Journey To The Right Path and Muslims at Pulau ketam
Journey To The Right Path
A talk give inshAllah by a student of Shaykh Ahmad Yassin. It will be held in:-
10/8: Set Your Goals
17/8: Reforming Ourselves
7/9 : Self-Esteem
19/9: Might of Muslim
22/9: Take Off
At main Audi, IIUM after Isha’. InshAllah.
ONE DAY
I have wandering around( actually not wandering just coming out from the library) about three weeks ago, when the poster of this talk slightly caught my eyes.
It didn’t have any interesting picture jus a peacfull background with a tree. It attrated my attention, - if it something about concert nasyid’s, convention, convocation or normal programe mybe I will just shrug my shoulders or blink my eyes several times and just walk away. It not that a have ‘anything’ against these kind of events. It just I have enough of it-.
Mybe we can think of something that more into action-oreinted and creative? Or something that really could pouring something meaningful for our spiritual needs?
MUSLIMS AT PULAU KETAM HAS REDUCING?
Yes. Of course we still need to have a programe as an outreach or da’wah for general people as well a certain programe (tarbiyah khasah) for particular peoples. But take for instance what happen in Pulau Ketam recently. Can we imagine from 500 Muslims has left only 12 Muslims. And these 12 Muslims is not all of them a practices Muslims. Not that we blamed them, we only need to blame ourselves. As for myself, I’m pointing the fingers to myself. What am I busying doing these days. We also can’t finger pointing to the authorities, but it didn’t mean the aithorities has to take easy their responsibility. It was eveyone job. Everyone has the roles.
Somehow I have read kind of funny statment which recalled that it wasn’t ‘their’ fault that the Muslims didn’t hold tightly thier faith. They said we can’t force them to still be in the iman and tauhid.
So, aha! What a brilliant answers. This is a very "RIGHT" attitiude of a Muslims. Let we behave like this and then after all of the what so called Muallaf(actually, after several years and month we can’t called them muallaf. there are our brothers, Muslims) has died we will busy claiming their jenazah..After all it’s very important to bury in a Islamic way right But teach them to live as a Muslims, they will be to many works and we will as usual give to many excuses.?(yes,actually both of them was equally important)
There we are again, always fussing at the very wrong time and the wrong moments. Sorry for myself and brothers and sisters, we just have to realize that we always didn’t take these things seriously and practice Feqh Awlawiyat. I have several friends, well there are mingling with others people that we called them as bla..bla.bla..But they see and we have to take into account what opinions they have encountered.
I believe, in this cases at Pulau ketam we really have to take an exmaple by what have the Missionaory Christian have done. Afterall, they have do a job that follow Islamic teaching, and we?
They brought their family there, sleep there, open a school, and we just visiting for several days per month. Allahuakbar! I myself, Ngo’s, political parties, student socities has really have to make a smart long-term planning and work consistantly. It not like here and there and then forget it.
SOMETHING WE LONGED BEFORE
The first one, the longed date i have waited for, i can’t attend because i have choosed another programe about palestinian and lubnan organized by , Al-Aqsa Society. Not that i regreted but i really hope i can attend from the begining.
It didn’t occured any feeling even when i have missed the second talk-10th/8,(if i’m not mistaken, it was started before the actual date) SubhanAllah, how i have missed such a good talk for my spiritual need! When i choosed to went to the Closing Ceremony of the Maqasid Conference last week, at Legend Hotel which held in a very dim lightening hall- can we please have more of the light; it not something that i want to go, just something that i need to go. After a brainwashing by one of the lecture and also a nice recommendation one of my sisters, so me- you have to go, you didn’t want to waste a 60.00 and miss the closing and the resolution right?
It not something that i love to go,but a commitment has to be fullfilled, mybe inshAllah we can have more good closing, afterall two of my closed sisters from Indonesia and Singapore has choose to went to this talk. Journey to the Right Path. Eventhough i’m only a small fish in the big comittee, we could do something better at the future. Furthermore there is something that we the translation, editting and cd unit felt kind of lack of spirit,- for our own, Muslim programe; weakness- but jazakillah to my dearest sister you really blow up my spirit tough! And make us to be positive. As a whole, Alhamdulillah this first conference did teach us something and as an Arabic quote said:
" After finish one thing, the weaknesses will be apperead"
MasyAllah, we have to be ‘Redha’ in what decision we made. We learn something in everthing, right?
Until eventually, when I just walking into the library among the busy students flashing their matrics to the machine, something caught my eye. Syakh Khalid Yassin, subhanallah! Am i wrong or what. Directly on the multimedia screen in the library. It clearly stated something like this " Malcom -x", Journey to the Right Path. After that, i was so surprised, why is anything but i didn’t get the idea the talk will give by one of his students? not even one have mentioned of Shaykh Khalid Yassin or his students i the street campus. Wallhua’lam. But still, Alhamdulillah we have three or four more oppurtunity to go.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Hopefully, inshAllah this talk that we longed before something different, that we really bring light to our heart. If we have to do a facial wash, toner, moisturizer, sun-blocking, night cream so on and so forth, it not basically for women but men also these days, have been attached to health care more seriously. Moreover we really in serious need for purification of heart, after mingiling with what i will called dusty world. Attention: Our heart need more than five daily times prayer.
KNOW ALLAH; THE CREATOR
Sufyan bin Uyaynah has said that have been indicated in Risalah al-Mustarsyidin by Imam Al-Muhasibi
" When you remember the solihin it will pour down the Rahmah"
Know Allah far more vital than anything in this world. It was a basic rule and thing for we as a human-being. Either Muslim or not. Know HIM, submit, obey and have faith in Allah is a general thing a creatures. If we can breath, we got to know what we live for and who was our creator.
Simple as that. Iman,Tauhid and believing is not something only for MUSLIM, or Arab’s, or white, black, brown people. It was for everyone. If we can breath then we must know. Live is not something just to have fun, going shopping have a good music, a happy family it was more wider than that.
Allahua’lam
Salam Nai,
Insya Allah, ada rezeki kita jumpa kat talk tu. Kak ma memang sengaja tak pergi dinner closing kat hotel tu, sebab untuk makan, perut ni kecik saja. Lagi pun, ada awlawiyat lain.
Akhir zaman ni, orang beriman dan ikhlas sikit sangat. Semoga kita tergolong di kalangan golongan yang sikit ni. Kita pakat2 jaga iman, walau orang lain pakat2 cabut iman masing2. Moga dengan usaha kita nak cuci hati dan ikhlaskan hati, Allah akan pertemukan kita dengan golongan yang sedikit yang lain.
Kita yang sedikit ni perlu bersatu hati…pertahankan iman kita dan iman orang lain. Juga menyampaikan kepada semua.
Kita takut kalau tak ada lagi orang yang menyebut nama Allah, akan datanglah huru hara yang dijanjikan itu.
Comment by bazrah — August 16, 2006 @ 9:42 am
ukht al-karimah wal al-mahbubah,
k.ma afwan banget tk balas message n takde bilik hr tu, blk rumah and also got a little problem dan takde kredit.:) nak “puasa”kredit selama sebulan..;)
kak, inshAllah kita jmpa di sana, dengarnya juga baru td nampak iklan br, ada tayangan cd, nk tau juga apa cdnya, sebab
k.dini pnjm dr Samer cd kahlid yassin, adalah beberapa talk dlm tu.
dan pertemuan kita ni, inshAllah dikalangan yangs sedikit seperti yang
Saidatina Aishah pernah berdoa.” Allhummaj’alna minal al-qalail”.
Kalau kita mampu menjadi sedikit namun rapat dengan Allah, alangkah bahagianya..
Mekasih banget juga atas introduksi berharga terhadap rasail-annur. I really appericiated everything I learn from you.
oh ya, kak, kalau pasal tauhid dlm Risalat ker?
jzklh
Comment by Administrator — August 16, 2006 @ 10:07 am
Apa sahaja program baik, teruskan dan sertailah ia. Jangan dok statik dah.Atau menjadi orang yang hebat komen itu ini tapi langsung tak buat kerja, atau yang dok planning tak sudah sudah.Time is running out!
Comment by Ahmad — August 17, 2006 @ 8:52 am
Sama2…
Nai, kita akhir zaman ni pakat ada sorang sikit ja…jadi sama2 kongsi… bila semua pakat kongsi jadilah banyak… Macam said Nursi pernah cakap dalam Risalah Ikhlas, kalau persaudaraan kerana Allah dan juga keikhlasan, 1+1+1+1 hasilnya bukan lagi empat…tapi 1111.
Tentang Tauhid tu, sebenarnya seluruh Rasail al-Nur bincang tentang tu. Cuma mungkin secara lebih specifik, Nai rujuk dalam al-Kalimaat, jil 1.
Wassalam
Comment by bazrah — August 17, 2006 @ 9:32 am
ahmad: benar, terima kasih. Betapa Syaikh Ataha’illah pernah berkata di dalam kitabnya al-hikam. Berdakwah atau menyampaikan Risalah Allah yang menyampaikan cinta dan takut Allah pd manusia, adalah dengan akhlak dan kelakuan..
Selain drnya methodologi yang pelbagai. Gunalah ia, selagi mana tidak lari dr syara’.
Seperti yg Shaykh Khalid Yassin berkata di dalam talknya..
If their are the ‘khair’ people, who fear Allah, who love Allah, don’t do the ma’siah thing have good conduct so why not, even tough we as a human, have something lack as a nature of human kind.
Better get to work…right..faster and more efficiently…may Allah tied our heart together with love, fear and obedience to HIm and give us strenght..consistently.
bazrah: jazakillah ukht, nnt sy p check n baca ye..InshAllah..moga kt istiqomah di atas jln menuju Allah.moga2 sy nk 7+7+7+7= 7777, boleh?. Alakullihal, a very nice indeed halaqah bersama dan talk Syaikh td…consistently inshAllah..
Buat semua, moga2 dijauhkan kita dr insan yang disebut Allah di dalam Al-Qurann. ” Maka, celakalah mereka di sisi Allah mereka berkata apa yang tidak mereka lakukan”.
Comment by Administrator — August 17, 2006 @ 3:30 pm
We like to share with you an article on The Sage/Rasul in Islamic View for da’wa to chinese. Happy reading and can circulate it fi sabilillah.
SOME EXPLANATION OF DIVINE MESSENGER –RASUL
IN CHINESE VIEWS OF THE SAGE -SHENG REN
:Abu Zuhri Shin- personal essay
The Sage in Chinese Classics
In Chinese Tradition, Confucius , Mencius and Lao Tze are honored as
Sages / Sheng Ren. The Final Messenger of Islam- Muhammad sallaLlahu
alaihi wa salam is conferred the title- Ching Sheng – the Glorious
/Greatest/Most Prominent Sage by Chinese muslim scholars.
There is a ancient mosque in Guang Zhou, China called Huai Sheng Si
( Mosque in Remembrance of the Sage/Rasul).
Mencius says- the sage is a teacher of a hundred generations but for
muslims- the Sage/Rasul is a teacher/examplar for a thousand
generations (to the last age/humanity ).
The Chinese people are close to fitra and sunna of Ancient Sages,
which mean they already know and followed some Heavenly inspired way
of worship, respect the ruler, elders, rites, moral rights and
character, virtues and refine culture. They lost it and fragmented
into Tao/Buddhist/Confucian beliefs which only had some remnants of
truth. The Last Messenger come to restore, revive and complete the
Whole Teaching/ Wisdom Way.
Description of The Sage / Sheng Ren
From Chung Yung (Doctrine of the Mean)
It is only he , possessed of all SAGELY qualities
that can exist under heaven,
who can show himself quick in apprehension ,
clear in discerning , of far reaching intelligence ,
and all embracing KNOWLEDGE(Wahyu/hikmah) ,
fitted to exercise RULE(Shariat) ,
magnanimous , generous
, benign and mild ( harisun /raufur rahim ),
fitted to EXERCISE forbearance ( hilm /sabr),
impulsive , energetic , firm , and enduring,
fitted to maintain a FIRM HOLD ( urwatul wusqa ),
self adjusted , grave ,
never serving from the MEAN / MIDDLE ( Istiqama )
and correct, fitted to COMMAND ( Amar ) reverence ;
accomplished , distinctive, and searching ,
fitted to exercise DISCRIMINATION ( furqan ).
All embracing is he and vast ( innaka ala Khuluqi azim ),
deep and active as a fountain ( rahmata lil-alamin ),
sending forth in their due season his virtues
( rahma /syafaa ). –p112.
He is seen , and people revere him ;
He speaks , and all people believe him ;
He acts and the people are pleased with him
( atiu
Llah wa atiur Rasul ) ;He is equal of Heaven `/mercy of the worlds. –p113...therefore his fame overspreads the middle kingdom
( ummatan wasatan ) and extended to all foreign races.
Where ships and carriages reach;
Wherever the strength of man penetrates;
Wherever the heaven overshadow and
The earth sustains ; Wherever the sun and moon shine
( was syamsi wa qamar ) ; where the frost
and dews falls – all who have blood and breath
unfeignly honor and love him. Hence it is said
–
Who can know him ,but he who is indeed quick in apprehension,
clear in discerment, of far reaching intellect and all embracing
knowledge, possessing heavenly virtue ( iman/ihsan).
The superior man accords / follow with the course of the Mean
( Middle Path ) . Though he may be all unknown , unregarded by the
world , he feels no regret ; It is only the SAGE
who is able for this ! p-55
The Way which the superior man pursues ,
reache s wide and far ,and yet is secret / concealed.
(All quotations above from The Chinese Classics by James Legge’s translation)
Hui Jiao ( The Way of Return )
Why some Chinese scholars call Islam as HUI JIAO ? It means the Path
returning to God, to our true nature, primordial being. Hui resemble
the character of double mim – square circles like Kaaba, the ancient
house of worship founded by Prophet Ibrahim alaihi salam. At that
time , apart from Islam , the Divine teaching were called Din al-
hanif , din al-fitrah or din al-haqq. All these meaning denotes
restoring man to his original, noble, truthful being as the slave
and representative of God in the earth. He undertook the trust –
message from God which all other creation afraid to bear.
The word SAGE in Chinese consist of 3 basic characters :
First-ERH on top left ( ear/hear)
Second-KO on top right ( mouth/teach/speak)
Third- WANG at bottom ( king/divine)
I will first explain the bottom word- WANG/king. Why the sage must
have a kingly character ?
Man as Khalifah / King /Ruler
A king can means a ruler , leader, scholar, warrior, statesman with
authority ( derived by adhering to Heaven Will/Mandate-trust). The
top line in wang denotes Tian/ Heaven / God. The second line-
ren/man and the third line- Tu/earth.
So a king is one who rule with justice and adhere to the truth/right
way in living on earth with his subjects. He received the
blessings/connection from Heaven above. This indicated in the
vertical line connecting the 3 horizontal line. Allah says in the
Quran : Inni jailun fil-ardhi khalifa and fahkum bainan-nas bi-adli.
I will create a man/leader/rasul who will represent Me ( My
Decree/Teaching). Judge between men in justice/mercy. What a
coincidence ? There are proofs that God also choose His Rasul/Nabi
who are king/rulers like Sulaiman and Yusuf , but the station/name
as Rasul / Nabi is higher than king/sultan/emperor because Allah
give them REVELATION/ WAHYU. They are commanded to live in
harmony/humility not arrogantly. While the earthly kings had only
temporal power/wealth and followers.
In Chinese tradition , there are 3 kings who achieved the sagely
quality by Divine Will- Yao, Shun and Zhao. Chuang Tzu says the
perfect man are like sage when in stillness /contemplation /ibadah
and like a king when in movement/ exercise of power/action.
Revelation and Inspiration From Heaven
The second nature of Sage/Rasul is ERH/Ting. He hears /listen and
receive NEWS /Knowledge /Inspiration or REVELATION from the Unseen,
Divine Presence / God. Like the verse of Quran : Sami’na wa
atha’na , ghufranaka wa ilaikal Masir. The Rasul/Believers say-We
hear and obey/follow God command. Forgive us and unto You are our
returning. Amana Rasulu bima unzila ilaika ( We believe in the Rasul
for what sent down by Allah. ).
So we understand that the Quranic word – NAZALA or WAHYU means
message from the Divine correspond exactly to the top-bottom /
vertical line in wang character ! The muslims in China differentiate
between the God revered by other religions as TIAN or SHANTI, but
reserved the Majestic Name of Allah as ZHEN ZHU ( the True / Real
God ) . The famous greeting/saying to Muslim guests or travelers
from outside China by the Hui elders are : Zhen Zu Bao Yu Ni ( May
Allah bless and protect you ).
The Metaphor of Divine Reality as Light
If we add another slanted line at top of WANG , its become a new
word : ZHU / MASTER /GOD / LORD. According to an old commentary,
this slanted line represents – LIGHT / ILLUMINATION /GUIDANCE above
the Sage / King, that is Tian/ Divine Reality itself. Chinese
scholars had aptly translated the word-God as ZHEN ZHU in mandarin.
Only Allah Tabaraka wa Taala can give light / guidance to whom He
wants among His Creation. He created the Angels/Malaikat from
light /NUR. Possible explanation is : the Rasul/ Sage receive the
wahyu through Angel Jibrail which is also a Light from Allah Taala.
There are many ayats of Quran to confirm these meanings:
Allahu Nurus Samawati wal-ardh..
Mathalu nurihi..Nurun alan-nur. Yahdi’Llahu li-Nurihi man yasyaa.
Innaha Allah bi-kulli syain Alim.
( Allah is the Light of Heaven and Earth.The similitude of His
Light..Light upon light.He guides to His Light Whom He wills.
Verily Allah has power over everything )
Allahu Waliyyul lazina amanu ,
yukhriju minaz-zulumati ilan –nur.
( Allah is the proctector of the Believers,
He brings them out from darkness into Light )
Also from the Hadith : the iman in the mu’min heart are a light
connected to / from the overflowing light of the Rasul. You will
not attain the fullness or sweetness of iman until you love Allah
and His Rasul more than everything else, including your own self.
The Chinese classical teachings had beautiful expositions on the
subject of LIGHT/ ILLUMINATION which correspond to the word – MING
or CHING. This is another subject to be tackled later, why the
Chinese Emperor choose to name his dynasty the Ming-
Glorious/Illuminated Dynasty. Any relation with the letter MIM or
MUHAMMAD in Arabic or MA which used by many HUI Chinese Muslims ? .
MING which means light or brilliant /illumination in Chinese
characters consist of root word of SUN and MOON side by side. In one
Prophetic hadith , the Messenger had said that: `If people put the
sun on my right hand and the moon on my left hand, I will not
desist from carrying out this Divine Teaching from Allah.’
The Great Learning / Ta Hsue
We had strayed a bit far but actually very near to the TA HSUE- THE
GREAT LEARNING. The first principle of Ta Hsue is : TO ILLUMINATE
VIRTUE TE , TO RECTIFY/ PURIFY / TRANSFORM THE HEART AND TO PURSUE EXCELLENCE IN PROPER CONDUCT.
This are in line with the meanings of Quran : Oh Messenger, We sent you in order to purify them ( yuzakkihim), to teach the Holy Book and Wisdom-Hikmah ( yu-allimuhumul-Kitaba wal Hikmah ). Or wa man yattaqi’Llaha
yaj-al-lahu furqana ( those who fear Allah , will be given the
discrimination –between truth and falsehood ). Rabbana atina min
ladunka rahmatan wa hayyi’lana min amrina rasyada
( Our Lord , bestow us mercy from Your Presence
and guide us right in our affairs ).
Ko – To Teach and Expound The Truth
Now we go to the third composite character in wang /king that is
KO / Mouth which indicated the Sage/Rasul are commanded to speak ,
teach and convey what REVEALED by Allah Taala to humanity at large.
The Rasul / Nabi cannot conceal the Message , hence the word –
TABLIGH – to make clear . to reach out , to make it enter the
intellect or the heart. How to absorb and embody this Divine Words ?
The Companions of the Prophet had done it by the mercy, gift and
power of Allah when many of them had READ , MEMORIZED and PRESERVED
the QURAN in their HEARTS. And make it manifest by their ACTION ,
EMULATION and GUIDANCE from the QURAN. The Quran was written down
later in one whole collection when many of the HAFIZ among the
Companion were killed in jihad. The Messenger s.a.w said :
Illuminate your houses with the recitation of Quran !
Chun Tzi – The Superior Man
What other qualities the Sage had according to Chinese teachings as
similar for the Rasul in Islam ? Now we had to dig further into
CHUNG YUNG ( Doctrine of The Middle Path ).
Confucius clearly define chun tzu ( the superior man ) as the one
who follow and honor the Sages as quoted here :
` The superior man honor / respect / acknowledge ( WEI ) three
things ( in his life ). He acknowledge the Decree of Heaven ( wei
Ming ). He honor the Saying of Sages ( Sheng Ren ) and he honor the
Great Leaders ( Ta ren )’. The small/common ignorance of the Sages
despise their teachings or gain no benefits from it.
The superior man / Chun tzu can compared to the Mumin , Salihun ,
Siddiqun or Muttaqin in the Quranic sense and Prophetic Hadith. The
sufic definition of a salihun is the man with right knowledge, acted
in the right situation , at the right time and right place. Any one
wrong move will hamper his right action or make it ineffective
because of the surrounding forces.
Mencius says :
When Heaven about to confer a great task to a man ,.he will be tested severely unto his very bones, his body, his sinews
and constitution, to make him firm, sincere,pure and strong. Then
when he speak, people will listen and obey
The Meaning of Te’– Virtue
We have explored the meanings of wang , zhu , sheng ren and chun
tzu , now one last important word : TE’ ( VIRTUE ). This was not
clear to us unless we are chinese educated. Te’ was used prevalently
in Chinese classics and highly appreciated. What virtue ? Taqwa ,
iman , ikhlas , birr , amilus salihan or ihsan ? TE’ consist of 3
composite words:
First – JEN on the left ( human relation). Second- a sacrificial
vessel of food /offerings to Heaven / God ( WORSHIP ).
Third- a fixed /pure heart (HSIN) at bottom right corner.
It means that man of Te’ must have cultivated right/harmonious
relationship or adab /moral link with other men (hablun minas-nas )
such as ruler-subject, husband-wife, son-father/mother, old-young,
scholar-studen ,rich-poor etc. He must also devoted to God by giving
food/gifts to the needy ( spend fisabilillah /infaq / salat wa
zakat). Lastly, he must do it /act in worship with pure
heart/ikhlas, with iman ,gnosis,ilm and obeying God command
( hablun min Allah ). Insya’Allah , we will explore more on this subject in
the next essays. Wa ma taufiqi illa bi’Llah.
REFERENCE BOOKS
Comment by abu zuhri shin — September 23, 2006 @ 11:52 am
sd alqasam,
Found a very interesting article by a chinese seeker.
Also we read a report by Br.Johari Yap Secreatry of Kelantan Branch of Msia Chinese Muslim Association about a grandma Madame Goh aged 95 years embarce Islam in February 2005 in Kota Bharu. Masya Allah, this blessings of iman and islam at advance old age must officially written in golden strokes in Malaysian or Asian Guiness World Record ! Cai jian.
For the Chinese Seeker
The Prophet as depicted by chinese scholars –Chin Sheng means ‘the glorious-Eminent Sage’ and ‘Teacher of a thousand generations’. Shaykh Liu Chih write thus :
The inhabitants of Heaven knew him and his name was inscribed at the Gate of the Garden’. All creation originated from his light.
He is a mercy to all the worlds.
Hadith related from Ibnu Abbas from Rasul s.a.w :
Allahumma laka aslam-tu
Wa bika aman-tu
Wa alaika tawakkal-tu
Wa ilaika anab-tu
Wa bika khosam-tu
Wa ilaika hakam-tu
Faghfirli ma qoddam-tu
wa ma akhar-tu
wa ma asrar-tu wa ma a’lan-tu
Antal-Muqaddimu
Wa Antal-Mu’akhiru
La ilaha illa Anta
( Oh Allah, I put my submission, trust, reliance, returning, protection, judgement with You, unto You and upon You
forgive me of my future actions
my past actions
what is seen and unseen
Verily You are the Foremost One
And the Last/End of all affairs)
Now we shall compare what the Chinese philosophers say about this Sage in their ancient texts of Lao Tzu, Mencius, Confucius, I Ching, Ta Hsue and Chung Yung.
Seek you will find them (Tao)
Neglect you will lose them. Hold it fast and it remains with you. Let it go and you will lose it –p.862
When a scholar feels that his friendship with all the virtuous scholars at the empire is not sufficient to satisfy him, he proceeds to ascend to study-emulate the MEN OF ANTIQUITY (SAGES). p.850
The end of learning is nothing else but to seek for the lost mind-heart ( marifa/tawhid/fitra) –p.879
One of the Qing scholar says:
‘ The ten thousand words and ten thousand sayings of the sages and men of wisdom are simply to LEAD MEN to get hold of their LOST MINDS (DIVINE KNOWLEDGE) and make them enter again their bodies’.
Mencius said :
Those who follow that part of themselves which is great are great men, those who follow that part which is little-low are little men (hsiao ren).
Master Kung said :
To walk slowly by keeping behind his elders, is to perform the part (duty) of a younger man.
To walk quickly and precede his elders, is to violate the duty of a younger brother.
Now, is it that a man cannot walk slowly ? p.896
There is a riwayat of Sayyidina Ali r.a. being late to attend the group prayer of fajar at the Prophet Mosque in Madina. On being questioned, he said :
This morning, on my way to the mosque, I passed through a narrow street, there was an old jew man infront of me. So I thought to overtake him and then it would upset him. His days are over, being old, slow and no longer respected by the younger ones. So I restrained myself and follow him quietly behind until he was out of the street, thus I arrived late for the fajar prayer. But the Prophet s.a.w commended him for this supreme action and he get all the rewards of the group prayer’).
At another time, Shaykh Abdal qadir as-sufi tell this seeker his encounter of walking behind an old Chinese man in a garden in England with one of his murid. He says : ssshhh, keep quite and let his noble old man take his strides and practice the tai chi exercise infront of them. After a few steps, this old sensed something behind him and suddenly turned around with a defensive stance, face to face with SAQ and his murid ! Sidi shaykh make a friendly gesture and smiling to him. Then he understood, he was not in danger being tailed by some strangers. They parted ways in good spirits kow tow to each others.
This story was told by SAQ to us about 12 years ago when he summoned us to his presence at a private meeting in Bukit Tunku. He had high regards for the noble fitra of Chinese people. He commanded me to study the Chinese language and calling them to Islam. We presented him a book of Chinese lexicon of basic meanings and characters. We also informed him that we had read the book of Dr.Itsuzu on The Comparative Study of Taoism and Sufism Between Lao Tzu and Ibnul Arabi. He commented this Japanese scholar had not understood Sufism or Islam at all, you are better because you are Muslim ! You possess the secret of iman that Allah Taala put in your heart, not him. We nodded in agreement and had to reflect deeply on this matter.
Alhamdulillah, he saw through our hearts sincerity and in 1990 at dhikr gathering in the KL Zawiya in 1990 granted us the Idhin-Authority as MUQADDIM especially to serve the Chinese people in the East. He had fulfilled what Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib (SMH d.1971) envisioned more than 30 years ago that his DIWAN (sufic collection of dhikr, salawat and qasidas) will be sung in the WEST and EAST, although that time in year 1968 there were hardly any murid from the East.
Not long after this blessed turning point, we manage to find two interesting books. One by Drue Gladney on ‘Sufism in China” and another “ The Secret Mulsim History of Ming Dynasty” by Hajji Yusuf Chang. Both books confirmed the existence of sufic scholars and four major tariqa had flourished in china. They are called ‘menhuan’ or the Gate Way which consist of the Orders of Jahriyya, Khufiyya, Kubrawiyya and Qadiriyya mainly in the north western region of china. Two great shaykhs mentioned were Ma Ming Xin and Ma Hua Long beside the older Masters such as Imam Wang Dai Yue and Shaykh Liu Chih. They even transaated the great sufic work of Maulana Rumi – the Mathnawi into mandarin and were recited in special meetings.
When I read SAQ first book titled THE BOOK OF STRANGER published in 1972 while he was still a muqaddim based in London, my wildest dream was fulfilled. The question of “ are there any Chinese sufic scholars or follower of this spiritual teaching until today were indicated in the letter of a Chinese Sage to his disciple told methaporically side by side with another letter of Shaykh Abul Hassan as-Shadhili who venture out to seek a Sufi Master. “
The Chinese sage digusted with the decay and decadent of the Empire and city life, took a journey to the west and in fulfilling the gatekeeper request he wrote the wisdom aphorisms of TAO TE CHING comprise of 3,000 words for future generations. All this happen due to the encoded mantra BARAKATU MUHAMMAD.
Another stronger confirmation coming from SAQ was the poem he wrote when became a Shaykh and finished the suluk under Shaykh Fayturi (SF) of Benghazi, Libya entitled IHSAN in 1978 in the Journal of Darqawi Institute vol.2. Here SAQ mentioned specifically about his intention and action to hunt for new murid in the West and East using the famous Chinese metaphor of A TIGER OUT THE CAVE MATCHING THE WORLDLY STRIPES.
Remember very well, this seeker was still not a muslim in 1978 ! Anyway, I found SAQ second book THE WAY OF MUHAMMAD in Jubilee Book Store in Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman with the strange kufic design on its cover. Date : year 1978. Several Chinese philosophical terms were quoted in this book such as : YIN YANG, TAO, CHI , FENG SHUI, I CHING HEXAGRAM etc.
Back to the poem IHSAN, SAQ dedicated 3 paragraphs using the historical Chinese characters such Pao Chi, Chiu Lung, and names to highlight that this ancient sufic teaching were ALMOST SIMILAR to the TAO and the public rejected it. Only a few grasped this wisdom teaching. He called the seeker to the OPEN SPACE OF OPEN SPACE. FEAR NO ONE. GAIN THE FREEDOM- WISDOM !
In another article entitled – The Gestalt of Freedom’ delivered to mark the 100 year anniversary of German greatest poet and writer of present century at the Basque University in Spain, SAQ mentioned the famous Chinese adage : ‘Embrace the tiger and return to the mountain’. He commented that the current dominant culture of modernism and nihilism are likened to the tiger to be tamed, embraced, understood and if not we will be eaten up and destroyed.
Shaykh Darqawi also depicted the nafs-self of the seeker as a riding beast to be mastered/overcomed by each murid in order to finish the sufic journey and arrive at the goal. How strange that the majestic animal do survives in three climatic region – the cold north of Siberia/Manchuria, the mild temperate zone of India/Central Asia and lastly the hot tropical region of equator. Lastly, we tend to forget that the Malaysian federal government crest were supported by two standing tigers! May be one native tiger and the other a migrating tiger from the mainland. ( will be continued)
Comment by abu zuhri shin — September 23, 2006 @ 12:09 pm
JazakAllahu Kahiran Kathira bro,,
I really think your comments and articel here are so beneficial to all of us. BarakAllahulak..
Comment by Administrator — September 25, 2006 @ 2:18 am