'Books' or scriptures were less viable as sources of guidance and law, less authoritative as references for or expressions of the divine will.

In over thirty different places, the surah elaborates extensively on the features and merits of the God-fearing category of human beings. This aspect is unique to the surah,Fear [ alternatively, awareness ] of God is a quality required of human beings by all religions. God say in the Qu'ran: "To God belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth; and We have recommended to those who have received the Book before you, as We have recommended to you, that you should all fear God" [ al-Nisa' : 131 ]

The surah is also remarkable for referring to all the five principles of the religion of Islam in the following verses:

Tawhid:"People: worship your Lord who has created you and those before you" [21]

Salah :"Observe salah, especially the middle one, and submit to God" [238]

Zakah :"Believers; spend of what We have given you before a day comes when there will be no
trade and no friendship and no intercession" [254]

Sawm :"Believers, sawm has been prescribed for you as it had been for your predecessors
" [183]

Hajj :"Complete the Hajj and the Umrah for God's sake" [196]

Reading through the early part of the surah, we find that it describes God-fearing people in three verses, the unbelievers in two, and the hypocrites in thirteen, an indication of the last's wickedness and the threat they pose to the whole Muslim community."........{ Mashaallah, begitu sekali berat nya' hypocrites ini ! Yet again ,my exclamation, not al Ghazali }

On the issue of women......The treatment of women in certain Muslim soceities has been a soft target for the enemies of Islam , and has proved a dangerous breach through which they relentlessly attacked its teachings and laws. This issue has been the trojan horse for those who want to undermine Islam and Muslim soceities by calling for the ''liberation' of Muslim women from the injustice and cruelty of Islam!'' This has led to a bandwagon of opinion among sections of the intelligentsia in some Muslim countries, especially amongst women, who have taken up this issue with great enthusiasm. But certainly, some of those who claim to speak for Islam and grossly misrepresent it or are ignorant of the spirit of its legislation, are partly to blame.[ SOS in Malaysia , is a good example: Dr Nik's opinion,not al-Ghazali ]........

.............{ al Ghazali when on further, to finally conclude his 'thematic discourse' of al-Baqarah with the following poignant remarks }...

Muslims have no race to be biased towards, nor a homeland to identify with, because their allegiance is to the universal God, the Creator and Lord of all. They have no advantage over other nations or human groups except by what they passed on to them of the religion of Islam, and they are distinguised by their piety and sincere faith. The special reputation and place gained by the city of Madinah in the history of Islam are directly linked to the fact that it was the cradle of revelation and the first city of the great Islamic nation that has since emerged. In it was created the first Muslim families, market-places, government cadres,center of learning, trade enterprise, farms, legislative councils; all under the guidance of divine revelation and the enlightened leadership of the exponent of that revelation, Muhammad. History tells us that the Prophet had once selected a very young man for a leadership post because he had memorized and learnt this surah well, indicating its distinguishd and prestigious status in the Qu'ran.


Finally, as we look at the last verse in the surah, our attention is drawn to the historic phenomenon that nations which attain ascendancy and supremacy usually display arrogance and conceit, and look down upon other weaker nations. Today's domineering, vainglorious civilisation, which has encompassed both east and west, is a vivid living example- a culture of decadence and gross injustice thriving on the great acheivements and glory of a genius elite who have split the atom and made inroads into outer space. When the Muslims were a leading nation, however, and at the height of their acheivement, they were overwhelmed by a sense of submission to God and a need for His support and guidance. They have always sought God's forgiveness and looked up to His grace, praying:

Our Lord, do not take us to task if we forget or make mistakes.
Our Lord, do not lay upon us a burden such as You had laid upon those before us,
Our Lord, do not burden us with more than what we can bear.
Pardon us, forgive us our sins, and have mercy upon us.
You are our Lord.
Grant us victory over the unbelievers. [al Baqarah, 2 : 286]


{ Footnote 1: Muhammad al-Ghazali, by virtue of space and theme of his book deals only with the tangible, rational aspect of the Qu'ran. Some 'mufassirun' elsewhere stated that when ayat 284 to 286 , and surah Al Fatihah were brought down to earth by an angel, Gibrael who was then with The Messenger of God, looked up to the sky, and told the Messenger that that door in the heaven up till then had never been opened until that instance. That reflect the significance and 'weight; of the last three ayat of surah al Baqarah along with al Fatihah, the umul Qu'ran. This constitute the 'intangible', 'alam ghaib' part of the Qu'ran. Along with Ayatul Kursi [ 2 ; 255 ], also from surah al-Baqarah, understandably, these ayats are my favourites during my prayers. They encompase amongst the most 'heavyweight' ayat of the Qu'ran and 'divinely' taught do'a at the same time.}

{Footnote 2: My almost daily routine nowadays to be 'reminded' and be 'in contact', to ensure that at least I could be motivated enough to move one scale up from the 'totally engrossed with this world' to 'the penitent' individual is quite simple [ see earlier blog on Imam Ghazali's Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife ]. In this days and age of connectivity and IT, I do not need to open or touch a Qu'ran!.

I usually read a short chapter on say, surah al-Baqarah from Muhammad al-Ghazali's Thematic Commentary, to get a general overview of the surah. Then 'attack' the Qu'ran via the 'Quranexplorer' [ see Link ] on the same surah, say at a snail-pace rate of 25 'ayats' a day , in the wee hours of the morning after 'suboh', before work, or 'isyak' before sleep.The lilting voice of qari Mishari Rashid or the haunting rendition by Abdul Baasit with a background transliteration into old English, by Pickthal, directly after each 'ayat', the Divine letter cannot come any better. When I come to an 'ayat' or two which requires further elaboration, I would go to Hamka's Tafsir al-Azhar to get further clarification . Prof Hamka, my Asian and contemporary 'guru' will definitely connect me to a host of other expert 'mufassirun' like Ibn Katsir, Shaykh Muhammad Rashid Rida in al Manar,Sayyid Qutb, Ibn Abbas etc and etc and also illuminate with examples of hadiths hassan,sahih and otherwise, further 'spiced' with his own anecdotal comments. Hamka was a worldly man. I enjoy his many anecdotes which were 'nusantara' in nuances and easily understood. I must concede that his tafsir al Azhar [... part of his tafsir you can get online now, see Link ] has been very much underated in this part of the world. [This is typical of us Malays, always unable to see 'nuggets' within our midst! ]

[ I tried reading Kathir's tafsir on recommendation of many friends, on the basis that he was a 'salaf' ulama' ie the period just after Prophet Muhammad .I found him too 'dry'. Hamka was more 'alived' and his anecdotes, and examples he put forward ,we in this region can easily 'connect'. JMHO ]

This way I get to meet all my rather illustrious 'gurus' who transcend Time, Age and Space in one morning! Now who is that clown who says you have to learn from your Ustaz 'face to face' to learn 'ugama' in this days and age of connectivity????
Just a feeble attempt by one individual, weak in both spirit and flesh and surrounded by 'the evil whisperers of both men and jinn' to progress a wee bit upward to be somewhere near 'The Sublime'. The Divine letter, coming in regular , mini-doses like this, is a very 'liberating' experience. Liberates one from the cudgel of human frailties, pretensions and inconsequential inter-human reverance. A definitive way to scrap slowly at that mountain of 'karat2 jahiliah' that has accumulated over years of spiritual neglect. Try that for size my friend! Allahualam. }

"Lo! We are Allah's and Lo! unto Him we are returning." [ 2 : 156 ]

.
A Thematic Commentary on The Qu'ran
Shaykh Muhammad al-Ghazali
Translated from Arabic by Ashur A. Shamis
First published in 2000 by The International Institutue of Islamic Thought, USA
Malaysian Edition:Islamic Book Trust
http://www.ibtbooks.com/

Monday, July 6, 2009

Dr M raps Najib about Omar Mustaffa Ong

Friends,

On 11th February I wrote on my Malay College form-mate, Mohd Hassan Marican under "Personalities Section' and pointed out that six month down the lane there will be move to replace him. Lo and behold, just last week we had an exasperated Dr M knocking NTR on the knuckles for intending to 'plant in' Omar Mustaffa Ong into Petronas management board! Another Oxbridge product, we do not mind about[ more Oxbridge the better but pleaseeeez get them tobe wise first. We cannot afford anther of those 'wet in between the ears' Oxbridge! ] . But what seemed to worry the senior statesman is not about a possible future 'run' on Petronas coffers but rather Ong was an associate of KJ and was one of the '4th Floor boys'. Why KJ deserves such wrath from the old man is anybody's guess!

One can understand NTR's move to have Ong inside, even though we do want to question his 'wisdom' for doing that. Why change something that is working very well?

NTR , understandably though, may want someone he can 'talk down', not up!The board's refusal so far in accepting Ong's admission, albeit on a technical basis of a' scholarship non repayment', is a blatant example of the premier 'talking up' to the board!

From the raayats viewpoint we are not interested about personalities, not even NTR whom we can remove come next GE if he is not careful about what he does and whom he promote!. Ong or whoever can wait. We , as Petronas's real stakeholders, are more worried about people making a run on its reserve and fund. That is raayats' money not anyone grandfather's future war chest!

Dr Nik Howk

Read : Mohd Hassan Marican, 11th February 2009, Personalities section.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Al Ghazali : Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife

Friends,

I was browsing through my old 'blog' perspective on the issue of 'Longevity' while thinking to write further on the subject, with some philosophical bent.
[Longevity: Some Random Thots, Health section, July 11th and 12th, 2008]
[Longevity: A Muslim's Perspective, health section, July 14th,2008]
I found a third discourse superfluous as the subject matter I want to discuss was already fairly well covered in ' Exercise: Mixing the Profane and the Sublime', Health section, Friday, March 20th, 2009.

Giving the subject of Longevity some further thought, I cannot but come to the paradoxical conclusion that if one wants to live a long, fruitful,carefree, less'kufr'' and ideally 'kufr'less life [for want of better terminology], one invariably has to think a lot about one's imminent death.Paradoxical indeed: If one can readily accept this life's impermanence, one's stress level cascade would significantly decrease, and that contributes to longevity!

When I think deeper on the subject of Death, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's treatise, 'The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife' come to mind. It represent a key section of al-Ghazali's Revival of the Religious Sciences, [Ihya' Ulum al-Din], widely regarded as the greatest work of Muslim spirituality.

I got my English copy of the book some 26 years ago at a small book store off busy Praed Street London, near St Mary's Hospital. Ironically I was then a young research registrar in cardiology, a field about prolonging the human life, 24/7,364 days a year.Cardiologywise, heady days: Andreas Gruntzieg, a radiologist from Zurich just discovered angioplasty,Spurrel et al at St Bartholomews down the road from St Mary's, able to put wires in people's hearts with palpitaion problem and burning their 'naughthy extra circuits' with radio-frequency sound wave......'gay' young men dying left ,right and centre in Southern California from 'godknowswhatdisease'. AIDS then was still not yet on the 'radar screen'....etc etc

Imagine Praed Street, off Edgeware Road in gay and liberal London 1981: full of young English 'roses' on the prowl,tugging on to your coat pocket asking for 'business': time was bad in London but I was much younger, vital and full of testosterone! Iman was running thin. I had no choice but to bury myself in al-Ghazali!

Let us friends look at what al-Ghazali had said in the opening chapter of his lenghty discourse on death:

''Know that the heart of the man who is engrossed in this world and is given to its vanities and harbours love for its appetites must certainly be neglectful of the remembrance of death.Thus failing to recall it, when reminded of it he finds it odious and shies away. Such are the people of whom God has said: Say: Lo! the death from which ye shrink will surely meet you, and afterward ye will be returned unto the Knower of the Invisible and the Visible, and he will tell you what ye used to do.

Now, men may be either engrossed [in this world], penitent beginners, or arrived gnostics. The man engrossed does not remember death, or if he does, it is with regret for his world, and he busies himself disparaging death. The remembrance of death increases such a one nothing but distance from God.

The penitent man recalls death frequently, so that fear and apprehension might thereby proceed from his heart, making his repentance complete. It may be that he is in fear of death lest it carry him off before his repentance is complete and before his provisions for the journey are replenished; he is excusable in his aversion to death, and is not included in the saying of the Prophet [may God bless him and grant him peace]: 'Whosoever would abhor meeting with God, God abhors meeting with him'. Such a man does not abhor death and meeting with God, but only fears the meeting with God passing him by as a result of his deficiency and remissness. He is like the man who is made late for a meeting with his beloved by busying himself with preparation for the encounter in a way that will find approval: he is not deemed to be reluctant about the meeting! The distinguishing mark of the penitent man is his constant preparation for this matter and his lack of any other concern. Were he to be otherwise he would associate with the man engrossed in the world.

As for the gnostic, he remembers death constantly, because for him it is a tryst with his Beloved, and a lover never forgets the appointed time for meeting the one he loves. Usually such a man considers death slow in coming and is happy upon its advent, that he might have done with the abode of sinners and be borne away into the presence of the Lord of the Worlds. Such was the case with Hudhayfa, of whom it is related that when death came he said: ' A dear friend has come at a time of poverty. Whoever repents [at such a moment as this] shall not succeed. O Lord God! Should You know that poverty is dearer to me than wealth, and sickness more beloved to me than health, and death more dear to me than life, then make my death easy for me until I meet You.'

Thus it is that the penitent man may be excused the aversion he feels for death, while another is excusable in loving it and longing for it. And higher than either of them is the degree of he that has entrusted his affair to God [Exalted is He!] and no longer prefers death or life for himself, for the dearest of things to him is that which is beloved in the sight of his Lord. By virtue of profound love and loyalty this man has arrived at the station of absolute surrender and contentment, which is the goal, and the utmost limit.

But whatever the situation may be, in the recollection of death there is reward and merit. For even the man engrossed in the world benefits from it by acquiring an aversion to this world since it spoils his contentment and the fullness of his pleasure; and everything which spoils for man his pleasures and appetites is one of the means of deliverance."

Many Muslims amongst us nowadays decry al-Ghazali for his 'excessive
use of 'hadith hasan' and'hadith dhaif' in his seminal work 'Ihya' ulum al-din' .Al-Ghazali stands above the rest because he started as a 'fuqaha'[ an expert in Islamic jurisprudence] and in his later life 'strayed' into sufism. 'Strayed' is definitely the wrong word, in his case, 'progress' would be the right term.

I am no expert but I feel his'maqam' from us is like that of someone doing a post ,post-doctoral thesis while we are just in post basic. In post post-doctoral situations, the nuances and application of relevant hadiths, be it 'Hasan' or 'Dhaif', are steeped with depth of knowledge and the best of intentions.Even hadith Dhaif, if these do not go against the grain of quranic verses and spirit, who are we, mere midgets as we are then, in a position to pass judgment on a 'fountain of knowledge' like al-Ghazali?

As he rightly put it, we are afterall a spectrum of 'the engrossed, the penitent and the gnostic'. As if these are not enough, there is still the question of 'the already arrived'. So friends, hold your criticism, just enjoy him and then, 'tepuk dada tanya selera'. Allahualam !

[ Al-Ghazali : The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife . Kitab dhikr al-maut wa-ma ba'dahu . Book XL of The Revival Of The Religious Sciences [Ihya' ulum al-din]
Introduction and translated by T.J.Winter]