"WE HAVE A LOT TO LEARN"
By Dr Faisal Al Qasim, Special to Gulf News
05 September 2009
There is no doubting the fact that Arabs and Muslims are sadly the most regressive people in the world, according to the Human Development Reports supervised by renowned Muslim and Arab scholars, and released by the UN and other similar reports. In other words, the term 'Muslim' has been linked, in the minds of the people of the world, with violence, terrorism, anarchy, chaos, disturbances, famine, poverty and backwardness. There are of course certain exceptions to this rule, but not many.
Even Pakistan , a nuclear power, is at risk of becoming a failed state, due to poverty, corruption, internal fighting and political mismanagement. And when it comes to Turkey , seen as an exception in the Muslim world, the secularists there consider themselves closer to the West than to the Muslim world. They also ascribe the progress achieved by their country in many fields to a secular approach, rather than the influence of Islam. I have heard top Turkish scholars, thinkers and politicians say that they prefer to be at the rearguard of the Western world than at the vanguard of the Muslim world.
It goes without saying that some Arab countries exist in a less developed state politically, let alone scientifically or technologically.
Why are those who are supposed to be 'the best of all peoples', as revealed in the Quran, lagging behind? Why are the supposedly infidel people of the world making great progress in various fields, while the 'faithful' are lagging behind everybody else?
Ironically enough, a huge percentage of the Chinese people, whose number is approaching 1.5 billion, are atheists. But these non-believers have achieved the highest development rate the world over - it reached 13 per cent at one stage. Add to this the fact that these atheists have 'invaded' almost every house in the world with their products. A high-ranking Chinese official once bragged that, "It is China and not the United States of America that is invading the world". He challenged the Americans to get their products into a quarter of the houses entered by Chinese products. The official also bragged that the Chinese have 'invaded' the US itself. "Aren't the American flags fluttering over the White House made in China ?" he asked.
Experts predict that, in the near future, half of the products that will be sold in the world will be made by the Chinese. Even the Ramadan lambs that are slaughtered by Muslims in Cairo and other Muslim and Arab countries are raised in China . The prayer mats used by faithful Muslims the world over are made by Chinese non-believers, who only believe in doing their jobs in a very sincere and faithful manner. It goes without saying that all the little presents, such as rosaries and Islamic handicrafts, that the pilgrims take home with them after the pilgrimage season are made in China .
It is true that a Muslim country such as Malaysia has made great progress technologically, but some argue that were it not for the Chinese minority in that country, the Malaysians would not have been able to achieve what they have.
And if we consider the second-most progressive country in the world, India , we find that the majority of the people there revere cows. But that has not prevented them from competing with America in the computer industry, to the extent that the famous American writer Thomas Friedman fears that Silicon Valley will one day relocate to India.
In other words, the most progressive people in the world are non-believers by Islamic standards whereas we, Muslims, ironically waste most of our time classifying the peoples of the world into believers and non-believers, and fighting among ourselves over who is more 'faithful'.
I wish we spent more time learning from the non-believers, who produce most of the products we buy. If we had, we would probably be less regressive.
This is by no means a call for atheism - God forbid - but a suggestion that we better ourselves, as our great religion instructs us to do. The great Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) called upon us to seek knowledge - even in China.
Dr Faisal Al Qasim is a Syrian journalist based in Doha .
--
By Dr Faisal Al Qasim, Special to Gulf News
05 September 2009
...................................................................................
Dr Nik Howk......
My take on this issue is that KNOWLEDGE or ILM, or the lack of it, is not the main factor that ails us the Muslim ummah. We have more problem than than. Our 'software' have been invaded by a virus decades ago!
The Chinese in China or the Indians in India, are apparently prospering now not because there have a greater monopoly of ILM. There is a combination of extremely cheap labour in abundance, the philosophy of the 'godliness' of money, and the lack of a belief in the afterlife among the ruling and business elites of these two giants, among other things contribute to their apparent success. Their so-called apparent success, we as an ummah do not envy, and we do not need to follow. I say apparent because the great majority of the people in these two countries still live below the poverty lines.Dr Faisal Al Qasim is being too superficial in his thought.
Having said that we are still 'among the low of the low' in whatever indices of 'good living' that we care to compare: literacy rate, maternal mortality, infant mortality, GNP, Per Capita Income, corruption Index, human right, Income distribution index,....and whatever that you care to name
The word Muslim now conjures the suffering of Somalia from years of big power politics, Palestinians under decades of Israeli inhuman maneuvers and time wasting tactics,Afghanistan increasingly under the tight grip of the crusading armies of the West, and elsewhere not very much different.Poverty,low income, abuses of power from a minority of those in power.Low literacy, low expectation and blind acceptance from the 'ruled' ummah seem to be the order of the day. Why is this so?????
My feeling is that decades of colonialization had damage the Muslim's "software": The very thing that had propelled an ignorant desert tribe from a god forsaken barren corner of this planet to control two third of the known world by the 14th century.
The same "software" that had instigated Tariq Ziad some 13 centuries ago to burn his long boats on crossing the Strait of Jabal Tariq, and brought light , science and a civilising influence on barbaric Europe to what is now known as the European Renaisance.
Part of the equation to Faisal Al Qasim's zigsaw puzzle, I feel, in the main, could be found, in a re-examination of our daily prayer. Yes, I do not feel I need to apologise for it being too simple. We have to re-examine the content and the true meaning of our daily prayer!
Minimum five times a day we professed that " Our prayers, our lives and even our death are for Allah and Allah only...".We described God, in our opening gambit of Al Fatihah as " The Most Beneficient, The Most Merciful".No poets dead or alive, or other religions could describe God better than what Prophet Mohammad did. If they are able to, I for one would like to change to that religion!
At least 17 times a day , as in Al Fatihah, we ask " that Allah show us the straight path, the path not trodden by those who earned His wrath, and not those who are behaving like they are lost sheep".
My contention is that most of us have become like the modern day 'robots'.We either do not comprehend what we pray for, and for those who can understand Arabic, do not mean what their lips say. In short ,we do not care.
That is just one side of the equation.
The other missing link is The Book. Worldwide we no longer understand The Book. We read like parrots do with no comprehension.
In 2009, the world has markedly changed from the world of our Prophet in 600 plus AD, but The Book is still The BOOK. Man has split the atom to harness energy and win wars.Man has controlled the microbial world with vaccinations and antibiotics. Man has gone to the moon and planning to go to Mars. But in other respect, man has not changed very much.We still have to contend with Pharoahs,Qaruns,with millions of Abdullah bin Ubays, with Abu Lahabs and Abu Jahals, with Suffians and Hinduns. They just come under different names now: Bush, Blair, Nethalnyyu,Gamal Naseer, Sadam, Mubarak etc, etc and etc. In the face of these characters,The Book has increasingly become more relevent.
But just how many of us understand The Book? Of those who understand,how many of us lived by The Book? Just last week we have a Muslim professor from a Sumatran Islamic University who went on Aljazira infront of 400 million audience saying that the Syariah should not and could not be applied to Indonesia, a country with more than 90 % Muslim population.That to him will tantamount to a basic sin against Pancasila!A Prof in Islamic theology! I wish I was there. I could have smashed his brain to pieces!
That is the extent of the 'damaged software': A professor teaching Islam in a 90 % Muslim majority country coming with that most profound conclusion about Islam ! Mashaallah! And when we have Tsunami and earthquakes hitting Indonesia we blame the weather. We blame and rationalise everything but left God's wrath conveniently behind. It is no longer fashionable and politically correct it seem to blame God's wrath.
You may think I am rather simplistic in my assertion. OK fine. Let us get back home to Malaysia and take one example:
Just one simple example in Malaysia. W e all are passionate about Halal and Haram with respect to food especially. If we just practice the principle of Halal food alone quite strictly,we could just bring the whole food industry in Malaysia ,which is sadly almost 90% controlled by Non Muslims, on their bended knees....all restaurants claiming to serve Halal food must have 30% Muslim content, ie cooks/supervisors etc and etc, otherwise we are not going to be their customers.We are not going to war, we are just not going to into their restaurants until there are tangible proof that the food they serve are halal!
There are 1.5 billion Muslims out there....Imagine the impact just on the basis of Halal and Haram. And we do not even have to talk about using OUR OIL as a weapon yet!Muslim countries are mainly lined around the equator.Do you guys wonder why solar panels is still expensive?.....Lack of drive to make it cheap.Why should the West do solar research when the Muslims already have oil.They are not morons, the West I mean. We are morons for expecting them to !...We can go to the next level if we reinvent and rediscover our strenght...
And this is just about understanding our prayer and practising some of the precepts from The Book. We are not delving as yet into the Muslims going in a big way into ILM, breaking the atom for peaceful use,cleaving the genes to find cure for illnesses, and bankcrupting all the Jewish banks, with personal alms and zero interest loans!
The Book talks about "utopia". A world that has done away with banks because poor people are looked after by their rich neighbours by alms and by interest free loans which could be turned to grants if they end up poorer! A world without child molestation,rape , robberies and plunder by the rich and powerful, because the Hudud laws when applied with wisdom would be a deterrent.A world of cheap electricity and power because there is proper research into solar energy utilisation and peaceful usage of nuclear fission energy. A world of excess food production and equitable sharing of technology and knowlege-based industries, where they is no Bill Gates or what have you saying that that basmati rice you ate last week is still due to him because he has a monopoly of the gene!.A world in which knowledge and the search for knowledge is based on human need and human decency rather than greed and the blind surge for power over others[ ..see earlier discussion on Islamisation of knowledge..]. Within predominantly Muslim countries, a world without the state police because self policing on the individual basis become more meaningful than community policing.
You may say that I am , just like John Lennon, a dreamer! You may say that what I have described is just an Utopia. But yes indeed! The Book is just about 'Utopia", just that we Muslims failed to comprehend and 'sell it to the world at large'.
Imagine, our Rulers, Kings, Prime Ministers, Generals, Administrators, Business giants, Shakers and Movers and the masses with their 'empowered prayers' and ILM. The Muslim world will not be crawling on their bended knees, as what is happening now, waiting for crumbs to fall from the Presidential High Table of Obama, Sarkozy and Angela Meckel.They represent the lost sheep. They should be the ones crawling.......crawling to Islam for answers.
"Allah would not change a people until they change their hearts".......[ The Quran ]
The accent there my dear friends is on the "hearts": The "changing of hearts".
Dr Nik Howk
"And in truth We have made the Qur'an easy to remember; but is there any that remembereth?" [ Surah Al Qamar , 54:40 ]
"O mankind! Lo! We have created you from male and female, and have made you nations and tribes that ye may know one another. Lo! the noblest of you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct. Lo! Allah is Knower, Aware." [ Surah Al Hujurat,13]
"Ye should believe in Allah and His messenger, and should strive for the cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives. That is better for you, if ye did but know. (11) He will forgive you your sins and bring you into Gardens underneath which rivers flow, and pleasant dwellings in Gardens of Eden. That is the supreme triumph. (12)"
[ As Saff , 61 :11-12 ]
"The wandering Arabs say: We believe. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Ye believe not, but rather say "We submit," for the faith hath not yet entered into your hearts. Yet, if ye obey Allah and His messenger, He will not withhold from you aught of (the reward of) your deeds. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (14) The (true) believers are those only who believe in Allah and His messenger and afterward doubt not, but strive with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah. Such are the sincere." (15)
[ Surah Al Hujurat, 14-15 ].....Ilm is that missing link between just being a Badwi Muslim and a Mukmin..
Friday, November 27, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Letter to a prospective Son in Law....[ On Ranjan Das ]
Yazman,
You asked me why Ranjan Das, that young 42 year old, top and much talkabout Indian MNC CEO, died of a massive heart attack, after a robust workout in the gym. He was a keen marathoner.Everyone on the web has been asking whether this is related to lack of sleep!!??
First an foremost he is Indian. When I was a cardiology research registrar some 25 years back at St Bartholomews Hospital, London, my bosses there were surprised that the median age of our patients from the Indian sub-continent[ immigrants, legal and illegal ] were in their early 40 and late thirties, while the local 'whites' presented in the late 50's.This early experience 'coloured' my practice even now. If an Indian man come to see me in my clinic nowadays complaining of 'atypical' chest pain, I would not send him home , until minimum he had shown he had a normal'stress ECG'. That is standard operating procedure in my sub-concious.As early as in the mid seventies, we MU students were always hammered by Prof TJ Danaraj that "coronary disease is not an elite disease.It is highest in the poor Indian rubber tapper".That may sound racial but it is a fact. That time we have not yet coined the term 'Insulin resistance' and 'metabolic syndrome'.
It is an Indian disease .At least in Malaysia,next come the Malays and only lastly ,Chinese.
To put things in proper perspective, many more seemingly fit people die from a 'coronary' at even younger age. Just 2 weeks ago a young estate agent, aged 32 was admitted to our medical facilty in the wee hours of the morning with a massive heart attack. I pushed him straight from ER to our 'cath lab' and carried out primary infarct angioplasty and coronary stenting.He had complete occlusion of his left main stem artery.How he managed to reach our hospital intact was beyond me.Left main stem occlusion normally does mean instant death, on the spot.He had cardiac arrest while I was talking to him in ER, arrested agian on the table while I was opening his arteries. Arrested several times in the CCU. Difficult case plus plus plus.He anyway died 4 days later despite heroic post procedure measures with aided ventilation and intra-aortic balloon pump counter pulsation [ IABP ]inserted to help his beating heart, due to what 'we' euphemistically called " pump failure". There is no more adequate 'living' heart muscles to adequately pump the blood around the young body.
My youngest 'coronary' patients was however years ago when I was a lecturer in HUKM. He was a 22 year Chinese motor mechanic. Not CEO of course.
I used to jokingly tell all my male coronary patients, to the consternation of their wives ,if they were around, that "Life for man, at least ,really starts at 50.The clock though starts ticking at 40"...The wife stopped getting angry with me after the added proviso....If I go into the actual ramifications and the meaning of this seemingly pseudo-profound statement of mine, I run the actual risk of being called an Ustaz by the end of the consultation....But really life is like that.From my vantage point, I can say that life is actually more fragile than one actually think.
One can have a burst artery in the brain,block a left main in the heart,had a fatal heart rhtym out of the blue, or a beam can fall on one's head from nowhere!....and you just die.Only when this happened to happen to a VIP,only then everyone and sundry start asking ..."Eh how come he could die soo young !?".
But before we go off thinking living is dangerous, let us stop for a moment and take a deep breath and sigh: People just do not die because of too much work or to much lack of sleep,too much study, or too much thinking.....Let us return to our Prophet's sirah..
Our Prophet on most nights woke in the last third of the night and 'berzikir' and 'tahujjud', oftentimes till both feet get oedematous and swollen due to prolonged standing, reading Al-Baqarah, An Nisa, Ali Imran and several other surah at one go, during the rakaat.During the day he went to the market place trying to earn a decent living ,earning a morsel here and a morsel there. He was the kaiser of Arabia but lived like a pauper! He lived up to the ripe old age of 63, fighting against kufr, right up to his death, was judge,permanent imam for Masjid Nabawi and never relegating any prayer to an assistant right up to his last days..... Prime Minister ,Head of State,Field Marshal,father and perfect husband to nine happy and fullfilled women, all in one! The average life expectancy around that time must have been in the late 30's or probably early 40's, due to ravages of infections, lack of sanitation ,poor nutrition, no vaccination, no antibiotics, no hospitals, etc etc and etc.
[ read LONGEVITY]
When our Prophet died he did not have a coronary or a brain stem stroke. From the detailed description of his sirah, the description of the feverish torment that he went through, I think our Prophet had a fatal bout of typhoid fever.
He lived a life of active piety,low caloric intake ,full of thought and dzikir all the time, an excellent example for his people of that era and for generations to come till Doomsday.His worldly needs were simple. He lead the obligatory prayers all the time except on the day when he was dying when Abu Bakar took over. He just celebrated life to the fullest the only way he was taught to do by the One and Only:Only to worship Allah and follow His precepts and be an example par excellence to Man of that generations and all future generations. He was and is the Perfect Man..
Needless to say, his stress level from the 'kuffars' of Mekkah, the 'Munafikuns' of Medina,and the Jews surrounding Medina must be tremendous, but those lonely night virgils, those 'zikir' and those 'tahajjuds' must have been an effective de-stressors for him. But of course as a leader par excellence he did not need to worry about to which crony he should siphon the massive 'wang ehsan Petronas',which 'durian contractors and pickers' he should select to look after this and that dusuns' all over the place[ the super big dusuns are called 'GLC's ], no Scorpene, MISC nor Altantunya. Neither did he has to worry which public 'accountants to promote' to look after the national treasury. Preferably those with exceptional 'creative accounting' talent, who has the magic to turn a couple of billion RM loss this year to a couple of billion profit the next!....and which 'young' punk to look after national investments, and which 'holes' in PKFTZ to close and which 'holes' to just leave open. No false KPI's either to consider.
Of durian pickers and dusuns, there are small pickers and small dusuns, medium and large sized dusuns with many pickers and durian contractors. Some are just for tax diversions,some for national and 'by-erection' purposes, some for show and some just for the Puan Sris and Datin Sris. Complex and complicated,our Malaysian political, cultural and economic millieu nowadays, certainly not available during Prophet's time, thank God!.... Without all these worries to 'kacau into' the prophetic duties and responsibilities, certainly probably did help in not increasing the stress load...Life since then has become more complex and muddled.
What a digression this 'Ustaz'. A bad habit. Back to Ranjan Das,that, young upstart from India: Why did he die so young? If it is not due to sleep deprivation ,than what is it?
We know that a person at his age can have plaques in the heart's arteries ,coronary arteries, which are really slight indentations on the arterial surface, may be mild , due to chplesterol and lipid accumulation under the surface.During period of stress, these 'weak points along the surface of the artery can at times, rupture and result in a small'bleb' impeding the natural flow of blood in the heart circulation. From there cause escalation of the coagulative process in the artery at the site of rupture causing a blood clot to develop and cause disruption of blood flow.Dont ask me why it can happen: this is G.O.K., an act of God." Lo! and thou wilt die.And lo! they wilt die."[ Az Zumar, 39:30 ]."And Lo! Unto our Lord we are returning." [ Al Zuhruf, 43:14 ]
A total disruption and blockade result in a heart attack.Dependent on where this blockade is ie whether it block a major vessel or a minor one or a branch,you either live thru the attack or you die.Statistically out of a hundred heart attack,30 die before reaching the hospitals. out of 70 who reach the hospital, 5 dont make it.
Stress, stress ,stress stress and stress can induce plaque rupture. The good news is middle of the night tahajjud, zikir, contemplation,leading a 'clean life' and definitely also this lack of interest in "other people's 'money and worldly possesions" can lead to less stress.
I keep reminding my patients, "The clock start ticking when you reach 40.Life really starts after 50". But obviously our national leaders do not think so. That is why you can see these days so many young punks who are still wet in between the ears, running our 'dusuns',super-big, big and small, and what have you.Knowledge is cheap.Experience burns your age. Wisdom, that is elusive.
Perhaps my next blog should be: " Of durian pickers and durian contractors"... Some other time.
Have a nice weekend in Bintulu! Dont ask about how they are going to spend your 'dusun' income.[" Yours are not to ask why,yours are just to do and die": The Charge of the Light Brigade, Lord Tennyson"] You young man, just do your work in the 'dusun' diligently and carefully.No 'outage' or whatever....that is 25% of our GNP daily.Even when you have the opportunity to get up the ladder in future and hand-picked to be a small'dusun durian contractor' don't ever get into the temptation of keeping some of those 'durians' and bring home the leftovers.Let your "boss" or his Datin Sri decide what they want to do with all the durians. That is their own funeral.They are answerable to their Gods, you,yours. Better still be more creative. Get out of this 'dusun' thing, and do something on your own.
Not good for your long term 'health', even being a good 'dusun contractor', I mean. You just ask your 'big boss', Hassan, in 6 months time, I am sure he will attest to that.
Take care!
Dr Nik Howk
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/
"And We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in play.
We created them not save with truth; but most of them know not."
[ Ad Dukhan, 44:38-39 ]
You asked me why Ranjan Das, that young 42 year old, top and much talkabout Indian MNC CEO, died of a massive heart attack, after a robust workout in the gym. He was a keen marathoner.Everyone on the web has been asking whether this is related to lack of sleep!!??
First an foremost he is Indian. When I was a cardiology research registrar some 25 years back at St Bartholomews Hospital, London, my bosses there were surprised that the median age of our patients from the Indian sub-continent[ immigrants, legal and illegal ] were in their early 40 and late thirties, while the local 'whites' presented in the late 50's.This early experience 'coloured' my practice even now. If an Indian man come to see me in my clinic nowadays complaining of 'atypical' chest pain, I would not send him home , until minimum he had shown he had a normal'stress ECG'. That is standard operating procedure in my sub-concious.As early as in the mid seventies, we MU students were always hammered by Prof TJ Danaraj that "coronary disease is not an elite disease.It is highest in the poor Indian rubber tapper".That may sound racial but it is a fact. That time we have not yet coined the term 'Insulin resistance' and 'metabolic syndrome'.
It is an Indian disease .At least in Malaysia,next come the Malays and only lastly ,Chinese.
To put things in proper perspective, many more seemingly fit people die from a 'coronary' at even younger age. Just 2 weeks ago a young estate agent, aged 32 was admitted to our medical facilty in the wee hours of the morning with a massive heart attack. I pushed him straight from ER to our 'cath lab' and carried out primary infarct angioplasty and coronary stenting.He had complete occlusion of his left main stem artery.How he managed to reach our hospital intact was beyond me.Left main stem occlusion normally does mean instant death, on the spot.He had cardiac arrest while I was talking to him in ER, arrested agian on the table while I was opening his arteries. Arrested several times in the CCU. Difficult case plus plus plus.He anyway died 4 days later despite heroic post procedure measures with aided ventilation and intra-aortic balloon pump counter pulsation [ IABP ]inserted to help his beating heart, due to what 'we' euphemistically called " pump failure". There is no more adequate 'living' heart muscles to adequately pump the blood around the young body.
My youngest 'coronary' patients was however years ago when I was a lecturer in HUKM. He was a 22 year Chinese motor mechanic. Not CEO of course.
I used to jokingly tell all my male coronary patients, to the consternation of their wives ,if they were around, that "Life for man, at least ,really starts at 50.The clock though starts ticking at 40"...The wife stopped getting angry with me after the added proviso....If I go into the actual ramifications and the meaning of this seemingly pseudo-profound statement of mine, I run the actual risk of being called an Ustaz by the end of the consultation....But really life is like that.From my vantage point, I can say that life is actually more fragile than one actually think.
One can have a burst artery in the brain,block a left main in the heart,had a fatal heart rhtym out of the blue, or a beam can fall on one's head from nowhere!....and you just die.Only when this happened to happen to a VIP,only then everyone and sundry start asking ..."Eh how come he could die soo young !?".
But before we go off thinking living is dangerous, let us stop for a moment and take a deep breath and sigh: People just do not die because of too much work or to much lack of sleep,too much study, or too much thinking.....Let us return to our Prophet's sirah..
Our Prophet on most nights woke in the last third of the night and 'berzikir' and 'tahujjud', oftentimes till both feet get oedematous and swollen due to prolonged standing, reading Al-Baqarah, An Nisa, Ali Imran and several other surah at one go, during the rakaat.During the day he went to the market place trying to earn a decent living ,earning a morsel here and a morsel there. He was the kaiser of Arabia but lived like a pauper! He lived up to the ripe old age of 63, fighting against kufr, right up to his death, was judge,permanent imam for Masjid Nabawi and never relegating any prayer to an assistant right up to his last days..... Prime Minister ,Head of State,Field Marshal,father and perfect husband to nine happy and fullfilled women, all in one! The average life expectancy around that time must have been in the late 30's or probably early 40's, due to ravages of infections, lack of sanitation ,poor nutrition, no vaccination, no antibiotics, no hospitals, etc etc and etc.
[ read LONGEVITY]
When our Prophet died he did not have a coronary or a brain stem stroke. From the detailed description of his sirah, the description of the feverish torment that he went through, I think our Prophet had a fatal bout of typhoid fever.
He lived a life of active piety,low caloric intake ,full of thought and dzikir all the time, an excellent example for his people of that era and for generations to come till Doomsday.His worldly needs were simple. He lead the obligatory prayers all the time except on the day when he was dying when Abu Bakar took over. He just celebrated life to the fullest the only way he was taught to do by the One and Only:Only to worship Allah and follow His precepts and be an example par excellence to Man of that generations and all future generations. He was and is the Perfect Man..
Needless to say, his stress level from the 'kuffars' of Mekkah, the 'Munafikuns' of Medina,and the Jews surrounding Medina must be tremendous, but those lonely night virgils, those 'zikir' and those 'tahajjuds' must have been an effective de-stressors for him. But of course as a leader par excellence he did not need to worry about to which crony he should siphon the massive 'wang ehsan Petronas',which 'durian contractors and pickers' he should select to look after this and that dusuns' all over the place[ the super big dusuns are called 'GLC's ], no Scorpene, MISC nor Altantunya. Neither did he has to worry which public 'accountants to promote' to look after the national treasury. Preferably those with exceptional 'creative accounting' talent, who has the magic to turn a couple of billion RM loss this year to a couple of billion profit the next!....and which 'young' punk to look after national investments, and which 'holes' in PKFTZ to close and which 'holes' to just leave open. No false KPI's either to consider.
Of durian pickers and dusuns, there are small pickers and small dusuns, medium and large sized dusuns with many pickers and durian contractors. Some are just for tax diversions,some for national and 'by-erection' purposes, some for show and some just for the Puan Sris and Datin Sris. Complex and complicated,our Malaysian political, cultural and economic millieu nowadays, certainly not available during Prophet's time, thank God!.... Without all these worries to 'kacau into' the prophetic duties and responsibilities, certainly probably did help in not increasing the stress load...Life since then has become more complex and muddled.
What a digression this 'Ustaz'. A bad habit. Back to Ranjan Das,that, young upstart from India: Why did he die so young? If it is not due to sleep deprivation ,than what is it?
We know that a person at his age can have plaques in the heart's arteries ,coronary arteries, which are really slight indentations on the arterial surface, may be mild , due to chplesterol and lipid accumulation under the surface.During period of stress, these 'weak points along the surface of the artery can at times, rupture and result in a small'bleb' impeding the natural flow of blood in the heart circulation. From there cause escalation of the coagulative process in the artery at the site of rupture causing a blood clot to develop and cause disruption of blood flow.Dont ask me why it can happen: this is G.O.K., an act of God." Lo! and thou wilt die.And lo! they wilt die."[ Az Zumar, 39:30 ]."And Lo! Unto our Lord we are returning." [ Al Zuhruf, 43:14 ]
A total disruption and blockade result in a heart attack.Dependent on where this blockade is ie whether it block a major vessel or a minor one or a branch,you either live thru the attack or you die.Statistically out of a hundred heart attack,30 die before reaching the hospitals. out of 70 who reach the hospital, 5 dont make it.
Stress, stress ,stress stress and stress can induce plaque rupture. The good news is middle of the night tahajjud, zikir, contemplation,leading a 'clean life' and definitely also this lack of interest in "other people's 'money and worldly possesions" can lead to less stress.
I keep reminding my patients, "The clock start ticking when you reach 40.Life really starts after 50". But obviously our national leaders do not think so. That is why you can see these days so many young punks who are still wet in between the ears, running our 'dusuns',super-big, big and small, and what have you.Knowledge is cheap.Experience burns your age. Wisdom, that is elusive.
Perhaps my next blog should be: " Of durian pickers and durian contractors"... Some other time.
Have a nice weekend in Bintulu! Dont ask about how they are going to spend your 'dusun' income.[" Yours are not to ask why,yours are just to do and die": The Charge of the Light Brigade, Lord Tennyson"] You young man, just do your work in the 'dusun' diligently and carefully.No 'outage' or whatever....that is 25% of our GNP daily.Even when you have the opportunity to get up the ladder in future and hand-picked to be a small'dusun durian contractor' don't ever get into the temptation of keeping some of those 'durians' and bring home the leftovers.Let your "boss" or his Datin Sri decide what they want to do with all the durians. That is their own funeral.They are answerable to their Gods, you,yours. Better still be more creative. Get out of this 'dusun' thing, and do something on your own.
Not good for your long term 'health', even being a good 'dusun contractor', I mean. You just ask your 'big boss', Hassan, in 6 months time, I am sure he will attest to that.
Take care!
Dr Nik Howk
http://drnikisahak.blogspot.com/
"And We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in play.
We created them not save with truth; but most of them know not."
[ Ad Dukhan, 44:38-39 ]
Friday, November 13, 2009
Biblical Stories in the Qur'an: [Surah Al-Naml, 27:15-44]
We verily gave knowledge unto David and Solomon, and they said: Praise be to Allah, Who hath preferred us above many of His believing slaves!
And Solomon was David's heir. And he said: O mankind! Lo! we have been taught the language of birds, and have been given abundance of all things. This surely is evident favour.
And there were gathered together unto Solomon his armies of the jinn and humankind, and of the birds, and they were set in battle order; Till, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant exclaimed: O ants! Enter your dwellings lest Solomon and his armies crush you, unperceiving.
And Solomon smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: My Lord, arouse me to be thankful for Thy favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good that shall be pleasing unto Thee, and include me in the number of Thy righteous slaves. And he sought among the birds and said: How is it that I see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent? I verily will punish him with hard punishment or I verily will slay him, or he verily shall bring me a plain excuse.
But he was not long in coming, and he said: I have found out (a thing) that thou apprehendest not, and I come unto thee from Sheba with sure tidings. Lo! I found a woman ruling over them, and she hath been given abundance of all things, and hers is a mighty throne. I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah; and Satan maketh their works fairseeming unto them, and debarreth them from the way (of Truth), so that they go not aright;
So that they worship not Allah, Who bringeth forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knoweth what ye hide and what ye proclaim, Allah; there is no God save Him, the Lord of the tremendous Throne.
Solomon said: We shall see whether thou speakest truth or whether thou art of the liars. Go with this my letter and throw it down unto them; then turn away and see what answer they return,
The Queen of Sheba said (when she received the letter): O chieftains! Lo! there hath been thrown unto me a noble letter. Lo! it is from Solomon, and lo! it is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; Exalt not yourselves against me, but come unto me as those who surrender.
She said: O chieftains! Pronounce for me in my case. I decide no case till ye are present with me.
They said: We are lords of might and lords of great prowess, but it is for thee to command; so consider what thou wilt command.
She said: Lo! kings, when they enter a township, ruin it and make the honour of its people shame. Thus will they do. But lo! I am going to send a present unto them, and to see with what (answer) the messengers return.
So when the envoy came unto Solomon, the King said: What! Would ye help me with wealth? But that which Allah hath given me is better than that which He hath given you. Nay it is ye ,and not I, who exult in your gift. Return unto them. We verily shall come unto them with hosts that they cannot resist, and we shall drive them out from thence with shame, and they will be abased.
He said: O chiefs! Which of you will bring me her throne before they come unto me, surrendering?
A stalwart of the jinn said: I will bring it thee before thou canst rise from thy place. Lo! I verily am strong and trusty for such work.
One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee.
And when he saw it set in his presence, Solomon said: This is of the bounty of my Lord, that He may try me whether I give thanks or am ungrateful. Whosoever giveth thanks he only giveth thanks for the good of his own soul; and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul's hurt). For lo! my Lord is Absolute in independence, Bountiful.
He said: Disguise her throne for her that we may see whether she will go aright or be of those not rightly guided.
So, when she came, it was said unto her: Is thy throne like this? She said: It is as though it were the very one.
And Solomon said: We were given the knowledge before her and we had surrendered to Allah. And all that she was wont to worship instead of Allah hindered her, for she came of disbelieving folk.
It was said unto her: Enter the hall. And when she saw it she deemed it a pool and bared her legs.
Solomon said: Lo! it is a hall, made smooth, of glass.
She said: My Lord! Lo! I have wronged myself, and I surrender with Solomon unto Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
[ Surah Al-Naml, 27 : 15-44 ]
"And Lo! This religion is one religion and I am your Lord, so keep your duty to Me.
But they mankind have broken their religion into sects, each sect rejoicing in its tenets.So leave them in error till a time."
[ Surah Al- Mukminun, 23: 52-54]
And Solomon was David's heir. And he said: O mankind! Lo! we have been taught the language of birds, and have been given abundance of all things. This surely is evident favour.
And there were gathered together unto Solomon his armies of the jinn and humankind, and of the birds, and they were set in battle order; Till, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant exclaimed: O ants! Enter your dwellings lest Solomon and his armies crush you, unperceiving.
And Solomon smiled, laughing at her speech, and said: My Lord, arouse me to be thankful for Thy favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and to do good that shall be pleasing unto Thee, and include me in the number of Thy righteous slaves. And he sought among the birds and said: How is it that I see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent? I verily will punish him with hard punishment or I verily will slay him, or he verily shall bring me a plain excuse.
But he was not long in coming, and he said: I have found out (a thing) that thou apprehendest not, and I come unto thee from Sheba with sure tidings. Lo! I found a woman ruling over them, and she hath been given abundance of all things, and hers is a mighty throne. I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah; and Satan maketh their works fairseeming unto them, and debarreth them from the way (of Truth), so that they go not aright;
So that they worship not Allah, Who bringeth forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knoweth what ye hide and what ye proclaim, Allah; there is no God save Him, the Lord of the tremendous Throne.
Solomon said: We shall see whether thou speakest truth or whether thou art of the liars. Go with this my letter and throw it down unto them; then turn away and see what answer they return,
The Queen of Sheba said (when she received the letter): O chieftains! Lo! there hath been thrown unto me a noble letter. Lo! it is from Solomon, and lo! it is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; Exalt not yourselves against me, but come unto me as those who surrender.
She said: O chieftains! Pronounce for me in my case. I decide no case till ye are present with me.
They said: We are lords of might and lords of great prowess, but it is for thee to command; so consider what thou wilt command.
She said: Lo! kings, when they enter a township, ruin it and make the honour of its people shame. Thus will they do. But lo! I am going to send a present unto them, and to see with what (answer) the messengers return.
So when the envoy came unto Solomon, the King said: What! Would ye help me with wealth? But that which Allah hath given me is better than that which He hath given you. Nay it is ye ,and not I, who exult in your gift. Return unto them. We verily shall come unto them with hosts that they cannot resist, and we shall drive them out from thence with shame, and they will be abased.
He said: O chiefs! Which of you will bring me her throne before they come unto me, surrendering?
A stalwart of the jinn said: I will bring it thee before thou canst rise from thy place. Lo! I verily am strong and trusty for such work.
One with whom was knowledge of the Scripture said: I will bring it thee before thy gaze returneth unto thee.
And when he saw it set in his presence, Solomon said: This is of the bounty of my Lord, that He may try me whether I give thanks or am ungrateful. Whosoever giveth thanks he only giveth thanks for the good of his own soul; and whosoever is ungrateful (is ungrateful only to his own soul's hurt). For lo! my Lord is Absolute in independence, Bountiful.
He said: Disguise her throne for her that we may see whether she will go aright or be of those not rightly guided.
So, when she came, it was said unto her: Is thy throne like this? She said: It is as though it were the very one.
And Solomon said: We were given the knowledge before her and we had surrendered to Allah. And all that she was wont to worship instead of Allah hindered her, for she came of disbelieving folk.
It was said unto her: Enter the hall. And when she saw it she deemed it a pool and bared her legs.
Solomon said: Lo! it is a hall, made smooth, of glass.
She said: My Lord! Lo! I have wronged myself, and I surrender with Solomon unto Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
[ Surah Al-Naml, 27 : 15-44 ]
"And Lo! This religion is one religion and I am your Lord, so keep your duty to Me.
But they mankind have broken their religion into sects, each sect rejoicing in its tenets.So leave them in error till a time."
[ Surah Al- Mukminun, 23: 52-54]
Sunday, November 8, 2009
The Core of the Matter....: Yusuf Estes
Say: He is Allah,the One!
Allah, the eternally Besought of all!
He begetteth not nor was He begotten.
And there is none comparable to Him.
[Surah Al-Ikhlas, 112:1-4]
And they say: The Beneficent hath taken unto Himself a son.
Assuredly ye utter a disastrous thing.
Whereby almost the heavens are torn, and the earth is split asunder
and the mountains fall in ruins.
That ye ascribe unto the Beneficient a son!
When it is not meet for the Majesty of the Beneficent that
He should choose a son.
There is none in the heavens and the earth but cometh unto the Beneficent as a slave [Surah Maryam, 19:88-93]
O people of the Scriptures!
Do not exaggerate in your religion nor utter aught concerning Allah save the truth.
The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was only a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed unto Mary and a spirit from Him.
So believe in Allah and His messengers, and say not "Three--Cease!".
It is better for you!
Allah is only one God. Far it is removed from His transcendent Majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the Heaven and all that is in the earth.
And Allah is sufficient as Defender.
[Surah An Nisa, 4:171]
And Lo! This religion is one religion and I am your Lord, so keep your duty to Me.
But they[mankind]have broken their religion into sects, each sect rejoicing in its tenets. So leave them in their error till a time.
[Surah Al Mukminun, 23:52-54]
link: Trinity; Pearls and Gem from Surah An Nisa [ Letter 4 Verse 171 ]
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Nuggets of Wisdom: Shaikh' Abd aL-Qadir al- Jilani
At the turn of the 7th century,while the rest of European cities were still dark at night, congested and ridden with plague, ignorance and paganism, Muslim Cordova,Damascus, Servile and Baghdad were brightly illuminated,business were booming and centers of enlightenment and learning were sprouting everywhere.That was the era of Islamic Rennaissance. The later day European renaissance that started in Florence was just a carbon copy of the earlier Islamic one with a different rubber stamp.
As common pathway with history of man though,starting from the Omayyid Caliphate, with excessive affluence and unbridled power,came decadence, moral and economic curruption. With this backdrop, emerged Islamic mysticism as a science, an antidote to spiritual malaise prevalent at that time,or sufism as is now popularly known, or tasawwuf:" looking inward to discover deeper meaning in man 's relationship with his Maker beyond the rudiments of prayer, alms giving, fasting and dzikir " which did not seem to be able to move 'mountains' and hearts. Hassan al-Basri must have been one of the earliest examining this 'inward path'. We have names like al Junayd, Rumi, Ibn Arabi, Jilani, Hallaj,al Ghazali[towards the later part of his life, a late bloomer] to name just a few....
To the uninitiated, when sufism is mentioned, it automatically conjures special 'individuals' who are gifted to 'walk on water', be in two places at one time, and have great healing power.
They are beyond that and it is through the scholarly writings and translations of orientalists such as Arberry,Maussignon, Rabia Terri Harris, Annamarie, T.J Winters,Martin Ling, Muhtar Holland et al, that the'English speaking' Muslim and non-Muslim world at large began to get a better appreciation and undertanding of all these special 'walli-allah' beyond the 'realm of superhuman abilities' and myths. Some of these erudite scholars, by the Grace of Allah,'lost' their 'scholarly objectivity' and finally , alhamdullillah, succumbed to the raw beauty and justice of Islam.
We present day Muslims, mostly given the faith on a silver plate via heritage,oftentimes are mostly guilty, as the Pharoah's followers of old, of wanting to see wooden staff turning into snakes and only 'magic'.Leaving the sciences,the painful search for truth, scholarship and to put bluntly, plain hard, cerebral,grey mater stuff-thinking and more thinking, to the 'kaffirs' to toil.In so doing we missed the 'essence of the message' and thus the 'boat'.Now Muslims from all across the globe are just like 'ants' waiting for 'crumbs' to fall from the King's table.[ ...and sadly,presently, King Obama is very limited in what he could do]. The 'magic' and sublimity of Islam is in comprehending the Message and putting it into practice.
We, as an ummah, finally even failed to understand the 'Book' given to us, let alone understand the ramifications and meanings of the the other 'book' beyond: our world surrounding us.
Let us just take a very short peep at what al Jilani has to say about life, from an except of his primer,'Futuh al-Ghaib',[Revelation of the Unseen], as beautifully translated by Muhtar Holland:
#######
You see this world in the hands of those who keep it going, with its ornaments and vanities, its deceptions and snares, and its lethal poisons. Its surface is so smooth to the touch, while the inside is rapacious, quick to bring ruin and death to those who touch it and fall under its delusion, forgetting its evil motives, its fickleness and its breach of promise. When you see all this, you must behave like someone who sees a man in the act of defecating, with his private part exposed and causing an unpleasant odour.
Just as you would avert your gaze from his nakedness, and hold your nose against the stinking smell, so must you behave towards the world: When you see it, look away from its charms and hold your nose against the stench and lechery and lust. Thus you may escape the world's corrupting influence, yet still receive your allotted share of worldly goods-yours to enjoy! As Allah[Exalted is He]said to His chosen Prophet[Allah bless him and give him peace]:
"Strain not your eyes towards that which We have given for some pairs among them to enjoy--the flower of this world's life, that We may thereby put them to the test. Your Lord's provision is better and more lasting." [ 20:131]
###########
Al-Jilani's other works:
The Secret of Secrets[Sirr-al-Asrar]
The Sublime Revelations[Al Fath al-Rabbani]
The Utterances of Shaikk' Abd Al Qadir al-Jilani[Malfuzat]
As common pathway with history of man though,starting from the Omayyid Caliphate, with excessive affluence and unbridled power,came decadence, moral and economic curruption. With this backdrop, emerged Islamic mysticism as a science, an antidote to spiritual malaise prevalent at that time,or sufism as is now popularly known, or tasawwuf:" looking inward to discover deeper meaning in man 's relationship with his Maker beyond the rudiments of prayer, alms giving, fasting and dzikir " which did not seem to be able to move 'mountains' and hearts. Hassan al-Basri must have been one of the earliest examining this 'inward path'. We have names like al Junayd, Rumi, Ibn Arabi, Jilani, Hallaj,al Ghazali[towards the later part of his life, a late bloomer] to name just a few....
To the uninitiated, when sufism is mentioned, it automatically conjures special 'individuals' who are gifted to 'walk on water', be in two places at one time, and have great healing power.
They are beyond that and it is through the scholarly writings and translations of orientalists such as Arberry,Maussignon, Rabia Terri Harris, Annamarie, T.J Winters,Martin Ling, Muhtar Holland et al, that the'English speaking' Muslim and non-Muslim world at large began to get a better appreciation and undertanding of all these special 'walli-allah' beyond the 'realm of superhuman abilities' and myths. Some of these erudite scholars, by the Grace of Allah,'lost' their 'scholarly objectivity' and finally , alhamdullillah, succumbed to the raw beauty and justice of Islam.
We present day Muslims, mostly given the faith on a silver plate via heritage,oftentimes are mostly guilty, as the Pharoah's followers of old, of wanting to see wooden staff turning into snakes and only 'magic'.Leaving the sciences,the painful search for truth, scholarship and to put bluntly, plain hard, cerebral,grey mater stuff-thinking and more thinking, to the 'kaffirs' to toil.In so doing we missed the 'essence of the message' and thus the 'boat'.Now Muslims from all across the globe are just like 'ants' waiting for 'crumbs' to fall from the King's table.[ ...and sadly,presently, King Obama is very limited in what he could do]. The 'magic' and sublimity of Islam is in comprehending the Message and putting it into practice.
We, as an ummah, finally even failed to understand the 'Book' given to us, let alone understand the ramifications and meanings of the the other 'book' beyond: our world surrounding us.
Let us just take a very short peep at what al Jilani has to say about life, from an except of his primer,'Futuh al-Ghaib',[Revelation of the Unseen], as beautifully translated by Muhtar Holland:
#######
You see this world in the hands of those who keep it going, with its ornaments and vanities, its deceptions and snares, and its lethal poisons. Its surface is so smooth to the touch, while the inside is rapacious, quick to bring ruin and death to those who touch it and fall under its delusion, forgetting its evil motives, its fickleness and its breach of promise. When you see all this, you must behave like someone who sees a man in the act of defecating, with his private part exposed and causing an unpleasant odour.
Just as you would avert your gaze from his nakedness, and hold your nose against the stinking smell, so must you behave towards the world: When you see it, look away from its charms and hold your nose against the stench and lechery and lust. Thus you may escape the world's corrupting influence, yet still receive your allotted share of worldly goods-yours to enjoy! As Allah[Exalted is He]said to His chosen Prophet[Allah bless him and give him peace]:
"Strain not your eyes towards that which We have given for some pairs among them to enjoy--the flower of this world's life, that We may thereby put them to the test. Your Lord's provision is better and more lasting." [ 20:131]
###########
Al-Jilani's other works:
The Secret of Secrets[Sirr-al-Asrar]
The Sublime Revelations[Al Fath al-Rabbani]
The Utterances of Shaikk' Abd Al Qadir al-Jilani[Malfuzat]
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Prof Wan Mohd Nor: Islamisation of Knowledge
Prof Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud,55, from Tanah Merah, Kelantan, did his basic degree in biology at Illinois University. Completed his PHD programme under the reknowned Prof Fazlur Rahman at University of Chicago. His doctoral thesis was "Concept of knowledge in Islam and its implications for education in the Malaysian context". Along with the principal founder initiator, Prof Syed Naguib al Attas, he was a prime mover in the initial set-up and 'invigoration' of ISTAC[ Institute of Islamic thought and Civilisation ]. After the 'thoughtless' and to say the least,'pea-brained' plunder and rape of the then only world known Malaysian 'post-doctoral' academic institution, Prof Wan has now been given the 'chair' at ATMA, UKM. His senior colleague and mentor,Prof Syed Naguib was dealt more harshly. In the metaphorical sense, like what 'they' normally do to horses and stud,he was put 'to pasture'.
Pea-brained Malaysian politicians, as always thought too highly of themselves.Only they can think, the rest have to follow like 'crabs'. They think in Malaysia,philosophers and thinkers of such calibre do grow on trees!
Dr Nik Isahak:
"Say, even if the ocean were ink,
For writing the words of my Lord,
The ocean would be exhausted
Before the words of my Lord were exhausted,
Even if We were to add another ocean to it."[18:109]
If we go by the above 'ayat' we realise Islam is about knowledge, is pro knowledge, that apart from the Book' right on from the word 'go' with the 1st message of 'Iqra' to Prophet Muhammad, it was inherently meant for mankind to study God's creation as an 'open book', again a clarion call to knowledge.You are very familiar to Prof Syed Muhammad Nabuib al-Attas's[ your mentor] seminal work "Islam and Secularism" in 1978, which form the '1st call' to Islamization of Knowledge.In less technical language, Prof, could you really iluminate us on what the good Prof really mean? To particularize your answer for our readers Prof, let us go into the world of a 'hard-core science knowledge worker......A research embryologist or perhaps a cosmologist working with NASA would perhaps put you straight to the necessity of "Islamization of Knowledge ' for our readers benefit.They deal with the sublime and can also deal with the profane.An embryologist on the cutting edge of his field, if uncontrolled, can ,if given unbridled freedom, create 'monsters'.Cloned copies of individuals which is not far fetch and very dowable if the 'lid' on stem cell research is ever lifted. ,surrogate motherhood which are happening all the time in the West now and'acceptable by man's present morality values, a moving goal-post, etc etcetc.A NASA cosmologist may feel man need to go to Saturn for instance, to look for evidence whether God exist!
Prof Wan Mohd Nor:
Knowledge from the Islamic viewpoint, is equivalent truth and certainty which is taught by God to Man through right understanding of Revelation, sound use of reason and sense-perception. Hence it is naturally Islamic. However, often times, what has been transmitted as truth and certainty (whethner based on Revealation, philosophy or science) mere theories, conjectures and suppositions arising from personal, and socio-political-cultural interests and factors. Islamization of "knowledge", essentially, involves extricating those interests and factors such that what is transmitted and applied will true and certain. It is not only a reactive process i.e reforming existing knowledge "materials" but also a creative process ie creating new sciences altogether that seek to protect the truth and certainties of Islam. Hence Muslims created the science of tafsir, of hadith,of usul al-fiqh etc, and transformed philosophies and sciences from other cultures and
civilizations. This process involves spiritual, conceptual, methodological and ethical dimensions which can be called Islamization of "knowledge". It creates Islamic men and women living Islamic life who may also teach, write, heal, do business and build and reform institutions (like family, educational, scientific, political, economic etc)....
Dr Nik:
Sorry Prof Wan, I still cannot comprehend fully.Let us go to the specific to make our readers' comprehension better..
If ,is a dirty word in Islam.Hypothetical probably sounds better.Hypothetically let us say the Ottomans did not fade away into history but rather shined and shine and now control 2/3 of the known world today and Islamic scientist rather than Einstein discovered E=MC Squared and Abdul Hakim et al became the 1st man to theoretically 'split' the atom rather than Enrico Fermi and his friends.
Would we have Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Would we have the Cold War and the concept of MAD [Mutually Assured Destruction]?The concept itself is already morally and fundamentally wrong!: Destruction is neither a Mutual preorgative, and assured by human. Taking away God's preorgative and timing!
Leaving the science of Sunnah and hadith behind as they are 100% already 'Islamic', let as look at another hard core 'science' as another example.
Space exploration....Would there be space exploration in the hypothetical 'Ottoman world' of progress?
If there are, how different would it be Prof?
We know part of the Kufr West fundamental drive in seeking knowledge is that 'continuous'search for an answer to the quest of whether there is God outside there? [remember Pharoah asked Haman to build a staircase to Heaven to see for Moses' God].
Also mainly for defence purposes and aggresive agenda of man against man[ ICBM and anti ICBM's from a sattelite? Ronald Reagan's dream of space warfare and safety net].
Prof Wan Mohd Nor:
As you have rightly indicated, scientific progress developments do reflect certain religio/philosophical questions. Some of the burning questions that spurred modern science such evolutionary biology, archeology, astronomy and subtomic-physics were not asked by Muslim scholars, although I suspect, they would have developed some aspects of these sciences to answer different sets of questions. Great Muslim Civilizations in the past showed inter-disciplinary learning which was guided by shariah and culminated by the spiritual science of tasawwuf. Human Knowledge and technology being culturally interconnected, Muslim scholars in the past critically appropriated many ideas and technics from others. Some were more carefull, others less so in what we now call Islamization of their contemporary knowledge.
Dr Nik :
I can understand that in most fields of human endeavour and knowledge such jurisprudence, medicine[ remember Sigmund Freud who form the basis of pschoanalysis, man's predominant thought on 'permanent erection'!...This is a joke Prof ,just an example],sociology,politics and government,economics , business management etc and etc, the starting premise that God is supreme and all are answerable to God, would have principally steered knowledge significantly from what we 'have' now.
The sub-prime crisis in an 'Islamic' based economy would not be there. The crises of values and justice and fairness that inundate the world at present would also be non existent.
But since 1924, since the breakdown of the Ottoman Caliphate, and right up to now, 2009, the world is not 'ours' . What do we so called Muslim countries and Muslim predominant countries do to ensure our young people who are going to be leaders,scientists, educators,teachers ,technocrats, be guided by the right principles as expounded by Prof Naquib.?
Or is 'Islamization of knowledge' just a hollow philosophical discourse, just to be discussed politely in the 'hallowed hall' of intellectuals but bear no meaning and importance in the crucible of Islamic development of the rest of us, 'bread and butter' Muslims?
Radical and activist Muslims can perhaps just say that you guys, bright [ and implied, rather indirectly, to be less 'qualified',of questionable 'faith' Western-bred Islamic scholars ] 'upstarts'are just clouding the 'more simplistic' and easy to understand, clarion call to get back to the Qur'an and the sunnah as expounded by the reformists as in Asad, Iqbal, Syed Qutb and Mawdudi?
Prof Wan:
To your comments:
1) I can understand that in most fields of human endeavour and knowledge such jurisprudence, medicine,sociology,politics and government,economics , business management etc and etc,..... these and other problems that reflect intellectual mistakes and moral waeknesses have occured in the best run Islamic societiesin the past, but the extent of their effects would be more limited. What was most important is, in such societies, the methods of correction would not be merely procedural, and legal but would proceed from spiritual-ethical re-invigoration.
2) But since 1924, since the breakdown of the Ottoman Caliphate, and right up to now, 2009, the world is not 'ours' .....is this 'Islamization of knowledge' just a hollow philosophical discourse, just to be discussed in the 'hallowed hall' amongst intellectuals but bear no meaning and importance in the crucible of Islamic development of us Muslims who can claim to be the khalifah Allah ?....
My short response to that is, to educate Muslims and others of a more comprehensive approach to Islam requires an generally orderly recognition of right authorities from the lowest levels of education to the highest including the adult education. That part is sorely missing in the education of Islamic knowledge though not in other branches of sciences and professions. Yes, many discourses on Islam have been hollow because of the stated general reason. It is a rather viscious cycle which takes sincerity, knowlede, courage and sacrifice in order to be broken.
3) Is this just clouding the 'more simplistic' and easy to understand, clarion call to get back to the Qur'an and the sunnah as expounded by the reformists as in Asad, Iqbal, Syed Qutb and Mawdudi?
I dont think it is is to understand these scholars. hence there are so many sub groups from within the followers of these influential Muslims.
Dr Nik:
Thanks Prof.Before we call this a day on this interesting issue,
I wish to push you further on that last bit on "hollow philosophical discourse in polite intellectual circle" part. I am very sure it is not.It is just my style of pushing you only. But...
Definitely between Muslim scholars such as Prof Naguib,the late Palestinian thinker-philosopher Prof Ismail Al Faruqi, Hoesien Nasr,and your goodself, all big proponents of Islamization of knowlege, and the Muslim activists current and past, there seem to me,less concordance or similarities of purpose.
In fact If I recall correctly some scholars did not hide their feeling that these 'activists', giants during their time such as Mawdudi and Syed Qutb for example, are somewhat misguided .I am not far from being correct if i put it to you that there is disdain and no love lost between the scholars and the activists.And to me this is sad. because at the end of the day we are looking at establishing on this planet earth, the same 'animal', at least to my limited and 'unschooled' understanding: Islamization of Man, so that he could be the proper viceagent[ khalifah] of Allah on this planet earth, practising the proper 'adab' between himself and his Maker, and proper adab between him, his friends and fellow man and proper adab between him and his environment.
Prof Wan Mohd;
Agreed. I dont normally want to discuss these issue in emails, sms-es. Too many activists, good intentioned no doubt, rejected the civilizing role of our most influential scholars and thinkers just because, from the standpoint, these figures did not join political movements or what are not known as NGOs.
Dr Nik:
I can fully understand that Prof.
Part of the problem in this modern world perhaps is also due to the need of 'over-specialisation'of roles as we go on. In the early days we have ruler/scholar/activist like all the Kalifah arrashiddin and to some extent, Caliph Omar Abdul Aziz all rolled into one .
But to my simple mind I think the the main problem is perhaps the very limited 'role' given to 'ulama', and I mean this in a bigger perspective,by those who should know better!Whenever you guys are called into the picture, the die has already been cast in iron and oftentime the 'ulama' is there just to give the necessary 'rubber stamping and approval'. If even this is hard to come by, the 'ulama' is sent to 'the 'Tower of London' for summary execution.We see too many of these happening in Malaysia and elsewhere.ISTAC is one such good example.
May the souls of these Muslim ruler/politicians be able to rest in peace in their Alam Barzakh and the hereafter!....
The consolations chaps like you do have over mere mortals like them is that: In the sand of time when all that were done by mortal men had been forgotten, guys like you and Prof Naguib and TGNA for that matter[ many people dont know but even he writes!] will always contribute for generations through your books and thoughts.
And that Prof, means a lot more, when all of us are in the 'Alam Barzakh',your 'tills' and 'meters' still moves! Mashaallah!Insyaallah!Alhamdullillah!
Thank you Prof.
Pea-brained Malaysian politicians, as always thought too highly of themselves.Only they can think, the rest have to follow like 'crabs'. They think in Malaysia,philosophers and thinkers of such calibre do grow on trees!
Dr Nik Isahak:
"Say, even if the ocean were ink,
For writing the words of my Lord,
The ocean would be exhausted
Before the words of my Lord were exhausted,
Even if We were to add another ocean to it."[18:109]
If we go by the above 'ayat' we realise Islam is about knowledge, is pro knowledge, that apart from the Book' right on from the word 'go' with the 1st message of 'Iqra' to Prophet Muhammad, it was inherently meant for mankind to study God's creation as an 'open book', again a clarion call to knowledge.You are very familiar to Prof Syed Muhammad Nabuib al-Attas's[ your mentor] seminal work "Islam and Secularism" in 1978, which form the '1st call' to Islamization of Knowledge.In less technical language, Prof, could you really iluminate us on what the good Prof really mean? To particularize your answer for our readers Prof, let us go into the world of a 'hard-core science knowledge worker......A research embryologist or perhaps a cosmologist working with NASA would perhaps put you straight to the necessity of "Islamization of Knowledge ' for our readers benefit.They deal with the sublime and can also deal with the profane.An embryologist on the cutting edge of his field, if uncontrolled, can ,if given unbridled freedom, create 'monsters'.Cloned copies of individuals which is not far fetch and very dowable if the 'lid' on stem cell research is ever lifted. ,surrogate motherhood which are happening all the time in the West now and'acceptable by man's present morality values, a moving goal-post, etc etcetc.A NASA cosmologist may feel man need to go to Saturn for instance, to look for evidence whether God exist!
Prof Wan Mohd Nor:
Knowledge from the Islamic viewpoint, is equivalent truth and certainty which is taught by God to Man through right understanding of Revelation, sound use of reason and sense-perception. Hence it is naturally Islamic. However, often times, what has been transmitted as truth and certainty (whethner based on Revealation, philosophy or science) mere theories, conjectures and suppositions arising from personal, and socio-political-cultural interests and factors. Islamization of "knowledge", essentially, involves extricating those interests and factors such that what is transmitted and applied will true and certain. It is not only a reactive process i.e reforming existing knowledge "materials" but also a creative process ie creating new sciences altogether that seek to protect the truth and certainties of Islam. Hence Muslims created the science of tafsir, of hadith,of usul al-fiqh etc, and transformed philosophies and sciences from other cultures and
civilizations. This process involves spiritual, conceptual, methodological and ethical dimensions which can be called Islamization of "knowledge". It creates Islamic men and women living Islamic life who may also teach, write, heal, do business and build and reform institutions (like family, educational, scientific, political, economic etc)....
Dr Nik:
Sorry Prof Wan, I still cannot comprehend fully.Let us go to the specific to make our readers' comprehension better..
If ,is a dirty word in Islam.Hypothetical probably sounds better.Hypothetically let us say the Ottomans did not fade away into history but rather shined and shine and now control 2/3 of the known world today and Islamic scientist rather than Einstein discovered E=MC Squared and Abdul Hakim et al became the 1st man to theoretically 'split' the atom rather than Enrico Fermi and his friends.
Would we have Hiroshima and Nagasaki?
Would we have the Cold War and the concept of MAD [Mutually Assured Destruction]?The concept itself is already morally and fundamentally wrong!: Destruction is neither a Mutual preorgative, and assured by human. Taking away God's preorgative and timing!
Leaving the science of Sunnah and hadith behind as they are 100% already 'Islamic', let as look at another hard core 'science' as another example.
Space exploration....Would there be space exploration in the hypothetical 'Ottoman world' of progress?
If there are, how different would it be Prof?
We know part of the Kufr West fundamental drive in seeking knowledge is that 'continuous'search for an answer to the quest of whether there is God outside there? [remember Pharoah asked Haman to build a staircase to Heaven to see for Moses' God].
Also mainly for defence purposes and aggresive agenda of man against man[ ICBM and anti ICBM's from a sattelite? Ronald Reagan's dream of space warfare and safety net].
Prof Wan Mohd Nor:
As you have rightly indicated, scientific progress developments do reflect certain religio/philosophical questions. Some of the burning questions that spurred modern science such evolutionary biology, archeology, astronomy and subtomic-physics were not asked by Muslim scholars, although I suspect, they would have developed some aspects of these sciences to answer different sets of questions. Great Muslim Civilizations in the past showed inter-disciplinary learning which was guided by shariah and culminated by the spiritual science of tasawwuf. Human Knowledge and technology being culturally interconnected, Muslim scholars in the past critically appropriated many ideas and technics from others. Some were more carefull, others less so in what we now call Islamization of their contemporary knowledge.
Dr Nik :
I can understand that in most fields of human endeavour and knowledge such jurisprudence, medicine[ remember Sigmund Freud who form the basis of pschoanalysis, man's predominant thought on 'permanent erection'!...This is a joke Prof ,just an example],sociology,politics and government,economics , business management etc and etc, the starting premise that God is supreme and all are answerable to God, would have principally steered knowledge significantly from what we 'have' now.
The sub-prime crisis in an 'Islamic' based economy would not be there. The crises of values and justice and fairness that inundate the world at present would also be non existent.
But since 1924, since the breakdown of the Ottoman Caliphate, and right up to now, 2009, the world is not 'ours' . What do we so called Muslim countries and Muslim predominant countries do to ensure our young people who are going to be leaders,scientists, educators,teachers ,technocrats, be guided by the right principles as expounded by Prof Naquib.?
Or is 'Islamization of knowledge' just a hollow philosophical discourse, just to be discussed politely in the 'hallowed hall' of intellectuals but bear no meaning and importance in the crucible of Islamic development of the rest of us, 'bread and butter' Muslims?
Radical and activist Muslims can perhaps just say that you guys, bright [ and implied, rather indirectly, to be less 'qualified',of questionable 'faith' Western-bred Islamic scholars ] 'upstarts'are just clouding the 'more simplistic' and easy to understand, clarion call to get back to the Qur'an and the sunnah as expounded by the reformists as in Asad, Iqbal, Syed Qutb and Mawdudi?
Prof Wan:
To your comments:
1) I can understand that in most fields of human endeavour and knowledge such jurisprudence, medicine,sociology,politics and government,economics , business management etc and etc,..... these and other problems that reflect intellectual mistakes and moral waeknesses have occured in the best run Islamic societiesin the past, but the extent of their effects would be more limited. What was most important is, in such societies, the methods of correction would not be merely procedural, and legal but would proceed from spiritual-ethical re-invigoration.
2) But since 1924, since the breakdown of the Ottoman Caliphate, and right up to now, 2009, the world is not 'ours' .....is this 'Islamization of knowledge' just a hollow philosophical discourse, just to be discussed in the 'hallowed hall' amongst intellectuals but bear no meaning and importance in the crucible of Islamic development of us Muslims who can claim to be the khalifah Allah ?....
My short response to that is, to educate Muslims and others of a more comprehensive approach to Islam requires an generally orderly recognition of right authorities from the lowest levels of education to the highest including the adult education. That part is sorely missing in the education of Islamic knowledge though not in other branches of sciences and professions. Yes, many discourses on Islam have been hollow because of the stated general reason. It is a rather viscious cycle which takes sincerity, knowlede, courage and sacrifice in order to be broken.
3) Is this just clouding the 'more simplistic' and easy to understand, clarion call to get back to the Qur'an and the sunnah as expounded by the reformists as in Asad, Iqbal, Syed Qutb and Mawdudi?
I dont think it is is to understand these scholars. hence there are so many sub groups from within the followers of these influential Muslims.
Dr Nik:
Thanks Prof.Before we call this a day on this interesting issue,
I wish to push you further on that last bit on "hollow philosophical discourse in polite intellectual circle" part. I am very sure it is not.It is just my style of pushing you only. But...
Definitely between Muslim scholars such as Prof Naguib,the late Palestinian thinker-philosopher Prof Ismail Al Faruqi, Hoesien Nasr,and your goodself, all big proponents of Islamization of knowlege, and the Muslim activists current and past, there seem to me,less concordance or similarities of purpose.
In fact If I recall correctly some scholars did not hide their feeling that these 'activists', giants during their time such as Mawdudi and Syed Qutb for example, are somewhat misguided .I am not far from being correct if i put it to you that there is disdain and no love lost between the scholars and the activists.And to me this is sad. because at the end of the day we are looking at establishing on this planet earth, the same 'animal', at least to my limited and 'unschooled' understanding: Islamization of Man, so that he could be the proper viceagent[ khalifah] of Allah on this planet earth, practising the proper 'adab' between himself and his Maker, and proper adab between him, his friends and fellow man and proper adab between him and his environment.
Prof Wan Mohd;
Agreed. I dont normally want to discuss these issue in emails, sms-es. Too many activists, good intentioned no doubt, rejected the civilizing role of our most influential scholars and thinkers just because, from the standpoint, these figures did not join political movements or what are not known as NGOs.
Dr Nik:
I can fully understand that Prof.
Part of the problem in this modern world perhaps is also due to the need of 'over-specialisation'of roles as we go on. In the early days we have ruler/scholar/activist like all the Kalifah arrashiddin and to some extent, Caliph Omar Abdul Aziz all rolled into one .
But to my simple mind I think the the main problem is perhaps the very limited 'role' given to 'ulama', and I mean this in a bigger perspective,by those who should know better!Whenever you guys are called into the picture, the die has already been cast in iron and oftentime the 'ulama' is there just to give the necessary 'rubber stamping and approval'. If even this is hard to come by, the 'ulama' is sent to 'the 'Tower of London' for summary execution.We see too many of these happening in Malaysia and elsewhere.ISTAC is one such good example.
May the souls of these Muslim ruler/politicians be able to rest in peace in their Alam Barzakh and the hereafter!....
The consolations chaps like you do have over mere mortals like them is that: In the sand of time when all that were done by mortal men had been forgotten, guys like you and Prof Naguib and TGNA for that matter[ many people dont know but even he writes!] will always contribute for generations through your books and thoughts.
And that Prof, means a lot more, when all of us are in the 'Alam Barzakh',your 'tills' and 'meters' still moves! Mashaallah!Insyaallah!Alhamdullillah!
Thank you Prof.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)