Stubborn as a Mule, Proud as a Peacock.........

“Declare your jihad on thirteen enemies you cannot see -egoism, arrogance, conceit, selfishness, greed, lust, intolerance, anger, lying, cheating, gossiping and slandering. If you can master and destroy them, then you will be read to fight the enemy you can see.” ― Al-Ghazali

“Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves.” ― Emily Brontë

I think one of the diseases of the heart that plagues mankind is arrogance or pride. This sickness can easily creep up without us realising and stake a place in the heart. It starts with a small dot that later spreads like cancer. 

            Sometimes, we don’t even realise that we are being arrogant or have pride in our hearts. Did you know that the Muslim scholars in the olden times used to wash the toilets in the Masjid whenever they feel an iota of pride or arrogance crept into their hearts? Imagine that! 

            Arrogance can take many forms. It can be arrogance to the vast of knowledge one posses or wealth that one owns or even what one expects one deserves. Some expects that they only deserve the best and anything that fall short is not good enough.

“Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him; and do good- to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbours who are near, neighbours who are strangers, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (ye meet), and what your right hands possess: For Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious;-“

Surah An-Nisa 4:37

Arrogance is one of the traits of satan. It is because of arrogance satan got kicked out of Jannah. Remember what happened?

“And behold, We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam" and they bowed down. Not so Iblis: he refused and was haughty: He was of those who reject Faith.”

Surah Al Baqara 2:34

“So the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together:

 Not so Iblis: he refused to be among those who prostrated themselves.

(Allah)) said: "O Iblis! what is your reason for not being among those who prostrated themselves?"

(Iblis) said: "I am not one to prostrate myself to man, whom Thou didst create from sounding clay, from mud moulded into shape."

(Allah)) said: "Then get thee out from here; for thou art rejected, accursed.”

Surah Al Hijr 15:30-34

It is narrated on the authority of 'Abdullah b.  Mas'ud that the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) observed: None shall enter the Fire (of Hell) who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of Iman and none shall enter Paradise who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of pride.  (Sahih Muslim Book 001, Number 0165)

I used to be very arrogant. Astagfirullah…may God forgive me for that period of ignorance. Anyway, I used to be very arrogant until I got few lessons in humility. Those lessons were painful to learn but necessary to knock me off my high horses. Of course my ego suffered some bantering and bruising at that time but the lessons that I learnt are firmly etched in my head.

            The danger with arrogance is, sometimes we don’t realise its presence in our hearts. The most common case of arrogance is we feel that we are better than others. We refuse to learn from people who we think are less qualified than us. Some of us insist on a Phd or Master qualified teacher to teach before we are willing to listen, let alone learn. We look down on anyone who we think is less worthy to teach us. Now, that is pure arrogance. 

            Are we forgetting that our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW was illiterate? He didn’t have a degree from any university but yet he was the best teacher. Of course, he was created special from any one of us. If God wanted, God could have bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad SAW with recognition from respected learning institutions of that time, which may earned Prophet SAW, respect from fellow men but He didn’t. I do believe that the point that God wanted make is knowledge and understanding will be given to whom He wishes and it can also be to a poor orphan boy.

             Do not belittle a person who is trying to share their knowledge; after all they are following the teachings of Prophet SAW.

The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "Do you know who is most generous? ... God is the Most Generous, then I am most generous to humankind, and the most generous people after me will be those who will acquire knowledge and then disseminate it. (They) will come on the Day of Resurrection singly, like a ruler." Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 93

             Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you can’t learn from the best teachers who are highly qualified but the point I’m trying to make is not to look down on someone who is not. Do not limit your education to a certain group only. Sometimes paper qualification does not mean that person has understanding. A person can memorize everything and pass the exam with flying colours but it does not mean that he understands what he memorised. A good teacher is someone who can make his students to understand the lessons that he is teaching and leaves a mark in their hearts.

            Don’t be too quick to judge that a poor man would not be able to teach you anything. A poor fisherman can teach you how to fish and perhaps be the best fisherman. He didn’t acquire that knowledge in any university but that knowledge was obtained through years of experience.

            Some of the lessons that I learned about life was taught to me by the less unfortunate people. They may be lacking in worldly wealth but they are rich in knowledge and they are generous in sharing.

             For some of you who are fortunate enough to be granted knowledge from God Al Mighty and respect from peers do not forget your obligation to share. Do not turn anyone away just because he or she could not afford to pay you, especially those with knowledge in Syariah. I personally feel that to share knowledge on Islam is compulsory to ALL Muslims.  I have a very vivid imagination and that scenario that I imagined on Judgment day when my time comes…

God: I bestowed upon you knowledge of Syariah. Did you share among your brothers and sisters about My rules and commands?

            Me: (quivering like mad and squeaked) No!

            God: WHY???

            Me: They couldn’t afford my fees….

Roar!!! The fiery Hell swings open its door and I am tossed in to stoke the fire that is raging within! 

Aarrgghhhh! I very much prefer another scenario to imagine please! So…I don’t have Phd or Masters to my name but I am going to continue sharing whatever knowledge that I have. If anyone thinks that I’m not worthy to share my knowledge with them, please walk away quietly. Do not pass any comment unless you want to hear me roar. I have a better control of my anger most of the time but I can’t vouch for the occasional loss of insanity. I really don’t mind if they do not want to listen but do not belittle my efforts or anyone else for that matter, who is merely trying to uphold the sunnah of our beloved Prophet SAW. If you are not going help us share, do not hinder us. I do apologise if this posting sounds very harsh but I do feel that it needed to be said…….

 The Prophet SAW said: "Acquire knowledge and impart it to the people." - Al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 107

Are We OK?

“A good accountant will always anticipate and provide for potential loss and never anticipate gain” – Basic Accounting Principles

Once upon a time ago, an acquaintance of mine said this to me. “I pray 5 times a day, most of the time, I fast every Ramadhan and I give money for charity. I am a good Muslim because I never disturb others. I believe what I’m doing is enough and I will be ok. There is no need to do anything extra”

What was my reaction to her statement? Well….believe it or not, I kept quiet. I didn’t offer any comment but instead I merely smiled at her. I knew at that time that any comment that I make will lead to an argument. I decided a long time ago, not to argue about religion with anyone. I was paid, as a lawyer, to argue my cases in court on behalf of my clients but when it comes to religion that is where I draw my line.

It was not because that I agreed with her statement, in fact, it is quite the opposite but I knew at that time, she wasn’t expecting a comment from me neither would she welcome it. She wasn’t asking a question either but she was merely stating her point.

Rasul Allah (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said: “Whoever does not argue when he is in the wrong will have a home built for him on the edge of Paradise. Whoever avoids it when he in the right will have a home built for him in the middle of Paradise. And whoever improves his own character, a home will be built for him in the highest part of Paradise.” [Tirmidhi]

I am not the ‘religious police’. I can’t go round telling people what they are thinking or doing is wrong because I, myself, am not sure if whatever I am doing is right. If this acquaintance was to ask me a question, then it would be different story because I will be giving her my own personal opinion based on my limited understanding but I would still attach an exemption clause to my answer and would still tell her to refer the matter to an Islamic scholar.

Her statement got me wondering though. Have I ever thought consciously or sub-consciously, that whatever act of worship that I am performing is enough to earn me a ticket to Jannah? Have I ever been cocky enough to think my deeds are sufficient to shield me from the Fires of Hell? Have I ever been arrogantly enough to think that I am ‘safe’?

You see, each of us have our own book of ‘accounts’. Our books are called books of deeds and it is maintained by the two Angels that are appointed specifically to jot down ALL our deeds. Nothing is left out.

Unlike the normal books of accounts, where we can check the transactions every end of the month and make sure that it balances, our book of deeds are quite different. If there are any shortages in the normal book of accounts, then we easily can top-up the differences or add in to ensure that we have a positive balance. Unfortunately, our books of deeds are not visible to us. We can’t check to see if our deeds are balanced. We can’t ensure that there are no shortages whereby the bad deeds outweigh the good. The only time that we will be shown our books, is on Judgment Day. By that time, it will be too late to do any rectification work.

Just the other day, the Wise Owl brought up this topic. He said “Sister, we must never think that whatever we have done for Allah Al Mighty is enough. We must never be arrogant to think that we are okay and that we have secured a place in Jannah. By performing the basic acts of worship, we will be rewarded for it but that reward may not stay with us permanently. It might be given away later. If we have very little reward in our books, then, if it is given away, we will be left with nothing.”

What the Wise Owl was referring to about ‘rewards being away’ is related to this hadith.

“Whoever has wronged his brother, in the way of property or honor, let him go to him and repair it, before it is taken [from him on a day] when he has no dirhams or dinars, such that if he has any good deeds, some of the good deeds will be taken and given to [the wronged one], otherwise [if he has no good deeds], some of the other's evil deeds will be taken and cast upon him." [Bukhari, Al-Mazalim, 5/121, #2449. Ahmad, Al-Musnad, 2/435]

The thing is we sometimes don’t realize that we have committed wrong. As human we will definitely make a mistake or commit a sin. The only person who was free of sins was our beloved Prophet Muhammad SAW.

 You see, a piece of juicy gossip can easily be disguised as a piece of important news so when we utter it or hear it, it does not cross our mind as it being sinful. We may have, unintentionally taken something belonging to others. For example, some brothers have told me that if they lose their shoes or slippers during Jumaah prayers, either they will walk home bare footed or take the other slippers that they can find. Now, the latter is actually stealing because they have taken something that did not belong to them.

We sometimes take lightly the smaller sins that we commit on a daily basis, thinking that it is ‘small’. We take for granted that we only need to ask for forgiveness and all our small sins will be forgiven. After all, Allah SWT is very Merciful but, we fail to realize that small sins can accumulate to become a mountainous of sins. Sins against another person will not be forgiven by God but it must be forgiven by the person whom we have wronged. If we did not manage to seek for forgiveness, thenthat is when our rewards will be given to them on Judgment Day. The Wise Owl said that if we are not careful, we might end up ‘bankrupt’ on Judgment Day and to make matter worse, if we do not have any more rewards to give away, the bad deeds of the person whom we have wronged, will be added to our own list of bad deeds. Imagine going to Hell for other someone else’s sins!

The moral of the story is, we must never take for granted that we have done enough acts of worship or good deeds. We must never be arrogant to believe that we will be given a place in Jannah. Strive hard to increase our ibadah and good deeds because we must take into account the good deeds that we may have to give away later. Never be too sure that our bad deeds are less than our good deeds. Never think that we are safe from the Fires of Hell. It is not for us to declare ourselves as good Muslims because only God Al Mighty is qualified to do that. …….

Mind Your Language......

“The limits of my language means the limits of my world.” ― Ludwig Wittgenstein

When my sisters and I were small, our parents enrolled us into normal government school. The main language that was spoken in school was Bahasa Melayu hence my sisters and I conversed most in Malay. Our English was so atrocious, that my dad would cringe every time he heard us speak. So, my dad decided that things must change for the better.

            My dad made us, my sisters and I, speak English whenever he was home. It doesn’t matter if we spoke broken English, as long as we tried and practised. So, in the beginning, he would hear things like , “Abah, Abu (my dad’s pet mynah bird) jump jump his food upside down” or “eh you don’t play play with me!” or “Abah, mak are call you eat dinner now”. I’m not joking, that was how bad we were but never once did he mocked or laughed at us, instead he kept encouraging us on. Of course, every time he corrected us, we would be giggling like silly girls. Then my dad decided to take one step further in insisting that even our friends, who by came to the house, must speak English also. Now, that ignited another giggling spasm!.If we wanted something, we needed to ask for it in English. Failure to do, our request will be ignored or even denied. So, our friends were also forced to practise talking in English. We actually had fun laughing at each other.

            My dad also made us read English books. He had already instilled the reading habit in us by exposing us to Malay books at a very early age. He made sure that we finished one English book a week so that we are familiar the language.

            When our English got better, my sisters and I started to even speak English in school. Of course, we got taunted by a few ‘sour grapes’ students, saying that we were trying to show off or that we were forgetting our ‘Malay’ roots, but that did not deter us or the friends, whom we had roped into our little ‘project’, from continuing.

            Now, I can speak and write English very well and I have my dad to thank for it. I completely understand now, why my dad emphasised on mastering English because he knows the knowledge path would be unlimited. There are of course good books in Malay but you are limited to only the local writers, unless that is, you can find a translation of the English book. The books in English are in abundance hence imagine the things that you can learn…..

            When I started to re-learn about Islam, there were books that I read, written by foreign writers that gave me so much insight into the religion. Islam is not the religion of Malay or Arab but Islam is the religion of mankind. By being able to read books written by our fellow Muslim brothers and sisters, from all over the world, you would be able to see Islam from through their eyes and appreciate the beauty of the religion through their perspective. Unfortunately, most of these books are written in English. That is why mastering English is very important, in my opinion.

            There is one other language which I would give anything to master and that it Arabic. I realise that I am at the losing end for not being able to understand the language of the Holy Quran. Sure, there are English translations such as Yusuf Ali or Pickthall or Muhammad Asad but translations would not be able to let you experience the real spirit of Quran.

            I remember in one of my Umra trips with one of my girlfriends, the realisation of my ignorance of the Arabic language really hit me hard. It was during one the maghrib prayers where the Imam started sobbing even when he started reciting Al Fatihah. His recitation was so beautiful and moving that we were sobbing with him. Of course, the fact that we understand the meaning of the Al Fatihah, made our sorrow genuine. But then, when the Imam continued with another verse, his crying got louder and harder so much so, he had to stop for a while because he was crying so hard. By this time, my friend and I were bawling like babies.

            After the prayer ended, my friend asked me why I was crying after Al Fatihah and I told her that I was crying because the Imam was crying but I didn’t understand a single word he was reciting! Then I asked my friend why was she crying, and she replied that she was crying because both the Imam and I were crying, but she too didn’t understand a word the Imam was reciting! Hahahaha! We were actually two fools crying for no reason! I am very sure that the Imam’s sorrow or grief was real but ours were not.

            That was when I realised that if I had learn Arabic, then I would have understood what the Imam was reciting and I would probably have cried even harder than him! Tsk!Tsk!Tsk!.

            The Wise Owl once told me, that for a person who understands the language of the Quran, to him or her, reciting the Quran, is like God is talking directly to them. They feel the spirit of the verses pierce directly into their hearts and it remains.

            Isn’t that wonderful? I want to be able to appreciate Quran in Arabic as how I have learnt to appreciate the classical language of Shakespear or even Jane Austin but at this moment, I just have to be contented with reading the translation.

            So, moral of the story is, try to learn Arabic. Don’t make excuses about not having time as there are many ways to learn Arabic without having to step out of the comfort of your home, such as on-line courses. Trust me, I have come up with just about every excuse there is about 'why I’m not able to learn Arabic' (it’s a foreign language, no time, too old blah blah blah!) and each time, God smacked me with a solution until I simply gave up making excuses. I have started my course but I am still far from understanding Quran.  My mum speaks Arabic fluently because she took the trouble to learn but pathetic me only knows (other that the common greetings and salutations), ‘lah’  which means ‘no’ and ‘naam’ which means ‘yes’. But still, I am making progress…….

            If I can learn English, I should be able to learn Arabic…..right? Even Ustad Nouman Ali Khan said that God said, “We make Quran easy for those who wants to memorise”............So…..wish me luck peeps…..

“The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: “One who treads a path in search of knowledge has his path to Paradise made easy by God…” - Riyadh us-Saleheen, 245

A Sick Heart and a Defective Tongue....

“Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.” ― Edmund Burke

I know that I have been quiet these last two weeks. Reason being, I have been busy trying to proof-read the draft of my second book. Don’t get me wrong. I’m offering my explanation not because that I think anyone would miss the absence of my blog entry, but, in case my friends or relative are wondering if I have been abducted by aliens or whether I am in fact, still breathing…

Just the other day, I was actually given a back-hand insult by a friend. I know of the nasty streak that this, unfortunate friend posses but, that day, this friend made me the target. Let’s just call this person ‘fulan’.

At first, I was reeling from shock. Then, when I recovered, I felt angry then sad. Thank God the anger was short lived otherwise you would find a charred remains of fulan after I have breathed fire and scorched fulan to death! You know, me, the once fire breathing she-dragon!

Actually, in the past, I would have reacted and retaliated in kind. I would have blasted fulan off nastily but that day I didn’t. I kept quiet, turned around and walked away. It was that moment that I realised that I have changed. Maybe I am mellowing in my old age but I would like to think that I have finally conquered my inner demon.

Honestly, I can’t pretend that I was not hurt and truthfully, I’m still am but, I gathered all my strength to walk away. The insult that was hurled to me was uncalled for and to make it worst, what fulan had uttered was actually a malicious lie. In fact, it was ‘fitna’.

When I walked away, I was actually seething with anger but I knew that if I were to reply in an equally nasty way, I would be stooping to fulan's level. God had in fact shown me how a sick heart and a defective tongue, can do damage to another, so I better take heed to the lesson God is trying to teach me. Gosh! Was I ever like that?  If I was, then I do seek forgiveness from all those whom I had hurt. One thing for sure, I do not want to be like fulan. I want to be better….

After I had cooled down, I made a dua to God Al Mighty to protect me from the whispering of satan, to douse my anger and to remove the pain. The Wise Owl had once 'lectured' me about accepting God’s creation so I accepted that God had created fulan as such, nasty and all. Instead of praying for God to punish fulan, I simply prayed that God deals with fulan as He sees fit. Then, I forgave and moved on. I erased the whole incident out of mind, as nasty people do not deserve a space in my memory bank.

I also remembered something that the Wise Owl said a while ago. He said that, sometimes, the nastiness and rudeness in a person is actually a tell-tale sign of misery or profound sadness. It could mean that the person is really unhappy and miserable that they lash out on others. You know, like a wounded animal. Try getting near an injured cat. It will not welcoming you with purring and moewing but instead it will be hissing and barring its fangs at you.

These people feel that because they are miserable, they need to inflict the same pain on others. Their target is normally happy, chirpy people. We need to always be careful so that we do not become like them.

Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The faith of a servant is not upright until his heart is upright, and his heart is not upright until his tongue is upright. A man will not enter Paradise if his neighbor is not secure from his evil.”

Hadith  Ahmad 12636

The Wise Owl also said that we have two options when we are faced with these kinds of people. One, is to walk away from them and stay away. Two, is try to help them. You may be blistered with their nasty words many times before they eventually change but if you have the patient and a big heart, then you should try to do it.

One thing that we should never do, is, to curse them because it can back-fire. The curse might come back to us.

“Abu Ad-Darda reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Verily, when a servant curses something, the curse rises to the heaven and the gates of heaven close upon it. It turns right and left and if it does not find somewhere to go, it will return to that which was cursed only if it deserved to be curse, otherwise the curse will return to the one who made it.”

 Sunan Abu Dawud 4905

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The believer does not taunt others, he does not curse others, he does not use profanity, and he does not abuse others.”

 Sunan At-Tirmidhi 1977

The moral of story is, guard your tongue. Often, our tongue is one that lands us in trouble. Secondly, no one can hurt us unless we let them. Thirdly, forgive, forget and move on.

Abdullah ibn Mas’ud reported: He stood upon a platform and he grabbed his tongue and he said, “O tongue! Speak goodness and be rewarded, or remain silent and be safe before you are regretful.” Then he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say, “Most of the sins of the children of Adam are on their tongues.”

[At-Tabarani, Mu’jam Al-Kabeer, Number 10300, Sahih]

I’m sure you guys are wondering which of the two options, that was given by the Wise Owl, I took? Well…..the Wise Owl is almost a saint! His conduct and footsteps echoes the Prophet SAW’s. He will definitely take the 2nd option. Me? Are you kidding??? My footsteps still echoes Cruella DeVill ! BUT! I am still trying, so for now, I think it is safer for both me and fulan, if I were to keep my distance. Never know…I might suffer a relapse and turn back into a fire breathing she-dragon if sorely provoked…… muahahahah….