Make the most of everything | Lights of Love

Bismillah.

Goooood Morning folks,

My holiday continues...because it's a public holiday in Malaysia today...because our Hindu friends are celebrating the Festival of Lights, so we wish them Deepavali Nal Valthukkal : )

I have already sent out my Diwali greetings to my best buddy in high school, what about you? How many of you have an Indian girl/boy as your good friend in school? Not many I bet.

Because we are all on holiday mood, because I care about some of you who keep coming to this space every morning for a little something, be it an inspiration or a lil bit of cheer, so here's me and mom sending you good vibes and much love! I mean you...genuine loyal friends/visitors/readers. 

[These category of people are forever excluded: 
blog-stalker/spy/gatecrasher/impostor.]

Here's wishing you my genuine loyal friends/visitors/readers a greaaaat day and keep smiling : )

Lights of love from
Madam M & Miss E
: )

Succession of little things that are brought together

Bismillah.

This beautiful morning, I was inspired to put together the poster below. It stemmed from reading yet another exciting article from Brain Pickings. Yes of course, it's ok to pick another person's brain. I am cool about people picking my brain should they find any worth in it. I was watching a documentary on Steve Jobs yesterday and saw how he sort of picked an idea from Xerox re constructing a computer mouse. Brain pickings are common.

Click on pic to enlarge

Oh by the way, when I was at a dawra on Kitab As-Syamail, I heard Shaykh Mohammed Daniel said it's ok to quote from non-Muslims. It's a relief to hear that because there are just too many 'holier than thou' people who think they are the most righteous Muslim and everyone else is just a second class citizen or hell-bound so we can't learn from anyone except righteous Muslims.

Pray Allah protects us from being surrounded by such spiritually myopic people. It's important that we surround ourselves with people who are positive because we are, as the expert says, an average of five people with whom we spend most of our time with.

All right. While it's ok to pick another person's brain, it is not ok to manipulate people to one's own greed or be a parasite or a leech. That would tantamount to breaching the other person's rights to protect his/her intellectual and wealth/property. Those are two of the five objectives of the Shariáh/Islam or Maqasid Al-Shariah, so I learned from my limited reading on the subject. The other three are: protection of one's religion, life and off-spring.

***

"The great doesn't happen through impulse alone and it is a succession of little things that are brought together." - Van Gogh

We all know that to build/create something great takes plenty of time and takes a great deal of effort. Van Gogh is saying it's not just about making one big effort one shot but it's a culmination of little efforts that are brought together over a period of time.

This is similar to what I learned from a trainer a few months back about the system of success which is defined as having few disciplines practiced everyday. It's about making a good effort everyday and repeat and repeat and repeat....until you begin to see the first spark of success, of something great, God willing, and then still continue on. 

Wish yáll a productive Monday despite the fact that many of us Malaysians are holidaying. For the benefit of our foreign readers, tomorrow is Deepavali Day so almost everyone in Malaysia is enjoying a long weekend and having a leisure time.     

Ahh...no wonder your blogger friend is not too stressed out and can afford one more rambling here. LOL.

Ok folks, let us all think about the succession of little things that we could bring together towards achieving something great. Bi-iznillah.

: )

p/s
I hope I am one of five people whom you spend most of your time with, albeit virtually.
And hope that I belong in the positive category so that I bring up your average score. LOL.
Never mind that makcik (old woman) who considered this blog stupid. LOL.

Spirited Away | Weekend get-away

Bismillah.

Hi folks,

Here's wishing all Malaysians a happy long weekend : )

My long weekend will officially begin in a few hour's time and yet half of the cake is already gone LOL. 

Today, the team at Exa Publishing had fun watching Hayao Miyazaki's splendid craft - his mega successful film Spirited Away. The film is loaded with richly colored scenes that are made up of amazing amount of details. On the spiritual aspect, it is decorated with plenty of empathy and goodwill. Miyazaki is a maestro of his domain.

And our creative spirits got invigorated away!  

Blogging away on another pleasant Saturday

OK people, see ya when I see ya ; )

p/s

Like a kid, I got excited that my small bunch of purple orchids
match the color of KL Tower
: D
Good nite folks!
Happy Holidays!

Ordinary background | White Fridays

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum folks,
Jumaah Mubarrak!
Wish yáll a blissful day, a blessed Friday. 

Someone mentioned Black Friday to me and I had no clue. I guess in Islam we only have white Fridays. White is good. I learned from Kitab As-Syamail that the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam favored white garments.

Friday is too good a day to be branded negatively. As they say in Arabic, it is Sayyidul Ayyam and among the angels, Friday is known as Yaumul Mazid because the angels acknowledge the increase in God's blessings for them on Fridays.

This I learned from a Malay blog:
https://ustazmoden.wordpress.com/2011/11/11/tazkirah-hari-jumaat-juga-dikenali-yaumul-mazid/

I don't know much about this religion. I am just an ordinary person who merely share what I heard, read or learned. And oftentimes we have to unlearn and relearn. It's good to be ordinary and stay ordinary, I, therefore, agree with this saying:

I picked up this book yesterday at a new bookshop in KL. It's refreshing to see from the perspectives of people who are outside of our field -- viewpoints that are outside our own Weltanschauung. Although I must say I'm also keen on architecture.

Good to be and to stay ordinary. I am just a village girl who grew up in low-cost flats in Penang. My first lesson on determination was when I was 8 years old. I had to climb up the staircase to the 9th floor carrying my heavy school bag because the elevators were out of service and that's quite a usual occurrence. Those early lessons in life helped defined me. I am sure it applies to you too. Our early childhood defines us and not so much the colleges we attended, be it local or abroad, or what car we drive or if we don't even drive. 

Consider yourself fortunate if you have been brought up to be a grateful person, a person who has plenty of empathy for others because you know from an early age how challenging life could be for some people. So our default state should be that of an ordinary person with an ordinary background. 

I must thank my father for training me on humility. He used to own a cleaning service company in KL. He provided me with a big monthly allowance during my college days, but he also made me follow his staff, the cleaners, go on the streets to pick up litters. To this day, the experience remains a good lesson on humility which I fall back on. May Allah bless his soul - my father who taught me plenty of things about life.

Let's end this posting with this gem from Habib Umar bin Hafiz - a poster borrowed from Exa Publishing Facebook.

Wassalamualaikum warahmatullah

Don't depict fate, depict will

Bismillah.

Ah! I just had an "Ah" moment when I saw a documentary (video essay) on the works of a great Japanese animation artist Hayao Miyazaki. It's produced by an English film maker, Lewis Bond.

Miyazaki said: "You don't depict fate, you depict will."

http://www.japantoday.com/category/entertainment/view/documentary-explores-essence-of-humanity-in-films-of-hayao-miyazaki
http://nofilmschool.com/2015/10/video-what-makes-miyazaki-film-a-miyazaki-film

How true! What he said, in my opinion, carries a universal meaning beyond the animation world. Religious, in fact. We are here in this world depicting will, our will, and if I may say, on the haqiqah (reality) level - His Will. 

Fate is almost not relevant. Fate is a past tense, in relation to will. 

Does that make sense to you?

Will is alive, dynamic, active, an infinite variable, an endless possibilities. That is from His Rahmah (Mercy).

Fate, to me, is something that we should leave it at that. 

Fate to me is something you might say when the day comes when this blogger passes on and you see no more postings here. You might say: Ah...that's how she lived her life. That's her fate.

But come to think of it, will it matter?

La...la...la...la...

Oh by the way, I understood one lesson from studying Kitab As-Syamail the other day, that Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam never said la (no). The only time or circumstance he said la was when he professed the syahadah: la ilaha illallah.

***

Here's a poster borrowed from Exa Publishing Facebook quoting author Doe Zantamata. 

To change one's direction means to have will. And as a Muslim, I reckon the path of least resistance is when what we will is in line with the Divine Will.

Allahu a'lam.

Grasping the soul of words

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum folks,

It's Tuesday the 3rd of November. Alhamdulillah I'm pretty pleased that this is the 170th posting for the year which means I've got another 30 to go in order to meet my target of 200 postings. When it comes to toning one's writing muscle, we need both quantity and quality.

I completely agree with this saying by Paulo Freire. Borrowed this poster from Exa Publishing Facebook page. One of our team members crafted it. Do invite your friends to like our FB page, if you'd be kind enough to do so. We create posters that are related to the virtues of reading and writing while we quietly work on developing contents for two books. Bi-iznillah. Good contents take time to develop so that people won't just walk or trample on the words. We want readers to identify with the soul of the book, the story and the writer. 

Indeed, good writings are soul-ful. It's more than skin deep. It is deep rooted in the heart of the writer. It conveys more than just words. That which is not written, that which is "written between the lines" should also carry plenty of meanings.

We've got to mean what we write and mean what we say. Only then can we have meaningful relationships, perform meaningful deeds and live a meaningful life.

p/s 

One shaykh dropped me a line on whatsapp and thus made my day/week. He said: "Pray all is well with you and that you are always in Allah's redha." I said: "Thank you for remembering me." He said: "A good person is of course remembered."

That's a good example of meaningful words : D

Notes from Kitab As-Syamail - Prophet's hair styles & appearance

Bismillah.

Assalamualaikum folks,

One talented team member at Exa Publishing has helped me produce this illustration below, showing three hairstyles donned by Prophet Muhammad salallah alaihi wasalam as described in Kitab As-Syamail (The Sublime Qualities of Prophet Muhammad) as I heard it from Shaykh Mohammed Daniel - a musnid from Britain. A musnid is one who has ijazah/sanad on the knowledge that traces back to the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam. In the case of Shaykh Mohammed Daniel, he has obtained ijazah from over 400 scholars.

Know that our Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam had his hair parted in the middle. His hair was wavy, neither straight nor curly. As for the hair length, it's either wafrah, limmah or jummah. To help you remember it, memorize the mnemonic: wa-la-ja. 

Wa for wafrah which is just touching the earlobes; La for limmah - below earlobes and above shoulders and ja for jummah - hair length that touches the shoulders.

The Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam had on occasions (perhaps when he was in battle) braided his hair into 4 sections - two on the left side and two on the right side.

***

Another note of mine from the class, for sharing:

Did you know that Abu Thufail was the last sahabi to die? He was born in the 1st Hijri year and died in 110 Hijri. Yes, he lived for 110 years. It was Abu Thufail who described the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam  as "fair, handsome and of medium height."

Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad
Habibur Rahman
ada dama yaqun wama qod kan

***

Should you come across a majlis on hadith, do make an effort to attend because there are at least 30 benefits from attending such a majlis as said Shaykh Mohammed Daniel.

Below is an article of his posted on his Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Sayyidi-Al-Syeikh_Al-Musnid Muhammad Daniel Al Muhajir

🍃🍂Principle of Seeking Hadith: Benefits from the Gatherings of Hadith🍂🍃

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Assalāmu ‘alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuhu

In this short article, I have provided thirty distinct benefits that one may derive from the Majalis of Hadith (Gatherings of Prophetic traditions). These advantages are self-explanatory and answer the doubts and criticism that some may level at these Majalis owing to an ignorance of the true spirit and nature of them. By the grace of Allah, Cordoba Academy continues to play a pivotal role in spreading these gatherings throughout the world.

1) Increase the love of the Prophet (salahu alayhi wasalam) and his Sunnah in our hearts because the more you read about him, the more you realize his status and are taken in awe by his magnificence.

2) The preservation of a unique system of transmission (Isnaad) that extends back over 1400 years and up until the advent of modern academia was widespread in the Ummah. Some Islamic texts have altogether lost the oral transmission that they had boasted for several hundred years before the recent neglect.

3) The inclusion of your name in a chain of narration that ends with you and goes back through Islam’s greatest scholars linking you to the most blessed of creation our Beloved (salahu alayhi wasalam) which is a great source of honour and barakah.

4) The entire gathering sends hundreds of thousands of salawaat on our Beloved (salahu alayhi wasalam) every time they hear his name over the course of the Majlis.

5) Establishing a bond between you and the celebrated Ulama of the past so that when you quote something from Imam Nawawi, Imam Suyuti or Ibn Hajr (RA) you are quoting from your own shoyoukh (as you are connected to them through isnaad) as opposed to simply quoting from a book as any other academic would do.

6) Improve the speed and proficiency of reading Arabic for both the readers and those that are following the recitation which is an essential skill for any student of knowledge.

7) The spread and revival of the Isnaad of mainstream Hadith texts throughout the Islamic World. In the South African Majlis people from over 20 countries participated and in many of these countries not a single person existed who narrated through Isnaad. Those who have inherited the Isnaad will return to their countries as ambassadors of the Sunnah and revive the tradition that existed several hundred years ago in places such as Timbuktu, Banjul and other famous cities of Africa.

8) Allow us to appreciate the richness, breadth, and depth of the corpus of Islamic literature in times where people have become engrossed in reading about other civilizations and fantasies.

9) Increase our appreciation of Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) by reading the proofs that the madhahib have established their rulings upon.

10) Increase your knowledge of Hadith terminology used by Muhaditheen when describing the reports in their collections and using terminology such as ghareeb.

11) Develop the time/events management skills that are an essential skill of any dedicated student of knowledge in their search for the Sacred Sciences.

12) Be constantly sitting in the company of senior Ulama for long hours with the ability to observe their ahklaaq and take from their adab before their knowledge.

13) Re-kindle the unity of this Ummah and the brotherhood that all Muslims have between themselves irrespective of skin colour, caste or socio-economic factors.

14) Becoming attached to the Sunnah of our Beloved (salahu alayhi wasalam) through the learning of his mission, his biography, his character, his appearance and all other sublime qualities that he possessed.

15) Earning the great reward promised to the people who set out in the pursuit of the Sacred Sciences.

16) Affords one with an opportunity to make new like-minded friends who are willing to dedicate hours to these blessed majalis. This company instead of distracting you and being a source of remorse for you on the day of Qiyamah, will aid you in worshipping Allah.

17) Learning about asbaab al-Nuzul or causes for the revelation of various ayaat from the Quran so we know the context that these verses were revealed in and are able to rectify the misunderstanding of modernists in their interpretation of these ayaat.

18) Read Ahadith of targheeb (virtues that encourage) and tarheeb (punishments that discourage) that will encourage us a desire to do good actions and discourage us from sinning.

19) Being amongst those who are observing the Fardh Kifayah action of safeguarding the Isnaad of this Ummah.

20) Get used to listening to Arabic while it is spoken or read fast, therefore, improving your overall listening skill which is yet another of the four primary skills required in language acquisition.

21) Learning how the muhaditheen would use abbreviations in the isnaad to mean different things such as ح for tahweel of the Isnaad.

22) The revival and imitation of a practice that was conducted by the muhaditheen for hundreds of years with the hope that through Allah’s mercy we will be raised in the hereafter with those that we imitate as stated in Hadith.

23) Increasing your knowledge of the Ahadith that are weak or strange by reading the hukm of the muhaditheen such as Imam al-Tirmidhi (RA)

24) Earn the reward of observing nafl (optional) I’tikaaf in the Masajid which creates an attachment to this serene and blessed environment in the company of Mala’ikah (angels) that would not otherwise be made available to one had there not such Majalis to motivate them to stay.

25) Knowing more about the Ulama in your isnaad who have preserved this unique tradition throughout hundreds of years of Islam.

26) Improving and correcting the recitation of difficult words that we would not normally come across other than in Hadith texts.

27) A source of reward for the elderly Ulama whom after their demise will continue receiving reward for everyone that studies and narrates through the Isnaad they inherited from these scholars; and the same for you when you pass away.

28) Gathering people together from different nationalities and backgrounds all of whom have one common denominator, that they are Muslim and leaving the company of the Kufaar for long periods of time which cleanses the heart from the filth of kufr.

29) Improvement in akhlaaq, by reading how the kufaar would treat our Beloved (Salahu alayhi wasalam) and his companions and the akhlaaq that he would reciprocate with.

30) Be part of a Majlis which is sought out by the angels and discussed by with your Lord who then forgives you for the sins you have done as occurs in the following Hadith that occurs in both Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim:

حَدَّثَنَا قُتَيْبَةُ بْنُ سَعِيدٍ، حَدَّثَنَا جَرِيرٌ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، عَنْ أَبِي صَالِحٍ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: " إِنَّ لِلَّهِ مَلاَئِكَةً يَطُوفُونَ فِي الطُّرُقِ يَلْتَمِسُونَ أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ، فَإِذَا وَجَدُوا قَوْمًا يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ تَنَادَوْا: هَلُمُّوا إِلَى حَاجَتِكُمْ " قَالَ: «فَيَحُفُّونَهُمْ بِأَجْنِحَتِهِمْ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا» قَالَ: " فَيَسْأَلُهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ، وَهُوَ أَعْلَمُ مِنْهُمْ، مَا يَقُولُ عِبَادِي؟ قَالُوا: يَقُولُونَ: يُسَبِّحُونَكَ وَيُكَبِّرُونَكَ وَيَحْمَدُونَكَ وَيُمَجِّدُونَكَ " قَالَ: " فَيَقُولُ: هَلْ رَأَوْنِي؟ " قَالَ: " فَيَقُولُونَ: لاَ وَاللَّهِ مَا رَأَوْكَ؟ " قَالَ: " فَيَقُولُ: وَكَيْفَ لَوْ رَأَوْنِي؟ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُونَ: لَوْ رَأَوْكَ كَانُوا أَشَدَّ لَكَ عِبَادَةً، وَأَشَدَّ لَكَ تَمْجِيدًا وَتَحْمِيدًا، وَأَكْثَرَ لَكَ تَسْبِيحًا " قَالَ: " يَقُولُ: فَمَا يَسْأَلُونِي؟ " قَالَ: «يَسْأَلُونَكَ الجَنَّةَ» قَالَ: " يَقُولُ: وَهَلْ رَأَوْهَا؟ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُونَ: لاَ وَاللَّهِ يَا رَبِّ مَا رَأَوْهَا " قَالَ: " يَقُولُ: فَكَيْفَ لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ رَأَوْهَا؟ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُونَ: لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ رَأَوْهَا كَانُوا أَشَدَّ عَلَيْهَا حِرْصًا، وَأَشَدَّ لَهَا طَلَبًا، وَأَعْظَمَ فِيهَا رَغْبَةً، قَالَ: فَمِمَّ يَتَعَوَّذُونَ؟ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُونَ: مِنَ النَّارِ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُ: وَهَلْ رَأَوْهَا؟ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُونَ: لاَ وَاللَّهِ يَا رَبِّ مَا رَأَوْهَا " قَالَ: " يَقُولُ: فَكَيْفَ لَوْ رَأَوْهَا؟ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُونَ: لَوْ رَأَوْهَا كَانُوا أَشَدَّ مِنْهَا فِرَارًا، وَأَشَدَّ لَهَا مَخَافَةً " قَالَ: " فَيَقُولُ: فَأُشْهِدُكُمْ أَنِّي قَدْ غَفَرْتُ لَهُمْ " قَالَ: " يَقُولُ مَلَكٌ مِنَ المَلاَئِكَةِ: فِيهِمْ فُلاَنٌ لَيْسَ مِنْهُمْ، إِنَّمَا جَاءَ لِحَاجَةٍ. قَالَ: هُمُ الجُلَسَاءُ لاَ يَشْقَى بِهِمْ جَلِيسُهُمْ " رَوَاهُ شُعْبَةُ، عَنِ الأَعْمَشِ، وَلَمْ يَرْفَعْهُ، وَرَوَاهُ سُهَيْلٌ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Abu Hurairah (RA) narrates from the Apostle of Allah (صلي الله عليه وسلم) that there is a group of angels who patrol the earth and search for gatherings wherein Allah is remembered and the angels call out to each other, "Come to what you are searching for" and they form a circle around this gathering that reaches to the sky. When this gathering disperses, they return to the sky where they are questioned by Allah Ta’ala, although (who is All-knowing): Where have you come from? They reply: We come from a gathering of your servants who are engaged in Tasbeeh, Takbeer and Tahmeed. Allah Ta’ala asks them: Have they seen Me? The angels reply: No. Allah Ta’ala asks: And what if they had seen me? They reply: Then they would have engaged even more excessively in Your Ibadah and in glorifying of you. Allah Ta’ala says: What are they asking for? They reply: They ask of you Jannah. Allah Ta’ala then asks: Have they seen Jannah? The angels reply: No. Allah Ta’ala asks: And what if they had seen Jannah? They reply: Then they would have been even more desirous, eager and keen for it. Allah Ta’ala says: What are they seeking refuge from? They reply: They ask refuge from the Fire (of Hell). Allah Ta’ala asks: Have they seen the Fire? The angels reply: No. Allah Ta’ala asks: And what if they had seen it? They reply: Then they would have tried harder to escape from it and they would have been more fearful of it. Allah Ta’ala says: I make you witness that I have pardoned them. One angel exclaims: A certain person was not from them. He happened to be there for some other reason. Allah Ta’ala says: They are such a people that even those who sit with them (for other work) will not be deprived.

And Allah knows best

Mohammed Daniel
Cordoba Academy