Friday, July 28, 2006

ESSENCE OF KHAWAJA GARIB NAWAZ (RADI ALLAHU TA'ALA ANHU)

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty (R.A.) is the famous sufi saint of Ajmer, India, and founder of the Chishty sufi order. To really understand a person and who he/she is and why he/she is who he/she is, one needs to simply understand the essence of the person. The essence of this saint is clearly evident in his title GARIB NAWAZ which means the one who shows kindness to the poor. In his lifetime, Khawaja Moinuddin Chishty (R.A.) showed kindness to every kind of poor person from the king to the pauper. One must ask what is so important or great about showing kindness to the poor. Poor is not only one who is materially less well off. Indeed that will be a limited and myopic definition. Poor is indeed one who is less than well off in everything from wealth, character, manners, faith, hope, piety, fertility etc. In reality a person can be adequately endowed, more than adequately endowed or less than adequately endowed. A poor person is one who is in the last state.



When a person A meets another person, B, who is poor, it can only naturally bring out the worst in A. If A is a materially and monetarily endowed while B is poor, then when A meets the poor B, A naturally will feel superior, arrogant, selfish and stingy. Only if A is kind enough can he/she go overcome all these negative feelings in order to extend a helping hand to poor B. Help, we can conveniently understand as any level of assistance, however help is truly something that is nothing less than when it is either the best that we can give or the best that the person can receive.



In our daily lives we are rarely in the above circumstance in Singapore. Instead we meet person B on a always, daily basis and regularly. These Bs are not less than adequately endowed in material or money but in manners, self-restrain, hope, character, faith, feelings etc. Again when we like person A above meet person B poor in these ways, it only brings out our worst naturally. We get angry, jealous, revengeful, egoistic, zealous etc. Only if we have the kindness in us can we show it to person B.

The greatness in showing kindness to the poor does not comes from the act itself per se but the ability to do it after overcoming the natural lower self and lures of Shaytan. We rise above our baser self to a noble state. When we meet the poor B which consequently brings out the worst in us, when we respond by holding that worst in us back and instead throwing out kindness then we truly are noble. However that state is possible only when we give up this temporal world for the eternal world. This happens when we live with a life scale weighing priorities not in terms of benefit, money etc but dunia vs aahir whereby we evaluate everything on basis of the benefit it brings to dunia life and the life hereafter, hereby prioritizing on the option that yields greater benefit for the life hereafter. When we experience person B, when our worst comes out instinctively and when we allow it to happen then we have given greater priority to dunia life. This is because the limited benefit of that response can only be received in dunia even though there is an equal punishment in dunia for that while there is absolutely no benefit and only punishment in the aahir for choosing that response. We can only value aahir more than dunia when we fully and truly understand beyond uncertainty the merits of aahir and the limitations of dunia. Here we need knowledge to reach this state. We also can only pursue aahir more than dunia when the rebel within us dies after gaining that knowledge of aahir.

Therefore when a person reaches of the state of being kind to the poor, he truly has reached one of the highest state a man can possibly reach and he truly can nothing less than a Friend of Allah.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Political: Condemnation for Israel's Delibrate Attack on UN observers


Israeli army's delibrate attack on UN observers is below contempt and deserves nothing but condemnation. I really wonder how it is not delibrate as the Israelis claim, since the UN observers are so visibly different in their outlook from civilians or Hezbullah/Hamas fighters. Hence the Israeli army could not have opened fire without knowing exactly what they are firing at unless if they shut their eyes and indescriminately shot. Secondly it is impossible Israeli army did not have knowledge and information of the location of the UN observer post which doesnt move around but instead remain static. Israel must be taken to the ICC and have security council impose sanctions for this barbaric atrocity. Israel have always bullied UN and now they have grown bolder to terrorize UN.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Political: Governing with values vs governing with interests

Governing with values vs governing with interests

A government can either govern its internal and foreign affairs with values or interests. Sadly in today’s world, governments lack values and they instead govern solely with interests. However the pursuit of interests is detrimental because it can go against one’s own values during which they are highly likely to compromise on their values to uphold their interests.

An American senator once said America has no friends, only interests. Today that has become true of every North American and European nation which are the only nations in the globe that proudly announce and proclaim as upholders and guardians of universal values such as justice and human rights. Not only do they have no friends, they have no (real) values either since they are willing to comprise on their values should it conflict with their interests.

Today North America and Europe stands behind Israel’s attrocities because it is in their interests to do so. The Zionist lobby within these regions are strong and influential because of the large influence Zionist corporations have in these western economies. These Zionist corporations leverage on the economic hegemony that they have in the western economies to establish political hegemony on the western nations’ foreign policies. Even though the atrocities of Israel runs counter to international law, basic human rights, regional peace, stability and security, Western nations are economically and politically hijacked to support Israel. As Mahathir not too long ago said “Jews rule the world by proxy” well he was actually implying “Zionists rule the world by proxy”.

We can see similar examples of how countries which manage to gain economic influence in Western nations are able use it to gain political influence. India in yester years had its nuclear program under much scrutiny and its refusal to sign the non-proliferation treaty earned nothing but criticisms. Today as India is an economic giant, offering wealth of opportunities for Western nations, India has been able to use this neuve economic influence to gain political influence for its nuclear program. The same can be said of China, etc.

Should the world be governed by interests and not values, then universal values that protect mankind such as justice, human rights, equality etc will break down as how they have today. Values never change. What is a value today will be a value tomorrow. Only people decide whether or not to adopt it. However interests change. What is not an interest today can be one tomorrow and what is an interest today can otherwise tomorrow. Should leaders build a world on such basis then instability and lack of security will be its hallmark. Interestingly the challenges that the pursuit of interests in governance will bring about can only be resolved with values. So someday the world will be forced to return to values and base its interests on values.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Political: European Governments' Benign Support For Israeli Action



One need not second guess what is the stand of European governments in this Lebanon-Palestine crisis. Its clearly evident that the European nations are benignly supporting Israel. They have so far been clear, loud and explicit in their denounciation of Hezbullah and they are making every efforts to stop Hezbullah. However they have been chewing their words for Israel and showing absolutely no intention to stop Israel. What is equally clear is that the Europeans are waiting for Israel to finish its delibrate and categorical massacre of Lebanese and Palestinians before intervening during which they will pretend to hold high regard for human rights abuses or war crimes. So much for the values of Europeans. When the "civilized man" starts supporting the barbarous man, then he is nothing less than a barbarian himself.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Political: Singaporeans In Solidarity With Palestine & Lebanon




STOP THE KILLING OF WOMEN,
STOP THE KILLING OF CHILDREN,
STOP THE KILLING OF CIVILIANS,
STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION
SINGAPOREANS IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE & LEBANON

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Mosque remains standing and the plight of surviving Iranians in Bam earthquake

The catastrophic BAM earthquake in Iran a few years ago in 2003, if we still sympathetically remember, had devasted the BAM region. this Masjid Zayed however still remains standing though suffering damages. skeptics will brush it off saying it was built strong. cynics will mock saying that it is just at the most a coincidence and ignorant fools are exaggerating it. indeed there is an undeniable divine message in everything and it is upon patient reflection can one decify it.


The surviving victims of the natural disaster had to bear the burden of lost homes and devastated lives. No roof over their heads, no drinking water or sanitation, they remained in their plight for more than a year just like any surviving victims of any natural disaster nowadays. The world's leaders are faster and more sincere in responding to situations such as terrorist attacks, kidnapped soldiers or workers than in responding to situations such as diseases, natural calamities, food and water shortage, water crises etc. In the former situations, the events themselves injure the pride and ego of the world's leaders and their inaction will only emancipate this injury. In the latter situations, the events have no impact on them and their inaction only injure their sense of honor and dignity which in this neo-liberal 21st century they value much less than their pride, ego and money.