Thursday, July 31, 2008

Muslims have been called by different names all over the centuries. A collection of names which has been changd day by day according to the needs of the ruling powers. For example in the time of the Prophet(may peace be upon him) Muslims were known as Magicians or Sorcerers . Several hundreds of years later Muslims were called Mohammadeans-which while not a degratory term is not accurate as although Muslims do follow the teachings Of Muhammad (may peace be upon him) they do not worship him as do the Christians worship Jesus Christ.

In this day and age Muslims are known by the term of Terrorists or Jihadists. I personally believe that this terminology will also change with time. What Muslims will be called in the future really depends on the mood or the climate of the world. Today they are called terror mongers and killers simply because it is in the interest of a few to call them so. Whilst not denying that a few of them might in their ignorance be terror mongers and killers I would like then to present the argument that which society is perfect. Every society has a few bad apples and this is not a refection of society at large. Hence these “terrorists” and “killers” are likewise not a true reflection of Muslim Society at large.

Thankfully most of the people who have actually met Muslims in real life do not have the perception that the general mass media of the world is polluting that all Muslims are evil.

The talk nowadays is to build bridges all across communities and for that to happen there has to be a certain level of trust between communities and that level of trust cannot be present if one community continually labels he other with not to flattering terms.

By the way Gandhi has a quote “..be the change that you want to see in the world” . Based on this quote I think that its time that we all got to know out Muslims and Non-muslims colleagues/neighbors/friends/acquaintances more . More encompasses more than just knowing their names although that could be a start as well…

Good Luck in your “new orientations” people…

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Whenever we are undegoing a test from God then we generally tend to think especially if it is a tough test that no one has previously undergone such a hardship or such a test in the history of man or at least no one in our knowledge has undergone such a test.

Well...



That might be true to a certain extent but then I am reminded of a verse from the Holy Quran that says:


لا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلا وُسْعَهَا لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ رَبَّنَا لا تُؤَاخِذْنَا إِنْ نَسِينَا أَوْ أَخْطَأْنَا رَبَّنَا وَلا تَحْمِلْ عَلَيْنَا إِصْرًا كَمَا حَمَلْتَهُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِنَا رَبَّنَا وَلا تُحَمِّلْنَا مَا لا طَاقَةَ لَنَا بِهِ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا أَنْتَ مَوْلانَا فَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ

On no soul doth Allah Place a burden greater than it can bear. It gets every good that it earns, and it suffers every ill that it earns. (Pray:) "Our Lord! Condemn us not if we forget or fall into error; our Lord! Lay not on us a burden Like that which Thou didst lay on those before us; Our Lord! Lay not on us a burden greater than we have strength to bear. Blot out our sins, and grant us forgiveness. Have mercy on us. Thou art our Protector; Help us against those who stand against faith."


And that pretty much sums it up.

I mean that we can go on and on about how much injustice there is the world and how people are not punished appropriately it is at that point that we must realise and remember that we will be rewarded and punished accordingly to our deeds in this world and as muslims we have to show patience and constancy at every turn in our life .

If we stop for a second and remember the tests on the men before us who were not even prophets ,people like Umar ibn Al Khattab ,people like Mawlana Mawdudi and the list goes on.

Just pray that we all remain steadfast on the straigth path inshAllah.(Ameen)

Monday, July 28, 2008

Salam everyone...

It is 2:30 am and I am only at the Literature Review Part part of my FYP Proposal Presemtation and I've spent the most part of the last 3 hours working on it and so far have ended up with only 6 slides to show for it.

phew!

Wipes off "sweat" from brow in the air conditioned 20 degree RC.

This FYP thing is really exhaustiing not to mention the other weekend w my group mate and I spent 9 hours from 2pm-11pm in the lab just for one part of the methodology which is rotavapourisation.

Oh yes btw I am now the proud grandfather of around 70 small mice pups and awaiting at least 100 more pups.


It has been a crazy few weeks in terms of lab work which for the next month or so only promises to increase .

Alrighty then back to the Proposal Presentation.

3:30am -Searching Pubmed foranything related to the antioxidant properties of Zinc and frustratingly can't find anything yet.aargh!

btw am up to slide number 7 and on my literature review now alhamdullillah

4 :50 am- i am now on the methodlogy part which actually leaves me with (including this part) 2 more parts of the presentation to go. btw the coffee has done its work and so far all I have to worry about is my cold and the huge pile of tissues on my desk that might I add keeps growing.

5:05 am -restarted methodology after a couple of minutes break

5:23 am -Going back to hostel from kulliyyah



Saturday, July 12, 2008

3 months ago...

Yesterday it marked the first 3 months since my dad passed away and i decided to publish something that I wrote a little while back....

“The weight of the pen is heavier than the weight of a sword”

There is a lack of quality education in today’s society and nowadays there are many seminars,movies and speeches that individually address the lack of a proper education in our society today and I think that is what Islam brought i.e. when it was properly implemented. I mean the fundamental reason for most of the globe’s problems are not rooted in extremism or poverty but rather a lack of the right type of education. That is why I believe that God has put a special reward aside for those who are teachers.

People like my late father.

Just the other day I met a magistrate from Pakistan who turned out to be one of my father’s students. I have also met a Nigerian who was doing his PhD under him and a student from the Ivory Coast , not forgetting the thousands of Malaysian ,Nigerian and Indian students that learnt Evidence, Criminal Law ,Criminal Procedure Code and scores of other legal subjects as well as many life lessons from him. Police officers, Judges, Professors from all walks of life, Government Officials and literally people from all sorts of careers and from all walks of life sent their deepest condolences to my family when my father passed away. On the 11th of July,2008 it will be 3 months , approximately 90 days since I last spoke to my father and that day still is as fresh in my memory as if it were happening now... for me that day at times can play like a movie ... in front of my eyes as if it were the present.

The call that I got at 2:10 pm from my mum saying that your father has fainted, the call from my brother who was overseas telling me to rush back home as soon as possible. The laptop bag that I grabbed while in the lab working on my FYP and the time later , sitting in the car on my way to the bus station ... telling my group mates that if everything would be okay then I would try and come back in the following days to finish up our Final Year Project which we had just started work on the day before, the last day that I saw my dad alive(10th of April,2008)...the rushing to the bus terminal(I was there in 15 minutes max from the time that he fainted)...the buying of the bus ticket for the earliest available bus at 3pm for RM 20 which was a slightly raised rate. Being offered the driver’s seat initially as there was no space to sit for such a sudden booking and then moving to the backmost seat. Calling home at 2:40 pm and asking my mum what was happening and remembering that she said that they are trying everything pray Haris, pray and hearing her recite the prayer(doas) loudly on the phone and then calling my brother and asking him to book the earliest flight back home and then sitting on the bus with my heart pounding and praying that my dad would still be alive by the time I got home. Then calling at 3:00pm and asking my sister to pass the phone to Aunty N who was there and hearing from her that they didn’t want to tell me until I reached home but that it wasn’t good news.

Then the call from my brother in law and sister confirming it , followed by a long 3 hour bus ride in which I cried so much but all that the people around me were doing were trying to ignore me and the calls that I made and got-which had me telling people about it.

Those 3 hours were the shortest in my life and they whizzed past like they were a few long minutes. Then reaching the Gombak toll and being picked up by Uncle A I and initially being brought back home and then turning around to go straight to the mosque as the traffic was too heavy.

Receiving the calls from loads of people asking about where the Funeral Prayer(Jenazah) was going to be held and then reaching the mosque, meeting a friend of mine while doing wudu’(ablution) which was then followed by me praying my Asr and then going to meet another friend of mine ,E in the ISD office.

Then waiting for the Jenezah van to arrive and drinking a small bottle of Apple Juice simply because I knew that it was going to be a long night and I needed Sugar in my body and needed it fast as I hadn’t eaten lunch.

At around 6:45 the Jenezah van pulled up outside the mosque lower ground floor and then helping to carry a long white box which was all covered up, into the bathing room.Shaking all over at that time both at the coldness of the room and the fear of seeing my father for the first time since he passed away.

Then Uncle MAM and AQ who had come with the van from the house asked if I wanted to see my father’s face to which I replied in the affirmative.

Taking off the cover which was actually quite light and then seeing my father’s face for the first time after his passing away wrapped in a cotton blue chadder(cloth) and then breaking down initially only to be told by Uncle MAM that my prayers would benefit him more to which Ireplied and slightly rudely as well that I would pray as well. The half smile that was breaking on my father’s face at that time was what I noted and this was confirmed by a family friend ,who later told me that your father was smiling after he passed away , Inshallah this is a correct assumption by all those who saw it.

Covering the mayyit(dead body) with the long box-like cover to await the ritual washing and then having to meet all the lecturers and family friends who had gathered outside the mosque. This was followed by Maghrib prayers and then I met my mum and sister for the first time since it had happened.

It was a very tough moment which was brief as well as I had to go downstairs to aid in the washing of the body which was done by 3 main people ,myself and Uncle AK and another uncle. We were also assisted by the mosque assistants and then later the chief imam of the Mosque.

Then taking the body upstairs to the ante room which was located outside the prayer hall and then the Isha prayer which was a beautiful prayer lead by a Nigerian Imam with a sweet melodious voice Mashallah who later ended up leading the Jenezah prayer as well. Then the announcement by uncle AK in both BM and English- that so and so a lecturer of so and so a faculty has passed away and please pray the Jenezah prayer for the deceased after the Isha prayer (the announcement was made before the Isha prayer),however there was no need to ask anyone as I saw most(99%) of the 300 or so people in the congregation stayed behind to pray the Jenezah prayer.

Then taking the mayyit to the van where I then called my mother and sister to have a last look at my father before we took him to the graveyard. Also at that time an Uncle advised me to ask if he(my late father-May Allah(swt) have mercy on his soul) owed anyone money then to claim it from the family and if he had offended anyone to forgive him. At this point , may I add no one in the crowd replied in the affirmative to either of the afore mentioned questions.

Then going with M bhai and uncle MAM in the Jenezah van to the graveyard and then at the graveyard exiting the van which they had parked as close to the open grave as possible and since this was all happening at around 9-9:30pm they had put spotlights all around the grave so that we could see all around us.

Then getting into the grave initially with my rubber slippers that my friend AA had brought and then removing them and then joined in the grave by E and AA ,with AA at the top part of the grave, which was facing Makkah , and E towards the bottom part of the grave with myself in the centre and then placing our hands underneath my father’s body to lift him.

Lifting him and then slowly lowering him into the grave with our arms and placing him tilted towards his right side and then loosening and opening the strings that bound his body as well as opening the hood that covered his face. After that E and AA climbed out of the grave which was up to my shoulders and then we placed a wooden board tilted side ways to prevent the soil from falling directly on him and also leaving some space where he would have been questioned by the Angels as all of us will be.

At the very end filling up the gaps in between the board and the earth with pieces of hard clay which were wedged in between the sides of the grave and wooden board. This was then followed by using a hoe to pull earth back into the grave and stepping on the earth as it hardened and then climbing out of the grave as it got higher and then piling soil on top with a spade and making a bump which was sticking out of the ground to mark the grave.

We then proceeded to place 2 green plants at each corner of the grave and then sprinkled a few flowers on top and that was officially the end of my earthly life spent with my loving father.

On a side note-That is where we will end up ,in the ground whether we are prepared for it or not. How we live this short earthly part or our lives will determine how we will live the remainder of our lives ,whether we will end up in heaven or hell, eternal salvation or eternal punishment.

You decide!