Wednesday, March 26, 2008

The Love of Qasidah


The month of Rabbiul Awwal have always been the month which our hearts yearn to sing Qasidah for the Love of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. From children, teachers, daughters, grandparents, friends, relatives, familties and whoever attend the majlis, we felt the immense joy in our hearts while reading the mawlid and singing the Qasidah, our voices, hearts and souls are bind together with the Beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. and Allah s.w.t And we hope, by attending such Majlis Mawlid each day of our life, would increase our sincerity in loving the Beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. The Prophet s,a,w, said, you will be with the one you love when you are in the judgement day. So we hope we will be with the Beloved at all times.

We had a good Mawlid at the Hj Yusof Mosque (Maqam Habib Noh). Shaykh Zakaria lead the mawlid while Shaykh Abdul Maqsud and Ust Abu Zaki was also attending the blessing event. It was full of intense love. A day we wont forget for the rest of our lifes.

Pic: Shaykh Zakaria Bahgarib at Masjid Hj Yusuf, (Maqam Habib Noh)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The Special day on 12 Rabbiul Awwal

Today is a special day, after maghrib, it will be 12 Rabbiul Awwal which is the day our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. was born and on the same day is the birthday of our Beloved Shaykh Zakaria Bahgarib. It will be an amazing day with such experience in life. To be with Shaykh Zakaria, learning and traveling with him had mold me into someone new. A simple man with vast experience in life and having beneficial knowledge which he teaches us, always make us realize how humble he is. Knowledge is one main part of our seeking on the path to Allah but when it comes to the lesson of spirituality, experience play an important role. Everyone can have knowledge but at certain time in our life, we need wisdom as an advice to guide us.

Yesterday, he mentioned about the important of marriage and yakin (certainty) with Allah. Despite an enormous anxiety hanging over me, I know the blessing of our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and also Shaykh Zakaria, will ease everything in my heart. Each time I see him, the smile on his face and his joy of laughter brings tranquility to my heart.

p/s: May Allah bless Shaykh Zakaria and may we benefit by being with him.

In Defense of Reality

Security. Well, how secure are we?
Making our plans in a castle of sand as our dreams get dragged to sea.
You say you're independent;
well is that a fact?
It's by creation's donation that you are maintained
but you'd rather turn your back. I
n defense of reality!

Today's modern science is your modern religion.
Guess worktaught as fact--
"Don't talk back"--blind faith in their decision.
You say explosion started creation,
and we're just chemical combinations,
but would you take the same stand if there wasa gun in my hand?
Or wouls you beg for your salvation?

In defense of reality?
Actually, these conclusions provetheir insanity!
A creation without a creator...
Can it be?
Just like a painting without a painter...absurdity!
No,I don't wanna run away,
I want to embrace reality.

Song and lyrics by Shelter

Friday, March 7, 2008

The Sign of Love

The sign of loving Allah swt is loving the Holy Qur’an” and the sign of loving the Qur’an is loving the Prophet saw and the sign of loving the Prophet saw is love of his Sunnah and the sign of loving the Sunnah is to love akhira and the sign of loving akhira is to hate dunya and the sign of hating dunya is to take the least you can - not to run after it, getting all the pleasures of dunya.

Mawlana Shaykh Hisyam Kabbani qs

Sunday, March 2, 2008

The Coming of Rabbiul Awwal (The love season begins)


This coming saturday, the mawlid season begins. As usual, we are going to start the Majlis at Shaykh Zakaria's home. Its the moment, most of us have been waiting for each year. The rejoice of reciting and singing the story and history of our Beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. It rekindle the spiritual soul of love to our hearts that each day in our life we yearn for it. The so called self pro claimed modernists, intellectuals and narrow minded Muslims may find no logical sense to our longiness for the Beloved Muhammad s.a.w especially in regards to the Majlis Mawlid itself. However, the pleasure and blessing of love can only be in the state of taste. For those who know love, their understanding and taste is beyond the rational thinking. Love is beyond the boundary.

This is the poerty written by Imam Abdul Rahmand Ad Di' bai who wrote it in the mawlid Di' bai. (Some parts of it). It reflects upon the love that every creations posses for the Beloved Prophet Muhammad s.aw. If a camel is able to feel its love for the Beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., how about us, the mankind?

Swaying in hearing the person who sang the name of the Beloved;

Touching the emotions of those on the trail

Did you not see how it (the camel in excitment) took wider steps and tears flowed down from its eyes in happiness?

It looked around for shade to hide its happiness; and longed for the place of history and play.

Do not hold the ropes nor lead it; for its (the camel) longing for him (s.a.w.) will lead it to the intended village (Medina)

But you must also be engulfed in happiness like that of the camel; if not, you are not sincere in your love.

pic: Shaykh Zakaria Bahgarib at Cik Supaat house for mawlid Session last season.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

The Challenge


Part of our challenge is to love the Creator that we cannot directly see. That is the easy part. But the great difficulty is to love each other. To extend our hands to help each other, to visit each other, to throw away hate from our hearts to throw away anger and negative energy from our hearts. When we look inward, not outward, we begin to realize that we are seeing our own faults in those around us. In fact, that is how we are able to recognize them in the first place.

Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
taken from Universe Rising
This book is available at WardahBooks (www.wardahbooks.com)
Pic: Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani at Abdul Aleem Siddique, Mosque