Everyone have equal opportunity to achieve success

We have been bombarded with the wrong definition of success over and over and over again - until it seems like the truth. It's almost abominable to say, high education and wealth is NOT what success is. High education and wealth MAY be a tool to attain success. It could also be an obstacle to attaining success.

Some people hope that the general standard of living among people will rise - that we can 'educate' everyone - and by that they mean that everyone can get a piece of paper that says they have reached a certain level of study. Never mind if the person actually really LEARNED something for the years of school - as long as they get the high scores. However for most of these people, if we ask, what is the objective of your study? Most would say, it's to get the certificate, the degree the PHD - so that you can get a good job.

A good job. People want a 'good' job - meaning a job that pays well. WHY do people want a 'good' job that pays well? So they don't need to work as hard as the others? So that they get easier money?

What do they want to do with the easy money and a good job? To enjoy life? And then what? Do people think that the purpose of life is enjoyment?

This is how far we have been deluded in our effort and determination for 'success' in life.

This definition of 'success' in life has caused so much strain in the lives of people - those who cannot attain this 'success' or even for those who have 'attained' this success because they are still searching for something more.

The truth is - these are all delusions. The truth is hard to swallow. Just because it is being said repeatedly, it does not mean it's right.

There is only one objective of this life on earth - and that is worship Allah SWT who created us and to whom we will all return.

Allah has defined for us, what success is. It is NOT wealth and children. It's the good deeds that we do for the sake of Allah SWT. These can be achieved by anyone, young and old, rich or poor, one with a formal education or one without. Everyone has an equal chance at attaining THIS true success.

Then, should we let there be poor people? It's not about 'letting there be'. It's more about it being a natural state of being. Some people are born to lead, others to follow, some born male, others female. Some born rich, others poor. Some become rich, others become poor. We can't possibly have a uniform state for all man.

"For, He it is who has made you inherit the earth, and has raised some of you by degrees above others, so that He might try you by means of what He has bestowed upon you. [166] Verily, thy Sustainer is swift in retribution: yet, behold, He is indeed much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace."
Al An'am 6:165 (translation by Asad)

Having poor people is a blessing for the rich - it gives them the opportunity to do more good deeds - which is persistently mentioned in the Qur'an - that is to give to charity. If there are no poor people around, to whom can the rich give charity to?

Being poor or being rich is part of the Test that Allah has set for human beings. As mentioned, the best among them is not those who manage to attain more wealth, but those who can show more faith, piety, patience and perseverance in the state that are put in.

"Wealth and sons are allurements of the life of this world: But the things that endure, good deeds, are best in the sight of thy Lord, as rewards, and best as (the foundation for) hopes."
Al Kahf 18:46 (Yusuf Ali's translation).

So, what's the conclusion? Don't need to study? don't need to work?

Of course not. First we make clear our purpose of life. To seek Allah's blessings and therefore in whatever we do or try to achieve, we do it in order to seek His blessings. We work to seek the sustenance of Allah SWT, with intentions of giving back to the community, with the intention of being able to support our family and give back to charity. Be grateful for what Allah has provided for us. In whatever state that we are in, continue to have faith in Allah and his Rewards in the Hereafter, enjoin patience and perseverance.

The rich must remember their duty, and must not be miserly nor should they be wasteful. The rich have their own set of tests and their current wealth does not ensure their success in this world and Hereafter.

A successful community is not one where everyone is formally educated and wealthy. It's one where there are a mixture of the rich and the poor or needy, where the rich respects and helps the needy and the needy are not a nuisance to the society out of envy for the rich - in that they are knowledgeable in the deen of Allah SWT and practise it's teachings. Of course this applies to the rich too. In this scenario, people live in calmness and in harmony.

True, this situation is almost unimaginable - but the thing is, Allah will judge us individually - so it doesn't matter if this cannot be achieved at a community level. We are still required to do our part as an individual, as we are answerable for our own efforts and deeds.
We must try to find the meaning of life and peace and tranquility in our pursuit for the right kind of success - as defined by our Creator.


May we become a better Ummah. Aamiin.

the mere man

Live commentary on my reading Stephen Hawking's (& Leonard Mlodinow) - 'The Grand Design'.

Just bought it this afternoon. I bought it to read more about what we 'men' have known till now.

He wrote : "The M-theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing. Their creation does not need the intervention of a supernatural being or god."

:-/

Up till now, man only have had a mere 'glimpse of a slice of Reality', according to another scientist, Briane Greene in his book Fabric of the Cosmos.

I can't imagine how Stephen H can confidently come to that deduction. Isn't it a wonder, isn't it proof enough that the whole universe is created and kept running in perfect balance & order? If even a single element is or goes out of proportion, we cannot exist.

Some men claims that every single perfect thing is mere coincidence. The theory of everything happening on it's own, the theory of 'coincidence'. Imagine getting 1 million women to put flour, sugar, and egg into an oven and see if perhaps just one of them, can coincidentally turn into a perfect cake.

"Glorify the name of thy Guardian-Lord Most High,
Who hath created, and further, given order and proportion;"
Al A'la 87:1-2


Man.


"He has created man from a sperm-drop; and behold this same (man) becomes an open disputer!"
Al Quran, An-Nahl 16:4


*all translations of the Quran above, by Yusuf Ali.


To be continued,
if I have the mood.
insyaAllah.





*UPDATE* - don't want to waste my time. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun to the money lost.

Where do they go to?

Just now I went to a talk titled 'If today is your last day.' It was done at a mosque near the graveyard, Pusara Aman Mosque :D How apt.

That talk was good alhamdulillah - Ustaz Mizi asked us to think what if, a doctor tells us we're going to die within a few days/weeks? How that will change the way we look at life and things. I believe the important lesson here is to always be prepared for death. For the Muslims, isn't living basically, all about preparation for death?

However what I want to comment on is, how glad I am to see quite a number of Bangladeshi workers attending the talk. They had questions after the talk. I've always wondered if they have the opportunity to listen to sermons or attend regular Islamic classes on weekends.

I know the church near my house, is very active in getting foreign workers to the church. They have church masses in Chinese, Tagalog and even in Indonesian language! They provide buses for the people to come.

I wish our mosques can be more pro-active like that. Perhaps some mosques already are, and I just don't know about it. :)

Boring

I think you can read my slow transformation, into this kind of a monotone person, if you read the blog from 5 years ago.
I also noticed, how I wrote previously. Perhaps I was more playful. Now I feel like I am more conscious about my language, because I heard in a lecture that day that a good Muslim also speaks in a good and clear way - they avoid using slangs.

However when I am being talkative, I think these things still escape my mouth. But I only become very talkative with people I know well and/or am comfortable with. Or if the subject matter is something that interests me. It does not include shopping seasons, bags or entertainers. Other than that, I think I'm (verbally) quiet most of the time.

Perhaps these are 'trivial' stuff.
But then, a single atom may also be trivial, with a lot of empty space, but together they make up everything in the universe we know.

I know I may not be 'fun' to a lot of my friends already. I think I have become kind of boring.

"Boring is good, boring is safe." - heard that in some cartoon show.

I think there is some truth in that.

About the universe and the earth - from the Qur'an

For my own reference. Connections between scientists' findings and the Qur'an, always intrigues me.

1) The flat universe.

Scientists found the universe to be flat.

What's amazing to me is that, Allah SWT said in the Quran :

"The Day that We roll up the heavens like a scroll rolled up for books - even as We produced the first Creation, so shall We produce a new one : a promise We hae undertaken : truly shall We fulfil it."
Al Quran, Anbiyaa 21:104

I guess it's only logical that the heavens (universe) can be rolled up like a scroll, if it's flat like a piece of paper.


2) The earth, like a carpet.

The other time, someone has ever wondered what this ayat means, because we generally understand the earth to be a sphere.

"He Who has, made for you the earth like a carpet spread out; has enabled you to go about therein by roads (and channels); and has sent down water from the sky. With it have We produced diverse pairs of plants each separate from the others."
Al Qur'an, Ta-ha. 20:53

Now I personally think and understand this as referring to the crust of the earth, which is thin, like a carpet - like how in the deserts where the sand is hot, a carpet is spread - so we can rest on it comfortably, protected from the heat on the ground.

Geologists have found that the earth is made up of 4 known parts:

a) The inner core, the hottest part of the Earth.
b) The outer core, still extremely hot, with temperatures similar to the inner core.
c) The mantle, made up of semi-molten rock called magma - about 2900km in diameter.
d) The crust, which is the outer layer of the earth. It is a thin layer between 0-60 km thick. The crust is the solid rock layer upon which we live.

Wallahu a'lam.


رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَذا بَاطِلاً سُبْحَانَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ
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