[33:46]

assalamualaikum wbt,

i quote from Suzanne Somers, author of the book ‘Breakthrough‘ on the topic of health care today, ” There is no drug at the moment that can mask the real problem-which is toxicity, stress, pollution and their effects on human body.”

i agree, there is just too much toxic and stress in our environment today. to a certain extent they do have effect on our body. physically.

i would also like to add to that statement as well.

we are not only exposed to all these toxins and pollutions physically.

we are also, knowingly and unknowingly, being exposed to toxins and pollutions spiritually.

just like those unseen chemicals floating somewhere in our environment, taking abode in our water, food, body…initially in minute amounts but slowly but surely, accumulating until it rears its ugly head…

so too, these spiritual toxins.

sometimes we brush them off, saying its a small thing.

but we see so many social ills in our society today. and this is not limited to just the young, but old as well. just yesterday, it came out in the newspaper of an elderly man who went around with his camcorder recording ‘personal’ day to day activities of his neighbours. and i have already lost count of how many times it came out in the newspaper of gang rape cases occuring as if its a common thing now.

so I would say, of our social problems today, ” There is no campaigns at the moment that can mask the real problem-which is the accumulation of spiritual toxins and pollutions and their effect on the human behaviour.”

a poet during the reign of Umar Abd Aziz once said,

Ceraikanlah dosa baik kecil

maupun besar kerana itulah ketaqwaan

berbuatlah seperti orang yang berjalan di atas tanah berduri

sehingga berhati-hati

jangan kamu remehkan kesalahan kecil

kerana gunung terbentuk oleh butiran pasir…

yes, you don’t see clearly these toxins initially, but you will come to see the effects later, by then, sometimes, it might be too late…

* muhasabah hari jumaat*

assalamualaikum wbt,

so, if you need to work that hard (hours in the gym, many repetitions on the weight training equipments, watching the calories) JUST to get that lean and fit and slim body…

wouldn’t you expect the same, if not more, work that is required for you to do,  if you want to build and mould yourself and others around you to those sought after Muslim characteristics?

just as you need to go to the gym at least 3 times a week, 2 hours the minimum, and on top of that play other sports to keep active…to build the momentum…

so would you need to attend weekly usrahs, seminars, courses, camps, outdoor activities, on top of having personal targets that you need to keep track on (mutabaah amal) in order to become that Muslim individual (which later on progresses to Muslim Family, etc etc)

its the same, in fact, i think its even tougher to build characteristics compare to building a physique.

so we need to start working you guys!! go! go! 1…2….3….( gym trainer style…heheh)

assalamualaikum wbt,

this came out in a quiz once during a programme.

what is the objective of tarbiyyah?

the answer can be general, or it could be specific. very specific.

specific to 10 of this particulars.

(i just cut and paste this from Seni Kehidupan, there is a more lengthy explanation to each one of these specifics, but i will save it for later)

1) Aqidah Sejahtera

2) Ibadah Yang Sahih

3) Akhlak Yang Mantap

4) Mampu Bekerja

5) Berpengetahuan luas

6) Tubuh Yang Cergas

7) Mujahadah (Menguasai Diri)

8 ) Teratur urusannya

9) Sangat Menghargai Masa

10) Bermanfaat Kpd Orang Lain

so… if we need to work out very often at the gym to get fit and slim physique, can you imagine what sort of ‘work out’ we need to get all of these criteria in shape?

assalamualaikum wbt,

nowadays, more and more people are getting more conscious about their health.

and many more are getting really conscious of how they look.

hence the thriving of the health and fitness industry, with many options in the market ranging from quick fix solutions to not so quick fix ones.

yes, you can choose to drink various juices, tea, coffee, take pills, or you can choose to join various gyms or beauty and slimming centres.

so they see the adverts, those of before and afters, 100 kg dropping to 50 kg, acne skin to clear skin, and the list goes on…

yes, the method varies…but the end result is the same…the body shape and beautiful skin fit for a beauty queen. (or king…is there such thing?)

but they do have one thing in common. be it sweating it off in the gym, or attending the slimming center, eating pills, drinking juices etc etc

it needs to be consistent.

i don’t know much about slimming centers, or pills or juices, but i can tell you for sure, you can’t just attend the gym once, do an hour of treadmill and go home thinking, ” that’s it, now i can go home and fit into that old pair of jeans i bought when i was in high school.”

(if this is indeed the case, the fitness centre will never be able to sustain itself…hehe)

so it needs to be consistent. the more the better. it needs to be done the correct way as well, if not, it will do more damage than good.

assalamualaikum wbt,

some statistics to brighten our day. (is that sarcasm i hear?)

“Kajian Kesihatan dan Morbiditi Kebangsaan 2006 mendapati kes gangguan mental meningkat hampir enam peratus berbanding kajian yang sama dilakukan kira-kira 10 tahun lalu.

Statistik daripada kajian itu juga mendapati kira-kira tiga juta daripada 26 juta penduduk negara kita mengalami gangguan mental.”

“Statistik tahun 2008 menunjukkan kira-kira 400,227 pesakit mental di Malaysia mendapatkan bantuan psikiatri di hospital-hospital kerajaan. Angka itu menunjukkan peningkatan sebanyak 15.6 peratus berbanding 346,196 pesakit pada 2007.”

sumber : Utusan Malaysia Online

hmm…

does this in a way explain majority of what comes out on the front page of Harian Metro everyday?

no, i’m not blaming people with mental problems. in a way, they are the victims here and they are the ones that needed help before they cause harm to others.

how do you differentiate between a criminal with genuine mental problem, which drove them to commit the crime, and just a plain criminal?

the schematic answer would probably, to have them assessed properly by psychiatrist to see if they fulfilled the criteria.

but to a certain extent, anyone who commits crime, during that lapse of time the crime is committed, must have a dent in their mental well being.

because if not, how then do we explain, the inhumane acts we witness in the news everyday, sometimes commited by the person very close to the victim?

which brings us to the next question…what causes that temporary lapse of ‘mental illness’ enough to cause such unthinkable atrocities to others?

……………………

assalamualaikum wbt,

Its weird.

If i wanted to follow a way of life, according to exactly what my creator had taught me through His Messenger and His Book, people will label me as a fundamentalist, or traditionalist, extremist even.

But try swapping it around in another situation, let say, in medicine. I could not think of any situation where my colleague or my patients would not want me to ‘follow the book’, hence being a ‘fundamentalist’.

” Tak apalah, sikit je ‘interest’ tu. Setakat 50 sen. Tak yah lah strict sangat.”

* Such nonchalance despite Allah’s stern warning in the Quran against usury. Mind you, one of the parables is that as if the person is declaring war against Allah. War against Allah! Do you dare to declare war against the King of this universe? The One who owns everything the eyes can see and can’t? Would you even dare?

Apparently you do dare, if you practice usury.*

Ok, compare that with this.

” Tak apalah. Bukan kotor pun pisau bedah tu jatuh atas lantai tadi. Kejap saja. Ok je guna balik walaupun kira dah tak sterile. Tak yah lah strict sangat.”

Would you allow that knife to be used to cut through your flesh now after its brief stint on the operating theater floor?  I don’t think so.

In the realm of medicine, people are very strict especially, especially in operating theatres.

I remembered when I first started my orthopod rotation, one of the earliest things that I need to learn how to do properly was to scrub in  for theatres. This means washing your hands up to your elbows properly and thoroughly before doning the sterile surgical gown and gloves. This whole process can take up to a good 20 minutes, or longer if its not something you do everyday.

Imagine, even if the string of my face mask were to touch the front of my surgical gown, that gown will be considered not sterile (because the face mask is not sterile), so I have to take off the whole gown again and wear a new one. (So the trick is to wear and secure the facemask first before washing your hands-and make sure the string is tied properly instead of it dangling down)

Yes, it is that strict. This is to make sure that we are closest to sterile as possible to bring down the risk of infection.

But nobody complained why it is that strict. Nobody made a racket about what a waste of resources it is, what a waste of time, what a hassle etc etc.

So people expect doctors to follow the guidelines. As close to the recommendation as possible. Nothing less.

That is the expectation.

But when it comes to practising religion, namely as a Muslim, people expect us not follow the book too much. Pick and choose whatever is suitable for you. Yes, Islam is a candy store where you can pick up a small plastic bag and pick whichever sweet or chocolate you fancy.

And if you want to follow the ‘guideline’ which in Islam is the Quran and Sunnah…people find it difficult to accept this.

In everything else in our lives, we want the best. If you buy nasi lemak, you would expect the nasi to taste lemak, if not it should not be called nasi lemak. If you pay this much for Astro, you would be annoyed if the service run amok at every hint of rain (We pay the satelite dish to receive shows, not detect the weather!)

Ironically when it comes to the faith that would determine our fate in the life after this life on earth, we are so…nonchalant.

” Why so double standard?” *Joker-style*

(disclaimer : gambar ini dikidnap dari google mane2 ntah)

assalamualaikum wbt,

a cat in instanbul...here kitty kitty...

a scenario in clinic :

doctor : I need to advice you to stop smoking.

patient : It’s very difficult doctor. I’ve tried so many times. I’ve given up.

doctor : You can’t give up. According to your history, you have a very high risk for getting heart attack.

patient : But I’ve tried other things. I’m more careful with my diet now and I go to the gym regularly. Surely that helps with cutting my risk down. So what harm does a box of cigarette or two? Surely the effect from diet and exercise can neutralize the effect from smoking?

doctor : Unfortunately that doesn’t happen in real life. I’ll give you an example. Does eating rat poison with vegetables make the rat poison any safer or healthier?

****

There is only one practical approach to health and that is the holistic approach. There is no point having a healthy heart, but a failing kidney, for example. Sooner or later, the heart will too, follow suit. (Many kidney patients has cardiovascular co-morbidity, for example, I remember a patient of mine who had a cardiac arrest while on the dialysis machine. She has been known to have a heart condition, accumulated after years of kidney impairment)

So too, expanding our view further-to the approach in understanding and practicing our religion. It is a shame that we are unable to reap the benefits of our complete and beautiful way of life, just because we want to pick and choose.

We choose just to do the usuals-5 times a day prayer, fasting in Ramadhan, celebrating Eid, do circumcision, getting married according to Islamic rulings, manage the dead by Islamic rulings…but in other areas of our life, for example, in education, in managing our finances, economy, work ethics, environment, we prefer to go with the flow. Whatever that was left from the colonial times, whatever was imposed upon us decades back.

Even worse, there are some who does not even view the ‘usuals’ seriously. Out shopping with only 20 minutes left of zuhur? “Oh it ok, I can qadha’ (replace) the prayer when I arrive home.” Despite the prayer room just a few yards away. Failing to realize that qadha is only permissible in specific situations. And it happens that busy shopping is not one of them.

Just as the patient who wants to pick and choose-not wanting to give up smoking, but choose to eat healthily and exercise regularly- he will still be living in that shadow of cardiovascular risk. He is unable to fully enjoy the benefits of his diet and exercise, because there is still that one factor he choose not to leave.

So in case somebody is still wondering, why are we still in this rat hole? Why are the Muslims, whom Allah branded “best from mankind” or “the middle nation” doesn’t seem to be able to live to that expectation? Looking around us, Palestine is still in shambles. Wait, we don’t have to look that far to prove this point…look at our own backyard! Not a day passes without a news item on robbery, ‘ragut’, rape, murder, abuse…is this the only thing the ‘best from mankind’ can offer?

Harsh words, but its time to swallow the bitter pill.

Syed Qutb muses in his ‘Under the shade of Quran’ : (lazy to translate into English)

” Tiada yang menghalangi umat Muslimin hari ini dari mengambil tempat mereka yang sebenar yang telah dikurniakan Allah kepada mereka selain dari (kesalahan) kerana mereka telah meninggalkan sistem hidup Allah yang telah dipilih untuk mereka, dan kerana mereka telah memilih berbagai sistem hidup yang lain yang tidak dipilih Allah untuk mereka, dan kerana mereka telah mencelupkan diri mereka dengan berbagai-bagai celupan yang lain yang bukan dari celupan syariat Allah sedangkan Allah mahukan mereka mencelupkan diri mereka dengan celupan syariat Allah sahaja.”

to be continued

assalamualaikum wbt,

somewhere in oxford kalu tk silap

a few points to share after pondering Syed Qutb’s Under the Shade of Quran, on surah al Baqarah, verses 142-150.

+ something that is meant to be taken as a whole, will not work its full potential if taken in parts/ or bits and pieces.

Islam is a way of life, all facets of it. Its in our belief, our worship, our manners, our day to day conduct and dealings, be it in education, buying and selling, family relations, health, economy, defense etc etc.

Just as a heart cut out from its attachments in the mediastinum, expecting it to beat just the same out in the cold cold world. Could it? Despite how brilliant the heart has been compartmentalized into 4 separate chambers, complete with its on pacemaker (SA node) and circuit, with myocytes that is just hungry for action…the answer would still be no. Separated from the rest of the gang, the only function the heart could hope for in that situation is being the object of study for ethusiastic medical students.

This was what Hasan al Bana was trying to burn into the minds of his generation of Muslims, when it appears then, that Islam is taken in parts, not the whole deal. He wrote in his ‘Message of the Teachings’ (Risalah Taalim) under the heading ” Understanding’ :

” Islam is a comprehensive system which deals with all spheres of life. It is a country and homeland or a government and a nation. It is conduct and power or mercy and justice. It is a culture and a law or knowledge and jurisprudence. It is material and wealth or gain and prosperity. It is Jihad and a call or army and a cause. And finally, it is true belief and correct worship”.

It becomes a problem when we rip Islam to pieces. We will then come to see Islam as just another discipline teacher, standing in front of the class with a cane in the hand, waiting to *papp!* somebody’s bottom as soon as they cross over the line. “This cannot, that cannot, aiyoh, all also cannot, then how ma?” This dialogue would not be uncommon.

What we don’t see, is that behind that discipline teacher, is a whole set of school vision and mission, the way forward, the hopes and dreams, of what sort of product that is expected to be produced from this school. A produce of brilliance, no less.

Go ahead, visit your old school or flip through your old school magazine, and I could almost guarentee that no school would have it in their vision or mission, ‘To produce crap students that would be the shame of the nation’.

(Just to prove my point, I googled and found this in my ex school’s website under their mission-‘ Melahirkan pelajar yang berbakat, berketrampilan, berkepimpinan…’ and the list goes on)

So going back to our topic, hehe, after such long winded introduction…

Yes, although it would appear at first, that surah al Baqarah seemed to be laden with rules and regulations, a dry and spiritless (kering) topic to some, but wait! What is that standing behind this strict ‘discipline teacher?’

” Thus we make you a (just)(and the best) nation that you may be witnesses over mankind and the Messenger be a witness over you. ” [al Baqarah : 143]

Those rules and regulations, are just a tip of the iceberg. There’s a more than meets the eye…

to be continued…

Assalamualaikum wbt,

The world is decaying to a point of helplessness. The façade of a successful and prosperous nation are starting to crumble all around him.

What happened to the golden dream? When did it all go wrong? Which straw was it that broke the camel’s back?

A lone tear slid quietly down an unmarked trail along his cheek. The society is in shambles. Not a day passes without it witnessing truly gruesome harrowing crimes. When did humanity decided to pack its bags and leave?

Money and power were the main diet which proved to be the cause for this fatal disease. Greed and selfishness has led  people straight to the mortuary, never turning back.

A heavy sigh escaped his lungs. Grim. In the darkness, there is light waiting to spark life back to where it belonged. Bridging the gap between happiness in this world and the hereafter. For there is indeed a longer life to come after death, if only people knew.

Life, under the shade of belief in the One and Only Creator.

The Creator who created him, and created everything around him for him.

He held the book, the words within spanned generations of those before him. The Quran.

Funny how he choose to turn blind to all that was around him all this while…

” And  the cattle, He has created them for you; in them there is warmth (warm clothing), and numeroud benefits, and of them you eat.”

” And they carry your loads to a land that you could not reach except with great trouble to yourselves. Truly, your Lord is full of Kindness, Most Merciful.”

” And He has created horses, mules, and donkeys, for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates other things of which you have no knowledge.”

“He it is Who sends down water from the sky; from it you drink and from it (grows) the vegetation on which you send your cattle to pasture; ”

“With it He causes to grow for you the crops, the olives, the date palms, the grapes and every kind of fruit.”

” And He it is Who has subjected  the sea to you, that you eat therof fresh tender meat, and that you bring forth out of it ornaments to wear.”

” And He has affixed into the earth mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you, and rivers and roads, that you may guide yourselves.”

[an Nahl :5-15]

Something in his heart broke. The emptiness that he tried to mask all this while with the riches all around him, his entourage, his life of glitz and glamour finally broke loose. He was never really happy in the truest sense. There is always something missing, something he could not put his finger on.

He thought he found peace and fulfillment in the love he held for the life he led. Successful career, beautiful and smart girlfriend, spacious apartment and fast automobile, fun and cool circle of companion.

Until he felt deaf and blind to the shower of love letters that has been calling on to him from the minute he was born. Not giving up, even until now.

Everything that God created, it is for him. For him to use, to utilise, to take from, to manage, to run…all this while, he has been living under the shade of his Creator’s love.

Is it too late? Is it too late? His heart was racing now, panicking over the possibility that he may have lost his chance to reciprocate the love.

” O my slaves who have transgressed against themselves! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah, verily Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. ” [39:53]

So he still has the chance! There is still the opportunity! The smile was of the brightest of all smiles.

His heart thus awaken, the veins now coursing with a new brand of fuel. Love of the Creator.

Assalamualaikum wbt,

Reading the news day after day make one wonders, where is this world heading?

There is always somebody being brutalised; physically, sexually, emotionally, stories of theft, robbery, bribery, treachery…

Its as if we are forced to watch the same movie day after day after day without having the power to change the channel.

If only we can change the channel…

But in reality, we can’t.

This is the world that we are living in. This is it. Eventhough if it is heading towards self-destruction, we can’t hit the pause button nor pull the plug and get a new television.

We are down to 2 choices though.

Just continue and watch this movie. Over and over again until your heart feels numb and to the point that you get so used to all these atrocities that you ceased to care anymore. ‘Well, as long as I am alright. My family’s alright. Who cares about the rest of the people? Whatever~‘

Then you die. The end.

Or, we can pick the second option, just like a young man, 82 years back, a school teacher named Hasan al Bana who took even the briefest opportunity while riding in a taxi, to convince his friend that they need to work and invite people back to the only religion that promises to bring mercy to all mankind.

Who tried to shift the paradigm, that man does not neccesarily need to live just for the sake of his own self, but there is a bigger responsibility waiting out there-spreading the word of truth and calling people to justice and good deeds. Unfortunately, his ethusiasm were not caught on by his companion;

” The short opportunity surely was not enough to leave an impression on his spirit and heart. However it seemed that he is a person who lived for his job and was already contented with his belief in God, religion and his teacher, and is quite satisfied with the respect he gathered from his peers.” [Hasan Al Bana, Mudzakkiratut Da’wah wad Da’iyah]

What was this young man, who then live and died while fighting for this cause, was trying to sell?

He was just merely continuing, taking the baton from callers of the past, to bring and remind people of best sales pitch ever heard on the face of the earth.

The sales pitch, which changed the lives of so many people, if they choose to grab its deal fully.