Harry Potter or Edward Cullens?

“To be, or not to be, that is the question”:- William Shakespeare

Have you ever wish that you had super powers when you were small? Powers that can make you invincible and popular amongst your friends. I remember the movie, ‘Sabrina, the teenage witch’, which was a story about a young girl who inherited knowledge of witchcraft and sorcery powers from her family. She could perform all kind of spells and potions, for all occasion. I thought it was absolutely fab!

Of course,  I was young then so I didn’t know any better. I just thought it was cool to have such abilities especially to get back at my so called enemies. Now that I am older and hopefully wise (ahem!), I realised that what I coveted for in the past is actually forbidden in Islam. It’s a big NO NO.

Now, we have stories like Harry Potter, Twillight and other ‘make-believe’ tales. These stories are called ‘make-believe’ because it is an untrue tale concocted by persons, with the intention to make people believe. For example, Harry Potter is a fictional story about a young orphaned boy who happens to be a wizard. He then goes to school of wizardry where he learns to conjure up spells and control his powers. In the real world, there is no such thing as inherited powers. Both witchcraft and sorcery are knowledge that was acquired by men since the olden days.

Movie like Harry Potter, which actually originated from a children’s book, as innocent as it seems, has the danger of influencing and misleading our kids into thinking witchcraft and sorcery is allowed, if we, as parents do not educate our children correctly. Black magic was originally taught by 2 angels, Harut and Marut.

“They followed what the evil ones gave out (falsely) against the power of Solomon: the blasphemers Were, not Solomon, but the evil ones, teaching men Magic, and such things as came down at babylon to the angels Harut and Marut.But neither of these taught anyone (Such things) without saying: "We are only for trial; so do not blaspheme."

Surah Al Baqarah 2:102

Twillight on the other hand is about a vampire i.e. living dead being, who fell in love with a human. The whole story is quite far-fetched, if you think about it actually but there are die-hard fans amongst the youngster and adult alike. They seemed to have fallen for the handsome vampire character named ‘Edward’. Edward and his family, is eternally dammed by God and is destined to abide in Hell. The producers had somewhat made selling your soul to the devil as romantic!

I don’t mean to be a party spoiler or wet blanket here but I am merely highlighting the facts. Some might argue that these stories are harmless but there is nothing harmless about being eternally dammed or ending up in Hell. As Muslim, we do believe in Hereafter, in fact, it is one of the pillars of eaman. Where we end up in Hereafter, whether it’s Paradise or Hell, very much boils down to how live our lives on earth. Just to recap, the pillars of eaman are…

            Belief in Allah;

Belief in the angels;

Belief in the revealed books;

Belief in the commissioned Messengers (peace be upon them).

Belief in the resurrection and the events of Qiyamah.

Belief in the predestination by Allah of all things, both the (seemingly) good and the (seemingly) bad.

We have to be very careful of these types of stories as it can easily influence our kids. Even as adults, some of us get taken in and fall prey to the deception hence, it is easier to mislead the children. Black magic, spells, potion or falling in love with the eternally dammed, is not exactly in line with Islam. There is nothing great or cool about dabbling in black magic. Believing in a power or person greater than God Al Mighty is shirk. There’s major shirk, which is clearly identifiable and there is also minor shirk, which most of the time, is carefully camouflaged.

"Verily God forgives not setting up partners in worship with Him. But He forgives whom He pleases, sins other than that (shirk)"

The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 4, Verse 116

"Verily whosoever sets up partners in worship with God, then God Has forbidden paradise for him and the fire will be his abode"

The Holy Qur'an, Chapter 5, Verse 72

Prophet SAW said “Avoid the seven deadly sins: shirk, black magic, killing someone without just cause, eating an orphan’s property, consuming riba, running away from the battlefield and accusing chaste women of fornication.”

(Related by al-Bukhari dan Muslim)

We, as parents, are responsible for our children. They are given to us on trust so we have to make sure that we are giving the correct education. How our children will turn out is entirely depending on the exposure and education that we give them. On Judgment day, we will definitely be questioned with regard to our responsibilities towards our children.

One thing we must always remember is that, satan had, after all sworn to mislead us till the end of time.

16 . He said: "Because thou hast thrown me out of the way, lo! I will lie in wait for them on thy straight way:

17 . "Then will I assault them from before them and behind them, from their right and their left: Nor wilt thou find, in most of them, gratitude (for thy mercies)."

Surah Al-Araf 7:16-17

62.       “He said: "Seest Thou? this is the one whom Thou hast honoured above me! If Thou wilt but respite me to the Day of Judgment, I will surely bring his descendants under my sway - all but a few!"

63 . ((Allah)) said: "Go thy way; if any of them follow thee, verily Hell will be the recompense of you (all)- an ample recompense.

64 . "Lead to destruction those whom thou canst among them, with thy (seductive) voice; make assaults on them with thy cavalry and thy infantry; mutually share with them wealth and children; and make promises to them." But Satan promises them nothing but deceit.

Surah Al-Isra’ 17:62-64

Even as adult, we also often fall prey to the deception satan. I know I have in the past. The best thing was, I didn’t even realise it until a kind hearted soul pointed it out to me. I used to pore over women and girly magazine and without fail, I would deliberate over the horoscope section. I’m sure you are familiar with the zodiac column,  where they tell you whether you will be lucky today or happy or even when you will be meeting your Mr. Right, based on astrology readings. Little did I realise that my action was akin to committing shirk.

No one has the ability to predict the future. Only Allah SWT knows best and He knows what is best for us. If we believe, even a tiny fragment, of the prediction that we read in the horoscope column, then we are believing in the astrologer rather than Qada and Qadr determined by Allah SWT. Reading the prediction of our future in that column is similar to us seeing a fortune teller.

“106. "'Nor call on any, other than Allah.- Such will neither profit thee nor hurt thee: if thou dost, behold! thou shalt certainly be of those who do wrong.'"

107 . If Allah do touch thee with hurt, there is none can remove it but He: if He do design some benefit for thee, there is none can keep back His favour: He causeth it to reach whomsoever of His servants He pleaseth.And He is the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Surah Yunus 110:106-107

SubhanAllah! The last thing I want to do is commit shirk. Shirk is the only sin God Al Mighty will not forgive.

“Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgiveth anything else, to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed.”

Surah An-Nisaa 4:48

“Allah forgiveth not (The sin of) joining other gods with Him; but He forgiveth whom He pleaseth other sins than this: one who joins other gods with Allah, Hath strayed far, far away (from the right).’

Surah An-Nisaa 4:116

The Prophet SWT, said that anyone who learns astrology has learn some magic. [Abu Daawood]

This kind hearted soul even told me that if we visit or consult an astrologer or a fortune teller, then our prayers will not be accepted for 40 days. O.M.G.!!!! What if I die in that state? Will I then die a Muslim? Brrr…..the very thought gives me the shivers…

Well, the moral of the story here is that, we need to be very careful with what we see and read. We have to be particularly careful when it comes to our children. Sometimes, a seemingly innocent children’s story can cause the most damage. We must not take anything for granted….

To Sir, with Love..

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” ― William Arthur Ward

Have you seen the movie, ‘To Sir with Love’? It’s an old movie about a group of students giving tribute to their teacher, played by Sidney Poitier. The movie was quite famous in the 60s and 70s.

I am very selective when it comes to knowledge. I am even more selective when it comes to the teachers, who are imparting the knowledge. The Wise Owl always tells me, “sister, the teacher is irrelevant but what is important is the knowledge he or she is sharing.” Somehow, I beg to differ with the Wise Owl on this.

I find that chemistry between the teacher and the student is very important, at least for me. Nowadays, we have so many ‘teachers’, preaching their knowledge. I think that is the problem, ‘preaching’. I am not a fan of 'preachers'. I suppose I’m fussy and I have a very high standard of how a teacher should be. My bench-mark is Prophet Muhammad SAW himself. I realise that Prophet SAW is almost perfect and he was without fault, so it is impossible for anyone to emulate him. Truth is, I don’t expect the teachers, whether male or female to be exactly like him but at least, they should posses most of his traits.

One of the traits that I look for is humility and humbleness. If I detect an ounce of arrogance or pride in that person, then I would get put off and all my ears and eyes will shut off immediately. Talking to me then, would be futile because it would be like talking to a brick wall. The teacher can go on talking for hours on end but none of the things that were being taught will enter my memory or my head. I would actually be wasting my time there.

I am not perfect and it is not that I feel the ‘teacher’ is not good enough to teach me or that I’m high and mighty but I am a student and the last thing I want is, to acquire arrogance lessons from the teacher.

I believe that, like all things in Islam, it starts with the intention.

            “Allah will not call you to account for thoughtlessness in your oaths, but for the intention in your hearts; and He is Oft-forgiving, Most Forbearing.”

Surah Al-Baqarah 2:225

            Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, saying, “Verily, deeds are only with intentions. Verily, every person will get rewarded only for what they intended. Therefore, whoever emigrated for worldly reasons or for a woman, then his emigration is for that to which he has emigrated.”

[Sahih Bukhari, Book 1, Number 1]

I might be wrong but to me, a teacher, whose students does not benefit from the knowledge imparted is actually at a loss. The Wise Old man has once told me that if teacher wants the students to remember and benefit everything that was taught, then she or he must ensure their intention is right from the very beginning. They must teach for the sake of Allah SWT. They must be sincere. It must not be because of recognition or fame. They should not even a tiny dot of self-pride. When their intention is pure then the knowledge that flows from them is also pure and it will be easily absorbed by their students. Their knowledge is like a white light that floats and enters into the soul of the students.

I must say that I agree with the Old Wise man. To me, a teacher need not be a professor, to be able to teach me things. Sometimes, the best teachers are the ones without a paper qualification. Our Prophet SWT never went to university. Anas ibn Malik was one of Prophet SWT companions and he memorised and narrated many hadiths. People of old times, like Imam Shafie and Malik,  used to go to the most learned scholars during their time to learn. Neither the scholars nor the students had paper qualification but they were the best teachers and students.

I have, in the past been invited by friends and acquaintance, to attend certain lecture by certain people. There were instances where I really wanted to go but was unable to but there were also instances where I knew it would be pointless for me to go. It is not because I felt that I was better than them but the truth is, I just couldn’t connect to the speaker.

I have had many teachers in the past. Some inspired me and some made me wanna run away from pronto! I find that the humblest ones were the best. They were not stingy with their knowledge and they share everything they know. All of my teacher are highly qualified but the only difference between them is, some have paper qualification, some don’t.

I am fussy when it comes to choosing teachers especially now. It is because I have very limited free time and I want the best for myself. However, what works for me, may not work for others and what does not work for me, may work for others. I need a teacher whom I’m comfortable with and who can inspire me. I have very short attention span (like my children) so it is very important to have a teacher who can keep me interested. Hey, what can I say? I’m not perfect but I still do try to find the perfect teacher……

Love Thy Parents....

“People say you do not know what you have got till it is gone. Truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you would lose it.”-  Nishan Panwar

One of the Wise Owl’s favourite phrase is ‘post-mortem’. He would always tell me “sister, you must do a post-mortem of your life”. I always thought that what he meant was to list down my bad and good deeds and see which outweighs the other. I do not have to list down my deeds to know which is heavier. Sigh! I can safely say that I have not earned my ‘halo’ yet!

But I think, what the Wise Owl meant, was not just listing out our deeds but a deeper meaning than that. We are so caught up with our daily lives, the havoc and the ‘rat-race’ that we feel the years had gone by without us noticing it. When we finally look up, we realize that there were many things that we want to ‘un-do’ or do differently but alas, we can’t. We had also, probably taken many people for granted.

I, for one, have been very guilty of taking my parents for granted. The other day, my parents came over to my house and I actually stopped and looked at them carefully. Somehow in my mind, the mental picture I have of them was when I was 18 years old. When I looked at them with my heart, I realized that they have aged. My dad had actually lost some weight and my mum gained some. Both of my parents have gotten slower in their movements. They are not as robust and agile as they used to be. That was when it hit me! How can I not notice it before?

I realize that I have not been spending enough time with them. I took for granted that they will always be there, waiting for me, as they did before. I took for granted the fact that they might be called by our Maker, at any time.

I suddenly felt tremendous sorrow. I can’t imagine my live without them. I know that, each one of us have our own ‘expiry’ date and it is inevitable but, the mere thought of not having them with me, bring such sadness to me.

“And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: "My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was small."

Surah Al-Isra 17:23-24

I have been guilty of not spending time with them. I have been busy with my own live and family  that I did not pay enough attention to them. I procrastinated my time with them, assuming that they will always wait for me.

When I remember the things I put them through when I was a rebellious teenager, I cringe. One thing I know, is that they never gave up on me. They allowed me to make my own mistakes and learned from it. They were proud of my achievements and picked me up during my 'downfalls'. They are my biggest fan.

I remember running to my dad whenever I had ‘boys’ or ‘girls’ problem. He would then make light of things that the problems became trivial. I remember my dad teaching me how to hammer a nail and mix cement. Yes! mix cement!. He taught me how to change a light bulb and fix things. I never got around to using his electric tools though but I believe I inherited my creativity from him. My dad was the one who encouraged me to speak my mind. He taught me how to debate and eventually, I made it into a career. The times when my dad was angry with me, he didn’t shout or scream but, all he had to do was just to call me and ask me to sit in front of him and then ask “ tell me, what have you done?” That was all it took, to make me break down and cry uncontrollably and confessed all my mischief.

My mum taught me how to cook (much to my husband’s delight!) She would let my sisters and I, bake and cook whatever we liked. Of course there were incidents where we smoked up the entire house but she allowed us to make our own food blunder. My mum also taught me how to sew. She taught my sisters and I how to make our own ‘baju kurung’ and until now, sewing is one of my favorite past time. My mum took care of me when I gave birth to my children and I am eternally grateful to her for that. My mum is stricter than my dad and she is quite vocal when it comes to disciplining us but had it not been for her firmness, my sisters and I would not be the person we are now. 

Both my parents have tremendous patient with me and my sisters (more so with me!). They allowed us to be kids when we were kids. I remember an incident when I was about 7 years old ( I think). We had gone visiting to a house of a family friend. Their next door neighbor had zinc tents erected in front of their house, in preparation for a wedding celebration. Left alone to my own devices, I decided to climb a tree beside one of the tents. I perched on a branch, trying to get a better view of my surroundings. Little did I know that the branch was brittle and so, the branch broke under my weight and I fell on top of one of the zinc tent. Next thing I knew, the whole row of tents collapsed like dominos. People rushed out from their houses, only to find me sitting nicely on top of the debris, looking bewildered but unscathed! I was expecting a tongue lashing from my dad but it never came. I guess he agreed with me that it wasn’t my fault that the branch broke. Hahahaha….The wedding celebration? Oh, they erected a new set of tent, a much sturdier one, in time for the celebration. You know what? I think it was good thing that I fell on the tents because it went to show, that the tents were not strong at all and had it collapsed during the celebration, it would have injured quite a number of people.

My parents are my greatest treasure. I must make time for them, no matter how busy I am. I am quite fortunate that both my parents are still with me. I know some of my friends have lost one or both of their parents and how they regret not spending enough time with them. I must stop taking my parents for granted and savor every moment I have left with them.  They have sacrifice their time and wealth for me so the least I can do so is  sacrifice my time. Even then, it  a small price to pay and not even enough to repay them for all that they have done for me. I fervently pray that God grant them mercy and an abundance of barakah. I pray that God protect them from harm and sorrow.  I also pray that when their time comes, they are placed amongst the righteous. Ameen…..

“And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship and she brings him forth with hardship, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him is thirty (30) months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: "My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favour which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as please You, and make my off-spring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims (submitting to Your Will)."

Surah Al-Ahqaf 46:15