Conversations on Islam:Istiqamah, Ilmu,Suul Khatimah, Husnul Khatimah

Instigator-in-chief:Dr Nik Isahak [DNI]
Ustaz Dr Abdullah Yasin,pendakwah bebas [UDAY]

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DNI:
Yang Berbahagia Ustaz,Kita baru saja meninggalkan bulan yang penuh rahmat dan keberkatan, bulan Ramadhan, sekarang dah masuk bulan Syawwal.Mesjid dan surau sudah kembali sunyi.We are back to 'business as usual'.Boleh Ustaz huraikan aspect keislaman kita dari segi 'consistency' versus 'volume',ilmu sebagai penjana atau 'turbo-booster' kepada iman dan amalan kita, keadaan iman dan amal kita yang bernama manusia yang sentiasa berada didalam 'a state of active flux', kadang2 'pasang' kadang2 'surut'.

UDAY:
Assalamualaikum,Ramadhan al-Mubarak baru saja kita tinggalkan. Kebanyakan umat Islam telah menunjukkan kesungguhan mereka beribadat dan mendekatkan diri kepada Allah pada bulan tersebut melebihi dari bulan-bulan biasa. Semoga Allah menerima segala amal soleh kita dan termasuk ke dalam golongan yang mendapat Lailatul Qadr. Itulah ucapan yang sangat digalakkan oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. sempena Eidul Fitriy : Taqabbalallahu Minna Wa Minkum ( Semoga Allah Menerima Amalan Kami dan Juga Amalan Kamu ).

Hanya saja yang perlu dipertanyakan disini, sampai dimana kesan latihan demi latihan dalam Ramadhan tersebut ? Apakah begitu berakhir Ramadhan maka berakhir pula kerajinan dan kesungguhan kita beribadat kepada Allah ? Apakah kebiasaan solat berjamaah di masjid / surau, berpuasa, membaca Al-Quran, solat malam, bersedekah, dan lain-lain akab berakhir begitu masuk Syawwal ? Apakah kita berkeyakinan bahawa Allah hanya melihat ibadat dalam bulan Ramadhan sahaja ?

Syawwal menurut bahasa bermakna peningkatan (up grade). Nama bulan ini mengiringi bulan Ramadhan sangat tepat sebab setelah latihan demi latihan dengan program yang begitu padat selama sebulan memang sangat diharapkan diri kita akan meningkat pada bulan Syawwal.. Kita secara relatief akan menjadi insan yang lebih baik berbanding bulan-bulan sebelumnya. Tetapi sayangnya, mengapa justeru masuk Syawwal segala aktiviti ibadat dan akhlak kita menjadi merosot dan merudum ? Mengapa selama Ramadhan hawa nafsu dapat dikekang dan ditahan tetapi begitu masuk saja Syawal kita terlibat lagi dengan amalan-amalan yang tidak sehat dan maksiat ?
Walaupun Syawwal bermakna peningkatan, itu tidak bermakna kita mesti melakukan amal soleh dalam jumlah (kwantiti) yang lebih banyak berbanding bulan Ramadhan. Amalan yang paling disukai Allah adalah amalan yang berterusan (berkekalan) walaupun amalan berkenaan dilakukan sedikit-sedikit. Kita tidak dituntut melakukan puasa dalam bulan-bulan berikutnya lebih banyak daripada jumlah hari-hari Ramadhan, apalagi pada 1hb Syawwal Hari Raya Eidul Fitriy haram hukumnya kita berpuasa. Demikian juga membaca Al-Quran dan solat malam. Kita tidak dituntut mesti melakukan amalan-amalan terpuji dalam jumlah yang banyak. Yang peting budaya itu perlu diteruskan. Amalan yang bertetusan (konsisten) inilah yang paling dituntut.

Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda : Amalan yang paling disukai Allah adalah amalan yang berkekalan (berterusan) walaupun amalan itu dilakukan sedikit-sedikit. ( Hadis Sahih Riwayat Imam Muslim daripada Saidatina Aisyah ra )

Oleh itu, saya mengajak seluruh umat Islam marilah kita makmurkan masjid / surau di karyah kita masing-masing, lakukan solat malam walaupun hanya beberapa rakaat tetapi setiap malam, lakukanlah puasa sunat walaupun hanya beberapa hari dalam sebulanj, bacalah Al-Quran walaupun hanya beberapa ayat dalam sehari. Demikianlah terhadap amalan-amalan soleh lainnya.

Kematian boleh mendatangi kita bila-bila masa. Dengan sikap istiqamah (konsiten dalam beramal) mudah-mudahan kita mati dalam keadaan yang baik atau Husnul Khatimah yakni mati dalam iman dan beramal soleh. Ingat ! Keadaan manusia setelah mati, akan bahagia ataupun menderita, sama ada di alam barzakh (alam kubur) atau di alam Akhirat, sangat-sangat ditentukan oleh keadaannya ketika nyawanya dicabut.

Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda : Innamal A'maal Bil Khawaatim ( Sesungguhnya amalan yang paling menentukan adalah amalan yang terakhir) - ( Hadis Sahih Riwayat Imam Bukhari ). Maksudnya : Keadaan manusia di akhirat nanti, bahagia atau menderita, sangat ditentukan oleh amalannya yang terakhir. Jika ia meninggal dunia dalam keadaan baik yakni iman dan amal soleh maka dia akan berbahagia. Tetapi jika sebaliknya, nyawanya dicabut oleh malaikat maut dalam keadaan ia melakukan syirik atau maksiat maka dia akan disiksa. Wal 'Iyadzu Billah.

Jika kita memilih untuk istiqamah (konsisten) dalam beramal soleh setiap hari, maka besar kemungkinan kita akan mendapat Husnul Khatimah yakni mati dalam keadaan baik. Rasul mengajar kita berdoa : Allahummakhtim Lana Bihusnil Khaatimah, Wa Laa Takhtim 'Alainaa Bisuuil Khatimah ( Ya Allah akhirilah hidup kami dalam keadaan yang baik, dan janganlah Engkau akhiri hidup kami dalam keadaan yang tidak baik.

DNI:
Terima kasih Ustaz.
Perancangan jangka panjang kita pada umumnya menuju kearah penambahan 'Consistency' dan juga 'volume'.'Consistent' dan 'volume' lebih baik tapi ditengah 'contraint'2 dan 'push and pull' factor yang kita hadapi sebagai insan biasa di dunia yang penuh pancaroba ini, for mere mortals like most of us,kalau dapat'consistentcy' pun sudah cukup baik. Ini saya setuju sekali dengan anjuran Ustaz mengikut sunnah nabi.
Insyaallah ketemu kita kembali Ramadhan 2010.
Disisa sisa hidup kita yang tidak menentu ini[ orang sufi berkata kalau hidup itu hanya sekadar 'those numbered breaths', kelamaan hidup itu bukannya lama ] yang harus kita khuatir sekali ialah Suul Khatimah,ie'ending yang tidak baik'.

Scenario yang selalu bermain dikepala saya, dan scenario ini saya selalu tengok entah beribu kali didalam 'kerja' saya, disaat saat kematian saorang insan, dikelilingi beliau olih para anggota keluarga dan sahabat taulan, membaca surah yasin.Yang didalam nazak kelihatan kelu, sejuk....Entah apa 'goes on' didalam jiwa dan emosi insan dimasa yang critical itu? Apa pergolakan dan crisis of 'faith and meaning' yang beliau harungi?...Pada zahirnya saat saat itu hanyalah beberapa saat saja tapi Allah saja yang tahu...[ Imam Ghazali didalam 'Ihya' beliau ada mengupas dengan detail saat saat begini,diterjmah kedalam beautiful English olih T.J Winter, Remembrance of Death, dalam 400+ muka surat....An excellent read for those of us who wants to live a full life here and the Hereafter.]

'Consistency' menjurus kearah Husnul Khatimah....adakah posisi ini benar Ustaz?
Apakah peranan 'ilm' [ dan saya beranggapan ilm didalam konteks yang luas, vis a vis,Ilm Ugama, Sains,biochemistry, cosmology etc etc jika berlandaskan hati yang murni dan 'honest', tidak boleh tidak mesti menjuruskan manusia kearah ketaqwaan yang nyata ] didalam context saat2 kematian sasaorang Muslim?........Ataupun saya perlu rephrase soalan saya begini, sesetangah orang bersenbahyang sunat berpuloh rakaat, berzikir senantiasa tapi dari segi ilmu agak 'cetek' manakala ada sesetangah pula mengejar ilmu , mengajar ilmu[ umpamanya Ustaz sendiri dan para2 akademik ugama dan non ugama], memperluaskan keilmuan, kurang dari segi 'volume', 'zikr nya dan sembahyang sunat nya kerana kesibukan ilmu dan keilmuan dan penyebaran ilmu, pada saat2 kematian, dimana letaknya 'ilmu' vis a vis Husnul Khatimah /Suul Khatimah?

UDAY:
Keadaan manusia di alam akhirat nanti, bahagia atau sebaliknya sangat ditentukan oleh bagaimana kondisi ketika dia mengakhiri kehidupan dunia yang sementara ini. Itulah sebabnya kita sangat mengharapkan Husnul Khatimah (mati dalam keadaan baik). Apalagi rasul bersabda : Sesungguhnya amalanmu (yang paling menentukan nasibmu di akhirat) adalah amalanmu yang terakhir. ( HR Bukhari ).

Jika iman dan amalan kita, kita lakukan secara konsisten maka besar kemungkinan kita matipun dalam iman dan amal soleh. Tetapi jika iman dan amal turun naik grafiknya atau dibuat sesekali maka kita bimbang ketika iman dan amal menurun nyawa kita dicabut izrail, na'uudzubillah. Menurut fahaman Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah : Iman boleh naik dan boleh turun. Dengan kata lain : Iman tidak tetap, sesekali kuat dan sesekali lemah, malahan iman boleh dicabut oleh Allah dari seseorang bila-bila masa. Lihat ayar 8 / Ali Imran atau ayat 2 / Al-Anfal atau ayat 13 / Al-Kahfi. Iman yang kita miliki sekarang ini tidak menjamin boleh berterusan hingga kita mati, Itu sebabnya, terdapat umat Islam yang murtad.

Bagaimana cara memelihara iman agar sentiasa konsisten hingga akhir hayat ? Para ulama Islam berpendapat : Ada dua cara untuk memelihara iman, iaitu : (1). Ilmun Nafi'un (Ilmu yang bermanfaat) dan (2) Amalun Solihun ( Amal yang soleh ).

(1) Ilmu Yang Berguna. Ilmu ada dua jenis.

Pertama : Ilmu yang berguna/bermanfaat. Ilmu berguna maksudnya segala ilmu yang boleh menambah kesempurnaan penghambaan (ubudiyah) manusia kepada Allah. Dengan kata lain : Ilmu yang boleh menambah sempurna tujuan hidup manusia. Itu sebabnya, ilmu yang berguna sangat luas, bukan hanya ilmu agama tetapi segala jenis ilmu termasuk ilmu angkasa lepas, ilmu kedokteran seperti ilmu yang Dr. Nik miliki dan lain-lain asalkan ilmu tersebut dapat menambah rasa takut dan kagumnya akan kebesaran Allah. Walaupun tidak dinafikan bahawa ilmu akidah, tafsir Al-Quran, Al-Hadis dan lain-lain tergolong ilmu-ilmu utama untuk mengenal Yang Maha Pencipta

Kedua : Ilmu Yang Tidak Berguna : Ilmu jenis ini memang wujud seperti sihir, ilmu hitam dan lain-lain. Kewujudan ilmu ini berdasarkan doa Nabi s.a.w. agar dihindarkan daripada ilmu yang tidak berguna. Sabdanya : ( Ya Allah, aku mohon perlindungan kepadamu daripada ilmu yang tidak berguna ). Jika Nabi s.a..w. memohon agar dilindungi dari ilmu yang tdk berguna, ini bermakna ilmu yang tidak berguna memang wujud sebab mustahil baginda memohon dilindungi dari sesuatu yang tidak wujud. Seperti kita memohon dilindungi daripada syaitan, Ini bermakna syaitan wujud walaupunkita tdk melihatnya.

(2) Amalan yang soleh. Syarat amal soleh sama dengan syarat amal yang diterima oleh Allah. Syaratnya ada dua :

Pertama : Amalan tersebut mestilah dilakukan dengan niat yang ikhlas kepada Allah tanpa sedikitpun menyengutukan Allah walaupun syirik kecil seperti riyak. Nabi bersabda : ( Sesungguhnya amalan diterima berdasarkan niat yang ikhlas). Syirik pula dapat menghapuskan semua amalan. Lihat ayat 65 / Al-Zumar.

Kedua : Amalan tersebut mestilah mengikuti kaifiyat atau cara yang telah ditetapkan oleh Rasulullah s.a.w. Nabi bersabda : ( Solatlah kamu sebagaimana kamu melihat cara aku solat ) ; ( Ambillah daripadaku cara ibadat haji dan umrah kamu ) ; ( Barangsiapa yang melakukan amalan tidak ikut cara kami maka amalannya ditolak ) - ( HR Muslim ). Ubay Bin Ka'ab berkata : ( Amalan yang sedikit mengikuti cara sunnah adalah lebih baik daripada amalan yang banyak tetapi dicampuri dengan bid'ah ).

Jadi Dr Nik Ishak, memang tidak dinafikan faktor ilmu sangat mustahak untuk kesempurnaan Iman dan Amal. Tanpa ilmu yang berguna, terutama ilmu daripada ucapakan Allah (Al-Quran) dan ucapan Rasulullah s.a.w. ( Sunnahnya) maka iman dan amal tidak akan sempurna. Namun konsistensi atau kesinambungan atau dalam istilah agama ISTIQAMAH sangat memungkinkan seseorang mendapat HUSNUL KHATIMAH.

Semoga kita mendapat HUSNUL KHATIMAH.

DNI:
Insyaallah, begitulah harapnya Ustaz, sebagai mukkadimah kita dialam Barzark, sebagai 'entree' kepada alam yang berkekalan,alam Akhirat.Terima kasih Ustaz. Keilmuan Ustaz sentiasa saya sanjung.




When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah hath revealed" they say: "Nay! We shall follow the ways of our fathers" What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and guidance?
The parable of those who reject faith is as if one were to shout like a goat-herd, to things that listen to nothing but calls and cries;
Deaf, Dumb, and Blind. They are void of wisdom.
[ Al Baqarah, 2 : 170-171 ]

When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close to them; I listen to the prayer of all suppliant when he calleth on Me; let them also with a will to listen to My call and believe in Me; that they may walk in the right way.
[ Al Baqarah, 2 : 186 ]

Say: "We believe in Allah and in what has been revealed to Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes, And in the Books given to Moses, Jesus, and the Prophets, from their Lord; We make no distinction between one and another among them, and to Allah we bow our will in Islam.[84]
If any one desires a religion other than Islam[Submission to Allah]never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter he will be in the ranks of those who have lost[all spiritual good].[85]
How shall Allah guide those who reject Faith after they have accepted it and bear witness that the Messenger was true and that clear signs had come unto them? But Allah guides not a people unjust.[Surah Al Imran, 3: 86]

O ye who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam.[Surah Al Imran , 3 : 102]





" Life like golf, is not how you start, but how you execute your End Game "

Is Peace Possible in the Middle East ?

Is peace possible in the Middle East?
Is there political will in America today to solve the Palestinian-Israeli impasse?
Does Obama has a tangible chance to bring fairness, justice and peace to this troubled region?
....or does America and the West envisage subsequently radicalising the world's Muslim population to the point of Samuel Huntington's much prophesised 'Clash of Civilisation': A future ideological clash against perhaps 2 billion 'radicalised'Muslims for which we are certain the West could never win......

Bush, Angela Meckel, Cheny, Sarkozy, Berlusconi, Blair, Obama et al can go on selling to the world their 'War against Terror' but the rest of the Muslim world are ,by the days, not buying it.Dr Mahathir is right in his perception:As long as the West avoid the 'root cause', steeped in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,our world would never have peace.

Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi: " Let Us be Muslims"

Friends,

How can one best remember Mawdudi[1903-1979], one of the chief architects and leaders of contemporary Islamic resurgence? One very prominent Malaysian scholar whom I know personally,with a tinge of jeolousy, I suspect, described him as being mildly 'misguided'. The West and orientalists all over did not mince their words when they come to Mawdudi. They thought he was , along with Sayyid Qutb, the prime mover for Islamic radicalism.If he is still alive today he would definitely be interned in Guantanamo Bay' along with Sayyid Qutb.The West has no polemical response to intellectual discourse such as his.

Misguided' or not , his series of friday sermons initially known as 'Khutabah' as first written in Urdu have been translated into 40 languages, and millions of Muslims and non-Muslims have benefited and continue to benefit from his simple but succinct views on Islam. Certainly no complex and mind bending philosophical discourse, his 'Khutabah'!

Let us leave the ' they-themselves-misguided' orientalists and the West to their assumptions and see for ourselves who Mawdudi was from his 'Khutabah' written in Urdu and translated by the late Khurram Murad into English under the new title " Let Us Be Muslims"[ The Islamic Foundation, 1st edition 1982].It is a series of friday sermons given to peasant farmers of Darul Islam, a small village in East Punjab. Put yourselves there as one of them sometime in 1935:

"Brothers! You call yourselves Muslims and you believe that Allah showers His blessings on Muslims. But open your eyes and see if those blessings are in fact descending on you? You cannot know what will happen to you in the Hereafter until your physical death, but you can most certainly look around you and see your condition here on earth.

There are so many hundreds of millions of you in the world that if each of you were to throw a single pebble that would make a mountain. But even though there are so many Muslims and Muslim governments, the world is in the hands of those who have rebelled against God. Your necks are in their grip, to be turned to whichever side they like; your heads, which should not bow before anybody except Allah, are now bowed before human beings. Your honour, which no one dared to touch, is now being trampled upon. Your hands, which once always held high, are now lowered and stretched out before your enemies. Ignorance, dependence, poverty and indebtedness have subjected you to ignominy everywhere.

Is this the blessing of Allah? If it is not - but rather a sign of anger - then how strange it is that it is Muslims on whom it is descending! You are Muslims and yet you are wallowing in ignominy! You are Muslims and yet you are slaves! This situation is impossible as it is for an object to be white and black. If Muslims are the loved ones of God, how can they be treated disgracefully? Is your God [God forbid] so unjust that - while you, for your part, acknowledge His due and obey His orders - He allows the disobedient to rule over you, and punishes you for your disobedience to Him?

If it is an article of faith with you that God is not unjust and obedience to God can never result in disgrace, then you will have to concede that there is something wrong in your claim to be Muslims. Although you may be registered as Muslims in your birth certificates, Allah does not base His judgement on what is written on pieces of paper. God prepares His own list of obedient and disobedient servants, and it is in this list that you must search to find your true position.

Allah sent you His Book so that you may know Him and learn how to obey Him. Have you ever tried to discover what is written on it? Allah sent His Prophet to teach you how to become Muslims. Have you ever tried to find out what His Prophet has taught? Allah explicitly informed you which behaviour debases man in this world and the Hereafter. Do you avoid such behaviour? What answers do you have to these questions? If you admit that you have neither sought knowledge from God's Book and His Prophet's life nor followed the way shown by him, then how can you claim to be Muslims and to merit His reward? The reward you are getting now are in direct relation to how good Muslims you are; and your rewards in the Hereafter will be calculated on the same basis.

We have already seen that the only difference between Muslims and Kafirs is in the matter of knowledge and actions. Men who call themselves Muslims but whose knowledge and actions are the same as those Kafirs are guilty of blatant hypocrisy. Kafirs do not read the Qur'an and do not know what is written in it. If so called Muslims are equally ignorant, why should they be called Muslims? Kafirs do not know the teachings of the Prophet,blessing and peace be upon him, and the straight path he had shown to reach God. If Muslims are equally ignorant of these, how can they be Muslims? Kafirs follow their own desires instead of the commands of Allah. If Muslims are similarly wilful and undisciplined, setting their own ideas and opinion on the pedestal, indifferent to God and a slave to lust, what right have they to call themselves Muslims? Kafirs do not distinguish between Halal and Haram and make indiscriminate use of everything and anything, irrespective of whether it is Halal or Haram. If Muslims behave the same way as non- Muslims, what difference is there between them and Kafirs?

Put simply: If Muslims are devoid of knowledge about Islam as Kafirs, and if a Muslim does all those things which a kafir does, why should he be considered superior to a Kafir and and why should his fate not be the same as that of a Kafir? This is a question we all should reflect very seriously.

My dear brothers! Do not for a moment think that I am trying to brand Muslims as Kafirs. This is not my purpose at all. I ask myself and implore each one of you similarly to ask his own heart, as to why we are being denied the blessings of God. Why are tribulations of all sort descending upon us from all sides? Why are we disunited and shedding each other's blood? Why are those whom we called Kafirs [that is, the disobedient slaves of God] everywhere dominating us? And why are we, who claim to be His obedient slaves, living in servitude in so many parts of the world?

The more I reflectd on the reason for this situation, the more I have become convinced that almost the only difference now left between us and Kafirs is that of mere name; and we in no way lag behind them in neglect of God, in being devoid of fear of Him and in being disobedient to Him.

I say 'almost' because because there is, of course, a difference between us: we know that the Qur'an is the Book of God, while Kafirs do not, yet we treat it as a Kafir treat it. And this makes us all the more deserving of punishment. We know that Muhammad, blessing be upon him,is the Prophet of Allah and yet we are as unwilling as a Kafir to follow him. We know that God cursed liars, has positively declared Hell as the abode of all who give and take bribes, has denounced those who borrow and lend at interest as the worst of sinners, has condemned slander as being as bad as eating a brother's flesh, and has warned that obsence behaviour, pornography and debauchery will meet with the severest of punishment. Yet despite knowing all this we freely indulge in all these vices as if we had absolutely no fear of God's displeasure.

This is why we are not rewarded: we are Muslims in appearance only. The fact that those who do not accept God's sovereignty rule over us and subject to ignominy on every possible occasion shows that we are being punished for ignoring Islam - God's greatest gift to us.

Dear brothers! Nothing I have said today is intended as blame. I have not come to censure. My aim is to kindle the desire in you to recover the treasure that has been lost. Such a desire arises when a man realizes exactly what has been lost and how valuable it was. I have spoken sharp and pungent words only to awaken you and compel you to think.

To become a real Muslim, as I said, the foremost requisite is knowledge of Islam. Every Muslim ought to know the teaching of the Qur'an, which ways were shown by the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, what Islam is, and what those things are which really differentiate Isalm from Kufr. Nobody can be a Muslim without this knowledge. The pity is that you show no desire to acquire this knowledge. This indicates that still you do not realize what a great gift you are being deprived of.

My brothers! A mother does not give milk to her child until he cries and demands it. When a manfeels thirsty and he searches for water, God brings him to it. If you yourselves are not concious of your thirst it will be useless if even a well brimming with water appears before you. You must first understand what a great loss you are suffering by remaining ignorant of Islam. The Book of God is with you but you do not know what is written in it. You do not even know the meaning of the Kalimah [la ilaha illa 'llah Muhammadu 'r-rasulu'llah], by reciting which you enter Islam; nor do you appreciate what responsibilities devolve on you after reciting this Kalimah. Can there be greater loss than this for a Muslim?

You know the damage caused if crops are burnt; you know the suffering which results from failure to earn a livelihood; you know the harm resulting from loss of property. But you do not know the loss of being ignorant of Islam. When you understand the nature of this loss, you will yourselves come and ask to be spared it. And when you make this request then, insya'allah, means will be available to restore this greatest gift to you.".........

My God! Ninety years later, we Muslims the world over, are still where the peasant farmers of Darul Islam were! It is never too late though to 're-energise' ourselves.

Re-energise, we have to as an ummah.Just look around us, we have Checnya,Palestine, Iraq, Iran,Bosnia Herzogovina, Libya, Sudan, Mindanao, Somalia, Patani, Afghanistan,Pakistan and all the 'Stans.Anytime 'we' have some semblance of Islamic government emerging,the Kufr West and East will find , create or covertly induce rhyme and reasons to 'invade' us. It is no longer space physics to come to this conclusion. They will do it under the name of anything 'under the sun'. We are 1.5 billions, but treated like flotsams in the ocean waves, pushed aside. Our women got raped, our men slauhtered and shot at like dogs, our voices at the UN muffled and not listened to. Puppet government set up and propped up .No wonder we still are governed by our very own people all across the world who are dictators, rulers, clowns and hangers on who should be 'lead' rather than 'leaders'.
How do we change this? Still back to my favourite maxim: Ilm, Ilm, Ilm and Ilm.Do not under-estimate the power of an enlightened masses. It is happening right infront of our very eyes back home in Malaysia.[ NTR may be out of job if he does not take stock of the changes around him ]

Read Maududi's "Let Us Be Muslims".You will generally find, as I did as I go through the chapters, that you are not doing too badly as a Muslim, until you reach the climax in the last chapter. Then, It feels like falling down a steep cliff!This sense of finality and inadequacy in one's faith and the need to get on further to a higher spiritual plane, is what I think make many and especially the West abhors him. They would rather have our ummah be permanently subserviant and permanent slaves to them rather than to God.

Read.... Read..Read in the name of thy Lord..Iqra!!! Masha'allah.

Conversattions on Islam : Tariq Ramadan on Women's Right and Ijtihad

Islam in principle does not have problem with women, scientific progress or modernity.Some Muslims have.The scriptures are there, the seerah and sunnah are well laid out. The problems are not with them . The problem lies with the reader. This in essence is what Prof Tariq Ramadan, Swiss by birth, Islam by faith and spirit, seem to be saying wherever he goes.

He is a very busy man nowadays, besieged by traditional scholars for perceived 'playing to the gallery' and apologist to the West,hammered by Western secularists 'for still being too Islamic',courted by the 'munafikuns from within and from without',misquoted by many, and yet increasingly popular within the context of European Muslims as their spokesperson.Islam is the fastest growing religion in Europe and America where there are growing disenchantment and disappoitment with the soul-decaying forces of materialism and traditional belief in the nebulous and indefensible concept of Trinity.

My personal reading of Tariq Ramadan is that here is a suave contemporary scholar who is worth watching. European and American Muslims are going through a rough spell with Islamophobia."Siasah" par excelence is required to move forward.One cannot expect erudite scholars entrenched in Al Azhar, in a milieu of almost 100 % Muslim, to fully comprehend and emphaties with the problems of European and American Muslims.Their context and nuances differ slightly but significantly.I particularly like his practical 'helicopter' view of Islam in Europe: One has to view Europe as an opportunity to develop rather than take a myopic xenophobic and defensive view and subscribe to a dichotomy of Darul Harb and Darul Islam . Europe and America is Darul Da'awa and Darul Syuhada.A reorientation of notions rather than crass
rebranding of Islam [ Liberal Islam, Islam Hadhari seem stupid ].

Islam is afterall a universal Din to save the whole of humanity, Muslims and non Muslims.

Thus, despite the continuous onslought on Islam and 'talibanization' and demonization of anything Islamic by an 'unfriendly and biased' Western press and media, more and more people are seeing through the thick veil of hypocrisy and false media blitz.
Listen to Tariq Ramadan on Women's Right, Ijtihad and etc and etc:

Retrieved from QuranSpeaks's Channel on Youtube

Women's Rights



Ijtehad - Independent Reasoning


PS: My main worry is unless we have more Tariq Ramadans in Europe and America, even he may follow the fate that happened to Ismail Al Faruqi. Truth has a great propensity to create powerful and 'creative' enemies!

The True Nature Of Reality: The Grand Cosmic Plan

The beauty of Islam is more than what meets the eye and what we currently perceive.Islam is more than asking people to pray,zikr, giving alms,fasting and circumbulating the Kaaba during Haj.If it is ,we are taking a very narrow view of the Quran, prophet's seerah and Sunnah. Without ilm.ilm and ilm,we are going to miss the true beauty and splendour of being a Muslim.

This universe is an indivisible cosmic whole...Only Allah is Absolute and there is NOTHING, absolutely nothing, except Allah.That is a sufic viewpoint conceived around the time of Al Ghazali by the likes of ibnu Arabi and Shaykh Abdul Qadir al Jilani et al.Modern,quantum physics tempered with faiths and 'sublime' inspiration are just now beginning to come to term and telling us what the sufis had been telling the world one thousand years ago that, this IS THE CASE.

Enjoy the late Prof Muhammad Al Mahdi, American, psychologist, theoretical physicist, in his broad reaching explanation of Allah's cosmic plan which include a scientific overview of His physical universe, combined with our first glimpse of the spiritual world and the afterlife from the perspective of quantum physics and ' sublime' thought gathered through ,50 over years of soul-searching. Science without faith is like sailing in an uncharted ocean without compass. Faith without science is very safe for the sailor, but alas he never get out to sea at all and missed the pleasure of new lands and sailing itself.

Muhammad Al Mahdi, is not Einstein but what is a thousand Einsteins without faith?....They all got lost in the twigs and the branches,and missed the tree! Interestingly he started as an agnostic/atheist, typical among people delving in theoretical physics. A paradox which never fail to surprise me to the point whenever I have the opportunity to come in contact with them in my UK postgraduate days[ and that is rare because they are a rare breed] I never fail to ask them: " Do you not see God in your work?". They are in the business of going around 'looking at God's fingerprint in the universe. But 99.9 % of them are either atheists or agnostics. I consider myself blessed , in my nature of work, I get reminded of Him all the time.

This presentation will give us an unprecedented understanding of the exquisite magnificence of what it actually mean to be a Muslim in today's world. With enlightenment come empowerment.....followed by passion. It is passion that make our world go round!
Insyaallah.

Click Here for Video Link

Related articles:
1. Surah al Anbiya, Ayat 30 ,Big Bang and a Century of Science 1
2. Big Bang and a Century of science 2

May your Ramadan and mine be a blessed one!

Dr Nik Howk

Islam and the West : A Conversation with Prof Bernard Lewis

Bernard Lewis,born in 1916, to middle class Jewish parents in Stoke Newington, London. 'Chief Guru'to current generation of Orientalists.Professor at Princeton University,along with Georgtown's John Esposito et al, were intellectual guru to Dick Cheny and the Bush Administration in their 'war on terror'..

The late Prof Edward Said, literary theorist and professor at Columbia University once had a running debate with Lewis and described him as "...dangerous as his knowledge of the Middle East was so biased he should not be taken seriously...The field of orientalism as a field with political intellectualism bent on self affirmation rather than objective study, a form of racism and a tool for imperialist domination....and Bernard Lewis is in the forefront of today's orientalism, he is the god father"

This 2006 interview with Bernard Lewis was testimony to what Edward Said had to say with respect to Lewis: HERE
The present quagmire in Iraq and Afghanistan speak volumes of the flawed advice given to Bush et al in the main due to gross 'misreading of the Arab world.Is this intentional[ or intellectual dishonesty] given Bernard Lewis's background and pro Zionist stance??

Edward Said may be 'boiling' in his grave.....

A 'European Muslim' : Prof Tariq Ramadan

Prof Tariq Ramadan, taught theology in University of Oxford. 47, born and bred in Geneva,Switzerland, grandson of Hassan Al Banna, the founder of Ikhwanul Muslimin.

Another 'purveyor of truth and peace' to the point his visa to the USA in order to take up a 3-year, proffesorial appointment at University of Notre Dame was cancelled, on the basis of his contribution to HAMAS and that he provided the 'intellectual fuel for radical Islamism'!!![ In this borderless world ,be careful even when you are doing your private things in the loo: Big brother is watching you !]

But then, he was also not wanted in some majority Muslim countries due to his eloquence on their dictatorial and 'non Islamic practice' and also his reformist agenda......

Discover him on the following Utube presentations:

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall

Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall's classic translation of The Glorious Koran exemplifies one of the only three important and 'divinely accountable amal' recognised in Islam where man can continue to benefit in his 'alam barzark' after this short sojourn on Planet Earth: ilm for other lesser mortals, like millions and millions of us, to educate and motivate ourselves individually in 'our journeying toward that final meeting with the Lord of the universe'. The other two are 'sedekah jariah' and lastly,'soleh and solehah' offsprings who continually 'dua' and pray for their parents' well being' in the 'afterlife'.[ The last one sounds easy but at best, if our children just do not 'burden' us from their kufr activities and thus become a 'fitnah' to us in our graves, 'we' should already be contented! Have we given them enough 'education' to expect those 'dua and prayers' when we ourselves are yet not 'Muslim enough'??]


Pickthall has[ the accent if you notice is in the 'present tense' as ulema' like him never die ] an enviable position. Just how many millions of us got enlightened on a daily basis via his Old English translation of The Glorious Koran. Purists among us will say, and my God! They will continue to say until Doomsday, that the Qur'an must be only appreciated in it's original Arabic. As usual, so many champions of Form over Substance!


'Future' history will finally tell us that the 'battleground' of Truth, Justice, Fairness and PEACE will finally be fought and won on the hallowed fields of Europe! Not in the Middle East[ nothing is worst in this world than an agnostic Arab, and we have just too many Qaruns now lording over massive amount of petrodollars ], nor Confucious and mainly 'pagan and materialist' Asia [ how many billion Chinese are there whose main preoccupation and god is MONEY ]. After Europe, America will just fall like a domino. I have no doubt about this: World dominance in the future is not about nuclear warheads or economic superiority. It is about Truth, Forgiveness and Peace and man's innate romance with these virtues. Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall, along with Abdullah Yusuf Ali, is a purveyor of Truth, Forgiveness and Peace to the English speaking world.


Truth: One cannot put a lid over it for very long. It is bubbling to come out.
In present day world without borders,Truth, when it get a real chance to appeal to the "rational" man of Europe, would be more potent than a thousand ICBM's!


When Allah's succour and the triumph cometh[1] And then seest mankind entering the religion of Allah in troops,[2] Then hymm the praises of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him. Lo! He is ever ready to show mercy.[3]
[ An-Nasr , 110 ]


http://www.masud.co.uk/ISLAM/bmh/BMM-AHM-pickthall_bio.htm

Muhammad al Ghazali : Al Saff, Surah 61[ The Rank ]

Friends ,

Reading the Quran this morning and counterchecking it's meaning and tafsir with Muhammad al Ghazali's treatment of Surah al Saff, yet again gave me pleasure, for indeed there are more similarities and shared virtues between us Muslims and our Christian brothers, than differences. Why they are still 'continuing in their crusading and aggresive mode' against Islam and Muslims all across the globe escaped me! Of course they say they dont but to yet again pararaphrase Colonel Muamar Gaddafi, "all of us are not donkeys!".Let us ponder how Al Ghazali look at surah Al Saff, a short surah of 14 ayats:....................

************

"Great missions require strong support and sincerity and cannot be upheld and defended with mere lip service. Cowards and feeble minded people have no leadership role to play. Falsehood is usually supported by audacious self-serving individuals[ we have been seeing too many of this locally here lately...my comment ], and can only be defeated by strong self-sacrifying believers who give all they have for the sake of upholding the truth and establishing the divine world order on this earth.

The Qur'an tells us: "Had he willed, God could have punished them , butHe ordained that He might test you by means of one another"[Muhammad:4]

Empty threats and false claims acheive nothing. hencethe reproach: "Believers, why do you profess what you never do? It is most odious in God's sight that you should say what you do not do"[2-3]. A believer devotes his whole life to the service of God. He blends with the world around him and acts in total harmony with his environment to sing the praises of God Almighty. Skeptics, on the other hand, are dissenters who represent an abberation, an anomaly, in God's vision of the world.

The surah opens with the assertion: "All that is in the heavens and on earth glorifies God. He is the Almighty, the Wise'[1]. It then goes on to condemn those whose actions contradict their words, denouncing those communities that rejected God's guidance and showed hostility towards His messengers.

At the forefront of such communities were the early Israelites who antagonized Moses and caused him no end of hardship. They lost their nerves when it came to facing their enemies and soon squandered the scriptures that were revealed to them. The surah elaborates:

And remember Moses who said to his people, "My people, why do you seek to harm me when you know well that I am a messenger from God to you?" And when they went astray, God let their hearts go astray.[5]

They were castigated for their betrayal of Moses and their refusal to face their enemies.

The surah then goes on to state that Jesus had come with a message from God that was specific to a predetermined time and place. he was sent to lead the Israelites back to God's path, remind them of the Torah they had abandoned, treat their psychological and social ills, and pave the way for a universal message that would address the whole of humanity with the divine world order. It says:

And remember Jesus the son of Mary, who said to the Israelites, "I am a messenger from God to you to confirm the Torah that was revealed before me and to bring you news of a messenger who will come after me whose name shall be Ahmad....."[6]

The books of the New Testament, written several years after Jesus, make curious reference to the same effect. Matthews 24 reads:

And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because wickedness is multiplied, most men's love will grow old. But he who endured to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.

John 14 reports that Jesus had said: " If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be wth you forever..."

Who would preach the word of God throughout the world until the end? Who would this "Counsellor" be whose message would endure for ever? Does this description fit any personality in history other than that of Muhammad?

I follow Muhammad because the Book he brought agrees with my instinct and with my conscience. I came to know God through my rational powers, having reflected on my own being and the world around me. The Qur'an is not in need of verification or authenticity from any other scriptures or prophecies. It contains the proof for its geniousness; it is totally self evident.

The surah goes on:

And who is more wicked than a man who invents falsehood about God even as he is being invited to Islam? God does not guide the wrong doers. They seek to extinguish the light of God [by blowing at it] with their mouths, but God will complete His light however much the disbelievers may dislike it.[7-8]

The human mind is the greatest gift God has given to man. Any belief or faith that is not founded on a rational and intelligent basis is worthless. Nevertheless, many people would rather close their minds and suspend their rational faculties altogether.

The surah closes with two important concept that reinforce what it had already emphasized at the beginning. The first is that life is based on faith and hard work: "Believe in God and His messenger and strive for the cause of God with your wealth and your souls"[11]. The second is that believers must be ready at all times to uphold and defend the word of God. Just as Muslims respond immediately to the call for prayer, they must be prepared to serve the cause of God at all times using everything in their power.

The surah tells us that when he needed the support of followers, Jesus evoked their faith in God. It says:

Believers, be supporters of God's cause, just as Jesus the son of Mary said to the disciples, " Who will support me for the cause of God?". The disciples replied. " We will support the cause of God."[14]

Like Muhammad's Companions, the disciples of Jesus provided him with the strength he needed to propagate his message and fulfill his mission. Today, Islam is in greater need for Muslims to understand and appreciate the true meaning of the words: "Be supporters of God's cause"[14].

****************

.............................The current 'holier than thou' precept and hypocritical as well as self-deceptive 'War on Terror' by the now 'secular Christians' West who themselves have lost the' right direction' that was originally shown by our prophet, Jesus, has to end. Like that Paulian's concept of Trinity, this thing about 'War on Terror' when repeated over and over more than a 'zillion' times, will be accepted as Gospel truth, even though in reality, it is just an exercise in mass deception. A New World Order has to be pursued collectively on more solid foundation of Justice,Fairness and Truth.Out of these we have Forgiveness and Peace.

Dr Nik Howk

PS: That concludes my 'campaign' to get you guys 'friendly' with one of the great ulama' of our time, who has since gone on to join his 'Lover' into the 'Realm of the Unseen': Shaykh Muhammad al Ghazali[ circa Sept 1917-March 1996, former Chairman of Academic Council, of the International Institute of Islamic Thought, Cairo. Author of "A Thematic Commentary On The Qur'an].