Lobo's Lessons

Image credit here . It is only a few more days until we reach the end of the holiest month in Islam. It is time for retrospection. Praise be to Allah the Most Compassionate and Most Merciful for allowing us to draw breath until this very second. To be able to breathe, to be able to live, is sometimes a ni'mah that many of us take for granted; for it is through His will and His pleasure alone that we remain on this Earth. Even that is only for the briefest time, before we return to Him, and await Judgement. Judgement. Where our eternal fates will be decided. Where there is only eternal bliss.. or eternal damnation. No middle ground. What will we be able to do in the Supreme Court of our Lord? Who or what will defend us against all the sins that speak out against us, each lengthening the Sirat Al-Mustaqeem, making it further to cross, and ever so much easier to fall into Jahannam. Who? And the answer is our deeds, on this Earth, for the briefest time that we draw...

It is now past the 10 day mark of the fasting month. I take stock of what Ramadhan has meant to me so far. So far, I am on my 5th Juz of the Quran, which makes my progress slow compared to what my parents are doing, which I'm sure is more than 1 juz a day. Note to self - need to spend time to read more Quran. Alhamdulillah, I think I am lucky to be able to pray 2 raka'ats of tahajjud before Subuh, and 2 raka'ats of Taubah after Subuh almost every day. I know it isn't much compared to what so many of my brothers and sisters in Islam are doing to show their devotion to God, but I am doing what is manageable to me, and InshaAllah, God willing, I will be able to step up my 'amal more and more as we progress further. A very wise person once told me that the best way to achieve overall spirituality is not a heaped dose of 'amal, which fades as time goes by simply because it is difficult to maintain. The best way is to do what you can, and making sure you are comforta...

Many years ago, when I was an impressionable schoolboy in a religious school, I was stunned by a startling announcement made by my Ustaz (a religious teacher). "Do you know that Neil Armstrong is a Muslim?!!" he said emphatically. I was flabbergasted. "You mean THE Neil Armstrong? The first man on the Moon?" I asked. "Of course I mean that Neil Armstrong! How many Neil Armstrongs do you know?" was the reply, "There was a big convention when he came to Malaysia... Tabligh (a religious organisation) brought him over.. there were thousands of people who went" ... Wow... I thought... But somehow, deep within my gut I was still skeptical... you know the feeling, like you want to believe something with all your heart, but you know that something just isn't right. But it's not something to lose sleep over is it? And so every few years, the news would surface somewhere that Armstrong was Muslim, and many Muslims just accepted it to be natural - O...

In light of recent events of culminating hatred, I would like us all to reevaluate our values. I came across this article that I would like to share with everyone. The Malay version will follow in a subsequent post. Prophet’s Promise to Christians Dr Muqtedar Khan (Common Ground) 8 January 2010 Muslims and Christians together constitute over fifty per cent of the world and if they lived in peace, we will be half way to world peace. One small step that we can take towards fostering Muslim-Christian harmony is to tell and retell positive stories and abstain from mutual demonisation. I must remind both Muslims and Christians about a promise that Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, made to Christians. The knowledge of this promise can have enormous impact on Muslim conduct towards Christians. Muslims generally respect the precedent set by their Prophet and try to practise it in their lives. In 628 AD, a delegation from St. Catherine’s Monastery came to the Prophet and requested h...

Fifty local residents protest the building of a temple by marching with a bloodied cow's head. They want to march in protest? Fine, it is their right. I would probably do the same if I felt extremely provoked in some way, over an issue that was important to me. Marching with a severed cow's head? Stupid, irresponsible, uncouth, insensitive, moronic, and totally idiotic. The very fact that these protesters chose to desecrate the religious symbol of another race and religion shows how small minded, how provincial, how insensitive they are of basic respect among human beings, especially in a country such as ours. Don't they realise that they have desecrated something holy to other people? Don't they realise that this action is the same as a group of Hindus marching through the streets, protesting the building of a mosque, with a burnt Quran in hand??? It is an act of open aggression. An act of open war. Is this how we would like others to treat us? Does the rule to do unto...

Can Christians and Muslims co-exist on God's Earth?  By right we should be able to, as among all the religions in the world, we are most closely bound together by blood and faith. We are sibling religions, and yet we have waged war amongst ourselves since the time of the Crusades, and still do until today, spilling precious blood for the glory of what we perceive our religions to be. Yes, there is a time for war. However, there is a time for peace. I was going through this blog that I recently discovered, and found a diamond in the rough. It would seem that I am not alone in my views. I repost the entry taken from here : I congratulate the Perak Mufti Datuk Seri Dr Harussani Zakaria as 2008’s recipient of the Tokoh Maal Hijrah. I would also like to thank him in making clear that Islam is tolerant towards the other faiths.  As he quoted, “We do not condemn Jesus because he, too, is a prophet in Islam. Neither do we destroy the many temples and places of worship because our religion ...

“Sebenarnya ini bukan sekadar soal seorang gadis bernama Sufiah, tapi ia soal Islam yang dihina dan diperlekehkan. Bagi saya, apa yang berlaku ke atas Sufiah adalah agenda terancang pihak Barat untuk menjatuhkan maruah Islam" - Metro (4/5/08) Aku saban hari terfikir, mengapa jika ada apa-apa berita mengenai orang yang beragama Islam yang tersilap atau 'terpesong', secara automatic ia akan dianggap sebagai agenda Barat untuk menjatuhkan maruah Islam? Mengapa setiap sesuatu bencana yang melanda umat Islam dianggap perbuatan Barat yang durjana? Mengapa setiap sesuatu yang dilakukan 'menjatuhkan' martabat orang Islam? Tidakkah orang Islam sendiri sedar bahawa di atas perbuatan mereka sendiri, 'martabat' yang mereka agung-agungkan itu sebenarnya bagaikan satu 'fantasi' di mata dunia? Aku termenung... Kusut fikiranku... Apakah systemic disfunction yang wujud dalam umat Islamku yang tercinta hinggakan mereka tidak sedar bahawa kelemahan itu wujud dalam di...