Monday, November 30, 2015

What Sort of Budak Surau?

But what sort of budak surau?
One who doesn't only frequent the masjid
but is also able to
argue his stand in an intellectual debate,
jog a few miles without a problem,
and lead society with the principles of Islam.

For, after all, 
Islam itself is holistic, perfect, and synergistic.

Should we not, then, question the state of our tarbiyyah
if our tarbiyyah is not consistently churning out
the main ingredient of a strong ummah: 

the well-rounded individual?

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Shall We Let Them Win?


Manifestation of khalifah?

Shall we let them win?

They;
who are enemies to
non-Muslims and 
Muslims alike.

Enemies to non-Muslims
as they in the name of Islam
behead, bomb, and gun down
innocent souls.

Enemies to Muslims
as they behead, bomb, and gun down
innocent souls
in the name of Islam.


Shall we let them win?

The trick they play is the
exploitation of ignorance,
to sow fear and hatred,
for the purpose of causing division;
in a misguided jihad for the khilafah.

And 
we are letting them win
as governments  "declare war" on them
when that is the very thing they want:
a reinforcement of their narrative
that "the West" is at war with Islam,
and so Muslims must kill the Westerners.



We are letting them win
as we discriminate against Muslims even more,
making them even more alienated in European society.

We are letting them win
as we keep Syrian refugees out,
leaving them vulnerable to the allure of violence.

In so doing,
we are serving them new recruits on a silver platter;
we are letting them win.


Shall we let them win?

We shall not;
but only if ALL of us
Muslim or non-Muslim,
reject the idea they are selling:
the idea that
Islam is a religion of violence,
eternally at war with the West.


To the non-Muslims of Europe,
I advice you to have sabr
and hold on to your principles of
justice, freedom and tolerance.

To the Muslims of Europe,
I advice you to hold on to the Islamic principles of
justice, freedom and tolerance
and have sabr.


Do not let them win.








Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Redefinition

Perhaps we don't find peace in our solat
not because we have forgotten "how"
but because we have forgotten "why".

The irony being 
that the answer to the question "why solat?" 
is, actually,
"Why"


You see,
it is the nature of the dunya 
to make us fixated on 
the "how"s of life:
how to get a girlfriend,
how to raise our kids,
how to graduate from uni;
so much so that
we start defining ourselves 
by those "how"s: 
"I'm a lover,
a mother, 
a student."


Against this background,
the solat is, actually,
a redefinition of self
prescribed 5 times a day;
because, you see,
it is the nature of the solat
to make us remember 
the "why" of life:
"I'm an abid of Allah."

But it can only be so
if we stop misperceiving it as
as a mere ritual,
and stop the "how"s of life
from intruding into it.


Perhaps then
we shall find peace in our solat.