13.2.07

i want you ...


... to write this 100th post for me.

through all the thick and thin, i did finally manage to reach this landmark despite being the procatinating soul i am.

and so to 'celebrate' this milestone, i would like to hear what you hv to say abt this little blog of mine.

in this age of 'freedom of speech' you are free (and welcome) to say whatever you wish. so, go ahead and make your day!!!

11.2.07

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.

----
excerpted from Inner dimensions of Islamic Worship (tr of Ihya UlumudDin) by Abu Hamid Muhammad al Ghazali.
tr. by Muhtar Holland

==============

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

7.2.07

an EHM* in my backyard

unlike most of my friends, i somehow am not so upbeat about the new caretake government that has taken over the helm of bangladesh.

since fakhruddin and co. have come to power, everything seems to be going right in this otherwise 'lawless' state. dhaka streets without traffic jam, corrupt politicians being nabbed, no more road blockades and paltan maidan (hyde park of bangladesh) assemblies. its almost like the 'fairies at work with their magic wands'.

but thats what worries me most. experiences of life taught me that no drastic change is good for the health. it will either cause a reaction (often of greater force), or there are much more to it than what we normally see. lets see which of these happens in this case...

******************************************

EHM stands for Economic Hit Man, a term coined by John Perkins in his autobiographical book 'The confession of an Economin Hit Man'. According to him,
Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.

by the way, the head of current caretaker government in bangladesh was once a world bank executive. (dunno if that is supposed to mean anything!)

5.2.07

blog tagged

some weeks back, i received a mail with the same subject as the title of this blog. opened the mail expecting to be yet another of those casual (and annoying) mail-tags, instead found it was a rather new concept called blog tag.

here is how it works: it started where Jeff Pulver wrote five things about himself and he tagged five people telling them to do the same. the chain, having travelled through numerous blogs was handed over to me by lu. all i have to do now is write five things about myself which people may not have known, and then tell another five people to do the same.

i will do it a little differently though. my five things will b the following five important lessons of life i learnt through personal experience last year:

1. when working towards a goal, sometimes i tend to over-emphasise on the mean to the extent of loosing focus from the goal itself.

2. everything has its rightly stated time. so neither should i want something badly, nor push aside whatever (be it opportunities or responsibilities) that comes my way.

3. Allah is interested in the inner beauty of the heart, not outer beauty of the self.

4. honesty and frankness is still the best policy. when doing things with others it is important to clarify one's position / intentions / preferences. this avoids any sort of misuderstanding and confusion*.

5. 'there is nothing called genius. its 99% hard work coupled with 1% luck'**.


and, i am passing this onto : tanim, afie, shisha man shapps, nikonian, and weatherman

* learnt this bit from euro trip last summer. i guess someone DO deserve a piece of apology... for all the 'natok's... so here it is bro.

** einstein (or someone as famous) said this. until last year, i really didnt think it was true

pursuit of happyness


" ... (he) must have known well enough that you can never attain happiness, you can only pursue it. no wonder the "unalienable rights" rights of a man are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and not "life, liberty, and happiness" itself ... "
- will smith (quoted with slight modification from his latest movie, pursuit of happyness)