Deeds & Thoughts

O Allah
If my deeds take me away from you
Let my thoughts bring me back

... from Travels of Ibn Jubayr

I had my plan but ...

The number '5412' did not win on 4D 

It was about 3 weeks ago that after a good Sunday rest at home I thought I wanted to go to office to finish some work that had piled up. It was good timing too since my wife and son was away at in-laws. But alas, my day did not turn out as planned. Truly, things that happen to us are but things for us to ponder. Lyrics from Sami Yusuf's Who is the Loved One comes to mind:
Any one who fails
To see all the signs
Of His existence
That He has spread around

Will be completely blind
Walking in the desert sands
Having no peace of mind
Who is the Loved One? Allah
Who is al-Majid? Allah
Who is al-Hamid?

That guy really has great voice and good songs; visit him at www.samiyusuf.com

If I'm not mistaken, Shaykh Nazim once said, if something happen to to us, say Alhamdulillah; and if it's good, say Syukurillah (sp?).

Oh, it was at a traffic light with an ambulance that came from opposite side and suddenly turn to left; leaving me little road for braking except to hit his side. I'm okay but the car is recuperating!

Many Luck in Life

Living Room 


Stair Case 


Upstairs 

Masha Allah, I must show gratitude and confess my thankfulness to our dear Lord much more than what I'm doing now. My dad passed away when I was 15 and I did not feel much about it since my parents have been divorced since I was 10. Though lacking a fatherly figure, my life has been blessed by many people that I think I can't thank our dear Lord enough for it.

One such man is Mohd Affandy Yusof whom I met while a student in Kalamazoo, Michigan. My friend Riza sparked my interest in books and this Abang Fendy nourished the flame for it. Just look at his collection of books. The photos were taken in mid April 05 while visiting him in Penang after about 10 years since we last met.

In Kalamazoo, I often went to his house for good meals. Thanks to people like him, I can keep my 'bucit' even though living far from mom's cooking. His stories of travels and associations with Alims in Malaysia always fascinated me.

Nagging Zen Saying

Some weeks back, there was this saying keeping playing in my head, but I can't recall the whole thing directly. Somehow I remember some words of it but the whole thing evades me. The thing is that it disturbs me like if you can imagine, you are seeing a fairy but somehow, you can't catch it because just at the right moment, she flies away. Would not it be nice if you can put a fairy in a bottle or aquarium and make it like a display thing. One that looks like Julia Roberts will be fine.

Oh the saying was this :

Chuang Tze, a Chinese philosopher, once dreamt that he was a butterfly. On waking, he said to himself, "Now, am I a man dreaming that I am a butterfly, or am I a butterfly that thinks, ‘I am Chuang?’"

May be it's not Zen at all, maybe it's Chinese ... or rojak. I could have a nice plate of mee rojak now. In my real state; not dreams.

Bila Fateh merajuk

We have only one child, Muhammad Fateh, now 6 years old. I can't remember why the sad face but probably because we are leaving Penang going back to Puchong. Even a day after we got to Penang (my wife is from Bayan Lepas), Fateh said he wanted to stay for 10 days since we pack so many of his clothes, he can stay longer than us. Kids eh! They are truly our reflections. Sometimes they are instruments of our Lord guidance to us. And when that happens, we are hopefully humbled by the experience.

Breakfast at Tun Sardon 

A Visit to Jalan Masjid India

A view of Jalan Masjid India from a Minang's restaurant

Every once in a while, my buddy & I would spend half of Saturday browsing for books etc. in Jalan Masjid India. The picture was from our visit about two weeks ago. The Pak Cik with a red table on the left side of the pic sells rings, stones etc. that normally goes with such vendor. He also sells a Kasturi. People who usually buys attar would know how Kasturi would smell like; not my favorite though, but it's alright. But not a normal occasion that you would find a Kasturi in its natural state. Seeing that I'm big and a bit asthmatic, he jumped to the advantages of Kasturi for asthma, and I asked him how much, he cooly replied RM150 a piece. Wow. You probably could buy the whole deer for that price. Oh, Kasturi I've been told is a sac found around the navel in certain musk deer. O well, give me my Ventolin lah.

But I digress. I wanted to write about this. Whenever I go there, sometimes I would feel a bit down coz I did not take my wife and son with me. I'm sure they would have enjoyed a spree around the area. But to actually make it happen, requires such precision planning that I doubt few men in Malaysia are capable of; unless they are graduates of West Point or such a place. You see, we men are easy. For such a trip to materialize, I would wake up when I normally do and if there's no family thing going on, I would call this buddy for breakfast. While eating, either one could spontaneouly say something like, 'eh, jom gi Jalan Masjid India, nak cari Qasidah Burdah la' or 'eh, jom pi Jusco, nak cari CD la' and we would drive there afterwards.

But before you say more, please visit this Robert Bly guy and see of what he would think.

Shaykh Ubaydullah Al-Ahrar

I recently read about him and there's one saying from him that really strucks my nerves since at the time, I was really down. Talking about Shaykh Alauddin al-Ghujdawani, Shaykh Ubaydullah said:

"He taught me a lesson that one must struggle to keep firm and constant in the dhikr, because whatever you acquire easily, without difficulty, will not stay with you. Whatever you earn by the sweat of your brow, however, will stay with you."

I guess in whatever we do, discipline and respect can't be far away if we were to succedd. And growing up as a laid-back, tv watching, Super Mario Brothers playing kind of kid, those are difficult traits for me to keep.

In Early 2003, I once asked somebody if there's an easy way to wake up and do the tahajjuds and he replied, discipline.

How to get discipline, pray tell, for the only kid, among close to 500 students that were 3rd batch MRSM Beseri, the only kid that got detention.

Surely I must learn to keep my adab.

Jokes

You may have read these before but enjoy them once again. And much like highly regarded litterature or prose, you can't translate these without losing much of their value. So enjoy them in Malay:

Tahukah Anda perkataan May Day yang diulangsebut ketika berlaku kecemasan, baik di laut atau udara berasal daripada bahasa Perancis M'aidez yang bermaksud ''tolong saya''. Perkataan Mydin yang tertera pada Pasaraya Mydin pula bukan bermaksud ia dimiliki oleh pelawak terkenal Maideen.

Tahukah Anda kedua belah kaki kita tidak sama besar kerana sebelah adalah kaki kanan dan sebelah lagi adalah kaki kiri. Namanya saja sudah tidak sama jadi tentunya besarnya juga tidak sama.

Tahukah Anda magnet ialah sejenis logam yang juga digelar besi berani. Sebagaimana namanya, magnet ialah besi yang berani menarik butir-butir besi lain kearahnya. Bagaimanapun orang yang diupah untuk menarik kereta bukanlah magnet.

Tahukah Anda burung dapat pulang kesarangnya walaupun telah keluar kadangkala hingga beribu kilometer daripada sarangnya tanpa sesat atau silap walaupun tanpa bantuan kompas. Ini kerana setiap sarang burung mempunyai alamatnya yang tersendiri sebenarnya.

Tahukah Anda bunyi perkataan lempeng dan tempeleng adalah hampir sama walaupun ia berbeza dari segi rupa bentuknya. Tapi,walaubagaimanapun orang yang kena tempeleng masih boleh memakan lempeng apabila dia berasa lapar.

Tahukah Anda antara kereta kebal dan tok guru ilmu kebal, ahlak kereta kebal adalah lebih baik kerana kereta kebal walaupun ia kebal tapi tak pernah membanggakan diri dan riak akan kekebalannya.

Tahukah Anda walaupun hidup beribu tahun kalau tak sembahyang tiada gunanya.. Jadi, sembahyanglah sebelum anda disembahyangkan.

Four Man and Interpreter

My interest in reading dimly started in Darjah 3 coz at the time, my school’s library was throwing books out and I took this one book which I can’t remember the title now. But it was about world history and for the first time, I was introduced to names like Madame Curie, Thomas Edison, the Sumerians etc. But coming from a Kampung Pasir Tumboh in Kelantan, we were more interested in how to pay for school fees than extra tuition or books.

Fast forward to 1987, there I was in MRSM Beseri in Perlis and true to our gender, we had a good time. Sometimes proudly I say that among close to 500 students in our 3rd batch at the time, I was the only one who was suspended for 3 days from school. Or maybe I was the stupid one among the naughty boys; stupid enough to get caught. Among my buddies then was this guy Riza who talked about Aristotle, Metaphysics, Einstein etc like he knows what’s going on. I was like, man, this guy is a professor!

Among the books I had enjoy reading were those by Idries Shah. Here’s one story from his book ‘The way of the Sufi’, the story is attributed to our Master Jalaluddin Rumi:


THE FOUR MEN AND THE INTERPRETER
Four people were given a piece of money.
The first was a Persian. He said: 'I will buy with this some angur.'
The second was an Arab. He said: 'No, because I want inab.'
The third was Turk. He said: 'I do not want inab, I want uzum.'
The fourth was a Greek. He said: 'I want stafil.'

Because they did not know what lay behind the names of things, these four started to fight.

They had information but no knowledge.

One man of wisdom present could have reconciled them all, saying: 'I can fulfil the needs of all of you, with one and the same piece of money. If you honestly give me your trust, your one coin will become as four; and four at odds will become as one united.'

Such a man would know that each in his own language wanted the same thing, grapes.

Note:
Apart from the surface of the story, I do not know if it means anything else. One thing comes to mind, why four people, why not 3 or 2. May be there’s more to it than a good story.

Nasruddin - Punch Line

Kiranya aku rasa malas skit nak buat kerja hari ni. So, here's one nugget from Nasruddin's basket:

"And just WHEN do you plan on getting a job?" Nasrudin's wife moaned after getting tired of one of his more lengthy periods of unemployment. "I do not need a job woman, I am always in the service of the Most High!" retorted Nasrudin "Well then shouldn't you be getting some form of payment for your so-called services???" she replied sarcastically, "these bills are not going to pay themselves!" Thinking about it, Nasrudin went into his backyard and, kneeling before the open sky, began to pray: "Most Merciful Allah, I am constantly in your service, and as such, I deserve some sort of financial recompense... indeed with some sort of back-pay for all those years for which I did not receive a single dime! Could You please find it in Your infinite mercy to send me some form of payment so I can pay my bills AND get my wife off my back???"

Overhearing this conversation, Nasrudin's neighbor, a moneylender, decided to play a prank on him; accordingly he grabbed a bag of gold coins and threw it over the fence so that it landed right in front of Nasrudin. Amazed at this turn of events, Nasrudin rushed inside his house to show his wife, and they both immediately began to call on shopkeepers to pay their debts and order all manner of goods. Noticing the immediate deliveries to the house, Nasrudin's neighbor became worried about his money and came running to demand it back. "What in God's name are you talking about man?" Nasrudin demanded, "I prayed to God for the money and He provided!"

Since Nasrudin adamantly refused to accept the man's version of events, the neighbor insisted that the only solution was to take the case to court to be tried before a judge. "But I cannot go to court," replied Nasrudin, "surely I cannot appear before a judge looking like this! why I have nothing appropriate to wear!"

The neighbor quickly offered to lend Nasrudin his best robe and turban."But..." began Nasrudin, "how will I go? I cannot go there riding my donkey while wearing these fine clothes!"Again, the neighbor offered Nasrudin his best horse to ride. When they stood before the judge, the moneylender quickly explained his case in great detail, going to great lengths to clarify to the court that the money that Nasrudin was spending was all his and how the whole thing was simply a misunderstanding, meanwhile Nasrudin calmly sat there, completely silent.

"Do you have anything to say in your defence?" the judge finally asked Nasrudin "What can I say Your Honor, except that my neighbor is completely insane! the poor man seems to believe that EVERYTHING I own belongs to him, my clothes, my horse, let alone my gold."

"But... but... they ARE MINE!" roared the neighbor, unable to contain himself.
"Case dismissed!" ruled the judge.

Kalau asal benih yang baik, Jatuh ke laut menjadi pulau

Masa kecik kecik dulu, ada sekali ni cikgu sejarah kat sekolah kebangsaan saya (Sekolah Kebangsaan Long Ghafar, Kubang Keranji, Kota Bharu), instead of mengajar dia bercerita. Yang kita ingat best sangat cerita tu, sampai minggu lagi satu pun cerita dia tak abis. Cerita dia ada lebih kurang macam pantun kat bawah la:

Buat bangsal di Pulau Daik
Menahan taut sambil mengilau
Kalau asal benih yang baik
Jatuh ke laut menjadi pulau

Kita pun tak berapa ingat dah cite dia camne. Tapi standard cerita dulu dulu la kan, mustilah moralnya bagus. Tapi sayang, sekarang ni I rasa art of storytelling ni dah kurang dah. Konon-konon zaman modern ni apa lah guna sangat cerita ceriti macam tu kan. That was my exact thought sometime back. Never mind that, even science itself is quite limited. Look at Einstein's theory, when he first presented it, only a handful understood it. Though his theory covers much more than what Newton did, it still does not unify and encompasses all the other theories about particle mechanics.

Sadly, in my case, while extolling all that's good about the West and its byproducts, I lost the treasures that our people had. In the case of story telling however, it is not so much of a Eastern and Western phenomenon since for example, over in old Europe, we have the Grimm Brothers. And some stories about the birth of something, we can find similarities whether the story is being told in Polynesian cultures or Native American cultures. For this, my readings of Joseph Campbell has been very enlightening.

Kiranya mungkin, satu masa nanti aku kena baca balik cerita cerita lama untuk diajar pada Fateh. Sekarang ni dia baru 6 tahun dok asyik tengok katun je lah.

Cerita cerita yang ada pada orang kita, kadang2 mungkin datang dari culture lain. Pernah aku terbaca yang lagu Bangau oh Bangau tu, asal dia dari India. Dan cerita2 camni, dia punya kelebihan, kita boleh dapat pengajaran dia dari berberapa layers dan juga sudut; kira macam kueh lapis la, cerita dia sesuai untuk berbagai masa dan keadaan, especially cerita cerita Mullah Nasruddin.

Kot kot ada masa nanti aku taruk la satu dua cerita2 camni kat sini.

The Turban - Our Crown (2)

Lovely Happy People 

Thanks to Nef, finally got the photo here.

The Turban - Our Crown

Shall write about this later but look at the lovely photo. Beautiful people with handsome dress. The way they wear their turban, if we look from above, looks like the arabic word 'meem'. Which stands for, among other things, the name of our hope for the last day, Sayyidina Muhammad, pbuh.

Note:
If there's no photo here, that means I have not been able to upload it yet.

Luvly and Great Week

Thought of this last night, and wow, what a luvly and great week indeed. And it's not even Friday yet.

Allow me.

Last Sunday, a friend Riza told me about a function of sort at Masjid Baitil Aman, Jalan Damai, off Jalan Ampang. It was a talk, an association more like it, with Shaykh al-Habib 'Umar bin Hafiz. He talked about many things, which, macam pegi Khutbah Jumaat, memang lepas tu pun aku dah lupa apa dia cakap. One main point was to know, or to work towards our true worth with our Creator and to realize that all the materials things will not last. One example he gave was Sayyidina Abu Bakar r.a was a trader by profession, he had about 9 stores (I can't recall whether in Makkah or Madinah) but the Shaykh asked, "Is Sayyidina Abu Bakar r.a the same with other traders?". Next was about Abu Hurairah r.a, which is well known for being a fakir. But is he the same with other fakirs? The association was great, and so was the briyani afterward!

And last night, I went to the Naqshbandi zikir in Damansara, which is quite rare indeed; the rare part is me going there, they have the zikir every Thursday night and Saturday afternoon for ladies. And what did I find there, apart from our beloved Shaykh, there was 'kambing golek'. Now, like our experience in life, the main points in our life can be manifested by a few defining moments, an epiphany of sort. As always, after zikir, they would sing a lovely Salawat on our hope for intercession on the last day, Sayyidina Rasul. Normally it is Salawat Badar accompanied with good Gendang and all. But last night there were two babies for 'bercukur' and the Salawat was more. And with more Salawats, the merry making was of course grows proportionately.

And after that of course 'kambing golek' la bang. Que nye mestilah panjang teramat. And since I was helping in the kitchen a bit, I missed la the 'kambing golek'. Lauk lain pun dapat sikit je. Just so you know, the dinner is arrange ala buffet outside the house and there's a main spread in the house for the Shaykh and whoevers are lucky. There's no protocol who eats there but visitors will always get priority. Lepas dapat my nasi, okay lah, makan la apa yang ada. So pegi la duduk kat main spread, jenguk2 lauk kat situ. And what the hey, I was passed a plate full of kambing. Man, that was my epiphany. Sunday dapat kambing, Thursday pun dapat kambing.

So there you go. The way to a man's heart is thru his stomach. Hancur jugak budak ni ek. Makan aje tau. Hopefully, it can be more like that lyrics by Debu, "minuman ini tidak melewati kerongkongku" or something like that.

God bless.

Fenyman & Freeman Dyson

Reading Nefertiti's blog yesterday reminded me of Richard Fenyman and Freeman Dyson.

While a student at Western Michigan, my indulgence are books and sleep. I like it there coz the books are so affordable compare to here. While I have varied interests, themes like science, philosophy and spirituality ranks above others.

Fenyman explains about science in a funny way and that's why he's a good reading. I do not know much about Dyson coz I have only one book of his, Disturbing the Universe, which is almost about his life and his writings on several issues. To me, the best part in that book is his description about the going on during US's atomic bomb development.

And the thing I remember most from that book is his quote of Yeats :
I would spread the clothes under your feet
But I am poor, and have only my dreams
I have spread my dreams under your feet
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams

Maannn, kalu sapa sapa tengah cintan cintun, boleh bagi kat awek nih. While at it, I also suggest some by Elizabeth Browning.

Travels of Ibn Jubayr

Went to MPH sales in Kelana Jaya last Saturday and bought a few books. Two I should mentioned are Travels of Ibn Jubayr and if I can remember correctly, Islamic Medicine. It is per chance that I should buy the first one. My friend Riza, who arrives earlier at the sale, mentioned the book to me and only a few days earlier, I was thinking of another book : Mekka in the Latter Part of the 19th Century by C. Snouck Hurgronje.

While I have not finished Ibn Jubayr, Hurgronje talks about Makkah and its people around 1894/95, especially those from Nusantara due to the Dutch and Indonesia conflict at the time. Which is really interesting since, for people like me who can't read Jawi and not Pondok oriented, we do not know much about the legacy of our wise elders. But Hurgronje talks about them and describes how some of them are comparable to other Alims in Masjidil Haram. Makes you blush with pride.

Back to Ibn Jubayr, his travels starts in 1183 from Granada to Mecca, Baghdad, Damsyik and back to Spain. Will write more later.

Kawan Saya

Saya ada sorang kawan. Nama dia Riza Samad. Baca la blog dia kat r1z4.blogspot.com . Kawan kawan ni aku rasa macam Yin and Yang. We need them to sometimes show us the way in life, to share with us. Ingat lagi kata kata Jerry McGuire masa dalam lift tu, 'you complete me'. Even though dia cakap tu kat awek dia la kan. But then, bahasa Melayu kita ni ada kurang sikit. If Greeks can have 4 different words for love : Agape, Philia, Storge, & Eros, tapi kita tak ada that fine distinction between our kasih, sayang, cinta; semua maksud lebih kurang kot. Bahasa Arab aku tak tau la pulak.

But back to friendship, if Frodo has his friends, so is our Master Jalaludin Rumi with Shams of Tabriz, Cumi dan Ciki, and finally our hope for intecession on the final day, our guide and most beloved of our creator, Sayyidina Rasul with his companions esp. Sayyidina Abu Bakar.