Tuesday 14 June 2016

Lion of Cyrenaica


(Translation)'What a beautiful message did Sanusi give to King Faisal
                            By descent you Hijazi are, but in heart Hijazi could no be'[1]
The couplet is taken from Bang-Dara by Legendary Philosopher of East, Allama Muhammad Iqbal in appreciation of a Libyan Legend Sheikh Omer Mukhtar(Sanusi) a.k.a 'Lion of the Desert'. At the time of his hanging, Prince Faisal was viceroy of Hejaz in 1931. Iqbal mocked Ameer Faisal for not being a Hijazi in Heart i.e. like the Predecessors of all Muslims. Below you'll find an account of Life of a Brave Revolutionary.  


OMAR AL-MUKHTAR: LION OF THE DESERT – SHEIKH AHMAD MUSA JIBRIL

We go back in history to 1862 where a young boy of a poor household was born in a town controlled by the Uthmany Khilafa. This young man was brought under the care and tutelage of one of the Shuyookh in his home town when he was at the ripe age of 16 after the death of his father.
He eventually developed a lifestyle of not sleeping more than 3 hours every night in order to get up to pray to Allah at the last third of the night and recite Qur’an until fajr. He memorized the Qur’an (as all knowledgeable people begin their lives) eventually, and was known to have finished his revisions in its entirety every seven days, regardless of the sufferings he encountered in his life.
His courage and wisdom was pronounced, and was an example for people to follow. This was evident on one of his caravan trails to Sudan as a young man. A lion had deterred the people from entering a particular path. Caravans were veered else where for fear of this lion. To distract this lion, people would resort giving it one of their camels, a most prized possession, so they could pass safely. He learned of this lion during the journey, where upon he consequently took it upon himself to face this crisis head on. Unlike other men in the caravan who were dumbstruck by the situation, he carried his shot gun, rode his horse and went after the lion. He came back with the lion’s head much to everyone’s surprise and due gratitude. This earned him the name “Lion of Cyrenaica.”
An upbringing of courage and upright religiosity had a massive effect on him. His character would not only change the course of his tribe, country and people, but also the world of Muslims in the Post Colonial Era.
In his twenties he was known for his maturity beyond his years as well as his wisdom, for he continued to solve tribal disputes. His people listened to him and took his counsel regardless of village or region he found himself in. His manners were known to be great, for he was eloquent, balanced in his speech, and appealing to those who listened. This uniqueness helped him unite the tribes, and later on gather armies to fend off the colonizers.
His thirties was marked by the dawn of the Colonial Era as it began to spread its cancer to the rest of the world. At the time when the world was being ravaged by European nations, this man stood firm for Islam and faced colonizers with his valor. He fought fiercely against the French with a group called Banu Sanus, who would later be known as the Sanusies. For a brief moment, they also fought the British, who were marked by greed and attempted to conquer their land.
As part of a global feast on the so-called less civilized nations, Italy joined the European nations in causing havoc in the southern part of the hemisphere by colonizing North Africa. It was during this time, this man, in his fifties, gathered his forces in the face of an invasion attack against Libya, his homeland.
To pacify his resistance army, the Italians offered him high ranking positions and wealth. In return, they demanded that he surrender and follow their Colonial decree. He responded in a famous quote saying, “I’m not a sweet bite of a meal anyone can swallow. No matter how long they try to change my belief and opinion, Allah is going to let them down.”
They then offered him to leave his town to live closer to the ruling party complete with a monthly salary, but he again refused by saying, “No, I will not leave my country until I meet my lord. Death is closer to me than anything, I’m waiting for it by the minute.”
This man, whose seventy more years of age had not prevented him from fighting, was the soul of his people’s resistance against hopeless odds. He gave his people hope against an army thousands more than his own, equipped with more modern weapons, airplanes and armoury while he and his men starved in the mountains with nothing on their backs but their rifles and horses. After his firm position, as the Ummah is always in need of such legends to lead the people, people gathered around him. He successfully began to strike the Italians where it hurt. He hit firmly, swiftly, and harshly those who thought occupying Muslim lands, oppressing, imprisoning, and torturing Muslims, was going be effortless.
Another man in his nineties named Abu Karayyim, from the Jalu oasis, had fought with him in the deep south. Hunger and disease eventually decimated his people. The Italians soon stepped up operations by burning and pillaging villages. Women, children and the elderly were not spared. During their weakest point, people were gathered and placed in concentration camps.
The Sanusi, Muhammad az-Zaway, who once fought with him against the French, attempted to persuade him to retreat to Egypt with the rest of those who fought against the French. But, this man refused to turn his back on the enemy knowing well that his chances are dim against a force that was swelling by the minute.
When asked why he continued the fight, he stated that he fought for his religion, and he sought no other than to get the occupiers of his lands. As to fighting, he said that was a fard , regardless of the outcome as victory comes from Allah. He used to refuse any peace talks with the colonizers saying we have nothing but to fight the occupying enemies of Allah.
After countless battles, he was wounded and captured alive. He and his men defended themselves until he and one of his companions were left. At last
his horse was shot dead under him, causing him to fall to the ground. He was shackled and brought to a city called Suluq, where the Italian military post was established.
This man believed Jihad was ordained upon every able Muslim while his homeland was occupied by the colonizers. With his faith, heroism and courage he earned the respect of even his enemies.

                                                 Captured in his 70’s
The military officer who interrogated him said, “When he came to my office I imagined to see someone like the thousand of murabiteen who I met in the desert wars. His hands were shackeled, he had broken bones caused by fighting, dragging himself barely able to walk. He was a man not like normal men even though the affect that he was apprehended had shown upon him. He stood in my office as we asked him and he answered in a calm clear collective voice. When he gathered to leave, the brightness of his face like a sunshine amazed me and shook my heart. My lips shivered towards the end of the conversation whereby I ordered him back to his cell to stand before a court in the evening.”
He was a legend who was firm in his religion at a time when the leaders of his country emigrated (as they do today ) to surrender to the Italians. The biggest scholars of his time from the Sanusies, who previously fought with him against the French and the British, did not come to his aid in time. Instead, many of them became loyal to the Italians by giving them Muslim lands in exchange for clemency, montly salaries, and freedom from taxation. Such is true for Muslims today.
On the contrary, this man took out his Qur’an, held it, and gave an oath to Allah that he would not stop fighting the occupying oppressors even if it meant fighting them alone until victory had been attained or that he becomes a martyr. In the last twenty years of his life, he led and personally fought in 1000 battles.

                                                 In shackles, after his capture and brought to Saluq
When the Italian general made him a final offer to make him their puppet and be allowed to live like the other leaders of his people, he answered, “I shall not cease to fight against thee and thy people until either you leave my country or I leave my life. And I swear by Him who knows whaht is in men’s hearts that if my ands were not bound this very moment, I would fight you with my bare hands, old and broken as I am..”
It was then that the Italian general laughed and ordered him to be hung after a frontal saving face act of a mock trial. Even before the court was in session a rope outside the court house hung waiting him.
His hanging took place before hundreds of tribes in 1931. With the intent to scare the Muslims, the Italians did not succeed in doing this. The opposite had taken place. His hanging shook the entire Muslim world, and numerous resistances took place specifically in North Africa.
May Allah raise his position in paradise.
The Italians took pictures of him in shackles, surrounded by smiling Italian generals, and those who expressed happiness for his hanging. They did not realize that it is those very same shackles and rope hanging around his neck in the hands of his enemies fighting for the sake of Allah that would become the envy of every true Muslim.
The man, whose mug shot spoke his legacy, is none other than Omar al-Mukhtar. His legacy will live until the day of judgement, inshallah. With his blood, he drew the stories of victory, he became a legend of the legends, and a guide for those who wanted to live in honor at a time of humiliation.
The surrendered modernists and disbelieving scholars of his time were not imprisoned nor hung. They died a normal death, possibly even in luxury and wealth, under the protection of the occupying Italians. However, they died and their names died with them. Jahannam is the abode of those who ally themselves with the kuffar colonizers over the Muslims. Omar AlMukhtar lived, and fought hard in the days of his life. He was shackled, imprisoned, then hung. But his legacy lives on and paradise, inshallah, is the resort of the martyrs.

Omar al-Mukhtar was attached to Allah, depending on Him, and accepting that which Allah had written for him. He asked Allah to become a martyr and this what he has attained, inshAllah.
Sheikh Ahmad Musa Jibril
Written in the one third end of the night of Oct. 12, 2004[2]

[1]http://iqbalurdu.blogspot.com/2011/04/bang-e-dra-199-masjid-to-bana-di-shab.html
[2]http://www.doamuslims.org/?p=4368

Sunday 12 June 2016

Three Dimensional Concept of FooD


There is an old saying,'You are what you eat'. Why do we really need food or nutrition?. The basic concept is not that 'we need energy' which is a limited answer but that if we don't, we become victims of 'Undernourishment' or 'Malnourishment'. That's the root reason of our Nutritional Requirement.
So now you are gonna say, OK what's the big deal. Well let me ask you something. ''Have you ever thought how extensive some concepts are and how we limit them in our daily life.'' Food is one such Ignored concept.
Human being interacts simultaneously in three dimensions(I am not talking about space). When we often discuss food, we refer to Physical food. But then there is Spiritual Food.
Imam Ghazali had this amazing insight of food. In his famous Book 'Ihya' Ulum al-Din' (The Revival of Sciences of Deen)' or more compactly as the '' The Revival of Knowledge', he talks about the need of 'Spiritual Food'. We can derive a Rule that 'Food is Basic requirement of Human being, we need it to maintain our Beings'.
Now in the light of this rule, we see that just as we need Physical Food to Maintain our Physical Being, we need Spiritual Food to maintain our Souls as well. In our Deen Islam, Quran is considered the Nutrition of Soul, as both the Quran and Soul comes from Allah directly. The Quran describes the effect of Quran on Soul in a mesmerising style as 'Light upon Light' [1] (نُورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ)  i.e. The Light of Quran serves to amplify the Soul.
Similarly you might often have heard from some wise guy about the necessity of Food for Thought. If you didn't, don't worry you are now hearing it from a wise guy. Food for Thought is composed of Knowledge and Wisdom. If you don't get your Physical foods properly, undernourishment would result in Loss of Physical Mass. If you don't get your Intellectual food on daily basis, the effect is going to be similar to Physical Malnutrition but just of different Nature. You would experience 'Loss of Intellectual Mass'. You would start forgetting things and experience 'Loss of Memory'. Just like your Physical Body gets disturbed if you don't get Physical Nutrition. Your Processes of thinking would be disturbed if you don't get right Intellectual Nutrition.
But also remember not to eat more than your need. There's a famous quote that I think would suffice for now: 'Eat your food as medicine, Otherwise you'll have to eat medicine as your food'.
[1] Quran 24:35

Saturday 4 June 2016

About the Blog



The Title of this Blog has been taken from the book 'Taleem-ul-Muta'alim Tareeq-u-Talum'
(تعليم المتعلم طريق التعلمBy Burhan-ul-Islam Al-Zarnuji (برهان الإسلام الزرنوجي)This book's name roughly translates to 'Instruction for the Student and The Method of Learning.'
On the first page, I found this statement of an Arabic Poet Al-Mutanabbi. 
''He who seeks pearls immerses himself in the sea''.
I believe, 'He who seeks 'Pearls of Wisdom' must immerse himself in the 'Sea of Knowledge'
The purpose of this blog is share those 'Pearls of Wisdom' that I discover in this 'Sea of Knowledge'.
Wisdom is the Essence of all Knowledge. There's a Quote that, 'The beginning of wisdom is a Just Appraisal of one's Ignorance.' Yes I may make mistake. Only One who does everything is free from All Error.(If you could not guess it, it's alright, I am referring to Almighty Allah of course). People say 'One who does nothing makes no mistake as well'. However I think, 'Not doing anything' is the biggest mistake ever. Like the quote 'One who fails to Plan, Plans to fail'.
Another Purpose of this blog is 'Reliability of Knowledge'. I am a firm believer of Truth. No matter how harsh and bitter, it may seem to people. There is no escape from it.
The Quran says, وَقُلْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلُ ۚ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا
"And Say, Truth has come, and falsehood has departed. Indeed is falsehood,(by nature), ever bound to depart."(17:81)

Friday 3 June 2016

Pearls of Wisdom



The Compass of Knowledge guides us so as to steer the helm of our life in right direction. Knowledge of Natural Sciences i.e. Chemistry, Physics or any other subject is not just restricted to nature and phenomenon it describes. Natural Sciences can also guide us in our lives as well.
 Take an example of Covalent Bond.
'' Covalent Bond (chemistry) is a type of bond formed by sharing of electrons among atoms to achieve a stable configuration''
This one Phenomenon taking place at such a microscopic level gives us valuable insight to the concept that 'Sharing leads to Stability'. Sharing does not mean you lose something. How can it be so. When it is responsible for formation of stronger bonds between the giver and the receiver.
Islam, the deen of Fitrah(Nature) preaches the value of sharing by System of Zakat and Sadaqat(Charity). This bridges the gap between the upper(the have) and lower classes(the have nots) leading to stability in society. This is what covalents bonds are trying to teach us.
One way of understanding the core lesson of nature and universe is analyzing the basic sciences like physics, biology, chemistry, astronomy with a broad perspective. Material knowledge alone is not enough. One must develop this insight to extract such valuable lessons from this knowledge.
 These are the real treasures hidden in sea of knowledge.
The Legendary Arabic Scholar, Muhammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfīʿī( الشافعيّ‎‎) said in his Diwan:
''He who seeks pearls immerses himself in the sea.''[1]
I say,
''He who seeks 'Pearls of Wisdom' must immerse himself in the 'Sea of Knowledge'.

[1]Diwan al-Imam al-shafi'i, (book of poems - al-shafi'i) p. 100; Dar El-Mrefah Beirut - Lebanon 2005. ISBN 9953-429-33-2 
Note: This couplet is usually attributed to Al-Mutanabbi as it is found in his poem too. But Imam-Al-Shafi was born ahead of him which proves that Al-Mutanabbi incorporated this couplet in his poem by fetching it from Diwan of Shafi.