Monday, December 29, 2008

Maal Hijrah 1430H

Assalamualaikum wr wb

Selamat Maal Hijrah 1430H to all Muslim bros and sisters, teachers and friends

It’s a new Islamic year again! I started off the new year by attending the Nasqbandi dzikir and du’a session for Muharram. Attending such sessions made me ponder a lot about the new year. And the dzikir and selawat sessions revive my ever-flutuating remembrance of the Lover and the Beloved.

In secular terms, new year means setting new resolutions. But some say, why set new year resolutions when you can’t fulfill them?

New year means new beginning.

New beginning means shedding the bad stuff and putting on your good behaviour.

May Allah swt grant all Muslims with increased taqwa and iman level all year round. Amin!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Certainty

On a clear, bright and sunny day....



Suddenly, this thought came to my mind:



Life is so uncertain but Death is.



Isn't it true?



2008 is coming to an end soon. In just one year, so many things have happened around the globe. Great Depression, stocks plummetted, big companies go bankrupt; while some were on the verge, economic crisis etc etc (just to name a few). Mankind can't really predict what's going to happen next.



That's why i felt that life is uncertain.



And why Death is more certain than Life.



Because you know death will surely come. But you don't know when. You can't avoid it because you know it will surely APPROACH you, you just don't know when is the time.



So.....



Life is uncertain. Death is.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Journey of Faith (part 3)

In the name of Allah most Compassionate most Merciful


Of Haj and Hardships
More substantial factual accounts about Haj pilgrimage in the Malay Archipelago started to appear in the 19th century. According to Michael Laffan in Islamic Nationhood and Colonial Indonesia, the first actualised account that mentions journey to Mecca is Munshi Abdullah’s Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah (The Story of Abdullah’s Voyage). Munshi Abdullah, whose literary contributions had earned him the title the father of modern Malay literature, made his journey in 1854. His Haj account stopped shortly before his death in Jeddah. There is also information that points to an even earlier Haj pilgrimage, made by Sayyid Muhammad bin Zainal al Idrus, a Trengganu ulama who is known as the father of Trengganu’s literature. Sayyid Muhammad went to Mecca around 1815 at the age of 20 and spent several years there pursuing his studies. Yet another account in the 19th century relates the story of Muhammad Yusof bin Ahmad better known as Tok Kenali Kelantan who went to Mecca in 1886 at the age of 18.

Two of these intellectuals, Munshi Abdullah and Tok Kenali, described a Haj journey that departs from the pompous-fleet-of-ship and entourage-full sailing found in Hikayat Hang Tuah and even Sultan Mansur’s Haj preparations. They wrote of hardships and gave readers a more realistic version of Haj, as if to warn them of its mental and physical exertions. Munshi Abdullah drew up a will before he left, accepting the fact that he might not survive the Haj.

In the actualised accounts, we learn of the many stops Haj pilgrims had to make. The pilgrims also waited for ships, which in turn waited for the right winds to depart. In the days of sailing ships, the Indian Ocean and the lands along its coast lay in wait for the ‘trade wind’. The phrase ‘trade wind’ is ancient and is derived from an old use of the word ‘trade’ to mean a fixed track. In navigation, it refers to any wind that follows a predictable course. As such winds are instrumental to merchant ships making long ocean voyages, the term evolved to mean in the 18th century as winds that favour trade. In the Indian Ocean, the monsoons are the famous trade winds. They are particularly beneficial to long distance merchants because they change direction at different seasons of the year. The northeast monsoon blows from October to March and the southwest monsoon from April to September. As the change in the monsoon winds take months, traders and pilgrims alike had to stay in the various ports of call for the right wind to carry them to their next stop.


Pilgrims would seek out trading ships to book their passage. As trading ships had their own destination, the pilgrims had to change ships to ensure that they boarded the right ship. Their journey would bring them to various ports in the Archipelago where ships would load up on water and other supplies. The last stop in the Archipelago was Aceh and here the pilgrims would wait for ships bound for India. From India, the pilgrims sailed on ships that would bring them to Hadhramaut, Yemen or directly to Jeddah. The perils of sailing for months were many. The ships could sink or be stranded in unknown islands. The pilgrims could be robed by pirates or even by the ships’ crew. They were vulnerable to diseases while both at sea and on land. Having set foot in Arabia, they could be attacked by the Bedouin tribes. In the Netherlands Indies, between 1853 and 1858, less than half of the pilgrims who went to Mecca made it back safely. This high attrition rate was attributed to mainly death at sea or being sold as slaves.

For Tok Kenali who went on his pilgrimage in 1886, he could only embark on his journey after securing contributions for the voyages’ fare. His friends in Kelantan gave him $50 and his mother topped it up with $22. The cost of his journey was $100. He set out from Kelantan in an ailing ship which had its sail broken in the middle of the ocean. As a result, a journey that was expected to take 3 months extended to 6 months. The delay also depleted the supply of fresh water onboard and Tok Kenali had to survive on salt laden seawater.

Haj and Arab shipping in Singapore
The rise of Hadhrami shipping in the Malay Archipelago in the mid 19th century boded well for pilgrims in this region. Hadhrami Arab shippers hailed from Yemen and competed successfully with the Europeans and Chinese in trade and shipping in the Indian Ocean. The Alsagoffs, a prominent Arab family in Singapore, established the firm Alsagoff & Co. in 1848 to conduct trade within the islands of the Archipelago using their own vessels.

In the 1850s, Sayyid Ahmad Alsagoff extended the realm of his family business by starting a profitable business of transporting pilgrims between Southeast Asia and Jeddah. Using Singapore as the base, the Alsagoffs’ position in the pilgrim trade was tremendously strengthened by the Dutch restriction on the flow of pilgrims from Indonesia. Pilgrims from the Netherlands Indies during the first half of the 19th century numbered a few hundreds only as the Dutch imposed a tax on prospective pilgrims. This is to discourage the return of religious fanatics who, the Dutch feared, would be groomed while performing the Haj and deepening Islamic knowledge in Mecca. Singapore, thus, became the hub of an expanding pilgrim trade from Southeast Asia partly because of this restriction, as many would bypass it by beginning their Haj from Singapore. This tax was removed in 1852.

When steamship arrived in the late half of the 19th century, the Arab shipping merchants capitalised on the speed and capacity of these vessels. By 1871, the Alsagoff-owned Singapore Steamship Company had ferried pilgrims to Jeddah by steamers steered by a European captain and a Chinese hand. Another Arab shipping merchant who ran steamer services for pilgrims was Syed Mohsen Al-Joofree. Towards the end of the 19th century, he was locked in fierce competition with 2 Dutch steamers for pilgrims. But his business flopped some time before his death in 1894.

Conclusion
By the early 20th century, the Haj had become a competitive business with serious investments by international shipping companies. The waves had been tamed by large steam-powered vessels custom-built to combine pilgrim and cargo transport. While the duration to get to Jeddah had improved tremendously, the well being and safety of Haj pilgrims still lagged behind. The number of pilgrims had swelled to a point where effective sanitation, hygiene, administration and guardianship of pilgrims could not adequately addressed by purely commercial concerns. The British and Dutch colonial governments introduced regulations to protect Haj pilgrims but tales of extreme overcrowding in pilgrim ships and of Haj pilgrims getting stranded without a return ticket after being manipulated by shipping agents and brokers continued to be heard. The comfort that Haj pilgrims experience today is a result of decades of reforms by various parties, helped by the advances of transportation. For a journey that is deeply spiritual, Haj pilgrimage in the Malay Archipelago cannot be divorced from its social and economic dimensions.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Journey of Faith (part 2)

In the name of Allah most Compassionate Most Merciful

Convergence of Human Waves
During the first 13 centuries of Islam, to embark for Haj was like attempting to run an endless marathon. The journey could take years as many pilgrims were poor and had to stop en route to work and save before setting out again. Before the first half of the 19th century, a vast majority of pilgrims took the overland route to Mecca, which proved to be more arduous than the sea route. There were 3 slow moving waves of pilgrims entering Mecca during the Haj season. The first arrived by an armada of ships that ploughed the vast Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea from these locations:
1. the sprinkled archipelagos of the East Indies
2. the great inverted triangle of the Indian subcontinent
3. the coast of East Africa and the horn of Africa

The next wave, slower than the first, trotted by foot or on horse/camel caravans, bringing pilgrims from the Middle East and North Africa. Even slower is the last wave, which trudged across Central Africa.

Pilgrims on all these waves braved hardships; the adventurous overland folks had to conquer harsh terrains, fought off raids by moving tribes or found themselves just plain lost. For their sea-faring counterparts, the spectre of diseases loomed or they risked their boats and hence live being overturned by ruthless waves.

Haj in Malay Traditional texts
Early records of Haj pilgrimage from the Malay archipelago showed that pilgrimage wa a private enterprise and confined to certain classes of individuals. Before the commercialisation of the Haj in the late 19th century that enabled en masse pilgrimage to Mecca, Haj incumbents either individually or in small groups made their own arrangements for Meca. Those who went were usually men of some standing in the community – either they had the resources or they had attained a relatively high level of Islamic education.

The Malay hikayat contain some of the earliest instances of Haj in this region. Hikayat Hang Tuah (possibly first written in the 16th century) records a Haj pilgrimage in the 15th century, undertaken by Hang Tuah, a great Malay warrior. While the authenticity of both this epic and the legendary hero is debatable, the detailed account of his deeds in the Holy Land is not too far from the rituals preached to Haj pilgrims. On this basis, there were claims that Hang Tuah’s pilgrimage in the 15th century leans more towards fact than fiction. Authenticity aside, the Haj journey in Hikayat Hang Tuah is useful for its insights on the route, ports of call, places traversed and the modes of transportation. The Hikyat records Hang Tuah as taking more than 2 months to reach Jeddah, leading a fleet of 42 ships and bringing with him 1,600 followers and 16 officials. The route he took is mapped as below:
a. from Malacca to Aceh – 5 days 5 nights
b. from Aceh to Pulau Dewa – 10 days
c. from Pulau Dewa to Bab Mokha (Mocha is in Yemen. The journey from Pulau Dewa to Jeddah took 2 months).

According to Hikayat Hang Tuah, Hang Tuah’s pilgrimage was coincidental for his ultimate quest was the quasi-mythical empire of Rome and his imperial mission was to establish ties with the king of Rome and purchase weaponry. On his way to Rome, Hang Tuah called at Mecca just at the time when the Haj season was about to begin, and so he joined the pilgrims there for Haj. This is unlike other Islamic kingdoms in Indonesia whose kings consciously planned missions to Mecca with the desire to be conferred the title “Sultan” by the Great Sheriff (Syarif Besar). Their actions could be prompted by the belief that only the Great Sheriff, with his control over the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, had spiritual authority to bestow supernatural aura and power on Islamic kingdoms, although there was no such tradition in Mecca. In 1630s, competition between the king of Banten and the King of Mataram led each of the kingdoms to send holy missions to Mecca. The mission from Banten returned in 1626 while that from Mataram arrived home in 1641.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Journey of Faith( part 1)

In the name of Allah most Compassionate most Merciful

Today marks the celebration of Eidul-Adha. This day holds many significant events for Muslims and for the pilgrims.

Making the journey to Mecca to fulfil the obligation of the Haj is a long and cherished ambition for most Muslims. In heeding the call of the Ka’bah (House of God)in Mecca, where all Muslims turned to in their prayers, the Haj is not for the faint-hearted or the ill prepared. In Haj, the pursuit of spiritual upliftment transcends worldly wants and often requires stoicism in the face of hardships. Travelling in strange Arab lands and in close company of multitudes of strangers, hardships are never few. As an obligation, in fact, the Haj is not demanded on those who cannot canvass the strength and earnings to leave their routines and family dependants behind in order to complete the intense Haj rituals.

Extracted from an article in biblioasia (NLB)
Far flung devotees such as Muslims in Southeast Asia, just traversing parts of the globe to reach Mecca was once a severe test to their mettle.


Today, because of advance transportation, flights from anywhere in the world has diminished the distance to Mecca, making the trip to the Holy Land bearable. Surviving the journey to Mecca is almost a certainty and forms the least of the pilgrims’ worries. A return passage to their homeland at the end of the Haj is also guaranteed, as most pilgrims would have booked a two-way ticket. This was not the practice in the old days as it was the custom for pilgrims to book a one-way ticket to Jeddah. They booked their ticket home from Jeddah only after they had completed their haj. In the pre-flight days, many pilgrims, often due to the treachery of their motowwafs (local pilgrim guides), found themselves with no money for their return passage. In one instance, in 1897, the British Consul in Jeddah had to assist 106 pilgrims to make it back home. There were others however who were not so lucky. They became victims to shipping agents’ manipulation to secure cheap labour.

Just before the turn of the 20th century, in what was to become a big scandal in Singapore, the colonial government in Singapore uncovered a syndicate, which cunningly offered destitute pilgrims an advance on their return fares in exchange for the pilgrims; agreement to work in the shipping agent’s plantations. For pilgrims in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia (and for most part of the world), hassle-free journeys only came about in the 1970s when flights became regular and affordable. Prior to that, malay pilgrims travelled to Mecca mainly by sea on sailing ships and later steamers. It would take months to reach the port at Jeddah where the vessels would congregate and spill their contents.

to be continued....

Friday, December 05, 2008

Time is not on our side

In the name of Allah most Compassionate most Merciful

"By time, indeed, mankind is in loss, Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience."
(Surah al-Asr 103:1~3)

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh brothers and sisters in Islam

Do you feel that time is slipping through your hands like sand, or by the blink of your eye, it was Monday; another blink, comes Friday...

Time passes so quickly that I realised that I haven't been really making full use of it. How would i be able to answer to God, for the time He has given me throughout my lifetime?

With all the time i was given, did i seek knowledge with the intention to know Him and the religion better?

With all the time given, did i seek to carry out more ibadah so that He will be pleased with me? Who and what did i give my time to? Useless time spent in the malls, infront of the TV, or perhaps web-browsing?

Ya Allah, why do my heart get diverted away from You so easily? I seek refuge with you, O Rabb, from the whisperings and promptings of Shaitan and this dunya, nafs and hawa!

Ya Allah, please take me away from the depths of my past that will drown me and pull me away from Your Remembrance! For the past do me more harm than good and You are the most Compassionate most Merciful God, have mercy upon me!

I was getting really worried when I hadn't been sick for a long time. For I always hear, sickness is a way Allah swt blots/removes your sins. When I had fever at almost 39degress C, and my head was spinning and spinning, and not even my favourite food could tempt my poor appetite, I did not forget to thank Allah swt for making me sick. Alhamdulillah! I wished my fever won't go down so fast... and when i heard from my husband that fevers bring blessings, I had wished that it wouldn't go away the next day; for Prophet s.a.w had fevers, even when he was about to pass away.

Nevertheless, I recovered. Alhamdulillah. Well, now that i'm back to normal already, I still need to thank Allah for the good health that He bestowed upon me, for this body is on loan from Him, and I should(and everyone should) take good care of it. Don't destroy it.

Allah swt blessings and favours are upon all of US. MANKIND. REGARDLESS OF RACE. COLOUR. BACKGROUND. ENTIRE CREATION. PERIOD.

p.s: One of the signs of the Last Hour/Judgement Day is that TIME will pass very quickly. Indeed, this is happening already. and many other signs mentioned by Prophet s.a.w are also happening.

Take heed, even if your faith is as small as a mustard seed.

How much time do we have?