Good Stuff

It's actually good to be full of yourself, that way you know you contain good quality stuff.

See, don't Imagine

The magic begins when you stop trying to imagine, and start trying to See.
Because when you imagine things, you and your mind both know it doesn't exist, and agree to create. But when you try to see things, you know it exists, you just have to show it your mind.

Abyss

I am a Very talkative person by nature. As proved by the needlessness of stating what I just did in the former statement. So, to fill that need of talking, I have this blog, I have friends, and I facebook, and sometimes participate in forums. And in this one forum, someone asked, 'What's your favorite Quotation?' and I posted this:

“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”

— Fredrick Nietzsche

As I has posted this one, I decided I would this another one on that blog as well. This one is by the same author, and it goes like this:

When you stare in the abyss long enough, the abyss stares back at you.

I have to confess, I can Never say I quite understand what it means, but the idea I get from it, fascinates me. Also, what fascinate me the ideas other people get from it when I ask them about it.

I see the 'abyss' as 'something incomprehensible, seemingly infinite, and obscured', and I see the 'staring long enough' as 'focusing' and I see the 'staring back' as 'revealing itself'. You know, how Iqbal also says, Aflaak se aata hai nalon ka jawad aakhir, Kartay hain khitab aakhir, uthtay hain hijab aakhir...

What is your favorite quotation? And what do you think about the ones I have shared here, especially Iqbal's?

T9

Just yesterday I was texting while traveling in a qinqi (It's a three-wheeler sort Richshaw) and I remembered that one time when I was texting in train, and I had made a friend. He saw me texting and asked me how did I use the predictive text to type so fast, and then the rest of some time was spend me explaining him, showing him, and also showing him how some desi words could also be entered into the list of supported words. So, back to the qinqi. I was thinking, what if that day, that guy had asked me the name of that functionality, and what if I had said, it's called T9. And he would have asked, why is it called T9? Then I wouldn't have any answer. And though I am very comfortable with having no answers, and saying I don't know. But I got curios for my own sake, and decided to look at up. So if you don't know what T9 means, here it is for you: Text on 9 keys. Haha... so predictive. 

Some Useful Words

Just today I was writing an email, in that I had to inform the recipient that I had done what he had asked me to do the Friday before the last, that is November 30 (today is December 09, so last Friday was December 7...) So immediately one word that I had heard some time ago came to my mind. The word was... preantepenultimate. Now I know what you are thinking... where in the world could have I heard this? Well, let's just not talk about that, okay? Okay... So from that word another word came to mind. Penultimate. And guess what does that mean? Second from the last, i.e. second-last. Exactly the word I am looking for, for that email. And I type 'penultimate' in the email, and I look at what I have typed. And I think, man this guy would think I am a freak! He would think I went out of my to find a word that means exactly this thing, to show off. Now, yes, I did go out of my way to confirm and recall the word, but it was Not for showing off. It was, for the sheer respect for the creator of the word ;) Anyway, so I didn't use that word. There. Instead I decided I will make this growing list of such words, which are so so so useful, but which no body seems to use, we always use their alternatives, since they're so commonly used. I am not limiting the list to English words, Urdu words are as much welcome, but I guess mostly will be English.

penultimate - second last
soorat e haal - condition, situation
bandy - to pass back and forth, or to pass around freely (gossip)

Well, these are the ones I can think up right now, if you know any words that you think we're better off using more of, let us know in the comments below.

Doesn't Matter

And you said it will stop mattering. That I could just shrug it off, and it will be gone. That it's all in my head.

UPDATE: You were right.

Who's good, who's evil?

Humans are a mixture of good and evil. Pure good are Angels. Pure evil are Devils. But every human has a combination of both. By that understanding, one can say that no matter how wretched a person one considers, one can always find something glorious about that person. Similarly, no matter how respectable a person one considers, one can find something censurable about that person (save the Prophets, whom the God have protected from folly).

How then can any person be evil, or moral?

That is not the point. The point is, whether that person good to you. Are you better in the company of the said person than you are without it, if you are, then the person is good, good for You. And if you are worse in the company of this person than you are without it. Then this person is corroding for you.

Stealing Slippers from Masajid

So while coming back from work a friend (Farrukh) started talking about another colleague, who had his 5000 bucks slippers stolen from masjid, the second time. And when he complained to the Imam sahab, the cleric simply gave him a pair of slippers from the spare ones which are there to be worn to the washroom.

So hearing this, Arshan told of a story of a guy who had come to a buzurg (a wise, pious man), and told him that he was afraid his slippers would get stolen from masjid. The buzurg told him one thing. He said that whenever you're entering the masjid and leaving your footwear outside, always make a prayer to Allah that whoever steals your stuff, doesn't earn gunah ('Jo bhi mera maal churaye ga, woh us per halal hoga, haram nahin hoga.'). When I heard this, I said yeah cool, but this seems like a very difficult thing to do. Because you can't even get the sucker in next life then! But then, Arshan explained what the priest meant...

The idea was, when people steal, the theft is always initiated by Shaytan's suggestions. And Shaytan always suggests things to a person which are most harmful, least beneficial. So for example, a student worrying whether he should study or watch a movie, will always be suggested by Shaytan to watch a movie; but a Student worrying whether to offer salat-e-tahajjud or study, will always be suggested to study. Anyway, when the next time a person who's need of money or slippers (or just wants to steal a pair of slippers) will come by,  Shaytan will try his best that he doesn't steal Your footwear, because then, he won't commit a sin! And so, Shaytan will lead him away to other slippers... This way your slippers are protected.

I think the same idea can be applied to other times as well. Just before bargaining, just say a little prayer to Allah, that if he charges me more than he should, I want that extra money to become charity from my side, not something that will come as wrong doing to him, I want that money to become halal (lawful) to him. If he does end up charging you extra (because you're gullible or inexperienced or something) then you are not robbed, instead, you've donated and earned so much more!

Kinds of people I hate

Asghar tells me that I've always said that there are four kinds of people that I don't like. Like   they really really tick me off when they're in my company, or more importantly, they're the people I have to deal with on regular basis. And, right now, I don't remember what those four people are. Actually, that's not what Asghar tells me, what he tells me is that I always forget the fourth one while enumerating the four types.

Well, let me try now, let's see if I remember any.

1) Arrogant people. 

This has got to be on the top. I will add the explanation later.

2) Fake people. 

Okay, so basically, everyone's fake. We all hide ourselves, which makes this this world a live-in-able place. So what we call fake are just the people who're faker than us. That's the case usually. But there are some people wayy off the median. The kind that will pretend to be sophisticated, educated, rich when they're talking to people of lower-class than themselves, etc etc. Their confidence rests on their gadgets, their hair color, their new slick first-copy of Gucci eye-wear, or their ability to cuss.

3) Dumb people. 

I always put them at number three, because I thought they deserved to be hated less than the other two... but do they? I mean, they are what you come across the most. A person who's arrogant, sure, but you don't find too many of them that are unbearable. A person who's fake, well, there are so many, that you get used to them, and after a while it's a nuisance. But dumb people? Oh... they surprise you Every Single Time. And they are a lot!

This hasn't got anything to do with IQ. This is sheer, absolute lack of desire to think! This hasn't got anything with the ability or inability to think. It's just that these people don't see things, don't get jokes, don't think before they make a joke, or say something blunt, or see the point unless it's presented to them on a platter, or keep arguing after they've been proven logically incorrect. They just start blabbering on about something else. God! These people have made me such a quieter person! This phenomena is also seen in the number one category, of arguing when the argument is really completed, but arrogants are the worst, because they keep arguing Even When They Know They Are Wrong! Sometimes, what they're arguing against is something they themselves agreed to, like two days ago, but now, since it's brought up in relation to their something they do or have done or have said, their arrogance binds them to disagree.

4) Stealthy people

Hey Asghar, guess what? I can finally articulately define the fourth kind here. These people, they don't give you clear answers. They don't say no. You can see through them! They would use lies, non-lies, tricks, jokes, all sorts of cunning to just avoid a clear cut talk. To not say what is the Truth. To not tell you they will break the promise they made. To try to appear nicer than they are choosing to be. If you're playing like a bitch, own up to it, bitch!

Dua

Every night, without exception, I get blessings that I'd be so lucky to deserve.

I come home to see happy loving faces that I have done nothing to deserve.

I eat delicious food every night, daily it feels like I am invited to a feast. I do nothing to earn or deserve that food. This is sheer blessing!

After I eat to the brim, I have a bed ready to sleep on, with a fan going over it despite the electricity shortage in my country. A bed that is not dirty, or stinky, or ragged.

The moment I hit the bed, sleep comes easy! In my entire day, I never do anything to deserve such a peaceful sleep. I don't work too hard, I don't exert myself, I don't suffer. And the conscience that doesn't bug me, I have done nothing to deserve that either.

In the morning I wake up with an energy of an unburdened boy. Thanks to Allah who takes my burdens away from me, and gives a fresh and easy morning.

I wish I deserved the the blessings I already!

Dear God, make me of what you are already giving me!

I don't want to, what I want to

I want to do what my instinct tells me. I don't want to do what I feel like doing. I don't want to do what I can do. I don't want to do what I am allowed to do. I don't want to do with I can get away with. I don't want to do the natural or the desirable or the comfortable. 

I want to do what is best. What is needed, what is beneficial. I want to be patient, not hurt. I want to be tolerant, not angry, even when I have every right to be angry. I want to be kind, not sad, even if I have born losses. I don't want to watch out for myself, I want to see where most can be gained for everyone.

It's not about nobility. It's about not being merely instinctive.

It's about love. I don't want to do what I would like to do, but what my beloved would like me to do.

Why Brishna doesn't save her work

I am not a graphic designer, but I do have some designing experience. And my sister is a designer. She is not a pro yet, but she's on her way to be. In her school, they teach her stuff like story boarding in Illustrator etc. And well, anybody who has ever done something like that, or has written long essays on a PC, knows that when it crashes, and you lose all your work, it feels like there is no point to being alive anymore...

*dramatic pause*

As for me, I have developed a habit of constantly pressing Ctrl + S, with my left pinkie and its neighbor, so much so that while filling forms in those websites that require you to sign up, I constantly find myself closing the Save as html pop-up which opens up when you try to ‘Save’ a web-page. 

Anyway, when my sister had to leave her computer in the middle of some designing and I started using it, she always asked me to first save her work, then carry on. And when that happened a number of times, I asked her why she doesn't save her work every minute, like I do. To that she said that Z and S are so close, that when she tries to press Ctrl S, she sometimes presses Ctrl Z, which makes her lose her work instead of saving it. 

She didn't know about Ctrl Y.

She is in debt to me since then :)

Words with voices

Every word has a sound. That's obvious. Every word has a characteristic sound, that's understandable too. Some people, like linguists, poets, writers, or the like, even fall in love with some words just because of the sound of them! For example, I like the sound of beautiful -- the way your lips curl while making that eau is just, beautiful.

But this post is not about words having sounds (Another post may be). It's about words having voices. I feel words have voices. I hear them! I wonder if you have noticed this, but I some times do. Let me put this way, sometimes, when I read a paragraph, or a sentence, I hear that said out in a voice, but that voice, and perhaps the tone, is actually the weighted average of the individual voices of those words that I read (and no, the voices of the words are not because letters have voices too). Let me give a few examples.

So for instance, whenever I read the word 'exquisite', I hear in the voice of 30 something white american woman. I mostly get this voice when I am reading Apple product's feature list too. You know, the kind of voice that wants to sell something? in an alluring way? That voice. You probably guessed I hear the same voice with 'alluring' too. I could never imagine these words in the voice of a black person, or a Pakistani villager, or an Indian. This has to be white Caucasian, and female.

'Clarity' -- just close your eyes and say that word. Clarity. When I do that, I hear this in the voice of 20 something young woman. Intellectual, honest. One with a honey-thick voice. I didn't say honey sweet voice, and I didn't see thick voice. It's just, the voice flows, slowly, like honey does.

Another word, 'I', It's a complete word, mind you. A very powerful word, and according to some, even dangerous too. I always hear that in a voice too. In my own voice :) Same goes for a lot of other words too, like 'Hahahaha!', but if that 'HAHAHAH' is in all caps, or all lowercase, I don't hear it in my own voice.

Another example is 'guilty' - whenever I read it, I hear it in the voice of a 12-15 year old boy, who is a debater, delivering some speech. Trying to look like he is making a point. I can't imagine this word in the voice of any 40 year old or something, and if in a story or something, it is said by someone other than the said teenager, I don't usually hear a voice.

Another word is 'seminar', I hear this in the voice of that sophomore girl who is doing really well in AIESEC.

That's just me. That is to say, that's just the result of picked up biases, prejudices, experiences etc.

But, like I said, that's just me.

Know your breakfast!

■ What is barley?
Barley is just another cereal, another grass which we humans cultivate to eat its seeds, in Urdu it's called جو.

■ What is Porridge?
Porridge is when you mix any cereal (any mixture of its components, inner seeds or husk or whole grains) in water or milk. You can add seasonings to it too. In Urdu it's called دلیہ.

■ What is cereal? and...
Cereal are just those grasses which have edible grains. Which humans cultivate for their grains mainly, like rice, pulses, wheat, oat, barley etc. In Urdu: غللا

■ What is oatmeal?
Basically it's just porridge made from Oats.

■ What is oat?
Oat and Barley are parallel. They are two different kinds of grain, each comes from a different plant. They are what you would broadly call Cereal. Oat is a cereal, barley is a cereal, corn (Maize) is a cereal, rice is a cereal etc.

■ What is bran?
So when you take the grains from cereal, it's a whole grain. Meaning it's complete, it's what's good for health. Mostly, it's refined, and the outer layer, the husk, is separated from it. And the inner seed is ground or milled to produced flour, while the husk is separated. This one is the husk of wheat. I don't know what are the names of husks of other cereal though. In Urdu: چوکر.

Lonely, Not!

When I foresee something difficult, or start to indulge in depressive thoughts, and I say to myself "I have no one to turn to!" and just before I begin to worry, a voice in my heart says, "Don't be deluded, you will always have Allah to turn to!".

Alhamdulillah! Thank God for that voice!

Islamic Pick-up lines

Okay so the idea is nothing new. We've had numerous bloggers and comedians come up with the cheesiest of lines for our brothers in deen to say to their sisters in deen, so they don't remain sisters any more. And it so happens, today in the shower, in the half-asleep (more than half, actually) state that I was in, these lines just started flowing in :)

But these are for the already picked-up 'sisters' than they are for proposing marriages:

• When I looked at you, I almost thought the fajr time had passed!

• You look so pure, I feel I should make wuzu before meeting you!

I think I should post these for now, and let more come as they do. Note to self: Shower more!

How to do anything

Lewis Carroll's guide to doing anything:

'Begin at the beginning,' the King said gravely, 'and go on till you come to the end: then stop.'

— Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll.

And this, though the King said it to the rabbit regarding some verses it has to read out, holds true for almost every thing in this world.

I have found this to be the best advice that can be given to anyone about anything. It remains as the most effective way to do anything. 

Be Sad

You are sad. And it hurts. It's as if you got hit with a club right your left breast. And the pain won't go away. The painkillers aren't helping. You want to die. Just run a blade through your chest. So you can sleep with a smile on your face, without pain.

What is it really? Just this sadness? You want a way our of this life because you are too sad in it? So sad, it's too painful to be alive? Big deal! What are you? The first one to have his heart broken? The first one to be lonely? The first to be misunderstood, to not be understood, at all? The first one to be abused? The first one to make a sacrifice? to make a difficult choice? There have been sadder people. They have made bigger sacrifice. You think you can't live with this dissonance? Big Deal! Be sad. Being sad is fine, being coward isn't. Take it life like a man. Give away what you love, like a man! Sacrifice like a man! Live with pain! Deal with it. And don't be grumpy. Don't be like an old cart under heavy weight, moving, but creaking like it's gonna crack. Be like a stallion, that runs neighing with splinters in its hoofs and arrows in it's shoulders.

Be sad all you want. Just don't insult yourself.

Rehmat

Yeh teri he rehmat hai Aay Mere Allah! Meray Rab! Meray Malik! Kay tou nay apnay kutton k kutton ko bhi woh izzat di jo tere walion ko milti hai!

Ae Allah! Humain us izzat k laaiq bana day jo tou nay humain ata ki! Humain na shukri se bacha, humain ghaflat se bacha!

Ae Raheem Allah! Humain us mohabbat k laiq bana de jo tounay hum se ki aur humain us mohabbat ka takaza pora karnay wala bana!

Ameen!

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed

Shaykh Kamaluddin Ahmed was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City. He recieved a BA in Political Science and Arab & Islamic Civilization from the University of Chicago. Shaykh Kamaluddin then spent many years in Pakistan, studying full-time the classical disciplines of Islamic learning including tafsir of the Qur’an, Hadith, Arabic grammar, law and legal theory. He recieved the ‘alimiyyah degree as well as formal authorization to transmit legal opinion (ifta).

From 2005-2010, he was a lecturer in Islamic Intellectual History, Legal Theory, Spirituality and Ethics at one of Pakistan’s leading universities. Currently, he is a postgraduate student in Islamic Intellectual History and Legal Theory at the University of Oxford.

For over seventeen years, Shaykh Kamaluddin has consistently remained in the close company of the highly respected Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad, and was granted ijaza by him in tasawwuf (islamic spirituality) in 2002. Since then, he has continually tutored seekers on the path to becoming closer to Allah. Shaykh Kamaluddin divides his time between the UK and Pakistan, guiding students and delivering lectures at masajid, universities and institutions of learning.

 The Shaykh and his respected wife have also established Zaynab Academy, an Islamic educational institute which offers free online courses for women the world over.