an evening of dialogues

last weekend, we had our first big activity of ms@aau, an evening of dialogues. it was aimed at fostering and promoting inter-religious and inter-cultural communication among the mutli cultural and multi religious communities of aau. apart from the great food (as always) and all the gathering of friends, i came home stronger in my belief that it is us muslims who are more to blame than anyone else for our "misfortune" all around the world today.

the imam of local mosque and a well known sheikh were among the speakers, and my comments on their talk are:

1. we muslims spare no opportunity to blame others, whereas we are sitting down behind the closed doors of our homes, and praying earnestly for Allah to help us.

2. we assert very little or no effort at all in communicating with the people, but expect them to come foreward in integration, neglecting the fact we are the minority here, and thus it is us who should come foreward.

3. we are out of touch with whats happening around us, and are busy with issues of past. e.g. the sheikh was talking about the cartoons, whereas in the society this is an old issue, which people are no longer interested in talking about.

4. we even fail to connect to our very own youth, who will be the leaders of society tomorrow. this in turn arises apathy in them towards islam, resulting in them loosing their very own identity. finally, we end up with a lost generation. our sheikhs cant even speak the language of the people, let alone think like them. (p.s. the latter phrase is my observation and may not be true)

5. one of the most common thing is blaming the media. but what is media? isnt it just a vessel to transfer information? ofcourse the media will carry information that its stakeholders want to tell, not that of others? if we cant accept our newsletters/media to promote other values or interest (e.g. western lifestyle) why then do we cry out loud over others' media portraying us the way they are!!! it is true that media has ethical and moral responsibility, but in this world of might is right, expecting people to adhere to it is nuthing but a fool's dream. (and i actually think, the media isnt doing that bad after all. i dont see ourselves much different from what is portrayed)

!!!yet we dare to dream of a better tomorow!!!

thoughts

http://durerkontoshor.blog.com/thoughts/

self realization

this month was unexpectedly very eventful and significant for me, and at least i feel i have grown much in this one month, especially the last two weekends.

notable was the sweden trip followed by the aiesec conference the following weekend. this two trips and event around them have deeply changed my perspective towards myself. one thing for sure, i realised how foolishly i was taking pride in being in control of myself and being a motivated and self conscious youth. a wise man once said, 'he who realized his lack of knowing, has taken the first step towards knowledge*'. my humble prayers to the Almighty to open my hearts to knowledge and to enable me to focus on the final destiny and not the journey towards it.

however, i have done very little for my project and probably my team mates are getting ready to kick my ass. i feel so guilty and at the same time, sort of lost for not being able to get back on track. damn... (mission MAY)

* text is mine (cant recall the exact text)

time

by pink floyd

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
You fritter and waste the hours in an offhand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
And you are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun

And you run, and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to nought
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spells

p.s. thank you taNm...

stockholm

last weekend was easter, and that meant holidays once again.
I followed Ailin vabi, Imad vai and lille Akif to a weeklong trip of Sweden.
The Swedish capital, Stockholm was the destination, but we managed a 2 day stopover at Gotheborg, meeting old friends and looking around.
It was absolutely fabuslous trip... one of the best i have had; the trip itself and also the realizations i have had from it.
a week well spent...

piks and stories will be uploaded soon (you guys know what my soon means, so...)