Everything in nature is a lesson

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious most Merciful

Picture beautiful Cape Town, a real and true blessing. How many cities can boast that the pearls of nature are within the city? Cape Town boasts a magnificent coastline with stunning beaches. A “wonder of the world”  and most definitely a defining characteristic of Cape Town is Table Mountain. Scenic drives around the city and the mountain leads one from one end to the other using roads like the captivating Chapman’s Peak.

In all of this are signs on which to ponder for those of understanding.

A man walks along the beach. The big grains of sand stick to his feet. As he is walking the water flows over his feet washing away the sand. The beach was quiet and empty when he first arrived. Now, from a trickle of people there is flow of people almost as much as the waves hitting the shore. A woman in an apparent state of undress, oh it’s a bikini she is wearing,  catches his eye. Somewhat distracted from his original thoughts and contemplation, he is now oblivious of the water running over his feet. Then, almost with a shock, he realises what he is doing, shuts his eyes, his lips are moving as he mumbles something. As he continues he is surrounded by people and by women strutting their stuff. His mind races in all directions as he loses focus of his real purpose for being there. A big wave splashes and his knocked back – it was pretty much like a “hi, how do you do! What brings you here” kind of wave – a reality check. He moves quickly. At the end, and fortunate for him, he sees a tap which gives him a chance to rinse of the last of the sand. His car must remain clean as he sets off to his home.

Another version of this man walking:

The man is going about his daily life of work and some relaxation. Along the way he errs, overstepping the laws of Creator. Fortunately, the Creator has made it such that there are many opportunities to wash away those sins, praying regularly at the appropriate times (much like water washing away the sand off his feet at the appropriate times). However, man is prone to sin and so he repeats these sins, mostly small, but sometimes big sins. The water from the waves splashing over his feet may not always be enough to wash away the sand/sin. Bigger decisions and commitment are  required to steer one  away from sin and being drawn into it further. Temptation is so much in one’s face. And so it is best to seek the safer option to as far as possible steer well clear of these temptations. This man was given one last chance to wash himself when he got to use a tap to rinse of those last sticky grains of sand, those last bad habits. He felt better and was on his way home. If that was death and he was fortunate to wash himself of his sin and then be sent to his final home, Paradise.

Will we be that fortunate?

Enjoy nature, enjoy the beauty of Cape Town and wherever else you may be living. Remember though in everything in nature there are signs from those of understanding (and may we be of those who understand)

  

Paint me a Picture

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful

Paint me a picture that I will never forget

Paint me a picture that will not cause me to fret

It must be more beautiful than the eye can see

It must allow my wildest imagination to run free

Show me amazing gardens with rivers below

Show me lovely mountains with a hint of snow

Let it be such that it will create a yearning in the heart

Such that of this picture I will want to be a part

If you are not yet able to paint me this picture

Know that in my thoughts this is already a fixture

So while you think about what I am saying

Let me remind you that the one to whom I am praying

He, My Lord, has already set for me the scene

To be part of it He wants me to be is on His Deen*

So when I look around at the happenings of the day

I am glad that He has given to me Islam as the way

The world is a mess such was Satan’s promise

Some have sold this picture as if it was mere commerce

So how to get this picture you may be wondering

Take the straight path without in any way meandering

Along the way you may get many offers to explore

But if you do that only trouble will be in store

You simply have to hold tightly to the Guide

Then with the garden you will be more than satisfied.

*deen -  a religion. For Muslims it is a way of life

Eloquence and Majesty of a Book

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, Most Merciful

 It is late spring and the weather has been rather cool lately. Today it has been a little warmer. There are approximately 800 people - men, women and children - crammed into a mosque to attend a unique program. So the temperature inside is rising. The program is just about to put a different dimension on the “heat”.  In daily sessions, lasting 3 hours, for the next 13 days the Quran will be translated (into English) to the public word-for-word. Yes, “translations” of the Quran are available in various languages but this program, in the manner of presentation, is unique.

It’s Day 1. Barely an hour into the program, there is a small break. Then there is an announcement. A 19-year old girl, who came as a guest of a friend, declares her shahadah, i.e. she declares her faith and her acceptance of Islam. What did she hear that was so profound? What impact did the atmosphere have? Situations like these are not unique. Situations where people are exposed to Quran and accept Islam is not unique. The part of the Quran this girl would have heard was about Moses (peace be upon him) and the Jews – yet it somehow impacted.

Here was a case recently where someone attended a Islamic exhibition purely out of curiosity. He hears the recitation of Quran (in Arabic) – not understanding a word he is touched by it. He enquires about its meaning and declares his shahadah.

These are but two examples of the effect Quran has on people. There are countless. Those sincere in seeking the truth will no doubt be touched by it. The style and beauty of Quran is without comparison for it is none other than the words of a superior being, the Lord of the worlds, the Creator of us all.

I have recently listened to a lecture where this “pastor” tried to refute Quran, but alas the more he tried the more he confirmed it to be the truth. He questioned the preservation of Quran but he did not count on the fact the Quran is an oral text. He did not consider that Quran was memorised and guarded in the hearts of people from the very first revelation of Quran more than 1400 years ago. How amazing that the majority people (millions of them) who today have memorised Quran are non-Arabs who may not understand Arabic. It’s difficult enough to memorise something in one’s own language let alone 6236 verses in a foreign language. This is the medium the Almighty has chosen to preserve His word. Children from 3-4 years old and older people into their seventies are memorising Quran. No other book has withstood the test of time. No other book has the eloquence that even the pagan Arabs who at the height of their poetic era had to acknowledge that these words are from a superior being. The style and manner in which it was first recited is very much still preserved and taught.

The program continues. Speaker after speaker, people who teach Quran and yet in each one there is still a hint of being mesmerised by this book every time they talk about this Glorious book. The emotions on the faces of the audience is a picture to behold and a reflection of one’s own heart and emotions.

And in the end it, this program, is a reminder of the first five verses revealed by Allaah to Prophet Muhammad – peace be upon him – via angel Gabriel –peace be upon him in the cave of Hira on  the Mountain of Light on the outskirts of Mecca more than 1400 years ago:

Read [O Muhammad!] in the name of your Lord who created. (96.1) He created man from a clot. (96.2) Read, and your Lord is the Most Honorable (96.3) who taught with the pen, (96.4) taught man what he did not know. (96.5)

Quran – 96: 1-5

We need to do ourselves this favour and read this book

The Wheel of Time is spinning

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Sitting on a ferris wheel how quickly did you complete the circuit and see you are back at the start. You continue circuit after circuit and before long your time is done. Aw man – already?

Just a little ealier I heard the now all too familiar conversation about time and where has the year gone. Indeed where? It’s gone, never to return except for some snippet we hold in our memories, never to be relived or reclaimed. A year has gone like the circuit of the ferris wheel. With each circuit another year has passed. How much have we benefited ourselves? How much of this benefit is short-term and how much is the real long-term benefit?

We are on the threshold of a new year  (the Islamic/Hijri new year is in a day or two while we are only a month away from 2012 CE). As Muslims we celebrate our new year by fasting on the 9^th and 10^th days of the new year (in the month of Muharram). This is an optional fast but a strongly recommended fast. There are no wild celebrations/parties, no music, no street parades, but rather a reconnection with the Creator. With the Mercy of our Lord at every turn, days like these are reminders of that Mercy. And why should we not pick the fruits of that Mercy by concerning ourselves with dialling 255224 – oh by the way that is “ALLAAH”  - and committing your pledge – your pledge of time for doing good, your pledge for giving more charity, your pledge of being mindful of time, your pledge for getting involved with those who do good)

So to my Non-Muslim friends: We do not celebrate your new year since we have our own. We celebrate differently to the way you do. We leave you to do what you do. We do not wait for midnight like you do, we do not pop the corks (no alcohol), we do not party (jiving or whatever you may call it). So you will find us in our homes and/or mosques when you are celebrating your new year. We trust too though that your new years resolutions will give consideration to the real issues at hand while,sadly, in a time of ecstacy that we forget the suffering and oppression.

As we receive news of change in weather patterns, the political turmoil in specifically the Arab world, the financial crisis in Europe, and even our own home-grown problems – is this not the time to reflect?

Have you noticed that you are getting older and have you noticed that many people that you knew, some older and some younger, have departed from this world just this past year. Where have they gone? Where will they be going? How much time do you have left on this earth and where will you be going after this? Have you scripted a book that will be a best-seller at the grand opening of the Garden of Bliss?

The ferris wheel is turning and the sands of time is running out.  Soon the doors of 1433 AH (after Hijrah) and 2012AD will open and the doors to their predecessors shut. In a blink you will read this message again and the numbers would have changed (forward). Will you be asking “what happened?” in a sleepy voice.

My Mother

Blessed am I that you have been chosen as my mother

With every action with love you do smother

How is it that even though with the difficulty that you bore me

Not once did you ask of me not the slightest of fee

No doubt strict you were and never short of a rule

But learn I had to as certainly you were to me a school

Today you have reached yet another milestone

And still an opportunity for my disobedience to atone

Now, My Lord knows, how I wish to you I was an ideal son

So I offer to make amends and pray you reach a ton

And judging by your good health I pray it’s really so

Having you is like having a river of blessing that flow

I say these words being fortunate still to have a mother

And not a chance that I could ever swop you for another

As much as you have done for me I have a request

Since by my Lord the prayer of a mother is always blessed

Please, o please forgive me for whatever I did that made you sad

And I urge you pray to our Lord that He erases all my bad

In turn, daily with every opportunity, I continue to pray

That ultimately that you be granted paradise as a place to stay

Before then that He grants you good health and long life

Filled with much happiness and not an iota of strife

Mom, just for being Mom, how can I ever thank you

Mom I love you, I do I do I really really do

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The poet said: “The mother is a school: if you prepare her properly, you will prepare an entire people of good character, The mother is the first teacher, foremost among them, and the best of teachers.”

Diwan Hafiz Ibrahim, 282. Published by Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyyah.

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Success

Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.

- Benjamin Franklin

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Success is not something to be taken lightly. And, yes, we all have different perceptions of success. Much has been made of collecting trophies. And the old saying: “nobody remembers the one who comes second” is a damning attitude and certainly impacts most people negatively and very few positively. It is easy to say that someone who does not have a positive attitude is a loser. The reality though is this attitude of winning at all costs is creating losers as they are marginalised. But then there is also the majority who refuses to compete lest they become losers and these are the real losers for they have made no contribution except that perhaps the largest amount of criticism that generally emanates from this group.

I am not bashing trophy-hunting – rather there is certainly a need for excellence and competition – but the damning issue is winning at all costs – and this happens on all fronts – sports, politics, business, education, and even in civil society (the old adage “keeping up with the Joneses”).

But what about caring and sharing – what about striving for excellence unselfishly. What about encouragement – what about the idea of participation rather than exclusion – what about rewarding real effort as opposed to only achievement. What about collective achievement drawing upon the efforts of all.

It for this reason that Allah spells out in Quran what success is and that simply is those who strives, those who put in effort to improve – those are the successful ones.

Quran: 23:1-11

1. Successful indeed are the believers.

2. Those who offer their Salat (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness.

3. And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden).

4. And those who pay the Zakat.

5. And those who guard their chastity (i.e. private parts, from illegal sexual acts).

6. Except from their wives or (slaves) that their right hands possess, - for then, they are free from blame;

7. But whoever seeks beyond that, then those are the transgressors;

8. Those who are faithfully true to their Amanat (all the duties which Allah has ordained, honesty, moral responsibility and trusts) and to their covenants;

9 And those who strictly guard their (five compulsory congregational) Salawat (prayers) (at their fixed stated hours).

10. These are indeed the inheritors.

11. Who shall inherit the Firdaus (Paradise). They shall dwell therein forever.

We are all generally weak and so we get measured on what we achieved as being a success or a failure. But the successful one is one who gets up after he/she has missed the mark and continues in their efforts to improve and to be a benefit to their families and society at large. Yes, we may falter – but the success is in continuing to put at least a 100% effort in everything of good we do and to turn our backs and negativity, to turn our backs on laziness, to turn our backs on complacency, to turn our backs on gossip, evil, and falsehood.

Success is in being positive and putting effort into building up rather than breaking down.

O Euro, Woe Euro, So Euro

There once was a man called Berlusconi

Whose plans for his country was somewhat phoney

So with his country in despair he had to step aside

For the Italian economy has problems it seems he denied

In the neighbourhood was a man called Sarkozy

He knew that in the Euro all was not rosy

So in his plan it is the banks  he must bail

A mammoth task but for him the  Euro can’t fail

On the other side we have Greece with Papedemos

As of yesterday he is the new boss

Aware is he that Greece is on a slippery slide

Out of Euro they’ll be if they don’t stop the tide

And not forgetting Chancellor Angela Merkel

The Germans are not to be left out of the circle

Would that they still had the Deutsche Mark

Because this situation is certainly no walk in the park

In all this is for us a lesson to be learnt

Lest we too, God-forbid,  get our fingers burnt

So the message is simply “live not beyond your means”

We all must,  even those with demanding teens