Good Trees

"...a good word is like a good tree...

It produces its fruit all the time...",

reads a line in my favourite book 

(itself a book full of good words).

And how true it is:

words really are our investments;

our words possibly live on 

longer than our physical bodies do.

While on the other hand

"...a bad word is like a bad tree, 
uprooted from the surface of the earth."

How many of our words

are mentioned or written

without thought or reflection?

Forgetting that

a meaningless prose

is but

a scentless rose.

Let's plant good trees :)

[14:24-26]

#tadabburMoorPark #macaiPreston #imanbarunakup #IBNU

Jaga Hati

Because

you see, 

your heart has strings.

And pulling on them hurts.

Heartache. 

It is the pain of 

failure,

disappointment, of

unreached ambitions.

It is the pain of

dejection, 

rejection, of 

unrequited love. 

But why does it have to hurt so?

Thing is, 

it doesn't have to.

The dunya is an ocean 

in which the makhluk -

an infinite number of creatures -

swim around in an infinite number

of aimless directions. 

Tie your heartstrings to the makhluk

and your heart gets ripped apart,

broken

because

you see, 

your heart has strings.

And pulling on them hurts.

Why not tie instead your heartstrings

to Al-Khaliq - 

the One who created all creatures?

Tie your heartstrings only to Al-Khaliq

and your heart is not ripped apart,

but uplifted.

Tossed around by the waves of the dunya,

it is nonetheless be at peace,

guided always by the One who created it.

You see, 

your heart has strings.

And pulling on them hurts.

Reminder to self

who also has to 

jaga hati.

Nah, lagu nasyid: 😬

http://youtu.be/oD24r3lSGn4

Manchester Snow

Like footsteps left

in Manchester snow

is the dunya;

fleeting brushstrokes on

a fleeting canvas.

Madaya

Eyes large and haunting..

betraying at the same time both 

innocence,

and her lack of nutrition.

She is to me Madaya:

that Syrian city

with an Internet connection, 

but no food.

She is to me Madaya:

the child 

who should be getting milk everyday

but instead lives on water mixed with salt.

She is to me Madaya:

for I don't even know her name.

#ummahweek2016

http://youtu.be/xzSRDtJMP6M

http://youtu.be/HL9-PZqKLAY

http://youtu.be/-1pYfUdol3I

http://youtu.be/S587ncQR8ps

To Love and Be Loved

Mohammad Ramtoola ヅ was confused when I asked him how to say in French

the word "lover".

"What do you mean?" he asked back;

"Someone who you love, or someone who loves you?"

For apparently they are two different words.

This highlighted an important fact,

often overlooked:

Love is not a monolithic thing;

there are actually TWO components to it:

to love, and

to be loved.

For most of us, the 'to be loved' part comes easily.

Because

ever since we are born our parents have showered us with love 

unconditionally;

we are loved just for the fact that we are us: their children.

And so we grow up not just taking the

food, clothing and shelter they give us 

for granted,

but also love itself as a given.

With time we reach teenagehood

and suddenly the urge to fall in love with someone else -

a "lover" -

creeps into our psyche.

But

when teenagers say they want to fall in love,

often they still mean they want 'to be loved' - 

more than they actually want 'to love'.

Because although teens 

have the bodies of adults,

they still have the minds of children

when it comes to the matter of love.

And so it takes the passage of even more time 

to mature us into people who truly learn 

that 1st component:

'to love'

(Maybe, even, it takes us to have our own children 

before we truly learn that).

Anyhow

without BOTH components present,

a relationship cannot work properly.

The Malays have a saying, apt to describe

a relationship in which the parties are willing 

only 'to be loved'

but not 'to love':

"tepuk sebelah tangan"

"to clap with one hand" -

a futile act.

It is the same in our relationship with God;

that relationship is a love story,

and so it too has TWO components.

'To be loved' by God is obvious

for

ever since we are born.

It is He who has given us our parents 

via whom He has given us

food, clothes and shelter.

Question is have we learnt that 1st component of love

in this love story with God?

'To love' him is to worship him exclusively;

to put him above yourself and 

all the attractions of this dunya.

And no, He doesn't need our love 

for He is free from need.

It is us who stand to lose out 

in this world and the next,

attempting vainly to clap with one hand

if we don't learn eventually 

how to love.

Reminder to self.