Praises due to the God the Highest. We managed to finish our Friday service in the mosque. The newly arrived imam at the mosque is quite helpful especially he would explain the message of the verses that he just recited in the prayer service. I did not bring my notebook to the mosque so I would have to focus more on his speeches. This is actually the method that I would love every imam to practice and not just reciting the long-winding surah of the Glorious Quran and after that reciting the supplication in long-winding Arabic language. That is fine for the training but we could also do that while performing the Qiyam al-Lail or the Night Vigil Prayers.
Sermon
Well, today's sermon is about the importance of the knowledge. It is a broad and general topic discussed by everyone and almost everywhere. Knowledge is a useful tool for every da'ie and the preacher of Islam so that we would not be shooting like nothing. The reason why we wanted Islam to spread across the universe is not because of dominion. As what has been mentioned in the Hadith al-Qudsi, the intention is the primary source of the act. If we intend to have dominion on the world, then we would only bringing tensions and tainting the name of our noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w while we always say that we love him. Is not this contradictory to what we say at our lips? I am sure everyone knows what is meant by the hypocrites and it is also a title of a surah in the Glorious Quran itself where the God explains to us about the hypocrites. Despite of looking to others with rising perceptions... How about if we have some insights in ourselves by keeping our silence.
Monologue
I did a lot of meditation myself besides learning again about Islam and I felt the pain when I am trying to remove evil "me" from my inner self and mind. Perception is actually a phenomenon which comes and goes. It is a temporary phenomena. This is nothing from the sources of Imam al-Ghazali or Ibn Hajar while I am also learning from both of them through teachers such as the late Mr. Sa'id Ramadan al-Bouti materials. I am being honest. Some of my insight materials are from the source of the Path of Self Purification. They are not from prophet Muhammad s.a.w. Like I told everyone through various posts before. I had trained myself through the teachings of the enlightened teachers from ancient India though I was also educated in basic Islamic system. There were five recognized aggregates forming the mental phenomena that come and go while one of them is the perception. The other four are the physical form, cognition, volitional formation or sensuality, and mental structure or mental object. Translation perhaps is not enough to explain all of these matters. One need to understand the original language of the teachers who taught all of these which is the ancient Indian language. Just like fellow brothers and sisters believe that the Glorious Quran and teachings of our noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w should also be understood in Arabic and through the exegesis. So do other teachings. When we depend too much on these matters, we would be sunken into the stream of sufferings. Suffering here refer to the state of mind and it affects the physical matters around. I am not trying to talk about these because these are not so much important.
But as to say, this is just a knowledge from various kind of sciences which could be founded in the Earth. This is a practical psychology. Not so much about metaphysical stuffs. That is why I was so furious when some kids saying that what I am talking is about the "unveiling" concept. One has to be very careful about what they are thinking and also saying as the word is the manifestation of the mind and heart. There are countless lights that veils Him and it is a blasphemy to think that we had already reached the knowledge about Him while only about 0.00000001 percent is unveiled. So, please those who is approaching the circle be very very careful I beg everyone including myself. Make sure that we are walking within the circle of Islamic Path and then practice the morality of the noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w may we be blessed with boundless happiness.
Manner of Seeking Knowledge
Before we study anything, we should start it with the intention. Our intention must be sincerely to reach the pleasure of the God the Highest. We should study anything because of we wanted to secure a job. Let me tell brothers and sisters something. I realize that why the God the Highest had turned me this far from the Sharia stream through everything that happened around me. I could see that if we study the religion only to secure a job and to live happily then it is not path of the noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w : )
The other is we should not study anything because of fame and that is why I hate people coming close to me in crowd. I always asked anyone who wanted to approach me or trying to practice the practices to always come to me alone. I do not mind to be a mentor and also his student. I believe in mentor-mentee system for training. That is the system where the previous teachers of the pious predecessors used to practice when they studied the traditions. I did not intend to make anyone looking stupid. That is far from my heart because I do not like to do anything to others which I do not like to happen to me. If I intend to do so... I would have long reprimand people in front of the crowd like people of various movements doing that to me. The reason why I am secluding myself from movements today is because I do not like to see things being committed upside down by the wrong people. When it comes to Islamic teachings, we must doing it right in term of manner, time, position, knowledge and practices.
We should seek the knowledge from the right teachers. While seeking information from the internet, one has to be careful with the sources of the information because the most doable research is always from the first source. This is based from research methodology and I am just summing it up for the sermon as an example. This is why the pious predecessors such as the Imam al-Shafi'ie and also teachers such as Imam al-Ghazali and others used to travel far while having to live in a very modest way just to seek knowledge which is now being studied by others without any trouble. If we wanted to know about particular matters then we should find the right teachers about the matter and not looking at some other people who oppose the matter because that is not according to the stream that we wanted to know. And this is why I wish that nobody using anything in this humble site as their arguments because this site is only a personal site based from one individual "perception" about life and the world. World view could vary from a location to another and from a person to another. So, be very wise in filtering information. Just treat this site as an entertainment so that brothers and sisters know that not only you in this world suffer but there are zillions of life suffering while living in this temporal world. This is just a humble sharing.
Be respectful to other opinions and agree to disagree. This is a very simple method and also a method which is practiced by Imam Ahmad where he loves to leave the argument or debates because it is a waste of time. Time management is very important for a seeker of knowledge especially Muslim students. Imam al-Shafi'ie said that I could debate in a very eloquent way with scholars but not with an ignorant. So, we could judge a person who is knowledgeable or not based from his tendency to debate or to prove this or that is right. Knowledge is not about whoever is wrong or correct. It is about the virtue and the benefit that everyone could enjoy from them. There are research method whether when someone is studying the Islamic sciences or any other sciences.
Be very patient when we learn something. Even in our life experience which we eventually learned from we should also be patient. I listened something in the Quran the New Dawn series and it explains something which is very beautiful about patience and its virtue. As an ordinary mortal human-being I am also not exceptional from distress or being affected by misfortunes but the concept of patience taught us to be like the cactus who sustain itself through the water supplies that it sought with its long root thrusting under the sand and stones. It signifies the mind which is used to generate the life of the physical. There is always wisdom behind whatever happened to us as what has been explained even by non-Muslim teachers. For example the philosophy about the fate, actions and destiny which signifies the past, the present and the future. There is a story too about patience and the wisdom behind everything through Quranic narration where prophet Moses a.s was ordered to follow the prophet Khidr a.s after he unintentionally slipped by thinking that no one is knowledgeable than him since he possess the wisdom from the God the Highest. But the God the Highest mentions that there is always people with knowledge almost everywhere so He ordered Him to get some wisdom from the other prophet (Surah al-Kahfi). This also means that we should be among the knowledgeable so we could get at least some of their knowledge and wisdom. In this case, I am perhaps not so much fortunate. I only know few of my cousins and nephew also memorize the Quran but I am not so much close to them. But, I could assure brothers and sisters I put value on the Quran memorizers. I love them all.
To study anything related to Him, we must make sure to protect our senses and through my contemplation of whatever wisdom of the East. The tools of senses are the portal of the mind. They are particularly six senses at our physical body which are the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the touching senses and the end is the cognition which is a group of mental processes. In these sense dear brothers and sisters, language and linguistic learning is very important. Azren which was my undergrad colleague is now a Malay teacher in Islamic College of Kuala Kangsar. He told me that the students there although studying in Islamic stream for their diploma but were not so much fond of Malay language as compared to Arabic. Maybe because Malay is not so much important as the previous times but it is still important for them because who are their target audience if they are going to perform the da'awa? Whatever language that you speak dear brothers and sisters, please take a good care of it and improve it. I am writing here in English because this is the only way I could reach other brothers and sisters outside there. I was not so much skillful in English and still improving it too. The way I studied English was that I memorized the English-Malay-English dictionary besides checking the etymology of words through R.O Winstedt English-Malay Dictionary (1913) something. That is why some people would claim that my Malay language is somehow classical as compared to modern Malay. I love Malay language so much and I could get better score for Malay language as compared to other subjects when I was in school. I only became not creative when I grow up perhaps because I learned to accept facts of life that life is not always about imagination. Imagination perhaps important but it is only an escapism. How are we going to go through the fact of life is important and the knowledge on what is the fact of life could also lead us to other branches of knowledge.
In the end, a knowledge without practice could never help us from torments of the hereafter. We have to practice and sharing them with others. Because I cannot find a suitable mentor nor mentee to study together or for sharing as I am already growing old... Three years to 30 years old so I guess this is among the ways to share some of the experience. There is of no use to collect thousand of books but we just keep them in shelves without sharing them while the contents of the books could help to bring the civilization to virtue and to Him. The things that we memorize for example the Quran is to be practice. Not for the job as a community imam or to be a religious officer. The sin for those who memorize the Quran but acting not in accordance to proper standard is gravest than the sin of the ignorant who knows nothing about the revelation. But there is always an urge for us to improve ourselves through seeking the knowledge and not to remain ignorant!
Closing
Last week I was quite occupied because I helped Azren with his mid-term Malay paper. Thankful to him so I could earn some sustenance without having to beg like a beggar which I would better die if I commit that. He offered me to fill in another contract position as a Malay language teacher there by asking his dean but I guess I would not going to apply for that. I have had it enough. I would just work part time here and study the Quran and other Islamic sciences here. It is ok I cannot enjoy my life like other young people with friends around.
In fact I do not even care, hahaha. I would do it the other way which is to seek the God the Highest pleasure. The fact of life that I was talking about is the impermanence of existence, the absence of abiding self and the suffering. What matters is to improve ourselves and by time we wish that we could see Him in the hereafter. Wishing anyone who stumbled here maybe by accident enjoy them. I am not trying to post anything here for open publication. Simply my inner selves being poured down here. Outside, I am totally without voice but simply performing.
Allahumma salli 'alaa Muhammad wa 'ala aali Muhammad. Dear the God the Highest may You be pleased with all the teachers and bless prophet Muhammad s.a.w together with his family members may we also receive some essence of love from You.
Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!
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