Saturday, February 16, 2008

No Vacancy

It was a meet I had not expected. Prior to it, I had the choice of putting my guard up or just be casual about it; I chose the latter. And I am glad I did, for 2 reasons. One, had I put up my guard up, I would be rather rude for it mean having suppositions about the people I was about to meet, and it would be a tense and tiring affair. And I do hate being all tensed up and hate it more later when I would be all tired over the matter. Now, the other reason is that by being casual about it, the meet became friendly, allowing some precious knowledge to enter my thick skull.

Now, before I carry on, I would like to share some simple notes a dear friend imparted to me last night. Its about a human invention that has left an indelible mark but one that may well not be liked by lovers of the fountain pen, and one that many consciously not give it a second thought - the humble lead pencil.

1. like a pencil, we are capable of doing things ..for that pencil, there's a hand that guides it to do sketches sumer kan..so for human beings.. that hand is God's hands..and God will guide us with His will lah...
2. once in a while, the pencil needs some sharpening kan..sbb tumpul..so masa tuh pensel tuh mcm 'terseksa' kejap BUT in the ned it becomes sharper than before. it goes to show in our lives that trials and tribulations are necessary to make you stronger
3. bila guna pencil, ada guna eraser jugak kan. so the point is bila kita kena buat perubahan dlm kehidupan or kalau dlm buku it says 'rub out any mistake', is not necessarily a bad thing, just goes to show that it will keep us on the right track.
4. luaran pensel tk penting, yg granite dlm tuh lagi penting. so kalo manusia, it's what inside of you yg penting..
5. pencils leave a mark. so, kita hidup pun kena conscious and aware of what we do for it too will leave a mark.

Back to the meet I had, it was with 2 elderly gentlemen from Johor. Both men are called Ustaz by the host of the house they were staying and each specialise in their respective field; Ustaz Haji tries to assist those with physical ailments via do'a and herbal medicines, while Ustaz Yusof engages visitors with Islamic thoughts and views. Together, they make a very likable pair especially with the former constantly intruding the conversation with his remarks which though true in many instances, his body and face expressions brought out small laughs amongst those present. And the conversation itself - though it was supposed to be a talk by Ustaz Yusof, was not dry and monologue, but opened to participation from those present, who beside my emak and I, were the host family members. It was only towards the later stage did I manage to engage Ustaz Yusof for a private conversation.

Surprisingly, the conversation we had later, did touch on aspects similar to the pencil above. And it was nothing too deep for my mind to handle. Yet, it was, shall I say...enlightening? Indeed it was, and most especially when he touched on my personal side. Then again, perhaps he was being diplomatic about it, and like Ustaz Haji, humorous as well? I can't say, I dare not say.

Our private conversation touched on political issues as well, which he was very obliging and I am glad to note, similar to my stand. What made me smile most was when touched on the hadharian issue with an unquoted hadith "towards the later time, there will be many false apostles prophets. Perhaps they have forgotten that the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. is the last of the prophets; the post and title of prophets have already been filled up, and there is no more vacancy".

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Something that is already perfect does not have to be perfected.

Corrupt hands, can't make divine inventions.

tokasid said...

Salam Shah:

MasyaALLAH the pencil analogy is simple but precisely correct(well if you want you can say correct,correct,correct). Yet many of us(me included) didn't see life the pencil way. We think we are always right and only we decide our future.In our narrow-mindedness we think everything that we do is always right and others can't do as good as we do, apalagi better.

If we have the deepest faith that whatever we do is being observed and will be accounted for later the world would be a better place. But as insan we are weak mortals who forgets easily and the iblis had been granted the permission to sway insan till the end of the world.
We were given prophets to guide us on the right and required path with Rasulullah s.a.w. as the final messenger.

But human history had shown us in many civilisations before us when hedonism became our second skin, the teachings of prophets became lip service and just another ritual to many.

New ajaran will be invented to justify what we had done. Hadhari Malaysia is one of those new 'mazhab'. While promoting Islam hadhari, the leaders still doesn't observe Islam well even at a personal level. They can't even instill Islam into their own households.

They are just like ayam berkokok lantang ekor bergelumang taik.

I'm glad you met these 2 ustaz and you sure have added 2 more ikhwan muslimin as a sahabat.Alhamdulillah,syukran.And to have the same fikrah too.

Talking about hadhari...it puzzled me for UKM had opened a department on it.

Anonymous said...

salam shah,
oh the pensel! kebetulan sangat :
"Children, suruh mak belikan pensel 2B. Pensel yang cantik-cantik tu, tak bagus. Bila menulis, tak jelas. Pensel tu cantik saja lebih. Macam orang yang cantik tapi tak bijak. jaga, jangan jatuhkan pensel selalu, nanti bahagian hitam dalam dia akan patah", thats what i told the kids at the kindy.

And shah, as i always love technology, i will never go to school without my battery operated sharpener! heeheehee...
thanks shah! you gave me an idea of what to write next.

cakapaje said...

Salam Cikgu,

You got that rightm sir! Problem is, we now have people who think they are clean. There's a hadith about how Dajjal would appear, but I cannot recall it offhand.

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Doc,

Personally, I don't think Hadhari even qualify to be a mazhab. And going by their current practice, it seem more deviant than not, wallahualam.

And yes, I think you too would have enjoyed the company of the 2 Ustaz.

And UKM...just like any other gomen department, what else is new? :)

cakapaje said...

Wa'alaikumusalam Accia,

I like pencil too. Unfortunately, I don't like sharpeners at all! Too messy :)

So whenever I can, I try to use one of those mechanical pencils that only need refills. Oops! Now, I am a deviant already :) Na'uzubillah.