Knowing our limits

" Eyes cannot reach Him but He reaches the eyes. And He is the Incomprehensible, the All-Aware."

 آنکھیں اس کو نہیں پا سکتیں ہاں وہ خود آنکھوں تک پہنچتا ہے اور وہ بہت باریک بین اور ہمیشہ باخبر رہنے والا ہے۔

This verse seems to deepen our limited understanding of the unlimited Noor, His Noor. This verse uses the word الابصار which also means 'understanding' and 'vision' which means it is not in our capability that either with our eyes or our vision we comprehend the Supreme Being. It is only the limited understanding that He has himself given us that we may be able to understand. Though we can identify His existence but we can never totally comprehend.   

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Quran Says He is the light of the heavens and earth. His prophets A.S. are like a prism who make manifest all shades of His Noor for the people, and the willing hearts in turn can color themselves. 

We know Allah through all the attributes that He has taught us. I once asked a bunch of kids that after all why does Allah have so many names? I got a few stares in response initially though, but they could also guess that It was through them that we know Him. 

If we ponder a little further we realize that even His attributes that we know are those which we can understand in our context, i.e. we are the ones who sin so we know Him as the one who forgives. Similarly we are the ones who fall ill so we know Him as the one who gives shifa. There could be countless other attributes that we cannot understand in our context. Even for the attributes we know are not fully lucid for us. Like we know Him as the Creator, but how many things of which sort has He created? , can we comprehend? No! We only know the things He has taught us. So that being a perfect example of Eyes not being able to reach Him but He reaches the eyes. In fact that is he reason His quest becomes all the more interesting. It is الغیب (hidden) in nature that derives all the research and our quest to know more.

Same is the case with our efforts to attain his nearness, we can only have intention & efforts at our end the rest depends on Him.

And so the verse ends beautifully saying that He is incomprehensible for us but He knows everything! 

Looking forward to comments, corrections and suggestions. 

I'm the one with Wind & Sky! Let it go!

Its lovely watching the birds and wondering why do they seem so tempting. They fly high, they fly low and the best part is when they leave themselves to the blowing wind. They stop flapping their wings and just see where the wind takes them. This seems so attractive. One cannot resist but wonder they have got nothing to worry about, no plans they just fly and they are led to all the right places!

From idioms to quotes to music to poetry to paintings to Holy scriptures even there is extensive mention of Birds! So i am not alone having the bird fantasy! Probably their flight portrays an amazing sense of beauty, freedom, community and life. Maybe also because the fly high and it makes relevance with progression in worldly affairs and spirituality as well. 

It is interesting to note that (apart from humming bird) all birds only fly forwards! As if the idea is to keep moving forwards always!

Eagles, Gypsies, Falcons and others are known for their peculiar features they add so much diversity and color to the life in the sky.

Many poets have used birds and their flight in their expression. Allama Iqbal has given the concept of 'Shaheen' in his poetry as to what the Muslim ideal must be. 

پرندوں کی دیا کا درویش ہوں میں

کہ  شایں  بناتا  نہیں آشیانہ

I am the dervish of the kingdom of birds—
The eagle does not make nests  [Source]

Another one By Allama Iqbal (which is pretty much self explanatory):

عقابی روح جب بیدار ہوتی ہے جوانوںمیں

نظرآتی ہے انکو اپنی منزل آسمانوں میں

Hence according to Iqbal if the youth awakens the spirit of the falcon in themselves their aims would become much higher. 

P.B. Shelley's poem "To A Skylark" also paints the freedom and Joy of the bird. A short story "His first flight" tells the story of a bird who takes the first bold step to overcome fears. Bible also mentions birds.

Hence birds have always been an object of fantasy for creative minds. If we ponder we can learn  from them. They fly high and make their nests at high places, their eyes are set towards the sky. Height has always fantasized humans, like conquering mountains and flying. Also spiritual height is the object of the life of many. 

Image Sources:

http://covermyfb.com/misc/search/birds/5

https://www.pinterest.com/meithaputri/islam/

Emphasis In The Holy Quran

Many techniques of emphasis exist across various forms of expression. In phonetics for example a pause or a moment of silence is used for emphasis. Pause can be used in writing as well through a dash or ellipsis points(the three dots). Emphasis is also observed in details and expanded explanations. Similarly artists can create an emphasis in their painting using colors and contrasts, like a prominent portion in a drawing that captures first attention of the viewer. 

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Sculptures and architecture also has emphasis techniques, the emphasis is the shown sculpture needs no words to explain.

Similarly there is emphasis in photography, architecture, interior designing etc. too. Also children exercise emphasis by repeating a question or comment infinitely for the whole day or days or weeks! And the question has to be answered as many times! 

Hence we can conclude that emphasis/ repetition/ over statement is for importance, prominence, highlighting a certain thing and seeking attention. Also it is the beauty of any form of expression. 

The Holy Quran, the most sophisticated expression, has calculated verses and well ordered format. It also has emphasis; one of the way being "repetition". There are many kinds of repetitions in the Holy Quran like the repetition of certain phrases across Quran, repetition of sometimes a word or phrase in back to back verses and also repetition of concepts or incidents like the story of Hazrat Mosa A.S. mentioned at various places in chunks. Also there can be repetition of a verse/phrase across a Surah (like Surah Al-Rahman)Of course in a meaningful and sequenced divine Book like the Holy Quran this repetition is much significant means Allah is emphasizing certain points which require more attention. 

Just wondering about this bit, I thought that the verses that are repeated back to back, i.e. contiguously must be very important that Allah has stressed them to the point of mentioning them twice. I tried finding out how many verses are repeated in such a manner. As far as I have been able to dig out (though its not a personal effort) from various sites is that such repetitions occur at five places in the Holy Quran.

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Main concepts in Repeated verses:

All these are the things that take us away from Allah that have been stressed in these verses first being arrogance that comes due to ignoring the day of judgement or a decisive day in this world hence planing against Prophets. Second being the love of this world and worldly desires. Third being attitude towards problems or tough situations spiritual and worldly both. All these are the factors that might drive us away from our objective i.e. Allah

1. Allah has stressed that those who think their deeds will not be returned or paid back are in negligence and shall one day see for themselves. Hence they out of arrogance lay plans against Prophets which will all be in vain. Allah has stressed very strongly that you will see what you ignore with your own eyes! 

2. Those driven by worldly desires (takathur being abundance of wealth) shall see how useless and wasteful their activities were. This is an endless struggle for whomsoever falls into it. An endless struggle for worldly desire may help us pile up wealth but can never bring peace and happiness. No desire must be bigger than our love for Allah. The smaller objectives in life hence must be directed towards the bigger purpose. 

3. With every difficulty there is relief. For nations Allah sends Prophets when they are in a tough situation spiritually. For the individuals also there is relief with every difficulty maybe sometimes we ignore it due to negative thinking but as per the Holy Quran there always is relief with every difficulty. The first relief with the difficulty is within it i.e. you go through it for Allah! If we don't think positively in tough situations they may easily pull us away from Allah and lead us to hopelessness. 

The repeated Verses:

1. Surah Al-Takathur

[102:4] خبردار! تم ضرور جان لو گے۔

[102:5] پھر خبردار! تم ضرور جان لوگے۔

[102:4] Nay! you will soon come to know.

[102:5] Nay again! you will soon come to know.

2. Surah Al-Inshirah

[94:6] پس یقیناً تنگی کے ساتھ آسائش ہے-

[94:7] یقیناً تنگی کے ساتھ آسائش ہے-

[94:6] Surely there is ease after hardship.

[94:7] Aye, surely there is ease after hardship.

3. Surah Al-Naba

[78:5] خبردار! وہ ضرور جان لیں گے۔

[78:6] پھر خبردار! وہ ضرور جان لیں گے۔

[78:5] Nay, soon they will come to know.

[78:6] Nay, We say it again, they will soon come to know.

4. Surah Al-Qiyamah

[75:35] تجھ پر ہلاکت ہو۔ پھر ہلاکت ہو۔

[75:36] تجھ پر پھر ہلاکت ہو۔ پھر ہلاکت ہو۔

[75:35] ‘Woe unto thee! and woe again!

[75:36] ‘Then woe unto thee! and woe again!’

5. Surah Al-Muddathir

[74:20] پس ہلاکت ہو اُس پر، اُس نے کیسا اندازہ لگایا۔

[74:21] اُس پر پھر ہلاکت ہو، اُس نے کیسا اندازہ لگایا۔

[74:20] Ruin seize him! how he calculated!

[74:21] Ruin seize him again! how he calculated!

Looking forward to Corrections, comments and suggestions!

Grace, The best Trend Ever!

I write the following lines with due respect for all the women who go to beauty Saloons, further respect for those who work there to earn a living, nothing is totally bad.

Its a usual matter whenever I have to go along someone to the beauty Saloon, I initially feel like an alien who has missed all the progress that was made in the previous year. And there they are, the groomed and up-to-date accomplished ladies who have kept themselves with the technological advances! Later you feel sorry for them. At one side you would see hair being dyed in all those funky shades, at the other there would be faces being polished , all sorts of outer beauty treatments and a seriousness of purpose prevails in the atmosphere.

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Basically I have no issues with looking good or dressing up or all the girls stuff like jewelry or moderate use of makeup even. The point is that it is our psychology that we keep moving, direction becomes very important. When we jump into the world of fashion and make it a priority the results get horrible with the passage of time. I have literally seen hair dyed with colors which make you look like a character of a science fiction movie perhaps. Or as though you're trying to prove life on other 
Planets! Allah chooses a color for your hair, why on earth do you have to change it? Nothing can suit us better that what He who loves beauty and is 'Al-Musawwir' (The Fashioner/The Shaper of beauty) chose for us. Same goes of nail colors. They call it nail 'art' It is blasphemy to call it 'art'. Women go for it even if it does not suit them, they follow it because its a trend! Suits you or not is a secondary issue, first you have to survive in the race!

 At a sale on designer/brand outfits women be like:

اس راہ میں جان کی کیا پرواہ جاتی ھے اگر تو جانے دو

(Why worry about life, for the cause is so great, losing life would be no loss at all)

There are long ques and women try to reach the place before dawn, so as they don't miss out anything. Further there is this desire to be the first one to wear a certain outfit. Women direly need to revisit the purpose of their lives! That being the only solution.

If one tries to figure out the reasons behind this fashion stampede, it comes out to be complicated business. We are probably trying to prove our worth, trying to make our presence felt or probably trying to show-off. I fail to figure out why do you have to get all dressed up and put on heavy makeup to visit a market? Why do you have to be fashionably dressed while going to an educational institution? Do we have an underlying inferiority or perhaps superiority complex?

We need to think what is a trend? Anything that is followed by the people. Many don't realize that a trend is of no use if it doesn't suit you. Rather becomes counter-productive. Makes you look pitiable instead.

At the end its the personality that covers all that you wear. Personally I feel that one should remain closer to natural looks. Even if we follow a trend it should suit our age, values and personality. I am no one to comment on anyone or pass judgments though.

Grace is the best outfit, honesty the best make over and smile the prettiest look you could possibly have. Those beautiful at heart are a pleasure to be with and pretty to look at, always.

Intellectual crisis!

A tagline from this drama of HUM TV got quite popular, and I'd often see it in tweets and status messages:

وہ محبت ہی کیا جس میں إلہام نہ ہو ؟

Whenever I got to read this I'd wonder what about Allah's love then? Does he disallow 'إلہام ' now? Or does He still speak? That being a long debate should better be left aside. 

Though I'd prefer to read a philosopher on 'happiness' rather than watching a Pakistani drama (if its a matter of choosing the lesser evil), I just got to watch one episode of this one by chance. They happened to be 'divinely' running away in that episode. I call their running away as divine because it was portrayed as such. They were shown as the warriors of truth, The girl who runs away was shown as the righteous person. Another time when i saw this drama I thought it could not have been love perhaps the girl has some mental problem! 

The only objection I want to present is that Pakistani dramas are tormenting the values of relationships and on top of that trying to re-establish moral values. Since when did betraying your parents (whatever the reason might be) become legal? Since when did running away with someone become not only legal but 'divine'? Since when did elders started blessing the run-away couple? Since when did 'friends' have started to be defined as those who assist you in your love affair? I was surprised and wondered that this is the stuff that must be banned! but we rather want to ban sites! we prefer restricting access to certain sites to save the Imaans of Momineen!

We need to see what we're watching because we might be teaching the wrong things to young impressionable minds. Our entertainment industry is suffering from an intense intellectual crisis. There used to be a time when writers like Ashfaque Ahmad would write quality stuff but now its a creative depression. Perhaps we don't have as many readers and hence not many quality writers.

Further this drama deepens my resolve that the bigger purpose in life should better be 'big' otherwise life leaves you wandering aimlessly in all the worldly, secondary unnecessary and smaller purposes. So we must seek the bigger purpose and the company of those with a 'big' purpose that being journey towards Allah! 

Centralization in Allah's system

Looking at the sight of Haj & Umrah one is bound to wonder how we see different manifestations of such movement in nature's system. All the people revolving around the Kabah make you think.

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Start from the solar system and you find centralization in it, all the planets revolving around the sun, now if we go deep down to an atom we find electrons revolving around the nucleus. Consider the human body & we have got centralization in the form of brain controlling everything, also at the level of cells there is a controlling center. So we find centralization in nature's system similarly we have got this centralization in the spiritual system in the form of Prophet-hood and successors (Khilafat) 

So point is that we must consider our motion and journey, it must be around and towards the center otherwise we are going astray, wandering aimlessly and we might feel lost at one time or the other. Those well directed might not ever feel so. Lets strive to have more centripetal force in our life in the form of community, people, Quran, Hadith and so on and so forth.

We should never let go of any thought, wish, person, thing, activity that takes us closer to Allah!

Class Terrorism

I have always thought of a 'classroom' as an amazing place. It is a place where a whole lot of diversity comes together. There is a lot of learning at both ends, i.e. the teacher and the students. There is a certain sanctity of the class environment, the relationship between students and teachers is that of 'spiritual parenting'. It is a place which has to be honored and respected. 

The incident we all have witnessed in Peshawar is a certificate for us that 'shariah' is not our issue in Pakistan. we as a society are starved of humanitarian values. It was extreme disrespect of classroom, educational institute and on top of it humanity! We lack moral values. No we don't lack, we have lost all the moral values, I simply can find such an example in wherein such brutality was carried out. 

It was not just the suffering of those present there, every one can relate to it. We all feel the pain and misery, we all feel sad that the children should not have been the victims of this horrific war. Not to speak of the minds of the survivors, how will they ever manage to come out of it?, how will they let go of the dark memories? No answer at all! May Allah bless the young impressionable minds! May Allah bless their families!

There are endless narratives that we hear and read about the incident, as time passes by one feels further strangled in the horror of this carnage. One can simply not find words to describe it, I honestly feel that even animals are better off than the human beings who can carry out such brutal acts! This is not even terrorism, we need a new word to describe it!

The most troubling factor is that this unmatched brutal incident takes place in an 'Islamic' republic! done by those who uphold the name of the Prophet of the highest stature, Mercy for entire mankind The Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.W. Shameful!

But the question is after all this media coverage, all that we feel, all that people are writing and expressing, will anything change? Will those who occupy influential position do anything? Will we ever think that how have we wronged ourselves as a nation? will it bring about a changes in us as persons? Will  these concerns be addressed?

This post can possibly have to words for conclusion!

The Illuminating Verse!

Since the past one month this verse (part of the verse basically) remains somewhere at the back of my mind somehow, and every mention of نور or light (electricity load shedding even) makes me think about it. The verse is as given below:

Surah Al-Nur verse 36: "Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth"

The word نور exists in Urdu, Arabic and Persian. In Arabic it means light, In Urdu it means روشنی (light), تجلّی (transfiguration, manifestation), رونق (Beauty, Gorgeousness)

When we look up the Persian word 'نور' it means light and glory. 'النور ' 'The Light' is also one of the names/attributes of Allah the Almighty.

Light as described by English dictionaries is an entity that stimulates sight makes things visible. Physics suggests it as energy or particles called photons. But the light being mentioned in this verse requires 'vision' rather than 'sight'. Light as a natural agent also requires us to have sight, similarly Allah's light (نور) also requires something from us i.e. vision!

In the spiritual world 'light' is precisely referred to as guidance and 'darkness' (ظلمت) as absence of guidance or "ہدایت" This light is not just illumination or brightness but energy as well! positive energy. So this light has a broader meaning than just illumination, it means that in order to make sense of anything in our world we need to absorb this Noor (نور) according to our capability and willingness. Just like in order to see anything around us we need the light of the physical world similarly through Allah's Noor we can make sense of the things going on around us. Light travels in a straight line for the spiritual path to seek Allah's light we also need to tread the straight path (صراتِ مستقیم)

Light in the broader sense can be understood in three contexts:

1. The light around us
2. The light that is absorbed, i.e. we contain
3. The light that is reflected (ضیاء) (As by the Prophets and spiritually exalted people and through His holy books)

The light around us
A Momin (مومن)  must strive to absorb & retain this light through thick and thin, that is why the color of the flag of Prophet Muhammad S.A.W.W. was black! because it absorbs all light, all shades of the light. We require a lifetime to absorb and retain this light. Reminds me of a quote by Rumi:

"The wound is where the light enters your soul"

Well basically this depends upon the person, the wound can also be the place from where the entire light could exit as well! tough and trying situations would have different impact on two different hearts. So a willing heart might find light from any source experience or happening while an unwilling heart might chose to dwell in darkness. But its always around!

The light we absorb
Shown in our thoughts and actions.

Also in Mathnawi it is stated:

The light which shines in the eye
is really the light of the heart.
The light which fills the heart
is the light of God, which is pure
and separate from the light of intellect and sense.
Mathnawi 1:1126-7

The light that is reflected

Allah's light is manifested as divine guidance, Holy books, Prophets, spiritually exalted people who tread HIS path and so on.


Further references of The Light:

Al-Baqarah verse 257 says that there is no coercion in religion, Allah has sent His shariyah to distinguish between right and wrong. and in the very next verse Allah says that:

"Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve - their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein."

So the believers are promised Allah's help to move out of darkness into the Noor (The light)

In Surah Tauba Allah says:

They desire to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, and Allah insists on perfecting His light though the unbelievers are averse thereto. (9:33)

Hence this light is always there around us, willing hearts can absorb it and reflect it as well. Allah explicitly states that no human activity can put this light out, this is an affirming statement for us Alhamdulillah.

This light is the bigger purpose of life, this light is happiness, this light is the real beauty that we need to develop in ourselves and find in others, this light is the objective of life, this light is the destination. This light can be absorbed & retained with total surrender. Only then we can actually 'reflect' the light to others. Just disliking darkness is not enough to travel towards light we need to tread the 'straight path'.

Looking forward to corrections and suggestions!

Fearless brave hearts

I have read at a number places that the fear of failure is worse than failure itself. In fact we have to hold on to faith in two situations first when we have a fear that something wrong/bad might happen and secondly when something wrong/bad actually happens and we might grieve if we don't hold on to faith.

Talking about 'fear' and 'grief' this verse has been my childhood crush basically, back then I read it superficially in my Islamic studies book and thought very high of the people who have no fear and never grieve! though of them as some very brave and bold people:

This verse somehow reminded me of an instance of Iqbal's poetry:

Aaeen-e-Jawanmardan, Haq Goyi-o-Bebaki

Allah Ke Sheron Ko Ati Nahin Roobahi

Men bold and firm uphold the truth and let no fears assail their hearts:
No doubt, the mighty Lions of God Know no tricks and know no arts.

[Source of Poetry & its meaning]

The holy Quran says that they will neither fear nor will they grieve, which means that they will encounter tough situations but they shall not grieve, otherwise Allah might have said nothing shall happen to them that might cause them to grieve. 

Pretty recently I realized that this phrase ("on them shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve") repeats itself an numerous places, according to what I have researched it occurs at 13 places in different contexts. So I thought to explore how to become like someone who shall have no fear nor shall he grieve. These are the points I have extracted based on the verses mentioned later on.

• Accept guidance that comes from Allah in the form of Prophets/Holy Books (almost three verses emphasize on this) Those who have faith and keep correcting/reforming themselves. (i.e. they need not be perfect)
• Believe in the day of judgement and do good deeds, whatever your religion might be
• Submit yourself to Allah's will.
• Spend wealth for the cause of Allah (secretly & openly) without causing injury or insult.
• Those who do not fear to lose their life for Allah's cause.
• Be happy for whatever God has given you.
• Remain steadfast once you have accepted that ‘Our Lord is Allah’.
• Be Allah's friend (i.e. sincerity towards his religion, his people)

Al-Baqarah Chapter 2 : Verse 39

"We said: ‘Go forth, all of you, from here. And if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoso shall follow My guidance, on them shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve.’"

[Adam and Eve had wronged themselves and Allah shows mercy on them and tells them to accept & follow  guidance whenever it is given to them so they will have no fear nor will they grieve]

Al-Baqarah Chapter 2 : Verse 63

"Surely, the Believers, and the Jews, and the Christians and the Sabians — whichever party from among these truly believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds — shall have their reward with their Lord, and no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve."

[Salvation does not depend on religion, it depends on having a clean and clear heart because there can be many people to whom the message of Islam has not reached properly]

Al-Baqarah Chapter 2 : Verse 113

"Nay, whoever submits himself completely to Allah, and is the doer of good, shall have his reward with his Lord. No fear shall come upon such, neither shall they grieve."

[Here again in the previous verses Allah tells that Jannah does not belong to any religion it belongs to 'hearts']

Al-Baqarah Chapter 2 : Verse 263

"They who spend their wealth for the cause of Allah, then follow not up what they have spent with taunt or injury, for them is their reward with their Lord, and they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve."

[The people who spend for the cause of Allah neither for reward nor to degrade or insult are being mentioned here, from this verse onward spending for the cause of Allah is explained until verse 275 after which interest is discussed]

Al-Baqarah Chapter 2 : Verse 275

"Those who spend their wealth by night and day, secretly and openly, have their reward with their Lord; on them shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve."

Al-Baqarah Chapter 2 : Verse 278

"Surely, those who believe and do good deeds, and observe Prayer and pay the Zakat, shall have their reward from their Lord, and no fear shall come on them, nor shall they grieve."

[Here again the context is that Allah is against interest and promotes the institution of Zakat]

Aal-e-`Imran Chapter 3 : Verse 171

"Jubilant because of that which Allah has given them of His bounty; and rejoicing for those who have not yet joined them from behind them, because on them shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve."

[Those who have lost their lives for the cause of God have been mentioned here, & those are yet to join them are mentioned]

Al-Ma'idah Chapter 5 : Verse 70

"Surely, those who have believed, and the Jews, and the Sabians, and the Christians — whoso believes in Allah and the Last Day and does good deeds, on them shall come no fear, nor shall they grieve."

Al-An`am Chapter 6 : Verse 49

"And We send not the Messengers but as bearers of glad tidings and as warners. So those who believe and reform themselves, on them shall come no fear nor shall they grieve."

["reform themselves" i.e. they need not be perfect individuals, should be on the right path]

Al-A`raf  Chapter 7 : Verse 36

"O children of Adam! if Messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing My Signs unto you, then whoso shall fear God and do good deeds, on them shall come no fear nor shall they grieve."

[Those who accept guidance  and reform themselves]

Al-A`raf  Chapter 7 : Verse 50

“Are these the men about whom you swore that Allah would not extend mercy to them? To them it has been said, ‘Enter Paradise; no fear shall come upon you, nor shall you grieve.’”

[Those who were criticized for their right faith in the world will enter paradise eventually, they are mentioned here]

Yunus Chapter 10 : Verse 63

"Behold! the friends of Allah shall certainly have no fear, nor shall they grieve —"

[The context is that Allah knows everything everywhere, He knows whatever good or bad we do]

Al-Ahqaf Chapter 46 : Verse 14

"Verily, those who say, ‘Our Lord is Allah,’ and then remain steadfast — no fear shall come upon them, nor shall they grieve."

[Believing that 'our lord is Allah' is in itself a source of being fearless!]


Looking forward to comments, corrections & suggestions

Screen-Bound minds

If you read a book in continuity, according to my observation, the later half of the book finishes faster than the first half. Partly because you have become acquainted with the book and its subject and partly because your level of concentration has increased. Reading a book gives you mental stability. Further I used to wonder why to repeat a tasbeeh 'n' times? The answer is simple It gives us peace of heart and mind to tread the spiritual path. Peace of heart and mind is not just the requirement of spiritual path but also mundane success.

Unfortunately today most of us, no matter how busy, find ample time to a screen of screen of some sort. Be it an iPhone, iPad, tablet, android phone or laptop. This would decrease our level of concentration and mental stability. I would personally try my level best not to become a slave of the screen. Imagine yourself fully engrossed in a screen, you are lesser likely to listen to anything and pay attention to the surroundings.

No doubt Google can take us to scores of unverified data, but nothing can match the reading of a book, the joy of turning pages and placing book marks! Healthy habits are being taken over by clicks of all sorts. Placing those geographically close very far and those far away as 'all-day-in-touch'. Rather than being book-bound we see today more people are screen-bound.

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Playing games has its benefits no doubt like improving reflexes, logical thinking but not excess of everything is bad. Though I have no research backing on this but I feel that too much handheld devices can also limit the imagination of children as the bigger world is observed less and the screen of the hand-held device is observed more. Observation in turn is directly related with imagination.

Children are the suffering party. It is not just the 'character' that parents are responsible for, it's also the 'personality'. There is a chance of children too much involved in technology to become anti-social. Staying at home and playing a video game becomes a bigger charm than meeting and interacting with people.

These machines make them 'in-charge' at a very young age, which means their mind would eventually become unfit for being a part of team. I have written on importance of team work in another post. Machines would never make decisions and the user becomes in-charge of everything.

A touch screen has limited demands from the user and is extremely flexible and customize-able.So we are bound to think that the real world scenarios should adjust according to us. Because we are the ones who decide.

The response time is very fast this factors induce aggression. Because in the real world the response time is not as quick and your request is not always fulfilled! So children become short-tempered as they demand the same speed of processing from the people around them. Mechanic accuracy is not possible in the real world.

I wonder if these children who remain bound to screens in childhood would ever bother to read a book, to think, observe their surroundings, make new things and so on. I once asked my nephew if his dreams were touch-screen sort! select dream type, select color, select characters and go!

Actually its not the children who are addicted to handheld devices it's actually the parents! More screens at home is not a 'feature' its a serious 'bug'. Sure we should not turn our back towards technology related stuff but we do need to have some limits on it. We have to find a way out  between having techno-fright and being a  techno-freak! While we have other factors in our society to take us high up on the frustration graph we should avoid having more reasons to facilitate it.

[Link to read some valid research on the subject]

Hazrat Mosa A.S. & The Bani Israel

It was amazing to know that sixty percent of the Quran Narrates the story of Bani Israel, Hazrat Mosa A.S. and Pharoah (The cursed). When one thinks over this we find a number of logical and strong reasons behind this story occurring in the Holy Quran in chunks in numerous Surahs.

Slightly below mere names, this is what I think the characters of this story represent:

1. Hazrat Mosa (A.S) : Guidance from Allah

2. Bani Israel: The thankless 'mushrikeen' (those who ascribe partners with Allah)

3. Pharoah: A symbol of false Godhood (not literally relevant today), arrogance, misuse of power. In short this person is a result when power/authority is given to an arrogant.

What I conclude is that though this is an ages old story but whatever these elements of the story represent had to continue till the end of time. 

We all in our own circle of authority are prone to becoming a 'Pharoah' of that circle, as the circle of authority or influence widens we are more prone to this attitude. As we can see today how some powerful states are misusing their power to oppress the weaker countries.This is something that must be avoided that is why the Holy Quran repeatedly announces how Pharoah ended up and how the pious were saved.

The end of Pharoah tells us that how a 'mushrik' ends up like, arrogance or 'takabbur' is condemned in the strongest terms in this story. Pharoah was made a symbol for the generations to come. 

Like the Bani Israel, we all tend to become thankless no matter how much Allah blesses us with. 

And of course guidance of Allah is there as a permanent source in the form of Quran and Sunnah. Just like the Bani Israel started worshiping the golden calf when Hazrat Mosa A.S. went to mount Toor similarly the Muslim Ummah is indulging in so many types of shirk. Further Quran also says that Allah has sent Hazrat Muhammad S.A.W.W. as a prophet just like he sent Hazrat Mosa A.S. as a prophet to Bani Israel, so this suggests that there had to be similarities.

Another point that came to my mind was that indeed Allah shows miracles for those who truly believe in Him, and those who faithfully tread His path, no matter the difficulties ahead. Just like the passage that was created for Hazrat Mosa A.S. and Pharoah was shown his path to doom.

How to forget the golden calf of Bani Israel! We all might be having our own golden ones that we might be unknowingly worshiping. Our desires, endless worldly wishes, money, progeny, authority everything whose passion makes us blind is our very own golden calf!

In short this is a very deep story which remains relevant through all ages and like all parts of Quran this story must also be given attention and contemplation below the surface.

Media & Sanctity of Ramadan

Ramadan is a Holy month for all Muslims. Though the concept of fasting is there in all religions but there is no concept of a whole month fasting in any other religion.

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It is indeed a pity how our media takes it as an opportunity to sell their channel, newspaper and so on. Every other person on the media comes in an Islamic outfit and outlook and doing a show. It has now become a race of who sells better and bigger in Ramadan. Live transmissions mostly occupy around 10 hours per day and the trend is getting bigger each year.

We must not waste our time in watching all such stuff and concentrate on self growth and improvement. we must know the objectives of this month as clearly stated in Quran and Sunnah so not to fall in any such trap called 'Ramadan transmission'. Just like its not a month to eat and fry similarly it is not a month to watch TV and making calls to live television shows. If are losing simplicity we are losing the true spirit of the month because this month is meant to be for the soul.

Ramadan is NOT a commodity and if we are not selling it we must not buy it as well!