bring back the spirit in me
bring back the enthusiasm
bring back the energy
bring back the willingness
bring back the ability to think
for i need to think think think
and act act act
and yes i have not been eating right
i have not been resting well
not sleeping enough
not thinking right even
and soul-descending
i'm chasing time
i'm searching for me...again
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Ali
i've been reading Karen Armstrong's Islam : A Short History. and i recalled vaguely of a claim which said that the book is a Shi'i book or something. i really don't know where i got that from, i just remember the gist of it, but not sure who said it or where i found it. but that's beside the point.
i agree the book do mention Shi'i quite a lot. really. and i'm starting to believe that maybe armstrong is sympathetic towards the Shi'i or she really mean to write about them or whatever her reason is. but then i started to realise, how this side of history was almost untold of. i recall being taught of the history very briefly though in sirah books. i learned their doctrines but i somehow missed out on certain aspects. my knowledge on shi'ism stopped immediately after the death of saiyidina Ali r.a, well them tracing their emergence right before that. i just thought we never really know their side of the story, aren't we? maybe i was historically ignorant, i admit that. we do have some very wide differences. we do. theologically and legally. but at the end of the day, we still believe in Allah, don't we?
hmm, i lost it. i didn't bother to strike a conversation with a lecturer and ask about this. too late, seri. but then, there's still that group of ustaz-s i'm working with...
well, my thoughts keep coming back to saiyidina Ali. how he must have been thinking, or felt, when all the conflicts came up. being a young man, appointed as the caliph, only to clean up where saiyidina uthman left off. already at a troubled period. and then a group came up, claiming to champion his place as THE righful caliph, that his three predecessors shouldn't take place. it was his right from the start. he didn't want that. he don't need to be elevated to such a position.
now let's recall, ali was the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law. he was the closest child to Rasulullah in his early years, the first muslim child. practically stood beside Rasulullah throughout his life. learning first hand from the Prophet. he stood up for the Prophet, on his so called deathbed, how brave a young man, willing to stay, knowing he was surrounded by enemies. he must have love Rasulullah all his heart. he must have been grieving still even after years the Prophet departed. what must have been his thoughts when he saw the ideal ummah built up by Rasulullah tumbling into conflicts, one after another. how must he felt, battling against the people he knew most of his life, as his family? going against the lady he respected most for being the Prophet's wife? he didn't want that to happen, would he? is he hurt? is he scared? worried? desperate? unable to resolve the problem when so many people are expecting him to do the right thing.
and if he was alive, and had known how his sons died. would it not break his heart terribly?
there's many ways to prolong this melancholy. but i won't indulge. we have taken things for granted. as a sunni, i have neglect to understand history. i might have been one sided all this way. and you call yourself a thinker?
lessons to be learnt, people.
i agree the book do mention Shi'i quite a lot. really. and i'm starting to believe that maybe armstrong is sympathetic towards the Shi'i or she really mean to write about them or whatever her reason is. but then i started to realise, how this side of history was almost untold of. i recall being taught of the history very briefly though in sirah books. i learned their doctrines but i somehow missed out on certain aspects. my knowledge on shi'ism stopped immediately after the death of saiyidina Ali r.a, well them tracing their emergence right before that. i just thought we never really know their side of the story, aren't we? maybe i was historically ignorant, i admit that. we do have some very wide differences. we do. theologically and legally. but at the end of the day, we still believe in Allah, don't we?
hmm, i lost it. i didn't bother to strike a conversation with a lecturer and ask about this. too late, seri. but then, there's still that group of ustaz-s i'm working with...
well, my thoughts keep coming back to saiyidina Ali. how he must have been thinking, or felt, when all the conflicts came up. being a young man, appointed as the caliph, only to clean up where saiyidina uthman left off. already at a troubled period. and then a group came up, claiming to champion his place as THE righful caliph, that his three predecessors shouldn't take place. it was his right from the start. he didn't want that. he don't need to be elevated to such a position.
now let's recall, ali was the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law. he was the closest child to Rasulullah in his early years, the first muslim child. practically stood beside Rasulullah throughout his life. learning first hand from the Prophet. he stood up for the Prophet, on his so called deathbed, how brave a young man, willing to stay, knowing he was surrounded by enemies. he must have love Rasulullah all his heart. he must have been grieving still even after years the Prophet departed. what must have been his thoughts when he saw the ideal ummah built up by Rasulullah tumbling into conflicts, one after another. how must he felt, battling against the people he knew most of his life, as his family? going against the lady he respected most for being the Prophet's wife? he didn't want that to happen, would he? is he hurt? is he scared? worried? desperate? unable to resolve the problem when so many people are expecting him to do the right thing.
and if he was alive, and had known how his sons died. would it not break his heart terribly?
there's many ways to prolong this melancholy. but i won't indulge. we have taken things for granted. as a sunni, i have neglect to understand history. i might have been one sided all this way. and you call yourself a thinker?
lessons to be learnt, people.
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