Me, john and slavery...

Assalamualaikum wr wbt pembaca2 sekalian...

dah lama benor tak update blog ni...bukan apa kat Malaysia ni, nak cari masa duk setengah jam depan komputer and update blog tak la semudah yg dijangka kan... cam hectic sket hidup di malaysia banding ngan di UK...di mesia ada adik bradik, mak ayah, sedara mara yg perlu di entertainkan...malam2 balik kerja dah penat sgt...penat bukan sbb kerja membanting tulang, tapi penat sbb travelling + jam ke tempat kerja...penat sbb mesia yg sgt panas skrg ni, huhu...kuar beberapa saat drp bilik beraircond dah berpeluh sakan (yeap, even worse for ibu mengandung, huhu)

so, mesti anda semua tertanya2, apasal pulak tajuk entry ni me, john and slavery? well, last week my supervisor (or should i say ex-supervisor) pakcik John datang ke malaysia utk urusan2 nya di sini...dlm trip nye tu, sempat la dia datang ke UIA utk berjumpa saya dan berbincang tentang paper2 yg patut di tulis dan juga memberi talk di UIA...

Alhamdulillah the talk was really enlightening, especially sbb sy skrg kene supervise masters student yg perlu membuat circuit utk SPADs...and i have no clue what to do...ala2 bidan terjun gak, lucklily, tu area pakcik john, jadi dia bagi lah kami sedikit tutorial mengenainya...

So, apa pulak ngan slavery? Huhuhu....well, masa nak pulang sy hantar dia ke LRT gombak...dan antara topik perbualan kami ialah mengenai slavery..tetiba je dia kata, can I ask you a question about Islam? Saya jawab sure...

dia pun kata ' You believe that the quran and the saying of the prophet muhammad is all true and there is no contradiction, right, you believe that?' Saya jawab yes, sure...pastu, dia kata, and you believe that what the prophet did was all true and right and everyone should follow, right?

Saya pun jawab, yes, but there are certain rules for the prophet that we, the followers cannot do, for example, marrying more than 4 at a time for the men...the exclusion is just for the prophet...Dia pun , ok yes...

Then he said' So Islam encourages slavery? because even the prophet has slaves before and he did not said that slavery is illegal and forbid slavery at that time? And many of muslims at that time and until now have slaves...surely Islam says slavery is OK?

(panjang lagi dia duk citer psl Islam and slavery ni, tapi sy tak berapa ingat nak tulis kat sini)... and I was just smiling while hearing him says things about Islam and slavery, sambil tahan diri tak jawab dulu, and dengar all what he has to say regarding the matter...

Then after he finishes, I said... well, Islam has never encourage slavery...its the opposite...at that time, historically, it is a norm to have a slave, and Islam cannot just come and says hey all, slavery is prohibited...otherwise, it will cause some riots, therefore what Islam did, and the prophet did was to encourage freeing slaves...and I told him example of kafarah dosa, yang paling besar adalah memerdekakan hamba...and siapa2 yg memerdekan hamba dapat banyak dan besar sekali pahalanya...jadi muslim yg baik2 ni akan berusaha utk memerdekan hamba..

And thus rasulullah s.a.w pun memerdekan hambanya zaid dan mengambilnya menjadi anak angkat...betapa mulianya what rasulullah s.a.w have done...so that is just shows how Islam deals with slavery and the process to eliminate slavery in this world..

Habis je perbualan dah sampai LRT gombak...so berakhir lah topik tu disitu...saya doakan Allah membuka pintu hati supervisor saya tersebut...

Oh Al-Andalus....

Assalamualaikum wr wbt,

Just want to share a beautiful poem by the ex-Rector of UIA, Prof. Kamal Hassan. This poem was dedicated to Sir Iqbal, the late Pakistan's poet. This poem will deeply touch those of you who have been to Andalusia... .and perhaps, will make us think...I first read this poem in 2003 when I joined UIA...

ps : I can imagine standing on the hills myself and reading the poem...

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -----

O Iqbal!

The spring of 2002 beckoned my soul and body:

to witness the Muslim remains of Alhambra,

Cordoba and Sevilla,

To retrace your noble steps and feel the

vibrations of your ecstasy,

to feast my aging vision on the haunting

grandeur of Alhambra and

relish the matchless beauty of

the Moorish art…

I glided through the cold ruins, searching for

the secrets of the humiliating

downfall of Al-Andalus…

The flowing fountains of Jannatul-Arif

(Generalife) continue to narrate the

melancholy of Muslim follies…

How they succumbed to the same diseases

which brought down the mighty

Roman empire.

They wrote all over Al-Andalus La Ghaliba

Illa’LLah (There is no vanquisher except

Allah.)

But they began to worship the

mata’ad-dunya (pleasures of the world),

and traded their souls for gold, glory, women

and wine,

only to end like stray donkeys, kicked around by

the boots of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Today, pigeons nestle and make love in the ruins,

and their droppings strewn all over the walls,

Western tourists pour out of buses and planes,

frolicking in romance, obliterating all pain,

while Muslim architectural glory continues to boost

the coffers of Catholic Spain.

I stood, O Iqbal,

On the hill of Alhambra, “ a stranger, gazing at

things gone by, dreams of another age.”

O Iqbal!

Don’t turn in grave if I tell you

that the Muslim world is the champion

today in corruption and illiteracy.

Or, that our rulers are among the smartest in deceiving

the masses,

Having mastered the art form of Machiavelli’s Prince.

Or, that some of our elites

are the greatest drinkers of the wine,

Intoxicated, they try to sell cheap

version of their stores,

Beguiling the local youth as they deconstruct

the blessed Zam-Zam to make it taste like beer and wine,

And succeeding in making the young worship celebrities

as divine.

Or that the Muslim Malay community

excels in fitnah memfitnah,

pouring the poison of hatred

where love once stood.

O Iqbal!

Where is the mahabbah, the rahmah

that forges the bonds of love and salam?

Where is the hidayah that destroy insincerity,

hypocrisy and greed?

Where is the taqwa that

imbues thought and action with righteousness?

Can the Khayru Ummatin ever emerge

from robots, rubbles and bubbles?

by Prof. Muhammad Kamal Hassan (ex-Rector IIUM)