21 Rabi' al-awwal 1435

Assalāmu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

My father was admitted twice to the hospital since the last two weeks. I cannot sleep day and night because I took care of him in the hospital. These recent, he was infected with pneumonia because of the feeding system turns out to be inappropriate to his condition... I contemplated that if I feel so much tortured, then I wonder how much tortured my father feels? He has a crippled, paralyzed body and he cannot speak because his articulation tool has been taken by the Lord of Powers. I am sure that it must be unbearable for him but this is already fated within the Guarded Tablet in the highest region. How could we relate our past and integrate it with the current situation in the process of "self" identification? Whether we cling to the phenomena and identify it as our "ego" or we just remain unattached but going through it with perseverance and right consciousness? These are my personal insight based from the Sutra of Right Conducts: Discourse between Brahmin Kottaṣtha and Brahmin Śariputra. It is not Islamic nor Arabic in its cultural essence because these figures were the foremost disciples of Siddartha Gautama. The philosopher of Śakya tribe from Lumbini.... They discussed psychology and sub-conscious mind...

That is the reason on why I could still go on with the situation and do not try to run away. In Buddhist phenomenology as per my previous lessons learned, the term saṃsāra refers to the cycle of birth and death. When the time passes then a creature would move on to other phases of the life in the universe. This is the meaning of the word. The life and death is flowing within the temporal universe. We gain our life experience and getting the enlightenment in term of our mental faculties while wandering throughout these cycles of life and death. I am not sure whether this is also being discussed by the ancient Greek philosophers but I guess the same thing was also echoed by Aflaṭūn (Plato). We are going throughout these phases with few types of devotion such as services, knowledge, wisdom, consciousness and trying to get a focused mind.

I had got a phone call on Tuesday while my father is in the hospital. It was a call from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a job interview. I did not have much time for preparation because the interview was scheduled yesterday. Anyhow, I am not confident that I could secure the job on my part but I have no regret. I had at least tried my best by sending the applications and attending the interview despite of my condition.

I am so sad. Two of my Rohingya brothers had moved to other areas. The other Bangladeshi brother, Muhammad Habib is the only one left working part-time in the nearby restaurant owned by my father's office mate from BH. I could not make friends with my neighbors. They are "rich" people. I only can sit with migrant workers even in the mosque or the musalla... I am afraid to taint them with my ugly presence...

Prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

The Importance of Da'awa : Part V

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I thought that I had finished the part of the importance of da'awa but then there are few writings behind my notes' commentaries from what I heard and read. There are few hadiths for the importance of da'awa. InshaAllah we will try to put it up here for everyone to share.

The first part of the commentary interpret the meaning of the verse 104 in Surat Aal-Imran : "And they are those who achieve success..." Although in idiomatic sense, the translation of this text seems quite stiff, but we still can sense the content of the message. It means that those who are consistent in performing da'awa are the successful ones. Why? Because through da'awa, vices and crimes could be avoided and charity or chastity will continuously flowing in the universe and the nation will be the promoter of peace and charity around the world.    

Some Hindus View about Evil : Vaalmiki Ramayan

Urm, before we go further I have something to share here only for fun. During our discussion with non-Muslims for example Hindu friends. We also heard a slightly different ideas about evil or vices. They accept evil as a fact and maybe some of them were quite harsh when I talked with them but I am not a Muslim as per Muslim people everywhere talked with. I am not talking here and there to "convert" so I don't feel offended at all. 

I know about this notion since before I talked face to face with them and I didn't tell them my confusing background, hehe. I read adaptations of Ramayan into Thai or Malay and Mahabharat portions through Bhagavadgita. About the monster Ravann in the Ramayan, he was a Brahman and a devout devotee of lord Shiva Shankar. He knows about the evolution of the universe, the secret of spirituality and the path to heaven from earth that made him an emperor of the three worlds. He also performed the sacrifice and penance for lord Brahma until he was granted with the boon of longer life. The roots of his fall-down began when he had kidnapped Sita Devi, the wife of Raam and it is because his mental state was damaged by evil thoughts. So, there must be something wrong with a religious guy or religious-looking guy if we see them committing evil.  It does not mean that a person does not know about religious teaching. It is about at what time a person performs the act of charity and chastity? Is it continuously or at certain times?

For Muslims, Allah taught us to always pray to Him so our Faith would be strengthen and our spirit and soul would be purified through His boundless Mercy and Love.     

The Importance of Amar Ma'aruf Nahi Munkar

Now back to the topic, the beginning of the verse 104 in Surat Aal-Imran is also appropriate with the hadith from our noble teacher and prophet, Muhammad s.a.w. Reported by Hudzaifa r.a from Muhammad s.a.w the prophet says: "I swear by the Lord in which myself in His grip that we are commanded by Him to diligently perform charity and to diligently prevent vices and crimes. Or else the Lord will raise up calamity upon everyone. And you will pray to Him invoking help but He will never listen to it anymore!" (Narrated by at-Tirmidzie from the report of Hudzaifa)

Sometimes, da'awa has to be a little bit stern when there are people who are stubborn, refuse to leave crime and vices and spreading mental illness to others. It is mentioned through a hadith:

"The most principal above all is the struggle with the word of Justice in front of the evil and cruel administrators, governors or earthly kings." (Narrated by Abu Dawud and at-Tirmidize from the report of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri)

In another hadith reported by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, it says: "Any one of you who sees something evil, crime or vice so he must change it to the good and proper one with his hand. If he has no capability to change it with his hand, then with his tongue. If yet still incapable, then change it with his heart. And with the heart, it is the weakest of the Faith." (Narrated by Muslim)

The last hadith from the report of Abdullah bin Mas'ud mentions that prophet Muhammad s.a.w says: "No one of the prophets sent by the God to nations who were not accompanied amongst the nations with companions and supporters who firmly supporting the traditions and executing the command of the Lord through the tongue of noble prophets. Then appear the descents (after them) who did not walk what they talk and performing what has not been commanded by the God. And for those who oppose these with his hand, they are the faithful ones. And those who oppose these with their tongue, they are the faithful ones. And those who oppose these with their heart, they are the faithful ones. After the heart, nothing that could be mentioned as the Faith even with the size of mustard." (Narrated by Muslim)

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

The Importance of Da'awa : Part IV

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Religious Awareness

Some interpreters of the Quranic verses say that, what is mentioned as al-Khayri means the goodness which refers to Islam. Islam is about nurturing the Creed and Faith on the God. It includes the Tawheed (Oneness of the Lord) and Ma’rifat (Knowing Him). These two matters lead to the fact of religious awareness where ones could differentiate between goodness and evil.

Later, the feeling to incline toward goodness in the soul grows and it makes one having the courage to uphold the goodness and opposing the evil. If religious awareness is not yet growing in the soul, then the calling for goodness and opposing evil would be of no use since to differentiate goodness from evil is the teaching of the God.  

To bring da’awa into the effect, religious awareness is very important dear brothers and sisters. A da’awa with the notions of the halal (legal) and haram (illegal) before everyone are aware about the religion or the path would be in vain like a man who divorce another man’s wife.

In the Arabic text of Surah Ali Imraan v. 104, we could also see the word ummatun which means a nation or a group of people. There must be amongst you a nation. Another one is the verb yad’ouna which means calling or launching a call. It refers to the mission or da’awa. The verse could be understood that among millions of people who are known as Muslims, there should be a nation who becomes the inner part with a specific mission to perform da’awa to others. The life, the development and the marginalization of the Path depends on the da’awa.

    

The verse which says: “And there must be some of you a group (or nation) who call toward goodness and telling others to perform charity and to prohibit vices” is explained as the field held by the nation who perform the mission to call others toward the Path are two:

• Mission among the nations who profess Islam as their Path.

• Mission toward those outside of the Muslim circle.

Inward Da’awa

During the period of Muhammad s.a.w and few years after he passed away, Muslims could still receive the da’awa right away from Muhammad s.a.w himself or receiving the da’awa from his companions after he passed away. The law and principles which was not widely known were counseled and explained by Muhammad s.a.w himself. Later when he passed away, his companions took the charge and later the charge were passed to the teachers since the disciples period, the disciples of disciples period, the early period teachers and scholars, and to the recent teachers or scholars who continued the mission among Muslims so that they are aware about their Faith and Path.   

Outward Da’awa

Besides the inward da’awa, there is also the outward da’awa. The verse refers to the da’awa toward non-Muslims and to explain to them on what is Islam. What is the fact of Islam? 

Telling others about Islam is our responsibility. It is not the responsibility of those baseless websites or preachers who call themselves as the most qualified people on the earth to tell the truth about Islam or the God while they could not bear the tests of the God and that made them turning to this and that. 

In Malay language that we use in the northern Malayan Peninsula as our state’s national language, the term referring to these people is lalang. It means a weed. When the wind blows, the lalang will also follow the direction of the wind. It has no stance and no dignity like the weed that makes it easily being blown by the wind. The Arabic specific word for the term lalang is the munafiq. When we translate it into English, it means the hypocrite. People like these should just be abandoned, ignored and neglected.

The Definition of Ma’aruf and Munkar

As what has been mentioned before, ma’aruf refers to goodness, the act of goodness. It is basically something which is widely accepted by a good society. It is the obligation on a member of da’awa mission or the nation of da’awa to form a healthy public opinion on the nations through their acts and attitude.  A mission of everyone in a congregation of a musalla or a masjid.

Now, why some Tabligh Jama’at members thought that I am one of them? Because the basis of the da’awa is all the same dear brothers and sisters no matter from what order we’re from. That is why I translate our turooq in English as mission orders. The tradition that I am following is the same tradition which is practiced by the noble prophet Muhammad s.a.w and his predecessors.

Munkar refers to evil symptoms, evil and bad attitude of life. It is rejected by a normal and sane society. Da’awa always in co-existence with healthy society and a healthy society is the goal of human life. 

The normal human nature is to accept the goodness but rejects evil. If there is a society which rejects the noble way of life, then the society is not a healthy or a sane society. Goodness is for everyone's benefit. This is the fact of Islam. Islam is the nature of the universe.

When the amar ma'aruf nahi munkar which leads people toward charity and hinders them from evil stops, it signifies that the society is in danger and facing its disaster. Alhamdulillah, ending this part with salawat for Muhammad s.a.w : Allahumma salli 'alaa Muhammad, wa 'alaa aali Muhammad wa sahbihi aj'ma'in.

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

The Importance of Da'awa : Part III

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Da’awa Fields

General Da’awa

There are two major fields of da’awa which are the general and the specific ones. The general one has many subs as the society is of different sub-sections. It is the da’awa in Muslim communities itself so that they may properly hold their religion and living it. Muslims are of varied society such as the farmers, merchants, skilled workers, labors and officials. Also the intellectual levels being considered as important such as those in the village, in the city, men, women, young, old, those with high academic achievements and those of lower education background. There is also the effort to explain the purity of religion to others as a general da’awa. It is characterized by the calling for others to understand the wisdom and the virtue of Islam and the teachings of Allah through Muhammad s.a.w. Sometimes it has to deflect nonsensical accusations and attacks by others made on the path.  

Specific Da’awa

It is the da’awa among our family member. Bringing the religious atmosphere into the family, educate everyone to obey the command of the Lord and competing to perform charity. Da’awa never stops even among us. 

I found that this is the most difficult part of da’awa dear brothers and sisters. People in my family are not as religious as our ancestors because time passing many had also disconnected from the teachings and forgetting who they are. They live like nomads moving here and there. They don’t care about religion, manners, traditions and customs nor bother to get help from religious teachers or listening to lectures anymore. Sometimes I feel like giving up because it is so suffocating and just run away yet I still feel pitiful to people around that stops me. 

When I talked with brothers outside of my family for example brother Idris in the hostel, he did listen to me and obeyed the sunans that I mentioned to him though he maybe knew about those things earlier than me. I feel so happy at least I know there are people listening for their own goodness and looking at them also reminding to perform worship for Him but they are not my family member.

Obligations upon Every Muslim to Perform Da'awa

In the verse 104 that we learned just now, we could see three obligations being placed upon us. I’ll put them in the form of points where the first one is the center which brings forth the following two:

• Calling for ma’aruf or calling everyone to perform obedience to the Lord and perform charity.
• Helping others to avoid munkar or vices and crimes through differentiation between what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. 
• Calling for ma’aruf and reminding others about the disasters caused by munkar vices and crimes.

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

Importance of Da'awa : Part I

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Diary and Da’awa

At last I finished everything and manage to dump some notes here so everyone could also get the benefit out of it. I wrote this diary last week around 14^th of July 2012 after I revised few materials. In this side, I basically don’t write for magazines for money or for any organization but writing and translating stuffs only for Him. 

Translating the tafseer and collecting notes in fact is not an easy job though I think everyone could do this but the way how writers write their articles or materials could be tough as well as the style of their language could not easily being conveyed in English as for example those which are shrouded with poems, getting the points from materials written in Classical Malay and with Malay pantuns segala mak nenek nya.

Translating and interpreting is a job of Faith. With Faith I am not sleeping at night and have to bear sufferings with sacred heart for these to reach audience from all over the globe because I am pretty sure this treasure is not reaching others as I had checked it all over the searching engines. Now everyone could enjoy these treasures from the East in English and they could translate this into Arabic, Persian, Russian, Hebrew, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, Japanese, Finnish whatever lingo it is that they use.

The tafsīr materials that I am using right now is from the tafseer written by an Indonesian national and a Sumateranese religious professor known as Dr. Abdul Malik Amrullah of Muhammadiyah movement and it is entirely in Malay language. He received the title of professorship ironically from the first established center of our ancestral tariqa which was from the al-Azhar University of Egypt. I am also upgrading my rudimentary Chinese for this and trying to polish up Arabic as my ancestral tongue. Wishing it inspires other Chinese speaking Muslims in our country and around to take opportunity from these treasures for their own benefit in the world and the hereafter. 

Mum went home to our village to call people for my third sister’s walimatul ‘urs or her wedding reception. So, basically I am the only one who finished my classes and stays home most of the time. I just helped dad with his diapers, showering him, helping him to perform salat, reciting prayers for him and giving him some milk and his medication since he cannot do anything on his own and it is my charge as a son. I cleaned the kitchen and cleaned the compound of the house too because these places seem quite out of the looking. Also did some hand-washing for clothes because I need them for prayer services and I can’t pour hot water into the washing machine. If I do not do these, nobody would do them for us. I do not care if people calling me things because I did all of these lame-slave things. I believe that Muslims must be clean in every place, clean in spiritual, mind, heart and physical. And I feel weird because why a man cannot do house chores apart of outdoor ones together with woman? Wasn’t our prophet Muhammad s.a.w also helped his wife with kitchens? Wasn’t he also mends his clothes by himself? So, he is not a man because of that?! Where is the notion about cleanliness and the obligation for us to be clean spiritually or physically? Where is gender equality as what I always heard here and there? 

My family actually is being tested by the Lord again and again. Since last two months, my dad had fallen down due to a severe stroke and it was classified at the hospital as the low risk fall. He had the symptoms since before my maternal grandpa passed away where his thinking becoming slower and slower and later he was attacked by few strokes and the recent one, he is paralyzed half part of his body. He could not speak any word and only using hand signals. I could say that my dad is quite a stubborn person. He seldom listens to this kid advising him, asking him to follow to fast and he’s not so religious because of his dad passed away early. Basically he was religiously illiterate. Part of it because he is a father and I understood that a father and a man have his ego too and I already tried to exercise my responsibility as an inferior son through politeness and discretion but guidance is His right. I faced this with my elder or younger sisters and also with my mother. Sometimes I would have to find a religious teachers and helping me in term of advising them but they only listen to these respected people for a moment. Later they’ll forget about it.

Besides of the pressures and depression that I had to face in the hostel, this news about my dad really affected me and it makes me even more “weird” in the eyes of people around me at that time. I lived there alone without any roommate or colleague so I can’t discuss anything. I only have Allah to talk with and I don’t know how pathetic I looked like in front of musalla’s congregation besides I cannot really hold my tears from flowing when praying because it feels like a mountain suppressing my head. I tried to meditate to substitute negativity around with positivity and practicing supplications that I learned from honorable teachers.

When I talked to my sisters especially one who always listens to religious lectures, she said that I should be patient and bear it. It is easy to say patience but to bear it is not as easy to say it out. I am sure this also happens to everyone. Especially, people begin to show the "true" traits of human-being. That is normal I guess. If normal human-being facing the problems here and there at a time, they maybe would die a tormenting death. My friend, Amir talked about tormenting death or mati beragan as we call it in Malay when we talked about this, haha. I am just kidding.

We have to be positive in all the time. I still have the Faith in Allah as my sole Savior and the only true Friend though many times I had this evil thought to commit suicide, just die and being something forgotten. Just like mother Maryam cried her self in the Surah Maryam 19:23. I seek forgiveness for my weaknesses dear Lord!

Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love amin!