How do we go on studying everything else, and not know our Quran? And we verbally agree that Quran is THE guide to life.
How do we teach others about life, and not refer to the Quran at all?
How can a Muslim person claim to be knowledgeable but not know the book given to them by God?
The Quran should be the basis of knowledge. And everything else that we learn is to supplement the knowledge, as Allah has asked us to do in the Quran (don’t you see?, don’t you know? don’t you think? don’t you observe?)
You and I say, okay, maybe I (and quite a number of other Muslims) say.. Islam (submission to One God) has the answer to all our current modern problems in the world. How do we even begin to educate the young, about living, without explaining to them the purpose of life?
Quran HAS to be the start to education.
The original purpose of education was to know God, and to know what to do to please God, and then live our lives around that. - Now?
Ya Allah, grant me knowledge that is beneficial. Aamiin.
Madame Blossom's Book of Poems
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
information or distraction
Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist, was quoted in the book (page 81) 'The Lost Art of Reading - David L Ulin', as saying, "We have a generation of people who... are so busy processing information from all directions they are losing the tendency to think and feel. Much of what they are exposed to is superficial. People are sacrificing depth and feeling, and becoming cut off and disconnected from other people."
I hate to think that my blog would be a source of distraction without meaning, in these internet world of information, where information itself is a source of distraction, with no real benefit. Mostly short, some sporadic, without any real conscious intent to contribute in a positive way, but just as an internet way of saying 'I was here!'.
However, I'm not of the opinion that something important or relevant, must consist of 7000 words at least. Rasulullah SAW, did not say words of advice on specific events that could produce a book - most of it ARE short information - but they are RELEVANT information that if pondered upon and/or acted upon will make us a better person.
I remember how a priest turned Muslim (Dr Jerald) answered the question of one nun, who attended the talk about Early Christianity. The nun asked him to comment about the phrase in the Bible (John 30:10) 'I and the Father are one' with regards to Jesus (A.S.)
His answer was short. 'One. One in what? In body? In mission? In vision?' Then silence.
I felt awed. It was a short answer that demands the questioner to think. Sometimes there is no point, in making a point, if the questioner will not think. The answer was a question that the nun needed to ask herself - about what she truly sincerely know and believe in - in those words.
The problem with current information is not really that it is short - shorter than a book. The issues are that :
a) there are so many information out there, and most people don't bother to be choosy about what they read or take in.
b) they are taking it in like snacks, without much thought, and it does not satiate the intellect. They don't give themselves time and space to absorb, to think, to change/act, before they go on to the next information.
Books help to prolong the time spent to absorb an idea or information - throughout the time the person is reading the book.
So what is my take on the vast information available? Firstly, to be choosy about what information we feed our minds with - must be beneficial to us or our community. We also need to give ourselves time and space to absorb that information, to think and to decide, what we will do about it.
If we receive an information, for which there is nothing we can do to make improvements in any way at all, then, that piece of information is useless.
Did you just finish reading this post? Don't read anything else just yet.
Stop... and ponder first.
.
I hate to think that my blog would be a source of distraction without meaning, in these internet world of information, where information itself is a source of distraction, with no real benefit. Mostly short, some sporadic, without any real conscious intent to contribute in a positive way, but just as an internet way of saying 'I was here!'.
However, I'm not of the opinion that something important or relevant, must consist of 7000 words at least. Rasulullah SAW, did not say words of advice on specific events that could produce a book - most of it ARE short information - but they are RELEVANT information that if pondered upon and/or acted upon will make us a better person.
I remember how a priest turned Muslim (Dr Jerald) answered the question of one nun, who attended the talk about Early Christianity. The nun asked him to comment about the phrase in the Bible (John 30:10) 'I and the Father are one' with regards to Jesus (A.S.)
His answer was short. 'One. One in what? In body? In mission? In vision?' Then silence.
I felt awed. It was a short answer that demands the questioner to think. Sometimes there is no point, in making a point, if the questioner will not think. The answer was a question that the nun needed to ask herself - about what she truly sincerely know and believe in - in those words.
The problem with current information is not really that it is short - shorter than a book. The issues are that :
a) there are so many information out there, and most people don't bother to be choosy about what they read or take in.
b) they are taking it in like snacks, without much thought, and it does not satiate the intellect. They don't give themselves time and space to absorb, to think, to change/act, before they go on to the next information.
Books help to prolong the time spent to absorb an idea or information - throughout the time the person is reading the book.
So what is my take on the vast information available? Firstly, to be choosy about what information we feed our minds with - must be beneficial to us or our community. We also need to give ourselves time and space to absorb that information, to think and to decide, what we will do about it.
If we receive an information, for which there is nothing we can do to make improvements in any way at all, then, that piece of information is useless.
Did you just finish reading this post? Don't read anything else just yet.
Stop... and ponder first.
.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
my thoughts for this morning
I'm not sure, if we should have 'long term' plans. I mean after all, who knows when our life will end. Especially if our 'long term' plan is only duniawi - it's like a waste of time. Long term achievements should be a sum of our short term achievements - those that we aim to do and achieve today and now. Of course we should plan what we want to do later and tomorrow or next week - but to hope for achievement to come only THEN, rather than doing something and achieving something in the mean time - is like putting it to chance.
The good thing about us, as a servant of Allah SWT, is that Allah rewards us for our efforts - not necessarily the result of our effort. The result, achieved in this lifetime, may be the reward for our effort - or a test. Even happiness is attained more in the effort and the time taken to achieve 'the goal', rather than in the goal itself.
I remembered a talk I saw on Youtube yesterday, about how we are not someone who is surrounded by other things and events - but how we ARE a part of that Nature and Events that is happening around us, and how all of these are a sum of who we are before, now and in the future - which is different overtime.
I hope, I am shaped and made up of a lot of efforts and small achievements.
***
Alhamdulillah, I have managed to book, an Umrah package for the whole family. I am going to look away from the amount that we have to spend to bring my family of 6! 5 of which are already charged for adult prices. Yikes. BUT - all these years, we've been spending on things that don't mean a thing, and we didn't beat an eyelid... so, Ya Allah, do bless us, our efforts, our rezeki and our time for You. Aamiin.
I told the children many times, I think only after we have gone for Umrah as a family and I have performed my Hajj, then am I ok with spending our money to travel anywhere else. So let this year, be a year of Umrah and Hajj, and may Allah give barakah upon our rezeki for other travels next year, insyaAllah.
But you know, the best kind of travels is not to travel as a 'tourist', but to be among other people and cultures and see and experience the life there, in order to make ourselves a better person, someone who is broad-minded, and see in all these, the Signs that Allah SWT has put forth, and as such strengthens our Iman. I hope I can do this somehow, by studying/working part time in some country with my kids in tow. :p Aamiin.
Wishful thinking? I don't know.. Allah has planned our lives for us. I'll just doa and make some small effort, and we'll leave Allah's plans to Him. :)
The good thing about us, as a servant of Allah SWT, is that Allah rewards us for our efforts - not necessarily the result of our effort. The result, achieved in this lifetime, may be the reward for our effort - or a test. Even happiness is attained more in the effort and the time taken to achieve 'the goal', rather than in the goal itself.
I remembered a talk I saw on Youtube yesterday, about how we are not someone who is surrounded by other things and events - but how we ARE a part of that Nature and Events that is happening around us, and how all of these are a sum of who we are before, now and in the future - which is different overtime.
I hope, I am shaped and made up of a lot of efforts and small achievements.
***
Alhamdulillah, I have managed to book, an Umrah package for the whole family. I am going to look away from the amount that we have to spend to bring my family of 6! 5 of which are already charged for adult prices. Yikes. BUT - all these years, we've been spending on things that don't mean a thing, and we didn't beat an eyelid... so, Ya Allah, do bless us, our efforts, our rezeki and our time for You. Aamiin.
I told the children many times, I think only after we have gone for Umrah as a family and I have performed my Hajj, then am I ok with spending our money to travel anywhere else. So let this year, be a year of Umrah and Hajj, and may Allah give barakah upon our rezeki for other travels next year, insyaAllah.
But you know, the best kind of travels is not to travel as a 'tourist', but to be among other people and cultures and see and experience the life there, in order to make ourselves a better person, someone who is broad-minded, and see in all these, the Signs that Allah SWT has put forth, and as such strengthens our Iman. I hope I can do this somehow, by studying/working part time in some country with my kids in tow. :p Aamiin.
Wishful thinking? I don't know.. Allah has planned our lives for us. I'll just doa and make some small effort, and we'll leave Allah's plans to Him. :)
Monday, January 23, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
duped
Yesterday he taught us how to lie our way to being noticed. I chose to ignore that. Today he spoke more about how to oversell yourself and your film project. If it's 20-50-200-500k, just say it's a 'project that is just under a milliion dollars'.
I realise, we've been duped. This will be the last time, I am ever going to another lecture or talk given by some non-Muslim guy from the west. We think he has credibility just because he was from the west??
Seriously now, I am doubting his selling points for this lecture event, because he is always talking about overselling - that's how they do business right? You cannot trust these people. Did Quentin REALLY gained anything from him??? He sells himself as the 'greatest film lecturer' - seriously, I thought the two other film/movie related courses, conducted by a Malay (Jins Shamsudin and Faisal Chal Ahmad) were way much better, honest, relevant and beneficial for me.
Like he said himself, Americans, there are a lot of crap out there, but they are so damn good at advertising. For me, American advertising is basically tricking others into thinking that something is way much better than it really is. Dang.
He also joked (?) that being Jewish, he did wrong by paying for something at retail price. He would always want to buy as cheap as possible. Then the idea is to oversell as high as possible. That's it - make money. You know, as Muslims, we are expected to be honest, and to give and take. There is a particular ayat** on being so calculative about our own measure, and then giving others less than their due measure - it is a sin. So NO! I AM NOT TAKING YOUR ADVICE ABOUT OVERSELLING AND LYING OUR WAY THROUGH.
Then the notes.. pfft the notes are just pieces of information he picks up from the web, prints them and binds them into a plastic booklet.
For today's lecture, he spoke about how to sell our film. Granted, I learned a thing or 2 today, that I can summarise in 2 sentences about press kit. The rest are very irrelevant to us - about sales in America.. I mean c'mon.. if this is going to be our first low budget feature film, what chances does he think we'll have to contact those people in America and sell our films?? He doesn't know the situation in Singapore and our market. He cannot give us relevant information about how to sell our films. I quite sure I can learn much more from Sujimy or Jack Neo (if they hold classes).
Here is another thing that I chose to ignore yesterday, with just good assumptions. When he started the class, he did say, it's all about MONEY. Give him a cheque then he'll talk business. No bullshit about love for movies or anything.. just give him the money and he'll lecture. He's NOT COMING TO SINGAPORE TO TRAIN UP A TERRORIST!! Now, I seriously wonder what on earth he meant by that. I mean seriously, what has Singapore, got to do with terrorism in their world? By the way there were 2 Muslims ladies in the class, including me.
Just now another caucasian female participant was telling me, she will leave half way, cause this man seems to be repeating a lot, and she doesn't like him because he is obnoxious.
I regret having paid for this event - but I'll take it as a mistake, turned into a lesson learnt. No more.. no more courses by bragging mat sallehs after this. Illa masyaAllah.
Then just now he asked if we want certificates for this course. He promises the certificate will look like UCLA certificates - same printer, same paper. Thanks, but no thanks. I left the class at lunch time. By this time, I feel like it's a class about how to cheat people.
Haih.. he is so much older than me la.. 70-71.. and I respect him as a person older than me and that's all. Hish.
**
"WOE UNTO THOSE who give short measure:
those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full –
but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due!"
Mutaffifin 83:1-3 (transliteration by Asad)
I realise, we've been duped. This will be the last time, I am ever going to another lecture or talk given by some non-Muslim guy from the west. We think he has credibility just because he was from the west??
Seriously now, I am doubting his selling points for this lecture event, because he is always talking about overselling - that's how they do business right? You cannot trust these people. Did Quentin REALLY gained anything from him??? He sells himself as the 'greatest film lecturer' - seriously, I thought the two other film/movie related courses, conducted by a Malay (Jins Shamsudin and Faisal Chal Ahmad) were way much better, honest, relevant and beneficial for me.
Like he said himself, Americans, there are a lot of crap out there, but they are so damn good at advertising. For me, American advertising is basically tricking others into thinking that something is way much better than it really is. Dang.
He also joked (?) that being Jewish, he did wrong by paying for something at retail price. He would always want to buy as cheap as possible. Then the idea is to oversell as high as possible. That's it - make money. You know, as Muslims, we are expected to be honest, and to give and take. There is a particular ayat** on being so calculative about our own measure, and then giving others less than their due measure - it is a sin. So NO! I AM NOT TAKING YOUR ADVICE ABOUT OVERSELLING AND LYING OUR WAY THROUGH.
Then the notes.. pfft the notes are just pieces of information he picks up from the web, prints them and binds them into a plastic booklet.
For today's lecture, he spoke about how to sell our film. Granted, I learned a thing or 2 today, that I can summarise in 2 sentences about press kit. The rest are very irrelevant to us - about sales in America.. I mean c'mon.. if this is going to be our first low budget feature film, what chances does he think we'll have to contact those people in America and sell our films?? He doesn't know the situation in Singapore and our market. He cannot give us relevant information about how to sell our films. I quite sure I can learn much more from Sujimy or Jack Neo (if they hold classes).
Here is another thing that I chose to ignore yesterday, with just good assumptions. When he started the class, he did say, it's all about MONEY. Give him a cheque then he'll talk business. No bullshit about love for movies or anything.. just give him the money and he'll lecture. He's NOT COMING TO SINGAPORE TO TRAIN UP A TERRORIST!! Now, I seriously wonder what on earth he meant by that. I mean seriously, what has Singapore, got to do with terrorism in their world? By the way there were 2 Muslims ladies in the class, including me.
Just now another caucasian female participant was telling me, she will leave half way, cause this man seems to be repeating a lot, and she doesn't like him because he is obnoxious.
I regret having paid for this event - but I'll take it as a mistake, turned into a lesson learnt. No more.. no more courses by bragging mat sallehs after this. Illa masyaAllah.
Then just now he asked if we want certificates for this course. He promises the certificate will look like UCLA certificates - same printer, same paper. Thanks, but no thanks. I left the class at lunch time. By this time, I feel like it's a class about how to cheat people.
Haih.. he is so much older than me la.. 70-71.. and I respect him as a person older than me and that's all. Hish.
**
"WOE UNTO THOSE who give short measure:
those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full –
but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due!"
Mutaffifin 83:1-3 (transliteration by Asad)
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