Brickwall’s ramblings

With June about to end, it is only a matter of a day now that I will be flying off home insha Allah. The visit will be very short and hectic as things will start off with the Nikah of my younger sister the very day I will arrive. And just after the following six days, I will be returning back to attend the summer school at Jena and eventually to my university to clear up the remaining exams :/

My father had asked a lot of people from our scattered family to join the occasion. And without exception, I asked all of them not to whenever I got the opportunity! I don’t know why but lately I have ceased to find any amusement or interest in marriage ceremony (other than Nikah) and related functions. So I tried to persuade all of them not to come now as it would be very busy and boring but instead try to make it in the August when I would finally be back home insha Allah :)

But of course why would anyone take me seriously against Abbu? So everyone is going ahead like expected and I will be meeting a lot of people coming from outside insha Allah. But about one cousin of mine, I got to know as to how much he wanted to visit for a few days just for Abbu’s sake but wouldn’t be able to due to some impossible circumstances. To me, his love for Abbu was understandable, but still I didn’t feel it like some great loss then.

Then I got the news that there will be a wedding in Chacha Abbu’s home too and it would be just on the 26th of June! Now that’s sudden, I thought. And by the way, it is just three days before I would leave. So I called up Chacha Abbu to felicitate and ask about the plans and regular things. But the first thing he asked was “When are you coming?”. I don’t know how to describe it but the way he put it, there seemed to be so much love and affection in his voice that I suddenly felt myself short of words as to how should I tell him that I wouldn’t be able to make it!

But somehow with a heavy heart, I managed to explain him my situation. When I disconnected the call, I was feeling really sad. It wasn’t that I was in anyway excited about the event itself. But the thought that my presence could have added to the pleasure of Chacha abbu was so saddening that I really wished it were possible for me to somehow get there and be with him on that day. Though that is certainly impossible now as the date has already passed, I now have a feel as to why everyone was trying his best to join us when Abbu asked them on my sister’s marriage.

The brother here has been translating some very beneficial and inspiring works from Arabic into English. Below is a reproduction of his latest blog entry:

In the first chapter of ‘Kitab at-Tawhid,’ Muhammad bin ‘Abd al-Wahhab mentions the hadith of Mu’adh where the Prophet said to him: “The right of Allah upon the servants is that they worship Him and associate none with Him, and the right of the servants upon Allah is that He will not punish them if they do not associate anything with him,” and Mu’adh said: “O Messenger of Allah, shall I not give the people the good news?”

In the 17th comment on this chapter, he refers to this hadith and how it shows “the virtue of giving the Muslim good news that will make him happy.”

In ‘Taysir al-’Aziz al-Hamid’ (p. 46), Sulayman bin ‘Abdillah commented on Mu’adh’s question “…shall I not give the people the good news?” by saying: “It shows the practice that the Companions were upon of giving each other cheerful news.”

In al-’Uthaymin’s ‘al-Qawl al-Mufid ‘ala Kitab at-Tawhid’ (1/32), he commented on the same phrase, saying:

“This shows that giving people cheerful news is something required when it comes to making people happy in both worldly and religious issues. This is why the Angels gave Ibrahim good news where Allah Said: {“…and they gave him glad tidings of an intelligent son, having knowledge.”} [adh-Dhariyat; 28] and this was Ishaq, and the patient one was Isma’il. And the Prophet gave his family the good news of the birth of his son Ibrahim, saying: “A boy was born for me tonight, and I gave him the name of my father Ibrahim.” What we learn from this is that a person should bring about joy upon his Muslim brothers as much as possible through words and actions, and this will result in a lot of goodness, relaxation, and tranquility and openness of the heart.

Likewise, he should not bring about negativity upon the Muslim, and this is why it was narrated from the Prophet: “None of you should talk to me about another person, as I like to come out to you while my heart is clean.” Although this hadith contains some weakness in its chain, its meaning is correct, because if you hear something bad about someone, your heart will automatically be uneasy with him even if he deals with you in a good way. However, if you deal with him without knowing the bad things he has done and there is no danger in dealing with him, this will be much better and he might be more likely to accept your advice, as our hearts are quicker in being turned off from each other than our bodies are.

These are very specific points that are only clear to the intelligent one who reflects…”

And the Messenger of Allah said: “The best actions are to cheer up your believing brother, to relieve him of a debt, or to feed him.” ['Sahih al-Jami''; # 1096]

I was talking with my friend yesterday and below is a snippet of that conversation which cracked me up:

Me: Has your brother started his PhD?

Friend: No, he is just done with his Masters.

Me: Nice. So when is he going to start it then?

Friend: Well, he was planning for it before. “Mager ab us ne shadi kar li hai!” (But now he is married)

One of my favorite pieces of Urdu poetry:

- raat yun dil men teri khoi hoi yaad aai

- jaise wirane men chupke se bahar ajae

- jaise sehraon men hole se chale baad e naseem

- jaise bimar ko bewaja qarar ajae…

رات یوں دل میں تیری کھوی ہوئ یاد آی

جیسے ویرانہ میں چپکے سے بہار آجاے

جیسے صحراوں میں ہولے سے چلے باد نسیم

جیسے بیمار کو بے وجہ قرار آجاے

I have wasted so much time reading blogs recently that now after I finally have some spare time, it seems called for that I waste some of it doing something on this blog of my own.

But now it feels like I should use this place for purposes I didn’t intend it for before. And that is that I may also write something about this hitherto aimless life of mine.

Why a change of plans? Well, in the beginning I wanted to save the ramblings of my mind which used to be so idle for the task during the days I took an off from absurdities that some say studies. Now that I am back to academics, the movements of my mind are stifled under the overwhelming crush of studies. It doesn’t ramble anymore. Now it can only rave and rant! And being in the middle of nowhere, I don’t have anyone to unleash it all on. So why, then, not vent it out here?

Another idea that sounds attractive is to register my thoughts and inclinations as time progresses. Though so far I have never had any problem in recalling and amusing myself with any era of my epochal life, still I want to see if finding it written will add any more fun to the exercise. As they might not be of interest to chance visitors, I will facilitate them in avoiding them by marking them Personal. Though of course they are gladly welcome to see it.

I will let it end here. Oh and I think I should update the About page too and bring it in line with the recent development. Lets see when I give matter to the thought. I hope it takes time at least slightly less than it took me since my last post!

Following is a selection from Iqbal’s poem Zindagi:

Bartar az andesha e sood o zian hai zindagi
Hay kabhi jaan aur kabhi tasleem e jaan hai zindagi

Tu ise paimana e amroz o farda se na naap
Jawidan, payham dawan, har dam jawan hai zindagi

Apni dunya aap paida kar ager zindon men hai
Sirr e Adam hai, zameer e kun fakan hai zindagi

Zindagani ki haqeeqat koh-kan ke dil se pooch
Joo- aiy sheer o taisha o sange giran hai zindagi

Bandagi men guth ke reh jati hai ek joo-aiy kam aab
Aur azadi men behr e bekiran hai zindagi

Qulzum e hasti se tu ubhra hai manind e habbab
is ziyan khane men tera imtehan hai zindagi

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=5598
“ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has terminated the services of Dr Ghazala Anwar, Assistant Professor, Islamic International University Islamabad (IIUI) under the Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme due to unsatisfactory progress reports received from the institution. The university states that her services were not required as her expertise in Arabic was insufficient for the existing programme at the institution, says a press release of HEC here on Thursday. Dr Ghazala Anwar was previously lecturer in Religious Studies department at University Canterbury Christchurch New Zealand. She was appointed under the Foreign Faculty Hiring Programme after her application was reviewed by a Peer Review Committee of scholars. In this regard, the HEC has taken serious note of Dr Anwar’s performance and activities and decided to terminate her services immediately.”

Though its better late than never, but I guess the damage can’t be undone completely. Currently, proposals to send her either to my institute or another one in my city are still on the table. In addition, secular “peacifists” have now another point to brag about the ever worsening situation of freedom of speech in Pakistan. Building on this line of reasoning, tomorrow they will start campaigning for one’s right to exhort people to use narcotics as long as he is not forcing them to do so, I wonder.

Admittedly, this one is quite far-fetched for now but I am entertaining it for someone had said that “anything goes”. Today they are arguing that the lady’s ideas might be unorthodox, but who has given the orthodox interpretation the certificate of authenticity? In the face of myriad of erudite opinions, no one has the right to claim his interpretation is the real Islam. So again building on that line of reasoning, tomorrow someone will come up with the claim that the present Quran is incomplete and that the real one he has unearthed says Allah doesn’t want to be worshiped alone (Wal iazubillah), he too will get sanctioned on the pretext that it is his right to say.  Later on, when we will go to the people to invite to Tawheed, we will be confronted with the argument: “There are so many Quran available and no one has the right to say his is the real one”

In short, there is no stopping the madness. I can see where the idiots may/would lead us to…

Once I had the opportunity to visit sharia department of International Islamic University Islamabad to visit one of my acquaintances there. Besides looking at the academic structure and activities members of that institute engage in, I also got to attend a seminar by a British muslim scholar (probably of african origin) from University of Birmingham on Seerah and orientalist approach to it. It was really wonderful, I mean the whole academic setup and environment. I returned with the impression that we have (at least in Pakistan) a place where scholars, well aware of the contemporary social developments and challenges besetting Islamic world, sit under one roof to channel their resources and knowledge for tackling issues that have superseded the center-stage from the old traditional ones for quite sometime now.

However, considering the recent development that looks only to be a wishful thinking now. IIU has now been ‘gifted’ with a progressive female scholar who believes that God’s mercy and benevolence are transcendental enough to include gays and lesbians. Under the recently started foreign faculty hiring program by Higher education commission Pakistan, the madam has been appointed in the department of Usool Ad-Din at IIU. It will be interesting (or embarrassing) to see the way things unfold. For complete story, follow this link.

On the other note, I don’t get where are we going to end up to or what will our sorry attitude toward Islam will make us into. It’s not that it needs a genius’ intellect to realize what lies at the end of the road. Rather, it’s just the conclusion I tend to reach which is too gruesome for me to acknowledge. I don’t know at what cost will we wake up, if ever, from this seemingly endless slumber (or comma). What is the least destructive route we have for our revival? I don’t like it because it really hurts, but this is what Iqbal believed:

Khoon e sadd hazar anjum se hoti hai seher paida!

AoA

Finally I have mustered enough strength and motivation to start writing on this page. When I first got the notification about launch of this site, I was really enthusiastic and rushed to not only register an account for myself but also invited a certain friend of mine to make one of his own as well. However, as it happens with everything I do, my enthusiasm fainted away as I got buried under the loads of troubles and tasks that I am assigned to toil with at work and totally forgot about blog and all…

Today - probably the last chill day I am going to have for the upcoming three months and some week - I was registering a new account somewhere that I came to remember I have a blog too with this username. That prompted me to stride back to this corner and after successfully meddling with the sign in process I am finally writing this first ever piece from the loads to come in the future insha Allah.

What I intend to use this blog for? Well, the main reason that I want to have my own space is not to increase my network or amuse people with my slapsticks (its tough to beat me when I do it unintentionally :), though that might happen along the way, but rather to jot down some of my own thoughts and ideas that keep rambling into my mind from nowhere and before I could remember them, disappear to where they come from…

No more to say for now…