Contentment

In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially-Merciful

The fly knocks into the window pane desperately looking for an exit

Why did he not consider moving a few inches further to make his escape?
A man goes about his daily routine grudgingly doing what he always did
Why did he not consider changing something to help his life take shape?

The ant is energetically surveying the land as it goes about its chores

Is it any co-incidence that the ant needs no one to open for him any doors?
For he always does what he does best knowing that his team works well
Man can learn because never in despair will one ever find any ant dwell

The bird leaves his nest seeking sustenance early in the morning

When the man is asleep or perhaps may have risen but still yawning
The bird returns later having had his fill and is now contented
When the man belatedly returns from his place of work he resented

Perhaps the man will do well if he ponders on his lot

Did God Almighty create all this in vain, I think not
So take a moment to reflect on the treasures before you
Then, no doubt, you will make with life a start anew
 

From a time of idleness daily the man now takes time to reflect

To those around him, to all he now gives due respect
He bows down regularly to the One who is Ever-living
Creating in him the contentment that he was certainly missing

My Father, My Teacher

In the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially Merciful

I often think about a man who made such a deep impact on me

Obstinate as I was I now realise that he was teaching me the person to be

Sadness overwhelmed us as his worldly life was slowly taken from him

But even to the end this silent teacher taught as to remember Him

So now when I recite that “there is no either deity to be worshipped but Allah”

How better to remember the one who taught me about Allah

And I thus pray for the mercy of the Almighty on him who taught me all this

That this person deserves nothing less than the Garden of Bliss

A great thanks to my Dad for what he taught me with such few words

I remember well how he took out time to also feed the birds

So I can go on and on about the lesson I learnt from this great man

Yet few knew him and yet less will even begin to understand

That parents are a blessing from Allah if only we will sit and ponder

There are lessons for us in this life that will take us to an awesome place yonder

And so I remember my father who taught me to remember my Creator

To Him, no doubt,  is our final return as He decrees, be it sooner or later

That day when in the morning he prepared himself so well

By the afternoon others gathered as if to bid him farewell

As we continued to recite with him the ultimate declaration

That we worship none besides Allah, the Lord of all creation

By the night as silence fell, it was decreed that he breathed his last

But even in this moment his impact over us was like a shadow cast

The tears then and even now a few years later for a man not forgotten      

A man of few words yet he taught us to love the God that was not begotten

We washed his body and then in three white sheets he was shrouded

For the prayer  it was humbling to see the mosque so crowded

Beyond words it was when came the time to lower his body into the ground

Then the body was covered with sand forming on the grave a little mound

So praise to the Almighty who has granted me a good father

As even now I am best known for being the son of my father

Forgive me if every now and then I shed a tear

For even in death my father is always to me dear

The story of a man who found reality

 In the name of Allah, The most Merciful, The Especially Merciful

There she was as my eyes fell on her across a crowded room. “She’s the one” was the immediate reaction. And why not! If she was not my dream-girl before, she certainly is now. Our eyes made contact. I tried not to act too foolish but enough to hold her attention and make her smile.

Over time she too made me smile. We had fun. Then we got married. She already have a good figure but lost the extra pound or two for our wedding day – yes, that day is all about the bride. Married life was bliss – initially anyway. A few yes later we had our first child, then the next and the next. Wifey is now thirty-something and now sitting in my armchair I tried to picture that day when I first saw her. The flashbacks though are interrupted by reality.

Reality? Well, when a man’s paunch starts to show it more like his porch – he is building on. But wifey, no! No! no ! she cannot build on – it’s a man’s job.  So now I am thinking “What happened since her wedding day”. Was that just a screensaver? Screensavers appear after time, not disappear. So what happened?  Reality? Nobody told me about it. All my friends were egging me on- giving me high-fives. Now what to do?

I sit there almost in despair that while my love for my wife did not decrease, it is just not the same.  When now I see my friends we no longer talk about the good things of our wives. In fact, we try not to raise the topic lest one of us get depressed.

While I am sitting in my armchair I look out the window and see my neighbour outside in his garden. I have never had much time for him but he always seemed friendly enough. He also had three kids and his wife, well I don’t know too much about her, actually nothing. I get up and decided to see how he is coping with things, we all being the same age and everything.

His story is not too different from mine except that their attraction for each other was not like ours. While I tried to impress the girl who is now my wife, he tried to impress someone more important and likewise did his bride-to-be. Their lives were founded on a common interest that would last, while ours were too superficial and we have not developed and grown together because of that. Theirs was based on a common goal that they were already saving up for some excellent real estate. No, they did not yet own their own property, but they planned to and were always working on it. Now this is going to sound weird but it sounded like some pyramid scheme because they had their children involved in it too. So they working for their real estate benefiting from the input of their children while their children are already laying their very own foundations.

I went home and reflected on what I had just heard. I realised that I, like most people have lost the plot. Here my neighbour was content and living the dream and what I thought was my reality was actually only deception.

Having understood what my neighbour told me I sat down with my wife and relayed to her this understanding. When my neighbour got married it’s because they shared the same interest and had a simple rule – Do everything to please Him and He will grant you the bonuses and all the rewards.  Him is none other than the King of Kings – He owns everything – all you have to do is show you love Him. So my neighbour got married because of the love for Him, not for the love of the wife. But he, my neighbour, was touched by the fact that that his then wife-to-be also loved Him. And so out of that, their love for each other has grown and is still growing.  Yes, they have taught this “Everything I do is for the sake of Allah” to their kids and for that they too get rewarded. The love in the family overflows because of the love of Allah.

So they have understood the love for Allah such that if for example they buy anything then they simply ask themselves – is this acceptable to Allah and will this bring me closer to Allah or take me away from Him. So the girls cover themselves because of the love of Allah. All of them pray on time for the sake of Allah. They eat for the sake of Allah. They sleep for the sake of Allah. They lower their gaze in the company of strangers of the opposite sex for the sake of Allah. They abstain from all wrong including listening to music and gossip. They do not follow celebrities who promote shamelessness making girls believe it’s good to expose their bodies or act in a lewd fashion. The boys do not follow those celebrities who do not show respect to women  through their actions and lyrics.

 These neighbours  do it because they love life, but they do not fear death. The life they love is the promised life of the hereafter and for that yes, we all have to die.

They don’t just say they love Allah with their mouths. Their actions say they love Allah. They have contentment in their hearts.

Are we always going follow our hearts desires and live the illusion. Are we going to clean up our act and do it with love – the love of the One in whose hands is our lives – the One who sustains us with our daily provisions, The One who created us and all that is around us.

Shall we then not give thanks?

Crime makes the headlines

Crime makes the headlines! It sounds like its only today but it happens every day.  The way the media are reporting crime almost makes it seem trivial or perhaps the readers and viewers are so de-sensitised.

We also get a sense that crime happens only locally when this clearly is not the case.  The most disturbing thing of all though is that the crimes are getting more violent and totally indiscriminate of age, gender and blood relations. The response to crime is that we ought to get tough on crime, yet we are supportive of political parties who see it as human right abuses when advocating these tough measures. Murderers and rapists are no longer subject to the death penalty but concerning still is that these do seldom carry even a life sentence. When life sentences are handed down, this beautiful word called “parole” allows the perpetrators of crime to cut short their sentences. Can you imagine a time when we may let the criminals off the hook with only a few words of reprimand from the judge.

Yes, we are soft on crime because we have lost our bearings. We have become self-centred lest we be caught out for a crime and may have to pay the penalty.  We have become self-centred and so we care little for our fellow human beings.  We have lost our connection.

What is this connection? We are no longer driven by a value system that considers what is good for all. Rather we have allowed everything from promiscuity and greed to dictate our lives. No longer do we feel accountable. We are no longer accountable to our fellow humans let alone to the Creator of us all. So the shift has taken us to protect our little “kingdoms” to the extent that ourselves and our families have become the focal point. What is bad about that? We are failing to instil a value system in our “kingdoms”. Children get their way even when there is no money to buy them the luxuries they demand and we become defensive when our kids wrong another at the expense of justice. This is the breeding ground for greed and corruption.  We see parents covering for their kids instead of teaching them justice and responsibility. It is always the other party’s fault – not my kid’s – no! not my kid. We are our own worst enemies. We have not become accountable for what matters and that word “accountable” does not even feature in our kids’ vocabulary. We have all seen the news and read the newspapers – and how many youngsters are committing serious crimes already. What role models are we? What roles models are we? What role models are we?

Our value system is at stake because we no longer feel we are accountable. The first sin to be committed is out of arrogance. That quality has now permeated our hearts and we don’t even realise it.

Commit to a life of accountability and let us raise our children as such. There will be a day of recompense, a day of accountability. When that day comes it will be too late to make amends. Do it now!