Today I was watching an old video of the changing of the flag on Imam Hussein's (a.s) dome from this Muharram, 1432. There were instances in the video that showed masses and masses of people raising their hands in allegiance towards his shrine and I was thinking to myself, "Wow, he only a small group of loyal companions in Karbala, and he has so many now", before reproaching myself for my naivety.
The depressing truth is, there are probably just as many true lovers now as there were back then. I'm not saying that we pretend to love the Ahlulbayt (a.s), but just that naturally, very few of us can maintain that love when there is a price to pay.
Monday, 27 June 2011
Thursday, 16 June 2011
Ameeri Ali
The poets have written and the scholars have preached,
Yet the value of Ali no understanding can reach,
An eternity has passed and another will come,
The earth’s ink could diminish and all tongues could go numb,
Yet no heart of his lover is able to rest,
For this love of Ali remains trapped in their chest,
No words can unlock it and no action can earn,
And through a million books, only a fraction they’d learn.
What is this mystery that no mind can perceive?
What lies in the depths of the souls that believe?
What is the reason that they call us insane,
When the essence of sanity with his love we gain?
It is the man that no man understands,
Save the last messenger to all of these lands,
The Lion from whom the enemies would flee,
The servant who would break his bread on his knee,
The man who would cry out into a well,
With secrets in his heart and no believer to tell.
Which man speaks words like pearls from the heaven?
Which light is this, followed by the other eleven?
Which prince shares his progeny with a mistress unmatched?
To which soul and which mind is all truth attached?
This soul is the hero of Siffeen and Hunayn,
The nurturing father of the pure Hassanain,
The generous slave who bows while he gives,
This is the man whose name always lives,
Whose enemies’ lives are wasted in vain,
In countless attempts to have this gem slain.
But what is this rarity that circles my mind?
Makes me hear nothing and turns my eyes blind,
So that his words are the only words that I see,
And a servant of these words all hearts want to be.
Which man is the line between falsehood and truth?
Which warrior’s courage stood unshaken since youth?
The soldier who did not need his sword to slay,
Only his novel of a name he would say,
“Know that I am Ali” and the enemy inside would die,
One strike and soon after, “Allahu Akbar” he would cry,
He, whose shield had shielded his brother,
A man like whom there has been no other,
The seal of the prophets and best of all men,
…Inseparable now and inseparable then.
The hero who lifted the gate of Khaybar,
My master, Ali, my leader, Haidar,
The half that Our Lady perfectly completed,
By whose enemies the fires of hell are heated,
The man who one night sold his soul to his Lord,
And cried out in victory upon being struck by the sword,
Sayyidi, Mawlai, Ameeri Ali,
Ni3mel Ameer wa ni3mel Wali.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Women (And Men)
I was listening to a very interesting lecture yesterday about perfection and the speaker explained that perfection is a relative concept. The perfect cow is one which produces the most milk. The best horse is the fastest one. Now if we had a fast cow, sure, it might be a cool thing, but would it be the best cow? No, because it's not serving its purpose to the best of its ability. Therefore perfection is relative depending on the purpose that something or someone serves. As humans, we are always striving for perfection. Everything we do, we do because we want to reach the top, the state of perfection. The irony is that most of us on this planet don't even know what our purpose is, so how exactly do we expect to reach perfection?
When Satan rebelled against God's instructions to bow to Adam (a.s), he had forgotten or become confused about his purpose. He said that he was made of fire while Adam (a.s) was made of clay. The purpose of fire in relation to clay is to assist the clay, fire it so that it becomes hard. Satan would have been closer to perfection if he had bowed down to Adam (a.s) because he would be serving his purpose in doing so.
Anyway, enough examples. Let's just get to the meat of it now- if you agree with the above then you'd also agree that the perfect woman is one who acts like a woman, one who fulfils the purpose of a woman, and similarly the perfect man is one who acts like and fulfils the purpose of a man. It's impossible to compare the two genders because they were created for different purposes- it's like comparing a doctor to an architect.
The question is, what exactly is the purpose of a woman? Society has distorted the answer to this question so much that nowadays even I find myself confused. Suddenly the purpose of a woman has become to take on a man's role and compete to fulfil it better. Go out and work, reach the top of every field, earn a huge salary, and all the other womanly stuff that men couldn't do even if they wanted to.
People think that women have been "liberated" over the last few centuries. Have they? I think they've been burdened. They've just had men's roles forced onto them and been told, "Oh, now you're allowed to do the stuff that men do." Women are now "allowed" to go out and provide for the family, they're "allowed" to go out and serve complete strangers instead of being "trapped" at home and serve those about whom they actually care. Nowadays if a woman decides that she wants to stay at home and look after her family, she's "backward". Liberation? My foot.
Now I'm not saying that women should stop everything and get back into their houses to serve their families. I just have a problem with the deception that's been created. I find it hilariously tragic how some feminists are fooling themselves. (And when I say feminists, I don't mean the Women's Rights movement people, but the women who reject their feminine nature). Feminism is an insult to women. It creates a competition between men and women, except men aren't really competing, are they? It's the women who have to reach the men's standards. "Women should be able to do everything that a man does". Why? Why even draw that comparison? Why should women serve the purpose of men? There couldn't be a more appropriate situation to facepalm myself about.
Scary how society can distort things so convincingly. God help us all.
When Satan rebelled against God's instructions to bow to Adam (a.s), he had forgotten or become confused about his purpose. He said that he was made of fire while Adam (a.s) was made of clay. The purpose of fire in relation to clay is to assist the clay, fire it so that it becomes hard. Satan would have been closer to perfection if he had bowed down to Adam (a.s) because he would be serving his purpose in doing so.
Anyway, enough examples. Let's just get to the meat of it now- if you agree with the above then you'd also agree that the perfect woman is one who acts like a woman, one who fulfils the purpose of a woman, and similarly the perfect man is one who acts like and fulfils the purpose of a man. It's impossible to compare the two genders because they were created for different purposes- it's like comparing a doctor to an architect.
The question is, what exactly is the purpose of a woman? Society has distorted the answer to this question so much that nowadays even I find myself confused. Suddenly the purpose of a woman has become to take on a man's role and compete to fulfil it better. Go out and work, reach the top of every field, earn a huge salary, and all the other womanly stuff that men couldn't do even if they wanted to.
People think that women have been "liberated" over the last few centuries. Have they? I think they've been burdened. They've just had men's roles forced onto them and been told, "Oh, now you're allowed to do the stuff that men do." Women are now "allowed" to go out and provide for the family, they're "allowed" to go out and serve complete strangers instead of being "trapped" at home and serve those about whom they actually care. Nowadays if a woman decides that she wants to stay at home and look after her family, she's "backward". Liberation? My foot.
Now I'm not saying that women should stop everything and get back into their houses to serve their families. I just have a problem with the deception that's been created. I find it hilariously tragic how some feminists are fooling themselves. (And when I say feminists, I don't mean the Women's Rights movement people, but the women who reject their feminine nature). Feminism is an insult to women. It creates a competition between men and women, except men aren't really competing, are they? It's the women who have to reach the men's standards. "Women should be able to do everything that a man does". Why? Why even draw that comparison? Why should women serve the purpose of men? There couldn't be a more appropriate situation to facepalm myself about.
Scary how society can distort things so convincingly. God help us all.
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