Hijrah 1433: Lessons from Hijra Nabawiyyah

The migration of the Prophet illustrates the principle that no matter how something is desired by us, we should never hesitate to sacrifice it for the sake of our faith or ideal. Worldly material and things of value can never and should never take the place of our faith; nor can the faith be exchanged away for the entire world.

Makkah was the birthplace of the Prophet (saws) and his companions. It was also the city of Holy kaaba. Yet, nothing stood in the way of bidding farewell to their hearts and homes, families and kinsmen just for the the freedom of conscience and liberty to practice Islam.

Finally, Hijrah is not only a physical migration, but more importantly it is a spiritual migration. To attain true Hijrah, we have to work on our Faith, our knowledge and our actions, so that we are able to worship Allah and pull away from Haram; make our Faith strong, and face the trials and tests of staying on the straight path; and migrate away from what Allah has forbidden to worshipping as Allah has ordered.

Let us pray that we can all be a true immigrant, and migrate away from leading a life of desire and vanities to a life of humbleness and thankfulness. Allahumma Ameen.

Happy Hijri new year 1432 - "Never lose hope"

This is the month of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, and the month of the Hijri new year. The story of the Hijrah, from where the Islamic calendar got its name, goes as follows:

Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, found it impossible for him to continue his mission of inviting people to the True religion, Islam, in Makkah; and that his own life and that of other fellow Muslims were at risk. So, he started looking at nearby populations that would accept his message and provide him a base to establish a model Islamic society. After hearing about the message of Islam and the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, the people of the nearby city of Yathrib, later to be known as Madinatunnabi (the city of the Prophet) or Madina, invited the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, to migrate to their city. They offered him submission and unconditional support, and graciously accepted to accommodate all fellow Muslims with them.

After a couple of years of careful planning, the time had finally come when Allah ordered the Prophet to leave Makkah for Madina. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, made the journey with Abu Bakr as his companion. Despite the fact that Allah was `the third with the two of them', the whole journey of Hijrah was scrupulously planned and executed with extreme care and caution. When they finally reached their destination, the people of Madina were filled with joy at having the greatest of man as their fellow citizen, and sang the famous song 'tala`al badru `alaina' while welcoming him.

Years later, this important event of Hijrah was chosen by Caliph Umar and his counsel to mark the beginning of the Islamic Calendar.

Why Hijrah to mark the Islamic Calendar?
1. Hijrah is a major milestone in the mission of Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. It marks the beginning of establishment of Islam as the complete way of life.
2. It is a very special occasion for Muslims as it highlights the importance of submission of one self to Allah the Almighty.
3. It reminds us of the sufferings of early Muslims in Makkah, and how they left all worldly pleasures to please Allah the Almighty. It is only because of their sufferings and sacrifices that Islam is what it is today.

Lessons from Hijrah
1. If something is not working out as planned, look for alternatives (Prophet`s seeking alternative land for establishing the deen when efforts at Makkah failed)
2. Don`t do anything hastily. Proper planning is the key. (The Prophet took few years seeking alternatives to Makkah. He went to taif, and had contacted other nearby tribal leaders. He migrated more than two years after people in Madina started accepting Islam and opened their doors to him)
3. Rely on Allah, only after diligent planning. (The Prophet and Abu Bakr (r) journey was not a straightforward trip along the regular route. It was very well planned and well executed)
4. There is no fault in taking help from experts (Prophet had a trusted non-Muslim bedouin who knew the area well as a guide)

Finally here is an excerpt from an article on onislam.net about attaining true Hijrah

Five Important Areas for a True Hijrah: To attain true Hijrah, here are the five areas we have to work on
1. Faith: We should work on strengthening our faith to be able to pull away from what God has forbidden.
2. Knowledge: Only with good knowledge could our faith see us through the trials and tests of staying on the straight path. (Knowledge is not limited to religious information only)
3. Acts of worship: Migrating away from what God has forbidden to worship, which not only brings us closer to God and supplies us with essential strength, resolve and tranquility, but also humbles us enough to see we’re only creatures like the rest of the creation, and that we have to maintain an ethical relationship with the universe and other people.
4. Desire: Controlling one’s urges and desires is prerequisite to how much success in this life one achieves as a migrant to God.
5. Ethics : A person who is full of great concepts and no deeds to prove it is a loser. Unless our Islamic ethical system is apparent through our everyday behaviors and manners, there is no hope for us to be true Muslims and a true migrant in the way of Allah.

In short, a true immigrant is an ethical, well-mannered and pious Muslim, and that is what we should all strive to be everyday of our lives. Allahumma Ameen.

past vs. present; success vs. failure

this is life. not everything is as it should be.
unfortunately in our case, Bangladeshis, most things are not.
however, as is always the case, just criticizing others and grumbling over the past will not change anything. as the wise man said, history is for us to learn from. thats all!! there is nothing we can do to change the past, so there is no point wasting our valuable time discussing what was right and what went wrong.

it is the present that we live in, and what we do here matters most. when i see all the injustices and screwed up things all around me, i get frustrated and pissed off. but then, when i ask myself what am i doing to make things better - i put myself to shame. i see that i am just talking the talk, but never walking the walk. eta nai, sheta nai; erokom kora uchit chilo, sherokom korle valo hoto: kintu korar khetre ami shunno.

so, my dear friends, let us stop talking the talk and start walking the walk. our capabilities and abilities may be little, our hands may be weak, and the destination may be too far away; but i am sure, together we can at least do something. we may never reach the goal, but we will at least be able to take one single step towards it.

remember, success is not reaching the goal, success is in working towards the right end. Similarly, failure is not failure to reach the target, it is failure to try.

ammu

it was not until my visit home last Christmas that i realized how much sacrifice a mother makes in letting her children go. until then, going away, both for studies and work, has always been an entry to a new world - with all the thrill and excitement making me too blind to notice the sad cry and deep sorrow hidden in my mom's eyes.

this time however things were different. it was a full house with all but one of her seventeen member family gathered under a single roof, a roof that otherwise silently cries out for inhabitants. and for two long weeks, it was just food, fun, and fervor for us grown ups; and quarrels and make ups for the little ones. we all wished time stood still in that little house of ours with nobody ever having to return to the real world. but like all things mortal - and there is nothing worldly that is immortal - there came the time for the dream to end; and for the harsh reality to once again steal us away from our beloved mother's lap. i had a few more days of leave, and thus it was i, alone with my parents and not so little youngest sister.

its these very few days that opened my eyes to a mother's heart. a heart that is so tender, yet so strong. a heart that every single mother have so successfully hidden away from the rest of the world. a heart that we, the children (esp. us men), will never learn to appreciate. a heart that would do anything and everything to hold on to us, yet lets us go because her well-wishes outweigh her love for us. and above all, a heart that will always be there for us - no matter what.

i pray Allah gives all mothers strength to persevere, and that their gone away children grow up to be men and women whom the whole world are proud of.

[photo credit]

what on earth is on with these people?

i wonder how much benefit is there in reading news from bangladesh. but stil i do, at least every now and then. after all, home is home...

just came across this (see image). clash over who will lead the prayer. its simply beyond me how people can argue, let alone fight with fists, in a masjid, and still call themselves devout muslims. masjids are supposed to be houses of GOD Almighty, a place of worship and spiritual strengthening. a place for one to escape the hues of cries and endless selfishness of this mortal world.

everybody has their way of seeing things. so why does it matter what viewpoint prof salahuddin (the newly appointed national khatib) holds, as long as it doesn't unequivocally contradict the fundamental message of islam? if you cant bear him, pray elsewhere. i remember learning dhaka is the city of mosques.

the very same people who outburst with rage over the carnage against humanity in gaza, are the ones violating the sanctity of the house of God - a crime against God Himself. its a funny world, isnt it?

how i dearly wish we all had a little respect for others, a little more toleration for different views, and a lot more introspection for the stances we take.

[photo credit]

today its Gaza. where will it be tommorrow?

today Gaza is being attacked and sane people all over the world are showing their frustration and sympathizing with them. But there is a veiled sense of security, and in the back of our mind we continue to think that this is a conflict too far away from to be much concerned about.

but is that really so... With the recent mumbai attacks be sure that war on terror is much closer to home (in Bangladesh). And every conscious individual knows that this war on terror is just another name of the all out efforts by select few at world domination and subsequent economic, political, cultural, and most importantly mental subjugation of most people.

The one and only way of avoiding such a miserable life is to wake up from our slumber and question ourselves: who are we? where do we come from? and where are we heading to?

today's Gaza can be far from home, but be sure that Gaza of tomorrow will be much closer to home than we can imagine. May GOD be with us.

'talks have failed again.'
'what? i thought you said things were under full control this time around'
'only apparently'
SIGH. 'what now'
BIG SIGH. 'what else?'
'god damn... why cant we just settle for something? or forget it altogether?'
'lasting peace or endless uncertainty? its ur choice.'
'never know peace came in so many pieces.'
...

ও পাগল মঅন মন রে, মন কেন এত কথা কয়?

১.
'তোকে কেমন জানি বিধ্বস্ত দেখাচ্ছে। কি হয়েছে?' - দেখা হওয়ার সাথে সাথেই তার প্রশ্ন।
'কই না তো! কিছুই তো হয়নি! ঘুম কম হয়েছে, হয়তো তাই ওরকম দেখাচ্ছে।' ...

দুজন যখন পরে একটু একা হলাম, সে আবার চেপে বসল - 'কি ব্যাপার? কোন খবর আছে নাকি?'
'হুমম....' দির্ঘশ্বাস ফেলে আমি পাল্টা প্রশ্ন করি, 'আল্লাহ অন্তর্যামিত্বটা কেন শুধু তোদেরকেই দিলেন?'

আসলেই কয়েকদিন ধরে আমি অনেক ধরণের চিন্তার মাঝে ঘুরপাক খািচ্ছ। অতীত, বর্তমান, ভবিষ্যত, সব চিন্তায় একসাথে এসে ভীর জমিয়েছে আমার এই ক্ষুদে মাথায়। আচ্ছা মনটা কম্পিউটার প্রোগ্রামের মত ইচ্ছে মতো চালু বা বন্ধ করা যায় না কেন??

এক দিক দিয়ে কাজের প্রচন্ড চাপ। আমার কাজটাও শালার একখান... চিন্তা করাটাই নাকি কাজ! এক সময় ভেবেছিলাম চিন্তুক হিসেবে খারাপ হবোনা, কিন্তু সত্যি সত্যিই চিন্তুক হতে গিয়ে েদখছি, ইটস মাচ ইজিয়ার সেইড দ্যান ডান। চিন্তার এই জগৎটা বিশাল, অথৈ, অন্তহীন। গন্তব্য তো দুরের কথা, ডানে না বাঁয়ে যাবো তা ই ঠাহর করে উঠতে পারছিনা।
নদীর এ কুলটা সবসময়ই কন্টকাকীর্ণ হয়, তাই না?

তার উপর আবার যোগ হল ভবিষ্যতের ঝামেলা। তাও আবার স্বপ্নের সাথে জড়িত, রঙীন স্বপ্ন...
মাঝে মাঝে মনে হয় দুৎ ছাই, গুল্লি মারি সব কিছুরে - কি দরকার উটকো ঝামেলা স্বাধ করে ঘাড়ে চাপানোর?

২.
আমার দুটো সোনার হরিণ ছিল। টুকটুকে সোনালি, দেখতে স্বর্গীয়। কিন্তু ভারি অভিমানি, যত্ন আত্বির একটু অভাব হলেই কষ্ট পেত ভীষণ। যদিও মুখ ফোটে কিছুই বলতনা, িকন্তু দুঃখ ভরা দীঘল কালো চোখ দুটো তো আর লুকানো যায়না।
সময়ের সাথে পাল্লা দিয়ে বাড়তে থাকে আমার হরিণের সংখ্যা - নতুন নতুন সব হরিণ, নানা রঙের, নানা ঢংয়ের। আর ফিকে হয়ে আসে সোনার হরিণের প্রিয়ত্ব।

নতুনের রঙের মোহে আটকে পরা এই আমি টেরও পেলাম না কবে যে সেই পুরোনো প্রিয় সোনার হরিণ দুটো নতুনের মিছিলে ঠিকতে না পেরে একদিন পালিয়েই গেল গহীন জঙ্গলে।
তারও অনেক পরে, নতুনের ধুসর হয়ে আসা রঙ দেখে মোহভঙ্গ হয় আমার, বুঝতে পারি ওল্ড ইজ গোল্ড। অনেক খঁুজাখুঁজির পর অবশেষে আমি জানতে পারলাম পালিয়েছে তারা ভবিষ্যতে, ভবিষ্যতের রঙীন স্বপ্নের কোলে।।

আর তাই আমিও আটকা পরি ভবিষ্যতের ঘুর্ণিপাকে।।

www.couchsurfing.com

its one of those late nights again. seems like blogging is keeping me up late.

couch surfing is about traveling, meeting ppl and sharing cultures. been a member for a while, but its only recently that i got active. two weeks back i hosted captain Tomasz (the captain part added by one of his friend) from Poland. with a guitar in his hand, a tent in the packback and some euros in his pocket, he is out on a year long trip around part of the world. at 21, he has already traveled quite a few places and knows a lot of things about ppl and life. this time around, starting from Norway, he plans to travel to finland, russia and then all over asia (including bangladesh) till august next year, when he has to return home to attend his sisters wedding. couch surfing, hitchhiking and camping all the way. hats off to his spirit and desire for adventure.
after he left i found myself questioning me whether i would be able to that. even when it comes to things that mattered much to me, things that i believed in, things i say i would do anything for; let alone travels.

a week after that i had an austrian girl surfing with me. she is a doctor who will soon start her specialization. medicine studies here is not at all similar to that in bangladesh. after school, they study six years to become a doctor, which is nothing but the title. then just to be a GP they need another 4 years of further studies (internship is in parts throughout the study years). otocho amader deshe mutamuti medicaler corridor diye bar koyek hata chola korle, ar khade apron o golai stethoscope julalei daktar hoya jai. manushe jibon niye chinimini khelte o amader pathure hridoye bajena!!
but what surprised me most is their trust. how much a girl traveling all alone have trust to spend a night at a completely stranger's place? some may say these europeans dont really care about physical relations, but i dont buy that. i think no matter what, most women are concerned about it to certain extent.

how much would i trust a bangladeshi stranger in bangladehsh? or a muslim stranger??

its me again

thats the usual me. absent for a long time, once again.
wats happened in all this while???

well, first of all i (sort of you can say) recovering from a long negative peak in my efforts at trying to be who i am. the thing is i am sort of lost as to what it really means to be who you are. i wont really say confused. its that i more or less know what it is (theoretically speaking), but trying to put that into perspective of everyday life as a practicing and God fearing Muslim (alhamdulillah).

there is a hadith stating that our heart is like a white sheet to begin with. as time goes on, and we start sinning, black dots appear on this sheet one by one, until one day no traces of the original while remains. by definition, Islam is the deen-fitrah (the natural life style), which means being who you are should really go hand in hand with being a Muslim. but by now my heart is pretty black (may God help me) and which sort of made things complicated.

thats one good reason. but i guess there are more. i thing that i can think of the society i come from. back home you are born with a pack of expectations. become successful in life (ans success means being an engineer or doctor or such - and get a white collar job), get a beautiful wife and bla bla bla. i have been living abroad on and off for some time now, and i have come across many people who are really following their heart when it comes to doing something with their life. so i am sort of caught between two boats..... of course the "financial safety net factor" has a big role to play, but then again - where there is a will, there is a way.

life isnt really meant to be "and they are living happily forever ..." - and there is no fun to it. so i have no complaints.

the quest for survival goes on, and he laughs best who laughs last. i have my fingers crossed.

[photo credit: my dear friend shabbir ahmed the chemist]

lets talk about human rights

along with most of the civilized world, I protested much about the world-touring olypmic torch over concern for china's human rights violation in tibet and elsewhere.

pondering back, i wonder whether my conscience is similarly pricked when scores of civilians, men, women and children, are killed everyday and thousands more deprived of their basic rights in palestine. or when the recently released aljazeera cameraman sami al haj was detained in the u.s.-run guantanamo bay detention center since 2001. needless to say without trial and on the vague allegation that he was a courier for an unspecified militant muslim organization.

almost every single person in the world have their basic human rights violated in one way or another. for some it is in direct form, as in tibet, palestine, cuba, africa and many other places.

but for most others its in a form altogether different. are most people in the west presented with the right information? or are they fed with information someone wants them to hear, with opinions and understanding tactically engineered? isnt that a form of human rights violation too?

how would you term depriving millions of people from food so that we can a have a guzzling supply of bio-fuel for our suvs and hummers? or supporting autocratic, authoritarian and anti-people regime just to ensure the interest of elite few is served?

i just wish my children will not have to be blogging about this topic in the same way. let our actions direct toward that.

on women empowerment and equal rights

yes we badly need women empowerment for the country to move forward. after all, you cannot expect a nation to progress with more than half of its people falling behind. but equal rights mean buying a toy car for your child son, and a doll for the daughter; not the same toy for both.

in a society not everyone is a doctor or an engineer or teacher. everyone has their own role to play. empowerment should be preparation for fulfilling one's role in the best way. it is historically proven that it takes an 'empowered' woman to build an healthy family. and only a healthy families build a prosperous society.

life

life is like a wheel moving forward
each point returns to kiss the ground
but its a different ground at each kiss

series 1.2 - success vs happiness

[two weeks just passed like that since the previous post. time DOES fly]

how does success interact with happiness? are they contradictory or supplementary? can one be happy and successful at the same time?

well, i see it this way. happiness doesn't necessary mean success, for one can be happy without being successful, in the sense we usually know. but it surely is a criteria of success. could we say one is successful when he has all other than happiness?

then again, these are two different criteria. happiness, on one hand, is generally accepted as a state of contentment and ease of mind, whereas success is a very relative term and depends on the individual and how she/he gives importance to different aspects of life, and to what extent.

thats bring us back to the question of success and its measure. is there any universal measure of success? something bigger than life to measure success by? a criteria that takes into consideration all that we take at face value - our wealth, status and others; as well those that are hidden behind our carefully orchestrated outlook - our happiness, sorrows, pleasures and the likes.

is there?

[-> series 1.3]

i realize...

its finally over. alhmadulillah. now i can append msc.ee to my name :)

someone once said - 'there is nothing called genius. its 99% hard work and 1% luck'. couldnt agree more. realized it the hard way.

just pray i do not forget to make use of the lesson learned.

series 1.1 - success story

in bangla, we have a saying 'gari, nari, bari' (literally car, woman, home) to roughly denote the so called criteria of success. are these all that there is to success? or does success have other scales and units? other meanings?

fame and power are usually counted among the scales of success as well. and thats why people who has it all yet goes for powerful positions or at least ceremonial post of honour.

man is mortal. yet we go at great length to make sure our legacy lives on. thats human nature. the best way someone lives on is through his/her progeny, the offspring. thats why we take pride in the achievements of our little ones, and are hurt at their stumbling.

like living beyond life, being respected is another of mans greatest yearnings. but unlike the former - over which one has little control, someone can earn well respect through his/her personality and positive actions.

so i would put these two, progeny and respect, as two other measures of personal success. and probably the two that matters most. after all, one may be rich and powerful, but whats the point if he/she is scorned at and despised behind the back; or has none to survive him/her.

[-> series 1.2]

thank you siniora, thank you condi, thank you bush

"And I would like to thank Prime Minister Siniora, and say thanks - really thanks - very much to George Bush and to Condoleezza Rice. I really want to thank them for these shells and these wounds we are suffering. And if Rice really wants to send more material to the Lebanese Army, she had better hurry up. There is a woman still in the camp who is very pregnant and the child in her womb will be born and will grow into a man - and then we'll see!"

- suheila mustafa, sister of 45-year-old samia, who was terribly wounded by lebanese army shellfire in nahr el-bared refugee camp to crush fatah al-islam once and for all

[source - independent uk]

[related news : us sends arms to lebanese troops]

of fools and failures

fool is not he who fails,
but he who fails to learn from his failures.

sometimes you need to go back one step to take a leap forward.

just do it

this is the story of aisha, an old friend of mine.

one fine day she decided she would join the club and don that hijab. 'that was an easy decision', said she, 'but when? - was the million dollar question.' any change as big putting that hijab on is always a mammoth task, and much more so living in the west.

'wat would ppl say?', 'how would my parents take it?', 'in this islamophobic era, wouldnt i hv to face lots of difficulties?', 'what if situation forces me to take it off again?'... these were some of the question bugging her from day one. and the sole reasons behind putting off its materializing to tomorrow.

then one day, a friend suggested - 'dont worry my dear. you may take that big leap at once and start wearing it for good; or take it one step at a time wearing it occassionally (to the juma or to local muslim community programs) at first. whatever it is, just do it. go ahead and take that first step... and everything else will fall in place.'

---

more or less, all of us face this sort of dillemas in life. things we want to do, but just cant get ourselves to do it thinking abt all the what ifs and what nots.

well ... go ahead and just do it. take that first step and everything else will fall in place.

and that goes to you too, mr. procastinX !!!

reflecting the life in prayer

The Internal states conducive to reflecting the life in prayer (solat) can be well summed in six words:

AWARENESS - the conscious state in which one's mind and feelings are in no way distracted from what one is doing and saying. i.e. the mind remains attentive to what one is doing, and one is whole-heartedly involved.

UNDERSTANDING - awareness that also includes the comprehension of the meaning of one's utterance.

REVERENCE - this is beyond awareness and understanding. a man may address his servant with awareness and full understanding, yet his words are without reverence, for reverence is an additional element.

AWE - it is over and above reverence, and represents a kind of fear that grows out of reverence. this is not the ordinary fear (e.g. of a snake), but the kind of fear we have of a mighty king.

HOPE - alongside fearing His punishment of our faults, we must, in our prayers, hope for the reward of God, Great and Glorious is He.

SHAME - this is something additional to all the rest, for it is based on the realization of one's deficiencies and the apprehension of sin.

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excerpted from Inner dimensions of Islamic Worship (tr of Ihya UlumudDin) by Abu Hamid Muhammad al Ghazali.
tr. by Muhtar Holland
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on a more personal note ... looks like winter is finally here. the temperature had been zero or lower for the most of the past week, and according to the forecast, it is expected to remain for days to come. hmmm, just when we thought (phew, luckily) no winter this year.

and

i am bogged down with lotsss to cover by this week. so do pray for me.

...

photo credits - ekhlas