Research + Class + Eid Fitr = Recipe for No Fun

          Tonight, all Muslims in the US officially celebrate one of the major festivals in the Islamic calendar which happens to be Eid Fitri. I have no words to express how happy I am to join the Muslim community around the globe feting this huge event. Eid Fitr takes place in Syawal – the tenth month in the Islamic lunar calendar. Many Muslims are mistaken saying that Eid Fitri is just on the very first day of Syawal although the designated time for the festival in Islam is the whole month of Syawal. It doesn’t mean Muslims should keep celebrating the feast all month long without cautiously heeding on ridiculously over-the-limit expenses and extremely extravagant food. This kind of behaviors is not welcomed in Islamic ethics -akhlak- and defeating the purpose of Ramadhan trainings itself.

          Muslims should really keep everything moderate and be grateful for having the opportunity to taste last Ramadhan that left us just yesterday. That is the true meaning of Syawal, which is celebrating a new better life that every Muslim achieves after practicing month-long drills of self-reflection, self-betterment, self redemption and Allah-searching. Like everyone else, I pray to Allah to save me from the hellfire since that is the ultimate goal after leaving Ramadhan.

          Most of my Malaysian friends at Stevens are having a congregation to mark the month of Syawal some where on campus. Unfortunately in my case as a graduate student, I am currently swarmed by overflowing research journals and reading assignments on the very night of the first day of Syawal. Not to mention a class I have to attend at noon tomorrow. Believe me, it is no fun to dig in school work on the first day and night of Syawal. Yet, I will be optimistic about the situation. Like I said, the festival is a month long. So why I should go all out on the first night and day of the month when I still have the rest of month. Considering what is happen to me right now, I am not going to be that whiny and sad since a lot of my brothers and sisters in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and some other places who are not that lucky to even have a roof above their heads. Thanks to Allah for at least giving me this life and the comfort of my home.

          Talking about being a new person after Ramadhan, most Muslims including me forget what Ramadhan has thought. We tend to go astray, forgetting the real essence of lessons we learnt during Ramadhan. So I guess everyone should set the dates for the 6 fasting days in Syawal as a continuation of what we have done in Ramadan. Since Ramadhan has prepared us so much, I hope we celebrate Eid Fitr like newborns and continue our redemption to God. Don’t let all the hard work and sweats in Ramadhan go away just because Ramadhan is not here anymore. On the contrary we should think Ramadhan as a training school for us to reach a whole new level of Allah-worshipping, public charity and becoming better caliphs on earth. Let’s continue bettering ourselves.

         With the spirit of Syawal, I take this opportunity to apologize for all the wrong deeds I have done intentionally and unintentionally on any of you and please consider all the food and stuff I got from you with or without your knowledge as charity. May Allah bless us all. Happy Eid Fitr.

3F: Fear, Freedom and Faith

         Assalamualaikum (Peace be upon you) and hello readers. Lately media have been swarmed by countless news and future events regarding Muslims and Islam. Many irrelevant diatribes, illogical misunderstandings and immoral behaviors bombarded the Muslim community in the USA. Some claimed to be overnight “professionals” in Islam by confidently talking about it. Not less declared to be great “idealists”  by discussing about the idea of terrorists’ triumph if the Islamic Center built near the Ground Zero – the place where the tragedy 9/11 took place in 2001. Unfortunately, all these “professionals” and “idealists” weren’t utterly aware of what had been happening all around the globe. They just had the sudden urge to speak and took so-called leadership to further make the world confused about the already confusing views on Islam. So every one of them came with the best bets they had in hand. That was how the words - fear, freedom and faith – came into the landscape of current discussion. Come on!!! Who are we kidding? Fifth graders? I guess the fifth graders are by far smarter than most of us. Sigh!

         First let me discuss about FEAR and see what is really happening in the dark where no one sees it. Years after the attack of the 9/11, people were still perplexed and clueless about what Islam is, especially in the United States. Out of the bewilderment, they just concluded that Islam is terrorism and abandoned the impulse to understand the religion. Then the word Islamophobia emerged in the American society in the early 21^st century. Islamophobia existed because people are afraid of Islam due to a lack of apprehension about it. (Really? We were already in the 21th century when this thing was happening? How come a self proclaimed well-educated society like Americans becomes so close-minded about a religion?) The misinterpretation about Islam had been continuing until people started to reach the dawn of comprehending Islam. Yet, some politicians wittily manipulated the sensational events for their advantages and shamefully placed their opponents in difficult position. Advocating the Americans rights, condemning/praising the religion and its adherents have been burgeoning up till today. This hot-potato topic really picked up some moment to the stage of reaching to the point of no return. As usual, many huge figures unexpectedly expressed their 5-cent concerns to get cheap publicity without really putting things into action. Read here for more.

         In the meanwhile, FREEDOM also plays a major part in the interreligious debate. The United States has been taking pride in her “sincere” freedom over practically anything we can imagine. Americans always boast about their active participations in setting the world free from any “abusive” dependence according to their eyes. Hence they devise freedom of speech in the First Amendment in the United States Constitution. This freedom is not specifically meant to tackle the speech alone but also to be extended to generally anything unlimited by barriers/boundaries. That’s good but the problem is, the hypocrites take the liberty to bend the rule as they like and try to hide the truth from the uneducated and cynical. So a perfect storm occurs when freedom of speech meets head-to-head with freedom of religion. Hate-mongers and peace-makers look alike and true information stay buried in the crusade. This is what the US Constitution obviously fails to tackle and contain. See what Americans say about the Quran burning event here.

       In the midst of ups and downs of world’s religious troubles, the educated take a brilliant step by staying put and let the turbulence to recede before executing any honest, healing duty. They persist to have a FAITH in mankind. They are the actual advocates who genuinely understand the gravity of the situations. For understanding non-Muslims, they still believe in harmony and try to stay optimistic in this difficult times. Hopefully faithful Muslims take a high road and keep living their Islamic way of life. I think this knucklehead’s programs are not long to stay in the picture. Enlighten about the current event of building a mosque near Ground Zero here.

        In the nutshell, let’s be more critical in judging what is really happening around us. Be more observant and take time in gathering right information, conquering personal fears and getting ready to face tomorrow’s greater challenges. The truth will prevail. Insyaallah (God willing). 

Ramadhan:Leaving or being left?

       Subahanallah (Glory be to Allah), we have reached the last 10 days of holy Ramadhan. Everything passes so swiftly without realizing that we are almost finished with Ramadhan. I hope Muslims have been appreciating this month the way it deserves. Like a norm during this last section of Ramadhan, many Muslims find themselves preoccupied with Eid Fitr preparations as the event is approaching fast. This is a bitter-sweet situation in the Muslim society. We are so obsessed with celebrations, events, and festivals and we forget something more important which is increasing our Ibadah to Allah, especially during this last 10 days of Ramadhan. It is being reported frequently that the Lailatul Qadr most likely to fall on one of the nights in this last 10 days of Ramadhan. The truth behind it stays hidden and no one actually knows when it is. I guess the silver lining behind it is, just do your Ibadah every night in Ramadhan.

       In this phase of Ramadhan as a Muslim from Malaysia, my society and I have our own tradition in celebrating the upcoming festival, Eid Fitr. Most housewives and moms are super-duper busy with their recipes of crunchy cookies and delectable cakes. It’s like a competition on who can make the most delicious cookies and cakes ever. Don’t get me wrong. I like those treats and I am really looking forward for those. Who doesn’t like Malaysian cookies and cakes, right? The problem is, is it worth it to abandon the call to increase your Ibadah just for the sake of food and treats? If we analyze the reality behind it, it is about the trade-off and we really have to choose somewhere in between. Like a quote that we always hear, “Work like you live forever, do Ibadah like you die tomorrow.” Who says we have to leave the worldly activities and just do Ibadah all day long? So remember, it is about the trade-off.

      Islam is beautiful in every way if we take it as a whole, not just parts of it. That’s why many Islamic scholars promote Islam as a way of life instead of just a religion. It is so inclusive that it starts from the very moment we wake up in the morning to the second we go to bed at night, from the very moment we are born to the second we are buried in the grave. Everything has been delicately and beautifully outlined in the orderly manner.

      Right now I am trying to measure how much different I am as a person before, during and soon after Ramadhan. Am I just the same person that I used to be? If the answer is yes, I am missing the opportunities in bettering myself. If the answer is no, I have to be more than anxious of the answer. Whatever the answer is, it is not too late for me to take this last section of Ramadhan as seriously as I possibly can to further improve myself as a person in general and as a Muslim in particular. For others, let’s decorate this Ramadhan with Quran recitals, prayers, and charity and continue doing those for the rest of our lives. That’s the real teaching behind Ramadhan which is transforming Muslims to be better Khalifahs in the world.  Insyaallah (God will).

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"Ramadan is the (month) in which the Quran was sent down, as a guide to mankind and a clear guidance and judgment (so that mankind will distinguish from right and wrong).." (Q 2:183)

Celebrating 53rd Independence Day of Malaysia: How Far We’ve Come…

       The Independence Day celebration of 2010 was no less when compared to the previous ones that we had had in the past. Everything was extravagant, loud and vibrant. That is Malaysia. We are proud of who we are and we really want to keep it that way. (At least I want it to be that way). We take pride of every bit and every little difference we have and transform it into a greater thing – more than the sum of individual parts. That makes Malaysia special and unique. It is so special and so unique that I would say no countries in the world are like her. So here I am, proclaiming that I am officially proud to be a Malaysian.

       In Malaysia, we have many different yet amicable races – Malays, Chinese, Indians and aborigines. No one can deny our colorful and harmonious interrelationships between these races. So it is very synonymous to use “Malaysia, Truly Asia” as our slogan to promote Malaysia to the world because we do offer that full package. People from the outside always envy our harmony and say “it is too good to be true”. Yeah… that’s right. It is so because they don’t know how much we have to compromise among us to make it happen. And that’s where our true strength lies.

       Even though it has been 53 years we achieved the independence from England. The real independence is still not fully achieved. The fights and struggles are still far from over. Like the 4^th Prime Minister of Malaysia said “Getting the independence is hard, and it is much harder to fulfill the meaning of it”. Yes I have to agree with him. Many don’t realize how difficult it is to fulfill the independence with a meaningful progress to show that Malaysia is worth of her independence.

      When I look back on what we have and what we do to fulfill the independence, I feel something is missing, something is not right, something is just not that good enough. I keep asking myself what it is, what is the missing jigsaw puzzle in the big picture? Unfortunately it comes to my realization that it is about true independence in us all - how much we’ve grown up not just grown old, and how mature we are in tackling the current turbulences in politics, economy and social.

      Currently we are confronting with a handful of unprecedented troubles - religious feuds, racial incitement, economic instability and political reformations. This train of challenging situations is just a starting point to test whether we are ready to face them up front or not. I hope we really learned from the history. If we can face these problems and rise from the ashes, we can be a lot stronger and more united in tackling any future challenges. Believe it or not, this is just the very first bite of responsibility of having independence. I know it is difficult and please don’t get panicked. Let’s take our time to sort things out. Happy Independence Day, Malaysia. May Allah bless Malaysia with harmony and prosperity.

Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely  ~Auguste Rodin~