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.

The Victim

I am no longer happy to play the victim.
At best, helpless victims of discrimination; at worst, adherents of a twisted ideology bent on death and destruction -
this is how we Muslims are viewed today
especially in societies where we are in the minority.


But
I am no longer happy to play the victim.
For we have for too long been on the defensive,
happy at most to condemn acts of terror
in reaction to those who carry them out in the name of our religion.
And yes, condemn we must, but is that enough?


No!
I am no longer happy to play the victim,
to be the person who says
“Terrorists do not represent me”
but go no further,
happy to wait while society dishes out either
abuse or sympathy.


I am no longer happy to play the victim,
I am no longer satisfied with mere sympathy;
because sympathy runs out eventually,
and my religion has never taught me to be dependent
on others' pity.


I am no longer happy to play the victim,
and so
we must go on the offensive, armed with Islam
and to do so with a proper understanding
of what being “armed with Islam” means in today’s context:
To engage society NOT with
guns blazing,
bombs exploding, or
cries for the heads of "the infidels";
But with acts of reforming society with deeds of civic responsibility – Islamic fundamentals like
feeding the poor,
caring for the elderly,
and inviting to spiritual enlightenment;

In short, our presence in any society should be a blessing –
to whatever society that is.


I am no longer happy to play the victim,
and I commend my British Muslim brothers and sisters
who share this thought
and have actually done something about it:

I am Independent

"I am independent"

It is the lie we are taught to believe in

as we travel through life;

and as we start 

moving out of our childhood bedroom,

becoming more educated,

and making more money,

it is a lie

we start to believe in.

"I am independent",

because I pay my own bills,

I make my own decisions,

I am my own man.

But what a delusion it is

when

it is not food that gives us nourishment, 

it is not an education that gives us knowledge, 

it is not friends or family that make us feel loved, 

but it is God who does..

even if He does it via 

the food, education, or friends and family 

that He grants us.

"I am independent";

the falseness of this delusion 

lies naked for all to see

at those points in our lives when

we are starving,

ignorant,

or unloved;

and the fragility of the human

body, mind, and heart

is laid bare.

You are not independent.

Where does your dependence lie?

Of Peace and OSCEs

Peace, funnily enough, 

can come in the knowledge

that you have a test coming up.

Because

when there is a test coming up,

it takes first priority;

everything else comes second,

allowing you to focus your time and energy 

on that one thing - the test.

Perhaps this is one way

we can say

that Islam brings peace:

not necessarily because

there is with it

an absence of conflict;

but because with it

one finds peace in oneself - 

the peace of knowing 

what the real test is,

and freeing you 

to focus your time and energy on it.

#tadabburOSCE

(Please make du'a for me...!!)

Papa's Doa

My memory is a bit fuzzy on this,

for it is after all a childhood memory..

but

I remember 

after solat maghrib 

Papa letting me sit on his lap

as he makes doa.

He says it out loud deliberately

(I suspect)

so I could hear him say:

"Ya Allah, 

make my children good people,

grant them success 

in this world and the next"

Sometimes we feel that our success

comes from 

our own intelligence,

our own effort,

or just being at the right place

at the right time.

Forgetting that all help comes from Allah

and that help came via

the help of friends,

a 'lucky break',

or the sincere doa of a father.

Thanks pa :)